I'm seeing mostly complaints mixed with a few nice statements about the game, so I decided to start a thread that lists the good of the game.

#1 - It's fun. Despite any other issues, it's still very fun.

#2 - The story line gets more compelling as you play more!

#3 - There is a large variety of paths to take. Usually at least 3 - the good the bad and the not so good/bad :p .

#4 - The characters you meet along the way (at least most of them) have depth and make you gain interest in them.

#5 - Deekin shows his ugly kobold face (why is everyone in D&D obsessed with kobolds... for the love of god they suck).

#6 - Being a goody-two-shoes doesn't make you lose out on gold and gear (Thank you sneaky Neeshka).

#7 - If we could organize co-op's between SP members choosing to go rogue/caster/tank/healer... the game would rock (and we could play through it at the hardest difficulty) + someone might remember to save often!!!

Add to this list. Remember - we're listing the good here :) .

I love all the lighting effects. I was talking to that farmer chick in the Highcliff area, and there was moonlight reflecting or filtering through something that was moving and the effect on the scene was amazing. Like someone standing next to a reflecting pool with blue light reflecting off the ripples in the water onto their face.

I've run across so many instances like that; it's my favorite part of the new engine, and if that's the reason for the high performance requirements, I say great :)

Forgot to mention I also like the ambiance. The feeling as I'm traveling through Neverwinter at night is amazing. I wish there was a First Person view for me to take as I travelled through the town and checked everything out.

I havent got the game yet but the limited / collectors editions look very nicely put together. I like the idea of Lawful Good and Chaotic Evil boxes with different stuff. Reminds me of Black and White.

The game has Deekin? Cool!

***Semi-Spoiler 'bout Deekin***


It has him as a merchant in the merchant quarter of NWN2 - I didn't try to grab him as a party member because bards are useless and I'm thouroughly tired of him after SoU+HotU lol... So I'm not 100% sure if you can grab him. But he sells some nice stuff :) .


***End Spoiler***

No, you can't grab him as a follower... but he can fulfill another role for you in the game. /mysterious music plays here.

I have to say, so far the story is far from traditional... which is good. And if you're a sorceror
your destrucitvbe power is unmatched. THe graphics are nice but it's probably the least important thing about the game. (Baldurs gate doesn't reauire DX compatible mega graphics and it's still one of the best games every made) Characters are interesting, and more importantly - get you into loads of fights, a la K.O.T.O.R.

I've had the game about a week and I think it's great. I have an older machine that just meets the min specs so I have to run the game on the lowest settings, but I still think the graphics are amazing. I haven't experiences any slow down or choppiness yet. The magic effects are simply beautiful. Khelgar(SP?) is hilarious, my favorite NPC so far.

I may have been a little hasty in my first comments on this game...Over the weekend, I upgraded my RAM from 1.5 GB to 3 GB, and my 128MB Radeon 9800 to a 512MB Radeon x1600 Pro and it improved the game exponentially! I still can't use shadows (they lag my game like crazy for some reason), but overall, the graphics and gameplay are pretty good!

Henchman AI is still weak, but this game is like BG in that you can pause, assign actions to your pcs, then resume.

I'm hoping future patches will give more RP options for players, such as: custom armor, more varied shield selection (they all seem to be brown and boring on my game), and custom weapons.

I'm still wondering how multiplayer would be - I'm having trouble envisioning it. Maybe it's because I've been playing NWN multiplayer for far too long: I just don't see anything beating it.

Oh well, I just picked up Elane outside fort Locke. I'll let you know how it goes...

I enjoyed The end of Chap2/ Beginning of Chap3 a lot. Crossroad Keep was cool.

Hmm, not so many posts in this thread...

Anyway, there are some good aspects. I do like some of the NPCs, and some of the voice packs, and I like the fact that the camera angle is already "hacked" from NWN1. The level of difficulty is about right -- you don't have to put it on insane to make the fights feel reasonably challenging. And the story actually does become engaging as you progress.

And while there isn't much banter to speak of, there are still some well written and entertaining dialogs. Of course, most of the best banter for the other games was fan-made, so I'm not sure it's fair to criticize NWN2 too sharply. Certainly the discussions in NWN2 far surpass the miserably boring dialog options for IWD and IWD2. Of course, nothing can compare to PST, but this one's not too shabby for an unmodded game.

These are the kinds of reasons that I'm still playing the game, despite all my complaints registered elsewhere.

One thing I do like are the mass battles - the fight at the beginning with the dwarves and bladelings was pretty cool!!

Sheesh, if they'd get a decent patch or two (those shadows seem more evil than nightcrawlers ;) ) the game does sound like it's gonna be worth the upgrade of my old and trusty "box."

The dialogue is outstanding. I laughed outright at the exchange between Sand and Duncan in Neverwinter -- Sand is exquisite -- Edwin lives again!!! :D

Edwin never died, heretic!

(I killed him half of my games, yet still he was there. What was that about death being merely a temporary inconvenience for the talented?)

The mass battles are very cool. I was surprised that my minimum spec computer didn't have any trouble with them. One thing: make sure you set aside enough time to play through that part, since it doesn't really give you a good place to save very often.

****SPOILER****

There's a nice payoff later in the game. You know all those NPC who piss you off that you can't kick out of your party? You know how everyone complains that they can't die? They can. I may just reload and do that again. ;)

Now i've Finally got it "working", i'll have to say its probably the one of the better rpgs to come out this year. (possibly the best with a few patches)

The dialogues great, although i still feel like killing the bard

No, not Grobnar! He's a hoot!

There's a great bit of dialog between him and Shandra, when she's exasperated and trying to make sense of a very stressful, frustrating and dangerous situation. Grobnar pops in with his usual gnomish perspective:

S: This is themost bizarre series of events I've ever heard!
G: Not me.
S: Not now, Grobnar.
G: All right.

The voicing in this segment is perfect. :)

Granted, he's a wimp in a fight. But he's got some good songs (legionnaire's march rocks).

I actually think that NWN 2 completly owns the original, based on these reasons:
1. The graphics have much more feeling. In NWN 1 you had no feel for your character, I don't even remember which face I chose for mine. This is, in my opinion, much better in the sequel. I also thought that the graphics in the original had a complete lack of feeling, especially compared to the Baldur's Gate series. I'm not talking about the technical specs here, rather the feel of the engine.
2. More races, more prestige classes can't really be bad, can it?
3. The campaign feels soo much better then NWN:s. Many people seem to think that the games were only made for multiplayer, just because they only play multiplayer. Of course I know that NWN placed much focus upon multiplayer. The sequel, however, seems to put a little more work in the singleplayer campaign, something that I am grateful for. I mean, there are singleplayer games, and there are multiplayer games. Even though NWN was mostly a multiplayer game, it doesn't mean NWN 2 can't be a singleplayer game...

The good of NWN2? My sexy potagonist :love: Giggidy-giggidy!


The only bad thing (so far) is the fosterfather's voice & camera angles. When they fix those, we have the 3d version of BG in our hands! :bigeyes:

....Or something quite horrible, I don't know, I've been playing for 13 hours, straight. Need coffee...

Ok -- I want Sand in my party. It's not fair he has to sit behind a desk!! SexEEEEE!!!! :D (Anyone feeling like creating a Sand Romance Mod?) :hmm:

Ok -- I want Sand in my party. It's not fair he has to sit behind a desk!! SexEEEEE!!!!Patience... ;)
Anyone feeling like creating a Sand Romance Mod?Can this game be modded? I'm under the impression it can't be modded like the Infinity games. I'd love to be wrong on that, though.

well you can open the main campaign in the toolset, so...
and you can place scripts conversations etc, in the override directory, so.

modify whihc ever script controls timed conversations
Modifiy his main conversation (and associated scripts)
export and place in override directory.

You can do it, but should you have to?
DIY is fine and can be fun but the least that can be expected is that a newly released game which is advertised as the best CPRG ever should include that sort of things... There were romances in BG2 and that was ages ago.

There are technically "romances" in NWN2, but the female love interest, at least, has next to no interaction. It couldn't possibly have taken longer than 15 minutes to think of and write all the dialog associated with it.

Oooo -- good news, Bombur! That paladin's days with the party are numbered! :lol:

Oh boy, oh boy. I'm 1600 XP away from being able to create an Adamantine Greatsword and enchanting it to +3 and being able to add 1d6 fire damage or 1d6 shock damage (or both if that's possible).

I could even add 1d6 acid damage if that bozo Sand could cast Melf's Acid Arrow (and I wanted to give the crafting feat to him too, which I doubt I do), or if there was a Druid spell that would work.

And if I can find a Star Sapphire, I could enchant it to +4 instead, and if I find another I could add 1d6 frost damage! Oh boy!

Have you got the sorcerer chick yet? I made her my crafter and made sure to give her all the appropriate crafting spells (acid arrow, lightning bolt, ice storm, etc.).

The gems are hard to come by but you end up finding a crapload really, really late in the campaign.

I don't use Qara, so I'm going to give the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat to Elanee next level-up.

I was able to buy some of the gems I need (Blue and Canary Diamonds) but I've found all the others. I haven't found or remember seeing for sale a Star Sapphire though :)

So, does Qara have the crafting feats without you giving them to her during a level-up, or would I have to choose it manually?

Another thing: I wish I had known that both Khelgar and Shandra were going to be skilled in the Craft Weapon skill and neither in the Craft Armor skill. I might have chosen to become skilled in Craft Armor instead of Craft Weapon... Do any of the NPCs have skill in Craft Armor? None of the ones I use regularly do.

How do you add weapon effects like fire or sonic damage? My favorite weapon is the +1 Astral sword I found early in the game. I've increased it to +3 and Elanee casts flame weapon on it, but I'd like to add some additional effects. How? How? HOW?!?!?

Tee hee! Oh, you'll fnd the recipes soon enough ;)

I don't have one for sonic damage, but I have a book that tells me recipes for 1D6 for fire, cold, electricity or acid; and also 1d2 Con damage poison.

I may even experiment to see if I use more powerful essences if I get more elemental damage :)

EDIT - Oh, by the way I've been assuming that the enchantment recipes don't stack, so for example if you enchant a +1 weapon with a +1 recipe it will still be +1 and not +2. Does anyone know if that's correct?

I used the +3 enchantment recipe on a +1 sword. It became a +3 sword (actually +31, but that's because I lost the "1" behind the cursor when I renamed it... :p )

I think you're right, a +1 enchantment on a +1 sword would likely have no effect. I'll try it though and let you know.

Heh. I bet if you take a +4 weapon and use the +1 enchantment it will be downgraded to +1 :lol:

Hopefully the recipe just wouldn't work in that case.

Man, and to think, I went the entire campaign with an amazing craft armor skill and crafted no armors. Not only that, I didn't have anyone craft at all :p . I kinda just used what I found laying around! I guess either way works eh?

Sure, either way works, but one is MUCH more fun than the other! ;)

My mithral plate looks pretty cool...It's a light silver and has what looks like wings on the left shoulder. I wish there was more customization...But hopeflly that'll be another patch...**Please, please, please.**

The gnome bard has Craft Armor maxed.

BTA -- Don't call Sand a bozo!! (or I'll whack you on your head!) :smash:

Sand rocks! Qara sucks!

Can you pick up Sand? I don't think I've ever had the option...Qara is annoying, but those 7 fireballs she has tends to soften up any enemy we face!

Bel -- I had expressed my dismay at Sand being relegated to sitting behind a desk and not able to join my party and Bombur told me "patience" -- so I assumed the option comes up later? Bombur?? Can you tell us when?

You get Sand at the start of Chapter 2. Won't tell you what you have to do to get to Chapter 2 though :)


Looks like you can add up to 3 properties to your weapons.

I made Blackthorne's Shock Fang: Adamantine Greatsword (which adds +2 Magic Damage), +4 Enchantment, 1d6 Shock Damage Khelgar's Holy Might: His original Dwarven Waraxe, +4 Enchantment, +2d6 vs. Evil, +1d6 Fire DamageSweet! Right after I made them, I went on my vigil (you'll find out) and hacked through 3 Assassins with Blackthorne's Shock Fang like they were butter :)

The only lameness is the Greatsword is all black and has no standing effect showing; I want the electric effect like that Horus Re Greataxe. The Waraxe has the holy effect showing on it though so that was cool.

BTA -- I'd like to get started with weapon crafting -- don't know anything about it -- but the manual says we have to have molds first -- are they hard to find? Can you give any tips to enchanting a weapon? (Maybe this should be a new thread).

Thanks

Crafting is cool! You need to find the recipe books - they are littered throughout the campaign...I'm on my way to Luskan right now with that evil ranger from the Flagon. So far I've made:

Paladin full plate: +2 mithral plate armor
Astral Sword +3 1d6 sonic (although I didn't add the sonic to it)
Umber Hulk Large Shield: +2 (immunity to mind affecting spells)
Cold Iron longsword +2
Alchemical silver longsword +2

Khelgar is wielding Horus Re - that is a cool greataxe!!

I want to find more gems, ingots and recipes before I do any serious crafting!!

You get a bunch of molds for free in Fort Locke where the crafting stations are, and there's a guy there who will explain crafting and enchanting to you. You can buy other molds at various merchants, and the molds tell you what materials you need to craft the weapon.

You need someone with skill in Craft Weapons, and how much skill depends on the weapon and even more on the material (Adamantine is the hardest; I needed to buy the Artificer Gloves in order to make my Greatsword so early). If you left click on the skill, it will tell you how much skill you need for various weapons and materials.

Enchanting is just as easy. You just need to find the various books that tell you the recipes, and then have someone with the Craft Arms and Armor feat (which I gave to Elanee), and can cast the appropriate spell; and someone with the Alchemy skill (which I gave to Neeshka) to break down items you find (parts of monsters mostly) into various essences that the recipes call for.

The recipes have requirements for kind of essences, gems, spell that needs to be cast on the Magicians Workbench and the caster level required to be successful.

EDIT:
Yeah, I had Khelgar with Horus Re too until I upgraded his Waraxe. He has focus and other feats in Dwarven Waraxe, so that's why I upgraded it. I figured there wouldn't be many Dwarven Waraxes I'd come across during my travels (I haven't found one at all so far)

Thanks very much guys -- sounds like fun. I've sold off a all of my gems so far -- so that'll be a problem. Where did you find Horus Re?? I've just got him with a dwarven axe currently -- but I did have him weild one that had blue lightning all over it -- +4 for Orcs. But since we're past the orcs, I switched back the weapons.

You just need the more expensive gems; you can always buy them back if you need to.

That's the Greataxe we're talking about. I think the name is actually Re's Redemption or something like that. It's still good even when you're not killing Orcs because of the 1d6 vs. Evil. Plus it just looks cool and the great effects when it hits :)

The gems required for enchanting are mostly the high-priced ones, with obsidian being the exception. Most gems you can safely sell as they are not used in crafting. Star Saphires, Rogue Stones, King's Tears, etc. hang on to those.

Here's the crafting FAQ:

http://db.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/neverwinter_nights_2_crafting.txt

Gah! Looks like I wasted the enchantments on Khelgar's Waraxe, because now he's a Monk!

Oh well, I just created a Cold Iron Kama with the same enchantments except +3 instead of +4 since I didn't have another Star Sapphire.

I was afraid when Khelgar became a Monk it would be useless since he's progressed so far as a Fighter, but they basically start him over as a L1 Monk with all the XP he currently has, so you end up with a Khelgar Monk at the same level he was as a Fighter.

As a bonus, I think you basically get the extra ability scores from his level-ups as a Fighter because he had the same scores when he became a L1 Monk and got the usual score increases as he levelled in Monk. :)

Gah! Looks like I wasted the enchantments on Khelgar's Waraxe, because now he's a Monk!
I'm not letting Khelgar become a monk. Sorry obsidian devs, but I'm just not interested in going that route. I saved right before Khelgar entered the temple of Tyr after completing the trial of justice, leveled Khelgar up to lvl 14 as monk, saw all of his gear that was now unusable, and thought, "nah!" Hopefully Khelgar won't start bugging me about this later in the game. :evil:

Anyhow, one comment I have about the OC is that it is so incredibly long. Act I was huge. And now I'm in act II, I've gotten through the trial, I've done a bunch of side quests (Neeshka's, City Watch Stuff, Nevalle's quest) and there is just always more and more to do. And I haven't even gotten my keep yet, which from what I understand is a significant party of Act II.

I've read that the average level to end the game is 17. I'm already approaching level 15, and still have, I think, a lot to do in act II and the entirety of act III to complete. Either the game is going to stop giving out xp, or I'm going to end a lot higher than level 17.

Yeah, I feel the same way. There is so much to do in this game. And frequently, you can get another quick side quest if you go back and talk to someone like Brelaina or Nevalle.

I kinda felt the same about Khelgar too, but then I thought about all the resistances he'll have (evasion; spell, poison, disease etc.) that it'd be good. And I knew that was the path to begin with; it's not like it wasn't obvious :) It would have been really lame if he remained a L14 Fighter and just started getting new Monk levels, so that turned out pretty well I thought.

And like I mentioned he gets to keep all his strength bonuses (well if you took the defaults at level-up). Since the change he hasn't seemed any more vulnerable or any less effective in battle, though I need to keep remembering to turn on his Flurry of Blows :)

though I need to keep remembering to turn on his Flurry of BlowsThat statement right there is one of the reasons I didn't want to deal with Khelgar as a monk. A high level monk has no reason not to use flurry of blows each and every time he/she attacks. When/If this gets changed in a patch, I'll consider bringing a monk through the game. This same idea applies to defensive casting, power attacking, etc, but affects a monk during each and every combat round, and over the course of the game, that's a lot of unnecessary clicking.

I'm guessing that change won't affect me too too much...I'll miss Khelgar dealing 75 critical hit damage, but Shandra's turning into a decent support fighter. I just started Part II, and I agree - there's a lot to do in this game.

I'm looking forward to managing the stronghold - I'm assuming I'll take charge of Old Owl Well, considering I found miners for ore, some troops with Casavir, and I have good relations with the Ironfists. I just want some more gems to craft! Crafting items is fun!

Right now my default party is:

Belisarius Durendal Pal 7/Divine Champ 5 (going back to pally from now on...

Shandra Jerro - F14

Elanee - D14

Sand - Wiz 14

Khelgar - F14

I haven't found a cleric yet....But so far, I haven't really needed one.

Well, I just got my keep. Cool! Now I hope I don't prove an unfit leader!

Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-mênu!
Dwarf barbarians rule :D . NWN2 seems to have no use for two handed weapons, though. Hafta change my greataxe to some other sharp instrument.

Bel - You don't use Neeshka? I hate going without a thief :)

Man, I love Blackthorne's Shock Fang. Mages/Succubi with Stoneskin? Dead! Iron Golems? Dead! Adamantine comes in handy pretty often.

I just found the Gemsword which is similar to the sword I made, just not Adamantine, so I added 2d6 vs. Evil to make a Holy Gemsword and use it when I don't need Adamantine. It has the sweet electric effect on it too which is nice.

I didn't mind kelghar becoming a monk 'cause he had the uber ironfist weapon you will all soon come to love. Of course I might've preferred him as a fighter to wield a weapon, but I ignored the fact he was monk for the rest of the game and just through him in as if he was a fighter :p .

I think I ended the game around level 19-21. I loved doing every last little quest.

Neeshka annoys me. I pretty much just bull through traps in this game. Plus, I'm playing a paladin, so thievery is, um...Bad!

I thought it was funny, I make a smarta$$ comment in dialog mode or thump an evil orc unprovoked and I get a point towards chaotic alignment - Yet I can break into a noble collector's house, rob the place blind, steal a painting and threaten the owner...And I get a ton of XP for my effort. From an RP standpoint, far from good paladin behavior!

On a positive note, it's good to see my lawyering skills are still sharp - I won my case on the Ember trial. Yet I still had to fight Lorne anyway...And I thumped him pretty easily!

You do get more chaotic for agreeing to help Neeshka rob the Collector though. And I got a TON of chaotic points for letting those Imps near the academy out of their crates :) Makes up for all that Lawful crap I did :lol: