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

Hi guys,

It's been some time since I've played NWN2 and though I'm familiar with the concepts of D&D 3.5e the server has a lot of classes I am unfamiliar with. I'm hoping to get some input with a DPS rogue build. I'm planning to make the race half-drow, but beyond that I'm totally up for suggestions. I'm looking for info such as which classes to take, how many levels in each, which classes I should take first, and what feats I should take and build my character to qualify for.

I appreciate any and all input.

Thanks,

Gicker

I'm also curious as to whether a monk/phantom build would be viable.

There are many ways to build a DPS Rogue build. The best is R16/M3/NWN3/A8, but this gets HiPS at 30 and is thus not recommended. Nearly equal is just dropping Bodyguard (loses 10% movement speed boost) and going R19/M3/A8 (gains an epic feat at R19). Being that you're not going with a +2 DEX race I imagine the bonus Epic feat will be a big help in hitting DEX 26 (+4 from Assassin Cat's Grace = 30) while still taking Epic Precision, Epic Prowess, Expose Weakness, PTWF, and Epic Dodge.

The upside to the 3 levels of Monk is you end up with 5 sneak attacks out of stealth instead of the standard 4 most rogues get, while still reaching 14d6 sneak damage. However, you have to use dual wield Kama's which may not fit your concept, in which case...

2nd best is still R16/A9/IB5 using Daggers. Get's 13d6 sneak dice + bleed damage from Invisible Blade and can use Feint which is actually insanely strong in the Upperdark and useful in Underdark area's as well (whereas on the surface it is rarely above useless).

Finally, if you don't want to use Daggers either, that's fine too. A simple R21/A9 get's 16d6 sneak dice and doesn't have to spend 3 feats on IB qualification (WF: Dagger, Combat Expertise and Feint...you would take TWF no matter what on a sneak based character). This build is probably the easiest to build with little in the way of restrictions and no feat requirements which allows you to focus on other things you might want like Skill Focus Hide/Move Silently. Also get's a really solid DC on Blinding Strike and loads of extra skill points.

Shadow Dancer, is of course an option, but you said DPS, which means Assassin is the better option.

Just as an aside, R30 is a viable option (or R27/NWN3 for 16d6 sneak dice instead of 15d6 plus a little speed boost) since Hide in the Shadows is a possible alternative to HiPS. It's not as good as it has some limitations and takes a bit of trial and error to learn what you can use to hide with in the environments. However, if you don't want Assassin or Shadow Dancer, 21 levels of Rogue gets you another way of using a similar mechanic.

So to your question of Monk/Phantom, yes as you can see above Monk dip is (IMO) the number one DPS Rogue build. For Phantom (again this is IMO) I would only play as P25/SD5 which is the only reasonable way for a Phantom to gain Epic Dodge. It is viable and has some things Rogues don't get, but I prefer rogue builds personally.

Gicker wrote: I'm planning to make the race half-drow, but beyond that I'm totally up for suggestions.

Since you are using Half-Drow, I would recommend a rather simple build of a Rogue 21/Assassin 9 using bows to deliver the sneak attacks. When you turn on your 'half-elf' low light vision and get a glowing ring around your character, you can use that ring to determine when an opponent is within your ranged sneak attack range. This lets you to pick opponents more or less one by one.

It is a simple build:

1) Point Blank Shot
3) Rapid Shot
6) ***
9) Manyshot
12) Improved Rapid Shot
15) ***
18) ***

*** Can be pretty much any feats.

Thanks for the advice guys. I didn't realize half-drow was restricted from playing on the surface, so I went with elf instead. Two weapon fighting with twin shortswords. I'm contemplating getting oversized two weapon fighting, with dual rapiers. He's level 5 right now, and it'slow going to say the least, solo-wise. Any suggestions as to ability scores for such a build?

Cheers guys.

Gicker

Sneak Attack dice does not multiply on critical hits, and therefore a rogue has little use for the increased threat multiplier of a rapier.

Sneak based rogues just need dexterity. Things get better when you get HiPS, which should be a priority number one regardless of whether you go for Shadowdancer or Assassin.

Moon Elf makes a good Rogue, I know a couple in game. Agree with SW that OSTWF is pointless on a sneak attack based build. If it were me I would go R21/A9 with the following feats:

R1: TWF
R3: Weapon Finesse
R5/A1: Skill Focus Hide
R5/A4: Blinding Strike
R5/A7: ITWF
R7/A8: GTWF
R10/A8: Cripling Strike, Stealthy
R13/A8: Improved Evasion, Epic Precision
R15/A8: Epic Prowess
R16/A8: Defensive Roll
R17/A8: Expose Weakness
R19/A8: PTWF, Epic Dodge
R20/A9: Your pick (Great DEX if needed to end on even DEX, otherwise Blinding Speed for 4x haste or whatever you want)

As a Moon Elf I would start with 19 DEX and 16 INT, putting all level ups in to DEX for 26 DEX at 28, making the feat at 29 good for anything you want.

Thanks, that looks like a good build. But does it not include HiPS?

Gicker wrote:Thanks, that looks like a good build. But does it not include HiPS?

You get HiPS at Assassin 8, which would be level 13 of the build. Only way to get HiPS earlier is to take Shadow Dancer instead of Assassin (gets HiPS at level 8, but loses sneak dice and costs two feats).

Awesome, thanks for the info.