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

[stoffe]

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.

 

Personally I find Qara more useful in battle than Sand. She has less spells to pick from, but the ones she already knows when she joins up are all useful unlike the junk Sand comes with (where the scrolls to improve his selection may be hard to find), and you don't really need that many spells of each level, just a select few. I find the extra castings/day and freedom to apply metamagic on the fly more useful.

 

Elanee is always useful in both Melee and as a caster IMHO, in particular this late in the game if you've gotten some good gear for her. Good armor + premonition makes her as good a tank as Khelgar, if not better. I tend to keep her non-shapechanged most of the time though, and use the Wildshape uses for other feats instead that can use them for more useful effects. I occasionally use the elemental forms when dealing with some enemies, but not often.

 

Khelgar kicks serious enemy posterior once he's got all the Ironfist relics, so I tend to bring him along after that as well.

 

Is the lizard alliance that helpful ???

 

I found them quite handy. They have decent hitpoints, come with spears and can cast druid spells. Overall I found the Dwarf and Lizardmen allies more useful than your own supposedly elite human troops.

 

The number of alliances made might be used for "behind the scenes" calculations as well to determine how successful you are at the battle, but that's just speculation on my part so far. At least I certainly didn't see all of my 400 troops during the battle.

 

 

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)

 

Those were mostly for Khelgar though since he tanked her alone to keep her off my spellcasters and others who either attacked from afar or made hit & run attacks. If I was more diligent with healing him in time it could probably have been avoided.

 

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?

 

There are some new street vendors in the Neverwinter Merchant Quarter in Act 3 as well, though I suppose that part might become unavailable once you reach a certain point. I think the merchants in Port Llast are still there as well.

 

As for making potions you just cast the spell you want to potionize on an empty potion bottle in your inventory. It's a bit of a rip-off to make home-made potions though since you can at most use level 3 (or was it 4?) single-targeting spells for potions, and they cost you thousands of gold to make. Mostly worthless feature IMHO since you can usually buy a potion of the same type much cheaper than it costs you to make it yourself, and really useful ones such as Heal Potions cannot be made at all (I wonder where they come from...)

 

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 ??

 

I usually just pay the exta gold from my own pocket instead, since selling unneeded loot will earn you gold more quickly than keep taxes will. Not worth the extra hazzle of trying to stick to the keep treasury. And you can always get some of the money back in the later parts of Act 3 when the keep starts to get rolling and money flows in better by withdrawing funds from the treasury.

 

Though I suppose you might have more personal need for the gold if you have the Limited Edition with the extra items and sets to buy. In Standard Edition there isn't really that much worthwhile left to buy by the beginning of act 3 anyway since most of the good stuff is found as loot instead.

[Astrotoy7]

Thank you again stoffe

 

Yes, all the vendors from everywhere are unavailable. I might have to sell some of my 1337 stuff if that is the best way to generate cash to open the shop in the keep If I opened a monastery, do they sell things like the church does or would they moreso contribute to training(if at all) ??

 

mtfbwya

[stoffe]

Yes, all the vendors from everywhere are unavailable. I might have to sell some of my 1337 stuff if that is the best way to generate cash to open the shop in the keep If I opened a monastery, do they sell things like the church does or would they moreso contribute to training(if at all) ??

 

While I haven't tried it personally yet I've gotten the impression by poking around the files that the Monastery works pretty much like the church, only that they have a more unique quest to offer if your main character is a monk as well, which supposedly is a bit more elaborate than the simple Dragon quest the temple offers you.

 

As for merchants, did you find the drow merchant in the FG King canyon inside the wooden enclosure? I completely missed her the first time in all the excitement, and she blends in too well against the backgrounds. She can be convinced to set up shop at CK as well, though I suppose it might be bad for morale or civility to have a drow around there.

 

Other than that I think you can pick up...

Deekin in Neverwinter, the armor smith from Highcliff, the weapon smith from Fort Locke, Orlen in Harbor Watch and Light of Heaven's sister Joy in Neverwinter. On the sergeant side I suspect you can only recruit Light of Heavens herself if your main character isn't evil. Bevil and Katriona should work for everyone, and you can get Jalboun to join you if you make him turn on Sydney Natale by offering him twice what she pays him when she tries to ambush you. Jalboun is only good for Special Ops assignments though since you're worse off with him than without if assigned to anything else. But he's very good at SpecOps on the other hand.

 

[Astrotoy7]

interesting info Thanks !

 

I think I'll go with the church I havent noticed the drow vendor - the only enclosure I came across had Luskan prisoners in it. I guess there must be another one I dont think the keep would be too upset, after all - their Knight-Captain is a Drow, and a member of the Nine. If only they could get jiggy - it's hard for a Drow to find Love on the surface At this stage its only Elanee that seems to have the hots for me, and SJ has moved on...

 

Joy only wants to dance atm Maybe after I beat LoH the 3rd time

 

Poor Jalboun was a member of my party for about 2 minutes - he got killed by Sydney and didnt seem to get resurrected

 

I cant seem to get to Fort Locke anymore - maybe after I defeat that damn Lizard

 

and I cannot remember meeting anyone called Katriona.... maybe only appears for evil campaigners ??

 

now, time to kick some wizard lizard a$$....

 

mtfbwya

[stoffe]

Warning - Spoilers ahead relating to CK and the early parts of Act 3.

 

I think I'll go with the church I havent noticed the drow vendor - the only enclosure I came across had Luskan prisoners in it. I guess there must be another one

 

It's in the same small canyon area where you find the Fire Giant King and (potentially) fight the big red lady, not in the mountains area where the others are. It's on the right-hand side from the entrance passage, it's really easy to miss if you aren't looking for it. She's standing inside a dark wooden enclosure.

 

I dont think the keep would be too upset, after all - their Knight-Captain is a Drow, and a member of the Nine. If only they could get jiggy - it's hard for a Drow to find Love on the surface At this stage its only Elanee that seems to have the hots for me

 

Well... since she was part of the Luskan caravan it's probably a sure bet she's either evil or involved in shady dealings, so it might have some effect. Though it's probably not worse than keeping Uncus around at the fort.

 

Joy only wants to dance atm Maybe after I beat LoH the 3rd time

 

Hmm, I don't think you need to beat LoH all three times, if I remember correctly I picked up Joy after I fought LoH in the merchant district. It may need some convincing, I don't remember for sure. You can recruit her as a dancer for the tavern in the Keep to make it more attractive for travelers.

 

Poor Jalboun was a member of my party for about 2 minutes - he got killed by Sydney and didnt seem to get resurrected

 

I suppose you need him alive to be able to recruit him. I had Qara cast Stoneskin on him and put a Death Ward on him by my cleric, just in case, and healed him when necessary, so he survived. Using True Seeing spells (or Nasher's reward amulet from the trial) probably help as well to take care of those annoying invisible assassins before they sneak attack someone.

[Astrotoy7]

lolz...I hope others are getting benefit out of this, othewise it a chatski between me and the very knowledgable stoffe... though as we are both 1337 Level 20 mods and have cast a Death Ward, we may be able to continue - since this is a relevant thread for a game which many are playing.

 

*I finally beat that wretched Lizard with Qara, Zhjaeve, Khelgar n me - I cant say Khelgar did much - even though he has the highest HP of all of us and great equip(including the ironfist stuff) The AI on Zhjaeve seemed to kick into gear(finally) and she was dealing major damage - funnily enough - I discovered I hadnt equipped her with a sword, just a shield for this encounter - this seemed to make her stand back and let loose, rather than go in close and get creamed by that stupid Lizard.

 

However, the biggest let down was he point blank refused to joing the fight, and carried on about me poisoning his land SUX. Anyway, had one go at LOH and just missed out - another go later with some great equipment since that highcliff armorer came down

 

Stll, having some great fun, great to back in the midst of a classic style RPG.

 

mtfbwya

[stoffe]

The AI on Zhjaeve seemed to kick into gear(finally) and she was dealing major damage - funnily enough - I discovered I hadnt equipped her with a sword, just a shield for this encounter - this seemed to make her stand back and let loose, rather than go in close and get creamed by that stupid Lizard.

 

Clerics rock, though I didn't really like bringing Zhjaeve when I didn't have to since I played as a cleric myself and she was much weaker than my main char for some reason. Probably her horrible Domain choices and that Githzerai ECL+2 that was killing her usefulness a fair bit. (I think that's a rather big penalty just for having some innate spell resistance. In particular seeing how easy and cheap it would be to just make an item with an equal or higher amount of spell resistance.) But she's probably a lot more useful to bring along if you aren't a cleric yourself.

 

However, the biggest let down was he point blank refused to joing the fight, and carried on about me poisoning his land

 

Hmm, maybe there's some Diplo check you must make to convince him, I don't remember. It probably also helps if you've befriended Slaan during your first visit to Highcliff and solved the Lizardmen Ship Sabotage problem peacefully without killing any lizards. At least I hope it does, it would show a type of longsightedness that's rather unusual in games where choices early can have real ramifications later. (The trial was another such moment where you can help Torio's case tremendously by making stupid choices earlier in the game.)

 

At any rate it is possible to convince the lizard chief he's being manipulated by the KOSH and make him form an alliance with you after you've beaten him in the fight (which seems unavoidable).

[stoffe]

How do you activate the Construct in the CK basement? I've found the Tome of Golemcraft (in the CK library) and the rune-inscribed metal piece (in the Illefarn ruins) and given them to Grobnar, but he still seems to need some sort of glowing ink to scribe the runes with. I thought it had to do with the Glowstone in the Goblin caves in Duskwood, but I can't seem to do anything special with the stone, nor with the "sacred pool" it was next to.

 

I never could figure out how to get the Construct operational in my first playthrough and I'd rather not miss that part on my second playthrough as well now...

[Achilles]

With Grobnar in your party, approach the "sacred pool" next to where you found the Glowstone. This is how you find the "ink".

 

Construct is a brute and makes a fine addition to a neutral or evil party (his alignment is neutral, but I just don't feel the "RP" roaming around with a behemoth like that while playing it good).

 

Word of warning re: Construct and the end of the game

 

Your influence over Construct is determined by your influence over Grobnar. So if you don't stay on Grobby's good side, you'll lose Construct during the final fight.

 

 

EDIT: Also a sneaky way to upgrade Construct if you don't have a lot of points in your Craft skills

[stoffe]

With Grobnar in your party, approach the "sacred pool" next to where you found the Glowstone. This is how you find the "ink".

 

Thanks, that would explain why I never found it, since I rarely walk around with Grobnar in the party. Too few available slots for that, in particular in Act 2 where SJ is glued to you. I miss the BG2 6 person party.

 

Construct is a brute and makes a fine addition to a neutral or evil party (his alignment is neutral, but I just don't feel the "RP" roaming around with a behemoth like that while playing it good).

 

I'd assume the Construct will be the strong, silent type in conversations as well, being a mindless automaton and all. Still might come in handy in act 3 during the parts where you do much fighting and little talking.

 

Speaking of which, can Kistrel do anything other than weave a fairly unremarkable cloak for you? Can you get him/her to help out during the siege?

 

Word of warning re: Construct and the end of the game

 

 

Hmm, only Qara and Bishop betrayed me in the ritual chamber when Garius turned on his charm during my last playthrough (and both for completely illogical reasons), so Grobnar will probably be OK this time around as well. Seems like Bishop is trying to convince Grobnar to tell him the Construct's command word however, so maybe he'll tell Garius anyway. I guess I'll have Elanee memorize a Crumble spell before the final battle, just in case.

 

 

[Achilles]

I'd assume the Construct will be the strong, silent type in conversations as well, being a mindless automaton and all. Still might come in handy in act 3 during the parts where you do much fighting and little talking.

Exactly.

 

Speaking of which, can Kistrel do anything other than weave a fairly unremarkable cloak for you? Can you get him/her to help out during the siege?

No and no.

 

 

 

Hmm, only Qara and Bishop betrayed me in the ritual chamber when Garius turned on his charm during my last playthrough (and both for completely illogical reasons), so Grobnar will probably be OK this time around as well. Seems like Bishop is trying to convince Grobnar to tell him the Construct's command word however, so maybe he'll tell Garius anyway. I guess I'll have Elanee memorize a Crumble spell before the final battle, just in case.

 

Wow, you kept Neeshka too? I've heard there are 3 influence checks for her during that dialog. I seem to only pass two of them. Breaks my heart everytime too, cuz I tend to go out of my way to "reform" her.

 

Yes, Grobnar is easy to influence if you play good. Unfortunately, I tend not to upgrade Construct when I play good, so...

 

If you play evil (and fail the influence check with Grobnar), Bishop will reveal that Grobnar did share the command word and illuminate for him that he probably shouldn't have (which is how you lose Construct).

 

And yes...lots of Crumble spells

 

[stoffe]

Re: Neeshka

 

Wow, you kept Neeshka too? I've heard there are 3 influence checks for her during that dialog. I seem to only pass two of them. Breaks my heart everytime too, cuz I tend to go out of my way to "reform" her.

 

 

Yes, though I suppose there is no way to prevent her being snatched away as soon as you enter the temple (or whatever the place is) to maximize the annoyance of having to wade through that trap&lock filled area without a rogue.

 

Anyway, when I met her again in the ritual chamber after some coaxing she said something like that she didn't care if she would die but she wouldn't turn on the only person who had ever been kind to her, and then she re-joined the party again.

 

 

 

Re: Grobnar and Bishop

 

 

If you play evil (and fail the influence check with Grobnar), Bishop will reveal that Grobnar did share the command word and illuminate for him that he probably shouldn't have (which is how you lose Construct).

 

 

 

So that happens automatically (Grobnar talking too much) if you don't have enough influence with him? Otherwise there is nothing you need to do to ensure the Construct stays loyal?

 

I didn't fight Bishop even though he betrayed us in my last playthrough either. I failed a few influence checks but managed to convince him that Garius was no better than Duncan in manipulating him, and then he simply walked out of there. I think I'll crush him this time instead though, it's more than he deserves.

 

[Achilles]

Yes, though I suppose there is no way to prevent her being snatched away as soon as you enter the temple (or whatever the place is) to maximize the annoyance of having to wade through that trap&lock filled area without a rogue.

 

Anyway, when I met her again in the ritual chamber after some coaxing she said something like that she didn't care if she would die but she wouldn't turn on the only person who had ever been kind to her, and then she re-joined the party again.

Re: Neeshka

 

Gah. You know, I bent over backwards to be nice to her and she always (begrudgingly) joins Garius. I wonder if that's a bug that was fixed with a patch or something. Along those lines, I noticed that my influence with Shandra took a dive in Grandpa Ammon's haven when I played as a female. Maybe this is one of those *shrugs*

 

 

 

 

So that happens automatically (Grobnar talking too much) if you don't have enough influence with him? Otherwise there is nothing you need to do to ensure the Construct stays loyal?

 

I didn't fight Bishop even though he betrayed us in my last playthrough either. I failed a few influence checks but managed to convince him that Garius was no better than Duncan in manipulating him, and then he simply walked out of there. I think I'll crush him this time instead though, it's more than he deserves.

 

Not sure I understand the question. If you fail the influence check with Grobnar, he stays but Bishop takes control of Construct. If you pass the influence check, both stay with you and Bishop is on his own to do whatever.

 

If you have high enough influence with Bishop, he will leave before the party starts. Crushing him does feel pretty good though.

 

 

 

EDIT: More news re: Bishop vs. Construct/Grobnar

 

If you have influence with Bishop, he will leave the fight before it starts. In these cases, he will leave Construct/Grobnar alone so you don't have to worry about losing your tank

 

[SpaceAlex]

Thanks, that would explain why I never found it, since I rarely walk around with Grobnar in the party. Too few available slots for that, in particular in Act 2 where SJ is glued to you. I miss the BG2 6 person party.

 

It is possible to raise the limit to whatever you want, but i wouldn't recommend more than 6... it makes the game laggy, and could eventually lead to problems with some quests. 6 party members at once works fine though...i could finish the game without any problems.

 

To raise the limit to 6, type rs ga_party_limit(6) in the console.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

It is possible to raise the limit to whatever you want, but i wouldn't recommend more than 6... it makes the game laggy...

Damn. Don't you have an 8800 GTX? The only thing I've seen lag one of those is console emulation, which requires about 5x the processing power than the console being emulated.

[SpaceAlex]

Damn. Don't you have an 8800 GTX? The only thing I've seen lag one of those is console emulation, which requires about 5x the processing power than the console being emulated.

 

If you want to have like 11 people in your party, you need a really good CPU (if the game would take advantage of the second core on my CPU, it might be enough).

 

Graphic card isn't really a problem here, as it is being held back by the CPU. I tested this by disabeling AA when i had 11 ppl in my party, and FPS was pretty much the same as when i had 8xAA applied.

[stoffe]

Do anyone know of a GFF Editor that fully supports Neverwinter Nights 2 with the changes to the GFF format they've cleverly sneaked in without changing the version number of the format? Preferably one not written in Java.

 

Aside from potentially introducing new field types used by the KotOR games (not sure about this yet) it definitely seems like a ResRef type can be longer than 16 characters in NWN2. (The Bioware editor and K-GFF seems to cut off longer ResRef values at 16 characters.)

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

Do anyone know of a GFF Editor that fully supports Neverwinter Nights 2 with the changes to the GFF format they've cleverly sneaked in without changing the version number of the format? Preferably one not written in Java.

 

Aside from potentially introducing new field types used by the KotOR games (not sure about this yet) it definitely seems like a ResRef type can be longer than 16 characters in NWN2. (The Bioware editor and K-GFF seems to cut off longer ResRef values at 16 characters.)

Heh, I know you're not too crazy about it, but the toolset has a GFF editor built in to it.

[stoffe]

Heh, I know you're not too crazy about it, but the toolset has a GFF editor built in to it.

 

Hmm, where do you access it? I can't see any options in any of the menus to open GFF files.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

Hmm, where do you access it? I can't see any options in any of the menus to open GFF files.

Drag the file into the list of game objects, then find it, right click it, and click "Open in new window" or something. Do note that the toolset will sort your GFF file and place it in the "proper" category (i.e. a UTI will be listed under the items section, and a sword UTI will be placed under the sword section of the items section).

[stoffe]

Drag the file into the list of game objects, then find it, right click it, and click "Open in new window" or something. Do note that the toolset will sort your GFF file and place it in the "proper" category (i.e. a UTI will be listed under the items section, and a sword UTI will be placed under the sword section of the items section).

 

Oh. That only works with the types of files the NWN2Toolset usually displays though, and not other GFF format files like .ROS or .IFO files, unless I'm overlooking something.

 

It would be very useful to have something that lets you edit all GFF format files regardless of type, and where you can edit all fields directly and not have to go through the toolset's crash-happy structured editor tabs (in particular the color picker windows seem to crash if you as much as throw a glance at them).

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

Oh. Well, I know the new version of LETO is supposed to support the ROS file format as well as the new save format.

[Jeff]

Well shoot, I got this game today and it won't run on my PC "Could not find any compatible Direct3D devices." eg my video card is too old. So I hate this because my mobo is AGP so I hate to buy a new video card when PCI-e is the future, but I might have to as a temporary solution because I can't afford to shell out for a new rig. My dad bought my brother an nVidia 7300 for under $100 at newegg so maybe I'll get that.

 

EDIT: My dad and I swapped video cards and now I have the game running. I'll probably have to play on low graphics because his is an nVidia 5500 and the minimum says 5700 but it still runs. My card was an nVidia TI 4200.

[Jae Onasi]

For the modding gods and goddesses out there, at whose feet I bow, I pass on this bit of info--Bradygames has published a book on how to mod NWN2, called Neverwinter Nights 2: World Editor Guide by Phillip Marcus. Jimbo got it for me for Christmas. I haven't done anything with it other than look at the intro, so I can't tell you much about it other than the fact that it exists. In fact, it'll probably be awhile before I do much of anything with it--I'm still on my first playthrough, since Jimbo and I have been squabbling like pre-teens over who gets to use the computer that the game is on that night.

[stoffe]

For the modding gods and goddesses out there, at whose feet I bow, I pass on this bit of info--Bradygames has published a book on how to mod NWN2, called Neverwinter Nights 2: World Editor Guide by Phillip Marcus.

 

Hmm, perhaps this is why the NWN2Toolset appears to be entirely undocumented and contains practically no "online help" inside it, unlike the Aurora Toolset: so that they could sell the instructions manual separately and make more money. That kind of marketing is a bit annoying, if that's the case.

 

If that book is really comprehensive, perhaps you could dispense some wisdom regarding the following questions, whenever you have the time? Pretty Please?

 

• What does the "Jarring" status effect do, in practice? (I.e. how does it affect the victim?) Is it similar to Deafness and Spell Failure that it causes caster victims to get a chance of miscasting their spell? If so what's the difference between it and Spell Failure that warrants a new separate effect?
   
   
  
• How does the "Break Enchantment" effect differ from "Dispel Magic"? Both seems to be used to remove effects from the target. Break Enchantment only affects certain types of effects, while Dispel Magic affects all effects of the Magical subtype?
   
   
  
• What does EffectDisintegrate() do, and how is it used? I can't get it to do anything.
   
   
  
• What does the "Mesmerize" status effect do, in practice? Is it like stun or daze but breaks when the victim is attacked?
   
   
  
• Is the "Vorpal" effect a Death magic effect, or does it work on creatures immune to death magic? What does the "Damage type" parameter on Vorpal item properties do? Can you vorpalize Undead, Constructs and someone protected by a Death Ward?
   
   
  
• What affects the Save DC of "OnMonsterHit" Ability Drain and Level Drain effects? The DC seems stuck at very low values even for higher level monsters, making it a very rare occurrence to actually become level drained by vampires and wraiths. (Unlike BG2 where vamps were a pain to fight.) You can only set the amount drained for the OnMonsterHit variants, not the save DC, unlike the "OnHit(Weapon)" variants, so it must be automatically calculated somehow, but I've not been able to determine what factors are used in that calculation.
   
   
  
• What is the duration of the effects applied from "OnHit:Ability Drain" and "OnHit:Level drain" weapon properties? Permanent until cured?
   
   
  
• What exactly is required to penetrate alignment-keyed Damage Reduction, for example "10/good"? I can't seem to find any item properties that key weapons to a specific alignment. I've noticed that some Bateezu (Erinyes in particular) have Damage Reduction that can only be pierced by "good". A monk's fist starts to count as "lawful" weapons at a certain point according to the description, but that's the only mention of alignment-keyed "weapons" I have been able to find in the game.
   
   
  
• Is there a way to prevent a main character from being forced out of Wild Shape or Shapechange whenever someone initiates conversation with them? (Limited uses/day, hideously annoying during those talk+fight+talk+fight sequences. "You... *cough* you may have me beaten... but now I'll dispel your greatest advantage by merely talking to you! Now we fight again!!" )
   
  Since you stay polymorphed if you are the one who initiates conversation, and only gets forced out of it if an NPC begins the conversation with you, I was hoping it was not built into the Dialog code but rather some scripted nonsense Obsidian has added. But I've been unable to find anything so far.
  

 

Those are some things I've been wondering about, which seem to be entirely undocumented and I haven't been able to figure out with trial & error. If anyone knows something about this please enlighten me.

 

* * *

 

(As for the most worthless spell in the game, I nominate the Warlock's Utterdark Blast. It comes at the highest spell level, and by the time you get it you only have Undead (who are healed by it) and Constructs (who are immune to it) left to fight in the game. Brilliant thinking there Obsidian. I suppose it's meant to be one of those spells like Confusion that's annoying when used against you by enemies, but worthless when in the hands of the player.)