NWN Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition - Beamdog's final enhancement - now with new premium modules

[KörangarTheMighty]

So, it's been... 18 years? since I've played the OC for NWN and I was thinking about giving it another go in the EE. Is any particular class a must play? I was thinking of either a Mage, Paladin or Thief. What would be the most fitting thematically?
I know SoU and HotU are a separate thing that are better off making a new character for. In regards to the OC though, would the aforementioned classes hamstring me in any way?

 

[Fedora Master]

The OC is built around soloing it with a retarded AI companion as a pet, you can beat it as any class. When I doubt, just go CoDzilla.

 

[Wunderbar]

So, it's been... 18 years? since I've played the OC for NWN and I was thinking about giving it another go in the EE. Is any particular class a must play? I was thinking of either a Mage, Paladin or Thief. What would be the most fitting thematically?

paladin of course. The OC is full of undeads.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Definitely go Wizard. It was one of the last games that had good spellcasters. There will be some growing pains early, but by the time you approach the end of Chapter 1, you'll be plenty powerful.

I've actually loaded this game up recently. Want to revisit the OC since it's been close to 20 years. It's incredible how ugly this game is. While I completed the game way back, I mostly played on a few choice PW RP servers that put the official modules to shame.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

So, it's been... 18 years? since I've played the OC for NWN and I was thinking about giving it another go in the EE. Is any particular class a must play? I was thinking of either a Mage, Paladin or Thief. What would be the most fitting thematically?
I know SoU and HotU are a separate thing that are better off making a new character for. In regards to the OC though, would the aforementioned classes hamstring me in any way?

Roll a barbarian

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

Thanks guys, I think I'll go Pally for the OC and then pivot over to mage when I make it into the expansions.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

Roll a barbarian

I usually play a barb with my namesake, it's tempting.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Roll a barbarian

I usually play a barb with my namesake, it's tempting.

Do it

 

[AliceAlcina]

So, it's been... 18 years? since I've played the OC for NWN and I was thinking about giving it another go in the EE. Is any particular class a must play? I was thinking of either a Mage, Paladin or Thief. What would be the most fitting thematically?
I know SoU and HotU are a separate thing that are better off making a new character for. In regards to the OC though, would the aforementioned classes hamstring me in any way?

Unless you plan to use Tommy Undergallows, you should have high skills in pick locks, and game IS full of undead and spellcasters ARE really good.
Keep in mind there are some "special chests" that reward you with more powerful loot and have chance of generating more powerful loot if you reload before opening them, but many of those require high pickpocketing skill or lot of hacking, so hiring Tommy should be enough or simply having a familiar that does pickpocketing. I think it's pixie with highest skill.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

Unless you plan to use Tommy Undergallows, you should have high skills in pick locks, and game IS full of undead and spellcasters ARE really good.
Keep in mind there are some "special chests" that reward you with more powerful loot and have chance of generating more powerful loot if you reload before opening them, but many of those require high pickpocketing skill or lot of hacking, so hiring Tommy should be enough or simply having a familiar that does pickpocketing. I think it's pixie with highest skill.

This is what I was afraid of. Needing a lockpick monkey puts a damper on my enthusiasm. Can any of the other mercs learn to pick locks? If not, is it particularly crippling to learn it on a Wizard or Pally? Can't imagine it would be viable for the latter.

 

[Cael]

Thanks guys, I think I'll go Pally for the OC and then pivot over to mage when I make it into the expansions.

Go with the classics: 2 levels of Paladin, the rest in Sorcerer.

Get the Pixie familiar. It is basically a Rogue sidekick.

 

[AliceAlcina]

This is what I was afraid of. Needing a lockpick monkey puts a damper on my enthusiasm. Can any of the other mercs learn to pick locks? If not, is it particularly crippling to learn it on a Wizard or Pally? Can't imagine it would be viable for the latter.

pixie familiar for mages and Sharwyn henchman have pickpocket, but Sharwyn sadly sucks.

 

[Cael]

This is what I was afraid of. Needing a lockpick monkey puts a damper on my enthusiasm. Can any of the other mercs learn to pick locks? If not, is it particularly crippling to learn it on a Wizard or Pally? Can't imagine it would be viable for the latter.

pixie familiar for mages and Sharwyn henchman have pickpocket, but Sharwyn sadly sucks.

IIRC, other than the stupid monk, Sharwyn had the highest AC and therefore survivability?

 

[AliceAlcina]

IIRC, other than the stupid monk, Sharwyn had the highest AC and therefore survivability?

Maybe, but Sharwyn can't replace Tommy.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

pixie familiar for mages and Sharwyn henchman have pickpocket, but Sharwyn sadly sucks.

Sucks at the skill in comparison to Tommy or sucks at combat in general?

 

[Cael]

pixie familiar for mages and Sharwyn henchman have pickpocket, but Sharwyn sadly sucks.

Sucks at the skill in comparison to Tommy or sucks at combat in general?

Skills, mainly. Sharwyn doesn't really have rogue skills other than pickpocket. Tomi has all of them, and at a higher level than your familiar, IIRC.

Sharwyn basically suffers from the usual Bard thing: Master of none. However, she is a good support unit if your character can carry the adventure.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

Skills, mainly. Sharwyn doesn't really have rogue skills other than pickpocket. Tomi has all of them, and at a higher level than your familiar, IIRC.

Thanks. I just realised I misread her message. Thought she was talking about lockpicking with Sharwyn, but it was pickpocketing. Bummer, I would have liked to have the buxom bard in the group for... gamer reasons. Maybe I still will but I'm defo leaning mage or sorcerer now. Or maybe I'll just cope with smacking chests for hours.

 

[Cael]

Skills, mainly. Sharwyn doesn't really have rogue skills other than pickpocket. Tomi has all of them, and at a higher level than your familiar, IIRC.

Thanks. I just realised I misread her message. Thought she was talking about lockpicking with Sharwyn, but it was pickpocketing. Bummer, I would have liked to have the buxom bard in the group for... gamer reasons. Maybe I still will but I'm defo leaning mage or sorcerer now. Or maybe I'll just cope with smacking chests for hours.

You can get all of them. Just hire one, and then kick him/her out of the party and hire the next one. You can only bring one along, but you can get all their quests. Every level, go back and talk to all of them to get their life stories and quests.

NWN has a bug in the game, where combat XP is determined by ALL creatures in the party. That includes your familiar, henchmen and summons. Walking around with an army means you will be at a lower level than you otherwise would. It is the primary reason why I solo NWN all the time.

It also has a second bug, where Clerics get more XP than other classes at the same level. Run through the intro with a Cleric and note the XP per kill you get, then try it with a Barbarian.

 

[AliceAlcina]

Thanks. I just realised I misread her message. Thought she was talking about lockpicking with Sharwyn, but it was pickpocketing. Bummer, I would have liked to have the buxom bard in the group for... gamer reasons. Maybe I still will but I'm defo leaning mage or sorcerer now. Or maybe I'll just cope with smacking chests for hours.

naw, Sharwyn does have lockpicking skills, she just sucks compared to Tommy skills.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

You can get all of them. Just hire one, and then kick him/her out of the party and hire the next one. Every level, go back and talk to all of them to get their life stories and quests.

All these years I had it in mind that I could only ever get one party member and that sticking with them the whole game was just the done thing. In hindsight, why would it be? After all, I picked up companions willynilly in BG II. Do they scale up in level as you go through the game or retain the level they're at when you ditch them?

naw, Sharwyn does have lockpicking skills, she just sucks compared to Tommy skills.

Good to know, thanks. I figured since she was a bard she wouldn't have access. Guess they must have changed that in 3.0.

 

[Cael]

You can get all of them. Just hire one, and then kick him/her out of the party and hire the next one. Every level, go back and talk to all of them to get their life stories and quests.

All these years I had it in mind that I could only ever get one party member and that sticking with them the whole game was just the done thing. In hindsight, why would it be? After all, I picked up companions willynilly in BG II. Do they scale up in level as you go through the game or retain the level they're at when you ditch them?

They level with you.

To clarify:
They will have their XP set to your level when you pick them up again. You can then manually level them up.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

They level with you.

To clarify:
They will have their XP set to your level when you pick them up again. You can then manually level them up.

Nice, thanks for the advice.

 

[Cael]

They level with you.

To clarify:
They will have their XP set to your level when you pick them up again. You can then manually level them up.

Nice, thanks for the advice.

Actually, on second thoughts, I could be mixing up the manual level thing with NWN2. I haven't played it for quite a few years. But they definitely level with you.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Unless you plan to use Tommy Undergallows, you should have high skills in pick locks, and game IS full of undead and spellcasters ARE really good.
Keep in mind there are some "special chests" that reward you with more powerful loot and have chance of generating more powerful loot if you reload before opening them, but many of those require high pickpocketing skill or lot of hacking, so hiring Tommy should be enough or simply having a familiar that does pickpocketing. I think it's pixie with highest skill.

This is what I was afraid of. Needing a lockpick monkey puts a damper on my enthusiasm. Can any of the other mercs learn to pick locks? If not, is it particularly crippling to learn it on a Wizard or Pally? Can't imagine it would be viable for the latter.

Bust them open

 

[Cael]

Unless you plan to use Tommy Undergallows, you should have high skills in pick locks, and game IS full of undead and spellcasters ARE really good.
Keep in mind there are some "special chests" that reward you with more powerful loot and have chance of generating more powerful loot if you reload before opening them, but many of those require high pickpocketing skill or lot of hacking, so hiring Tommy should be enough or simply having a familiar that does pickpocketing. I think it's pixie with highest skill.

This is what I was afraid of. Needing a lockpick monkey puts a damper on my enthusiasm. Can any of the other mercs learn to pick locks? If not, is it particularly crippling to learn it on a Wizard or Pally? Can't imagine it would be viable for the latter.

Bust them open

There are certain doors and chests that cannot be busted.