Neverwinter Nights

[Andrew]

So I found the battle at gates, town and the boss to be easy. I guess for gates I had two golems and the devil girl (and stopped all the others from showing up). I guess I used all the magic missiles I had and it took care of everyone. No running around at all. Just stood in one place, maybe moved a little bit to get away from an attacker.

This expansion is really fun :)

Wayy too many good items. I had my two henchmen packed full of stuff. Not enough shops. New henchmen was really awesome to see/get. Hope he/she is useful (no spoilers :P).

Now back to playing.

[Edric O]

So, I suppose you've finished Hordes of the Underdark by now? And discovered the last henchman in Act III? :)

[Andrew]

Yes, I beat it. Last henchmen was good. :)

Last boss was difficult. Took many times to beat, and I had to figure out which henchmen worked, and then what sorcerer spells worked. Resurrection spell used lots and lots of times. No love stories though, guess I didn't romance enough :P

Starting over in original as druid spellcaster. Animal empathy is kinda useless. Not many offensive spells as sorcerer, lots of buffing spells, I'm just buffing my animal companion and summoned creature, and they take care of everyone. Takes a while to cast 15 or so buffing spells before every major battle though (2xstone skin, endure elements, bark skin, animal companion specific buffing spells, etc).

Hmm, I'm currently at level 6 spells, and level 7 appears to be lots of offensive spells. I guess the healing spells druid has is a good change from wizard/sorcerer, good for healing my two summoned, and henchmen (currently the cleric luia(?), nice spells).

I wanted to be a druid so I can shapeshift.

Not sure how to allow the prestige classes from the start. I'm guessing they are supposed to be unlocked, and that there is a cheat to enable them all.

[Dante]

As far as I remember prestige classes unlock as soon as you have the prereqs. Which in the case of the Shifter would be Feats: Alertness, Spellcasting: level 3 or higher, and a natural, alternate form (like Druid wildshape).

There is a way to make HotU's last boss a bit of a pushover, without cheating that is. I figured it out on my second playthrough, but was rather pleased to have done it the hard way first because I enjoyed the fight.

Have to admit though, I didn't have crazy fun as a druid in NWN. Shapeshifting was pretty cool, and I remember having fun with the Epic Shifting feats above level 20, but it just awasn't as fun as casting a billion Maximised Greater Missile Storms or throwing a Hellball onto a troublesome foe. Yeah, Sorcerers and rogues were where I had fun.

[Andrew]

Yah, my previous sorcerer I added red dragon disciple prestige class during 'underdark'. I guess I just need to add 'alertness feat' next upgrade in order to get shapeshifter.

I read how to easily beat last boss.

[Edric O]

Btw, I am now playing the original campaign for NWN2. :) It's a lot more complex than the NWN1 original campaign, and the story has more twists, but a lot of details look unpolished, like the developers were rushed (which they probably were).

[Dante]

On the whole, I didn't like NWN2. Largely because the engine irked me, but also for reasons similar to your own. I stuck with it though, and I think the endgame makes up for the iffy mid-game experience.

Back in HotU, I went Red Dragon Disciple as well. It was fun times.

[Andrew]

So I beat NWN1 original with druid. Some nice spells, although I'd cast 15 or so buff spells on me and companion/summoned/henchmen, and beat any battle.

At very end after I killed boss and got XP, I could level up to level 16 druid. I did take the alertness feat so I can become shifter in future, although kinda pointless at this stage. With level 16 druid, can transform into elemental shapes (better than level 1 shifter minidragon shape). Would probably be good in HoU, cast spells killing everyone, and last resort (after all spells used) shift into elemental form.

So I've done wizard/sorc/druid. Should I try fighter, maybe rogue? Something that has nothing to do with spells since I've done them all?

I'll probably play first expansion, so will be starting with fresh character.

EDIT:

Hmm, maybe I'll be pale master.

[Dante]

Rogues can be fun. I never got into the fighter classes much, but that's true of all games so it's more a judgement on me than NWN. If you're particularly interested in spellcasters, Clerics have a few tricks up their sleeve. I think they share a lot of divine spells with druids, but I seem to recall that there's a far greater range.

Shifters though really come into their own post-20. Until then they're really just druids with some extra shapes, but after that they get things like Construct shape.

[Andrew]

I'm currently playing SoU as 'wizard', and now level 3 wizard, level 1 pale master. Hope pale master works out good, plan on upgrading to pale master each time.

Not sure if I'll be able to do good with no spells.

[Andrew]

So I just beat Shadow of Undrentide with my level 3wizard 10palemaster. Difficult in a couple spots.

Final boss was easy because it could not harm me in any way. Her spells didn't cause any damage, and neither did physical attack from her or summoned creature. She wiped out my summoned creatures (except one at the end). The main battle lasted maybe 5 minutes, with the end of it taking 10 because I could barely hurt her, and she couldn't kill me so I slowly killed her (thank goodness she doesn't regenerate or else it would never end).

Seems the best thing about pale master is the undead they can summon. Some defensive features, and some (current) low level 4 spells to attack while my demons take a beating.

[Andrew]

I'm quite confused now. I did some good things which made me non evil thus can not upgrade pale master. So I waited to upgrade until I did a couple evil things, and now I am neutral 50, evil 8. Was neutral 50, neutral 37 before doing 2 evil things, couldn't upgrade at that point.

I started my pale master (actually wizard) as lawful evil. So I'm confused as to why I can't upgrade my pale master!  >:(

Requirements for pale master:

level 3 spellcasting: got my level 3 mage. no problem

Alignment: any non good. As far as I can tell neutral should be allowed, and I was most likely neutral levelling up in shadow of undretide.

According to http://nwn.wikia.com/wiki/Alignment

I'm neutral evil, and thus would fit the "non good" profile. Is this some serious bug that screwed me over?

I currently have 3 level ups waiting to be used (tried using them , none were able to select pale master).

Hmm, on select premade character, my original was lawful 85 evil 15

And another (after completing shadow of undredtide?) lawful 71 neutral 42

Now that I think of it I havn't levelled up yet in Hordes of Underdark.

So I got LETO editor, changed myself in savegame form neutral to lawful to see if that would work (neutral/evil), but still no pale master level up possible. wtf?

EDIT:

Hmm, maybe I need a feat or something in order to become epic pale master? Currently on level 10 pale master, level 11 is first epic one, so must be something blocking me. But it doesn't say anywheres requirements for epic. I did choose a couple feats that were not recommended ones. I forget which exactly.

EDIT:

Think I found my answer:

To clear this up, you can't take 5 wizard/15 pale master in only 20 levels.

The rules state that you must take 10 levels in another class combination before any prestige class can reach the 11th level (provided that class supports more than 10).

So if you take wizard 5, palemaster 10, once you try to level up to 16, you will find it impossible to take anymore levels in palemaster until level 21 (when you have 10 in wizard, or another combination that is equivilent).

According to the above chart, that would mean that in order to summon a demi-lich, a person would have to have 30 levels in Pale Master, thus they would be a level 40 character due to requiring 10 levels in another class or combination of classes in order to surpass the 10th level of the prestige class and become epic.

Dammit, now I have to upgrade 7 more levels of wizard to start increasing my pale master again? :(

More accurate answer from wiki

At class level 10, level advancement in a prestige class stops until the character's total level (the sum of all their class levels) is 20 or higher. Once this threshold is crossed, the character may advance to level 11 and higher with his or her prestige class.

When playing hordes previously, I max character out at level 23 or 24, so It seems kinda pointless to continue to play knowing I can only upgrade my character 2 more pale master levels.

[Edric O]

Yes, you cannot take more than 10 levels in any single prestige class until you become an epic character (reach level 21). If you max out at level 24 in Hordes of the Underdark, then you will be able to have at most 14 levels of pale master.

In response to your earlier question, about different classes that you could play, there are 6 basic categories of characters:

1. Strength-based melee warrior. The classes most suited to this are Fighter, Paladin, Barbarian, and Monk (if you build your character right). You sound like you haven't tried this category yet. Don't think that just because all you do is hit things with your sword (or hammer or whatever), that makes the game boring. Not at all. Fighters get an enormous number of feats, paladins can Smite Evil, Turn Undead and cast a few spells, barbarians can Rage, and so on.

2. Dexterity-based archer. The best classes for this role are Ranger, Rogue, and Fighter (yes, fighters make good archers too, if you put all their ability points in Dex and take appropriate feats). If you go down this route, you might as well be an elf, take a few wizard levels, and go for the Arcane Archer prestige class (fireball arrows! save-or-die arrows!).

3. Defensive spellcaster. Cleric, Druid, or Bard. This type of character is mostly focused on casting buffing spells on his allies or himself - and weakening the enemy with reverse-buffing spells that will undermine his ability to fight. What you do after you're finished casting your buffing spells depends on the class. If you're a cleric, you can charge into battle or start using some of your offensive spells. You won't be as good as a fighter at melee combat and you won't be as good as a wizard at offensive spellcasting, but, unlike them, you can do both. If you're a druid, you can use Wildshape to turn into a creature good at physical combat. If you're a bard, you can and should charge into battle after you've started your Bardsong and used your spells.

4. Offensive spellcaster. Wizard or Sorcerer... or a Cleric that spams Harm spells. You've already played this several times. Blast away the enemy with damage-dealing spells. Wizards and Sorcerers are designed for this, but, with a little effort, you can do it with a Cleric too. The key lies in using the wonderful Cleric spell called Harm. Harm will reduce any living enemy (as in, not undead and not golem) to 1d4 hit points if you are successful at a touch attack. And you can achieve the same effect on undead with the Heal spell. This is insanely overpowered. In Hordes of the Underdark, my cleric's battle with the Valsharess lasted about 10 seconds. I cast Harm on her, then hit her once with my mace, and she was dead. If you want to be a Harming Cleric, you should definitely take Still Spell or Silent Spell as a feat, so you can use your 7th level spell slots for more Harm spells.

5. Stealthy rogue. The only class suited for this is the Rogue, but you may then go for prestige classes like Shadowdancer and Assassin. It's a lot like being a Dex-based archer, except you fight melee instead, and you stay hidden until you strike your enemy with a crippling Sneak Attack. Combined with the Shadowdancer prestige class, which lets you go back into stealth mode while in combat (basically, disappear into thin air), this can be lots of fun. It's most fun when you do it online against human opponents, though. :)

6. Monk. Monks are really in a category of their own. They are melee warriors, but not the same kind as fighters or barbarians. In the lower levels, monks are not that good. After about level 12, though, they become exceptionally good at killing spellcasters. After level 20, they become insanely good at killing spellcasters. Monks receive all sorts of abilities, resistances and immunities as they progress in level. A monk is really a sort of defensive melee warrior. As a monk, you win not by doing a lot of damage, but by virtue of being immune to most of the things the enemy is using against you. Oh, and you can move really fast.

[Andrew]

I had Harm spell as a druid. Killed some dragons pretty easy, along with final boss henchmen in original NWN. :P

I guess good thing about getting level 10 wizard is that I'll have some decent spells. I currently have 2 rings that give +6 intelligence each, so I can remember most spells I've learned. I just want to upgrade my summon greater undead so I can get the vampire rogue instead of current spectre. Also get an epic spell at level 13 (will choose non summon spell as I already got lots of those).