Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Quick one - this may be the way Parry works normally but I can't see it in any rules...

My UD chap uses parry as a bit of 'extra defence' as he is a HIPster. I noticed that the parry roll gradually diminishes on each attack from its base. Is that a customisation on this server? I know this is supposed to happen with multiple ripostes but it's happening on the main parry roll...looks like -3 each time.

If so It sounds like a reasonable nerf (fatigue or something when faced by many foes/attacks). However, I don't think it is working how it should. My guy kept racking up the penalties even after ending one combat and entering another a bit later (getting to an impressive -43 at one point ). After a while the parry roll seemed to reset. This was not affected by entering/leaving parry mode as far as I could tell. If I had to guess I would say that you have parry attracting a -3 penalty for each attack, which only resets after a certain time has passed?

That seems a bit odd to me - why would your parrying ability be so wrecked for such a long time? Perhaps at least allow reset on entering/leaving parry mode (or automatically on leaving combat if possible?). More sensible for me would be to have the main parry roll work like riposte i.e. you get a penalty for each additional parry roll per round but it resets to max at the start of the next round?

Not a big deal for my guy as he is HIPSing anyway so this is very marginal extra defence for him. I would guess it wrecks parry-focused builds though?

Cheers,

Kas

Parry mechanic cannot be altered in NWN2 engine.
So, it's not intentional nerf BG-side.

That's just how it works, it's not custom for the server.

Here's a snip from the original NWN2 manual:
You also receive a -5 cumulative penalty on the AB of each counterattack. So -5, -10, -15, -20, and so on. This is separate from the -3 penalty you get for each subsequent parry.

Your parry roll will decrease by -3 for every additional attack you attempt to deflect beyond your base number of attacks.

Eg. an 8th level rogue has 2 attacks per round. Once you're in parry mode you will parry at your full parry score +d20 for those 2 attacks. Every additional attack parried that round incurs a -3 cumulative penalty to your parry score. This also applies if you parry while fleeing, except the timer for a round of attacks/parries (6 seconds) will not reset, meaning it will eventually reach a negative modifier.

Dual-wielding and its associated feats increases the number of full-rank parries a character can make each round against multiple opponents.

Keep in mind that a character can only parry a maximum of 1 attack per enemy 'flurry' (1/3 round). If an opponent has 6 attacks per round (2 per 'flurry') you will only roll parry for the first attack of each 'flurry', the second will never be parried, even if your own character has 6 attacks per round as well.

[edit] Elly beat me to the punch! My observations come from a character with max ranks in the skill.

Did you have actions queued while in parry mode ?

OK that all makes sense and is reasonable. Why is the penalty accumulating from round to round though? Is that because he is HIPSing out of combat and the parry count is not reset because the engine doesn't see the end of a round as you said? Surely it should also be reset if you come out of parry mode but it doesn't seem to be.

So I guess this is just a glitch of using HIPS whilst also parrying? To make sure I'll sit him in front of an opponent for a couple of rounds and check that the parry resets.

Also I believe this was still happening without queued actions.

In any case makes parry a bit useless for a HIPSter - some wasted skill points I guess

Thanks for the insights.

Kas

Parry isn't worthless but not as useful as it might appear at low levels

A shame about the flurry bug. It would be a very interesting skill to develop otherwise.

Parry was nerfed by OEI before they released the game. It was originally supposed to be offset by a feat called Skilled Offense, which made it easier to overcome a parry.

However, OEI realized that parry was too strong, especially if monsters would use it (because with the Tony K AI, they do), so they intentionally created parry the way you see it in-game.