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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LightPhoenix" data-source="post: 1255260" data-attributes="member: 115">I've gotten it, but I'm still at beginning to Chapter 2.  I was actually typing up a mini-review of the game when the boards died this afternoon, this saves me the trouble.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I think they did some really great stuff with some of the special effects.  The graphics are a little better, but honestly I don't think the increased poly count is all that noticeable unless you have a high-end machine - which I definitely don't.  The toolset has some really nice features that I want to play with, but haven't yet because I'm playing the game first. My main character from SoU is a Bard 8/Arcane Archer 4.  I elected not to play one of the modules bridging SoU and HotU (see NWVault) and so started at level 12.  Big mistake, especially for a sub-optimal build like mine.  So I raised my level to 15 (8/7), which is the suggested starting point for the game, and also the level you will be boosted to if you start with a character under level 12. As for henchmen, I decided to use Deekin and Sharwyn.  Which set up an interesting situation - all three of us are Bards in some form another.  Deekin I told to advance solely as a Red Dragon Disciple, because I'm not really overly fond of the Bard's spell list in NWN.  Sharwyn I left alternating between Bard and Fighter.  All of us were using ranged weapons, and it actually worked so surprisingly well I decided to keep Sharwyn (I was originally going to grab Daelan or Linu).  Plus, the banter between Sharwyn and Deekin is hilarious, so that was a bonus. One random comment - I'm a little disappointed in the Arcane Archer's epic levels.  They pretty much get nothing but better versions of Enhance Arrows - I was hoping there might be some different Imbue abilities at the higher levels, but it was not to be.  The only other thing they do get is bonus damage to Imbue Arrow - +1d6 every two levels.  Bleh.  Ah well, gives me a chance to work on my Bard abilities. The story through Chapter One is pretty straight-forward.  There are puzzles, there's exploration, but pretty much it's just a straight dungeon-crawl.  Though it wasn't a terribly boring one, that's what it is.  It started to pick up a bit toward the end though.   On the treasure side, there's a nice variety of items, though it seems there's a bunch of Monk and Bard items - the latter perhaps because I am a Bard, but the Monk item thing has been an issue throughout all three games, IMO.  Nevertheless, I've found a few interesting items for Druids, Monks, and Wiz/Sors, and into Chapter 2 some items for Clerics, Shadowdancers, and Assassins.  I haven't found anything that really benefits any of the fighting classes though.  Overall the variety is definitely better than SoU (which was mostly armor), though I haven't found any neat rings - just the standard stuff. Also, I bought the Lich's Lyrics, a special item for Bard that uses you Bard Song to cause a Horrid Wilting.  It works great for my character, since Deekin is a much better Bard than I.  I'm also looking to buy two pieces of equipment specifically for Arcane Archers - a bow with unlimited Fire Arrows (+1d6 Fire damage) and a suit of armor I don't recall the specifics of. One slightly annoying thing was that Staves now have to be equipped to be used - makes my Staff of Power fairly useless now, since I'm not going to want to have my Bow out of hand in the middle of combat.  Though it makes sense that it works this way.  Still, I was relying on Wands and Staves for my meager magic power. I also took Craft Wand, to play around with.  Now, the fact that you can craft something, and more importantly give an item your caster level is great, especially for custom content makers - no more having to make seperate item properties if you want a stronger or weaker wand.  But as a player, I find it sorely lacking.  You get 1d20+CL charges on the wand, instead of 50 (bleh), you can't cast spells from scrolls to enchant wands (or any magical item... bleh), and you still pay the full XP and GP.  Very sub-par.  Hopefully it can be changed. The game is actually fairly easy, though I did die at one point, which is actually a really amusing story.  It's starting to get a bit more difficult in Chapter Two, but nothing that I can't really handle.  I've found that I hardly ever rest now though, between potions and healing kits, and a variety of items, I can go for a good couple of hours of playing without needing to rest - a good thing, IMO. Finally, I've ran into a couple of bugs.  The big one is (spoiler for Chapter One, but not big) [spoiler]when I found Tomi and revived him, the conversation would mess up if my henchmen weren't close enough (since they have lines).  The first time this resulted in some goofy behavior from Sharwyn, where she left my party, rejoined eventually, but then wouldn't do anything.[/spoiler]  Also, I couldn't take any of the item crafting feats unless I took a level in a spellcasting class, even though I already had eight levels of Bard.</blockquote>

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