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

Hello, all,

I decided to hop back on and scratch the NWN2 itch. I wanted to try a pure arcanist, but I have concerns about sustainability. It seems as though, with the inflated hit points of critters on this server, using spells to deal damage will run dry very quickly. I'd rather not play a summoner if I can avoid it. Are there any other real, viable arcanist modes of sustained play? The thought had crossed my mind to try building toward utilizing polymorph/shapechange, but I'm really not sure how one builds toward that - most equipment doesn't apply, and spell slot equipment gets borked when you shapeshift.

Any advice?

Spell focus in transmutation offers some powerful DC based spells (save vs x ) and to my understanding are hard to counter against. Transmutation focus also has the added bonus of boosting transmutation spell forms. Going off information posted in the forums in the past:

Transmutation

Transmutation focus grants +1 AC to polymorph and shapechange forms.
Greater Transmutation focus grants a total of +2 AC to polymorph and shapechange forms.
Epic Transmutation focus grants a total of +4 AC to polymorph and shapechange forms.
Red Wizard Spec: Transmutation grants +1 AC to polymorph and shapechange forms.
Augment Form feat that changes low BAB progression to medium BAB progression when underneath a polymorph or a shapchange form.

This means it would absolutely be viable to build a transmutation caster that uses spells like disintergrate, and flesh to stone - then using spells like polymorph self, and shapechange for beating things up. I've heard that many people can still handle a great deal of content without Augment Form, so you may have an advantage in that regard.

As far as builds go, I've never built a proper DC arcanist but there are a bunch of valid options. I'm personally a fan of 26 wizard / 4 archmage because of the bonus epic feats, but there are a bunch of other ways you can go.

I'm not an expert by any means, but I hope this helps give some ideas.

Ichabod wrote: ↑Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:01 pm It seems as though, with the inflated hit points of critters on this server, using spells to deal damage will run dry very quickly.

If you wish to be a blaster there has been an improvement made if you take Spell Focus: Evocation line to effectively double your damage dealing evocation spells. https://wiki.bgtscc.net/index.php?title ... _Evocation

Ichabod wrote: ↑Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:01 pm Are there any other real, viable arcanist modes of sustained play?

Any specialization (save perhaps for divination focus) has been improved enough to be quite sustainable. So long as you take a spell focus line (or 2, in some cases) and grab feats that help with what you want to do, PvE is a breeze. For example if you want to be a shapechanger take (epic/greater) spell focus: Transmutation and grab the feat Augment Form. There is a wonderful explanation on polymorphing on the wiki: https://wiki.bgtscc.net/index.php?title=Polymorphing

Enchantment school can use dominate, but is kind of similar to conjuration/summoning in that you are letting something else do the work for you. Illusion is kind of the same when solo since your sustained spell economy is based around spells like glass doppleganger and shadow simulacrum. Same for Necromancy with Undead... Of course the difference is these schools all have save or X spells that allow you to be a bit more than a summoner, Enchantment has hold spells and sleep spells, illusion has it's fun stuff (<3 Solipsism), Necromancy has a good mix of summoning, damage dealing and save or die (but of course on the surface Necromancy and evil spells in general are frowned upon).

Now to be fair, conjuration isn't just summoning since you can have your summoned allies while still accessing some cloud spells and direct damage spells. Point being that whatever you want to play, it's definitely possible. I highly recommend spending some further time reading up on the wiki for changes to the spell focus line alongside researching spells available in schools you might be interested in and also reviewing the PRC's that may add to what you want to do (Shadow Adept if you want a Sharran DC caster, Arcane Scholar for a blaster/meta-magic user, Archmage if you want to mix more than one specialization and/or be able to shape blasting spells, etc.)

TL;DR - Arcanist is more than viable in PvE, but it is by no means easy for a new (or returning after a long time away) player. There are a TON of custom changes to arcane casting and it can take a lot of time to grasp how to manage spell economy especially starting at lower levels. In most cases I would recommend either starting with an easier spell casting class like Cleric or Druid so you get all the spells and can adjust as you go and get your feat wet. However, I for one have very limited time so if Wizard is the route you want to go and you only have the time for one go at it, I'd just recommend doing a bit of research and planning ahead.

I had no clue the spell focus feats had been tuned up. That's FANTASTIC! Time to do some reading...thanks, folks =)

A divine caster is always going to be a much better option for sustain. Druid, Spirit Shaman, Cleric with pet domain ( animal, death, others?). Being there is no way to replenish spells after they are cast the only options for sustain are your pet dots and your own characters dps. Shapeshift as you said is great for that, however you can't cast spells and shifting isn't instant. So there can be a lot of downtime for the PC's toon to make sure your pet dots don't die since you'll rely so heavily upon them for sustain DPS.

well i great wizard is forcus on great Defense if youre pvp and pve

Wizards are for dealing with bosses when you are in a party

You dont need to be doing sustained damage. You save your spells for crisis points.

Also you get to work out where rest places are (other players in your group will tell you where these are if you dont know to start)

And if you want to solo a wizard why would someone play NWN2 on a persistent server?

A wizard or sorc with some Arcane Scholar and some Archmage can do good damage and some good enchantment or necro spells plus cloud spells

why will some one be in party while you can RP all the way up to lvl 30 ?

Max Hatchet wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 7:11 pm
And if you want to solo a wizard why would someone play NWN2 on a persistent server?

...to enjoy the world which has been built?

I don't want to exclusively solo, but I'm not terribly interested in campfire/merchant/organization RP. I have very limited time to play, and I'd rather spend it disintegrating trolls and exploring ruins, occasionally playing with 1-2 other people I find along the way, rather than participating in organizational RP involving plays, dinner party intrigue, trade agreements, and swapping tales at the bar. I don't think any less of people that do, but it's not for me.

In order to explore those ruins, I need economical pewpewpews =) It's looking like transmutation focus coupled with some cloud spells here and there might be the way for me.

It is possible to build a very competent conjugation/transmutation (Shapechange) toon, which grants both direct melee fun and melee support (via summons).

The only downside is the long and constant buffing routine one needs to perform after every Rest...which isn’t for everyone.

Yeah, buff fatigue is real. I expect I'll have a different spell loadout with some group buff and missile storms for when I'm grouping. It's not fair to make the poor fighters wait while I layer myself up in 14 kinds of enchantment. Plus, those targeted dispels just...make me cry. I've been looking for some item-based alternatives for when I'm fighting dispellers and poly-buff playstyle doesn't work well - I've been hoarding fire bombs and acid flasks for just such occasions.

I built to be a DC necro caster. you get the added bonus of your necro summons being buffed by necro focus for sustainable damage and you still get some nice DC based bombs to drop on anything that isn't invulnerable to death magic.

Group play is nice too, you can use your buffs on your allies rather than your summons.

Only issue is that half the server hates necromancers!