youspoonybard
First Post
Hello, everyone!
This is a thread for people who want some advice on character building. I don't want to put up builds here, as it's more satisfying to play up your own character, but rather to give advice on what classes, feats, and the like to take when planning a character.
Spoony's Character Tips -
1) Equipment is King. Around level 21, take a level of Bard or Rogue and put 24 or so ranks in Use Magic Device. This, combined with the Star Gloves, will give you enough UMD to use any item available in the shop (and in the game, everything I've encountered, at least). For Monks, I recommend using Kamas instead of Monk Gloves.
2) Noteworthy skillls - Besides the 1 rank in Open Lock and Disable Device at level 1, Tumble and Spellcraft give significant bonuses every 5 ranks (+1 AC, +1 to saves VS magic).
3) That Elusive 4th Attack - Remember that BAB is only determined by your first 20 levels. If you are a warrior, try to lose as few points of BAB in those first 20 as possible. Remember that you need a BAB of +16 in order to get that 4th attack.
Onto the Classes!
1) Barbarian
PRO - d12 HD, Full BAB, the Epic Rage feats seem to break through all immunities, 4+int SP/Level, Uncanny Dodge I, some minor damage reduction.
CON - Rage. Rage stinks. There is a total cap of +12 on magical bonuses to a stat (so that gloves of dex +8 and a cloak of dex +6 would only give +12 to dex). Unfortunately, Rage is included in this cap. A barbarian with natural strength 18 and +12 to strength from spells and equipment (easier to get than it sounds) rages and doesn't gain any strength at all.
Given the weakness of Rage, I'd shy away from using Barbarian in a build.
2) Bard
PRO - 3/4 BAB, 4+int SP/Level with a good skill list, access to UMD, Tumble, Spellcraft AND discipline as class skills, decent spellcasting ability, opens up a large cache of prestige classes, Bardsong.
CON - d6 HD isn't the biggest.
Bard is an excellent class. I highly recommend it. Good levels to stop are 2 (Take one level around 21, another level around 40), 16 (where the good progression of Bardsong ends), and 20 (unwritten requirement for Lasting Impression).
A few notes on Bardsong -
Bardsong and Curse Song, when combined together at level 16, give you an effective +7 to attack and +7 to AC. This stacks with everything else, AND affects all party members AND enemies in an area. A bard greatly enhances the fighting capability of her party.
3) Cleric
4) Druid
5) Fighter
PRO - Full BAB, d10 HD, lots and lots of bonus feats, Weapon Specialization, Epic Weapon Specialization.
CON - There aren't THAT many feats that you'd want.
The fighter is probably the best Full BAB class to round up that 16 BAB. Four levels of fighter gets you weapon specialization, which is nice. Take fighter until you're happy with the feats you have. You can pick Epic Fighter Bonus Feats in NWN with your normal fighter bonus feats after Character Level 20, so I recommend two levels or fighter past 20 for Epic Weapon Specialization (unless you use a normal feat, and land an odd fighter level on a feat level).
Any even level is a good level to stop at, really. Remember, 3/4 BAB classes need at least 4 levels of a full BAB class in order to get their 4th attack.
6) Monk
PRO - -3 Attack progression, good immunities, built in Spell Resistance, speed. 3/4 BAB.
7) Paladin
PRO - Full BAB, d10 HD, some decent abilities.
CON - Abilities severely limited by uses/day, Multiple Ability Score dependancy, doesn't get much after level 3.
Three levels, anyone? If you have the Charisma to spare, Paladin makes an excellent class to get that 16 BAB (Takes 4 levels, but you get some nice abilities in the first 3). Alignment restriction prevents Bard/Paladins, unfortunately (Bard/Paladin/Red Dragon Disciple...darn).
8) Ranger
PRO - Full BAB, d10 HD, Dual-wield, Better Favored enemy bonuses than in 3.0. 4 SP/Level, and a good skill list (Although no tumble).
CON - Cannot use Dual-Wield as a prereq for Two Weapon Fighting.
The question to me is, why? Ranger is alright if you are planning on taking many, many levels (to build up a large Favored Enemy Bonus). For a small dip, it's not good; if you're a dual-wielder, you're better off taking 4 levels of fighter for Two-Weapon Fighting, Ambidexterity and Improved Two-Weapon Fighting. I suppose if you only used light armor, and had a dex < 15 so you couldn't take Ambidexterity (Why this would be, I have no idea), Ranger would be better.
For a bigger contribution to a build, Ranger fares better. A Ranger 40, for example, would have +9 damage to all of his 9 favored enemy groups. But besides that, Ranger doesn't get many other benefits.
9) Rogue
10) Sorceror
11) Wizard
This is a thread for people who want some advice on character building. I don't want to put up builds here, as it's more satisfying to play up your own character, but rather to give advice on what classes, feats, and the like to take when planning a character.
Spoony's Character Tips -
1) Equipment is King. Around level 21, take a level of Bard or Rogue and put 24 or so ranks in Use Magic Device. This, combined with the Star Gloves, will give you enough UMD to use any item available in the shop (and in the game, everything I've encountered, at least). For Monks, I recommend using Kamas instead of Monk Gloves.
2) Noteworthy skillls - Besides the 1 rank in Open Lock and Disable Device at level 1, Tumble and Spellcraft give significant bonuses every 5 ranks (+1 AC, +1 to saves VS magic).
3) That Elusive 4th Attack - Remember that BAB is only determined by your first 20 levels. If you are a warrior, try to lose as few points of BAB in those first 20 as possible. Remember that you need a BAB of +16 in order to get that 4th attack.
Onto the Classes!
1) Barbarian
PRO - d12 HD, Full BAB, the Epic Rage feats seem to break through all immunities, 4+int SP/Level, Uncanny Dodge I, some minor damage reduction.
CON - Rage. Rage stinks. There is a total cap of +12 on magical bonuses to a stat (so that gloves of dex +8 and a cloak of dex +6 would only give +12 to dex). Unfortunately, Rage is included in this cap. A barbarian with natural strength 18 and +12 to strength from spells and equipment (easier to get than it sounds) rages and doesn't gain any strength at all.
Given the weakness of Rage, I'd shy away from using Barbarian in a build.
2) Bard
PRO - 3/4 BAB, 4+int SP/Level with a good skill list, access to UMD, Tumble, Spellcraft AND discipline as class skills, decent spellcasting ability, opens up a large cache of prestige classes, Bardsong.
CON - d6 HD isn't the biggest.
Bard is an excellent class. I highly recommend it. Good levels to stop are 2 (Take one level around 21, another level around 40), 16 (where the good progression of Bardsong ends), and 20 (unwritten requirement for Lasting Impression).
A few notes on Bardsong -
Bardsong and Curse Song, when combined together at level 16, give you an effective +7 to attack and +7 to AC. This stacks with everything else, AND affects all party members AND enemies in an area. A bard greatly enhances the fighting capability of her party.
3) Cleric
4) Druid
5) Fighter
PRO - Full BAB, d10 HD, lots and lots of bonus feats, Weapon Specialization, Epic Weapon Specialization.
CON - There aren't THAT many feats that you'd want.
The fighter is probably the best Full BAB class to round up that 16 BAB. Four levels of fighter gets you weapon specialization, which is nice. Take fighter until you're happy with the feats you have. You can pick Epic Fighter Bonus Feats in NWN with your normal fighter bonus feats after Character Level 20, so I recommend two levels or fighter past 20 for Epic Weapon Specialization (unless you use a normal feat, and land an odd fighter level on a feat level).
Any even level is a good level to stop at, really. Remember, 3/4 BAB classes need at least 4 levels of a full BAB class in order to get their 4th attack.
6) Monk
PRO - -3 Attack progression, good immunities, built in Spell Resistance, speed. 3/4 BAB.
7) Paladin
PRO - Full BAB, d10 HD, some decent abilities.
CON - Abilities severely limited by uses/day, Multiple Ability Score dependancy, doesn't get much after level 3.
Three levels, anyone? If you have the Charisma to spare, Paladin makes an excellent class to get that 16 BAB (Takes 4 levels, but you get some nice abilities in the first 3). Alignment restriction prevents Bard/Paladins, unfortunately (Bard/Paladin/Red Dragon Disciple...darn).
8) Ranger
PRO - Full BAB, d10 HD, Dual-wield, Better Favored enemy bonuses than in 3.0. 4 SP/Level, and a good skill list (Although no tumble).
CON - Cannot use Dual-Wield as a prereq for Two Weapon Fighting.
The question to me is, why? Ranger is alright if you are planning on taking many, many levels (to build up a large Favored Enemy Bonus). For a small dip, it's not good; if you're a dual-wielder, you're better off taking 4 levels of fighter for Two-Weapon Fighting, Ambidexterity and Improved Two-Weapon Fighting. I suppose if you only used light armor, and had a dex < 15 so you couldn't take Ambidexterity (Why this would be, I have no idea), Ranger would be better.
For a bigger contribution to a build, Ranger fares better. A Ranger 40, for example, would have +9 damage to all of his 9 favored enemy groups. But besides that, Ranger doesn't get many other benefits.
9) Rogue
10) Sorceror
11) Wizard
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