The Barbarian Advice Column

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We've finally moved house, which means I can finally end my 6 month reliance on my IceWind Dale II disc and actually play a different game.

So I am back at level 1 of Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide with a level 1 Human Barbarian.

Any specific tips / tactics / development strategies / multiclassing ideas for Barbarians in this game? I have never really played this class in this game before, as it is often derided as a "beginner's class". My main concern at this point is whether he will be a sucker for any will based spells that get thrown his way, but I do like the idea of having loads of hit points. Also wondering if the whole Rage thing is really as great as it's cracked up to be (does it stack with other stat enhancing items?). Finally, does his damage reduction stack with any damage reduction you might get from elsewhere?

 

If I recall correctly, rage bonuses stack. If you're going straight melee, 4 levels of fighter + 7 levels of weapon master makes for a melee monster all the way through. Sythces are a good weapon of choice, due to the huge crit range. Or you could go for 3 lvl of sorc for bull str + RDD for the huge str boost.

 

I'm not going to go down the RDD route, as I have already played an RDD character before.

I also don't think I'll go the Sorcerer route either, because a Barbarian Sorcerer sounds too much like that useless Xanos henchman and arcane spell failure is a pain.

But 4 levels of fighter is acceptable, and I may consider Weapon Master as well, although this character prefers Greatswords.

How much trouble can I expect from having no magic and having low will saves?

 

I never had that much trouble. I like the Luck of Heroes starting feat, and Iron Will works as well, but generally, I've never found a relatively low will save a problem, or at least, not one I couldn't hack through eventually.

 

In IWD2, a low will save character is a sitting duck for Hold Person, Charm Person etc but I can't remember how much of a factor it is in SoU.

So far, my character is Barbarian 3 / Fighter 1. Luckily, he has Intelligence 13, so should be able to get the feats required for Weapon Master.

Biggest pain at the moment is not being able to identify many magic items easily.

 

I don't think I've ever been charmed in Neverwinter Nights. I don't think Hold Person was a terrible problem, but there's bound to be items kicking around that make you immune.

 

I always remember Fear and Level Drain to be bigger issues in NWN:SoU. Fear is especially frustrating for a solo character.

 

Which is where Rage comes in handy. +2 to Will saves is damned handy. A Barbarian/Fighter/Weapon Master wielding a Greatsword is a superb warrior. You're bringing back fond memories of an OC character I had, Harbs! I've often toyed with the idea of a pure Barbarian... only sticker is my skill addiction from playing too many rogues! The DR is nice, although I don't think it stacks. Still, it lets you look for items with other properties, I suppose.

 

I want a break from never ending buffing and resting, which is why I'm going for the Barbarian build. I'm taking Dorna along to handle all the rogue stuff and to provide some minor auto-buffing/healing.

 

I played a Rogue/Barbarian for a while, the drawback of this build is that getting a Weapon Master level is nigh impossible.

I almost always start as a Rogue because of the extra skill points (I'm addicted too).

I believe you have thought this through but don't forget that besides INT your character will need DEX too if you want him to take a WM level.

Which weapon did you choose then? Greatswords? I second Mongerman's comment about scythes, IMHO they're just perfect!

 

Greatswords is a good choice for a weapon in SoU, you can start with a +1 one from the very beginning. My latest fighter preferred to use greataxes and did OK too. The only problems with mental-affecting spells I encountered when playing SoU were caused by some undead 'fear aura'.

@Harbs: I think there's a bug by which Dorna will stop handling traps during and after the Interlude, whether she's levelling up fully as a rogue or not. I had that issue last time I played, and I think Chas posted something similar about it. Hope your barbarian reflexes are good.

[ October 25, 2006, 14:32: Message edited by: Colthrun ]

 

If you are going for a straight barb, there are some nifty races in the prc that are barb oriented. I'm having fun with my minotaur barb now.

 

How do you get a minotaur? Its not in any expansion pack that I have.

 

I'm currently playing a barbarian/fighter/weapon master through SoU as well. I love melee classes, so it's no surprise I'm enjoying this character as well. He does have a slight problem with will saves, but you'll only be bothered by it by those fear aura's from some undead. So I kept the mask thingie from the ice dragon in chapter 1, which gives immunity to fear. In HotU you'll have little trouble finding a golden circlet to give you immunity to these sort of things, so it's no real problem.

I think the DR stacks, at least, I seem to recall it did so for a dwarven defender build I had. Though 4 points of DR by barb lvl 20 is kind of useless anyway.

I'm also planning a Barbarian/Bard/RDD to get all rages. The RDD levels are to boost my strength, so I can put more points into con for Mighty Rage. 25 str for Thundering Rage and 21 con for Mighty Rage is almost impossible to obtain without the stat boosts of some RDD levels.

Plus, the wings look cool.

 

Where? I haven't found a single one yet. I'm still having to use that Sonic Hammer thing. I'm up to that tunnel with the coloured lights with a Barbarian 3 / Fighter 2 and doing OK so far.

 

Did you ever find the Practice Sword from your paladin peer at the school? Try opening the chest in her room. Then, if you happen to combine it with a quartz crystal in the grinder...

 

Practice Sword? Quartz crystal in grinder? I have no idea what you are talking about. Have I missed something really cool all this time (this is my 4th time playing SoU)? Don't tell me I have been hacking at kobolds with a plain old long sword for nothing.....

 

@ Cuch

http://nwnprc.netgamers.co.uk/

Click on 'manual' on the left toolbar, and revel in the overpoweredness of the PRC pack. Full BAB and spell pregression in one class! Races with +10 to stats! Brrr.....

 

In Drogan's house. On the top floor. Loot Mischa's chest. There's a practice Great Sword in there. Put it into the device that makes those chrystals for recalling. Put a quartz chrystal in there too. *poof* the Practice Sword has just transformed into a pretty cool magic Great Sword.

It will do a few other things too, all when you combine something else with a quartz. If you really want to know it's easy enough to look up on the Net.

 

This IS the 'net. Right here. This is where I come for answers. I've been playing this game all this time and I never knew you could get FREE magic greatsword from Drogan's house!

Now, where's that Ring of Mystra? Stop fiddling with that lock, Dorna! To Drogan's house!