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konny666
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 Jul 2003
Posts: 219
Location: Babylon 6 |
quote:
Originally posted by Lintra
quote:
Originally posted by konny666
... My animal companion and henchman are enough, and having too many allies can lower your XP awards.
...
Even summoned allies? You sure? If so, then my wizard strategty just took a good blow (I've never used it) but it seems pretty smart to summon a beastie, carry a big familiar and call yourself an army with fire support and henchies be damned!
My investigation reveals that it seems to make a difference. I used a commoner standing in some random tavern in the OC as my punching bag.
Killing him solo: 33xp
Killing him with Linu : 26xp
Killing him with Linu and Animal Companion (panther): 22xp
Killing him with Linu and Animal Companion and Summon Creature II: 18xp
Hmm, think I'll keep my Animal buddy out of fights to speed up my progression a bit. 
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:: Member of The Nonflamers' Guild ::
:: Visit me on Babylon 6! :: |
Tue Apr 27, 2004 12:28 am |
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Lintra
Elf Friend
Joined: 23 Apr 2002
Posts: 9448
Location: Bermuda, the triangle place with SANDY BEACHES |
Yikes! Those are pretty big penlaties. By the end its near 50%. Hmmm. Guess the solo show is better for XP. I had a sneaking suspicion that was the case - nice to have it confirmed - thanks Konny.
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=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Just plain clueless= |
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Tue Apr 27, 2004 12:16 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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1 - Shifters suck. Druids are awesome in their own right and have access to the same super-shifting feats (Dragon shape) that shifters have in epic, lose nothing when it comes to spell casting power, and can use weapons and armor and magical equipment on a regular basis.
IN multiplayer I could see how being a shifter would be a lot of fun... but in singleplayer it's a deathwish. I completed the first level of Undermountain with a druid/ranger/shifter and I nearly died repeatedly.
The biggest reason? Damage reduction. Most Shifter forms can't break damage reduction which leads to getting slapped around a lot.
Splicing in a lot of monk levels might help with that somewhat. Some of the forms use unarmed combat ... which the monks damage replaces. At one point my Monk was able to use an item to turn into an earth elemental. The sheer carnage of a 44 strength combined with 1d20 damage per hit and flurry of blows was insane.... but so was the 20 point AC drop.
2 - Always keep within favored class boundries. Experience penalties are bad news and they come into play whenever you have two classes more than two levels apart. Favored classes don't count, so a level 7 ranger level 2 wizard elf is a level 7 ranger when it comes to check for experience penaltes.
Prestige classes do not count for this calculation.
And humans and half elves alway treat their highest level class as their favored class giving them the most flexibility.
3 - The best class in the game for single player is... dun dun dun duuuuuunn!
Paladin.
Hands down.
Let wizards blow things to pieces. Let clerics become nearly unkillable. It doesn't matter... in the end a Paladin fights as well and is as armored as a fighter, can heal themselves like a cleric, can turn undead like a cleric, are immune to some of the most annoying things in the game (Fear, disease), get incredible bonuses to saving throws, and can level smite attacks.
For evil the blackguard is nearly as good for the same reasons... in some ways it's better (sneak attack dice come into play a lot)... in others it is not (no immunity to disease and fear).
Monks are wickedly powerful as well, as they have SR.. and thus a Paladin/Monk is a thing to behold. Quite possibly the most powerful class combination in the game.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Wed Apr 28, 2004 3:05 pm |
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konny666
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 Jul 2003
Posts: 219
Location: Babylon 6 |
quote:
Originally posted by EverythingXen
1 - Shifters suck. Druids are awesome in their own right and have access to the same super-shifting feats (Dragon shape) that shifters have in epic, lose nothing when it comes to spell casting power, and can use weapons and armor and magical equipment on a regular basis.
~
The biggest reason? Damage reduction. Most Shifter forms can't break damage reduction which leads to getting slapped around a lot.
Actually, I disagree. They're fun to play! And a balanced build between Druid and Shifter will keep providing you access with the nice Druid stuff.
Also, consider the whole weapon/armor/item merging thing. If you get the hang of how that system works, its not too hard to set up your character so the merged shapes retain power. For example, a straight Druid would probably prefer Chain +1 to Padded +3... but for a Shifter, the Padded is a better choice. Similarly, using a weapon that might seem crappy for a straight Druid, helps certain Shifted forms. i.e. for the quickly-achieved Minotaur shape (Shifter-3), change your hand weapon to a +2 Dagger that does elemental damage (instead of a +2 Scimitar or whatever you've got at that point). The +2 and elementals get added to the Minotaur's Axe - really nice.
Another thing about the DR - if that's the *biggest* problem, then I think it will be alleviated in the next patch. We'll see when the beta gets released next week, as it's been promised (forms with DR will get enchantment bonus equal to DR level).
Also, I noticed that the Wyrm shapes all have free perma-True Seeing... that can be a blessing if you've got lots of baddies using stealth, which some of us get in the campaigns that are more challenging than the OC. Indeed, the "challenge" mod for the OC makes those pathetic critters use stealth and better abilities, so your straight melee fighter with 0 points in spot/listen will get sneak-attacked up the wazoo, too. 
Also, lets not forget that all spell buffs apply 100% to a Shifter. True that Druid buffs pale to Cleric buffs, but there are some good ones which last long enough until your next rest period at any rate.
quote:
2 - Always keep within favored class boundries. Experience penalties are bad news and they come into play whenever you have two classes more than two levels apart. Favored classes don't count, so a level 7 ranger level 2 wizard elf is a level 7 ranger when it comes to check for experience penaltes.
Prestige classes do not count for this calculation.
Actually as of v1.62 (and all previous versions going back to HoTU) they still do.  In fact, its a peculiar bug that only affects humans/half-elves (i.e. if your highest class is a Prestige class then that counts as favored class when it should actually be your second highest class in that scenario).
quote:
3 - The best class in the game for single player is... dun dun dun duuuuuunn!
Paladin.
Hands down.
Oh, bah. Paladins are too easy to play, and they're top-heavy. Just take a few levels of Pally and go the rest Fighter; maximum munchkinism.
Anyways Xen, when you've clocked in as many NWN hours as I have, there's nothing more BORING than playing another straight brainless melee class. 
quote:
For evil the blackguard is nearly as good for the same reasons... in some ways it's better (sneak attack dice come into play a lot)... in others it is not (no immunity to disease and fear).
I like the Blackguard but there isn't much other than OC(s) to use one in. The "evil" PrC's seem a bit wasted in that regard, methinks. So easy to get an alignment shift blocking you from advancing in that class by completing some stupid quest (which could be for selfish reasons, but you get "Good" points anyways, bah...)
_________________
:: Member of The Nonflamers' Guild ::
:: Visit me on Babylon 6! :: |
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Wed Apr 28, 2004 5:58 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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quote:
Originally posted by konny666
Actually, I disagree. They're fun to play! And a balanced build between Druid and Shifter will keep providing you access with the nice Druid stuff.
~
Another thing about the DR - if that's the *biggest* problem, then I think it will be alleviated in the next patch. We'll see when the beta gets released next week, as it's been promised (forms with DR will get enchantment bonus equal to DR level).
You've obviously played around with shifter more than I have. That said it's good to see that the DR will help bypass DR as it is in the rules of D&D. Though that won't help much, as I said, when it comes to EPIC play. None of the forms have a DR of x/+6 or better.
Perhaps I'll tinker with merging a bit, but I was under the impression it only merged armor enhancement bonus, weapon bonus to forms with weapons, and natural armor bonus.
quote:
Actually as of v1.62 (and all previous versions going back to HoTU) they still do. In fact, its a peculiar bug that only affects humans/half-elves (i.e. if your highest class is a Prestige class then that counts as favored class when it should actually be your second highest class in that scenario).
I have faith it will be fixed and was quoting the real rule. 
quote:
Oh, bah. Paladins are too easy to play, and they're top-heavy. Just take a few levels of Pally and go the rest Fighter; maximum munchkinism.
Anyways Xen, when you've clocked in as many NWN hours as I have, there's nothing more BORING than playing another straight brainless melee class.
The fact they are boring to play is indicitive of their power. As for being top-heavy... of course they are... of course they are. There is no long term benefit to remaining pure paladin...
(turns and pets Paladin level 30 with great smiting twice who smites for +90 damage per smite. +270 on a critical with the axe) "Pay no attention, preciousssss ... we's knows who is tops heavy...."
quote:
I like the Blackguard but there isn't much other than OC(s) to use one in. The "evil" PrC's seem a bit wasted in that regard, methinks. So easy to get an alignment shift blocking you from advancing in that class by completing some stupid quest (which could be for selfish reasons, but you get "Good" points anyways, bah...)
Bah. Kill the person you do the mission for when done. They're of no further use to you and may even be a liability some day.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Thu Apr 29, 2004 2:00 pm |
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