NWN Neverwinter Nights (NWN & NWN2) Modules Thread

[Gargaune]

I have the Diamond edition, do I need the Enhanced one for any modules, and what are the pros of this new edition? I guess a lot of old modules are buggy on it?

I think a couple of new, EE-only modules have been released, but I'm not aware of any "must-play" free EE exclusives at this time. There is a risk of running into the odd bug with old modules on the EE, and I believe rogueknight333 had to fix a door object in a Swordflight chapter, but I think it's rather remote. I played the Shadowlords and Dreamcatcher campaigns on the EE and had no problems whatsoever.

More generally for players, the EE offers some renderer and UI updates, as well as a polished version of Darkness over Daggerford and the exclusive Tyrants of the Moonsea as paid-for DLC. NWN's Diamond Edition still holds up very well, but if you don't mind the price tag I think the EE's worth it. If you're not too sure, Beamdog does regular sales on it.

I am looking also at these new premium modules like "Tyrants of the Moonsea".

This is the biggest pro for the EE and it's become my favourite official content for NWN. A little light on dungeon crawling, but steeped in Realmslore and I had a great time with it.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

The moonsea thing is there in vanilla as well, think it's not as filled up though.

 

[Gargaune]

The moonsea thing is there in vanilla as well, think it's not as filled up though.

Nah, it's not even halfway complete, the cancelled PM version stops in Hillsfar or thereabouts. It's not like DoD, which was a full campaign and only got some VO and fixes for the EE re-release, TotM is effectively an EE exclusive.

 

[ProphetSword]

If anyone is looking to pick up NWN:EE for Steam, right now the best place to get it is here:
https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/neverwinter-nights-bundle

Also, GOG has it for $4.99 currently if that's your preference.

 

[AdamReith]

Felt like a bit more NWN so I decided to try out this Swordflight everybody was discussing as a Wizard.

Only noodling around in Chapter 1 so far. Initial impressions.

Amazing stuff, the writing alone puts everything commercial made in the last (almost) twenty years to shame. Places feel real and fleshed out, quests are actually interesting and fun. This is the kind of game that reminds you why you love CRPGs.

Just love how laser focused it all feels so far, so much polish it's incredible. Makes the vast empty spaces of something like KOTOR feel incredibly amateurish.

Really impressed, I ought to have tried it sooner. Really hope that this companion the game forced on me doesn't piss me off too much, (though the event that happens shortly after she joined was really hilarious and well set up).

 

[AdamReith]

Double post but I just went to return from a deeper level in some ruins and the game actually offered to let me go straight back to town.

Somebody actually play tested this, incredible.

 

[Sacibengala]

I'm playing NWN Diamond again. This time around with a friend. I tried the Enhanced edition with another friend (Which had only a smartphone to play) and I can say now that the enhanced edition is simply crap. EE simply runs much worse and the loadtimes are longer than in the DE. With hamachi, the DE connects flawlessly, where EE gave us headache, I believe I rant about it somewhere in here. The MP simply wouldn't work unless he used the beta version, which is only explained in a random reddit post. I'm glad I got DE on GOG and kept it safe alongside the original fallouts that bethesda took off GOG a long time ago.

 

[Gargaune]

The only performance problem I've had with the EE was that once the renderer got updated, I had to limit the FPS range 'cause it was running at 300 and making my GPU sound like Schumacher's cat. Might wanna look at that. Granted, I haven't tried the very latest patch yet.

I'm glad I got DE on GOG and kept it safe

NWN EE ships with NWN DE included on GOG.

alongside the original fallouts that bethesda took off GOG a long time ago.

You mean these Fallouts?
Fallout
Fallout 2

 

[Sacibengala]

The only performance problem I've had with the EE was that once the renderer got updated, I had to limit the FPS range 'cause it was running at 300 and making my GPU sound like Schumacher's cat. Might wanna look at that. Granted, I haven't tried the very latest patch yet.

I'm glad I got DE on GOG and kept it safe

NWN EE ships with NWN DE included on GOG.

alongside the original fallouts that bethesda took off GOG a long time ago.

You mean these Fallouts?
Fallout
Fallout 2

No, The ones that came with soundtrack and a lot more extras. They've named 'Classic' in my GOG list. As for NWN, I wish Diamond edition was sold separately, because it would probably cost less to get and people would be more aware of the edition.

 

[luj1]

Diamond > EE

 

[AdamReith]

Wow!

Spoiler

The golem you can summon in chapter 2 of Swordflight doesn't seem to expire and you can heal him with healing kits. I can give him barkskin and haste potions, kickin'!

Really enjoyed chapter 1, (re-rolled a fighter-rogue because while I almost got to the end with a pure whizzard it was a bit too painful, glad I did too because the mummies and such would have driven me to uninstall) - So basically played through the whole thing twice.

World building in chapter 2 really caught me by surprise though, this is the real shit right here. Quite a bit harder than Shadows of Urentide but on an absolute other level when it comes to map detail and that feeling of a world ready to surprise you. Urentide could have used a few Golem Control Stations and fun things like that. The well done characters really sell every scenario so well, it's sublime.

It's really amazing what this kind of detailed map making combined with solid, no-fucking-around writing can achieve. Lovely stuff. It kind of validates that theory I had that writing that fails to take itself seriously enough kills an otherwise good CRPG.

 

[Gargaune]

World building in chapter 2 really caught me by surprise though, this is the real shit right here. Quite a bit harder than Shadows of Urentide but on an absolute other level when it comes to map detail and that feeling of a world ready to surprise you.

Swordflight's Chapter 2 is absolutely massive, considerably longer than the Shadows of Undrentide expansion. Take care you don't get negligent with your character progression, there's a significant difficulty spike in its last segment once you venture outside of Calimport, and then Chapter 3's opening is downright murderous.

 

[AdamReith]

World building in chapter 2 really caught me by surprise though, this is the real shit right here. Quite a bit harder than Shadows of Urentide but on an absolute other level when it comes to map detail and that feeling of a world ready to surprise you.

Swordflight's Chapter 2 is absolutely massive, considerably longer than the Shadows of Undrentide expansion. Take care you don't get negligent with your character progression, there's a significant difficulty spike in its last segment once you venture outside of Calimport, and then Chapter 3's opening is downright murderous.

Yeah, once Chapter 1 started to show its teeth a bit I fell back to Fighter/Rogue. Not glamorous but hard to fuck up.

I'm still sure I'll manage!

 

[Gargaune]

Yeah, once Chapter 1 started to show its teeth a bit I fell back to Fighter/Rogue. Not glamorous but hard to fuck up.

I'm still sure I'll manage!

I played a Barbarian/Rogue and pulled through Chapter 2 fair and square, but come Chapter 3 I had to throw in the towel and twink my character to make headway. I'll freely admit that I suck at character building, at least by Codex standards, but I maintain that some of those ACs are indecent. I distinctly remember a boss sporting 41 or 42 AC, fine, and then one with a whooping 49, and I think I was level 17 or 18 by that point. There's something ironically impressive about the latter, though - without spoiling anything, you have choice on whether to engage in that particular fight, and choosing not to wasn't merely an exercise in roleplaying make-believe because I, the player, was every bit as terrified as my PC would've been.

Anyway, the lesson here is to pump your AB, you'll need it. Chapter 4 felt more accommodating, actually, though I don't know whether that was by design or if I managed to course-correct my trainwreck build by that point. The other thing that got me in early Chapter 3 were some enemies with a combination of hasted APR, poison and sneak attacks, but I still think your AB should be the primary concern.

 

[AdamReith]

Yeah, once Chapter 1 started to show its teeth a bit I fell back to Fighter/Rogue. Not glamorous but hard to fuck up.

I'm still sure I'll manage!

I played a Barbarian/Rogue and pulled through Chapter 2 fair and square, but come Chapter 3 I had to throw in the towel and twink my character to make headway. I'll freely admit that I suck at character building, at least by Codex standards, but I maintain that some of those ACs are indecent. I distinctly remember a boss sporting 41 or 42 AC, fine, and then one with a whooping 49, and I think I was level 17 or 18 by that point. There's something ironically impressive about the latter, though - without spoiling anything, you have choice on whether to engage in that particular fight, and choosing not to wasn't merely an exercise in roleplaying make-believe because I, the player, was every bit as terrified as my PC would've been.

Anyway, the lesson here is to pump your AB, you'll need it. Chapter 4 felt more accommodating, actually, though I don't know whether that was by design or if I managed to course-correct my trainwreck build by that point. The other thing that got me in early Chapter 3 were some enemies with a combination of hasted APR, poison and sneak attacks, but I still think your AB should be the primary concern.

What build did you make it through with? Hopefully I won't need a third run but would be good to be prepared.

 

[d1nolore]

I downloaded Swordflight c1 and was about to play but couldn’t come up with a character idea. I was thinking evil cleric, is the mod based in forgotten realms? Aka what are the deities?

everyone seems to favor a rogue build, are there other favored classes?

 

[Gargaune]

What build did you make it through with? Hopefully I won't need a third run but would be good to be prepared.

Honestly, you're probably better off taking advice from savvier players, seeing as I hit a wall when I started Chapter 3 with my Barbarian 13 / Rogue 3 and I last played Swordflight two years ago. Blind Fight is an early must, as is Cleave and I've found steady use for Knockdown as well. After that, I started focusing on Scimitar to improve my attack bonus and critical chance, you really wanna get those crits in. Regardless, get used to swapping to non-specialised weapons regularly to deal with various enemy resistances. Oh yeah, and invest in Discipline like your life depends on it. Because it does. On the Rogue bit, aside from the usual skulduggery, make sure you pump Use Magic Device, it was a big mistake that I didn't and now it's too late to correct it.

I downloaded Swordflight c1 and was about to play but couldn’t come up with a character idea. I was thinking evil cleric, is the mod based in forgotten realms? Aka what are the deities?

everyone seems to favor a rogue build, are there other favored classes?

Yes, Swordflight is Forgotten Realms-based and it's well anchored into the lore, thus far the module's been set in Calimshan, the Sword Coast and, um... rather not spoil stuff, should be enough to get you started. Aside from stabbing things, the Rogue dip is recommended for dealing with traps, stealth and locks, since your usual companion can disable traps but she can't deal with locks. If you skim backwards through this thread you should find some more punctual build discussions, they come up regularly.

 

[AdamReith]

What build did you make it through with? Hopefully I won't need a third run but would be good to be prepared.

Honestly, you're probably better off taking advice from savvier players, seeing as I hit a wall when I started Chapter 3 with my Barbarian 13 / Rogue 3 and I last played Swordflight two years ago. Blind Fight is an early must, as is Cleave and I've found steady use for Knockdown as well. After that, I started focusing on Scimitar to improve my attack bonus and critical chance, you really wanna get those crits in. Regardless, get used to swapping to non-specialised weapons regularly to deal with various enemy resistances. Oh yeah, and invest in Discipline like your life depends on it. Because it does. On the Rogue bit, aside from the usual skulduggery, make sure you pump Use Magic Device, it was a big mistake that I didn't and now it's too late to correct it.

I downloaded Swordflight c1 and was about to play but couldn’t come up with a character idea. I was thinking evil cleric, is the mod based in forgotten realms? Aka what are the deities?

everyone seems to favor a rogue build, are there other favored classes?

Yes, Swordflight is Forgotten Realms-based and it's well anchored into the lore, thus far the module's been set in Calimshan, the Sword Coast and, um... rather not spoil stuff, should be enough to get you started. Aside from stabbing things, the Rogue dip is recommended for dealing with traps, stealth and locks, since your usual companion can disable traps but she can't deal with locks. If you skim backwards through this thread you should find some more punctual build discussions, they come up regularly.

Also you can not rely on companions to do anything in this game. In my second playthrough of chapter 1 the companion just stopped disarming traps half way and there didn't seem to be a way to fix it.

Probably worth working this into any build plans you have.

 

[Gargaune]

Also you can not rely on companions to do anything in this game. In my second playthrough of chapter 1 the companion just stopped disarming traps half way and there didn't seem to be a way to fix it.

Welcome to NWN! For the record, once your companions get invisibility spells, use them on yourself right away, the AI goes for a cigarette break if it thinks you can't see it. Going forward, you'll probably want to toggle henchman spellcasting on and off as the situation demands. Swordflight's later chapters feature a variant of Balkoth's Minion Control system, but in this implementation issuing orders in combat consumes your action, so keep that in mind. And with thieving, yeah, if you're going for a Rogue dip, it's always more comfortable to do the job yourself.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

can't deal with locks. I

Has rogueknight333 made them bashproof as well?

 

[PaquoCastor]

I thought original Moonsea ended shortly after Elventree. So right before it becomes less linear. Moonsea EE is full of stuff you saw in Wyvern Crown and Daggerford, and has something that is basically a worse version of Swordflight's Dark Calimport. Still a good module and pretty much the only killer feature of EE for single-player focused players. You can still play the original premium modules in diamond, just have to generate a file.

UMD and Tumble are the reasons to dip rogue in my opinion, although my halfling rogue/fighter/champion took persuasion as well. Also early expertise is great. And yes, you will have to swap weapons early in Swordflight. Even if you specialize in bludgeoning thanks to oozes.

Some chests and doors are bashproof, even one in chapter one. Chapter two has chests and doors that can only be opened by using the right spell on it, pass a spellcraft check to find out which. Also some doors can only be opened with turn undead.

 

[Chippy]

Currently playing through 'A Hunt Through The Dark' for NWN original. It has 6 chapters, and 1-5 are very good. Language is a bit off. CHapter 6 really comes into it's own. I played through the Harper path years ago, and I'm currently doing the Zhentarim path. This last chapter feels like an official product.

It's definately better in its density than the original NWN campaign was in its overall content.

 

[Gargaune]

Has rogueknight333 made them bashproof as well?

Not all of 'em, I used to keep a set of throwing axes squirreled away in a bag just to deal with uncooperative trapped chests.

Chapter two has chests and doors that can only be opened by using the right spell on it, pass a spellcraft check to find out which.

Yeah, but those are puzzles really, not a choice of "lockpick" vs. "Barbarian lockpick."

It's definately better in its density than the original NWN campaign was in its overall content.

Pretty sure I even heard Oster comment on the OC that "it is what it is."

 

[Poseidon00]

The new UI is nice. I like that they gave Aielund Saga its own page on the campaign section to download. Newbs should be directed right to the quality stuff. It's finally starting to feel like the EE is offering something of value between this and vanilla graphic and toolset improvements.

The lack of good AI scripts for such a long running community capable of doing so much is downright inexcusable. Too bad im a retarded programmer or I would happily fix it myself.

 

[Gargaune]

Poseidon00, you running the new v.83 EE build? I ran into a pretty serious bug and had to roll back, I wouldn't mind an external confirmation if you've got five minutes to mess around in the toolset. I'm gonna test a clean install on my second PC too, but haven't had the time to get to it yet.