Easy to start playing?

[BPMasher]

Hello,

New to the forum and the server (possibly).

Me and my brother have been playing the Realms of Trinity server for a while now, but due to leveling and difficulty issues I think we ought to change servers.

This seems to be the most popular NWN2 server, but is it easy for beginners to start playing and be successful in the game? By successful I mean leveling, gaining gear and customization options for characters.

I've been playing MMOs for awhile now so that's how I'm used to playing. We both have background in PnP roleplaying so that shouldn't be an issue, but I'm aware how computer games differ in delivery (faster gratification).

[Rhifox]

Yes, in my opinion. I've been leveling an RP build for what is considered an underpowered class and have gotten to level 20 in about a month. Most of my lower levels were spent soloing, with consistently more grouping since about 15. I've found a rather easy time of it, personally.

At the early levels, there are a lot of helpful things for getting started. There are many HP items available, including a backpack +10 hp in the city that can easily be purchased with your starting income. This is great for low levels where 10 hp is practically another level or two worth for most classes. Additionally, low level mobs have very poor AB, and usually attack only in ones or twos. The graveyard can get a bit hectic with its spawn rates, but if you can get 20+ AC and decent AB/HP you can handle it fine as long as you're careful.

And if you are leveling at the same time as your brother? You'll definitely do well. I've personally found this server rather easy in terms of PvM, a lot easier than the last server I was on (Sundren). So you should do fine solo and it'll be a breeze with a group.

As far as gear goes, the auction house system makes gearing up very easy, as you can usually find good deals there provided you are checking it regularly. It'll take some levels to build up the gold, of course, but it's often a better expenditure to purchase through the auction house than through vendors.

[Mac]

The community is very friendly. Feel free to PM in game if your are looking for assistance learning the ropes so to speak. As far as easy to level and gain gear? I think it is pretty easy yes. Really depends on your definition of easy. I have played on servers that you could level to 30 in a day. Another comes to mind that had no level 30 charters at all, because gaining a level beyond 12 took around a year of serious play time. I would keep in mind that successful in the game means more than just items and levels.

[BPMasher]

Thanks for the opinions.

I guess you could say being successful is having fun while playing. Depending on what our party will be like, I'm looking at creating a rogue or a cleric. Any tips for character creation?

[chad878262]

There is a whole sub-forum dedicated to build tips. You could build a Rogue/Cleric which is always an interesting RP build, though it suffers some mechanically. Cleric 30 is going to be able to do anything you want to do, almost regardless of how you build it. If you are interested in more of a sneaky cleric you could go Cleric 27 / SD 3 (always remember we have a rule that all classes must have 3 levels by 20th Character Level or your build is illegal here). C27/SD3 will require you to have a 19 dexterity so other stats will have to suffer, and you certainly won't be making an EDM cleric at that point. You could also of course make some sort of Rogue build using just a few levels of Cleric, but understand we have a dispel fix coming soon which will cause those with caster levels below 29 (at max level) to be dispelled fairly often by epic mobs. Not that you should create a character based only on the epic content, more just something to understand.

As most people will tell you, my advice is to think about the background of the character and allow the build to grow organically from there. You can come up with a build that can handle the server based on any background, but if you create a build just based on how powerful it is you will pretty much always end up disappointed. Happy gaming and good luck to you and your bro!

[Hawke]

Welcome!

To be honest, there are a LOT of great people in this community. Some bad eggs, but don't them get you down.

XP earned is slow here. When I say slow, I mean slower than DAYZ being developed and released. But it isn't as bad as it sounds. Instead of getting to level 30 in a week, it just takes a little longer. The focus of the server is engagement of others. RP if you will.

I am not going to lie, I have been on the server for over 7 years... and I dont have a single character to level 20 yet But I keep coming back, if that tells you something.


Oh and a bit of advice... whatever you start with (and do extreme planning on) do NOT RCR! It is the devil! Evil Incarnate! What I mean is.... That is the reason I have no one at level 20 yet, but i have RCRd like 50 times. STAY AWAY FROM IT!

Nevermind my insanity towards RCR, the server is solid, fun, and a LOT of classes and skills, and doodads that others servers dont have.

[Rhifox]

This is slow? O.o

[burbles]

Hello! I hope you will find the server RP-friendly and help to make it more PnP-like (not too much, since there is a rule to play your character sheet, which lacks some of PnP stuff). If it's hard to start or not, depends mostly on availability of other players to party or RP with. Underdark is very hard for many builds to start at level 1, surfce is more forgiving. If you have a party, you can do well even with RP-build.

[Mac]

That is the reason I have no one at level 20 yet, but i have RCRd like 50 times. STAY AWAY FROM IT!

Agreed. Do not RCR just cause you made a minor mistake or whatever. Get to level 26-27 then RCR if you still want to. I would also avoid having to many characters. Developing your RP takes time if you are constantly making new chars its hard to ever get anywhere. My friend was addicted to this server and has several dozen chars below level 20. On top of that he must have RcRd each one a few times. I could never really RP with him cause every time I got involved with one of his characters he decided to make a new one. In the end he just burned out.

Also you may want to check out the NWN's builder http://nwn2db.com/

And Jegs a mod for testing builds on BG http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn ... ing-module

[Zanniej]

I am not going to lie, I have been on the server for over 7 years... and I dont have a single character to level 20 yet But I keep coming back, if that tells you something.


Oh and a bit of advice... whatever you start with (and do extreme planning on) do NOT RCR! It is the devil! Evil Incarnate! What I mean is.... That is the reason I have no one at level 20 yet, but i have RCRd like 50 times. STAY AWAY FROM IT!

Nevermind my insanity towards RCR, the server is solid, fun, and a LOT of classes and skills, and doodads that others servers dont have.

There are more people like me!?

True story here! Don't RCR! It is the devil in disguise.

But apart from that, listen to the advice given here Stick to your toon and you'll find great and compelling stories being told with you in the center of it all. If you like RP, this is the server for you.
If you like XP and epic lewts . . . then maybe a bit less, but still

[AlwaysSummer Day]

I hear dwarven clerics are the best. . . .

[crimsonrain15]

I hear dwarven clerics are the best. . . .

I am inclined to agree

[Ichabod]

Hello, Masher!

I bounce between servers a lot, and spend most of my time on Trinity. I haven't played on BG regularly for a couple years, but spent about a year here before going to Trinity. If you were frustrated with the difficulty and speed of leveling on Trinity, you may wish to moderate your expectations for BG a bit. I can take a new character to 30 in about 6-7 hours on Trinity, but in the year I spent here, I managed to get two characters to the low 20's. The deaths on BG are brutal in comparison with Trinity - hours of XP lost if no one is around to pick you up. BG is also much more structured in terms of rules for builds (as someone mentioned, the 3-before-20 rule, no monk-druids, things like that.) The role-playing here is about 1000x as rich as the Trinity server, though, so if you make your goal a story and not your character sheet, this server is without peer.

2 cents.

[BPMasher]

Seems like this is the RP server to join then. Casually speaking, RoT is probably a better fit for us, but that doesn't stop me from coming up with a cool character for this server. My current (Bloodbanner) is a test character at most.

I guess joining a guild would be the first step to grouping.

[chad878262]

You can also put a note in scry stating LFG with any information you want to add. "LFG - Paladin lvl 4" for example or "LFG - Kobold Ruins"

Joining a guild is a great idea, but not necessary especially in early levels.