Neverwinter Nights and its expansions

Kaldor De'Andrel

Almost a decade after its release Neverwinter Nights (NWN) continues to be a game that has an active fanbase. The Original Campaign and the expansions Shadows of Undrentide (SoU) and Hordes of the Underdark (HotU) provide many hours of play and there are hundreds of additional modules created by the community that can be played. There are also free Persistent Worlds (PW) for those who enjoy gaming online together, and it includes a toolset that allows the creation of your modules.  Originally released only for Windows, eventually Macintosh versions were released although the toolset is only available on the Windows platform.

For my part, while I enjoyed Neverwinter Nights some of the fundamental design choices that were made conflicted with my own interests, and therefore I found the game somewhat lacking. I accept that many of the people who continue to favor NWN do so because of the PWs and multi-player play, and that because I do not participate in those I am probably selling the game short.

NWN is very much a game designed around the development of a single character rather than the development of a team of individuals. It lacks any real party capability unless you are playing online with other people.  Playing alone means that you have a single protagonist and a choice of one (in HotU two) developer-designed companions. The single protagonist develops throughout the game but there is no sense of building a team. This player-centric approach doesn't have a lot of appeal for me.

How did that mummy get up on that door???

Though NWN included a toolset I never really looked into using it.  I'm not really sure why. Possibly just irritation that they promised a Mac version and then didn't deliver. I did no modding for NWN at all though I had for BG and IWD2.

As I had done for BG, I also wrote a guide for NWN and its expansions.  This guide was intended to help in the creation of the main character, since he/she is central to the game and the same character can be used in the expansions.

Below is the last version of my NWN character building guide, dated December 13, 2005.

NWN Character Building - with notes for Shadows of Undrentide (SoU) and Hordes of the Underdark (HotU) Last revised: Dec 13, 2005 Attributes: Min 15 Dexterity to get the Ambidexterity feat. High Dexterity is more valuable for classes that wear light or no armor. Several items in the game that boost Dexterity (see list below). High intelligence is necessary to get skills and there are few items in the game that boost Intelligence (see list below). High Charisma is good for getting more money when completing quests. Several items in the game that boost Charisma (see list below). Classes that cannot (or should not) wear heavy armor should be high in Dexterity - Rogue, Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard, Monk, Druid, Ranger Paladin, Bard, and Sorcerer are Charisma-based Cleric, Druid are Wisdom-based Rogue, Ranger are Dexterity-based Wizard is Intelligence-based Fighter, Barbarian, Monk are Strength-based Classes like Sorcerer and Wizard that have low hit points (1d4) can benefit from high Constitution. Strength can be low to start. There are items in the game that when worn raise attributes by 2, 3 or 4. For strength there are several - Belts of Giant Strength (+3-5), Squire's Defense Armor (+3), Gauntlets of Ogre Power (+1-2), Uthgardt Holy Shield (+2 str, -2 charisma), and the Henchman (Daelan) Amulet of the Red Tiger/Uthgardt (+1, +3, +4) (which at +5 also gives Freedom of Movement and Immunity to Sneak Attack); and unlike AC bonuses, attribute bonuses do stack. Also, there are magic bags and bags of holding which can allow a person to carry more weight than strength normally allows. If you are a Wizard or Sorcerer you can summon your familiar once per day - the Panther familiar is a tough melee fighter - in addition to summoning a creature using a summon monster spell or wand of summoning. If you are a Druid you can summon an animal companion once per day as well as a creature using a summoning spell. If you are a Druid/Sorcerer or Druid/Wizard you can summon both a familiar and an animal companion simultaneously. Druids can also use the Animal Empathy skill to charm an animal. At high enough level druids can shape change. Note that in Shadows of Undrentide there are fewer objects that enhance strength and fewer bags of holding, therefore if you are starting a new character for SoU (the expected thing to do) a low strength is more of a problem and you will probably end up needing Daelan as a henchman just so that he can carry your loot, at least for a while. You can also import your character with all of his/her stuff into SoU but the game will be too easy unless you set the preference settings to make it more difficult. Constitution can be raised by Henchman (Grimgnaw) Amulet of the Long Death/Silent Lord (+1, +3, +5) (which at +5 also gives immunity to level/ability drain and Spell Resistance Bonus of 10), Boots of Striding (+1-5), Boots of Hardiness (+1-3). Dexterity can be raised by Dragon Slippers (+2), Bracers of Dexterity (+1-5), Henchman (Linu) Pendant (Amulet) of the Elf (+1, +3, +5), Belt of Agility (+1-4), Henchman (Tomi) Ring of the Rogue (+1, +3, +4), Boots of Elvenkind (+2) Charisma can be raised by Nymph Cloak (+1-5), Henchman (Boddyknock) Lantanese Ring (+1, +3) (also Regeneration +1), Armor of Command (+2), Balduran's Armor (+2), Henchman (Sharwyn) Belt of the Performer (+1, +3, +5), Dwarven Mirth small shield (+2), Talisman (Amulet) of Pure Good/Evil (+3), Mask (helmet) of Persuasion (+1), Greater Mask of Persuasion (+2). Wisdom can be raised only by Periapt (Amulet) of Wisdom (+1-5), Talisman (Amulet) of Pure Good/Evil (+3). Intelligence can be raised only by Ring of Clear Thought (+1-5), Thayvian Circlet (helmet) (+2). (HotU has a few more items that increase intelligence, like a +6 helmet). Every 4 levels you can increase an attribute, so it isn't critical that you have an 18 score in your main attribute at the beginning of the game. Items that raise attributes do not seem to positively affect leveling-up. (For example, a wizard wearing a ring that boosts intelligence while leveling up will not allow the selection of more spells or spells of a higher level.) However, wearing the ring may increase the number of spells that can be memorized. Unlike Armor Class and spell resistance, attribute bonuses stack. However there is a limit of +12 to how much higher than your base value you can go through the use of magical items. Spell Resistance bonuses do not stack, so it is best to have a single item that has the highest Spell Resistance rather than mutliple items with lower SR. The highest item in NWN is Aribeth's Ring which provides Spell Resistance of 18 and has a use at the end of the game. There are items with higher SR in SoU and HotU. Here are some valuable combinations of items that boost attributes sorted by type (note, you can wear two rings simultaneously): Armor: Squire's Defense (Str +3), Armor of Command (Char +2), Balduran's Armor (Char +2) Shield: Uthgardt Holy Shield (Str +2, Char -2), Dwarven Mirth small shield (Char +2) Cloak: Nymph (Char +1-5) Boots: Striding (Con +1-5), Hardiness (Con +1-3), Dragon Slippers (Dex +2), Elvenkind (Dex +2) Amulet: Red Tiger (Str +1, +3, +4-immunity to fear, SR 12), Long Death (SR 10, Con +1, +3, +4-immunity to level/ability drain), Pendant of the Elf (Dex +1, +3, +4-immunity to mind spells), Talisman of Pure Good/Evil (Wis +3, Char +3), Periapt of Wisdom (Wis +1-5) Bracers/Gauntlets: Ogre Power (Str +1-2), Dexterity (Dex +1-5) Belt/Girdle: Giant Strength (Str +3-5), Agility (Dex +1-4), Belt of the Performer (Char +1, +3, +5-+5 persuade) Ring: Rogue (Dex +1, +3, +4), Lantanese (Regen +1, Char +1, +3), Clear Thought (Int +1-5) Helmet: Thayvian Circlet (Int +2), Mask of Persuasion (Char +1), Greater Mask of Persuasion (+2) Rogue/Druid/Wizard (can have both a familiar and an animal companion and summon them simultaneouly) Dex - naturally high (at least 15), boost (+5) with Rogue Ring Str - 12, boost (+7) with Girdle of Giant Str, Gauntlets of Ogre Power Int - naturally high, boost (+2) with Thayvian Circlet Con - 15, boost (+2) with Boots of Hardiness Wis - naturally high, boost (+5) with Periapt of Wisdom Char - 10, boost (+8) with Nymph Cloak and Lantanese Ring Alignment: If you want to have Paladin you must be Lawful Good. (not sure if fallen paladins lose Divine Grace when they fall, probably) If you want to be a Druid you must be neutral. You will only be able to gain levels as long as you remain neutral, so if your tendency is not normally neutral then advance in Druid as much as you can early in the game. Rangers get two-weapon fighting and ambidexterity for free as long as they are wearing light armor. Gauntlets of Locking Grip can grant the feat ambidexterity, but no item grants two-weapon fighting. Race: Half-elf isn't better than Human or Elf except that half-elves ignore their primary class when determining experience and elves do not (elf primary class is Wizard). For immunity to certain spells and dark vision go with Elf. Unlike humans, elves also automatically have the ability to use long sword and bow. Small sized races like Hobbits, Gnomes, and Dwarves have to use large weapons with both hands even if they are normally a one-handed weapon, so avoid them. Class: Start as Rogue since: - a rogue has the highest number of skill points and at first level only skills are multiplied by 4 - a rogue has automatic extra damage when surprise attacking, which includes striking dazed/stunned/confused/sleeping opponents which some weapons do. (good at level 1) - a rogue can open locks well, which is useful early in the game to get money (the Knock spell always works and some containers can be broken physically or using Magic Missile) - a rogue can recover and set traps which can be very very useful for taking down very strong opponents. (In NWN there are plenty of traps, in SoU there are almost none until late in the game, and in HotU there are a reasonable number of them early in the game and none later on but you can construct them.) - a rogue can detect and disarm traps. There are many traps in NWN. There is no spell to disarm a trap, although a trapped chest can be opened and disarmed by breaking it using Magic Missile, but not all chests can be broken, so the ability to disarm traps is essential). (You could use the Rogue henchman Tomi for this as well since he is a rogue and can disarm traps, but he will not recover them for you and there are only a few places where you can buy traps.) - rogues can use the Use Magic Item skill to allow them to use magic items reserved for other class types. This can be very handy since it allows the use of many monk-specific items like robes and boots which provide nice enhancements. If Lawful Good and Charisma-based (Sorcerer or Bard) then take a level of Paladin to get Divine Grace to increase saving throws by the Charisma bonus If Wizard, do not specialize in Evocation unless you plan to stay away from undead, since without Conjurer spells you will not be able to cast Restoration. While there are lesser restoration potions, there are only a few items in the game that grant immunity to level and attribute drain (the Amulet of Health which can be purchased at the Temple in Port Llast is one). (As an alternative, in NWN you can return to Aribeth for healing for most of the game, but frequent return trips can get costly). By the time you end the prelude you will have had two chances to level up. By the end of chapter 1 you should be at least level 6. To do all possible quests in NWN you must be an arcane spellcaster (Sorcerer or Wizard) (needed in chapter 1 to get the Cloaktower quest) and a Druid (needed in chapter 2 and chapter 3). Feats and Skills: Rapid shot is a useful feat, but does not work with crossbows. Point Blank Shot is a prereq for Rapid Shot and is useful overall. It does require a minimum Dexterity of 12 Heal is good to allow the use of Healing Kits, which can be more effective than healing potions. Spell Focus for Evocation is good since evocation spells do significant damage Maximize Spell can be good Spell Penetration Combat Casting Power Attack Cleave Concentration Persuade Discipline Martial Weapons Exotic Weapons (to allow the use of Bastard Sword and Katana, and two-bladed sword). There are several good katanas and bastard swords in the game. Weapon Finesse (if you have higher dexterity than strength and use light weapons) Two-weapon fighting is a good thing to have. Ambidexterity can be gotten using the feat or with magic gauntlets "Locking Grip". To minimize penalties while dual-wielding you need both feats or to be a Ranger wearing light armor and be using a light weapon in your off-hand. In HotU there is a weapon that gives both of these feats, but by then you should have them anyway. Advanced Two-weapon fighting gets you an additional attack with your off-hand. Spells: Magic Missile is very useful for blasting open trapped chests. It gets more powerful as you increase levels. Knock is needed for opening chests that cannot be picked or blasted. Identify is useful to save having to pay 100 gp to have items identified at the temples. Fireball is a useful area attack spell. There is a wand of fire in the game that can be used by all classes. Sleep is useful early in the game but need not be memorized since there are multiple wands of sleep in the game that have 100 charges. Haste is useful. There are a few items in the game that automatically Haste when worn (Boots of Speed, Robes of the Dark Moon, Chainmail of Speed, Scimitar of Speed), but they are rare. Bless and Aid are good defense spells. The very rare Scabbard of Blessing can cast each 3 times per day. There are also Bless and Aid potions available at almost any store. Bull's Strength is good before melee. There are Bull's Strength potions available at almost any store. Lesser Restoration is critical and Restoration is less often needed. There are Lesser Restoration potions at any store. And you can also return to the Temple of Tyr for healing if needed. Lesser Mind Blank is a good defense against mind affecting spells. Barkskin and Stoneskin (and Greater Stoneskin) are good defensive spells for melee and they can stack. Call Lightning is a good offensive spell. At 2nd level Druids become immune to web, entanglement, and grease. This works well in NWN and SoU, but doesn't work as well in HoTU. By the end of NWN you should expect to be about 20th level if you used a henchman only when necessary. Shadows of Undrentide (SoU) expansion: SoU is a much smaller game than NWN. There are far fewer traps, fewer opportunities to get gold, fewer magical items, and fewer battles. If you play SoU with a new character you may get to about 15th level. If you import your NWN character you will surpass 20th level, but without HotU installed there is a 20 level cap. If you have HotU installed then you can go beyond 20th level in SoU. SoU has far fewer items than NWN that enhance strength, fewer magic bags, and less gold, so you may need a henchman to carry your loot. In SoU (and HotU) you can control the inventory of your henchman (unlike in NWN). When your henchman dies though any inventory goes with him/her, so that is another reason to minimize the use of a henchman as you progress. If you are planning on playing Hordes of the Underdark then it is important that you read the section on HotU below BEFORE finishing SoU so that you can best prepare your character for the transition. Hordes of the Underdark (HotU) expansion: HotU is a larger expansion than SoU and contains more magical items, traps, gold, and battles. HotU allows two henchmen instead of only one although you will start the game initially without any. You will also start the game without your gear. You will regain your gear on the 3rd level of the dungeon, about a third of the way through the game. For this reason it is important that you start the game with as much money as possible. It is also important to note that magic bags/bags of holding and other containers will be recovered on the 3rd level BUT NOT THE ITEMS THAT WERE IN THEM, so anything you wish to have needs to be outside of a container and in your inventory or equipped. Tip: Even if you do not plan to use them, allow henchmen to join your group (you can have two simultaneously) so that you can pillage their inventory. Sometimes they have unique items that can be very good to have. Afterwards you can tell them to leave empty-handed and they won't mind at all. Tip: There are two powerful unique magical swords in the first chapter, one is owned by an Ogre Mage and the other is in the Hall of Kings. They cannot be purchased elsewhere, so if you want them you will need to fight for them. Tip: At the end of the first chapter you free the Mad Wizard. Once you speak with him after the battle you will no longer be able to return to Waterdeep, so if you have any business to finish elsewhere in the dungeon or up in Waterdeep do it before talking to him. HotU has vendors who are willing to buy magic items, but they usually have a cap on how much they are willing to pay. This cap varies from vendor to vendor, increasing as you proceed through the game. It is better to hold onto an item that is worth more than the cap and sell it later in the game when the vendor's cap is higher. At the end of the game money will matter and you will want to have at least 1,400,000 available. If you do not have enough money it may affect the outcome of the game. Some of these caps are: White Thesta (in Waterdeep, basement of Yawning Portal Inn) - 7500 Sobrey (Magic Shoppe in Waterdeep) - 7500 Argali Silth (Smithy in Waterdeep) - 7500 Bottle Djinni (bottle found in level 2 of the dungeon in the 1st chapter) - 5000, in the second chapter it increases to 10000 and he gains additional items to sell. In the 3rd chapter his cap is increased to 15000. Rizolvir (Smithy in Lith My'athar City Core 2nd chapter) - 10000 High Wizard Guthrys (Lith My'athar City Core 2nd chapter) - 10000 Quarry Boss (chapter 3 quarry) - 50000 Rizolvir's Ghost (chapter 3 tavern) - 50000 (Rizolvir pays more and charges less for equipment than the Quarry Boss or your Bottle Djinni) Lord Nasher (remember him from NWN?) has had 4 unique pieces of equipment scattered around in chapter 2: a ring, a cloak, boots, and gloves. You can buy them from vendors or find them and when wearing all of them at the same time you get additional bonuses. A henchmen wearing all of them does not get the additional bonuses. These items can only be found in chapter 2. If you can get a better offering price for items before the final battle in SoU you should do so because you will need the money in HotU to upgrade your weapons and at the end of the game. The Drow Armorer Rizolvir in the 2nd chapter of HotU (and again as a ghost in chapter 3 and also after your sojourn into the Astral Plane) can upgrade weapons - even magic weapons (adding permanent haste, +2 regeneration/round, keen (doubles critical damage range), 2d6 elemental (fire, acid, cold, electrical) damage for weapons that do not already have elemental damage bonus, Spell Resistance 20, true seeing, and up to +10 enhancement). This is expensive. but may have the effect of allowing you to sell other items that you no longer need and other weapons you have been carrying around. Again, to get the best prices you may want to try to sell those items before leaving SoU, especially since you won't regain them anyway in HotU until shortly before you will be able to upgrade, and after that you won't need them. There are limitations as to how many enhancements a weapon can have. The final foe you fight is immune to weapons lower than +7 so you will want to enhance your favorite weapons at least that much. Special notes on weapon upgrading with Rizolvir (HoTU): - There is a limit to the number of enhancements there can be on a weapon. However, a difference in to-hit bonus doesn't seem to affect that number. So, to maximize your weapon enhancements upgrade the to-hit bonus first to the maximum you want before adding other enhancements. If you add the other enhancements first you may not be allowed to further upgrade the weapon. - A weapon can only have one type of elemental (fire, acid, sonic, cold, electrical, etc) damage and many magic weapons come with +1d6 elemental damage. Rizolvir can add 2d6 damage to a weapon that does not already have elemental damage, but cannot increase a weapon that already has 1d6 elemental damage to 2d6 damage. The only exception to this are weapons that have elemental damage in special circumstances. For example, the sword Sword Saint Legacy comes with 2d6 damage vs. evil, and because the damage is limited to evil it is possible for Resolvir to add an additional 2d6 damage (if preparing for the final battle acid would be a very good choice). Damage bonuses of different types stack so that an evil creature would take both 2d6 sonic and 2d6 acid damage. Another weapon this can be done with is Nathyrra's rapier Deathslayer which does 1d8 Positive Energy damage against Undead. - Give careful thought before upgrading weapons that have a unique characteristic like Stun DC-14. The DC rating indicates how hard it is for the effect to be ignored, the higher the number the better. A DC of 14 is high enough that low-level creatures will not make their saving throw, but higher-level creatures will not be effected. A DC over 20 is better against tougher opponents. - Remember that Spell Resistance does not stack, so a person dual-wielding two weapons that each grant SR 20 will still have SR 20, not 40. - Remember that Regeneration bonuses DO stack, so a person dual-wielding two weapons that each grant Regeneration +2 will actually regenerate +4. - One difference between a base item "Quarterstaff" and a base item "Magic Staff" is that a Magic Staff can be wielded in the primary hand, allowing a secondary weapon to be used simultaneously, but a "Quarter Staff" (even one with magical enhancements) is considered a two-handed weapon. So before enhancing a staff make sure that it can be used one-handed if you intend to dual-wield. - "Keen" can be applied to any weapon to double its critical hit range, even weapons that lack edges. Be aware, however, that high-level foes may be immune to critical hits anyway. (The "Improved Criticals" skill combined with a keen weapon will triple the weapons base critical hit range) Special notes on armor and weapon crafting: Armor and weapon crafting can be used to alter the appearance of weapons and armor to suit your taste. Per game design it costs money and requires that you have crafting skill of a certain level. However, there is a way around this as long as you are in an area where you can rest. Use your craft skill to alter the appearance of the armor or weapon. Save the game BEFORE applying the changes. Then load from your saved game and rest. The changes are made and they won't have cost you a dime.

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