This time, I’m more curious as to what everyone favors when it comes to damage types. (Piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning)
Which enemies are vulnerable to which (skeletons, golems, and zombies aside, but you can go ahead and include them), which do you believe to be most effective overall, why, and are there any in-game errors relevant to them?
Focusing on the official NWN2 campaigns.
I like to stick with what the D&D rules say, v3.5e wherever possible. I did some comparisons a while back and found this info that may be useful for you …
Just for info and if you wanted to fix some refs your end. (I have them fixed for my own campaign already.) Some of the info later in the post may not be useful here, but I include it in case you were interested still.
The Morningstar is BLUDGEONING only (TLK 5412 NEEDS CORRECTING) and that the Longsword is both SLASHING AND PIERCING! Also SLASHING & PIERCING: Bastard Sword, Halberd, Katana, Scythe. (Total five weapons.) Therefore, Longsword (TLK 5417), Bastard Sword (TLK 5434) and Katana (TLK 5423) need descriptor correction.
From the toolset setting, we have the option of applying “OR” logic to the “piercings” selected, which means we can make it so a creature (or item) has DR against only ONE type. In theory, as applying this to a “skin” item is possible, it means we can also create different skins and alter “monsters” on the fly by swapping out “skins”. NB: Using skins with PCs is NOT possible in NWN2 due to problems that come from doing so. (See my blog for details. Search for “skin”.)
For PCs, a better solution would be to use the DAMAGE IMMUNITY (5-90%) v WEAPON DAMAGE TYPE rather than the DR for an item when only one DR type is required, due to the problems noted in the image in the previous post. (i.e. Property presentation and lack of recognising the property is actually present!)
Longsword (SP) | BSP | N
Longsword (SP) | B | N
Longsword (SP) | S | Y
Longsword (SP) | P | Y
Longsword (SP) | BP | N
Longsword (SP) | BS | N
Longsword (SP) | SP | Y
Club (B) | BSP | N
Club (B) | B | Y
Club (B) | S | N
Club (B) | P | N
Club (B) | BP | N
Club (B) | BS | N
Club (B) | SP | N
Spear (P) | BSP | N
Spear (P) | B | N
Spear (P) | S | N
Spear (P) | P | Y
Spear (P) | BP | N
Spear (P) | BS | N
Spear (P) | SP | N
Halberd (PS) | BSP | N
Halberd (PS) | B | N
Halberd (PS) | S | Y
Halberd (PS) | P | Y
Halberd (PS) | BP | N
Halberd (PS) | BS | N
Halberd (PS) | SP | Y
Morningstar (B) | BSP | N
Morningstar (B) | B | Y
Morningstar (B) | S | N
Morningstar (B) | P | N
Morningstar (B) | BP | N
Morningstar (B) | BS | N
Morningstar (B) | SP | N
That’s pretty much what I wanna know, and it’d be a struggle to have to sift through many types of enemies to see which is vulnerable to which and whether or not those vulnerabilities are carried over to NWN2.
Throws table OF COURSE IT IS! Of course the game devs muck that up too!
… On the bright side, they all have the capability of both, realistically speaking, even if they’re not primarily used for both.
Sorry to be such a savage but I just go for the highest amount of damage possible and have never even considered what type it is.
I also remove damage resistances in my modules to things like piercing, bludgeoning etc. and ensure the undead can take critical hits with different “skins” like Lance_Botelle mentions. I figure that if you chop off a zombies head with anything or put an arrow straight in a skeletons eye it’s in trouble.
Fair, I guess it only matters when you’re at lower levels. But honestly, I like the idea of switching up styles and weapons to keep up with the narrative. I’m just hoping my ADHD doesn’t make me go into mindless-swinging mode when I get to play again.
… Now that’s cheap.
Zombie decapitation, that makes sense, of course it dies instantly or at least becomes incapable of fighting properly. But a skeleton should just shrug off the arrow in the eye, since there’s nothing in there.
R-Mod… You’re right about the lower levels being more important with damage but I also think that people shouldn’t be penalized for wanting to stick feats on one type of weapon. If there was a universal feat for weapons like some sort of improved melee weapon user thing and an improved ranged weapon user one then I wouldn’t mind because you could easily swap about without losing bonuses.
I’m not that cheap… My undead are levelled up as fighters with bigger attack bonuses and more hit points.
Ok, poin taken, maybe a leg shot on the skeleton so it can’t walk is better. Then again that’s a pretty skinny target !
At the end of the day that’s why this game is so good because it allows so much variety in modules and play styles and we all find something we like.
ps. Nothing wrong with mindless swinging mode in this game but lay off it with virtual reality headsets in a confined space especially near fish tanks or televisions !
A fair point. But you can’t be an ace as a one-trick pony, which is why the combat classes have a wide range for Weapon Proficiency and the spellcasting classes don’t focus on weaponized combat. So having Weapon Focus for say, the warhammer and longsword, or any similar combination would set you well if you’re that focused on combat.
Nevermind, no damage resistances for that.
Which is why it should have a higher AC than at least zombies.
Sounds more like typical D&D than NWN2.
Even though NWN2 is D&D.
Thing is, that kind of attitude led to me using cheats and turning on god mode just so that I’d get past several fights later on in each campaign, all the while hoping my party AI can handle themselves and still sometimes needing to micro-manage them when mess-ups happen, like someone running off to fight an enemy in another room.
That’s why I’m (kinda) determined to act as if I’m playing actual D&D next playthrough.
YOU NOT MY DAD, IMMA PUT ON THE OCULUS IN AN AQUARIUM
GCoyote… Awesome picture, I must admit I do wonder about what’s in people’s inventories and how they do it. I remember loading Khelgar up with everything because he could carry hundreds of pounds. He’d have looked worse than the man in your picture !
When all is said and done game play > reality which is fine by me. Being told you can only carry a sensible weight or having to stash things everywhere would get really annoying as you went back and forth to the trader at a snail’s pace for hours.
Yeah that’s pretty much the attitude I’m planning to go with when I replay, thanks.
I feel like it’s gonna be overkill, but Imma do it anyway.
My rule is to acquire one weapon for each basic damage type early in the game. Then I start looking for the special stuff like silver weapons. I just hate bumping into a troll without having fire or acid and having to come back to it later. Very annoying.
For me, there’s standard and then there’s the eventual inventory.
Standard inventory is what I have before I head out into a quest/dungeon, after I’m sorted my loot, whether I stashed, sold, dumped, or distributed it. I basically only gave everybody things they have equipped and healing potions depending on the point we are in the game, along with any items that matter to them personally (Neeshka’s coin, Bishop’s dagger, Grobnar’s kazoo). I also gave them ammo if they used ranged weapons, but those were only Bishop, Grobnar, and my KC.
In more recent playthroughs, I collected a few charged magical items but hardly ever used them, and I only had scrolls for adding them into everybody’s spellbooks later. And by everybody, I mean my KC, Sand, and Amie.
Oh yeah, I make Amie live because I have a narrative for how the story goes in my head, and she lives in it.
Anyway, I didn’t keep wands unless they had unlimited/daily charges because I was stupid like that, never knew I could restock the charges because I hardly understood D&D or NWN2 at the time. And even though in more recent playthroughs I collected thrown items (Holy Water, Alchemist’s Fire, and so on), I basically never used them because I was lazy like that.
To sum it up, aside from my KC, everyone’s inventories are super barren, with basically nothing on them aside from their equipment, personal belongings, healing potions (10 each, a full stack), and ammo for just Bishop and Grobnar.
If that doesn’t tell you why I’m trying to change, I don’t think you’ll get it.
Also, the post-quest/dungeon inventory is whatever anybody gets first, because I have them all on auto-loot, so every time a battle ends, they scatter to pick up loot. If anyone’s encumbered, he with the most strength (Khelgar or Construct) carries the most until his limit is reached, then we go to the second strongest, and so on. Even distribution to make sure nobody’s encumbered.
That only matters a few times, because only after the warehouse, the orc quest, the gem mines, and maybe the dragon hoard do you get encumbered. The first 2, you should only sell to Sand by that point, because he’s your gold mine in Act 1, and any other case is solved by quicksaving then loading said quicksave to have the encumbered party members where you want them to be.
That’s gonna be my tactic when I finally replay. I’m just hoping the game’s bugs don’t throw that into the air, like when Tsongo said morningstars only do bludgeoning damage in-game.
Speaking of, should probably bring that up in the NWN2 Fixes thread.
If you remember where you encounter trolls, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Besides, who goes anywhere without a spellcaster (Elanee, Qara, Sand, or for the love of god even Grobnar) on-hand?
I also give companions only the weapons they are most proficient with. I typically make my KC the ‘clean up’ character, able to deal with multiple types of enemies. So the KC gets the most custom gear and when the KC gets an upgrade, the old weapon goes to a companion if it can still be used. I’m also a big fan of magic bags of all sizes.
tl;dr After many years, I still play like a combined arms team going out to fight WWIII. Force of habit.
“Did you pack the anti-tank weapon?”
Same, honestly.
Khelgar - Dwarven Waraxe until Hammer Of Ironfist + Tower Shield
Neeshka - Dagger + Short Sword, the Nightthief pair I think
Elanee - Sickle + Shield, considering switching her to Scimitar
Qara - Quarterstaff
Grobnar - Shortbow
Casavir - Warhammer + Heavy Shield
Bishop - Longbow with his longsword laying in the inventory for no reason since I never micro-manage, I just turn off my brain and swing my sword, plus he had it from the start so I let him keep it
Shandra - Short Sword, think I’ve been giving her Tower Shield, will probably have her dual-wield
Sand - Longsword, he’s an elf so I figure why not, better than that stupid Dagger he has
Zhjaeve - Spear, will switch to her fists as I make her a Sacred Fist, because I’ll be damned if I don’t turn her into an actual zerth next time I play
Construct - This is a no-brainer
Ammon - Falchion, I think I let him keep the one he had
Yeah I basically stick with the weapons they had from the start, my dumb brain goes “iT’s ThE cHARaCTeR’S wEapoN oF ChoicE”.
And before you ask, no, my KC isn’t any better. Well, maybe 1% better.
… Brother? Is that you?
I’m now imagining KC asking Grobnar if he brought the blast globes, thanks.
I understand what your saying and I know this is not about the OC but with regards to weapon variety and feats think of the module builder.
What do you do when any class can play your module ? Without some pretty exotic scripting how do you know what weapons to have as loot ? If you do somehow manage it you get problems when your badass barbarian boss has to wield a sickle !
If you scatter about one of everything people get very rich fast ! It’s a problem when somebody levels up their weapon focuses etc. in katanas and you’ve just given the last boss they fought a mega greatsword, they’re not going to like the lack of katanas at all and now their shield’s useless if they use the sword.
Filling shops with equivalent weapons to match the mega greatsword involves more money issues because of how the pricing works and makes grabbing the bad boss’ weapon pointless when you can get one in town from the merchant who must be a millionaire.
That greatsword will not trade in for an equivalent katana unless you set the maximum buy price very high and make buying and selling equal, then you get even richer adventurers. I suppose you could set everything very low but then your five gold tavern room would be worth a suit of armour.
I’ve tried to overcome this in the module I’m making, you can pick any weapon near the beginning and should stick with it. It can be enhanced later a couple of times and will be better than any loot item so really all loot is for sale only. That way stick with your feats on that type and forget about creatures damage reduction it’s not happening. Type of elemental damage makes a difference in some cases but that’s about it.
The OC manages to have enough variety and choice but a lot of people made that and it had crafting which solves a lot of problems but then makes looting for better weapons pointless ( kind of what I did ). It also means the builder now has to leave lots and lots of ingredients everywhere. Now you also need casters capable of doing the deed at the workbench so the companion list gets complicated.
Low level stuff is easy to deal with but start messing about with +3 keen weapons with elemental damage and it gets very hard, if not impossible, to cater for all.
My approach:
Put the equipemen,t that makes sense as loot, for “exotic” stuff that don’t exist as loot, just do a crafting system.
Realistically, a storekeep wouldn’t keep all those items on hand because that’s just too valuable. But they would have contacts across the realm and know where to obtain a particular item; that’s part of their value as a dealer. So maybe what they have is a transport trunk that can teleport the requested item to the point of sale. You could probably just simulate that in the conversation. Maybe you even go so far as to have the trunk there and it glows when the item arrives – you just go and grab it from the trunk.
In most mods, I’ll find several things I can’t use and sell them for something I can. It’s just part of D&D.
One of the many cool parts of Hordes of the Underdark was the opportunity to have master smiths and powerful artifacts upgrade the weapons you already had. That kept you from going into the arms business to finance your ‘sword habit’ and the writers didn’t have to litter the game with one-of-everything.
I’ve also seen mods that check the PC for “weapon equipped” and base the next weapon on that. Unfortunately you may have switched weapons for that specific encounter and the result may not be satisfactory.
As to “playable by any class.” That isn’t always what the story demands. If you find you just can’t make your story work for any class, be up front about it.
Shallina… I agree crafting is the only real solution to suit everybody.
rjshae… Why would bandits rob a village ? Just hit the trader and forget going in a dungeon, become a millionaire with one kill ! But I like the idea of a list and a quick delivery are we talking amazon traders here ? Is nowhere safe from Jeff Bezos !
GCoyote… I love the idea of going into the arms business to fund your sword habit that really sums it up nicely Khelgar was my mule in the OC ! I was up front about any class, twice because of the story and it was a lot easier to work out than any class. That’s why I’ve gone with my new system of a bit of free crafting and some decent free weapons to start with.
