Advanced Guide to Neverwinter Nights 2 Character Builds.
Version 1.0 - Initial Revision.
Version 1.1 - Added Pokey and Thuggie builds with minor edits.
Version 2.0 - Added a large build section!
Version 2.1 - FINAL VERSION.
IMPORTANT NOTE:  This guide still seems to be getting a lot of hits, but is
outdated, and has a few errors Ive corrected in the new version.
I highly recommend you check out the Mask of the Beholder version, since all
my updates occur there.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/939027/50858
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This guide is now a complete manual for creating your own builds.  It tries
to show you the tools you have available for making builds, and explains
how they can fit together.  The guide now includes a complete walkthrough
of making a specific character along with thought processes behind it.
In addition, it is a repository of various builds which I have found to be
solid for Neverwinter Nights 2... or at least the best of their type.
These builds are usually powergamer types, and typically have several
mechanisms that make them superior to other similar ones, which I will
explain.  These are based on my NWN1, D&D, and NWN2 experience, as well
as persistent world forums that I was active in during NWN1.
I have tested all of these builds and in some cases talk about the differences
between the NWN2 version and NWN1 equivalents, if any.
For a beginner, the best way to use this guide is to look through it, and
try out any build(s) that may interest you.   An intermediate approach is
to examine each build and learn why particular combos are chosen and then
modify a build to their liking.  Read the specifics on how to make a build
and learn. An advanced player may just look through and ick up a few new
build ideas.
Once you have picked a build, TEST IT!  The best way is to go to NWN2vault
and download a trainer module.
Alternatively, you can start a new campaign/module and do this:
Hit ~ key to bring up console.
type DebugMode 1 (which enables commands)
type givexp 250000  (which gives you lots of XP)
Hit ~ to disable console.
Table of Contents:
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I. Introduction to Character building
II. The Rules Explained
III. Choosing Stats, Race
IV. Weapon Selection for warriors: Dualwield, 1h+shield, 2hander?
V. Scaling explained.
VI. Class Overviews.
VII. Putting it all together.
VIII. Complete Sample Build Methodology
IX. Builds
A)  Bruiser.  Bard1/Fighter4/RDD10/FrenzBers5
B)  Shooter   Bard3/Rogue4/Fighter4/Arcane Archer9
C)  Tricky    Wiz6/Rogue3/PaleMaster1/Arcane Trickster10.
D)  SuperSorc Sorceror18/Paladin2
E)  BadBard   Bard16/Fighter1/Blackguard3
F)  Reaper.   Fighter8/WpnMaster7/FB5
G)  Shiftey   Druid18/Monk1/Cleric1
H)  Dodgey    DeepGnome Monk16/Duelist4
I)  Kamakaze  Cleric13/Fighter6/Monk1
J)  WizWar    Wizard8/Fighter2/Eldrich Knight10
K)  Thuggie   Fighter4/Rogue3/Blackguard10/NWnine3
L)  Pokey     Fighter8/Duelist10/Monk1/Wizard1
M)  SuperSaver  Cleric15/Paladin2/Blackguard2/Warlock1
X. Copyright, Contact Info.
I. Intro to character building
------------------------------
This guide is meant to teach how to multiclass properly to make a "build" for
Neverwinter Nights 2. It is meant to be used in tandem with the build
repository later in this guide, and is intended to break down how I come
up with these builds.  The character system is very complex, and I provide
rules and suggestions to break it down into building blocks.
The guide has several sections.   First, I go over some basic rules for
multiclassing.   The next section is a breakdown of ALL character classes,
including generally how many levels of each class to take, and why this is so.
The third section talks about synergy, and how to choose classes that work
well with each other.
Finally, I give a discussion of why some builds work better in worlds where
more powerful items are found, and how to adjust a build to these worlds.
A build is nothing more than 20 levels of different classes taken together in
a specific order, with certain stats, feats, skills mixed in.
In general, you can exclude MOST skills from your build, as they are usually
not all that important to the actual build. In other words, the build is not
overly influenced by your skills one way or another whether you take
diplomacy or healing.
In my builds, I show recommended skills, but these are very dependent upon
how and where you are playing.  Some servers practically
require Spot to avoid pickpocketers, whereas others are in love with locked
unbashable doors and chests.  The large variety of skills and applications is
why we can exclude most skills.   There are some important skills that are
specific to a build and are usually prerequisites for some prestege class.
II. The Rules Explained
-----------------------
This section goes over the rules, or general guidelines that I follow when
creating a new build.  Later on I will apply these when we create a new
build.
a. Rule of Four
---------------
The first rule is the RULE OF FOUR.  Classes with a medium Attack Bonus (AB)
give the character +1 Base Attack Bonus(BAB) on every level except the 1st,
5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th.  Hence, in most builds you will see people take
these classes in FOURS.  In any case, you will almost NEVER see 5, 9, 13, or
17 levels in such a class.
This rule is irritating as in many cases, that 5th,9th,13th,17th level can
provide some strong benefits, as you will soon see.
For example, a monk gains Spell Resistance at level 13 instead of 12 like it
is supposed to. RDD gets blindfight at 5 instead of 4.
Assassin gets improved invisibility at 9.  You will see many other such
annoying examples as you work on builds.
Note that this rule is ONLY applicable for characters that plan on fighting
at all.  Pure casters typically disregard this rule.
Also note that low-progression classes gain 1 BAB ONLY on even levels. So, a
8Wizard,2fighter,10Eld Knight has a 16bab, whereas a 7wiz,1fighter,10ek,1PM
only gets 14!
This rule is one that limits splash classes.  For example, a
17warrior, with 1 bard for an aura, 1 cleric for domain bonuses, and a
single rogue level for skill access and 1d6 sneak would have a 17BAB instead
of a 20BAB.  This makes it less attractive to toss in 1 level of those classes.
On the other hand, a 17fighter with 1barbarian for faster move and rage,
1 ranger for favored enemy, and 1 dwarf defender for 1AC and stance would
still have a 20BAB.  (Yeah, I know the alignments aren't compatible...)
b. Rule of Highest Class Favor.
-------------------------------
The second thing to examine is XP penalties.  This is how it works.  Look at
the highest level class.  Compare the highest level class to EACH other class.
For every one that is more than 1 level apart, apply 20% XP penalty, which is
cumulative.  Example: 5cleric,1monk,1fighter = 40% XP penalty!
There are a few exceptions fortunately.
First, ALL PRESTEGE CLASSES are exempt.
They are treated as if they do not exist for XP penalty purposes.
So a 5cleric, 1assassin, 1 blackguard = 0% XP penalty.
Secondly, there is the "favored class" for each race.  This class is also
eliminated from consideration completely.  Here are examples.
Assume a 8 rogue,4fighter,4monk,4druid.  If we play a halfling, rogue is
their favored class.  Therefore the game reads the character as having
4fighter,4monk,4druid.  Works great with 0 XP penalty.
What if we played a dwarf?  The class is seen as a 8rogue, 4monk, 4 druid,
which is a 40% XP penalty.  Oops.  This leads us into the rule...
The RULE OF HIGHEST CLASS FAVOR says that if you have more than 2 main classes
(i.e. not prestege classes since they are immune to XP penalty), you want
your HIGHEST level class to be the favored one.
A note here is that humans always have their highest level non-prestege class
as their favored class.  This means that they always get maximum benefit
from favored class.  There is never a case where having a dwarf's fighter
favored will ever be better than human's favored class ability.
Half-elves also gain this ability, but are a pretty weak race that I never
consider for character building.
c. Rule of Initial Skill Boost
------------------------------
Our next concept is that Class Order Matters.  The 8rogue,4fighter,4monk,
4druid example used previously will be our example.  We will start out with
our next rule and go from there.
The RULE OF INITIAL SKILL BOOST states that you usually want the class with
the most and most useful skillpoints or skill access taken at level 1.
At level 1, skillpoints are multiplied by 4.
Hence, assuming no INT modifier, a 1st level rogue gets 32 skillpoints.  A
first level fighter gets 8, and a monk gets 16.
Clearly, you would want to start with the rogue.  Remember also that at level
1, you can put 4 points into a skill, since they are capped at CharLvl +3.
If nothing else and you wont have enough skillpoints later on, you can at least
pick up 4 points in several useful skills like open lock, spot, UMD, etc.
d. Rule of Weaving Class levels for Optimum skill access.
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Skill access is another reason for taking levels in certain orders.  In our
example, you would not want to take all 8 rogue levels, then 4 monk, then
4 fighter, and 4 druid.  As such, your 1st 12 levels would have access to
rogueish skills, but after that they all cost TWO points per skill-up.
Let's back up for a minute.  Normally, 1 skill rank up cost 1 point, IF it
is a class skill.  Open lock for rogue for example.
If it is a cross-class skill, it costs TWO skillpoints to get +1 skill rank.
In addition, you are CAPPED at 1/2 the normal value rounded down.  A 3rd
level druid can get 6 concentrate, but only a 3 in Open Lock since it is
not a class skill.  7th lvl druid can have 10 concentrate, and 5 open lock.
There is 1 more wrinkle though.  If you have EVER had access to a skill as a
class skill, then you can always get the full capped value for that skill,
although it may be a double cost.
As an example, taking 1 rogue, then 19 cleric lets you put up to 23 points in
tumble, open lock, and other rogue skills that clerics do not have class
skill access to.  However, the cleric will have to pay TWO skillpoints per
rank.  Since clerics only get 2 base skillpoints per level, you can see how
this would not work out so well.
This leads to our next rule, which is the RULE OF WEAVING CLASS LEVELS FOR
OPTIMUM SKILL ACCESS.  Using our example, the player would want to ensure
those 12 rogue levels are interspersed such that you can carryover points and
spend them during rogue levelups to get the skills as cheaply as possible.
Conversely, this allows you to use the monk and druid levels to crank up
your heal skill.  Hence, you level up different skills during different
class level-ups.
e. Rule of weaving class levels to avoid XP penalty.
----------------------------------------------------
Now, we cover the RULE OF WEAVING CLASS LEVELS TO AVOID XP PENALTY.  In our
example, the worst possible place to be is to have 3fighter,1druid,1monk with
how ever many rogue (assuming halfling so rogue is favored).  This gives you
a 40% XP penalty, and is totally unnecessary.
All you have to do is simply keep all the non-favored, non-prestege classes
within one level of each other for 0 XP penalty.
f. Rule of Highest Gain class order
-----------------------------------
Next up is the RULE OF HIGHEST GAIN CLASS ORDER.  This indicates that you want
to level up the classes in the order that is most useful for character
growth.  Unfortunately, this causes a lot of contradictions even in itself.
Lets look at a cleric16/fighter4 build.  So what order do you do things in?
If you put 4 fighter early on, you get 3 feats and early wpn spec access.
However, you severely limit cleric spell progression.   Taking fighter late
means no improved weapons/feats for a long time.  So you compromise and
take 1 cleric at 1st level, then 1 fighter at 2nd level to get the wpn feats
and 1 free feat. Then, take say 11 cleric to get most of the useful buffs,
then take 3 more fighter, then finish up with cleric.
Question: So lemme get this straight... you want me to make a 8rogue,
4monk,4fighter,4druid and make sure to keep the minor classes within one
level of each other?   AND, also weave them to make sure I can maximize the
right skills that I want?   AND take the most useful class up front?
Answer:  Yep.  As you can already see, the rules contradict each other.
We will address this in the rule of tradeoffs.
g. Rule of Caster 16ish.
----------------------
Next up is the RULE OF CASTER 16ish.   This rule states that if you are
making a character that primarily casts spells, then you want them to have
as high of spell access as possible.  A bard gets his 6th level spells at
level 16.  A warlock is at 15. A sorceror gains 9th level spells at 18. A
wizard gets them at 17, as do clerics and druids.  Paladins/Rangers get
their max at 15.
At the least, you want 16 caster levels so you can use Practiced Caster feat
to give them 20 caster levels FOR the purpose of damage and duration only!
So 16 should be a minimum for offensive casting.
Many buffs max out at level 20, which is doable with 16 caster levels and
the practiced caster feat. (example: Magic Vestment, Greater Magic Wpn)
Let's say you are making a wizard.  You need to retain 17 base caster levels
to keep access to 9th level spells.   This gives you 3 levels of wiggle room.
If you take Palemaster, every even level costs one of these 3 wiggle levels,
because Palemasters only get a casting level on ODD levels.
So a 13wiz,7PM is effectively a 17th level caster and has 9th level spells.
With practiced caster, you cast as a 20th level caster.   However, you do NOT
gain SPELL PROGRESSION as a 20th..only a 17th.
Still, you only lose out on a few 9th level slots, and pick up some nice AC
bonuses from Palemaster.
A 10wiz/10PM may be tempting, but would be crippled to 15 caster level, or
8th level spells maximum, with a casting level of 19 maximum for damage.
h. Rule of Warrior 16BAB
------------------------
There is also the RULE OF WARRIOR 16.  This states that you want a Base
Attack Bonus of 16 or higher for any character that attacks with weapons on
a reasonably regular basis.
A 15BAB means 3 attacks. +15/10/5.  Getting just ONE more BAB results in a
4th attack, or 16/11/6/1.   With appropriate bonuses, this can turn into
36/31/26/21 easily.  Obviously, a 4th attack is a very good thing.
This is why a bard5/RDD10/fighter5 is horrible... it has a 15BAB, whereas a
bard4/rdd10/fighter6 has 16bab.
i. Max's Maxim of Maximums
--------------------------
Our next rule is MAX's MAXIM OF MAXIMUMS.  This states that you only want to
take an optimum number of class levels to gain the major benefits.
For example, taking 3 fighter is a bad idea.  This is because the 3rd level
does not get you anything.  It is 1 past the 2 feats for 2 levels mark, and
falls short of wpn spec access. Take 2 or 4 but NOT 3 if you can help it.
Similarly, 20 fighter is a loser.  This is because all those feats are
overkill and just not necessary.   By 12 fighter, you will be taking some
real garbage feats since you have ran out of useful ones.
WHEW!   As you can see, there are a LOT of rules to keep in mind.  Not all
apply for a specific character of course.  These rules tend to work
against each other, and it is up to you to follow as many rules as possible
and decide which ones are most important.  It all comes down to a lot of
compromise.
III. Choosing Stats, Race
Stats:
This is how to add stats to your builds. You get 32 points to spend.  All
values ASSUME HUMAN.  Racials scale as appropriate. (For half orc, 17STR
written here = 19 STR for you)
1) You generally have 1 main stat.  For platemail warriors it is STR. For
most rogues it is DEX.  Casters use WIS,INT,CHA depending on their class.
Set your main stat to 17 (or 19 with racial advantage).  This allows you
to add +5 to it as you level up and wind up with an even number.
It costs 13 points to do this.
2) All platemail users set their DEX to 12.  This gives +1AC which is the
max allowed with full plate.  You can skimp on this value in most cases
if you can get an item or buff to make up the difference.
3) Casters will probably go 14DEX.
4) ALL characters want 14 CON, which costs 6 points.  You rarely have enough
points for higher, but do not want to skimp either.
5) Your WIS,CHA are DUMP-STATS for most builds.  Leave them minimized.  Sure,
it affects a few skills but not enough to matter.
6) INT should be 10 for humans, 12 for others.  This gives a +1skill per level
bonus.  Depending on the base skillpoints for the build, this may go
up or down.
7) You usually wind up with 1 leftover point.  It will go like so:
-- If you are DEX-based or caster, add it to STR for more carrying capacity.
-- Add 1 to get 13 dex if you can get dodge feat.
-- Add 1 to get 13 Int if you can get Disarm or Imp KD feat.
Choosing Race:
In most cases, I select Human as my race of choice.  This is for several
reasons.
-- They effectively get +2 INT for non-wizard/duelist builds due to their
bonus skill point per level.
-- The bonus feat is anywhere from nice to really important.  A build with
few feats or that does a lot (mage/warrior hybrids) will find this
especially valuable.  Not only do you get an extra feat choice, but all
your feats are Bumped up some, so you benefit from them earlier. One
bonus feat is worth about 2 stat points in my estimation.
-- Favored Class allows funky builds with less or no XP penalty.
For spellcasters that are primarily interested in casting offensive spells and
maximizing their spell DC, consider the classes with natural bonuses in
that class' attribute.
This means Aasimir, Drow for CHA-based sorcs,bards, and warlocks.
Sun Elf, Drow for INT-based wizards.
Deep Gnome, Aasimir for WIS-based clerics/druids.
Warrior types that are STR-based will want to consider Half-orc.
The CHA loss is usually not a problem, although the INT loss is unfortunate.
For stat-heavy builds (cleric/fighter,etc) human is better.  For most
builds, the loss of INT is easy to overcome and the +2STR is worth it.
I don't recommend Wood Elf since I dislike losing CON, even though they are
a better value by adding STR and DEX.
DEX-based types will want to consider a small-framed class.  They add a
free +1AB and AC due to size.  The new halfling
is a great value as his free feat is better than "lucky" most of the time.
Deep Gnome is always a strong pick, ONLY IF you have some resources to
help you level up. Such as lots of magical items in storage, buddies, etc.
That gets you the best possible character at 20 thanks to the extra
+4AC and spell resistance, in addition to standard small-character bonuses.
IV. Weapon Choice for Warriors: Dualwield, 1h+shield, or 2hander?
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This is a pretty common question and the decision is usually made randomly,
based on gut-feel, or personal preference.
Here is the SHORT VERSION:
-Warriors with great strength and/or frenzied berserker go 2hander.
-Warriors with castable abilities or big damage boosters go 1h+shield, since
they get shield benefit when casting (when wpn dmg is irrelevant)
-Warriors with high DEX go dualwield.
-Dualwielding becomes stronger as static bonuses increase.  These are things
like divine favor, bardbuff, wpn specialization, higher enhancement weapons,
weapons with elemental damage.  Anything that boosts damage per hit.
Here comes the LONG VERSION:
Onehander and Shield obviously provides a large amount of AC.  Up to +7 when
a +5 heavy shield is obtained.
This can be helpful or not, depending on the situation.  Lets look at the
best-case and worst-case scenarios.
Monster hits you normally on a 13/13/18/20 per round.  With +7AC shield, that
becomes 20/20/20/20.  The cumulative toHit chances went from 35+35+10+5 = 85
to 5x4=20.  Clearly you can see that you will take approximately one FOURTH
the damage by wearing a shield.
This is a best-case analysis.
Worst case would be where the monster has a 60/60/55/50 and you only have a
30AC, so you get beat up no matter what.  This is extremely unlikely however,
only happening vs a few party-only boss-monsters.
More likely is the case where monsters have a 30/25/20 and you have a 50AC
already.  Cranking it up to 57 does not buy you anything at all.
You can usually expect a shield to reduce your damage taken by about 50% in
most situations.  There are some exceptions though.
1) If your foes include casters, then having a shield is irrelevant.  Only
doing damage is more important.
2) If you are not being actively attacked and the monster is beating on your
wizard buddy, then a shield is not helpful.
On the other hand, if you are casting a spell or using an item/ability, then
your DAMAGE is irrelevant.  In this case, the shield is very very useful
and much better than either dualwield or 2hander.
Two Handed Weapons provide a damage bonus.  The bonus however only comes from
three possible sources.  Hence, it is not always a good idea to sacrifice
shield for a 2hander.  Note that 2handers are better at Disarming due to
increased weapon size.
1) Base Weapon Damage - A greatsword does 2d6 or 7 average dmg.  Compared to
a longsword with 4.5 this grants 2.5 extra damage per hit.
2) 50% more STR bonus.  For every 2 points of STR damage done, add 1 bonus
point from 2handed.
3) Power Attack - Gains +6dmg instead of +3 for 1handed.  This makes power
attack much more useful for 2handers, since they gain double benefit.
Note that frenzied berserker pumps this to +10 or +12 even.  Improved
power attack doubles the penalty and benefit on top of that.
Dualwielding adds lots of extra attacks.  You must have a 19dex to get all
3 bonus attacks, with 17 needed for 2, and 13dex for just 1 decent attack.
Therefore, only DEX-based characters should dualwield.
ALL attacks get at least a -2 penalty, plus the need for extra feats taken.
An important note on dualwielding is that the offhand attacks are at 50%
STR penalty. In other words, bonus damage from STR is cut in half.
It is therefore dumb for a STR-based warrior to take a penalty to all 4
base attacks, and sacrifice the 150% STR bonus on 2handers, just to gain
1 extra attack at 50% STR value.
Dualwielders with little STR bonuses gain 3 bonus attacks, basically increasing
offense by 67% (4 attacks to 7), or 60% with haste (5 to 8).  This does not
factor in the -2 penalty of course, since that becomes complicated.
Suffice to say, that dualwield results in a large offensive gain.
Dualwielding is ideal for any character with big static bonuses, such as
heavily enchanted weapons or sneak attack.
Let's run some examples:
Feel free to skip this section as it is mathematical.
Assume 3 characters.
X is a cleric with 22STR, 13DEX
Y is a frenzied berserker with 42STR (RDD, max enhancement), 13DEX
Z is a shortsword-dexfighter with 10STR, 34DEX
Weapon is a longsword/greatsword with +5 and 1d6sonic.
base wpn dmg = 4.5longsword +2wpn spec(assume 4 fighter somewhere) +5wpn
+3.5sonic +STR bonus = 15 +STR.
X uses divine favor for +5dmg and Battletide +2dmg
X 1hander = 28 damage x5 = 140 and +7AC
X 2hander = 33.5 damage x5 = 167.5
X dualwield = 28 dmg x5 + 25offhand = 165 -2 hit penalty.
Y uses frenzy and normal power attack, with level5 enhancement from FB.
Y 1hander = 36 dmg x5 = 180  +7AC
Y 2hander = 51.5 dmg x5 = 253
Y dualwield = 36 x5 + 23 = 203   -2 hit penalty.
Z 1hander = 14 dmg(shortsword) x5 = 70 +7AC
Z 2hander = N/A, since not finesse-able.
Z dualwield = 14 x5 + 14x3 = 112  -2hit penalty.
If we gave everyone +10 weapons with 7d6 (24.5) elemental damage,
X 1h = 54 x5 = 270  +7AC
X 2h = 59.5 x5 = 298
X dw = 54 x5 + 51 = 321
Y 1h = 62 x5 = 310 +7AC
Y 2h = 77.5 x5 = 387.5
Y dw = 62 x5 + 54 = 364
Z 1h = 40 x5 = 200
Z 2h = n/a
Z dw = 40 x5 + 40x3 = 320
I am too lazy to run the calculations with minimal weapons, but we can
draw some conclusions easily enough.
1) You can see that as static bonuses (Wpn Spec, enhanced wpns, bonus wpn dmg,
etc) are increased, the benefit they get from 2handed is reduced, and
benefit from dualwield is increased.
2) Weaker weapons and lower stat bonuses greatly reduce dualwield benefits and
improve benefits of 2handed.
V. Scaling.
-----------
This section is an overview of why certain builds are used on
particular worlds, based on scaling.  It is intended to give a feel for
what build to use, for a particular server. Feel free to skip to the builds
section.
There are many modules for NWN, some with mighty magical items,
and others with weak items.  Each server is different, but I will classify
them as low to high magic worlds.  My median point would be the NWN2 Original
Campaign, with +5 equipment, and up to +8 or +10 stat items.  Low magic
servers tend to favor casters, and certainly encourage party buffing.  To
compensate the monsters(mobs) usually have higher magic resistance, or hit
softer but have lots of hitpoints (so more spells are needed to kill).
In some cases, the ability to rest and recover spells is limited.  The high
magic servers make warrior types much more powerful, since they can acquire
items that grant tons of immunities and make many spell buffs redundant.
Some of these servers do the opposite and allow resting often, and/or make
really hard to hit monsters that are vulnerable to magic.
You will discover that some builds do really well with more powerful items,
while some do not.   I will explain why this occurs here.
First, we discuss weapon scaling.  Our baseline is a keen scimitar.
It has a 30% crit (15-20), and does +100% extra dmg.  Its normalized value
is then 130%.  That means, a typical fighter gets about 130% out of his
weapon, when you average out crits.
A weaponmaster however makes that a 13-20 (40%), and does +200% dmg.
So the wpnmaster has a wpn value of 180%.
This is why many high magic servers are dominated by weaponmasters, because
they gain a lot more oomph out of the really high end weapons, and +STR items.
Another factor is number of attacks.  A strange monk/wpnmaster dexfighter is
weak on a low magic world.  Those 9 kama attacks seems strong, but when
each one only hits for 10 damage it is not so effective.
Add super weapons and tons of +STR and all the sudden those 9 attacks are
very powerful!   This is why Haste and similar bonus attacks such as
from dualwielding are so strong on higher magic worlds.
On the defensive end, dex-based characters really shine on high magic worlds.
Normally, a warrior in full plate and 12dex has 19 AC, plus any shield.
Extra attribute pumps will not affect this warrior's AC.
The monk/wpnmaster with 22dex and 14wis has 18AC (excluding other bonuses).
Basically, he barely breaks even on low/mid magic worlds with weaker items.
However, imagine the same char on a world with easily accessible +12 stat
items.  With +12 wis and dex, the base AC rises to 30!
Let's look at static buffs.  These do NOT scale well.  The cleric with
divine favor gets some amazing capabilities on low/mid magic worlds.
Tons of great buffs including +5dmg from divine favor, and automatic +5 wpns
and armor with buffs.
However, these are less powerful on higher magic worlds.  Example:
cleric with +5 buffed wpn and +5div favor does great damage as opposed to a
wpnmaster with +1 weapons on low magic worlds.
On the high magic world, the +5 wpn bonus is redundant, and the +5dmg from
div favor isnt so strong when wpns are +10 and hit for 4d6 elemental. In
this case, the weaponmaster crit bonus that multiplies weapon damage is
stronger than a static +5 buff.
Barbarians really get the shaft.  If they can get +12STR/CON items, there is
no point in Raging...its just an AC debuff!
Casters are similarly affected.  When weapons hit for 20 damage, those 20d6
polar rays and chain lightings are impressive!  When warriors do 200 damage
in 1 round, then the same spells seem rather lacking.
VI.  Class Overviews  (still under construction)
-------------------
This section reviews every class, and explains in general, how many levels
one might wish to take in the class, and why.
a) Fighter - An excellent class that is taken for free feats, and access to
weapon and armor feats, including tower shield for defensive types.  The
class is rather front-loaded and most builds take 4 or less.
1: Wpn/Armor proficiency +1 free feat.  Casters may take this.
2: 1 extra feat for only 1 extra level.
4: Access to weapon specialization for +2dmg per hit.  This is the most
popular choice for taking fighter.
8: An unusual choice except for wpnmasters or dualwielders.  Access to Greater
Wpn Focus for another +1AB is nice.
12: Very very rare except for dualwielding wpnmasters, with access to
Greater Wpn Specialization for another +2dmg per hit.
NEVER take more than 12 fighter!  You should never need THAT many bonus feats
and can get a lot more out of using other classes instead.
b) Paladin - A weak base class with some casting ability.  Fortunately, the
high level spells are quite strong.  Note that your casting level is ONE HALF
of your pally level.  Practiced Caster can add 4 effective levels though.
Example: lvl16 pally with Prac Cast has a casting lvl of 16/2 +4=12.
Pally is more often splashed by cha-based casters.
1 level in paladin is worthless.
2: Taken for CHA bonus to saving throws.  Very common among high CHA chars
such as warlocks, sorcs, bards as it gives them armor feats as well.
4: Gains turn undead which gives access to Divine Shield, Divine Might feats.
YOU MUST take the 4th pally level on a feat-giving level to get access!!!
Most go with 3 blackguard instead for the same benefit.
16: With Practiced Caster(pally) you have a level 12 casting level.  This gives
divine favor of +4 bonus, and you can get Holy Avenger.  Rarely taken, it
is typically used with a high CHA warrior that uses Smite.
Ranger - Another weak base class with limited and mostly useless casting.
Remember that their casting level is 1/2 of their ranger levels, and their
animal companion is similarly gimped.  They get less HP than other
warrior classes, but gain many more base skillpoints.
They are similar to a fighter/rogue multiclass in one base class, and their
favored enemy becomes exponentially better as they level up.
Note that their archer,duelwield feats do NOT work in medium+ armor.
However, they do have excellent skillpoints per level.
1: Favored enemy.  Weak.
11: Gains Improved Rapid Shot or Greater 2wpn fighting.  This is handy for
STR-based warriors that do not want to have to get 19 natural DEX for
the dualwield.  Then, use a mithril chain shirt (light) and a DEX item
to retain decent AC.  Free Evasion doesn't hurt either, as does +3 to
3 favored enemies.
17: Hide in Plain Sight - Great ability, but 17 levels in ranger seems
excessive since they have no sneak attack to really take advantage.
Monk - Monks have three purposes.  First is a melee fighter, which means lots
of monk levels.  Second is a kama fighter, which can mean anywhere from
1 to 16 levels.  The third is to add a big AC bonus to unarmored characters.
Monks have High saving throws for ALL THREE TYPES!
1: Big AC bonus from Wisdom.  Flurry of Blows, and Kama usage.  Typically
taken from shapeshifting druids, and sometimes from dexfighters or
unarmored mage types and even clerics on high magic worlds.
2: Adds deflect arrows and Evasion.
12: Gives Greater Flurry for 2 bonus attacks at no penalty! +2 free AC,
and improved monk speed.
16: Solid unarmed damage, spell resistance, +3 AC, even better monk speed.
This level is common for unarmed fighters that want a 16BAB for another
attack.. i.e. 16monk/4fighter = 16bab, and comes with admantite weapon
penetration ability.
Cleric - An excellent class that works well as a warrior type or a caster.
Clerics can use Warpriest to gain more caster levels, which is often done
if focused on fighting.  Otherwise, they are splashed since even a level 1
cleric gets 2 domains with appropriate abilities.
1: Mainly the 2 domain feats.  These include
-- toughness (earth)
-- uncanny dodge (air)
-- evasion (water)
-- 10% movespeed (travel)
-- feint (trickery)
Also, a few minor long-lasting spells like Protection Alignment or
Endure Elements.
8: With prac caster, allows +4ab/dmg via divine favor and access to divine
power to raise BAB to 20.  Usually a paper-tiger build since the buffs
are low duration and not a lot of them.
13: Just enough to get persistent divine favor for permanent +5ab/dmg bonus.
Very strong with Practiced Caster to get the full bonus.
16: Gains 8th level classes, satisfies the caster rule of 16, where pract
caster pumps casting level to 20.  Used in conjunction with 4 warrior
levels to bump BAB to 16.
17+: 9th level spell access.  This is pretty rare to multiclass if taking
17 levels already though, as 16c +2warpriest is a better bet for warrior
type clerics to get the 16bab and 9th lvl spells.
Druid - A good class that is similar to cleric.  Gets a free pet, wildshape,
and decent buffs through spells.  It would be very rare to see low
levels of druid taken, since cleric would buy a lot more.  Most druid
goodies are found at higher levels.
5-8: Wild Shape - Quite rare.  Only used to burn Wildshape to get Elephant
Skin for immunity to crits by a defensive warrior type.  Druids also
get a buff that makes one immune to knockdown for 1 round per lvl.
12: Dire wildshape.  Tempting for fighter/monk/druid that optimize wildshape
for offensive fighting (16bab).
16: With 2+ warpriest, get 17 caster levels and satisfy Rule of Four. Good
for a warrior-druid.
17,18,19:  Elemental wildshape with 9th level spells.  Usually takes 1 monk to
gain a lot of free AC.
20: Elder elemental shape.  Huge ele with monk level is much more effective,
so only a pure caster druid would hit 20, and then avoid wildshape. In
other words, elder elemental form is a waste.
Rogue - Just about any number of rogue levels are taken, with exception of
1,5,9,13,17.  Rogues get bonus feats at 10,13,16,19.  Even levels usually
do not provide anything and thus are only taken to satisfy rule of 4 (BAB),
as Odd levels provide the sneak attack damage increments.
Rogues give 8 skillpoints per level and are taken at level 1 if possible
for maximum skillpoints.
1: ONLY gives access to skills, 1d6 sneak.  not used much due to -1BAB.
3: Gives 2d6 sneak and evasion.  A solid choice.
4: Gives uncanny dodge and helps satisfy rule of 4.
7: 4d6 sneak.  rarely taken, as it gobbles lots of levels, but does not quite
make it to the point of getting free rogue feats.
11: 6d6 sneak PLUS a free rogue feat like improved evasion.
15: 8d6 sneak, with 2 rogue feats.
16: Adds a 3rd rogue feat, and helps with rule of 4. Solid choice with 4
warrior levels to get the 16BAB for an extra attack.
Bard - A good base class that gives solid bonuses evenly throughout its levels.
The bard has decent spell progression with a lot of buff-type spells, but
rather few good offensive choices.  Bards get short range auras that buff
buddies and their most powerful ability is the Curse Song, which is a
hugely powerful debuff that maxes out at level 16.  These usually mean the
bard is included in warrior type builds.  Bard spells are best used to
buff and not offensively.  In fact, my bards usually wear platemail and
only cast before combat to buff.
The best bet is to take 1 level or 16.
1: Used for skill and RDD access by warrior builds. +1 ab/dmg aura is nice
too, and this is a very popular choice.
2-4: Gives a few 1st level spells. Rarely used.
8: The +ab/dmg aura goes up to +2. Gains a few other useful auras and spells,
but takes up a lot of char levels for not much benefit.
16: Maximum curse song power, 6th level spell access, strong auras.
This is the most common with 4 warrior levels for 4 attacks (16bab)
It is also the best choice as curse song is awesome for a warrior.
18: Gains a good shortterm bardsong.  I wouldn't ever go 18 bard though, unless
maxing at 20bard.  That is not a great idea either.
Barbarian - A so-so base class.
Arcane Archer - The only useful attribute of this class is the enchanted
arrows. Every odd level, the arrows gain +1AB and damage. Note the damage
is not shown on the character screen!  AA has a high AB, so any number
of levels may be taken, with heavy emphasis on the odd levels.
The prereqs are rather steep, so only a dedicated archer would ever take
any levels in AA.  If so, you should take 9 levels if possible.
Blackguard - A good class with several nice advantages.  The 5 hide is a
rather stupid prereq, so take note of that.  BG is taken by casters and
warriors alike.  They get a lot of abilities, but there are only 3 that
are significant. Most of their good abilities are front-loaded and obtained
early on. After 4, there is little reason to level BG.
2: wpn/armor feats. +CHA Save bonus!  Taken by warlocks, sorcs, bards since
they can get extra utility out of their high CHA which they need anyways.
3: Turn Undead, which gives Divine Shield access.  Divine Might is also
available, but generally much less useful than Shield.  Be SURE to take your
3rd BG level on a FEAT level (9,12,15,18) to get Shield/Might access.
4: adds 1d6 sneak on top of other stuff. Useful for rule of 4. i.e.
16bard/4bg for 16bab.
7: 2d6 sneak.
10: 3d6 sneak.  Both 7,10 are rarely used.
Frenzied Berserker - This class is taken by warrior builds that wield
2handers and/or hit really hard.  The main ability is to gain a bonus
attack through their frenzy.  It is actually lousy with -4AC and a STR
bonus that does not stack with any items.  Hence, one needs to hit hard
to make that extra attack worth it.  Supreme cleave is only useful if
you hit hard enough to get the killing blow most of the time.
It is a very front-loaded class.
1: Frenzy and Toughness only.  Rarely taken.
2: Adds Supreme Cleave.
5: Free immunity to deathmagic when frenzying.   Also, improves power attack
a lot!  For a -3ab penalty, it adds +10 damage per hit.  This is the most
commonly taken level point.
Any more points is usually wasted, as increased frenzy is rarely useful,
and extra +2 from power attk is not worth 5 more levels.
Red Dragon Disciple - RDD is a very strong prestege class with annoying
requirements.  It is clearly a warrior-only class, but requires spellcasting
in order to qualify.  This means that almost all RDD builds are bards.
They gain AC bonuses that stack with EVERYTHING, plus attribute bonuses
that act as if they were naturally part of the character.
In other words, the +2INT gained provides spell access (if any) and gives
a bonus skillpoint on level-ups.
4: +2AC, +4STR for only 4 levels and -1BAB is a great deal for warriors that
need lots of other levels such as weaponmasters.
8 should NEVER be taken since it provides not much more than level 4.
10: The standard, comes with immunities, and a huge stat boost of +4STR,
+2INT,+2CON,+2CHA, and another 2 points of AC.
Warpriest - With moderate requirements, this is a useful but narrow class.
The main and really only advantage is that it lets clerics or druids that
are more warrior specced to gain 17 casting levels for 9th level spells,
WITHOUT having to actually take 17 cleric/druid levels and thus cost them
their 16BAB.  The higher levels of warpriest are very useless. You will
either already have the spells, and they have no duration.  Do not
bother with Inflame, since its duration stinks. It is not worth the effort.
2: 16cleric/druid +2WP +2whatever allows 16bab and 9th lvl spells.  Plus you
get a passable aura that always works.
4: Not recommended.  Sure, it gets you 1 whole extra 9th lvl spell.  But,
going 2WP and 2 of something else is MUCH more beneficial.
6: Once again, theoretically possible but not a good idea.
7+ Anything past 6 costs you your 9th lvl spells.  Wasn't that the whole
point of taking warpriest?
Dwarven Defender - This class is quite strong at epic levels.   For 20 capped,
I am not overly impressed.  Still, it is not a bad class even though it is
somewhat limited.  Requires dwarf obviously, and a 13DEX for dodge prereq.
1: +1AC that stacks and the Defensive Stance.  The prereqs generally mean
you will take more than just 1 level though unless a caster.
2: Adds uncanny dodge. Well worth it for a dex-based character.
4: Another +1AC.  Rule of 4 makes this a good stopping point.
6: Gain 3 damage reduction and improved uncanny.
8 levels gains not much new.
10: DR goes to 6, and you get +4AC.
Wizard - Standard arcane casting class.  Requires 17 caster levels to get
9th level spells.  High INT means lots of skills, and is a good candidate
for a rogueish multiclass for very high skill access, especially with
Able Learner feat.  One level of a warrior class may be taken to gain
weapon and armor feats.
Generally, you want to take even numbers of wizard levels if you plan on
fighting at all.  Don't forget your free feats every 5 levels.
There is no set number of wizard levels typically taken.  They can gain
casting levels through the following:
-- eldrich knight (1 for 1, except 1st level)
-- harper scout (3 cast levels for 4 harper lvls)
-- Arcane Trickster (full casting, 1 for 1)
-- Pale Master (every odd level)
Just make sure you take practiced caster if you multiclass, so that your
spells get the full damage and effect.
?: Varying number of levels taken.
Sorceror - Second arcane casting class.  CHA based, which is not very useful
at all.  They gain no free feats and have weak skillpoints.
They typically multiclass by tossing in either paladin, blackguard, or
warlock to get a big saving throw bonus.  In addition, pally/BG or even
1 level of cleric is enough to gain access to Divine Shield.  This is an
amazing ability for surviving tough fights.
Note that you must have 18 sorc casting levels to use 9th lvl spells!
?: Once again, due to the other 4 classes that can provide spell levels, there
is no set amount of levels typically taken.
Arcane Trickster - This is an unusual combination of rogue and mage.  Wizards
are most qualified since they can take the most advantage of the high
skill access granted.  The class grants sneaks as if a full level rogue,
and casting ability at full level too.   Therefore, I can see no reason
at all to take less than the 10 full levels in the class.  The bad news
is that the BAB of the class is really bad, as are the HPs.  However,
taking 3 rogue for the 2d6 prereq leaves you with NO room at all for other
classes without losing your 9th level spell access.
Pre-epic, there is not much room for character design if you choose to
be a trickster with 9th level spells.
10: Should always take the full 10 due to the strong abilities.
Assassin - This class is basically a prestege version of the rogue, with
fairly easy skill-only requirements.  It is mostly used to avoid XP
penalties if rogue was used instead.  The death attack is same as sneak
and stacks fully.  The DC of the save is pretty low, increasing as the
assassin level increases.
2: Minimal death attack, Uncanny Dodge.  Used by casters or dexfighters that
want uncanny dodge without XP penalty for only 2 levels.
8: Gives Hide in Plain Sight, as well as a few useful spells such as Invis
if the hide fails.  Improved Uncanny is pretty nice too.
9+ RARELY taken, since it penalizes -3bab for a fairly short duration
Improved Invisibility.
Divine Champion - Easy prereq class that is based on having good CHA.
It grants feats as a fighter on even numbers, as well as +Saves.  Hence
you ALWAYS take even numbers of this class.  This class is good if you
have a build that doesn't do a lot, such as fighter or paladin.  Not so
good with clerics since they have many short-term buffs already to deal with.
4:  2 feats, +2saves, and 1 Smite.  This is a really good alternative to
going 8 fighter, since all you lose is greater wpn focus, in exchange
for +2saves and a smite.
6:  Divine Wrath is ok, but very short duration.
7+ Nothing else gained of interest past 6.  Do not take any more lvls.
Duelist - I am not a huge fan as duelist is pretty picky about prereqs and
how their stuff works.  Dexfighters and monks benefit the most.
The main advantage you get is your NATURAL INT bonus applies to your AC.
Items DO NOT COUNT!   This only works if you have no armor or shield.
1 or 2: Not worth taking, since AC is capped at +INT OR duelist lvl.
3: A wizard could squeeze 3 AC out of this.
4: Good for a monk and most characters as they wont have more than 4 INT bonus
anyways, and works well with the rule of 4.
6: Gains 1d6 to piercing wpns and NO OFFHAND equipped.  Note that SPEAR works
too.  Also flourish which adds 2d6 for 1 hit. Also, gives a reasonable
6 round haste.
7: Elaborate Parry gained so any parry-based char must take at least 7.
10: Precise strike to +2d6.
Eldritch Knight - Easy prerequisites overall.  This is a great class that
improves HP some, and a huge AB boost.  The first level taken gimps your
casting by 1 level.  From there on out, it is basically a superior version
of wizard or sorceror.  Hence, there is no reason not to take all 10 levels
of it.  Thus, EK replaces any wiz/sorc levels after 5/6 respectively.
This ALSO works for bard, but you lose Auras and Songs.  So it is rather
wasteful for a bard to take this.
10: No reason to take less.
Harper Agent - A truly bad prestege class with heavy requirements.   The
prereqs are horribly bad too, using feats that nobody ever uses.  Its one
saving grace is that it now adds caster levels after 1st lvl.
Therefore, a wizard could use his bonus feats to offset the prereq garbage
and use his high INT to offset the prereq skills.  For -1 casting level,
a wizard could take all 5 harper lvls and pick up nice skill access, with
some bonus abilities and slight HP increase.  I'd rather just take duelist.
4: +3bab, some bonus stuff, and +3caster levels.  Theoretically usable by
sorcs to get a 16BAB using this plus Eld Knight.
i.e.  6sorc,4harper,10EK.  I wouldn't recommend it!
Neverwinter Nine - Prereqs are either really easy or really hard for most
servers/modules.  They pack quite a bit of utility into their 5 levels.
3: Adds 10% move and 2d6 sneak without taking BAB hit of rogue. Can be used
by rogue types to gain some BAB and keep heavy sneak dmg.
5: Guess I need to test if All Out Assault maxes sneaks or elemental dmg.
Good for other odd-classes like 7 weaponmaster.
Palemaster - Easiest requirements ever for a prestege class.  They give casting
levels every odd level.  I would expect every even number, but whatever.
In any case, taking too many levels gimps your casting ability.  Note that
the summons and death touch are complete garbage.
1: The most common.  Sure you lose 1bab, but gain +2AC and dont lose anything!
Heck, you even gain slightly better saves.
5: Another +2ac, and +4 fort saves for -2 casting levels. The highest level a
sorc can handle and still cast 9th lvl spells.
7: Gains immunity to stun,paralyze effects for another -1 casting level.  This
is the highest a wizard can go and still keep lvl9 spells.
10: Immune to crits is amazing, as is another +2AC.  But, your casting is
gimped, and your AB is horrible so this rules out bard/warrior types.
Shadow Thief of Ahn - Adequate class with higher prereqs than assassin.
However, you gain free feats at 2 and 4 which makes up for it somewhat.
The higher skillpoint allottment is nicer too.  Still, rogues gain free
feats at 10,13,16,19 so no reason for a rogue to take this.  Other
classes wouldnt like the heavy skill prereqs.
2: Uncanny dodge, 1d6sneak, plus free feat for only 2 levels.
4: Another free feat and 2d6 sneak.
Shadowdancer  - This class is kind of like a rogue, but without sneak attacks.
It seems to defeat the whole purpose.  It has rather hefty requirements.
They are a front loaded class, so typically only a few levels are taken
;usually by rogue types.
1: Hide in Plain Sight - This is the key ability and the only reason to
take shadowdancer.