Neverwinter Nights 2 (May Contain Spoilers!! - Please Use Tags)

[Jae Onasi]

My 'regular' DVD version of NWN2 came with the 177 page manual as well, and I think the PDF file, come to think of it.

[Achilles]

Or perhaps you are meant to procure it via the special five finger discount, or you can't steal from shops in NWN2? (haven't played a rogue yet)

Don't get me started! Ok, first, no that item isn't set to pickpocketable (I checked ). Second, pickpocketing sucks in NWN2. It would seem that there is roll made to determine whether you steal gold or if you steal items. Now the items, for the most part, seem to be pretty cool, however you can literally stand there for 20+ minutes pickpocketing a merchant and not get any items at all. There is a 5 second delay between pickpocket attempts, which is exacerbated by fact that you have to right-click and hold to select pickpocket. In other words, it takes a really freakin' long time to clear someone out.

 

If you get gold, then it's somewhere between 20 and 50 gold piece for each attempt. Pickpocketed items have zero value, although they are generally items that you would want to keep anyway (also note that they are not items that appear in the merchant's inventory. The good news is that Uncus will buy them from you if you end up deciding to get rid of your stolen goods.

 

Also, I've only tested this in Neverwinter, but it appears that only merchants carry gold or items on their person (i.e. no pickpocketing random people).

 

There are two ways that I know of: <snip much goodness>

Thanks!

 

I just got a tiny pamphlet with the game containing little more than installation instructions and a step by step guide to what buttons you should push at the main menu to start a new game. No useful reference information at all. The full manual was just provided as a PDF file on the DVD disc.

Maybe it's region-dependent (???).

[Lantzen]

It's region dependent , the EU version dont have the manual and the US have it. Dont know about the special edition, but i assume you get it if you buy the special edition in EU

[stoffe]

It's region dependent , the EU version dont have the manual and the US have it. Dont know about the special edition, but i assume you get it if you buy the special edition in EU

 

From what I've heard the EU limited edition also only features a PDF manual like the "regular" game does. (Atari Europe should learn from Take2 that it is quite possible to ship a 200+ page manual with a game that comes in a DVD box. Worked quite well for Civilization 4 after all. Games like these need a reference manual you can look things up in while you play since too many things are poorly explained (or not at all explained) in-game.)

 

* * *

 

Do anyone know if there is an INI setting or an XML file to modify to allow the Examine screen to display any status effects on non-party NPCs like in NWN1? It's rather annoying when you can't see if your debilitating spells have any effect on your targets.

[Achilles]

Hey, it looks as though 1.03 is official today.

 

The release notes for 1.03-Official are much more detailed than 1.03-Beta. You can check them out here if you'd like.

[stoffe]

Hey, it looks as though 1.03 is official today.

 

The release notes for 1.03-Official are much more detailed than 1.03-Beta. You can check them out here if you'd like.

 

Lovely update, now the NWN2Toolset crashes during startup every time. Just when I thought it couldn't get much worse Obsidian is glad to prove me wrong. Seems like it's wise not just to stay away from their beta versions but from their release updates as well.

 

Perhaps Obsidian expects that if people's opinion of them gets low enough it will overflow and wrap around...

[Achilles]

 

I am so thankful to be one of the lucky ones that manages to somehow avoid all of Obsidian's show stopping bugs.

[stoffe]

I am so thankful to be one of the lucky ones that manages to somehow avoid all of Obsidian's show stopping bugs.

 

Seems it wasn't just me who got that problem, after some digging around. Apparently the Toolset will henceforth crash when starting up unless you have Windows set to the English (United States) regional setting locale. At least it works, even if it's quirky having to change the regional settings back and forth all the time.

 

Other than that the patch seems to work OK so far, though enabling Shadows and Water Reflections are still out of the question if I want a framerate averaging higher than 15-20 FPS. At least the anti-aliasing didn't cause any noticeable performance drop. Somewhat less apparent jagged edges are nice.

 

The load screens have started flickering like mad when using nwn2main_amdxp.exe as well now in 1.03 though, which they only did with nwn2main.exe before. Good thing I don't suffer from epilepsy or I'd have gotten a seizure from that for sure. I suppose it's bearable as long as it only happens at the load screens, even if it's annoying.

 

* * *

 

Am I just doing something wrong, or is the "whirlwind attack" feat horribly broken in NWN2? Seems like I can only use it once. If I try to use it again after that the character will get stuck with it in the action queue but nothing will happen. After that it's impossible to perform any combat action at all (attacks, spells etc), even after quitting the game and reloading. Only going back to an earlier save before using the feat fixed it.

[SpaceAlex]

I don't have Windows language set to English, and the toolset works just fine. So, i don't think that's the problem.

 

Perhaps there is a problem with your windows username. I remember that when my username contained some non-english letters, some programs wouldn't work (mainly those that install some critical files into "my documents", or any other folder inside your username)...when i changed the name, all those programs that wouldn't start before, were working now.

 

Now i don't really belive that's the problem with NWN2 Toolset, but it might be worth a try (if your username contains some non-english letters that is).

[Achilles]

Posted by Nathaniel Chapman, Assistant Producer:

 

"For those of you who are encountering crashes running the toolset at the "Creating Default Windows..." step, we have identified the issue and are working on a fix. In the meantime, a workaround is to alter your Windows region and language settings to English(United States). This should fix the issue."

[Astrotoy7]

.... Good thing I don't suffer from epilepsy or I'd have gotten a seizure from that for sure. I suppose it's bearable as long as it only happens at the load screens, even if it's annoying....

 

Bugger. I do have epilepsy.... thanks for the heads up !

 

just a quick question, does the toolset allow to mod the faces colors.. basically I want a face for an evil wizard character in black metal style corpsepaint

 

KRIEG !

 

 

mtfbwya

[Lantzen]

Does anyone know how the multiplayer works? There is like 10 diffrent game types, whats the diffrent with them? And when i tryed to join a game, i got an error saying i coulden't load the module

[stoffe]

just a quick question, does the toolset allow to mod the faces colors.. basically I want a face for an evil wizard character in black metal style corpsepaint

 

You can edit the available skin/hair/eyes color palette choices for each playable race by finding its corresponding color_*.2da file (i.e. color_human.2da for humans). There is a column in that file for each skin/hair/eye part there where you can set the available color choices with standard html-like hex RGB values.

 

Don't think you can add reflective/metallic color choices to the palette though, unlike NWN1, but I may be wrong. (If you want to add tattoos and such to a head that have none you'll probably have to re-skin the head texture though.)

 

(If you mean for NPCs and not the player character you can change the skin color tint with a normal color picker dialog box in the UTC editor.)

[Astrotoy7]

...and the satisfaction of knowing that you're a sucker

lolz... nope. its easy to get you rhands on things without paying for them these days. NWN was available here before official Oz release date and was doing the rounds at LANs I float around at. When its a game you are really going to play alot you need to support that Co. BioWare/Obsidian/Black Isle have provided us all with hours upon hours of entertainment through their products. I'll hand over money gladly to them... as for EA... we wont go there....

 

@Stoffe Thanks for the reply that unfortunately sounds quite complicated for the likes of me...and would be quite time consuming til I got over the learning curve. Im more a hardware guy

 

I will keep my eye out for mods where someone far more talented has already done the hard work...wheres a nice place to go for such things ?

 

I updated to 1.03. Luckily Im not getting the flickering, which is very relieving considering my condition The chat box thing went haywire again ! You'd think theyd fix it.... freakin' Muppets

 

All was restored after re-applying the xml patch I linked to earlier..........

[Jae Onasi]

Hey! I love the Muppets! Do not disrespect the Muppets!!!

Where else are you going to see the latest creation of the Swedish chef, the most recent experiment of Dr. Honeydew (usually to the detriment of poor Beaker), a loving relationship between a narcissistic pig and a pushover frog, and get lines like "Veterinarian's Hospital--where the quacks have gone to the dogs!" and "Light the lamp, not the rat! Light the lamp, not the rat! Put me out! Put me out! Put me out!!"

 

You know, that disk could have been photoshopped in.... *Jae runs away before Astro whaps her over the head with a copy of the Official English-Valley Girl/Valley-Girl-English translation guide*

 

Jimbo and I are in the middle of our games, and I'm loathe to do anything with the patch atm until we both finish our first games--we're both a little under half-way done at this point (he caught up and surpassed me because I potter around the alchemist and magician benches too much)-- Then we'll apply it and see what happens there, because I already want to try a second game and I've not even finished the first play-through.

[Astrotoy7]

Hey! I love the Muppets! Do not disrespect the Muppets!!!

 

lolz...calling someone a "muppet" is intended to disrespect them, not the muppets!! It's an England/UK phrase that has caught on here in Oz to a degree. (But I think when we say it we are also mocking the English, which is the first and foremost nationalistic duty of all Australians around the world )

 

First time I heard it was in the awesome Guy Ritchie film, "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels" - it was used to describe these two incompetent thieves. It highlights the clumsiness and clowning around, which the muppets are so good at - but when applied to a someone trying to achieve a more serious objective, shows them up as being incompetemt. [/end modern vernacular lesson]

 

You know, that disk could have been photoshopped in....*Jae runs away before Astro whaps her over the head with a copy of the Official English-Valley Girl/Valley-Girl-English translation guide*

 

That is like, so like, wrong like. OK

 

Like I said, Im a hardware guy Playing RPGs is enough mouse point and click for me to handle, let alone photoshopping

 

mtfbwya

[stoffe]

@Stoffe Thanks for the reply that unfortunately sounds quite complicated for the likes of me...and would be quite time consuming til I got over the learning curve. Im more a hardware guy

 

If you want to try it you can do something like this:

1. Run the NWN2Toolset (NWN2ToolsetLauncher.exe in the main game folder).
    
    
   
2. Go to the "View" menu and select the "2DA file" option.
    
    
   
3. In the "Pick 2DA" window that opens, scroll down until you find the color 2DA file for the race you want to play as, i.e. "color_tiefling" if you want to play as a Tiefling. Select it and press OK.
    
    
   
4. A spreadsheet-like tab will now open, where each column contains the available color picks for a particular body part (hair1, hair2, hair accessory, skin, eyes, body hair) that you can assign new color to at character creation. The values here are in hexadecimal RGB format, similar to what is used in HTML on the web to specify colors. Just pick one of the available colors you don't like and replace it with the RGB value of a color you want, and press "Save" up right under the tab to save the modified 2DA file in the override folder.
    
   If you have Adobe Photoshop or any other decent graphics program at your disposal you can use it to view/generate hex-RGB values for you in the color picker window. There are probably tons of converters available on WWW/google as well. The Toolset's own color picker can show/give hex-RGB values as well, if you can stand the constant crashes when using it.
    
   If not you can just take the Red, Green and Blue palette values any color picker (like IrfanView) can give you and convert them to hex with the Windows Calculator set to scientific mode and put each value after the other. For example R=129 (0x81), G=145 (0x91), B=254 (0xFE) would become 8191FE in hex.
   

 

I will keep my eye out for mods where someone far more talented has already done the hard work...wheres a nice place to go for such things ?

 

NWVault is the foremost site for NWN1 mods, and I believe they aspire to be the same for NWN2 as well. If it exists they likely have it.

 

 

All was restored after re-applying the xml patch I linked to earlier. It may indeed have something to do with disagreeing with using a no-cd patch, which I always use, to protect my discs... and before anyone even dares accuse of me playing a leeched copy, look at the pic

 

Be careful with using pre-1.03 GUI modifications with the 1.03 patch though, seems like there are some issues and bugs that can result from it since they've changed things around.

 

You are likely correct about the No-CD patch, I've read that the permanent chatbox bug is caused by it, so you'll probably have to hope for them to release a better no-cd patch (or Atari to gather their wits and stop punishing paying customers with intrusive protection like SecuROM, though I suspect hell will freeze over before that happens).

 

Speaking of which, seems like they've combined the chat box and the feedback log in 1.03, making that box much larger than before. Nasty.

 

* * *

 

Also about the GUI changes, are there some way of examining your party members to check out their character description in 1.03? After the patch the "Examine" menu option seems to bring up their character sheet instead. Nice for summons and animal companions since it allows you to view their stats, but rather meaningless for party members since you can do that with the C key anyway.

[Tupac Amaru]

Also about the GUI changes, are there some way of examining your party members to check out their character description in 1.03? After the patch the "Examine" menu option seems to bring up their character sheet instead.

Yes, you have to make the character you wish to examine the party leader first.

[stoffe]

@Tupac Amaru: That seems to have worked. Thanks. (Except for summons and animal companions since you can't switch to control them.)

 

Seems the latest patch still don't make the Examine screen useful in letting you see what status effects are applied to enemies, and you still can't see the alignment values on the character sheets.

 

So I put together a quick script to work around the problem, displaying those things along with a bunch of other stats for the selected character. I figured I'd post it here as well in case someone else would find it useful.

 

If you want it, unzip the attached file into your override folder. Then, in-game select (right-click to make the portrait appear at the top of the screen) any character in the game world, pull down the console and type DebugMode 1 (to enable running of scripts if you haven't already) then followed by rs st_inspect in a new line. This will display stats for the selected character in the report window. (Remember to close the report window before running the script again on another character since it doesn't seem to update otherwise.)

 

Regarding displayed inventory: The flags displayed within () for inventory items held by the character mean:

E = equipped

P = plot item

D = droppable

S = stolen

C = cursed

...and the text inside the [] following the item name is the ResRef of the template the item is based on (since the normal character info dump command shows the tags of inventory items already).

[Astrotoy7]

@stoffe - thanks for the mini tutorial. Have CnPasted - may give it a try when I get up to doing a campaign as wizard - still havent finished first OC with Drow Male(lawful good), then have to do drow female(chaotic evil) so wont be a while yet !

 

mtfbwya

[stoffe]

Do most quests with a violent and non-violent resolution choice consistently give much poorer rewards if you avoid bloodshed? It certainly seems that way. The difficulty with those quest conversations turn more into dodging the Diplomacy/Intimidate/Bluff choices that might lead away from a fight than the other way around.

 

For example: Did the Fort bandit quest early on both ways to see the difference:

 

Peaceful negotiate+persuade solution reward: 400 XP, 500 GP.

 

Violent "kill them all" solution reward: 862 XP, 500 GP, Astral Blade +1, Studded Leather Armor +1, 3 scrolls, +1 influence with Neeshka.

 

Rather significant difference that early on.

[Jae Onasi]

"Violence--for lack of a better word--is Good.

 

Violence is right.

 

Violence works.

 

Violence clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

 

Violence, in all of its forms -- violence for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind.

 

And violence -- you mark my words -- will not only save your character, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the Neverwinter Nine."

 

Sorry--couldn't resist the spoof of the Gekko 'Greed is Good' thing!!!

 

Edit: And _finally_ made it to Act 2.

[Astrotoy7]

Riddle me this NWNers:

 

Has anyone noticed that as of Act III, you encounter Melee Battles that are VERY damn hard, a siginificant jump. I have a reasonably strong character at lvl 16 Ranger/Paladin/Cleric/NWN Nine, who has had no huge trouble dispatching foes until Act III, as long as I keep my wits about me.. It just seems a big jump thats all The presence of

Ammon Jerro

seems to have made things a bit more difficult, or it could be just a coincidence ??

 

Has anybody else who have fought

 

1. Light of Heavens

or

 

2. The Red Dragon (Trop....xysis or something like that)

or

 

3. The Lizardfolk Chieftain(Baathu-sic - Im crap with names)

 

 

encountered anything similar since A3 started. I managed to beat #1. Got away from #2. by running away!!(It let me even though my party was down !? - weird) I have made several attempts to beat her, even with the

Fire Giants

help, but have never gotten her down past half damage. Is there a special spell I can use ? I do have some 1337 fire retardant gear now - I want to go back and finish her off !!

 

Im still stuck at #3 but I think I might get the slimy bugger when I have a go later

 

mtfbwya

[stoffe]

Has anyone noticed that as of Act III, you encounter Melee Battles that are VERY damn hard, a siginificant jump. I have a reasonably strong character at lvl 16 Ranger/Paladin/Cleric/NWN Nine, who has had no huge trouble dispatching foes until Act III, as long as I keep my wits about me..

 

Could be a "Jack of all Trades" result of your character being heavily multiclassed, greater versatility vs. less specialization perhaps? Or depend on what party members you bring along to the fights. Act 3 was a bit harder for my single-classed cleric (Air/Water), but not very much so in my experience. Perhaps I just got lucky with the rolls for once.

 

 

It just seems a big jump thats all The presence of AJ seems to have made things a bit more difficult, or it could be just a coincidence ??

 

Could depend on the rest of your party composition. With AJ instead of SJ in the party you get one less assured tank, and if you give SJ good armor and a tower shield she was a very good tank. In my opinion AJ requires more micromanagement to use properly since the AI seems to be completely brain dead in its use of invocations and prefers to throw him into melee pretty much all the time when he seems more suited as an "archer" type with the unlimited ranged spells and all. (Also keep in mind that you can switch out some invocations he already knows for new ones on levelup, if you haven't already.)

 

My take on the mentioned fights:

 

Has anybody else who have fought LoH

 

A pretty nasty encounter if you are primarily a caster type since LoH starts the fight right in your face all the times, leading to trouble if you don't have defensive spells up already. I managed to beat her with my cleric using Blade Barrier and Harm, using Defensive Casting so she couldn't interrupt me. Keep the Aasimar racial resistances (5/- acid, cold, lightning) in mind if you use a weapon that deals elemental damage.

 

Tholapsyx

 

Those are supposed to be some of the toughest creatures you can fight, and I think the fight is optional. I managed to get through it by purchasing a stack of Resurrection scrolls beforehand and bringing back fallen party members to rejoin the fight as they dropped. Used Elanee, Qara, Khelgar and AJ in that fight.

 

Aside from that I spread out the party in a ring around her so they won't all be nailed by AoE spells and abilities at the same time. Then I spammed Ice Storm and Cone of Cold with my Cleric, Elanee and Qara since she's more vulnerable to Cold than other damage types, sniped from afar with AJs Eldritch Blast and had Khelgar tank her. Then the usual deal with Divine Might, Righteous Might, Blade Barrier and Harm with my cleric. Party buffed with Aura of Vitality (Elanee), Protection from Evil, Prayer and Energy Immunity:Fire at the beginning.

 

Took a while and roughly 4 resurrections of party members, but eventually she was defeated.

 

Bantha

 

Level 20 Wizard Lizard, if I remember correctly. Either bring Adamantine weapons or something to dispel its Premonition with or the fight will take longer than necessary. A Silence spell made the fight much easier through since it disabled most enemy spellcasting.

 

Keep in mind that Death spells are a complete waste of time to use against Bantha since they do nothing at all, like with many other opponents that likes to talk when beaten (i.e. Immortal-flagged). (Ironically Death spells are more useful against Immortal enemies when they succeed their save since they tend to take a bit of damage then at least. If they fail their save nothing happens at all.) Death spells may be useful to quickly dispatch the minions though, if you have them. Preferable Weird or Wail of the Banshee so you can get many at once.

[Astrotoy7]

Thanks Stoffe

 

LoH is the only one Im having luck against, probably since my character is also a in melee fighter and can duke it out with her (ive done 2 out of the 3 trials)

 

The wizard lizard is still kicking my a$$ but I have gotten to the but where he changes shape. Interesting he is Level 20. I should study up on what my spellcasters can do. I havent used Qara at all(apart from when she was requested), but use elanee and sand frequently.

 

Is the lizard alliance that helpful ??? The other thing is that armourer from Highcliff probably wont come to the keep until I defeat it Bugger

 

Im not going to bother with the dragon....4 rounds of resurrection, lolz...sounds like the old Final Fantasy battles that sometimes went for over an hour (I still have Nightmares about being in an endless battle against boss monsters from FF9 and FF10)

 

Another thing Ive noticed, the only shopkeepers I can access are the ones at my keep. As I havent paid much attention to crafting or making stuff, Ive drained my stock of potions. How does one make a heal/cure serious wounds potion ?? I think I threw that book away Even with all the buffing spells etc, I think the way I have things set up, I last longer if some of us are well stocked

 

shows you Im more into swords than scrolls

 

also, does anyone have any tips for making more money for the keep ?? Ive found all the ore I can but I need $50k to rebuild the church/monastery(havent decided which)? what have others done in this instance ??

 

phaw, its 5 am - played about 10 hours today terrible. Only for NWN !!

 

mtfbwya