Spellcraft

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My Halfling rogue 4/wizard 1/assassin 1 has the Spellcraft skill 15 (7 skill points + 2 Int modifier + 6 Greater Gloves of Spellcraft). I was hoping she could recognize all spells in combat, but she doesn’t recognize spells above level 2. It is so strange. Isn’t Spellcraft 15 enough at this stage of the game? I was going to raise Spellcraft to 22 at hero’s level 11 (14 skill points + 2 Int modifier + 6 Greater Gloves of Spellcraft). I’m confused now. What Spellcraft value do I need to recognize all spells throughout the game? I’m playing with Boddyknock and I’m curious about what spells he casts.

 

That should be enough, maybe it is bugged and only using the 7 actual points? I didn't think you needed more than 30 for end game.

 

I was mistaken. 5th-level Sorcerer Boddyknock doesn’t have 3rd-level spells yet. So it was 2nd-level spells, and I couldn’t identify a bit of them (with Spellcraft 15!), I don’t know why. Perhaps, my hero fails her skill checks sometimes.

Do you mean I need Spellcraft 30 to the end of OC? I was hoping 22 was enough.

 

Checking the D20SRD for Spellcraft it says you need DC=15+the spells level to recognize a spell as it's being cast. In theory then to recognize an L2 spell you'd need to roll a 17+ spellcraft check. So in your case you'd only need to roll a 2+ before adding skill to recognize an L2 spell. You should be able to identify most spells pretty easy so I'm curious about what's happening. It's been maybe 20 years since I played NWN original game so I'm wondering if there is a toggle to turn spellcraft checks on. In theory you shouldn't need spellcraft at higher than 24 to recognize an L9 spell at least half the time (55% actually at 10+). The higher you are above that the more easily you'll recognize the spell obviously.

I remember that when I used to play I turned the floaty's for things like damage dealt, etc off as it was killing my video card. I am wondering if maybe you did that and it's also filtering out your Spellcraft checks? Or do those show up in the dialog box? Too be honest I don't think I've ever paid attention to the spellcraft to identify spells bit. Most enemy casters you can tell from other things what spell they are casting so it didn't matter to me much.

 

I thank you both very much! I’ve solved this puzzle, it’s not a bug. Every time my hero encounters a new spell, the first two or three attempts to identify it fail. She then identifies it successfully. I could identify all Gulnan’s spells including 5th-level Greater Dispelling and Spell Resistance. I’m happy now. I guess 22 will be enough at the end of OC.

And I confirm that Boddyknock is awful. He casts three Mage Armor spells one after another. He casts Scare and Sleep on zombies and mummies. However he is a great help sometimes. I like his personality and his replies. It is fun to play with two shorties.

 

I've considered trying Bodyknock but the only companions I've ever used where Sharwyn the bard, Linu the cleric, and Daelan the half-orc Barbarian (with my sorceress - she'd cast flame weapon and some defensive buffs on him and then just sit back and watch the mayhem.)

Tommy the rogue unfortunately is a large waste of time. Every 4 levels he buffs his DEX but his studded leather armor limits his dex to 22 I think? By the campaign end he has a dex of around 30 but he still only gets the benefit of the 22. They really should have switched the armor between him and Sharwyn the Bard around as she only buffs her charisma so she could use the even slightly higher AC from the armor and he could use the benefit of the higher EFFECTIVE dex. But her bard music buff and her heals come in handy. I don't play evil so the evil dwarf monk isn't of any interest to me.

The game was pretty neat; but what I remember most about NWN was the ability to customize your armor and weapons if you had enough craft armor and craft weapons.

BTW: I don't know if you played before but find out what every companion's quest item is during each chapter and chase those; you get a variety of very useful items.

 

22 should be enough, 30 is enough to guarantee success unless you roll a 1.

There is a mod that can improve the AI for your companions.
I had a link to the old NWN Vault, and it's broken.
I think this is it, but it's a newer version.
https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/hakpak/original-hakpak/henchman-inventory-battle-ai-mod

Without it Boddyknock is nearly useless as he blows all his spells stupidly. Unless you try to rest after every fight.

**EDIT**
Found it, What I have is this link:
https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/hakpak/auldars-henchman-replacement-pack

 

I'm trying to remember if there was a mod for the OC that let you get into companion equipment. The other modules for NWN definitely did.

 

I just linked to it!

 

I never use mods, except official ones, because I’m afraid they can kill a balance of a game and kill a challenge.

I played NWN + SoU + HotU some years ago as elf ranger X/rogue X without henchmen, although I completed all their quests and get all their good gifts. I remember that I liked the games very much. Now I feel experienced enough to replay the games with henchmen just for fun.

My initial idea was to create the weakest team and see how far I can go. Boddyknock is good for this purpose, he is really awful. I play on the full DnD difficulty level, and I had to switch to the normal level at the beginning of the game, because he always casted a spell that knocked down enemies and my halfling as well. I guess it was Grease. Then he stopped casting this spell and I switched back to full DnD. I’m afraid he will kill himself when he gets Fireball. I’m not afraid for my hero, because she has Evasion and high reflexes. To my surprise, my halfling is not weak, she is mighty. She is difficult to hit because of small size and high Tumble. Her death attack is good. She was mighty enough even with a dagger +1 and a sling and darts. Now she has the Feydaster short sword (with Daze) and shuricens and she is deadly.

 

The rogue/ranger sounds like one of my first characters. My very first was a druid and I took Tommy to have a rogue then got to the final battle at the clerics tower at the end of chapter1 and couldn't do it - Tommy got crushed too easily as did my animal companion and then myself. That's what got me looking at Tommy and why he was such a bad choice. If I'd have been smart I'd have had an earlier save and taken Daelan instead.

Trying new characters was what would bring me back to the game again. That and I enjoyed the voices of Sharwyn and Linu.

A mod that let you into Tommy's gear so you could keep him useful would be really useful considering how many traps and locked chests there are; you really need a rogue unless you want to accept that you are going to destroy nearly all of your treasure when you bash the chest. I can understand things like potions getting smashed but weapons and armor? They are really that weak? Then they should fall apart when I get hit in combat.

But yeah I hear you and understand what you are doing and you are probably right; he'll kill himself regularly once he gets the more powerful spells. LOL.

Hm; I discovered that I picked up a Diamond edition of the game from GoG at some point with Kingmaker. I'm seriously imagining playing through that one after seeing the Dryad Druid companion; she's cute. I wonder what her voice is like.

 

SlickRCBD reading the one you linked to says it's another mod - https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/hakpak/original-hakpak/henchman-inventory-battle-ai-mod - that lets you into companion inventory. I'm not quite certain what to download and how to install it - assuming it requires doing something odd to install as I've managed to completely forget how to install mods into NWN.

Also noting that I have the GoG version of the game so I wouldn't know where to install stuff into that version.

 

You’re lucky. In my first game, Tomi died immediately after we entered Peninsula district. I don’t remember my hero’s class. I was terribly disappointed and wanted to give up such a stupid game, but then I decided to play solo.

You can play without a rogue; a content of containers in NWN is not destroyed if you bash them.

 

Sorry, I just accessed my download directory where I have the mods I use saved, and I have only "Henchman Inventory & Battle AI mod v1.08" and "Auldar's Henchman Replacement Pack V0.5" with no indication which was actually installed. I had to overwrite my game when I reinstalled the video card (or maybe just tweak the .ini file, but by the time I figured that out I had already wiped the game). Both are dated as downloaded 2014 and I haven't reinstalled them yet.

 

Boddy turned out to be smart, he doesn't cast Fireball, he casts Flame arrow instead. I guess he'll never cast any extensive spells. Deekin never casted them too in HotU, although he certainly had them.

 

Deekin is a bard, they don't really get much for offensive spells. It's mostly just buffs and cures.

Maybe Boddy learned from putting his own party to sleep all the time that he isn't a good judge of distances for AOE spells.

 

Boddyknock can open locks. He gets the Knock spell on 5th level. Unfortunately he cannot 'find traps'.

 

Sure he can, just command him to go over wherever you think the trap is located and he should find it just fine.

 

ROFL. That reminds me of the time I played the paladin. I'd deliberately throw myself on every trap so my cohort wouldn't kill themselves trying to disable it. I figured that if it hit AC I had plenty; if there was a save I'd almost certainly make it; and I had plenty of HP.

 

No, he can’t. There are no options for traps in OC in contrast to HotU. Tomi’ll disarm a trap if you point a mouse pointer at it. It doesn’t work with Boddy. Besides Boddy doesn’t open locked doors, he shoots at them. He opens locked chests. The only way to have a good rogue in OC is to hire Tomi. Or be a rogue yourself. Or use a mod, I guess.

I’ve played OC with all henchmen a little. I don’t remember them trying to disarm traps except Tomi. I was a rogue myself though. They adore rushing to an enemy once they see him/her/it and springing all traps on their way, this is true. I commanded my henchman to stand his/her ground, lured the enemy and commanded to attack nearest. Boddy also adores rushing close to enemies to cast his Flame Arrow. Can’t he do it from afar? His eye is definitely bad, you are right.