[NWN] Feat selection

[Thanee]

One of the big decisions in the real game... what feat to choose!?

In NWN this gets even worse, as you don't really know how well the feats will do.

What kind of feats did you like with a wizard/sorcerer or rogue style character?

I've got Point Blank Shot and Rapid Shot so far and then aquired Weapon Focus (longbow), because I didn't know what to take else.

Rapid Shot seems a little unwieldy... sometimes it gets activated automatically, sometimes I have to hit the shortcut button myself...

Maybe Improved Parry/Skill Focus (Parry) and learn the Parry skill? Doesn't work quite well with the longbow, tho, I suppose.

Metamagic? Extend Spell? Seems hardly worth it with resting being so fast.

What else? Great Fortitude? Toughness?

Any ideas? What feats did you like so far?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Eternalknight]

I have a swashbuckling-type Fighter/Rogue. I have an 18 Dex. I have taken point blank shot and rapid shot, plus weapon finesse (unlike in D&D it applies to all finesseable weapons in NWN). Skill focus: Lore can really save you money on identifying items. Another one you might want to take is Combat Casting if you get into melee frequently.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I wouldn't recommend taking Skill Focus: Lore unless you're a Bard or put a lot of skill into Lore. The +2 won't help you all that much. I wouldn't recomment the Parry route either - I haven't found it all that useful.

Combat Casting and Skill Focus: Concentration is really good for a Wiz/Sor/Drd or a spellcasting Cleric or Bard.

Cleave is a better feat in NWN than normally, since you're more prone to be surrounded. I'd recommend it for any fighting character. Power attack isn't that bad either (I've seen Linu kick some major butt with it).

Skill Focus: Discipline is a pretty good feat to have as well - being knocked down or disarmed can be really serious. Better not to take chances.

Sap and/or Knockdown can be handy... I would recommend Knockdown over Sap only because Improved Knockdown is easier to get than Stunning Fist.

Finally, with a non-combatant character I think it's better to take Ambi/TWF/ITWF. This is a personal bias. It's a three feat chain, but if you're ever in a pinch I'd rather be making more attacks than less, and shields generally get in the way of spellcasters anyway. Besides, I don't like the metamagic feats much.

 

[Draconis Imperium]

I agree with the point blank and rapid shot combo. I have a elven rogue3/wizard 6/ranger 1 and I can stay back and pepper the bad guys with arrows while I send my summoned animals in to absorb the blows. 1 level of Ranger and you automatically get ambidex,two weapon fighting feats plus the other abilities of a ranger. When you have to melee, More hits are better!
The metamagic feats I have never been real popular of, also skill focus. +2 just doesn't seem worth wasting a feat for.

Weapon focus or weapon finesse work well also!

 

[Eternalknight]

Just to point out to the previous two posters who may not be aware... Skill Focus in NWN gives a +3 bonus

 

[Thanee]

I've given the metamagics a try now, as I really had no clue what might be useful for me otherwise, so I learned Empower Spell and later Extend Spell. Being a Sorcerer these can be used a lot more flexible compared to a Wizard at least!

I think I need to get some more Rogue levels now, to up my skill levels to a useful degree...

About Power Attack and Cleave, those are probably a must have for every fighter type (even in the normal D&D they almost are). Improved Critical as well.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

About bows... could it be that bows got the shaft in NWN?

No damage bonus from the enchantment?
No greater magic weapon?
I havn't found any magically enhanced arrows yet (only added piercing or frost damage and such stuff) to get around damage reduction.

Still, with the Sneak Attack goodness in NWN, the damage is ok. I'm definitely considering Improved Critical when I can get it finally.

Bye
Thanee

 

[JCLabelle]

Extend's pretty nice actually, especially for Tenser's Transformation and other low duration spells like that. Extended Hastes on your followers are another good thing. If you're going the pure mage route, I'd recommand Spell Focus Evoc & Necromancy. Other Metamagics can be usefull. Quickened Improved Invisibility is one of the major life saver in the game, worth the 8th level slot. Empowered Delayed Blast Fireballs are more efficient than Meteor Swarms.

Mobility can be pretty nice for characters likely to be casting in range of AOOs. Spell Penetration later on is pretty good. I have'nt found much uses for Silent/Still spell, but I'm pure mage. Skill Focus in Concentration or some such is actually a good choice.

 

[Thanee]

Thanks for your input.

I've also found Extend and Empower to be quite useful so far.

The primary use is pretty obvious, but the secondary use for a Sorcerer is, that you can use different spell slots for the same spells! Which can be quite nice, really!

When I reach 6th level spells, I might give Quicken a try, as it then can quicken Invisisbility, which I will swap in with my next level up, since I havn't found the added bonus of Improved Invisibility to be worthwhile.

One question, tho, does Quicken actually work for a Sorcerer in that game?

Bye
Thanee

 

[gariig]

Metamagic feats are really useful for putting spells into other spell slots. I'm a Cleric and a few spell levels have useless spells and others have a lot of good ones so I can extend those spells into those slots.

Mike