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 3.0 - MOTB Update in progress.
Version 3.1 - Lots of build updates.
Version 3.2 - Should be the final update except for corrections.
NOTE: Feel free to contact me (info at end of guide).
I expect that this is my final update (Dec 2007), but I will still be happy
to chat with you via email if you have any corrections, comments, additions,
or questions for the foreseeable future.
I'll try to get back with you within a day or two in most cases.
This guide is 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 pick 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.
In fact, I recommend the following:
Vordan's Hero Creator - Easy and streamlined.  Has a great arena program to
spawn stuff to fight according to your preferences.
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2ModulesEnglish.Detail&id=14
and
Mithdrades Hall of Training (use the 2.0 MOTB updated one) - Has customized
equipping, multiple arenas, and more difficult foes with full AI routines,
and all kinds of stuff.  A bit weighty though and harder to use.
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=nwn2reviews.Detail&id=11
Alternatively, you can start any new campaign/module and do this:
Hit ~ key to bring up console.
type DebugMode 1 (which enables commands)
type giveXP 600000  (which gives you lots of XP)
type DebugMode 0
Hit ~ to disable console.
Table of Contents:
------------------
I. Introduction to MOTB Character building
II. What changed in MOTB
III. Where to Find More Builds
IV. The Rules Explained
V. Choosing Stats, Race
VI. Equipping Your Dude.
VII. Weapon Selection for warriors: Dualwield, 1h+shield, 2hander?
VIII. Scaling explained.
IX. Class Overviews.
In Alphabetical Order, from a) to zj).   Big section.
x. Putting it all together.
XI. Complete Sample Build Methodology
XII. Level 20 Builds and How to Upgrade Them to MOTB lvl30.
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
XIII. New MOTB 30 Level Builds.
a) Warrior Sorceror - Template.  Example: Sorc 12/EK 10/Pally 4/RDD 4
b) Caster Sorceror - Template.   Example: Sorc 23/PM 5/ 1Lock/1Cleric
c) Caster Wizard - Template.     Ex:  Wiz5/AScholar10/ Palemaster10/Red Wiz 5
d) Warrior Wizard - Template.
e) KamaKaze II - Cleric17/Monk11/DivChamp2 - dualwield kamas with 18 attacks!
f) Tuffie2 - Fighter8/bard2/RDD10/DwDefender10 - High Dmg Reduction, AC, HPs
g) SuperSaver II - Sp Shaman 25/Pally2/BG3- Hard to kill caster hybrid.
h) Sneaky - Rogue16/Fighter8/Shadowdancer1/IB5 - Stealthy rogue with good AB.
i) Thunder  Cleric8/Stormlord8/WPriest6/Fig8 - High AB warrior cleric.
j) Tricky II - Wiz6/Rogue4/EldKnt10/ArcTrick10 - Improved BAB rogue/mage.
k) Pious Pugalist - Cleric9/Monk11/SacFist10 - Optimal cleric/monk hybrid.
l) BadBard II - Bard23/BG3/Fighter4 - High Aura skilled warrior w/deadly songs.
m) Holy Hacker - FavSoul 16/BG3/Bard1/RDD10 - Epic Divine Might at level 21.
n) Smiter - Paladin20/DivChamp10 - Huge +330dmg smites to take out bosses.
o) SpearCleaver - FS12/Stormlord10/Frezerker5/BG3 - Heavy dmg 2h spear user.
p) MysticTheurge - Cleric9/Wizard5/Scholar10/RedWiz6 - Mage w/cleric spells.
q) Dodgey Mk II - Monk10/Duelist10/Assassin2/Fighter8 - Hard to hit melee.
r) The General - Human FS14/Bard16 - Buff/healing 2xcast aura support character.
s) BattleLok - Drow Warlock26/Blackguard4.   Melee Warlock w/ good ranged zap.
t) Bruising Reaper Fig12/bard1/RDD10/Wpnmaster7 - General purpose solid melee.
u) Shootist 2  Drow bard10/AA9/RDD10/C1 - Archer with Epic Div Might for dmg
v) Dualcaster - sorc6/Shaman4/ASoc10/EK10 - CHEATING SS/Sorc 9th lvl spells!
w) Tree-Fu - Druid12/Fight8/Monk1/SFist9 - Hi AB/AC Treeform melee w/spells.
XIV. Copyright, Contact Info, etc.
I. Intro to MOTB 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 30 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. What changed in MOTB
------------------------
MOTB now allows 30 char levels.  This causes a bit more complication, and many
things change in this guide.
First, the campaign starts at 18(or 20).  This means that you have 20+ builds
that basically are good at 20 thru 30.  These same builds might be HORRIBLE
from 1 to 20 tho.  So there is a clear difference between a full 1-30 build,
and one that is optimized to work best from 20 to 30.
Second, many of my recommendations get changed due to the extra levels. As
an example, my previous guide would tell you that you NEVER use a full caster
in combo with back-ended classes.   A RDD would NOT go with a sorc ever.
After 10RDD levels, you would only have 10 sorc levels... not nearly enough
to make a functional build.
But now, a sorc9/barbarian1/EK10/RDD10 would be a reasonably effective build
from 20 to 30.   However, I would hate to play it from 1 to 20!  You would
either take RDD levels and gimp casting progression, OR not gain any RDD
benefits all the way through 20.
Therefore, I try to be generic with my comments and relax some of the "rules"
that I had introduced in my first guide.
You will notice MANY more caster-oriented builds now, since it is very possible
to make casters that can fight well too.  There is actually little advantage
in making a pure melee character anymore now that so many benefits can be
had for a relatively low pricetag.   Even 12 favored soul for example can
add quite a bit of power for only a 3BAB hit, and 18 levels left for warrior
abilities.
III.  Where to find more builds, and random tips.
-------------------------------------------------
There are a few other good places to find builds for MOTB.  These are as
follows:
- Epic Builders Guild  (Note: requires registered login)
http://nwn.bioware.com/guilds_registry/viewforum.html?forum=26365&gid=14504
- Wikipedia
http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Character_builds
Remember when you examine these builds to use the ideas in this guide.  Keep
this in mind:
a) Watch for suxtill30 syndrome.  Many many builds are made to have impressive
endgame stats.  They might not be so fun to level up from lvl1 or even
from lvl20!   One dead giveaway is that at level 20, a caster may only cast
level 3 spells for example.  These builds are great for a persistent world,
but NOT great for the MOTB campaign most likely.
b) Lookout for over-buffed chars.  Some of them have like 5 short term buffs
all active at once!  Obviously, this makes for a lousy character to play,
even though the stats look great.
example:  abilities like Divine Power, battletide, haste, divine wrath,
divine might, divine shield, rage, frenzy, stormlord buff, etc.
These are limited use per day, and last under 2 minutes (at best).   Having
multiples of these is usually lousy.
At the beginning of a battle, you can only use like 1 or maybe 2 of these
until you start becoming ineffective cuz your character is standing around
buffing instead of actually fighting.
c) Watch for cheeze-stats.  A build that has awesome AB that includes Frenzy,
Rage, Div Wrath, and assumes a Taunt active looks great.  However, their
AC analysis happens to NOT include the penalties from the very same rage
and frenzy!
d) Remember your ideal goal.  Dont use an "Uber self buffed with no equip!!11"
build, if you are playing the official campaign with tons of equipment
available.  Those impressive stats are meaningless since a +8STR item gotten
right off the bat overrides those impressive supreme frenzy stats.
e) Expect a lot of the same ole stuff.  Look at all them bard1/RDD10, and Eld
Knight class builds...    Granted, I am kind of guilty of the same thing
despite my best efforts to show a diversity of builds. ;-)
Basically, do not focus on the level 30 stats too much, and think before
picking any build to work with.  This applies to ANY build that you pick up
either from this guide (I'm not perfect after all), the 2 sources above or
anywhere else.  Imagine how the character plays from 1 to 30, or 18 to 30, or
whatever your intended usage is.
IV. 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 1 Opening Action
---------------------------
In MOTB with 30 levels, there is a lot more room to gain multiple class
abilities.  This can sometimes work out poorly.   Imagine a
cleric/barbarian/stormlord/DivChamp who sees an enemy group charging towards
him. Time to buff up!   First, they cast Divine Power to set BAB to 30.
Then, they cast Battletide for the aura.   Next, barbarian rage!   Then, click
the Stormlord's sonic,lightning damage spear ability.  Finally, activate
Divine Wrath.   5 rounds later, all the enemies are mostly dead by the time
this build is ready to enter combat!
Clearly, this is not the way to go.  You want to avoid overly depending on
short-term buffs.  In fact, when you see a group of baddies, you have about 1
round to do 1 action.  That may be a short-term buff, or a blade barrier.
I like having options as much as anyone, but you want to ask yourself:  How
does this build do assuming I have 1 round before combat starts?  Do not make
the mistake of adding up 8 different short term buffs to arrive at the build's
"stats", then be all impressed by the huge AB,AC,dmg, or whatever.
Also, make sure to value stuff appropriately.  The stormlord's 1d8sonic,zap,
2d8 massive crits pump is great!  Having to click it before every fight? Not
so great...     Keep it in mind if you also are having to click Divine Might,
and keep Divine Power up because your BAB stinks.
a2. 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 STILL in effect for MOTB, as you gain more BAB and attacks all
the way to level 30.
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 usually get maximum benefit
from favored class.
Of course, there is a rare exception.  Consider a 12cleric/12monk/6fighter.
The human would eat a 20% XP penalty since cleric or monk would be favored.
The dwarf would remove fighter (their favored), and the 12/12 resultant char
would have NO XP penalty!  As long as they keep their cleric/monk within 1
level of each other on the way up...
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. Then,
you can carry over up to 5 skillpoints to the next level-up.
d. Rule of Weaving Class levels for Optimum skill access.
---------------------------------------------------------
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 29 cleric lets you put up to 33 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.
In other words, plan on alternating your class level ups to keep them all
within one level of each other.
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 maxes 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.  Favored Soul gets em at 18.
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.
In MOTB, you want more than 20 levels... I would say 24 is a minimum for
offensive casting due to spell resistance.  Plus, a few spells scale all the
way to level 25. (i.e. 25d6 damage)
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.
Now in MOTB, you have a bit more latitude.  A 20wiz/10PM would have a caster
level of 25; 29 with prac caster feat.
h. Rule of Warrior 26BAB
------------------------
This used to be the rule of 16, and is RELAXED IN MOTB.  Remember that for
every 5BAB past 1, you gain an extra attack. (i.e. 6,11,16,21,26 bab)
With a level 20 cap, going from 3 attacks to 4 attacks (at 16bab)
was a 33% increase.  Sure, that 4th attack was at -15ab, but still might hit.
In MOTB, going from say 5 attacks to 6 is only a 20% increase, and that 6th
attack is at -25AB!!  It is unlikely that will hit anything.
Therefore, the usefulness of the 6th base attack is much less than when we had
a level 20 cap.  It is nice, but you will not see nearly as many builds
shooting for that magical 26bab anymore.
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.
-----------------------
V. 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.
In MOTB, you will get up to +7 points from your usual pump ups every 4 lvls.
In addition, you can use Great Whatever-Stat epic feats to pump up that
attribute even more.
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.
Also, you will likely want Mithril Plate which allows +3AC from DEX. In MOTB
the +8dex item is easily acquired early on.   So even with a starting DEX
of 8, with an item at level 18 you will have the maximum needed 16DEX.
3) Mages will probably go 14DEX naturally.  Since you usually do not wear armor
other than robes, or light armor like mithril chain shirt, you want decent
starting DEX, up to the point where it costs 1charpoint per 1 point of dex.
14 is the maximum base you can get without costing extra points.
4) ALL characters want 14 CON, which costs 6 points.  You rarely have enough
points for higher, but do not want to skimp either. (that is 12 for elves,
16 for dwarves, etc)
5) Your WIS,CHA are DUMP-STATS for most builds.  Leave them minimized.  Sure,
it affects a few skills but not enough to matter.
Many people HATE having a negative modifier, but a 10WIS vs 8WIS only is
a 1 point difference in Will Saves and a few skills.  Use the points to
pump something more worthwhile.
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.  You will usually never exceed 14 for a non-wizard.
Of course, this depends on your skill-access and base skills for your main
class and may need adjustment.   Example:  A sorc needs spellcraft, concentr,
and would like tumble, and UMD, but only gets 2 points per lvl.  So more INT
will be needed.
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.
-- The universal 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.
Earth Genesai is tempting since they gain STR AND CON!  They lose WIS,CHA which
are both dump-stats.  They make excellent warriors, with the only drawback
being the +1Effective Character Level (ECL)
I don't recommend Wood Elf since I dislike losing CON, even though they are
a better value than half-orcs by adding +2 to both 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.
-------------------------------------
VI. Equipping Your Dude (or Dude-ette)
-------------------------------------
This info is not really advanced, but I wanted to add it for completion sake.
a) Armor Class
In general, AC is your highest equipment priority, as it does a LOT to keep
your character alive, and even 5 points can mean the difference between
getting hit 30% of the time, and 5% of the time!  You want the highest value
you can find in the following categories.  NO AC stacks within its specific
category except for Dodge AC.  So a +3 deflection ring and +4 deflection hat
will give you +4deflection only.  Don't stack AC types.
-- Natural AC comes from Amulets only.  Equivalent spells are barkskin,
spiderskin, shadow shield, tortise shell. Elephant Hide is a feat that adds.
DO NOT confuse this category of AC with so called "natural armor bonuses".
These are NOT the same.  All "NACbonuses" FULLY STACK with Natural AC in
this category. These include Red Dragon Disc, Palemaster bonuses, and
the Armor Skin feat.
-- Deflection AC comes from everything except Amulet,Boot,armor,shield,
and bracer.  Spells include Shield of Faith, and some other crappy spells
that give insignificant amounts of deflection ac.
-- Armor Bonus - This refers to the natural ability of armor to protect. Plate
gives 8 points.  Robes give 0.  Chain shirt gives 4.  The higher, the better
but it will limit DEX AC bonuses.  In general, wear the best armor you can.
There are NO equivalent spells.
-- Armor Enhancement Bonus - This is the ENHANCEMENT value of your armor.
+5 chainmail will give an extra +5AC ABOVE the 4AC from the chainmail.
Equivalent spells are Mages Armor, Magical Vestment.
Both Armor AND BRACERS can provide Armor enhancement bonus.
-- Shield Bonus - This is the total armor from a shield.  It is 1,2, or 4
points base for a light, heavy, tower shield.  THEN, add the ENHANCEMENT
bonus of the shield for the total Shield AC Bonus.  Since ONLY a shield can
add shield enhancement, it is easier to just combine the base shield AC and
the enhancement.
-- Dodge AC is an unusual case in that ALL sources stack with each other, up
to the AC cap of 20 points per category.  Boots are the only item slot, and
thus the reason why Sun Soul boots are so popular (and the UMD to use them).
Boots of Hardiness are a 2nd choice.
Spells/feats that add Dodge are Bard AC Aura, Luck of Heroes(I think),
dodge feat, Haste, Divine Shield.
-- DEX AC comes from your DEX modifier.  It is limited by your Armor Bonus, in
that full plate allows 1 point max, and robes(0 Armor) allows unlimited
DEX AC.  You typically want to get a DEX item enough that your allowed DEX
AC bonus is maxed.  Note: If you are "flat footed", which usually comes from
stun or paralyze, you LOSE this bonus!  This is why a stunned rogue is a
dead rogue usually.
-- Bonus AC is a wierd category that includes stuff like the WISDOM AC bonus
for monks, and also INT bonus for Duelist and Invisible Blades.  The +1ac
per 5 monk levels applies too.   This AC seemingly has no category and
stacks with everything else.  It also includes Palemaster/RDD "natural AC"
bonuses.  This stuff just "works" and can be considered category-less.
b) Attribute Items - This should be pretty obvious, but you want items that
boost your attributes, depending on class.
The first priority for a warrior is STR, except for a dex-based warrior of
course.  The bonus AB is very important.
You want enough DEX to max out your possible AC bonus as discussed
previously.  A warrior with 8DEX will want to get to 12 for full plate, or
16 with mithril plate.
Everyone can benefit from CON items.
INT items do no good at all, except for wizards(duh), and Invisible Blades.
WIS items are almost worthless for all non-pally/cleric/monks.
CHA items are useful for paladin,blackguard,warlock,FavSoul,Sorc, and bard
to varying levels.  Rarely, a warrior might use a CHA item to pump their UMD
skill a couple of points to use a particular item.
c) Immunities - Spells take care of these in most cases.  However, in case of
dispel, it is nice to have certain immunities.  I consider them lower
priority though, since spells duplicate their effect.  Notable exceptions
are Immune Crits/Sneaks, Immune Knockdown, and Damage Resistance/Reduction.
d) Clickies - These cover any item that you can use an ability from.  These are
often overlooked.  For example, a low level Brooch of Shielding can pump the
AC by +4 for 3minutes for a dualwielder or 2handed user.  This is a very
strong ability!  Other powerful clickies are Displacement or Imp Invis which
can make you take 1/2 damage in hard fights.   The Rod of Ghostly Visage
gives a long lasting damage reduction for early/mid levels.
Healing items can be handy when rest is restricted.   A single Wand of cure
critical wounds can provide quite a bit of out of combat healing for only
1 slot and no weight used.
Scrolls can be carried by rogue-ish types with High UMD, although many chars
will already be able to use several scrolls.  These can be really handy for
when not in a party... or for limited use spells.
Imagine a mage that carries some Mord Disjunction scrolls.  They wont want
to waste their slots on a spell that is so rarely used.  BUT, if vs some
boss with heavy buffs and/or uber spell resistance, the Disj scrolls might
be really handy.
On a persistent world where death = big XP and gold penalties, a single
scroll of Etherealness to bail you out when attacked by PvP, or when you
are losing can be extremely worthwhile to have.
Said scrolls will have HORRIBLE DCs, so should be used only for buffs, and
spells that require no save.
e) Abilities - Sometimes you can find items that give you feats/abilities.
These can be very powerful, such as the Improved Evasion ring you can find.
A warrior type might find an item that lets them Whirlwind.  Look for these
items, as they can provide mighty abilities.
f) Regeneration - Excellent for out-of-combat healing.  Regeneration is just
the thing for keeping your HPs up when crawling through the dungeon fighting
weaker foes.  Especially lategame, take regeneration when possible.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
VII. Weapon Choice for Warriors: Dualwield, 1h+shield, or 2hander?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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 spellcasting abilities or damage boosters go 1h+shield, since
they get shield benefit when casting (when wpn dmg is irrelevant)
-Warriors with high DEX always 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, and even more into epic levels.
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 relevant to kill them quicker.
2) If you are not being actively attacked and the monster is beating on your
wizard buddy lets say,  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.   Great at level
one, but that 2.5 bonus damage becomes irrelevant as levels are gained.
2) 50% more STR bonus.  For every 2 points of STR damage done, add 1 bonus
point from 2handed.   It is useful, peaking around level 20 then becomes
less useful later on.
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.
It is just dumb for a level 30 STR-warrior to have 7 mainhand attacks at a
penalty, and sacrifice a shield for only 2 offhand attacks.
In MOTB, with a possible 7 attacks including 1 from haste, only 3 offhand
attacks is not very impressive.  Therefore, you have to take it a step
further...
With MOTB, you can get Perfect 2wpn fighting.  This basically says that you get
the same number of OFFHAND attacks as mainhand attacks!  The beauty of this,
is that it includes BONUS attacks!
Example: Take a lvl16monk/14fighter with 26bab.  That is 6 base attacks with
a shortsword.
Normal attk sequence is: 26/21/16/11/6/1.
With Greater 2wpn that adds:  26/21/16  and ALL attacks gain -2 AB penalty.
Perfect 2wpn changes this to 26/21/16/11/6/1, thus granting 3 extra attacks.
One might note that gaining attacks at -15,-20, -25AB penalty is not really that
fantastic.   Thus perfect2wpn isnt needed.  WRONG!
Take the same char w/kamas, haste with greater flurry: 26/26/26/26/21/16/11/6/1
Perfect 2wpn buffs grants 26/26/26/26/21/16/11/6/1!!
The 3 bottom-feeder attacks are mostly worthless, but the Haste and Flurry
matched attacks are awesome!
Since EVERYONE will be hasted at higher levels, perfect 2wpn adds AT LEAST
1 attack at full AB, along with up to 3 heavily penalized attacks.
Conclusion:  Perfect 2wpn fighting is worth it, and should be a priority if
dualwielding.  Dont dualwield without it.
Note that ALL attacks get at least a -2 penalty, plus the need for extra
feats taken to support dualwielding.
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.
--------------
VIII. 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!  This is even more the case with
MOTB where you can get huge STR items quickly.
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.
--------------------
IX.  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) Arcane Scholar - An offensive caster class.  It requires Empower which you
should have anyways, plus two weak skill focus feats.  However, at level 1, it
gives you back 1 feat (maximize) so you are only out 1 net feat to qualify.
Well, plus the 8 spellcraft which is trivial... and useful anyways.
The main ability of note is the improved empower.   The downside of the class
is no melee or real defensive capabilities at all.
3: Gives improved empower, which is really nice.  Gaining 50% more power for
only 1 additional spell level slot is very powerful.  This allows for a
36d6 horrid wilting!
10: Anything past 3, you mine as well take it all the way to 10 to get the
improved maximize and free quicken.
b) 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 BAB, 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.  Therefore, you should take 9 levels if possible.
Unfortunately, in MOTB, archery is even weaker than ever.  Since AA is capped
at 10 levels, you cannot continue the enhancement bonus.
c) Arcane Trickster - This is an unusual combination of rogue and mage. Wizards
are most qualified since they can take the best advantage of the high