A couple of newbie questions

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All right, the NWN forum news guy has finally got his own copy of NWN. After a year... In a couple of hours I'll be unwrapping it... Oh, sorry. Hehe.

I would have a couple of questions.

1. If I have SoU and HotU installed, can I access the new skills and feats in the basic NWN?

2. With SoU and HotU, am I still limited to 3 classes total? If the 3 class limit still stands, do prestige classes count?

3. Is it possible for paladins, monks and others to multiclass without losing the ability to get new levels in their first class?

4. I know there is disarming and sundering in the game, but is it implemented well and does it play any significant role in the game?

5. Any feats or skills that are badly designed/implemented and a waste to take? I don't mean feats or skills that are useless in D&D in general, but only those that are a waste in NWN specifically.

 

1. Yes you can.

2. I don't know, I've only ever taken two classes with one character.

3. I know you can't in ALFA, but I'm not sure about NWN on it's own.

4. I've been disarmed by enemies and I've disarmed them. I've always found it quite fun and interesting and a good addition to the combat.

5. I've only ever taken ones I think I will really need. I'm sure there are a few for the first OC, but HoTU is quite diverse IMO and some of the ones that were useless before could be handy.

 

1. Of course.

2. 3 classes is hard-coded and PRCs count towards it.

3. Very possible. Certain PWs have scripted against it though.

4. Sundering is not in the game. Disarming is rarely used by the AI I think, though it's pretty dangerous, especially in PvP. Don't worry about it overly much.

5. Anything having to do with parrying, and skill-boosting ones in general. YMMV.

Edit: beaten to the point on most of them.

 

6. What do I need to have at 21 to access epic feats: character level or highest class level?

 

Depends. Differs for general feats and class-specific feats.

(usually, 21 Character level, though at least some wizard/sorcerer feats require a certain amount of wizard/sorcerer levels)

 

Next question:

Epic levels vs prestige classes

It seems that certain arcane spellcasting prestige classes don't increase your casting level but only give you more spell slots. At least that's how it's done in PNP - how about NWN? In this case, taking epic levels for spells which aren't capped at level 20 makes sense.

However, I've noticed that epic levels in some classes don't make much sense in comparison with certain prestige classes. Epic Fighter is one of those. If your charisma and alignment allow that, you go for Champion of Torm. If you qualify for Dwarven Defender, you go for it. Or Weapon Master. Same for paladins - Champion of Torm is clearly more powerful than any further paladin levels. Especially if you don't have the wisdom to cast spells.

Now a question: does Paladin spellcasting improve at all after level 20 in NWN? Like spell slots, casting level (especially casting level) and all?

It seems to me that spellcasting is the only advantage a paladin would have over Champion of Torm. Heck, CoT's saves are even more uber and he gets good reflex save progression. If you switch to CoT the moment you're allowed to (level 7 for someone with fighter BAB), you can also stash the mighty +2 to every roll for each five levels of CoT.

And another question: What prestige classes can a paladin take and still be able to advance in the Paladin class?

This character sheet from BioWare shows that someone took paladin levels after taking CoT levels. Well, I can understand that. But it also shows he took paladin levels after fighter levels - and paladin class description from BioWare says you can't do that. I'm pretty confused...

[ December 26, 2004, 17:49: Message edited by: chevalier ]

 

Hm, hm, hm, that reminds me at how terribly bad the Paladin was implemented in NWN pre-expansion. Not even discpline as class-skill. My Paladin would have shown so much divine grace, if he hadn't been lying in the gutter all the time after being knocked-down by a rodent or crawling around, searching for his sword, tossed away by some goblin.

Frankly, I never ever bothered with the fighter of Torm, because I've gone Bard in the meantime. But a Paladin is in my opinion a extremly powerful class and you should absolutely play SOU as Paladin through. With the charisma bonus to hit and damage feat (skill ?), there's nothing that can't be overcome. I must confess, I can't nail it down exactly numerically or so, but a pure Paladin is, at least in my view, seems to be the better choice. It of course depends how exactly the charisma and level progression plays out, details unkown to me. Yet, the Champion of Torn seems to me a clear mix between Fighter and Paladin. A completly valable choice, but trades off some fighter traits and gets some Paladin-like powers. Neither Fish nor Flesh, but alright, I guess.

And yes, you can switch between Paladin and Fighter at free will at any time. The clue would have been to buy some sorely needed fighter feats for the Paladin, in it's weaker former pre-expansion incarnation. But with all the feats you get now, in my view at least, it's not longer a vital necessity. Just an option, if you have a special mix in mind.

 

Chev, ALWAYS play as a Paladin in Shadows of Undrentide... the things you'll find... well i won't spoil ya