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

[Jae Onasi]

Consider a Paladin if you want to stay with an Aasimar, but I'm betting you can get the others to work well, too.

[Astrotoy7]

I am perhaps the worst player to EVER play this game.

 

Why? The two characters I've actually stuck with have ended up

getting wholesale-slaughtered at that thug warehouse. It's great

that NWN2 has so many character creation choices, but it's driving

me absolutely crazy! *wails* Please help! Here are my 2 failures:

 

Tysy 1: Level 7 Aasimar Monk, put way too many points into Hide

and Move Silently (which don't work too well in this game. Deleted.)

 

Tysy 2: Level 5 Aasimar Bard, Level 2 Dragon Disciple (cool, but she still

got friggin' shredded at that warehouse. Deleted--she was very hard to play.

 

I'm thinking of making my third character a Human Barbarian or Sorcerer/

Dragon Disciple. Which one will get me past that friggin' warehouse alive?

 

What no fighters, rangers or paladins ? C'mon! You need a 1337 melee killer in there !!! If you are newer to the game, the 'recommended' button is there for a reason. Still, others may have some insightful tips about what youve chosen, I usually like to have them as support staff, but not the main deal

 

Plus its always worth beefing up your strength and healing abilities first, and have someone around that can pick locks, disable traps and identify items. Do that basic stuff and the fun will ensue.

 

mtfbwya

[Lantzen]

You know that you can rest in there, right? And what party do you have with you, Qara is very powerful with her fireballs, and Khelgar is good at mele. Im playing a chatoic good halfelf (but i have heard that halfelf is underpowerd, i havent notice anything, but you could try human instead), first 2 levels as fighter to get some extra feats, and the rest as a barbarian, i havent encounter any big problem with this characteh yet, and im half way throgh chapter 2.

 

@Stoffe

 

No, i dont think there is anymore partymembers quests, thats the ones i had done to, and i dont think you need to run around the world map to finish Qaras quest

 

About the Heaven, i dont think the Gith have any special conversations there, so you can bring someone else with you, and yes, my first characther was an evil Drow wizard, so i had Bishop with me to most of the places

 

[stoffe]

I am perhaps the worst player to EVER play this game.

Why? The two characters I've actually stuck with have ended up

getting wholesale-slaughtered at that thug warehouse.

 

Some general tips about that place:

 

Keep your party members on a tight leash so they won't rush off and trigger additional encounters. Fight one group at a time and then heal and recuperate in between. Retreat if necessary to make some far-off enemy follow you instead of having your melee grunts rush to them and trigger additional enemies to spawn. Try to minimize the number of sneak attacks they can land on you as good as you can. I.e. if a thug is attacking one of your characters, make sure your character is attacking him back. Don't let yourself be surrounded or turn your back against someone unless necessary. And try to take out the enemy casters first, those lightning bolts can hurt a great deal unless you have electricity resistance gear on your group.

 

Use the broadcast commands (right-holdclick on the ground to make the context menu show up and then use the "Broadcast command" to give an order to all your party members. If you click on one of them you just give that party member an order) to make your group follow you if you retreat, or make them stand their ground while you scout ahead in stealth mode.

 

You can set up ambushes this way. Control Neeshka and tell everyone else to stand their ground, scout ahead in stealth mode to spot the next group of enemies and then set traps between you and them. Then have her use a cloudkill/stinking cloud wand at your end of the trail of traps and then get their attention and run back to the rest of the party. This way they will be weakened by the time they reach you. Remember that Neeshka can use scrolls and wands, so I tend to give her all those and let Qara and Sand do "real" casting instead.

 

As for who you bring, I'd recommend Qara for her high-damage AoE spells, Neeshka to deal with the large amounts of traps (and setting her own in place for the bad-guys) and either Khelgar as a meat shield or Elanee if she has learned Stoneskin yet (otherwise don't bring her as she's too fragile without it).

 

Oh and make sure your gang has the best gear you have found or can buy before entering the place. Deekin in the merchant quarter sells some pretty good gear, as does the gnome/halfling (can't tell which) merchant on the docks found behind Sand's shop just by the water's edge (easy to overlook). The gnome woman at the opposite end of the Docks district also sells some decent defensive gear.

 

If all else fails, remember the difficulty slider on the Options screen. Set it to Easy if you haven't already. (In any case I wouldn't recommend setting it to hardcore D&D or higher since there are too many bugs in the game with that to make it enjoyable.)

 

Tysy 1: Level 7 Aasimar Monk, put way too many points into Hide

and Move Silently (which don't work too well in this game. Deleted.)

 

Hide/Sneak seems to either be bugged or poorly implemented as you are detected way too often no matter how much skill points you dump into those skills (invisibility potions are much more reliable for sneaking around). Not only that, the way some of the missions that scream "sneak here!" are implemented (mostly Neeshka's quests) will totally screw you over if you try to sneak through them. Some NPCs will auto-start conversation with you when you get near even if they can't see you, which conveniently forces you out of sneak mode. Not only that, if you sneak around with Neeshka the game automatically jumps your main character to the place where your sneaking character is when dialog is started and initiates conversation with them instead. With predictable results as all the guards you've just carefully sneaked past now can see you. I have to wonder if the Obsidian designers left their brain in their other set of pants the day they designed those quests.

 

Unless things have changed drastically from NWN1 I think monks hand to hand fighting is fairly weak early on before you have gained a lot of levels, so you might want to consider using a pair of enchanted Kama's that early instead (which should still allow you to use Flurry of Blows) and only start going unarmed when you've gotten some more Strength, Wisdom, Feats and Levels.

 

Also know that the Aasimar race will weaken your character unless you know exactly what you are doing. While some minor elemental resistance and Darkvision is handy, and the extra Wis/Cha is very useful for Paladins/Clerics/Druids/Rangers/Monks you buy those at the expense of always being a level lower than everyone else, meaning you have less health, worse attack bonus, poorer saving throws, less Spell resistance, fewer feats and skillpoints and less spells (with potentially worse save DCs) than a character with a non-ECL adjusted race. Clerics and Druids can compensate for this with spells (which are boosted by the extra Wisdom), but other classes might suffer more from it.

 

I'm thinking of making my third character a Human Barbarian or Sorcerer/

Dragon Disciple. Which one will get me past that friggin' warehouse alive?

 

I don't think multiclassing one of the caster classes is a good idea in NWN2 due to the level cap. Every Dragon Disciple level you take will make your Sorcerer abilities suffer. If you play as a wizard, sorcerer, cleric or druid it's probably better to stick with that class exclusively. Unless you are looking for a greater challenge of course.

 

I'd also recommend that you try either a Cleric or a Druid if you stick with the Aasimar race and want good survivability, good melee combat skill and a fair amount of spellcasting. Sure, those classes can be a bit more restricting in the role playing aspect, but I think the Druid and Cleric are the two most powerful classes in the game if you use them properly.

 

At least my Aasimar cleric is pretty durable and she always seems to be the last (wo)man standing when the rest of the party members go down in particularly difficult fights. If you go with a cleric, put some serious thought behind which domains you pick since the extra spells and feats they grant can have a huge impact. Personally I prefer Air and Water, but there are other potent combinations as well. Just don't be afraid to use your buff spells in fights, a buffed up cleric can own any fighter of similar level in a 1 on 1 fight easily.

 

(And once you can cast Harm, Slay living and Destruction, use it and love it )

 

@Stoffe

 

 

About the Heaven, i don't think the Gith have any special conversations there, so you can bring someone else with you, and yes, my first character was an evil Drow wizard, so i had Bishop with me to most of the places

 

Ah, good, then the Githzerai will get some well deserved rest after our latest adventure (which she seemed to play a large role in) and I'll bring along someone a bit more survivable to AJH instead. Does Act 2 end when you are finished at AJH, or is that just an impression I've gotten?

 

I don't think Bishop will ever see much use in my group. His unbearable demeanor and our irreconcilable alignment differences (chaotic evil vs. lawful good) aside he doesn't seem all that powerful in a fight, just inflicting some minor damage from afar with the bow. I suppose I could switch him to melee weapons instead, but since he can only wear light armor it seems a bit risky to have him a close combat fighter.

[stoffe]

Questions regarding Act 3:

 

 

Oh my god they killed Shandra. You bastards.

What an anticlimactic way to end an act, doesn't bode well for the endgame itself if Obsidian enjoys creating drama that way. You have to wonder why they bothered to include Resurrection spells in the game at all when they unexplainably don't work when you really need them.

 

Is there any way to get the gear Shandra was equipped with back, other than reloading an earlier save and stripping her of all equipment before entering Ammon Jerro's Haven? I had given her some pretty good gear it would be a shame if it was lost.

 

Were you supposed to find the silver shard Ammon Jerro took from the Neverwinter Nine within the Haven, or does he still hang on to that piece? I didn't find any shard when I explored the Haven, and he hasn't given it to me afterwards.

 

* * *

 

Anyway, just got to act 3 and I was wondering: Are there enough time to do all the "Recruit allies" quests or do you have to be picky which ones you do? I've got the Ironfist, Lizardmen, Druids and Wendersnaven(sp?) leads currently.

 

Does the Keep operate on Main Quest time in this act, or does the main quest operate on Keep time? I assume at 100% it's time to do battle against the KOSH, so it would be good to know if I suddenly would end up there without having gotten anything done if I run in and out of the inn, temple and shops in the Keep courtyard too often. Very annoying way to advance time, that, where I feel I have to stay away from my keep in order to not have to hurry and get things done.

 

Further about the keep: Does the benefits of keeping your troops at "Elite" level in your recruitment standards compensate for the lesser number of recruits you get this way? Seems you get some advantages for staying Elite (the Captain's Company elite guard so far), but would it be better to lower the standards one notch or will it pay off to stay elite to the end? I figured using elite troops would lower the casualties when it comes to a fight, but if raw numbers are more important then that is perhaps a flawed assumption.

 

 

[Lantzen]

 

The rescuration spell is for long and hard battles, if some one die you can get him up to the fight again, the end battle took me around 15-20 minutes and there is no rest chance there, a rescuration wand keept me alive there. But i understand what you mean, but think like this, Ammon had so much power in the Heaven, that Shandra was way out the power of resuration spell

 

Ammon Jerro have all Shandras equipment, at least he had it when i played, dont know about the shards, he maybe have it in his inventory to, but not sure.

 

I did all the recruits mission, then i continue with the main story until the point you are close to do the battle, after that i started to run out the keep, then in again to get it to 100%, so you can get the keep to 100% before the end battle, then still keep going around and looking for allies

 

No idea about the soldiers, i had so low recruit standard that i could have, so i would have a large force, but i dont think it mathers so much if the force are large or not, you can try to keep them elite then tell me what happend

 

 

[stoffe]

The rescuration spell is for long and hard battles, if some one die you can get him up to the fight again, the end battle took me around 15-20 minutes and there is no rest chance there, a rescuration wand keept me alive there. But i understand what you mean, but think like this, Ammon had so much power in the Heaven, that Shandra was way out the power of resuration spell

 

 

A resurrection rod? Good to know a high-level cleric can be substituted with a stick. Oh well, at least I can use those spell slots for something else then.

 

Considering that someone who's been disintegrated into dust still can be resurrected in the D&D universe that seems a bit forced. Though admittedly I think you need a True Resurrection or Wish spell for that, which I don't think is found in the game. It's a plot device, I'll get over it even if it annoys me every time a game perma-kills someone who have resurrect-equipped allies nearby in a world where resurrection is commonplace.

 

 

 

 

Ammon Jerro have all Shandras equipment, at least he had it when i played, dont know about the shards, he maybe have it in his inventory to, but not sure.

 

 

 

 

Oh, I suppose he had time to loot his granddaughter's corpse before the party arrived. Haven't had the chance to put him in the party yet since I was pulled off on a solo quest to Castle Never right at the start of the act. Good thing Lord Gnasher is durable since I had to answer a ton of riddles to some old spirit before I could reach the throne room to aid him. That took a while. And then after all that the lich wouldn't even let me kill him, he just fled when he got a bit hurt... No XP for me.

 

 

I did all the recruits mission, then i continue with the main story until the point you are close to do the battle, after that i started to run out the keep, then in again to get it to 100%, so you can get the keep to 100% before the end battle, then still keep going around and looking for allies

 

Hmm. So does the fight at the keep (which I assume is what you do all the building and recruiting to prepare for) happen when the Keep time counter reaches 100%, or does the 100% just mean you can't do anything more to improve your situation at the keep before the fight comes, which comes as part of the main quest?

 

 

No idea about the soldiers, i had so low recruit standard that i could have, so i would have a large force, but i dont think it mathers so much if the force are large or not, you can try to keep them elite then tell me what happend

 

Roughly how many troops had you managed to get at the end? It's hard to tell how well I'm doing if I don't know how what I have compares to what I could have had.

[ChAiNz.2da]

Hmm. So does the fight at the keep (which I assume is what you do all the building and recruiting to prepare for) happen when the Keep time counter reaches 100%, or does the 100% just mean you can't do anything more to improve your situation at the keep before the fight comes, which comes as part of the main quest?

As far as I can tell, the 100% just lets you know that your castle upgrading time is "100% over".. you can still obtain allies however.. but no more constructing and what-not.

 

To be honest though, there's not really a whole lot more to do (battle-ready wise) once you reach the mark. Act 3 brings in more recruits, etc..

 

Roughly how many troops had you managed to get at the end? It's hard to tell how well I'm doing if I don't know how what I have compares to what I could have had.

I had pretty low numbers until act 3 hit and then they swarmed in (at least in bigger numbers).. A High Recruit Standard netted me with not many troops but they were worth it (imo )... I can't remember the numbers, but it was pretty low.. maybe 300+?? Low Recruit standards can net you thousands from what I read over at the boards but... seems to me it's just more corpses to clean up

[Achilles]

Re: Recruiting

 

Rumor - You only get three "rounds" of recruiting. If this is true, then I recommend holding off until you meet up with

Light of Heaven. Looking at the scripts, she is by far the best for recruiting. Here are the comments that I c/p'ed out of the code:

 

// Bevil Deployment Options

// 1 - recruiting (+20%)

// 2 - patrol/tithe (Tithe up 10%)

// 3 - patrol/growth (merchant growth +1/time unit)

// 4 - patrol/countryside (peasant growth +2/time unit)

// 5 - special assignments (Increases outcome of special assignments by 1)

 

// Jalboun Deployment Options

// 1 - recruiting (-10%)

// 2 - patrol (-5 to Patrol Road and Patrol Land)

// 3 - special assignments (Increases outcome of special assignments by 3)

// 4 - Training (training time +1)

 

// Katriona Deployment Options

// 1 - recruiting (+10%)

// 2 - patrol (+5 to Patrol Road and Patrol Land)

// 3 - special assignments (Increases outcome of special assignments by 1)

// 4 - Training (training time -1, allow training to max)

 

// Light of Heavens Deployment Options

// 1 - recruiting (+25%)

// 2 - patrol (+10 to Patrol Road and Patrol Land)

// 3 - special assignments (Increases outcome of special assignments by 2)

// 4 - Training (training time -2, allow training to max)

 

After discovering this, I switched her role and saw my volunteer numbers climb through the roof (I had already maxed out my recruiting efforts).

 

 

Substantiated rumor - Keep standards high will not impact the number of recruits that you get. Additionally, maxing the standards along with the training will allow you to unlock a special training status. I hear this one a lot, but I've yet to see it with my own two eyes so.... What truly impacts your numbers is who (if anyone) you have heading up the recruiting. Based on the spoiler above, I guess that means holding off on any recruiting until act III.

 

Probably BS - The aforementioned "special training status" is accompanied by an elite unit of guards. Yeah right.

 

Pointers - Based on what I've been able to figure out thus far

Be sure to recruit and assign Jalboun before you start any of the special assignments. In act III you get to loot a dragon's hoard and how much you net is determined by who's heading up your special assignments. Funds go directly into your Keep Account, so save your expensive repairs until after you form your alliance with the dwarves (this is when you get the money).

 

You can pull money out of the account, but you can only do so 5k at a time and you get about 200k so take my advice unless you like clicking the same dialog choices repeatedly for about 20 minutes.

 

Recruit and assign Light of Heavens before you begin recruiting and keep your standards high.

 

Err...remember that you can use your own money to fund repairs. I'm an idiot and I shouldn't be admitting this, but I thought the 70k that you get from Nasher was a balance that you had to maintain (in other words, I thought I couldn't go past 0, so I spent a lot of time waiting for funds to renew before making additional repairs).

 

On a whim I tried paying for an expensive repair with a low balance and discovered that the additional funds needed came out of my pocket (rather than getting an "insufficient funds" error). Since I had about 250k at the time, I finished up repairs quickly and made a note for my next playthough. 2nd time around I repaired the keep too quickly and ended up having to do the 20 minute repetitive dialog option thing I mentioned earlier *hangs head in shame*.

 

 

And FWIW, I'm currently on my 3rd playthough. Great game. Love the story. My only two complaints are buggy party AI during critical battles and the horrible, horrible voice actor they found to narrate the finale. Good lord!

[stoffe]

Does anyone know if wizards can learn new spells through any other means than at levelup (like learning from scrolls in BG2)? Sand has an absolutely atrocious spell selection of lower-level spells and there seems to be nothing to do about it since you pick him up relatively late. Qara is so much more useful than him in battle it's almost silly. A wizard's strength compared to a sorcerer is meant to be greater diversity, but Sand doesn't know many more spells than Qara does, and she knows better spells and can cast them more often and is more flexible when using metamagic.

 

* * *

 

SPOILER ALERT! This rest of this post is more or less all spoilers pertaining to the keep! Consider this whole post a big, white box.

 

Rumor - You only get three "rounds" of recruiting. If this is true, then I recommend holding off until you meet up with LoH

 

Hmm, haven't seen anything that seems to indicate this. As far as I can see recruits and volunteers trickle in each time the keep time advances. Though you probably get more per time unit if you have the proper sergeant assigned to recruiting.

 

Nice summary of the sergeant strengths and weaknesses. Where did you find that?

 

After discovering this, I switched her role and saw my volunteer numbers climb through the roof (I had already maxed out my recruiting efforts).

 

Seems like the volunteers go up pretty quickly regardless of who you have assigned once you start getting your land security up decently. The number of volunteers you can have seems to be tied to the number of peasants you have (multiplied by 3), with the losses your units have suffered factored in. The recruit sergeant only seems to affect the number of recruits you get, not volunteers, unless I'm missing something. If your diplomacy is high enough you can stay at Elite standards and still get volunteers (which require you to get 30 peasants to form a village and then smooth-talking the major when he offers volunteers).

 

If I'm reading the scripts correctly you can get at most 600 troops.... 250 volunteers, 250 recruits, your 50 starting troops and the 50 the mercs add if you let them join.

 

 

Substantiated rumor - Keep standards high will not impact the number of recruits that you get.

 

Hmm, if I read the scripts correctly the max number you can recruit depends on the Eliteness level of your recruitment standards, like:

(250 - [color=PaleGreen]Recruited[/color]) * [color=Yellow]Standard[/color]

Where [color=PaleGreen]Recruited[/color] is the number of troops already recruited and [color=Yellow]Standard[/color] is a multiplier depending on your recruitment standards:
Elite: 0.2
Good: 0.5
Average: 0.75
Low: 0.9
Anyone: 1.0

 

This would only apply to recruits though, not volunteers. If it actually works this way in-game is another matter though. Your lieutenant does say after a while that they've recruited all they can unless you lower your standards, but I don't remember exactly at what value that is.

 

Additionally, maxing the standards along with the training will allow you to unlock a special training status. I hear this one a lot, but I've yet to see it with my own two eyes so....

(snip)

Probably BS - The aforementioned "special training status" is accompanied by an elite unit of guards.

 

I can confirm this. If you have Katriona and stick with the Elite standards you will get the choice of forming the "Captain's Company" elite first-in-last-out squad which will serve as an example to the others. This will boost the morale of the troops and allow your training level to display as "Best of the Best" on the keep report. There may be other factors involved as well (how trained your troops are and what weapons/armor they have I guess), but it happened.

 

 

What truly impacts your numbers is who (if anyone) you have heading up the recruiting. Based on the spoiler above, I guess that means holding off on any recruiting until act III.

 

Not necessarily unless you skip the keep entirely in act 2. Since you can flip Katriona around as you see fit you can start her out with recruiting along with the troops and then switch her over to whatever the troops are currently doing until you pick up the other sergeants. I've noticed that it may be a good idea to switch her over to Special Ops whenever you get a special mission since there are two types of victories to many of the missions, "Total success" which is only possible if one (or several) of the sergeants deal with SpecialOps, and "normal success". The Total Success usually means greater rewards and lower casualties.

 

 

 

 

Pointers - Based on what I've been able to figure out thus far Be sure to recruit and assign Jalboun before you start any of the special assignments.

 

Unfortunately you don't seem to have much choice in this unless you stay away from the keep until act 3, since you can only get Jalboun in act 3 and the special missions have keep time limits for not only when they appear, but how long they remain available. If you exceed that time limit the mission will just vanish and you won't be able to do it at all.

 

 

In act III you get to loot a dragon's hoard and how much you net is determined by who's heading up your special assignments.

 

Hmm, so that's why the lieutenant said that bandits attacked the greycloaks carrying the treasure and made off with some of it due to low security despite both my land and road security being at "Very high" on the report. Thought it was a bug.

 

 

Fighting both the Fire Giants and the Red Dragon at the same time was one serious battle. I just barely pulled through. Perhaps not the smartest thing to attack both at once, but at least they fight each other as well.

 

 

 

And FWIW, I'm currently on my 3rd playthough. Great game. Love the story. My only two complaints are buggy party AI during critical battles and the horrible, horrible voice actor they found to narrate the finale. Good lord!

 

Whoa, you've been busy. I've played the game a few hours per day since I got it, and I'm still not through my first playthough. I have to agree that the story has been quite nice so far, though there have been some annoyances but overall it's a very good game. I just hope they don't totally cripple its replayability like they did with PS:Torment by putting in a massively anticlimactic ending. That would be a shame.

 

As for the AI I just enable puppet mode for everyone and give them commands directly. More micromanagement required, but at least they do as I wish (most of the time. Seems like the AI can't keep hands off in some cases even in puppet mode). Then only the summons do stupid things that aren't my fault.

 

Does it matter in the end who you let take up residence in the tower, Startear or the NW9, is that just a matter of what kind of shop you would like to have available? Will Startear help out in the battle if you rebuild the tower for him?

[Jae Onasi]

And FWIW, I'm currently on my 3rd playthough. Great game. Love the story. My only two complaints are buggy party AI during critical battles and the horrible, horrible voice actor they found to narrate the finale. Good lord!

 

Good heavens, have you even slept this last week or so? I haven't even made it through Act 1 of my first playthrough yet. Of course, now that Jimbo's decided to start his own game, I'm going to have even less computer time.

However, I'm enjoying the game very much and know it's going to get a _lot_ of play time in the Jimbo/Jae home. Some of the characters have very sassy lines, which I think is just hilarious at times.

[Achilles]

Does anyone know if wizards can learn new spells through any other means than at levelup (like learning from scrolls in BG2)?

If you right-click on a scroll as Sand, there is a scribe-scroll option. I haven't tried it out yet, but I suspect that it will allow him to learn more spells. If it works, let me know!

 

Nice summary of the sergeant strengths and weaknesses. Where did you find that?

Thanks. I pulled it out of the 4 sergeant assignment scripts. The devs were kind enough to include that information in the comments.

 

 

Seems like the volunteers go up pretty quickly regardless of who you have assigned once you start getting your land security up decently. The number of volunteers you can have seems to be tied to the number of peasants you have (multiplied by 3), with the losses your units have suffered factored in. The recruit sergeant only seems to affect the number of recruits you get, not volunteers, unless I'm missing something.

That very well could be. I do know that I had almost none before the change and they were pouring in after, but there is no concrete evidence of a causal relationship. Good find on the rest!

 

<snip>

This would only apply to recruits though, not volunteers. If it actually works this way in-game is another matter though.

Rumor debunked.

 

I can confirm this. <snip>

Rumor no more. Whoot!!!

 

 

Unfortunately you don't seem to have much choice in this unless you stay away from the keep until act 3, since you can only get Jalboun in act 3 and the special missions have keep time limits for not only when they appear, but how long they remain available. If you exceed that time limit the mission will just vanish and you won't be able to do it at all.

Bummer. Well, at least I know not to try it this time around. This was the playthough that I was going to use to test my theories.

 

 

Spoilers

I know!!! I ended up leaving my party over by the spawn-point and running over solo to initiate the dialog. Dispite every attempt to manipulate the AI (IIRC, even switching to puppet mode), they still come charging over as soon as the "fun" begins. A quick command assigned duing a pause, got them to stop in their tracks but I had to herd them back to safety. Then I moved my spell casters forward and pelted her with ice storm. If the timing works out ok, then she'll kill the Fire Giant King for you . I discovered just how useful the Energy Immunity spell can be in my last playthrough, so I'm interested in trying that one again with this new knowledge.

 

 

I have to agree that the story has been quite nice so far, though there have been some annoyances but overall it's a very good game. I just hope they don't totally cripple its replayability like they did with PS:Torment by putting in a massively anticlimactic ending. That would be a shame.

I have to admit that I haven't played PS:T, so I can't help you out there. I know that there are more than a few "the official 'the ending sucked'" threads over in the NWN2 forums, but I thought the end was fairly well done very much consistent with the theme of the story. Apparently the "dark side" ending is different than the "light side" ending, so we'll have to see if I feel the same after seeing that one.

 

Good heavens, have you even slept this last week or so? I haven't even made it through Act 1 of my first playthrough yet. Of course, now that Jimbo's decided to start his own game, I'm going to have even less computer time.

However, I'm enjoying the game very much and know it's going to get a _lot_ of play time in the Jimbo/Jae home. Some of the characters have very sassy lines, which I think is just hilarious at times.

*confused* Sleep??? Oh yeah, I remember that!

 

Wait until you meet Daerred. Dunno why, but he puts me in stitches.

[stoffe]

If you right-click on a scroll as Sand, there is a scribe-scroll option. I haven't tried it out yet, but I suspect that it will allow him to learn more spells. If it works, let me know!

 

Doh... that worked fine. Thanks, I guess that solution was too obvious for me to figure out myself. Only wish I had learned that earlier... and haven't let Neeshka use up all my fireball scrolls already.

 

(Did it work that way in NWN1 as well? Only played clerics, druids and sorcerers in that game, never wizards.)

 

 

I know!!! I ended up leaving my party over by the spawn-point and running over solo to initiate the dialog. Dispite every attempt to manipulate the AI (IIRC, even switching to puppet mode), they still come charging over as soon as the "fun" begins.

 

Did you put your party members under "Stand your ground" orders? Seems there is no way to make them not follow without using the voicechat commands (unless I'm overlooking something (else) obvious). At any rate the game seems to suffer from the same irritating tendency as KotOR of sometimes hard-issuing attack commands to party members that completely bypasses the AI scripts which you can't intercept, only react after it has happened.

 

Not to mention cutscenes conveniently clustering your party together in indefensible locations when they start, or jumping the main character to any place where dialog is initiated, even if it's halfway across the level and the dialog was triggered by a sneaking/invisible rogue clicking on a placeable or a door in a room full of hostile enemies.

 

 

 

If the timing works out ok, then she'll kill the Fire Giant King for you . I discovered just how useful the Energy Immunity spell can be in my last playthrough, so I'm interested in trying that one again with this new knowledge.

 

 

 

I guess that's the disadvantage of being an XP addict in a game system like D&D. Unlike Morrowind/Oblivion you can't do the smart thing and just stand back and watch the fireworks and then go in and mop up any survivors. I have to actually try to kill the giants before the Dragon kills them not to miss out on any XP. At least fire giants are immune to a Red Dragon's breath. Had to dodge the dragon and first kill all the giants before taking her out. Required a number of resurrects and mass heals to pull off, but we prevailed in the end.

 

 

 

 

I have to admit that I haven't played PS:T, so I can't help you out there. I know that there are more than a few "the official 'the ending sucked'" threads over in the NWN2 forums, but I thought the end was fairly well done very much consistent with the theme of the story.

 

PS:Torment's ending described without involving the plot:

You get separated from your party members when entering the final area, all your party members are killed one by one by the end boss in cutscenes where you can do nothing but watch, and no matter how you deal with the final confrontation and no matter what you've done in the game so far (Lawful Good or Chaotic Evil) your main character goes to Hell (or the Abyss, hard to tell) in a fiery blaze to become a grunt in the Blood War.

Needless to say that kind of end ruined the whole game experience and I've only been able to bring myself to play PS:Torment twice (with several years in between) despite it otherwise being one of the best CRPGs I've ever played. Way to slap it in the player's face that nothing you've done in the game really mattered in the end.

 

I like happy endings. I violently dislike unhappy anticlimactic endings.

 

 

Apparently the "dark side" ending is different than the "light side" ending, so we'll have to see if I feel the same after seeing that one.

 

Don't think I'll ever see it since I can't bring myself to play some evil bastard. Much more rewarding to play as a good gal who gets to make a difference for the better. But if it's in line with the evil endings in other games I can imagine it's a "shortsighted power hungry" ending. (Encouraging the kind of character that deserves a LaCroix ending...)

[Achilles]

(Did it work that way in NWN1 as well? Only played clerics, druids and sorcerers in that game, never wizards.)

I gave up on NWN1 part way through chapter 1. Something tells me that I should go back and give it another chance, but for whatever reason, I just didn't feel engaged even after 10+ hours of gameplay.

 

Did you put your party members under "Stand your ground" orders? Seems there is no way to make them not follow without using the voicechat commands (unless I'm overlooking something (else) obvious). At any rate the game seems to suffer from the same irritating tendency as KotOR of sometimes hard-issuing attack commands to party members that completely bypasses the AI scripts which you can't intercept, only react after it has happened.

Yeah, I did. I'll look into voicechat next time. Thanks for the tip.

 

Not to mention cutscenes conveniently clustering your party together in indefensible locations when they start, or jumping the main character to any place where dialog is initiated, even if it's halfway across the level and the dialog was triggered by a sneaking/invisible rogue clicking on a placeable or a door in a room full of hostile enemies.

Heh. On that note, don't quicksave in space between lengthy dialogs and boss-fights. Later in the game you have to go up against a big-time baddie after one of the longest dialogs in the game. Of course, I got wiped out, but lo-and-behold, I had my trusty quicksave. Unfortunately, reloading the quicksave allowed the baddie to be fully spawned and he would manage to kill off three party members before the game even finished reloading (not a good feeling to hear party members dying while you're still looking at the loading screen ). Luckily I had a hard save from about 20 minutes earlier, so that worked out ok.

 

Btw, do not trust autosave or quicksave, if you haven't figured that out already. Autosave apparently has some sort of once-per-day limitation (exaggerating, but only slightly). Also, there have been a few times that I've quicksaved before shutting down, only to come back later to find that my only quicksave file was from much earlier. If it only happened once, I might think that I only thought I saved before shutting down, but it's happened a few times. Moral of the story: use hard saves.

 

 

 

I guess that's the disadvantage of being an XP addict in a game system like D&D. Unlike Morrowind/Oblivion you can't do the smart thing and just stand back and watch the fireworks and then go in and mop up any survivors. I have to actually try to kill the giants before the Dragon kills them not to miss out on any XP. At least fire giants are immune to a Red Dragon's breath. Had to dodge the dragon and first kill all the giants before taking her out. Required a number of resurrects and mass heals to pull off, but we prevailed in the end.

 

Oh, I hear you and I wish I had the patience for that, but I gave up after the 6th or 7th try of doing it that way. FWIW

If you side with the giants, they will turn on you after you slay the dragon. I suspect that she will also turn on you if you side with her and kill the giants. Just an FYI, that you don't have to choose the "attack both" to kill both. I hope that helps.

 

 

PS:Torment's ending described without involving the plot <snip>

I'm afraid that anything I say here could potentially taint the experience for you. I think I know how you'll vote, but I can't wait to hear your impression of the end once you get there.

 

Don't think I'll ever see it since I can't bring myself to play some evil bastard. Much more rewarding to play as a good gal who gets to make a difference for the better. But if it's in line with the evil endings in other games I can imagine it's a "shortsighted power hungry" ending.

I'm the same way. I cringe everytime I make an evil choice, but I'm one of those people that can't leave stones unturned. After playing chaotic or lawful good the first two games (Druid and Paladin/Divine Champion/NW9 respectively), I feel terrible about killing people that I've already helped twice before.

 

On a funny side note: There are a few dialog bugs that are only apparent when playing evil.

for instance, last night I threatened to feed a couple of children to the wolves. Elanee gave me the same "aw, you'll make such a great daddy" speech that she did when I saved them in my "good" games. Great.

 

 

EDIT: Whoops...missed one. Sorry

 

Does it matter in the end who you let take up residence in the tower, Startear or the NW9, is that just a matter of what kind of shop you would like to have available? Will Startear help out in the battle if you rebuild the tower for him?

There are a couple of class-specific side quests that you can get in the game. Paladins will get a quest from the church if you forego the monastery. Similarly, I imagine that monks will get a quest if you forego the church. As for the tower, you will get the special shop if you build it for The Nine, and I've heard that you will get a mage shop and the chance at wizard quest (class specific) if you make it a wizard tower. The Nine didn't do much to help (even though I did max out my NW9 PrC), so I doubt that the wizards will help either.

 

Spoiler re: the NW9 PrC:

 

Level cap is 20 and there is a 5 level cap for the NW9 PrC. In other words, if you want to get all the benefits, you need to multi-class as you hit level 16. The bad news is that the PrC isn't available until you are at about level 17 or 18. So, if you plan on taking the NW9 PrC and you want to max it out, you'll need to "sit" on a couple of levels until you progress far enough in the game to unlock it. Hope that helps.

 

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

@stoffe-

 

Ammon Jerro has the shard in his inventory, just add him to your party, switch to him, pull up his inventory screen and give it to the PC for yet another bonus (I think his allows for an immunity to something).

 

[stoffe]

I gave up on NWN1 part way through chapter 1. Something tells me that I should go back and give it another chance, but for whatever reason, I just didn't feel engaged even after 10+ hours of gameplay.

 

I'd only bother with the Hordes of the Underdark expansion, that's the only one of the NWN1 + Expansions campaigns that was any interesting in my opinion.

 

 

Unfortunately, reloading the quicksave allowed the baddie to be fully spawned and he would manage to kill off three party members before the game even finished reloading (not a good feeling to hear party members dying while you're still looking at the loading screen ).

 

Nasty side-effect of the multiplayer-architecture of NWN. Creating the game world first and then spawning in the player while loading clientside stuff. If you have a slow computer it gives the game world almost half a minute of free reign to do what they want to your helpless characters.

 

Btw, do not trust autosave or quicksave, if you haven't figured that out already. Autosave apparently has some sort of once-per-day limitation (exaggerating, but only slightly). Also, there have been a few times that I've quicksaved before shutting down, only to come back later to find that my only quicksave file was from much earlier.

 

Seems like it's only autosaving when you use the world map. Maybe some quest-related autosaves as well, but it certainly doesn't seem to happen at regular intervals.

 

Speaking of bugs, are there any problems with Keep special missions carrying over from Act 2 to 3? I had ordered the fifth special mission (Mere undead patrols) to be carried out just before changing acts, so it didn't complete before the act ended. Now I think I'm roughly halfways through act 3 and I have not heard a word about the outcome of that mission, nor have I received any new missions (I think there are supposed to be at least 2 more). I'm starting to suspect I've run into a bug.

 

 

 

Further is there a way to finish the "Path of the Holy" quest you get from the priest in the temple in the Keep courtyard, where you're supposed to go to the mountains to retrieve some great weapon and vanquish some great evil. I suspect the quest refers to the Red Dragon in the Ironfist quest area (since no new area appears on the world map), but I've already killed the dragon and looted the hoard before during the Ironfist quest. Does this mean the quest is now impossible to complete?

 

 

 

 

I'm afraid that anything I say here could potentially taint the experience for you. I think I know how you'll vote, but I can't wait to hear your impression of the end once you get there.

 

Uh oh, that doesn't sound promising. Oh well I suppose I'll see it first hand soon enough. Act 3 seems to be much shorter than act 2, but perhaps I've gotten a false impression of much much remains to do.

 

I'm the same way. I cringe everytime I make an evil choice, but I'm one of those people that can't leave stones unturned. After playing chaotic or lawful good the first two games (Druid and Paladin/Divine Champion/NW9 respectively), I feel terrible about killing people that I've already helped twice before.

 

If I ever should play evil (which I won't) it would probably be the intelligent scheming evil type instead. The type who has a plan and don't mind walking over corpses to see it come to fruition, but won't run around insulting, mugging or killing people for no reason, drawing unnecessary attention to themselves and making enemies needlessly. Someone who can appear nice and charming but aren't afraid to backstab should it suit their purposes. Unfortunately CRPGs don't tend to support that PC villain type, catering more to the two-bit thug/bully variant who goes around being mean to people for no reason even if it obviously will come back to haunt them later.

 

 

 

for instance, last night I threatened to feed a couple of children to the wolves. Elanee gave me the same "aw, you'll make such a great daddy" speech that she did when I saved them in my "good" games. Great.

 

 

 

Well, she's a druid, perhaps she just sees feeding wolves as a part of the natural cycle?

 

 

Spoiler re: the NW9 PrC:

 

Level cap is 20 and there is a 5 level cap for the NW9 PrC. In other words, if you want to get all the benefits, you need to multi-class as you hit level 16. The bad news is that the PrC isn't available until you are at about level 17 or 18.

 

 

I suppose that's one advantage of playing as an Aasimar, being one level behind everyone else (except for Neeshka and the Gith). I think I was roughly level 15 after the attack on Castle Never, which I assume is when the PRC becomes available. Doesn't matter much in this playthrough though: Since I play as a cleric I stay well away from multiclassing since it will only weaken you.

 

Besides my PC is just a NW9 member (the title, not the class) by convenience. Pretty-boy Nevalle is an asshole and Lord Gnasher is moderately incompetent, not the kind of people she'd normally identify with.

 

 

 

@stoffe-

 

Ammon Jerro has the shard in his inventory, just add him to your party, switch to him, pull up his inventory screen and give it to the PC for yet another bonus (I think his allows for an immunity to something).

 

 

I found it after I got back from Castle Never and brought along AJ to check him out. Found another shard on the lich you needed a True Name (the Deus Ex Machina of D&D/NWN it appears ) to kill. Are there any more shards remaining to find after that, or do you get to take the Sword of Gith for a spin before the game is already over? I hope it's a vorpal blade like the one in BG2 to compensate for not having focused on Martial weapons in feat picks yet and thus likely being rather poor at dealing damage with it compared to my trusty bastard sword.

 

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

I found it after I got back from Castle Never and brought along AJ to check him out. Found another shard on the lich you needed a True Name (the Deus Ex Machina of D&D/NWN it appears ) to kill. Are there any more shards remaining to find after that, or do you get to take the Sword of Gith for a spin before the game is already over? I hope it's a vorpal blade like the one in BG2 to compensate for not having to focused on Martial weapons in feat picks yet and thus likely being rather poor at dealing damage with it compared to my trusty bastard sword.

 

You'll get plenty of time to swing the sword of Gith around

It's easily the coolest weapon in the game, and it's special attacks deal a ton of damage, especially the "Blade Storm" attack, with the "Shard Barrier" one coming in a close second. It can deal plenty of damage normally too though. Also, by lich are you referring to the Shadow Reavers? The things with the flaming skulls for heads are Shadow Reavers.

 

[Achilles]

I'd only bother with the Hordes of the Underdark expansion, that's the only one of the NWN1 + Expansions campaigns that was any interesting in my opinion.

I'll keep that in mind. Maybe I'll just find a wiki or something that will fill me in on the OC backstory. If you have recommended resources, I'd love to hear them.

 

Speaking of bugs, are there any problems with Keep special missions carrying over from Act 2 to 3? I had ordered the fifth special mission (Mere undead patrols) to be carried out just before changing acts, so it didn't complete before the act ended. Now I think I'm roughly halfways through act 3 and I have not heard a word about the outcome of that mission, nor have I received any new missions (I think there are supposed to be at least 2 more). I'm starting to suspect I've run into a bug.

Not that I'm aware of. Interestingly, I'm pretty sure that I usually get that mission in chapter three. And unless my game is missing content, the Mere mission is the last one.

 

 

 

Further is there a way to finish the "Path of the Holy" quest you get from the priest in the temple in the Keep courtyard, where you're supposed to go to the mountains to retrieve some great weapon and vanquish some great evil. I suspect the quest refers to the Red Dragon in the Ironfist quest area (since no new area appears on the world map), but I've already killed the dragon and looted the hoard before during the Ironfist quest. Does this mean the quest is now impossible to complete?

 

 

Before you enter the dragon's lair, you should trigger a cutscene during which Khelgar points out "the beacon". Don't make the same idiot mistake that I did and spend 30 minutes running around that module trying to find "the beacon" - it's in another module (specifically, the dragon's lair). Once you approach the hoard, another cutscene should triggers, spawning a previously non-existent chest with the special weapon in it. You should be able to recognize it because it's dead center in front of the pile of gold and it has a rather stereotypical holy light illuminating it from above.

 

If you didn't see any of this, I would venture that you need to trigger a global with the dwarves before it's available. *shrugs*

 

 

 

Uh oh, that doesn't sound promising. Oh well I suppose I'll see it first hand soon enough. Act 3 seems to be much shorter than act 2, but perhaps I've gotten a false impression of much much remains to do.

I think it would be fair to say that it is shorter. Still a lot to do, story-wise, but I think you'll find that there's a lot less traveling.

 

 

If I ever should play evil (which I won't) it would probably be the intelligent scheming evil type instead. The type who has a plan and don't mind walking over corpses to see it come to fruition, but won't run around insulting, mugging or killing people for no reason, drawing unnecessary attention to themselves and making enemies needlessly. Someone who can appear nice and charming but aren't afraid to backstab should it suit their purposes. Unfortunately CRPGs don't tend to support that PC villain type, catering more to the two-bit thug/bully variant who goes around being mean to people for no reason even if it obviously will come back to haunt them later.

You may be pleasantly surprised in this game, if only slightly. "Evil" seems to be much more about ambivalence, or at least it appears to be the case, thus far.

 

 

 

Well, she's a druid, perhaps she just sees feeding wolves as a part of the natural cycle?

Well done! Have a cookie.

 

 

 

I suppose that's one advantage of playing as an Aasimar, being one level behind everyone else (except for Neeshka and the Gith). I think I was roughly level 15 after the attack on Castle Never, which I assume is when the PRC becomes available. Doesn't matter much in this playthrough though: Since I play as a cleric I stay well away from multiclassing since it will only weaken you.

 

Minor Spoiler

 

In the last area, the devs added a script that adds random attacks to your rest attempts. If you complete each quest and are patient with repeated rest-induced attacks in the final area, you should be able to get your Aasimar to level 20 (although the Gith will never get past 19 - she's 2 behind).

 

 

 

 

I found it after I got back from Castle Never and brought along AJ to check him out. Found another shard on the lich you needed a True Name (the Deus Ex Machina of D&D/NWN it appears ) to kill. Are there any more shards remaining to find after that, or do you get to take the Sword of Gith for a spin before the game is already over? I hope it's a vorpal blade like the one in BG2 to compensate for not having focused on Martial weapons in feat picks yet and thus likely being rather poor at dealing damage with it compared to my trusty bastard sword.

*gasp* you get to meet Nolaloth now! *happy dance*

 

 

After you meet him, you get to forge the blade. Take mages with you...mages that know Energy Immunity. Either that or take tanks that run fast and are good at not dying while retreating

 

Re: the sword itself: it's baseitem type is "Universal sword" which means you don't get any penalties, but it also means any weapon focus feats you picked earlier are now wasted. The sword itself has some pretty cool uses that come close to bordering on overpowered.

 

[stoffe]

I'll keep that in mind. Maybe I'll just find a wiki or something that will fill me in on the OC backstory. If you have recommended resources, I'd love to hear them.

 

Don't know any story resources since I played all three campaigns already. Wikipedia probably have something, they tend to have entries about everything. Otherwise I can give you the bullet points of the NWN1 and Shadows of Undrentide storylines. I tend to remember pointless things like game storylines fairly well for some reason.

 

Not that I'm aware of. Interestingly, I'm pretty sure that I usually get that mission in chapter three. And unless my game is missing content, the Mere mission is the last one.

 

Yes, I found that out when checking the scripts and keep dialog more closely. It appears that Special mission 6 and 7 are bugged, a missing "break;" in in a switch-statement in a conditional check script prevents mission 6 (ambush Shadow Priests) from ever being given out, and improper dialog script parameters in Kana's dialog prevents both mission 6 and mission 7 (locate shadow reaver task force) from being activated properly (it tries to start mission 5 instead again with the result in my case of it being set from previous success to failure for some reason). The bad part though is that the penalties for not having completed mission 6 and 7 within the specified time interval remains, resulting in massive penalties to Land and Road Security every time update. Good work, Obsidian.

 

 

Re: Path of the Holy

 

Before you enter the dragon's lair, you should trigger a cutscene during which Khelgar points out "the beacon". Don't make the same idiot mistake that I did and spend 30 minutes running around that module trying to find "the beacon" - it's in another module (specifically, the dragon's lair). Once you approach the hoard, another cutscene should triggers, spawning a previously non-existent chest with the special weapon in it. You should be able to recognize it because it's dead center in front of the pile of gold and it has a rather stereotypical holy light illuminating it from above.

 

 

 

 

Since I had already cleared out the area of fire giants and killed the dragon before even getting this quest, while attempting to gain an alliance with the Ironfist dwarves, none of this happened. I revisited the area afterwards and checked out the dragon hoard, but got no extra cutscenes or dialogs and no new chests had spawned that weren't there before when we looted the hoard after the red dragon was killed.

 

Anyway, I went back to the priest again and the mission registered as a success and completed even if I didn't acquire any special weapon. (Unless it was unremarkable enough that I just looted it along with the rest of the dragon's treasure during my first visit to the place without thinking there was anything special about it.)

 

 

 

 

You may be pleasantly surprised in this game, if only slightly. "Evil" seems to be much more about ambivalence, or at least it appears to be the case, thus far.

 

From what I've seen the nice and charismatic "making friends" dialog options seem to hand out Good alignment shifts like candy, so it might be hard for such an evil player to stay evil for any length of time. The game's alignment system seems to run almost entirely on action rather than intent behind the action.

 

 

Re: Minor Spoiler about last area

 

In the last area, the devs added a script that adds random attacks to your rest attempts. If you complete each quest and are patient with repeated rest-induced attacks in the final area, you should be able to get your Aasimar to level 20 (although the Gith will never get past 19 - she's 2 behind).

 

 

 

 

Aha, some XP farming opportunity there then. Fortunately you get level 9 spells at level 17 already so you have at least some time to play with your more potent toys before the game is over. Though I suppose the KOSH is immune to every status effect in the book as is customary for bosses so any spells that don't deal raw damage are totally useless in the final battle.

 

 

 

 

*gasp* you get to meet Nolaloth now! *happy dance*

 

After you meet him, you get to forge the blade. Take mages with you...mages that know Energy Immunity. Either that or take tanks that run fast and are good at not dying while retreating

 

 

 

 

I just finished beating the two black dragons and shattering the crystal dragon heart, so I suppose the song portal is where I'm headed next since I can't find any more side quests (I've done the Recruit Ironfist, Recruit Lizardmen, Wendersnaven and Circle of the Mere as well as Sydney Natale's ambush so far). Is Harbor Watch Redux an area that continually deals negative damage to your party while you are there, or why the need for Energy Immunity? If it's a wizard spell, any idea where you can get a scroll that grants it?

 

[Achilles]

Don't know any story resources since I played all three campaigns already. Wikipedia probably have something, they tend to have entries about everything. Otherwise I can give you the bullet points of the NWN1 and Shadows of Undrentide storylines. I tend to remember pointless things like game storylines fairly well for some reason.

That's kind of you to offer. Sounds like a lot of work though and I'd hate to put you through that when I can find something inferior but readily available elsewhere.

 

Yes, I found that out when checking the scripts and keep dialog more closely. It appears that Special mission 6 and 7 are bugged, a missing "break;" in in a switch-statement in a conditional check script prevents mission 6 (ambush Shadow Priests) from ever being given out, and improper dialog script parameters in Kana's dialog prevents both mission 6 and mission 7 (locate shadow reaver task force) from being activated properly (it tries to start mission 5 instead again with the result in my case of it being set from previous success to failure for some reason). The bad part though is that the penalties for not having completed mission 6 and 7 within the specified time interval remains, resulting in massive penalties to Land and Road Security every time update. Good work, Obsidian.

Damn it! That's going to drive me nuts now. I don't suppose you've already scripted a fix???

 

 

 

Since I had already cleared out the area of fire giants and killed the dragon before even getting this quest, while attempting to gain an alliance with the Ironfist dwarves, none of this happened. I revisited the area afterwards and checked out the dragon hoard, but got no extra cutscenes or dialogs and no new chests had spawned that weren't there before when we looted the hoard after the red dragon was killed.

 

Anyway, I went back to the priest again and the mission registered as a success and completed even if I didn't acquire any special weapon. (Unless it was unremarkable enough that I just looted it along with the rest of the dragon's treasure during my first visit to the place without thinking there was anything special about it.)

 

No, you would have noticed it. They made a point to make sure that you didn't miss it

 

I find it hilarious that you were able to prematurely close the quest, knowing what a hard time most people have closing it during normal gameplay.

 

From what I've seen the nice and charismatic "making friends" dialog options seem to hand out Good alignment shifts like candy, so it might be hard for such an evil player to stay evil for any length of time. The game's alignment system seems to run almost entirely on action rather than intent behind the action.

Yeah, after the KotORs, VtM:B, etc, I guess I'm a little underwhelmed by the "evil" dialog choices. I do get to be pretty snarky, but like you said, my words don't seem to get me far. I'm also noticing that during key dialogs, I'm being pushed along down a certain path without much opportunity for roleplay. While not having "thug-4-life" forced upon me is refreshing, I do have to say that I think I enjoyed playing "good" more.

 

 

 

Aha, some XP farming opportunity there then. Fortunately you get level 9 spells at level 17 already so you have at least some time to play with your more potent toys before the game is over. Though I suppose the KOSH is immune to every status effect in the book as is customary for bosses so any spells that don't deal raw damage are totally useless in the final battle.

 

Well, there are final battles and then there are final battles. Without spoiling too much, let me just say you should go prepared for anything and everything. I feel they did a good job of breaking the mold in many regards (but then again, you've been around the RPG-block a lot more than I have, so maybe you will have seen this all before ).

 

 

 

I just finished beating the two black dragons and shattering the crystal dragon heart, so I suppose the song portal is where I'm headed next since I can't find any more side quests (I've done the Recruit Ironfist, Recruit Lizardmen, Wendersnaven and Circle of the Mere as well as Sydney Natale's ambush so far). Is Harbor Watch Redux an area that continually deals negative damage to your party while you are there, or why the need for Energy Immunity? If it's a wizard spell, any idea where you can get a scroll that grants it?

My comments before were re: the black dragon fight. The first time through, I took a diverse mix with me (since I didn't know what to expect). Needless to say after half a dozen attempts to beat them legitimately, I ended up making a bee-line for the world transition point. I figured I would come back later after I'd leveled-up somemore and try again (dragons weren't there when I came back, but I got to shatter the heart).

 

2nd time through, I know more about Energy Immunity spells and was able to take my time tearing them apart (I had Elanee cast acid immunity on my party and the Gith cast fire immunity).

 

Yep, song portal it is. Yes, the area does deal continuous negative energy, but I was recommeding it for the dragon fight. I don't know if Energy Immunity with help you in West Harbor. Haven't tried using it there. Your cleric(s) should have it. Also, Elanee is likely to have it as well. IIRC, it's a level 6 or 7 spell.

 

If the Gith gets knocked out in battle (which she most likely will), you can run far enough away from where she drops and convince the Reaver to follow you, she will wake up and you can then use the True Name scroll. Just an FYI.

 

[TheOssusKeeper]

Hello peeps, long time no talky...

 

Been checking out this new NWN2 game for awhile now, played it through once... working on the second go around...

 

Was wondering if anyone here has made any fixes or sp mods, or started working on any sp mods for this game yet?

 

I was just wondering because the playability of this game seems to be running out really quick for me... I'm not sure why. Maybe because it doesn't have as many side quests in it as the first NWN game does. Maybe because it forces you to one conclusion at the end of the game (no good guy/bad guy ending), I dunno'...

 

anywho, all in all the game is pretty cool, it's got a couple of surprises in it...

[Jae Onasi]

*confused* Sleep??? Oh yeah, I remember that!

*Achilles has heard the Siren Call of NWN2, and not only has he failed his Will save, he can't even find the die to roll....*

Wait until you meet Daerred. Dunno why, but he puts me in stitches.

If he's half as ornery as Jolee was, I'll enjoy the character.

[Achilles]

*Achilles has heard the Siren Call of NWN2, and not only has he failed his Will save, he can't even find the die to roll....*

That may be one of the funniest things I've ever read

 

If he's half as ornery as Jolee was, I'll enjoy the character.

Not so much with the ornery. To quote Dane Cook, he's a "silly, silly bitch". Almost foppish, as it were.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

*Achilles has heard the Siren Call of NWN2, and not only has he failed his Will save, he can't even find the die to roll....*

Heh, that just reminded me of this.

 

@Achilles-

Daerred is the

adventurer who shows up at Crossroad Keep periodically, right?

 

[Achilles]

Heh, that just reminded me of this.

Oooo...that is good!

 

@Achilles-

Daerred is the

adventurer who shows up at Crossroad Keep periodically, right?

Yep that's him