06-08-2004 17:49									#31
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Last night I triumphed, successfully reaching the second level of the first part of the Dungeon of Apolyton. W00t!
I've got a nifty monk character and fannied about for ages killing enough goblins to get to level 2 before proceeding downstairs. Then, like a dumbass, I chose to take my second level in monk too, which means that I can't use the mace thing that the bloke at the end of the level gave me because it's only for rogues and simple weapon users. Damn! Never mind, I got the potion from Asmodean and would now like to know what it does before using it merrily. I realise it casts a spell, but what does the spell do?

Cheers all.

	06-08-2004 18:34									#32
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Dungeon of Apolyton can be challening in a couple areas. Wait until you get into the city. I had to use a few cheese tactics to when one battle.

	06-08-2004 23:00									#33
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I take back what I said about ranger/monks being best. Cleric/monks are the best. All those wonderful buffs. And if you want dual wield, you can still take a single level in ranger.

	06-08-2004 23:37									#34
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Cleric/Monks are indeed VERY good, especially if you take the cheeze domains that give you stoneskin and mage armour and so on. Of course in PvP the first spell coming your way will almost always be Mordikain's Disjuction, so much better used against baddies than other players.

Duke - The potion gives you damage reduction 5/-, immunity vs level 1 spells and 10% concealment. Very useful early on to stay alive.

* * * * * *

Today and yesterday I did something I should really have done before. I played SoU all the way through, doing all the quests I could find and taking Deekin with me from as soon as he would join. I ended up with a nice Fighter 9/Paladin 2/Rogue 1 who dual-wields Longsword and Shortsword. Yes, I really took advantage of the gear I knew came in the module. Holy Avenger and the Cold Shortsword really helped.

Now onto HotU for me!

-Jam

	07-08-2004 00:56									#35
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Ok, to finish the post I wanted to make earlier...

HotU... y'know, I never played past Chapter 2 in this, either, so its really being quite entertaing so far. I never saw the Golems the last time, and I didn't build a very good character or use any henchmen... this time I'm really appreciating all the work the designers did in making the HotU module. One thing that strikes me time after time is the thought that "This could have been done in the OC" - there's very little in HotU or SoU that could not have been done using the bog-standard NWN Toolkit - it makes me shake my head.

I'm expecting a GREAT module to be part of any future expansion packs, as the design team are still learning what can be done with the engine Bioware built. HotU is up to the standard of the best community-made modules, and that is high praise - I'm hoping that a professional team can go that one step further in any new XP.

Anyway... I'm continuing on with my character, now Fighter 17/ Paladin 2/ Rogue 2, and about to enter the Underdark proper, having visited both islands. I got as far as the Dracolich last time before quitting (It was HARD) but this time I hope to go all the way to the end. Deekin is singing for my benefit and shooting his VERY upgraded x-bow over my shoulder (I told him to quit casting spells as soon as I met him) and the Drow girl is standing next to me sneaking like crazy (or holding back with that cool bow the Drider captain dropped - I turned off her spells too, and told her only to level as an Assassin)

I have to say HotU is really impressing me, from a building point of view, as did SoU - I don't know why the hell I never got past Chapter 1 in SoU and Chapter 2 in HotU.

Odd.

-Jam

	07-08-2004 01:03									#36
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I don't know i you guys knew this, but according to Gamespy Atari has annouced Neverwinter nights 2.

quote: The biggest surprise in today's announcement comes not from the announcement itself, but rather who has been named as the game's developer. Rather than create it themselves, BioWare and Atari have once again farmed out development chores to Obsidian Entertainment. Obsidian is a development house founded by Feargus Urquhart and several other refugees from Interplay, where they made up the bulk of the famed Black Isle Studios and were responsible for such classic RPGs as Fallout 2, the Icewind Dale series, and Planescape: Torment. This is the second such coup for the new studio. Recently, the company revealed that its also developing the sequel to Knights of the Old Republic.

	07-08-2004 01:12									#37
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http://www.atari.com/nwn2/

They have forums here... and J.E.Sawyer and Gromnir post there! OMFG! These guys are legends of the old (sadly defunct) Interplay boards!

Wheeeeeeeee!

* Jamski goes into a D&D CRPG related daze*

-Jam

	07-08-2004 01:21									#38
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quote: Originally posted by Jamski Ok, to finish the post I wanted to make earlier... HotU... y'know, I never played past Chapter 2 in this, either, so its really being quite entertaing so far. I never saw the Golems the last time, and I didn't build a very good character or use any henchmen... this time I'm really appreciating all the work the designers did in making the HotU module. One thing that strikes me time after time is the thought that "This could have been done in the OC" - there's very little in HotU or SoU that could not have been done using the bog-standard NWN Toolkit - it makes me shake my head. I'm expecting a GREAT module to be part of any future expansion packs, as the design team are still learning what can be done with the engine Bioware built. HotU is up to the standard of the best community-made modules, and that is high praise - I'm hoping that a professional team can go that one step further in any new XP. Anyway... I'm continuing on with my character, now Fighter 17/ Paladin 2/ Rogue 2, and about to enter the Underdark proper, having visited both islands. I got as far as the Dracolich last time before quitting (It was HARD) but this time I hope to go all the way to the end. Deekin is singing for my benefit and shooting his VERY upgraded x-bow over my shoulder (I told him to quit casting spells as soon as I met him) and the Drow girl is standing next to me sneaking like crazy (or holding back with that cool bow the Drider captain dropped - I turned off her spells too, and told her only to level as an Assassin) I have to say HotU is really impressing me, from a building point of view, as did SoU - I don't know why the hell I never got past Chapter 1 in SoU and Chapter 2 in HotU. Odd. -Jam

Yes, it is odd, since you are always singing the praises of NWN.

	07-08-2004 01:33									#39
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Yes, although I never finished the Bioware-made modules. They're turning out to be much less bad than I thought... although the fan-made modules are still much better, on the whole. HotU plays nice, but its TOTALLY unbalanced wrt the crazy weapons you can get. (+10 Keen Longsword with Hast, Trueseeing and 2d6 fire damage? Oh and 20 Spell Resistance? OMFG!)

-Jam

	07-08-2004 01:44									#40
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Yeah, I used Enserric (already insanely good with no upgrades) as a fully upgraded Greatsword. By the end (and it takes a while since the upgrades are pricey) no one could stop me not even

spoiler(highlight to read): Mephistopheles.

	07-08-2004 01:52									#41
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Well, with all the loot I carried over from SoU, which luckily I had Deekin and a STR belt to help with at the end of Chapter 1, I sold it in the Drow town, and made nearly 1,000,000 gold. Enserric is now one HELL of a good Longsword, Deekin has a good xbow, and I'm working on the Drow girl's rapier

Its quite fun to rampage over baddies

-Jam

	07-08-2004 02:01									#42
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Maybe my memory is playing tricks but you don't get to keep your loot right? There is a box you can find some in well into the game, but I didn't think it had it all.

	07-08-2004 02:19									#43
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The box I found near the end of chapter 1 had 9 pages of my loot in it. I guess that would be most of it I even had the 3 "winds" from Undrentide and a bunch of keys for doors I would never see again

-Jam

	07-08-2004 02:28									#44
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Damn I must have screwed up. Still, I fully upgraded Enserric even so.

	07-08-2004 02:31									#45
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I'm just looking at the NWN2 forums, and it seems that they'll be using the latest version of the Aurora Engine (as in NWN and KotOR) This is GOOD NEWS If its not broken, etc etc....

Ah well, Autumn 2006 isn't so far away.....

-Jam

	07-08-2004 03:45									#46
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don't spend all of that gold Jamski. There are a few things you can do with a couple of million gold in chapter 3. I won't say what though.

and it can be unbalanced. Most normal encounters are easy. But a couple can be hard.

You've already encountered the dracolich. He's pretty tough. There's a battle in chapter 3 with one of your NWN OC buddies that can be tough. And the final battle is no cakewalk either depending on how you do it.

	07-08-2004 03:48									#47
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quote: Originally posted by Jamski I'm just looking at the NWN2 forums, and it seems that they'll be using the latest version of the Aurora Engine (as in NWN and KotOR) This is GOOD NEWS If its not broken, etc etc.... Ah well, Autumn 2006 isn't so far away..... -Jam

I would expect it to take a while. Obsidian is doing two major sequals now. I hope they have the manpower. I expect them to finish up KOTOR2 before starting on NWN2. I'm looking forward to what they can do with that game. Bioware did some cool things. But I think it's good to have a different reputable designer work on a sequal. sometimes they implement things the original company might never have thought of. Doesn't always work though. Wasn't CTP supposed to be an unofficial sequal of civ2?

	07-08-2004 15:15									#48
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The Dracolich turned out to be the joint hardest battle in my game. The two battles with OC people were easy, and the last battle was about the same as the dracolich. My fighter/WM with massively upgraded Enserric was virtually unstoppable.

	11-08-2004 20:31									#49
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Yeah! (for the announcement of NWN2)

	12-08-2004 11:28									#50
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Why is Folderol offline more often than it is online?

I have been checking out other servers quite a bit over the past 2-3 weeks because of this, though. I've found both an LotR-themed server that isn't horrible (though most of the players I swear must be 12 years old) and a Dragonlance/Krynn-themed server that I just started checking out earlier today. I'm guessing that the source material is old enough and obscure enough (not a major hollywood movie series) that only people in their 20s and 30s would even know about it in the first place. Only problem with the server is that it's the only server I've ever been on that's more laggy than Folderol was about a month ago.

To be honest, I checked out the server in large part because I re-read all three of the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy of novels over the last two days while bored out of my mind at work (and having pretty much nothing to do). I had found them while rumaging through old stuff in my parents' house that they wanted to get rid of. Not a bad read, considering I'd last read them in junior high some 10-11 years ago.

	12-08-2004 12:29									#51
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Actually Arnelos, it seems ALL my "favorites" are offline at the moment. I blame Gamespy

Someone suggest a crazy character build and we can all play "Character Doctor" and think of ways to make it work better. I like that game

-Jam

	12-08-2004 12:55									#52
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I'd like a Red Dragon disciple who can actually fight please Dr Jamski.

	12-08-2004 13:34									#53
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Hehe. Another poor victim of the "very tempting" +8 STR that the RDD gets. The trouble is that you need a level of Bard or Sorc in order to qualify for the RDD, and they are really not good fighters. The trick is WHEN you take what levels.

Here's one to play with.

Human LG Paladin
STR 14
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 14
CHA 16

Take 4 Lore at level 1 and 1 each level untill it is 8

1 Paly1 (PowerAttack and Cleave)
2 Paly2
3 Paly3 (Weapon Focus*)
4 Bard1 (+1 CHA)
5 Paly4
6 Paly5 (Divine Might)
7 RDD1
8 RDD2 (+1 CHA)
9 Paly6 (Divine Shield)
10 RDD3
11 RDD4
12 RDD5 (Improved Critical* +1 CHA)
13 RDD6
14 RDD7
15 RDD8 (Great Cleave)
16 RDD9 (+1 CHA)
17 RDD10
18 Paly 7 (Improved Turning or Improved Smite Evil)
19 Paly 8
20 Paly 9 (+1 STR)

So at level 20, you'll have
STR 23 (max out to 35 with spells and items!!!)
DEX 10
CON 16
INT 10
WIS 14
CHA 22 (max out to 34 with spells and items!!!)

You'll have 4 attacks per round, can fight in heavy armour while singing your Bard Song (hey, its a free +1 to hit) with immense STR, and at least 9 times a day you'll be able to use Divine Might/Shield to add your (hopefully HUGE) CHA bonus to damage and/or AC for at least 6 rounds a time. You have enough STR to take Overwhelming Criticals at level 21... want me to go on and make an epic build too? It gets quite insane amounts of CHA

-Jam

	12-08-2004 13:43									#54
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But do I get the kinky wings as well?

Incidentally, are they any good, or do they just look cool? RDD is my favourite fancy build, but I reckon the the Weaponmaster is probably the best, or certainly the easiest way to cheesify your character into invincibility.

	12-08-2004 13:56									#55
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You get the kinky wings, and unlike a weaponmaster you can fight elementals, undead, golems etc that are immune to criticals and NOT look crap Infact undead are your favorite enemies, since you can turn them with your massive CHA, or smash them up with a Blessed Weapon (oh, +2d6 vs undead? Yes please!)

Weaponmasters rely on criticals too much to be that great. They're a one-trick character. I made a Rogue/WM/Wizard build that was good though. Devastating criticals, a heap of sneak damage and level 9 mage spells. Hehehehe. Still had trouble with some golems (can't sneak, can't crit, they're magic resistant ARGH!)

-Jam

	12-08-2004 14:06									#56
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I appreciate their use in MP especially, but from what I looked at, Dwarven Defenders suXX0r. I've got a feeling that you're about to prove me wrong on this, and look forward to it, but despite their being the ideal "first person through the door/cave entrance" in MP and soaking up damage that would kill characters with poor armour, they just don't have enough for me to get excited about.

Oh, and while I'm in Dr Jamski's surgery, what is the level cap in the original campaign?

	12-08-2004 14:15									#57
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Erm, if you have HotU installed, the level cap in the OC is 40

BUT

You'll probably only reach level 17-18 before running out of stuff to kill unless you hack the module about a bit

I didn't find a good use for Dwarven Defenders yet, mainly because I hate Dwarves

-Jam

	12-08-2004 14:27									#58
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I hate halflings. And bards. And I'm not that fond of druids. Am I turning into the NWN PA here?

Kindly elaborate on your Rogue/WM/mage build please Dr Jam. I'm intrigued as to how you managed to get level 9 spells as well as all the stuff required to be a WM.

	12-08-2004 15:18									#59
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Ok, Rogue/WM/Wizard.

You're wanting to max out INT and STR with this build, and a decent DEX doesn't hurt, since you'll not be armoured up.

Human
STR 17
DEX 14
CON 8
INT 16
WIS 8
CHA 8
(yes, bad CON)

Skills - take at least 4 ranks of Intimidate before level 13

1 Rogue 1 (Dodge, Expertise)
2 Rogue 2
3 Rogue 3 (Weapon Focus*)
4 Rogue 4 (+1 STR)
5 Rogue 5
6 Rogue 6 (Mobility)
7 Rogue 7
8 Rogue 8 (+1 STR)
9 Rogue 9 (Spring Attack)
10 Rogue 10 (Improved Evasion)
11 Rogue 11
12 Rogue 12 (Whirlwind Attack) (+1 STR)
13 WM 1
14 WM 2
15 WM 3 (Improved Critical*)
16 WM 4 (+1 STR)
17 WM 5
18 WM 6 (Knockdown )
19 WM 7
20 Wizard 1 (+1 STR)
21 Wizard 2 (Great Strength 1)
22 Wizard 3
23 Wizard 4
24 Wizard 5 (Overwhelming Criticals, Spell Focus Evocation, +1 STR)
25 Wizard 6
26 Wizard 7
27 Wizard 8 (Great INT 1)
28 Wizard 9 (+1 STR)
29 Wizard 10 (Greater Spell Focus Evocation)
30 Wizard 11 (Devastating Criticals)
31 Wizard 12
32 Wizard 13 (+1 INT)
33 Wizard 14 (whatever, you rule anyway)
34 Wizard 15 (whatever, you rule anyway)
35 Wizard 16
36 Wizard 17 (+1 INT) (whatever, you rule anyway)
37 Wizard** 18
38 Wizard** 19
39 Wizard** 20 (whatever, you rule anyway x 2)
40 Wizard** 21 (+1 STR/INT)

* I suggest a two-handed weapon, as a shield will cause Spell Failure
**Or more Rogue levels, by preference

Now THAT is a character

-Jam

	12-08-2004 15:23									#60
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Lawks!

I think that I might well steal your RDD build and use it in a new go at the OC. I've started plenty of times already, so another one won't hurt too much. Will it?
If only I could actually be bothered to go and have some adventures, instead of creating and planning so many characters. :non-existentshrugsmiley: