My 'regular' DVD version of NWN2 came with the 177 page manual as well, and I think the PDF file, come to think of it.

Or perhaps you are meant to procure it via the special five finger discount, or you can't steal from shops in NWN2? (haven't played a rogue yet) :) Don't get me started! Ok, first, no that item isn't set to pickpocketable (I checked :)). Second, pickpocketing sucks in NWN2. It would seem that there is roll made to determine whether you steal gold or if you steal items. Now the items, for the most part, seem to be pretty cool, however you can literally stand there for 20+ minutes pickpocketing a merchant and not get any items at all. There is a 5 second delay between pickpocket attempts, which is exacerbated by fact that you have to right-click and hold to select pickpocket. In other words, it takes a really freakin' long time to clear someone out.

If you get gold, then it's somewhere between 20 and 50 gold piece for each attempt. Pickpocketed items have zero value, although they are generally items that you would want to keep anyway (also note that they are not items that appear in the merchant's inventory. The good news is that Uncus will buy them from you if you end up deciding to get rid of your stolen goods.

Also, I've only tested this in Neverwinter, but it appears that only merchants carry gold or items on their person (i.e. no pickpocketing random people).

There are two ways that I know of: <snip much goodness>Thanks!

I just got a tiny pamphlet with the game containing little more than installation instructions and a step by step guide to what buttons you should push at the main menu to start a new game. No useful reference information at all. The full manual was just provided as a PDF file on the DVD disc. :(Maybe it's region-dependent (???).

It's region dependent , the EU version dont have the manual and the US have it. Dont know about the special edition, but i assume you get it if you buy the special edition in EU

It's region dependent , the EU version dont have the manual and the US have it. Dont know about the special edition, but i assume you get it if you buy the special edition in EU

From what I've heard the EU limited edition also only features a PDF manual like the "regular" game does. (Atari Europe should learn from Take2 that it is quite possible to ship a 200+ page manual with a game that comes in a DVD box. Worked quite well for Civilization 4 after all. Games like these need a reference manual you can look things up in while you play since too many things are poorly explained (or not at all explained) in-game.)

* * *

Do anyone know if there is an INI setting or an XML file to modify to allow the Examine screen to display any status effects on non-party NPCs like in NWN1? It's rather annoying when you can't see if your debilitating spells have any effect on your targets.

Hey, it looks as though 1.03 is official today.

The release notes for 1.03-Official are much more detailed than 1.03-Beta. You can check them out here (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2GameInfo.Detail&id=83) if you'd like.

Hey, it looks as though 1.03 is official today.

The release notes for 1.03-Official are much more detailed than 1.03-Beta. You can check them out here (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2GameInfo.Detail&id=83) if you'd like.

Lovely update, now the NWN2Toolset crashes during startup every time. :roleyess: Just when I thought it couldn't get much worse Obsidian is glad to prove me wrong. Seems like it's wise not just to stay away from their beta versions but from their release updates as well.

Perhaps Obsidian expects that if people's opinion of them gets low enough it will overflow and wrap around...

:LOL:

I am so thankful to be one of the lucky ones that manages to somehow avoid all of Obsidian's show stopping bugs.

I am so thankful to be one of the lucky ones that manages to somehow avoid all of Obsidian's show stopping bugs.

Seems it wasn't just me who got that problem, after some digging around. Apparently the Toolset will henceforth crash when starting up unless you have Windows set to the English (United States) regional setting locale. At least it works, even if it's quirky having to change the regional settings back and forth all the time.

Other than that the patch seems to work OK so far, though enabling Shadows and Water Reflections are still out of the question if I want a framerate averaging higher than 15-20 FPS. At least the anti-aliasing didn't cause any noticeable performance drop. Somewhat less apparent jagged edges are nice. :)

The load screens have started flickering like mad when using nwn2main_amdxp.exe as well now in 1.03 though, which they only did with nwn2main.exe before. Good thing I don't suffer from epilepsy or I'd have gotten a seizure from that for sure. I suppose it's bearable as long as it only happens at the load screens, even if it's annoying.

* * *

Am I just doing something wrong, or is the "whirlwind attack" feat horribly broken in NWN2? Seems like I can only use it once. If I try to use it again after that the character will get stuck with it in the action queue but nothing will happen. After that it's impossible to perform any combat action at all (attacks, spells etc), even after quitting the game and reloading. Only going back to an earlier save before using the feat fixed it.

I don't have Windows language set to English, and the toolset works just fine. So, i don't think that's the problem.

Perhaps there is a problem with your windows username. I remember that when my username contained some non-english letters, some programs wouldn't work (mainly those that install some critical files into "my documents", or any other folder inside your username)...when i changed the name, all those programs that wouldn't start before, were working now.

Now i don't really belive that's the problem with NWN2 Toolset, but it might be worth a try (if your username contains some non-english letters that is).

Posted by Nathaniel Chapman, Assistant Producer:

"For those of you who are encountering crashes running the toolset at the "Creating Default Windows..." step, we have identified the issue and are working on a fix. In the meantime, a workaround is to alter your Windows region and language settings to English(United States). This should fix the issue."

.... Good thing I don't suffer from epilepsy or I'd have gotten a seizure from that for sure. I suppose it's bearable as long as it only happens at the load screens, even if it's annoying....

Bugger. I do have epilepsy.... thanks for the heads up !

just a quick question, does the toolset allow to mod the faces colors.. basically I want a face for an evil wizard character in black metal style corpsepaint :p

KRIEG !

http://metalkings.com/reviews/immortal/Band2.jpg)

mtfbwya

Does anyone know how the multiplayer works? There is like 10 diffrent game types, whats the diffrent with them? And when i tryed to join a game, i got an error saying i coulden't load the module

just a quick question, does the toolset allow to mod the faces colors.. basically I want a face for an evil wizard character in black metal style corpsepaint :p


You can edit the available skin/hair/eyes color palette choices for each playable race by finding its corresponding color_*.2da file (i.e. color_human.2da for humans). There is a column in that file for each skin/hair/eye part there where you can set the available color choices with standard html-like hex RGB values.

Don't think you can add reflective/metallic color choices to the palette though, unlike NWN1, but I may be wrong. :) (If you want to add tattoos and such to a head that have none you'll probably have to re-skin the head texture though.)

(If you mean for NPCs and not the player character you can change the skin color tint with a normal color picker dialog box in the UTC editor.)

...and the satisfaction of knowing that you're a sucker lolz... nope. its easy to get you rhands on things without paying for them these days. NWN was available here before official Oz release date and was doing the rounds at LANs I float around at. When its a game you are really going to play alot you need to support that Co. BioWare/Obsidian/Black Isle have provided us all with hours upon hours of entertainment through their products. I'll hand over money gladly to them... as for EA... we wont go there....

@Stoffe :) Thanks for the reply :) that unfortunately sounds quite complicated for the likes of me...and would be quite time consuming til I got over the learning curve. Im more a hardware guy :D

I will keep my eye out for mods where someone far more talented has already done the hard work...wheres a nice place to go for such things ?

I updated to 1.03. Luckily Im not getting the flickering, which is very relieving considering my condition :( The chat box thing went haywire again ! You'd think theyd fix it.... freakin' Muppets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muppets)

All was restored after re-applying the xml patch I linked to earlier..........:)

Hey! I love the Muppets! Do not disrespect the Muppets!!!
Where else are you going to see the latest creation of the Swedish chef, the most recent experiment of Dr. Honeydew (usually to the detriment of poor Beaker), a loving relationship between a narcissistic pig and a pushover frog, and get lines like "Veterinarian's Hospital--where the quacks have gone to the dogs!" and "Light the lamp, not the rat! Light the lamp, not the rat! Put me out! Put me out! Put me out!!"

You know, that disk could have been photoshopped in.... *Jae runs away before Astro whaps her over the head with a copy of the Official English-Valley Girl/Valley-Girl-English translation guide*

Jimbo and I are in the middle of our games, and I'm loathe to do anything with the patch atm until we both finish our first games--we're both a little under half-way done at this point (he caught up and surpassed me because I potter around the alchemist and magician benches too much)-- :) Then we'll apply it and see what happens there, because I already want to try a second game and I've not even finished the first play-through. :D

Hey! I love the Muppets! Do not disrespect the Muppets!!!


lolz...calling someone a "muppet" is intended to disrespect them, not the muppets!! It's an England/UK phrase that has caught on here in Oz to a degree. (But I think when we say it we are also mocking the English, which is the first and foremost nationalistic duty of all Australians around the world :D )

First time I heard it was in the awesome Guy Ritchie film, "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels" - it was used to describe these two incompetent thieves. It highlights the clumsiness and clowning around, which the muppets are so good at - but when applied to a someone trying to achieve a more serious objective, shows them up as being incompetemt. [/end modern vernacular lesson]

You know, that disk could have been photoshopped in....*Jae runs away before Astro whaps her over the head with a copy of the Official English-Valley Girl/Valley-Girl-English translation guide*

That is like, so like, wrong like. OK :p

Like I said, Im a hardware guy :) Playing RPGs is enough mouse point and click for me to handle, let alone photoshopping :p

mtfbwya

@Stoffe :) Thanks for the reply :) that unfortunately sounds quite complicated for the likes of me...and would be quite time consuming til I got over the learning curve. Im more a hardware guy :D

If you want to try it you can do something like this:
Run the NWN2Toolset (NWN2ToolsetLauncher.exe in the main game folder).


Go to the "View" menu and select the "2DA file" option.


In the "Pick 2DA" window that opens, scroll down until you find the color 2DA file for the race you want to play as, i.e. "color_tiefling" if you want to play as a Tiefling. Select it and press OK.


A spreadsheet-like tab will now open, where each column contains the available color picks for a particular body part (hair1, hair2, hair accessory, skin, eyes, body hair) that you can assign new color to at character creation. The values here are in hexadecimal RGB format, similar to what is used in HTML on the web to specify colors. Just pick one of the available colors you don't like and replace it with the RGB value of a color you want, and press "Save" up right under the tab to save the modified 2DA file in the override folder.

If you have Adobe Photoshop or any other decent graphics program at your disposal you can use it to view/generate hex-RGB values for you in the color picker window. There are probably tons of converters available on WWW/google as well. The Toolset's own color picker can show/give hex-RGB values as well, if you can stand the constant crashes when using it.

If not you can just take the Red, Green and Blue palette values any color picker (like IrfanView) can give you and convert them to hex with the Windows Calculator set to scientific mode and put each value after the other. For example R=129 (0x81), G=145 (0x91), B=254 (0xFE) would become 8191FE in hex.



I will keep my eye out for mods where someone far more talented has already done the hard work...wheres a nice place to go for such things ?

NWVault (http://nwvault.ign.com) is the foremost site for NWN1 mods, and I believe they aspire to be the same for NWN2 as well. If it exists they likely have it.



All was restored after re-applying the xml patch I linked to earlier. It may indeed have something to do with disagreeing with using a no-cd patch, which I always use, to protect my discs... and before anyone even dares accuse of me playing a leeched copy, look at the pic :)

Be careful with using pre-1.03 GUI modifications with the 1.03 patch though, seems like there are some issues and bugs that can result from it since they've changed things around.

You are likely correct about the No-CD patch, I've read that the permanent chatbox bug is caused by it, so you'll probably have to hope for them to release a better no-cd patch (or Atari to gather their wits and stop punishing paying customers with intrusive protection like SecuROM, though I suspect hell will freeze over before that happens).

Speaking of which, seems like they've combined the chat box and the feedback log in 1.03, making that box much larger than before. Nasty.

* * *

Also about the GUI changes, are there some way of examining your party members to check out their character description in 1.03? After the patch the "Examine" menu option seems to bring up their character sheet instead. Nice for summons and animal companions since it allows you to view their stats, but rather meaningless for party members since you can do that with the C key anyway.

Also about the GUI changes, are there some way of examining your party members to check out their character description in 1.03? After the patch the "Examine" menu option seems to bring up their character sheet instead.Yes, you have to make the character you wish to examine the party leader first.

@Tupac Amaru: That seems to have worked. Thanks. (Except for summons and animal companions since you can't switch to control them.)

Seems the latest patch still don't make the Examine screen useful in letting you see what status effects are applied to enemies, and you still can't see the alignment values on the character sheets.

So I put together a quick script to work around the problem, displaying those things along with a bunch of other stats for the selected character. I figured I'd post it here as well in case someone else would find it useful.

If you want it, unzip the attached file into your override folder. Then, in-game select (right-click to make the portrait appear at the top of the screen) any character in the game world, pull down the console and type DebugMode 1 (to enable running of scripts if you haven't already) then followed by rs st_inspect in a new line. This will display stats for the selected character in the report window. (Remember to close the report window before running the script again on another character since it doesn't seem to update otherwise.)

Regarding displayed inventory: The flags displayed within () for inventory items held by the character mean:
E = equipped
P = plot item
D = droppable
S = stolen
C = cursed
...and the text inside the [] following the item name is the ResRef of the template the item is based on (since the normal character info dump command shows the tags of inventory items already).

@stoffe - thanks for the mini tutorial. Have CnPasted - may give it a try when I get up to doing a campaign as wizard - still havent finished first OC with Drow Male(lawful good), then have to do drow female(chaotic evil) so wont be a while yet !

mtfbwya

Do most quests with a violent and non-violent resolution choice consistently give much poorer rewards if you avoid bloodshed? It certainly seems that way. The difficulty with those quest conversations turn more into dodging the Diplomacy/Intimidate/Bluff choices that might lead away from a fight than the other way around.

For example: Did the Fort bandit quest early on both ways to see the difference:

Peaceful negotiate+persuade solution reward: 400 XP, 500 GP.

Violent "kill them all" solution reward: 862 XP, 500 GP, Astral Blade +1, Studded Leather Armor +1, 3 scrolls, +1 influence with Neeshka.

Rather significant difference that early on.

"Violence--for lack of a better word--is Good.

Violence is right.

Violence works.

Violence clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

Violence, in all of its forms -- violence for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind.

And violence -- you mark my words -- will not only save your character, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the Neverwinter Nine."

Sorry--couldn't resist the spoof of the Gekko 'Greed is Good' thing!!! :D

Edit: And _finally_ made it to Act 2. :)

Riddle me this NWNers:

Has anyone noticed that as of Act III, you encounter Melee Battles that are VERY damn hard, a siginificant jump. I have a reasonably strong character at lvl 16 Ranger/Paladin/Cleric/NWN Nine, who has had no huge trouble dispatching foes until Act III, as long as I keep my wits about me.. It just seems a big jump thats all :) The presence of Ammon Jerro seems to have made things a bit more difficult, or it could be just a coincidence ??

Has anybody else who have fought
1. Light of Heavens or
2. The Red Dragon (Trop....xysis or something like that) or
3. The Lizardfolk Chieftain(Baathu-sic - Im crap with names)

encountered anything similar since A3 started. I managed to beat #1. Got away from #2. by running away!!(It let me even though my party was down !? - weird) I have made several attempts to beat her, even with the Fire Giants help, but have never gotten her down past half damage. Is there a special spell I can use ? I do have some 1337 fire retardant gear now - I want to go back and finish her off !!

Im still stuck at #3 but I think I might get the slimy bugger when I have a go later :)

mtfbwya

Has anyone noticed that as of Act III, you encounter Melee Battles that are VERY damn hard, a siginificant jump. I have a reasonably strong character at lvl 16 Ranger/Paladin/Cleric/NWN Nine, who has had no huge trouble dispatching foes until Act III, as long as I keep my wits about me..

Could be a "Jack of all Trades" result of your character being heavily multiclassed, greater versatility vs. less specialization perhaps? Or depend on what party members you bring along to the fights. Act 3 was a bit harder for my single-classed cleric (Air/Water), but not very much so in my experience. Perhaps I just got lucky with the rolls for once. :)



It just seems a big jump thats all :) The presence of AJ seems to have made things a bit more difficult, or it could be just a coincidence ??

Could depend on the rest of your party composition. With AJ instead of SJ in the party you get one less assured tank, and if you give SJ good armor and a tower shield she was a very good tank. In my opinion AJ requires more micromanagement to use properly since the AI seems to be completely brain dead in its use of invocations and prefers to throw him into melee pretty much all the time when he seems more suited as an "archer" type with the unlimited ranged spells and all. (Also keep in mind that you can switch out some invocations he already knows for new ones on levelup, if you haven't already.)

My take on the mentioned fights:

Has anybody else who have fought LoH

A pretty nasty encounter if you are primarily a caster type since LoH starts the fight right in your face all the times, leading to trouble if you don't have defensive spells up already. I managed to beat her with my cleric using Blade Barrier and Harm, using Defensive Casting so she couldn't interrupt me. Keep the Aasimar racial resistances (5/- acid, cold, lightning) in mind if you use a weapon that deals elemental damage.

Tholapsyx

Those are supposed to be some of the toughest creatures you can fight, and I think the fight is optional. I managed to get through it by purchasing a stack of Resurrection scrolls beforehand and bringing back fallen party members to rejoin the fight as they dropped. Used Elanee, Qara, Khelgar and AJ in that fight.

Aside from that I spread out the party in a ring around her so they won't all be nailed by AoE spells and abilities at the same time. Then I spammed Ice Storm and Cone of Cold with my Cleric, Elanee and Qara since she's more vulnerable to Cold than other damage types, sniped from afar with AJs Eldritch Blast and had Khelgar tank her. Then the usual deal with Divine Might, Righteous Might, Blade Barrier and Harm with my cleric. Party buffed with Aura of Vitality (Elanee), Protection from Evil, Prayer and Energy Immunity:Fire at the beginning.

Took a while and roughly 4 resurrections of party members, but eventually she was defeated. :)

Bantha

Level 20 Wizard Lizard, if I remember correctly. Either bring Adamantine weapons or something to dispel its Premonition with or the fight will take longer than necessary. A Silence spell made the fight much easier through since it disabled most enemy spellcasting. :)

Keep in mind that Death spells are a complete waste of time to use against Bantha since they do nothing at all, like with many other opponents that likes to talk when beaten (i.e. Immortal-flagged). (Ironically Death spells are more useful against Immortal enemies when they succeed their save since they tend to take a bit of damage then at least. If they fail their save nothing happens at all.) Death spells may be useful to quickly dispatch the minions though, if you have them. Preferable Weird or Wail of the Banshee so you can get many at once.

Thanks Stoffe :)

LoH is the only one Im having luck against, probably since my character is also a in melee fighter and can duke it out with her (ive done 2 out of the 3 trials)

The wizard lizard is still kicking my a$$ but I have gotten to the but where he changes shape. Interesting he is Level 20. I should study up on what my spellcasters can do. I havent used Qara at all(apart from when she was requested), but use elanee and sand frequently.

Is the lizard alliance that helpful ??? The other thing is that armourer from Highcliff probably wont come to the keep until I defeat it :( Bugger

Im not going to bother with the dragon....4 rounds of resurrection, lolz...sounds like the old Final Fantasy battles that sometimes went for over an hour :( (I still have Nightmares about being in an endless battle against boss monsters from FF9 and FF10)

Another thing Ive noticed, the only shopkeepers I can access are the ones at my keep. As I havent paid much attention to crafting or making stuff, Ive drained my stock of potions. How does one make a heal/cure serious wounds potion ?? I think I threw that book away :( Even with all the buffing spells etc, I think the way I have things set up, I last longer if some of us are well stocked :p

shows you Im more into swords than scrolls :(

also, does anyone have any tips for making more money for the keep ?? Ive found all the ore I can but I need $50k to rebuild the church/monastery(havent decided which)? what have others done in this instance ??

phaw, its 5 am - played about 10 hours today :( terrible. Only for NWN !!

mtfbwya

The wizard lizard is still kicking my a$$ but I have gotten to the but where he changes shape. Interesting he is Level 20. I should study up on what my spellcasters can do. I havent used Qara at all(apart from when she was requested), but use elanee and sand frequently.


Personally I find Qara more useful in battle than Sand. She has less spells to pick from, but the ones she already knows when she joins up are all useful unlike the junk Sand comes with (where the scrolls to improve his selection may be hard to find), and you don't really need that many spells of each level, just a select few. I find the extra castings/day and freedom to apply metamagic on the fly more useful.

Elanee is always useful in both Melee and as a caster IMHO, in particular this late in the game if you've gotten some good gear for her. Good armor + premonition makes her as good a tank as Khelgar, if not better. I tend to keep her non-shapechanged most of the time though, and use the Wildshape uses for other feats instead that can use them for more useful effects. I occasionally use the elemental forms when dealing with some enemies, but not often.

Khelgar kicks serious enemy posterior once he's got all the Ironfist relics, so I tend to bring him along after that as well.

Is the lizard alliance that helpful ???

I found them quite handy. They have decent hitpoints, come with spears and can cast druid spells. Overall I found the Dwarf and Lizardmen allies more useful than your own supposedly elite human troops. :)

The number of alliances made might be used for "behind the scenes" calculations as well to determine how successful you are at the battle, but that's just speculation on my part so far. At least I certainly didn't see all of my 400 troops during the battle. :)



Im not going to bother with the dragon....4 rounds of resurrection, lolz...sounds like the old Final Fantasy battles that sometimes went for over an hour :( (I still have Nightmares about being in an endless battle against boss monsters from FF9 and FF10)

Those were mostly for Khelgar though since he tanked her alone to keep her off my spellcasters and others who either attacked from afar or made hit & run attacks. If I was more diligent with healing him in time it could probably have been avoided. :)


Another thing Ive noticed, the only shopkeepers I can access are the ones at my keep. As I havent paid much attention to crafting or making stuff, Ive drained my stock of potions. How does one make a heal/cure serious wounds potion?

There are some new street vendors in the Neverwinter Merchant Quarter in Act 3 as well, though I suppose that part might become unavailable once you reach a certain point. I think the merchants in Port Llast are still there as well.

As for making potions you just cast the spell you want to potionize on an empty potion bottle in your inventory. It's a bit of a rip-off to make home-made potions though since you can at most use level 3 (or was it 4?) single-targeting spells for potions, and they cost you thousands of gold to make. Mostly worthless feature IMHO since you can usually buy a potion of the same type much cheaper than it costs you to make it yourself, and really useful ones such as Heal Potions cannot be made at all (I wonder where they come from...) :(


also, does anyone have any tips for making more money for the keep ?? Ive found all the ore I can but I need $50k to rebuild the church/monastery(havent decided which)? what have others done in this instance ??

I usually just pay the exta gold from my own pocket instead, since selling unneeded loot will earn you gold more quickly than keep taxes will. Not worth the extra hazzle of trying to stick to the keep treasury. And you can always get some of the money back in the later parts of Act 3 when the keep starts to get rolling and money flows in better by withdrawing funds from the treasury.

Though I suppose you might have more personal need for the gold if you have the Limited Edition with the extra items and sets to buy. In Standard Edition there isn't really that much worthwhile left to buy by the beginning of act 3 anyway since most of the good stuff is found as loot instead.

Thank you again stoffe :)

Yes, all the vendors from everywhere are unavailable. I might have to sell some of my 1337 stuff if that is the best way to generate cash to open the shop in the keep :) If I opened a monastery, do they sell things like the church does or would they moreso contribute to training(if at all) ??

mtfbwya

Yes, all the vendors from everywhere are unavailable. I might have to sell some of my 1337 stuff if that is the best way to generate cash to open the shop in the keep :) If I opened a monastery, do they sell things like the church does or would they moreso contribute to training(if at all) ??


While I haven't tried it personally yet I've gotten the impression by poking around the files that the Monastery works pretty much like the church, only that they have a more unique quest to offer if your main character is a monk as well, which supposedly is a bit more elaborate than the simple Dragon quest the temple offers you.

As for merchants, did you find the drow merchant in the FG King canyon inside the wooden enclosure? I completely missed her the first time in all the excitement, and she blends in too well against the backgrounds. :) She can be convinced to set up shop at CK as well, though I suppose it might be bad for morale or civility to have a drow around there.

Other than that I think you can pick up... Deekin in Neverwinter, the armor smith from Highcliff, the weapon smith from Fort Locke, Orlen in Harbor Watch and Light of Heaven's sister Joy in Neverwinter. On the sergeant side I suspect you can only recruit Light of Heavens herself if your main character isn't evil. Bevil and Katriona should work for everyone, and you can get Jalboun to join you if you make him turn on Sydney Natale by offering him twice what she pays him when she tries to ambush you. Jalboun is only good for Special Ops assignments though since you're worse off with him than without if assigned to anything else. But he's very good at SpecOps on the other hand. :)

interesting info :) Thanks !

I think I'll go with the church :) I havent noticed the drow vendor - the only enclosure I came across had Luskan prisoners in it. I guess there must be another one :) I dont think the keep would be too upset, after all - their Knight-Captain is a Drow, and a member of the Nine. If only they could get jiggy - it's hard for a Drow to find Love on the surface :D At this stage its only Elanee that seems to have the hots for me, and SJ has moved on...

Joy only wants to dance atm :( Maybe after I beat LoH the 3rd time :p

Poor Jalboun was a member of my party for about 2 minutes - he got killed by Sydney and didnt seem to get resurrected :(

I cant seem to get to Fort Locke anymore - maybe after I defeat that damn Lizard

and I cannot remember meeting anyone called Katriona.... maybe only appears for evil campaigners ??

now, time to kick some wizard lizard a$$.... :p

mtfbwya

Warning - Spoilers ahead relating to CK and the early parts of Act 3.


I think I'll go with the church :) I havent noticed the drow vendor - the only enclosure I came across had Luskan prisoners in it. I guess there must be another one :)

It's in the same small canyon area where you find the Fire Giant King and (potentially) fight the big red lady, not in the mountains area where the others are. It's on the right-hand side from the entrance passage, it's really easy to miss if you aren't looking for it. She's standing inside a dark wooden enclosure.


I dont think the keep would be too upset, after all - their Knight-Captain is a Drow, and a member of the Nine. If only they could get jiggy - it's hard for a Drow to find Love on the surface :D At this stage its only Elanee that seems to have the hots for me

Well... since she was part of the Luskan caravan it's probably a sure bet she's either evil or involved in shady dealings, so it might have some effect. Though it's probably not worse than keeping Uncus around at the fort.


Joy only wants to dance atm :( Maybe after I beat LoH the 3rd time :p

Hmm, I don't think you need to beat LoH all three times, if I remember correctly I picked up Joy after I fought LoH in the merchant district. It may need some convincing, I don't remember for sure. You can recruit her as a dancer for the tavern in the Keep to make it more attractive for travelers.


Poor Jalboun was a member of my party for about 2 minutes - he got killed by Sydney and didnt seem to get resurrected :(

I suppose you need him alive to be able to recruit him. :) I had Qara cast Stoneskin on him and put a Death Ward on him by my cleric, just in case, and healed him when necessary, so he survived. Using True Seeing spells (or Nasher's reward amulet from the trial) probably help as well to take care of those annoying invisible assassins before they sneak attack someone.

lolz...I hope others are getting benefit out of this, othewise it a chatski between me and the very knowledgable stoffe... though as we are both 1337 Level 20 mods and have cast a Death Ward, we may be able to continue - since this is a relevant thread for a game which many are playing.

*I finally beat that wretched Lizard with Qara, Zhjaeve, Khelgar n me - I cant say Khelgar did much - even though he has the highest HP of all of us and great equip(including the ironfist stuff) The AI on Zhjaeve seemed to kick into gear(finally) and she was dealing major damage - funnily enough - I discovered I hadnt equipped her with a sword, just a shield for this encounter - this seemed to make her stand back and let loose, rather than go in close and get creamed by that stupid Lizard.

However, the biggest let down was he point blank refused to joing the fight, and carried on about me poisoning his land :( SUX. Anyway, had one go at LOH and just missed out - another go later with some great equipment since that highcliff armorer came down :)

Stll, having some great fun, great to back in the midst of a classic style RPG.

mtfbwya

The AI on Zhjaeve seemed to kick into gear(finally) and she was dealing major damage - funnily enough - I discovered I hadnt equipped her with a sword, just a shield for this encounter - this seemed to make her stand back and let loose, rather than go in close and get creamed by that stupid Lizard.

Clerics rock, though I didn't really like bringing Zhjaeve when I didn't have to since I played as a cleric myself and she was much weaker than my main char for some reason. Probably her horrible Domain choices and that Githzerai ECL+2 that was killing her usefulness a fair bit. (I think that's a rather big penalty just for having some innate spell resistance. In particular seeing how easy and cheap it would be to just make an item with an equal or higher amount of spell resistance.) But she's probably a lot more useful to bring along if you aren't a cleric yourself. :)


However, the biggest let down was he point blank refused to joing the fight, and carried on about me poisoning his land :(

Hmm, maybe there's some Diplo check you must make to convince him, I don't remember. It probably also helps if you've befriended Slaan during your first visit to Highcliff and solved the Lizardmen Ship Sabotage problem peacefully without killing any lizards. At least I hope it does, it would show a type of longsightedness that's rather unusual in games where choices early can have real ramifications later. :) (The trial was another such moment where you can help Torio's case tremendously by making stupid choices earlier in the game.)

At any rate it is possible to convince the lizard chief he's being manipulated by the KOSH and make him form an alliance with you after you've beaten him in the fight (which seems unavoidable).

How do you activate the Construct in the CK basement? I've found the Tome of Golemcraft (in the CK library) and the rune-inscribed metal piece (in the Illefarn ruins) and given them to Grobnar, but he still seems to need some sort of glowing ink to scribe the runes with. I thought it had to do with the Glowstone in the Goblin caves in Duskwood, but I can't seem to do anything special with the stone, nor with the "sacred pool" it was next to.

I never could figure out how to get the Construct operational in my first playthrough and I'd rather not miss that part on my second playthrough as well now...

With Grobnar in your party, approach the "sacred pool" next to where you found the Glowstone. This is how you find the "ink".

Construct is a brute and makes a fine addition to a neutral or evil party (his alignment is neutral, but I just don't feel the "RP" roaming around with a behemoth like that while playing it good).

Word of warning re: Construct and the end of the game
Your influence over Construct is determined by your influence over Grobnar. So if you don't stay on Grobby's good side, you'll lose Construct during the final fight.

EDIT: Also a sneaky way to upgrade Construct if you don't have a lot of points in your Craft skills (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=528096&forum=110)

With Grobnar in your party, approach the "sacred pool" next to where you found the Glowstone. This is how you find the "ink".

Thanks, that would explain why I never found it, since I rarely walk around with Grobnar in the party. Too few available slots for that, in particular in Act 2 where SJ is glued to you. I miss the BG2 6 person party.


Construct is a brute and makes a fine addition to a neutral or evil party (his alignment is neutral, but I just don't feel the "RP" roaming around with a behemoth like that while playing it good).

I'd assume the Construct will be the strong, silent type in conversations as well, being a mindless automaton and all. Still might come in handy in act 3 during the parts where you do much fighting and little talking.

Speaking of which, can Kistrel do anything other than weave a fairly unremarkable cloak for you? Can you get him/her to help out during the siege?


Word of warning re: Construct and the end of the game

Hmm, only Qara and Bishop betrayed me in the ritual chamber when Garius turned on his charm during my last playthrough (and both for completely illogical reasons), so Grobnar will probably be OK this time around as well. Seems like Bishop is trying to convince Grobnar to tell him the Construct's command word however, so maybe he'll tell Garius anyway. I guess I'll have Elanee memorize a Crumble spell before the final battle, just in case. :)

I'd assume the Construct will be the strong, silent type in conversations as well, being a mindless automaton and all. Still might come in handy in act 3 during the parts where you do much fighting and little talking.Exactly.

Speaking of which, can Kistrel do anything other than weave a fairly unremarkable cloak for you? Can you get him/her to help out during the siege?No and no.



Hmm, only Qara and Bishop betrayed me in the ritual chamber when Garius turned on his charm during my last playthrough (and both for completely illogical reasons), so Grobnar will probably be OK this time around as well. Seems like Bishop is trying to convince Grobnar to tell him the Construct's command word however, so maybe he'll tell Garius anyway. I guess I'll have Elanee memorize a Crumble spell before the final battle, just in case. :)
Wow, you kept Neeshka too? I've heard there are 3 influence checks for her during that dialog. I seem to only pass two of them. Breaks my heart everytime too, cuz I tend to go out of my way to "reform" her.

Yes, Grobnar is easy to influence if you play good. Unfortunately, I tend not to upgrade Construct when I play good, so...

If you play evil (and fail the influence check with Grobnar), Bishop will reveal that Grobnar did share the command word and illuminate for him that he probably shouldn't have (which is how you lose Construct).

And yes...lots of Crumble spells :)

Re: Neeshka
Wow, you kept Neeshka too? I've heard there are 3 influence checks for her during that dialog. I seem to only pass two of them. Breaks my heart everytime too, cuz I tend to go out of my way to "reform" her.

Yes, though I suppose there is no way to prevent her being snatched away as soon as you enter the temple (or whatever the place is) to maximize the annoyance of having to wade through that trap&lock filled area without a rogue.

Anyway, when I met her again in the ritual chamber after some coaxing she said something like that she didn't care if she would die but she wouldn't turn on the only person who had ever been kind to her, and then she re-joined the party again.


Re: Grobnar and Bishop

If you play evil (and fail the influence check with Grobnar), Bishop will reveal that Grobnar did share the command word and illuminate for him that he probably shouldn't have (which is how you lose Construct).


So that happens automatically (Grobnar talking too much) if you don't have enough influence with him? Otherwise there is nothing you need to do to ensure the Construct stays loyal?

I didn't fight Bishop even though he betrayed us in my last playthrough either. I failed a few influence checks but managed to convince him that Garius was no better than Duncan in manipulating him, and then he simply walked out of there. I think I'll crush him this time instead though, it's more than he deserves. :)

Yes, though I suppose there is no way to prevent her being snatched away as soon as you enter the temple (or whatever the place is) to maximize the annoyance of having to wade through that trap&lock filled area without a rogue.

Anyway, when I met her again in the ritual chamber after some coaxing she said something like that she didn't care if she would die but she wouldn't turn on the only person who had ever been kind to her, and then she re-joined the party again.Re: Neeshka
Gah. You know, I bent over backwards to be nice to her and she always (begrudgingly) joins Garius. I wonder if that's a bug that was fixed with a patch or something. Along those lines, I noticed that my influence with Shandra took a dive in Grandpa Ammon's haven when I played as a female. Maybe this is one of those *shrugs*



So that happens automatically (Grobnar talking too much) if you don't have enough influence with him? Otherwise there is nothing you need to do to ensure the Construct stays loyal?

I didn't fight Bishop even though he betrayed us in my last playthrough either. I failed a few influence checks but managed to convince him that Garius was no better than Duncan in manipulating him, and then he simply walked out of there. I think I'll crush him this time instead though, it's more than he deserves. :)
Not sure I understand the question. If you fail the influence check with Grobnar, he stays but Bishop takes control of Construct. If you pass the influence check, both stay with you and Bishop is on his own to do whatever.

If you have high enough influence with Bishop, he will leave before the party starts. Crushing him does feel pretty good though.


EDIT: More news re: Bishop vs. Construct/Grobnar
If you have influence with Bishop, he will leave the fight before it starts. In these cases, he will leave Construct/Grobnar alone so you don't have to worry about losing your tank

Thanks, that would explain why I never found it, since I rarely walk around with Grobnar in the party. Too few available slots for that, in particular in Act 2 where SJ is glued to you. I miss the BG2 6 person party.

It is possible to raise the limit to whatever you want, but i wouldn't recommend more than 6... it makes the game laggy, and could eventually lead to problems with some quests. 6 party members at once works fine though...i could finish the game without any problems.

To raise the limit to 6, type rs ga_party_limit(6) in the console.

It is possible to raise the limit to whatever you want, but i wouldn't recommend more than 6... it makes the game laggy...
Damn. Don't you have an 8800 GTX? The only thing I've seen lag one of those is console emulation, which requires about 5x the processing power than the console being emulated.

Damn. Don't you have an 8800 GTX? The only thing I've seen lag one of those is console emulation, which requires about 5x the processing power than the console being emulated.

If you want to have like 11 people in your party, you need a really good CPU (if the game would take advantage of the second core on my CPU, it might be enough).

Graphic card isn't really a problem here, as it is being held back by the CPU. I tested this by disabeling AA when i had 11 ppl in my party, and FPS was pretty much the same as when i had 8xAA applied.

Do anyone know of a GFF Editor that fully supports Neverwinter Nights 2 with the changes to the GFF format they've cleverly sneaked in without changing the version number of the format? Preferably one not written in Java.

Aside from potentially introducing new field types used by the KotOR games (not sure about this yet) it definitely seems like a ResRef type can be longer than 16 characters in NWN2. (The Bioware editor and K-GFF seems to cut off longer ResRef values at 16 characters.)

Do anyone know of a GFF Editor that fully supports Neverwinter Nights 2 with the changes to the GFF format they've cleverly sneaked in without changing the version number of the format? Preferably one not written in Java.

Aside from potentially introducing new field types used by the KotOR games (not sure about this yet) it definitely seems like a ResRef type can be longer than 16 characters in NWN2. (The Bioware editor and K-GFF seems to cut off longer ResRef values at 16 characters.)
Heh, I know you're not too crazy about it, but the toolset has a GFF editor built in to it.

Heh, I know you're not too crazy about it, but the toolset has a GFF editor built in to it.

Hmm, where do you access it? I can't see any options in any of the menus to open GFF files.

Hmm, where do you access it? I can't see any options in any of the menus to open GFF files.
Drag the file into the list of game objects, then find it, right click it, and click "Open in new window" or something. Do note that the toolset will sort your GFF file and place it in the "proper" category (i.e. a UTI will be listed under the items section, and a sword UTI will be placed under the sword section of the items section).

Drag the file into the list of game objects, then find it, right click it, and click "Open in new window" or something. Do note that the toolset will sort your GFF file and place it in the "proper" category (i.e. a UTI will be listed under the items section, and a sword UTI will be placed under the sword section of the items section).

Oh. That only works with the types of files the NWN2Toolset usually displays though, and not other GFF format files like .ROS or .IFO files, unless I'm overlooking something.

It would be very useful to have something that lets you edit all GFF format files regardless of type, and where you can edit all fields directly and not have to go through the toolset's crash-happy structured editor tabs (in particular the color picker windows seem to crash if you as much as throw a glance at them).

Oh. Well, I know the new version of LETO is supposed to support the ROS file format as well as the new save format.

Well shoot, I got this game today and it won't run on my PC :( "Could not find any compatible Direct3D devices." eg my video card is too old. So I hate this because my mobo is AGP so I hate to buy a new video card when PCI-e is the future, but I might have to as a temporary solution because I can't afford to shell out for a new rig. My dad bought my brother an nVidia 7300 for under $100 at newegg so maybe I'll get that.

EDIT: My dad and I swapped video cards and now I have the game running. I'll probably have to play on low graphics because his is an nVidia 5500 and the minimum says 5700 but it still runs. My card was an nVidia TI 4200.

For the modding gods and goddesses out there, at whose feet I bow, I pass on this bit of info--Bradygames has published a book on how to mod NWN2, called Neverwinter Nights 2: World Editor Guide by Phillip Marcus. Jimbo got it for me for Christmas. I haven't done anything with it other than look at the intro, so I can't tell you much about it other than the fact that it exists. In fact, it'll probably be awhile before I do much of anything with it--I'm still on my first playthrough, since Jimbo and I have been squabbling like pre-teens over who gets to use the computer that the game is on that night. :)

For the modding gods and goddesses out there, at whose feet I bow, I pass on this bit of info--Bradygames has published a book on how to mod NWN2, called Neverwinter Nights 2: World Editor Guide by Phillip Marcus.

Hmm, perhaps this is why the NWN2Toolset appears to be entirely undocumented and contains practically no "online help" inside it, unlike the Aurora Toolset: so that they could sell the instructions manual separately and make more money. That kind of marketing is a bit annoying, if that's the case.

If that book is really comprehensive, perhaps you could dispense some wisdom regarding the following questions, whenever you have the time? Pretty Please? :)


What does the "Jarring" status effect do, in practice? (I.e. how does it affect the victim?) Is it similar to Deafness and Spell Failure that it causes caster victims to get a chance of miscasting their spell? If so what's the difference between it and Spell Failure that warrants a new separate effect?


How does the "Break Enchantment" effect differ from "Dispel Magic"? Both seems to be used to remove effects from the target. Break Enchantment only affects certain types of effects, while Dispel Magic affects all effects of the Magical subtype?


What does EffectDisintegrate() do, and how is it used? I can't get it to do anything.


What does the "Mesmerize" status effect do, in practice? Is it like stun or daze but breaks when the victim is attacked?


Is the "Vorpal" effect a Death magic effect, or does it work on creatures immune to death magic? What does the "Damage type" parameter on Vorpal item properties do? Can you vorpalize Undead, Constructs and someone protected by a Death Ward?


What affects the Save DC of "OnMonsterHit" Ability Drain and Level Drain effects? The DC seems stuck at very low values even for higher level monsters, making it a very rare occurrence to actually become level drained by vampires and wraiths. (Unlike BG2 where vamps were a pain to fight.) You can only set the amount drained for the OnMonsterHit variants, not the save DC, unlike the "OnHit(Weapon)" variants, so it must be automatically calculated somehow, but I've not been able to determine what factors are used in that calculation.


What is the duration of the effects applied from "OnHit:Ability Drain" and "OnHit:Level drain" weapon properties? Permanent until cured?


What exactly is required to penetrate alignment-keyed Damage Reduction, for example "10/good"? I can't seem to find any item properties that key weapons to a specific alignment. I've noticed that some Bateezu (Erinyes in particular) have Damage Reduction that can only be pierced by "good". A monk's fist starts to count as "lawful" weapons at a certain point according to the description, but that's the only mention of alignment-keyed "weapons" I have been able to find in the game.


Is there a way to prevent a main character from being forced out of Wild Shape or Shapechange whenever someone initiates conversation with them? (Limited uses/day, hideously annoying during those talk+fight+talk+fight sequences. "You... *cough* you may have me beaten... but now I'll dispel your greatest advantage by merely talking to you! Now we fight again!!" :roleyess: )

Since you stay polymorphed if you are the one who initiates conversation, and only gets forced out of it if an NPC begins the conversation with you, I was hoping it was not built into the Dialog code but rather some scripted nonsense Obsidian has added. But I've been unable to find anything so far.


Those are some things I've been wondering about, which seem to be entirely undocumented and I haven't been able to figure out with trial & error. If anyone knows something about this please enlighten me. :)

* * *

(As for the most worthless spell in the game, I nominate the Warlock's Utterdark Blast. It comes at the highest spell level, and by the time you get it you only have Undead (who are healed by it) and Constructs (who are immune to it) left to fight in the game. Brilliant thinking there Obsidian. :) I suppose it's meant to be one of those spells like Confusion that's annoying when used against you by enemies, but worthless when in the hands of the player.)