Difficulty

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I've read around that the OC is fairly easy...I bought NWN deluxe edition and am finding it the opposite - I'm getting nailed by every small group of thugs, thieves and other unspectacular unnamed mobs who hang around in the various districts. What gives?

 

What is your class? Do you have a henchman?

I don't know where the rumor started that the game was easy - but that is the rumor. I can tell you I'm in Chapter 2 with a level 12 Cleric and Tomi as my thief and I die *alot*.

There have been at least 10 scenarios, all in Chapter 2, that took 20-60 minutes to beat. Lots of visits to the tunnel of light particularly for Tomi. Now that he has an Sachel of Ogre Strength its a bit easier but I still die - especially if I rush and get lazy on tactics.

Personally, I'm glad its difficult because its that much more rewarding.

 

I thought the OC was boring, not easy

It really depends on what class you play. I played a Sorceror and had a VERY hard time in the first 2 chapters of the game. By the time I got the heavy duty spells though, the game became a piece of cake (and got even more boring for having to refresh spells every few steps)

 

Actually if you use prestige classes it can become fairly easy.

I had a rough time in Neverwinter with a Half Orc Bard (had to carry loads of potions around) until he got some of the good stuff (damage reduction items for instance).

The difficulty also depends on the weapon you use (a scythe can make things a lot easier IMO).

 

1. at the beginning of the game ranged weapons reign supreme. take a shot, run away, then take another shot, etc. etc. etc.

2. make use of your potions. there's a boatload of treasure in the game (hence a lot of opportunities to pick up potions) and your cure minor wounds and cure normal wounds potions will become obsolete by chapter 2 anyway. might as well use them when your levels are low.

3. the peninsula, docks, and beggar's nest districts all have a bunch of guards hanging out by the gates. if you lure enemies in their direction they'll kill them for you.

3. rest, there's generally no time constraint in the game. if you want to rest up after every battle to fully heal and regain spells and refill your once-per-day items, by all means do so.

4. minor cheats: in the prelude, rather than fighting your way to the waterdavian creatures, run past ALL of them, including the wizard dude, but make sure you stop to get your first automatic levelup on the way. after you talk to Fenthick you get another levelup. then, go back the way you came and defeat the wizard and clear out all the goblins and skeletons in the academy. you'll be close to having enough XP to get to level 4 by the time you leave...that's a bit of a head start;

5. cheat: you can cheat with the chests, particularly with the tall, trapezoid chests that often appear near "boss" characters which hold the best treasures. the treasure is randomly drawn from a pool that's loosely tailored to your level and abilities. save, open the chest, and if the treasure is crap, reload. repeat until you get a powerful item you will use.

6. plan out and streamline your character. the game is significantly easier if your ability scores and feats have a sort of synergy with your class(es). it might be more fun to role-play a wise sword-fighter with lots of dexterity, but the 3.5e Dungeons and Dragons system "rewards" you for building the standard, generic characters: a fighter with lots of STR, rogue with lots of DEX, etc. it's tempting to spread your ability points around to create a character that's a good all-around adventurer, but you'll usually be better off getting just enough in each ability to meet the prerequisites of feats you plan to pick up, then dumping the rest of your points in your class's key stat(s). likewise with feats...they are fun to play around with for role-playing purposes, but only a few are practical for a given class. a rogue dual-wielding kukri's with effectiveness wastes several feats that could have gone to bettering what abilities/tactics he already had. as another example, instead of picking up weapon-related feats for your mage, you'll be better off taking casting feats like combat casting and spell focus and creating a purely magic-casting character. to be sure you CAN win with pretty much anything I'm sure, but the game is significantly easier if you streamline.

 

Difficulty of the game is dependent of on many factors, like your chosen class, your character's ability, your playing style, and the magic items you manage to own. To some class the earlier part of the game can be difficult and becomes easier as your character progress. While to other class, the game will always be difficult unless you make some adjustments... like, getting a henchman (or summon allies) to compliment you char (or playing style) or changing your strategies or getting certain skills or feats or items.

 

Hi again, thanks for the replies. In response, my character is a CN halfling ranger2/sorcerer1, going to finish out as ranger/sorcerer/RDD. I don't use a henchmen, as I prefer to solo. I've gone to do Beggar's Nest first off, as it SEEMS fairly straightforward, though time will tell. Any hints on what areas are better to do first? Neverwinter seems to have serious issues

Oh, and a little screeny: http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/7198/image2ds0.jpg

 

It's a bit difficult in the early going but that's just the nature of D&D. With 16 hit points you can die in a single hit if an enemy gets a lucky crit or two. Later on you'll be so rich that you can use the Recall Stone as often as you like to return to the temple, rest, get healed of all afflictions, sell your loot and then jump back into the portal (for a small fee) to return to where you last used it.

The OC is easy for two reasons: you can rest almost anywhere at anytime without fear of wandering monsters and the unlimited-use Recall Stone. The expansions have limited recall items and chances of random encounters when you rest in dungeons (at least HOTU does).

 

I think the OC is great. I'm at the end of this seemingly endless Chapter 2 and I've had nothing but fun - even when I get killed. Some of these magic users pack a serious punch especially if you don't get the jump on them!

Its all good. Difficulty is just right. Some of it is easy, but at least once an hour I get a serious challenge that makes me take every doorway quite seriously.

I will note that I'm using the henchman mod so I can control his inventory. You can introduce the mod at any time - I installed it in chapter 2 and it didnt break anything. I highly recommend it!!!

 

Interesting. Another one than me who likes the OC.

A note on henchmen: If you are a fighter character, Tomi is the best tagging along. His sneak attacks really do some damage. But for areas with undeads, take Linu. Her Turn Undead makes it a walk in the park.

 

I'm an elven Cleric with Tomi. You really can't play the OC without a thief. We both wear belts of Ogre strength. As an elf I can use a longsword - and I've got a +2 longsword dripping acid.

I love being a cleric. Full battle armor, no arcane spell failure. Tons of offensive spells. Razor spikes, flame strike, disintigrate. Conjuring. I'm a mobile wreaking machine. I wouldnt insult the halfling either - hes a powerhouse wearing that belt!

 

LOL, Tomi brings it! I bring him along everywhere for the traps and locks (given that there are so friggin' many chests in the game), but in a pinch his sneak attacks are absolutely devastating. So devastating in fact that sometimes I'll leave him at the entrance to a level and do all the fighting myself because he can make many levels way too easy.

 

I also put a magic seek/search glowing helmet on his head. Now I don't need a torch. Again, the Henchman mod is a must LOL!

 

The game assumes you will have a henchman. It does not tone down the difficulty if you do not and you really have no xp penalty having one with you. As a ranger/sorcerer you may want to take Tomi so he can take care of traps and locked doors and chests. In the Begger's Nest, Lina is quite helpful. I usually play a rogue of some kind and find Daelan or Grimgnaw most helpful to have around.

The game actually recommends an order -- it is easiest to follow that order: Peninsula, Beggar's Nest, Dock District, Blacklake District. Although you can do any of the districts in any order with careful selection of henchmen.

Once again, do not ignore the henchmen. They have specific quests that net great rewards (items which improve stats -- these items gain power in later chapters). I do not use any henchman mods and have had no problems.

 

Did the latest patch change that? Because I remember getting less XP when I had a henchman with me. Anyway Tomi kept dying over and over and it wasn't even funny (I'm kidding it actually was) and I decided to bash things instead and have been bashing doors and chests ever since (gotta love a critical with a scythe)!

 

Also turning the difficulty up against spellcasters to D+D hardcore makes them easier as they tend to kill themselves through kamikaze casting (however being an EXP whore, I tend to restart whenever they kill themselves through various AOE spells).

 

The way the game gives xp makes it quite reasonable to keep a henchman. You will end up pretty much the same level at the end of the game with or without a henchman. Once you start getting higher levels the xp's get less and less as you are overpowered compared to your opponent (eventually netting zero xp for a kill). Sure, you gain your first few levels faster, but then you slow down A LOT.

 

A wizard or sorc could get by just fine with Find Traps (which also removes traps) and Knock. In fact both spells are far more convenient than Tomi since they are area affect and never fail. Option B is just chuck a fireball into a room full of trapped and locked chests and pick up the smoking remains. Sure beats sitting there for 2 minutes watching Tomi do his thing.

 

It's true henchmens AI in NWN1 is pretty bugged.

Especially in OC.

But T2Bruno is right. The game assumes you have a henchman and set the difficulty thereafter.

And the henchmens special quest items is very useful.

 

If you feel cheesy you can talk to them and get the items without ever actually taking them with you.