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Interesting MotB character builds?

Azael

Magister
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Dec 6, 2002
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Multikult Central South
Wasteland 2
I found NWN+MotB bundled together for a decent price and since I finally have a computer that can run it without coughing up blood, I decided to give it a go. I finished it as an Aasimar Paladin/Divine Champion who did ridiculous damage with Smite Evil, but now I want to try something different. Besides, as a Paladin I went the whole way suppressing my hunger, eventually becoming a guardian of Kelemnvor (not sure how my original patron Tyr would feel about that, but who cares?) route. Now I want to try the other way, since I hear the game offers a decent evil path.

Looking through the rules a little, how would a Favored Soul/Stormlord/Frenzied Berserker work? Focusing on spear and Cleave attacks, naturally, with spells to boost stats, damage and To Hit. Favored Soul because that gives me Weapon Focus (Spear) for free if I have Talos as a deity, which makes sense if I'm going the Stormlord route. Is it worth it to throw in a Fighter level somewhere just for the proficiencies , free Feat, or is that spreading my XP too thin?
 

Wyrmlord

Arcane
Joined
Feb 3, 2008
Messages
28,886
I went for a Favoured Soul/Stormlord with Spear focus and a Spear deity, and it worked beautifully for me. In fact, it was my first build in MotB.

Probably the best spell-buffing fighter character I have made in the NWN games.
 

Cabazone

Educated
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Dec 12, 2007
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66
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France
Great, but fight are easy, who need a powerful character ? The Awesome build is the one who allow you to have the maximum option in dialogue. So max Int, Wis, Cha. And a lot of skill like lore and other stuff i don't remember for teh best build.
 
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
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Unarmed str monk. most str fighting classes would breeze through. MotB is the kind of game where you have to cripple yourself in order to make it difficult.
 

Ogg

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Cabazone said:
Great, but fight are easy, who need a powerful character ? The Awesome build is the one who allow you to have the maximum option in dialogue. So max Int, Wis, Cha. And a lot of skill like lore and other stuff i don't remember for teh best build.

Agreed. I also first went through MOTB with a spear-stormlord. Very powerful indeed. But combats aren't that difficult in MOTB, all the buff available was pointless. Same thing for the monk, too strong (though I remember some fights with vampire monks which could have been fun with a monk PC).

No, for MOTB, I recommend a rogue, a bard, a paladin or a sorc, depending on what kind of roleplay you're looking for.
 
Joined
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The last time I played it through with a character imported from the OC. Human Wizard5/Eldricht Knight8/Pale Master7, with most of the necromancy focus feats and mostly doing the evil options in the game. It was easy on hardcore in the OC, and doubly easier in MOTB, as you get a new free feat or other superpower every five minutes. I went simply 10EK/10PM/10WIZ in MOTB. I'd recommend the hard difficulty at least on your second playthrough, though I'm not sure if it really makes any difference.
 

Qwinn

Scholar
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
666
My favorite build in NWN2 was Sorcerer 6 / Paladin 4 / Eldritch Knight 10. Had I taken that character into MotB, he would've added 10 levels of Candlekeep Scholar.

That's not the build I took into MotB though. I did MotB with a Monk 13 / Cleric 7 / Sacred Fist 10. Way, way too easy, and not really fun to roleplay, at least for me. I barely ever had to cast a spell. First time I ever tried to RP a cleric or monkish type, though, so it never really had an appeal to me anyway.

Qwinn
 

Jaesun

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My last play through was with this (I removed the Paladin and took a level of Fighter so no need for alignment change). BEST CHARACTER EVAR! (Taken from the Bioware forums):

JACK OF HEARTS
"Let me do the talking here..."

Bard(23), Red Dragon Disciple(4), Fighter(1), Cleric(2)
Race: Human
Cleric Domains: Water, Trickery
Alignment: Neutral Good -> Lawful Good -> Neutral Good
Deity: Lathander

For PvM. No ECL, No XP penalty but 2 alignment changes.

Just after it came out I completed MotB with an evil bard and have spent the past few months wondering what I was going to do my good play through with. After much agonizing i've decided I can't face the OC with any class other than a bard! As TyrTemplar has rightly noted, "once you've played bard you'll never go back..."

Great for the OC/MotB because:

• Win friends and influence people: When buffed + equipped with +8 cha item dip = 53, bluff = 54, intimdate = 36.
• Qara-proof: Evasion + uber saves. I went with a light-armoured bard (no battlecaster) so evasion will work.
• Loremaster: Know what you've found without that annoying round of pass-the-parcel.
• Inspiring presence: Get the most out of your companions.

I levelled it up ready to play in Hall of Training so I could get around the messy alignment changes L8-12. However if you were going to level this up in game from L1 you've got at least a level to change between lawful and neutral on both alignment changes so it's not impossible.

Similar to: Thorsson64's Through the Glass More Darkly (B16/RDD10/Pal3/Cl1) and Mithdradates' Dread Bard (Bard 24/ Blackguard 3/ Cleric 1/ Fighter 2. There are many more bards listed but if you shook these two up you'd come out with what i've got here. However both of those are -2ECL drow with XP penalties to boot, so this is probably a bit more playable.

STR: 16(22)
DEX: 10
CON: 12
WIS: 8
INT: 14
CHA: 16(22)

{Quick To Master, Skilled}

Lvl 01: Bard(1): Background: Tale-Teller, Power Attack, Able Learner, {Bardic Knowledge, Inspiration, Inspire Courage, Countersong, Fascinate, Armored Caster (Bard)}
Lvl 02: Bard(2): {Inspire Competence}
Lvl 03: Cleric(1): Divine Might, {Turn Undead, Spontaneous Conversion, Evasion, Feint}
Lvl 04: Bard(3): str+1, {Haven Song}, (STR=17)
Lvl 05: Bard(4)
Lvl 06: Red Dragon Disciple(1): Practiced Spellcaster (bard), {Natural Armor Increase}
Lvl 07: Red Dragon Disciple(2): {Dragon Abilities}, (STR=19)
Lvl 08: Red Dragon Disciple(3): cha+1, {Dragon Breath}, (CHA=17)
Lvl 09: Cleric(2): Divine Shield
Lvl 10: Fighter(1): {Martial Weapons}
Lvl 11: Red Dragon Disciple(4): (STR=21)
Lvl 12: Bard(5): cha+1, Blind-Fight, {Inspire Defense}, (CHA=18), *Alignment Change*
Lvl 13: Bard(6): {Cloud Mind}
Lvl 14: Bard(7): {Inspire Regeneration}
Lvl 15: Bard(8): Curse Song, {Inspire Toughness}
Lvl 16: Bard(9): cha+1, {Ironskin Chant}, (CHA=19)
Lvl 17: Bard(10)
Lvl 18: Bard(11): Extend Spell, {Inspire Slowing}
Lvl 19: Bard(12): {Song of Freedom}
Lvl 20: Bard(13): cha+1, (CHA=20)
Lvl 21: Bard(14): Great Charisma I, {Inspire Jarring}, (CHA=21)
Lvl 22: Bard(15): {Song of Heroism}
Lvl 23: Bard(16): Epic Divine Might
Lvl 24: Bard(17): str+1, (STR=22)
Lvl 25: Bard(18): Chorus of Heroism, {Legionnaire's March}
Lvl 26: Bard(19)
Lvl 27: Bard(20): Lingering Song
Lvl 28: Bard(21): cha+1, (CHA=22)
Lvl 29: Bard(22): Song of Requiem
Lvl 30: Bard(23): Hymn of Requiem

You can also feint to deny opponents some more AC.


Spell Casting:
Bard(27) 5/4 • 5/6 • 5/6 • 5/6 • 5/5 • 5/5 • 4/5

L1: Grease, Balagarn's Iron Horn, Expeditious Retreat, Identify, Joyful Noise
L2: Curse of Blades, Mirror Image, Cat's Grace*, Bull's Strength*, Eagle's Splendor*
L3: Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Haste, Displacement, Mass Curse of Blades, See Invisibility
L4: War Cry, Dominate Person, Freedom of Movement, Hold Monster, Shadow Conjuration
L5: Greater Heroism, Greater Dispel Magic, Etheral Visage, Mind Fog, Song of Discord
L6: Energy Immunity, Superior Resistance, Ice Storm, Dirge

Skills
Skillpoints: 269
Bluff: 33(40)
Concentration: 33
Diplomacy: 33(39)
Intimidate: 16(22)
Lore: 8(34)
Perform: 33(39)
Spellcraft: 25(27)
Spot: 33(32)
Tumble: 30(29)
Use Magic Device: 25(31)
 

Raapys

Arcane
Joined
Jun 7, 2007
Messages
4,960
There are lots of builds here: http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Character_builds

My personal favorites are probably the dual-wielding Ranger with Divine Might builds. You get a ridiculous number of attacks each round that all do ridiculous amounts of damage. While he's somewhat fragile, the enemies are all dead so quickly that it doesn't matter anyway.
 

Thrasher

Erudite
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
1,407
For fun (=lots of options), an arcane trickster looks like blast. This is ONLY with the mod that enables ranged sneak attacks.
 

Azael

Magister
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Dec 6, 2002
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Location
Multikult Central South
Wasteland 2
Hmm, maybe I should try it as a bard, never really played them in any D&D game. What's the reason for the level of fighter in the above build, just to get an extra feat and the proficiencies (and slightly better BAB)? Why not take the full 10 levels of RDD, not worth it?

The FS/SL/FB combo is a blast BTW, not that the game is hard, but hacking your way through combat with you spear is fun
 

Murk

Arcane
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
13,459
Azael said:
Hmm, maybe I should try it as a bard, never really played them in any D&D game. What's the reason for the level of fighter in the above build, just to get an extra feat and the proficiencies (and slightly better BAB)? Why not take the full 10 levels of RDD, not worth it?

In my last two play throughs of icewind dale 1 and 2 i used a bard for my main character and found them ridiculously fun. They are very useful in Temple of Elemental Evil as well and I think if NWN2's oc had some more flexibiltiy in it then the bard would be more fun there.

They have particularly unique spell casting, very useful abilities, and are pretty well balanced in every way. They are SUPPORT for sure, you can't expect a bard to kill a dragon on its own but throwing a bard in the mix adds a lot of survivability i found, plus having a spokesman who excels at it is always useful. Their AC is pretty high too, don't let the "light armor" thing fool you - mithral breastplate is easy to come by and and if you have a decent dex score then you're looking at something like 11 ac from that alone and thats before it gets enchanted.

i would usually start my bard as a fighter too for the weapon proficiencies but i'm not sure why jaesun picked his - perhaps the same reason?
 

Jaesun

Fabulous Ex-Moderator
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Play a Bard! Once you play one YOU WILL NEVER WANT TO PLAY ANOTHER CLASS AGAIN!

<3 <3 Bards <3 <3
 

Redeye

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
8,247
Location
filth
Monk 9/Arcane Archer 9/Paladin 3/Wizard 9

Possibly raise Wizard to 11 and switch Paladin to Shadowdancer 1.

Fun mix. Hit and run with magic cheese.

Too bad no backstab.
 

felicity

Scholar
Joined
Dec 16, 2008
Messages
339
Yes bard are awesome in NWN. I like to have my epic bard feats as soon as possible, so I usually go with pure bard or maybe 4 fighter level mix in to get some bonus feats and an extra attack per round.

Azael said:
What's the reason for the level of fighter in the above build, just to get an extra feat and the proficiencies (and slightly better BAB)? Why not take the full 10 levels of RDD, not worth it?

People take fighter level for the proficiency, extra feats, BAB and extra attack per round; 10 RDD for the sweet stats bonus (8 STR/2 CON/2 INT/2 CHA), ac, and fire immunity. This is very powerful for just 10 level. They have a medium BAB progression however.

Bard song bonus progress with bard level so if you take more fighter or RDD level, your bard song will be worse off. The same applies to bard's spell bonus. Whatever you decide to multiclass, definitely get epic bard song. You haven't play a bard yet until you try them.

But if you absolutely want to take 10 RDD level however, and can do without epic bard songs, then 16 bard level is considered the "sweet spot". You get all 6 spell level and a good enough song.
 

Shannow

Waster of Time
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Sep 15, 2006
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Finnegan's Wake
Shannow (how I "love" April 1st): Well, I just tried a fun build. Since NWN2's engine sucks I don't recommend playing it in MotB (at least not if you want to experience most of the dialogue or want to play the most powerful build out there) but it sure was fun messing with.

Didn't see it in the above list (probably not powergamy enough^^), but I read about a monk/druid shapeshift build for IWD2 so I didn't come up with the build completely by myself.

Human (half-elves work too), lawful neutral, druid 26/ monk 3/ one level of x
Starting stats:
Whatever you want but at least 17 in wis.

Feats:
I'd recommend able learner for tumble and sneak skills, extended/persistend spell, natural spell.
You need increase wisdom (epic) a few times.

All ability score increasements have to go into wisdom. You get your last ASI at level 28 and your last feats at lvl 29. (iirc)

For dragon form you need 29 wis and x8 wildshape (and no, extra wildshape doesn't work to get x8 ws early).

I started out with one level of monk then took the druid levels, then the last two monk levels and last one level of cleric. Of course, you don't need 3 levels of monk but I thought all the extra feats were worth it (as with the one lvl of cleric).
The fun stuff is that you retain the ac bonus from your monk levels even in shapeshifted form (and I think flurry of blows works, too). All those druid levels are neccessary to get dragon form. Otherwise I'd gone with 5 levels of monk.
I just tried it out with Vordan's Hero Creator. Gave myself some of the overpowered MotB items. I ended up with a dragon with 63 AC. 5 attacks per round with the best being at 32. And of course the devastating druid spells. Unfortunately the dragon doesn't have breath weapons. If you gain dragon imunities the game doesn't inform you accordingly. Spells like jagged tooth don't work on you although they should. Body of the sun doesn't just dmg enemies, the game pulls you out of polymorph in forced dialogue. Weapon feats dong affect your polymorphed form, etc...

You basically get a druid caster that cannot be hit by melee enemies but that can hold its own in melee and has lots of speed enhancements. Apart from diplomacy the dialogue skills suck, too.


Ah damn, just found their version of the build: http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Master_of_a_Few_Forms_D(28)%2CM(2)
At least my version is better and imagining a dragon doing kung fu is more fun^^
And the guy recommends some stupid stuff feat- and spellwise
 
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
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Maybe you'd like to try some Warlock build, though. Like Warlock 18 / Shadow Thief of Amn 5 / Blackguard 4 / Hellfire Warlock 3. Big bonus to saving throws, good amount of stealth and probably the most dialogue skills you can have. Don't know if spell sneak attack damage works yet, though, and this requires a bunch of mostly useless feats.
 

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