r/neverwinternights • u/TheGoodyShop • 2d ago
NWN1 Build and Module Recommendations
Greetings All!,
So NVN has a special place in my heart. It was the first CRPG I ever played back when I was a kid and it started my life-long love affair with CRPGs.
I have not played the game since I was a teenager though and I just bought it on sale on Steam (the game and all it's DLCs) so I have two questions:
First what is a solid melee build for the original campaign and the SoU/HotU? I've played a ton of pathfinder 1E games (WotR and KM) but it has been a LONG time since I've messed around with 3e in any capacity. I usually gravitate towards Monk and Dex builds, but if I remember correctly both monk and dex based melee damage dealers suck in 3e. Really I just want a hybrid damage dealer and tank.
Second - if I dip into community modules does anyone have a good like 1-30 path of campaigns. Frankly the list of community modules is overwhelming and if there is a curated list that would take me from level 1 to 30 of the best campaigns that would be awesome.
Thanks!
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u/I_FUCKIN_LOVE_WORDS 2d ago edited 2d ago
Depends what you mean by “melee build” but my personal favourite for the OC specifically has always been either self-buffing melee cleric or wizard (shout out to the semi-famous bearded battlemage)
For SoU/HotU paladins are pretty solid, you can get a unique paladin-only longsword in SoU that is one of the strongest weapons in that campaign, and in HotU you get another magic longsword (with story relevance) so it synergizes nicely.
Re: community modules, the Aielund Saga series takes you from 1 to late 30s, so always a good choice if you’re looking for something in that range. Swordflight is also a good choice if you like a challenge, although I think that series is still technically unfinished.
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u/OttawaDog 2d ago
My versatile melee build recommendation aimed directly at OC/SoU. Strength builds are definitely better a the levels of the OC/SoU. There are several variations explained in detail. All are Fighter/Rogue/Paladin:
https://www.reddit.com/r/neverwinternights/comments/hixrvb/my_suggestion_for_a_new_player_build/
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u/Aggravating-Bet5082 2d ago
Why specifically you want to find from level 1 to 30 and not those from level 1 to 40?
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u/TheGoodyShop 2d ago
because its been like 20 years since i last played the HotU and forgot that epic levels go to 40.
TLDR: I'm a dum dum
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u/Aggravating-Bet5082 1d ago
Don't worry, I also forget some basic things of some games I played fanatically in the past (and you probably confused NWN1 with NWN 2 which its maximum level is 30)
Initially take a look at this list which contains some popular epic level community modules. And like always I also recommend Vis et Virtus series (but try it in Diamond Edition for maximum compatibility)
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u/FarHorizonGames 2d ago
The OC is designed for any build to be able to beat it, so you can play what you want .. take all the optimization following with a grain of salt if you really want to play X race or class. Also note that the OC goes from 1 to about 17 while SoU starts at 1 again. SoU and HoTU were designed for a character to go from one to the other though.
There are tons of fun melee builds! I like melee builds that have some sort of active feat so it's not just click attack. IMO the most fun are in no order:
- divine might/shield (requires charisma 13+, str 13+)
- knockdown (prevents attacks, enables sneak attack)
For divine might, a few of my favorite builds that will fit in the OC (considering ~17th max level):
4 bard/10 rdd/2 cleric. This gets you huge strength from RDD and you can take two cleric levels for divine might/shield a bit later. RDD also gives +2 cha and bard needs charisma, so some decent reuse of that! If you play HoTU (up to say 27) then you could choose bard or cleric to get 15 levels of (so tilt cha or wis a bit more) and take only 2 levels of the other. They both get some really nice battle buffs.
4 Paladin 4 fighter 9 rogue is a really flexible divine might build for the OC. You get sneak attack, divine might, tumble and can take weapon spec from fighter. I would take 3 paladin up front & take divine might at 3 and then wait a bit to take the 4th paladin level for divine shield. Knockdown is pretty useful for this build too: you can get way more use out of sneak attack with it.
For both these builds I would go strength & 1h + shield is probably the best bet. Longsword is a great choice for the OC and paladin in particular. For starting stats, I would focus strength & get about 14 cha.
edit: There are some great dex based builds, but they are not what I would play first! Dex does have damage challenges & overcoming them can be a little module/server specific. For example, some modules/PW are really undead heavy so sneak attack isn't really what you want to count on.