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Beginner's Cleric - Ro(2),F(2),Clr(16),SL(10)

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[edit] Description

Rogue 2 / Fighter 2 / Cleric 16 / Stormlord 10


Many people start playing Neverwinter Nights 2 with little or no idea on how to make a character. To help them out, I outline herein a primary Cleric build that any Beginner can pick up and use, in any way he chooses.


Why I recommend Clerics for Beginners:

  • Clerics have no alignment retrictions, so you can play any way you wish without worrying whether you can take the class at next level up.
  • Clerics scale well throughout the levels. They start and end strong.
  • Clerics can use Divine Magic, and therefore are suitable for learning the basics of the rather different magic system that D&D uses.
  • As memorized casters, Clerics are more newbie friendly. Spontaneous casters like the Favored soul and Sorcerer must pick which spells they are able to cast, and if you do not know what you are doing, its quite easy to permanently screw up your spell selection. Whereas Clerics automatically know all the appropriate spells, the moment they hit a certain level.


Pros:

  • Level 30 caster level for maximum buff duration and full benefit of the Spell Resistance spell, and Resistance penetration.
  • Solid Warrior with Cleric buffs and Stormlord Bonuses
  • Maxed UMD lets it use most gear that it wishes (notably Monk Boots which grant AC bonus), and lets it cast Arcane spells from scrolls and Wands.


Beginner specific Pros:

  • Alignment Free, can be used for Good / Evil / Lawful / Chaotic paths
  • Rogue unlocks all Conversation skill, and you have enough skill points to max one skill of choice (I recommend Diplomacy for Good inclined characters, and Bluff for those who prefer to be Evil).
  • Memorized Casters are more Newbie friendly


Cons:

  • This is a campaign build, and it probably won't beat most of the other PvP orientated power builds.
  • It is reliant on Spears as its main weapon.


[edit] Character Creation

Race: Human

Alignment: Any

Cleric Domains

1. Time Domain for Haste and Premonition

2. One of Choice


For your Domain of choice, I would recommend one of the following 2:

  • Plant Domain for Barkskin: If you plan not to bring a Druid/Spirit Shaman along with your party, this is a sound choice. One of the main uses of having a Druid/Spirit Shaman around (compared to a Cleric/Favored Soul) is the Barkskin buff, so if you don't have them, then being able to cast Barkskin yourself helps make up for their absence.
  • Strength Domain for Discount Divine Power: If on the other hand you DO plan to bring along a Druid/Spirit Shaman, then there is little point in having Barkskin. The Strength domain provides you Divine Power on spell slot 3, 1 level lower than normal. It would be great if you could persist Divine Power, (in which case I would actually recommend always taking the Strength domain) but you can't (at least not without some Mod or Hak). In essence, you can cast Divine Power more often between rests, which greatly boosts your Attack Bonus (by +8 at level 30) for a short while (3 minutes for normal casting). Gameplay wise, this helps you clear out Fodder Enemies Faster. For Boss fights (when you would normally throw out everything you have anyway), even without Strength Domain, you still have Divine Power at spell slot 4, so not having Strength Domain will not adversely impact your capacity for Boss Fights.


Stats

Base Values Racial Modifiers Final Values
Str 14 14 22
Dex 12 12 12
Con 14 14 14
Int 14 14 14
Wis 16 16 19
Cha 8 8 8
  • Every 4 levels you gain 1 level up point which you can put to a stat of your choice. This cleric needs a Wisdom score of 19 in order to cast level 9 spells. After that, place all your remaining points into Strength.


BAB: 1 + 2 + 12 + 7 = 22

Saves

Fort: 0 + 3 + 10 + 7 = 20 (+2 Con + 2 Great Fortitude)

Will: 0 + 0 + 10 + 7 = 17 (+4 Wis)

Reflex: 3 + 0 + 5 + 3 = 11 (+1 Dex and Evasion)

+6 against spells with Spellcraft


[edit] Overview

Feats

Character Feats

1. Luck of Heroes

1. Able Learner

3. Toughness (SL requirement)

6. Great Fortitude (SL requirement)

9. Monkey Grip

12. Extend Spell

15. Persistent Spell

18. Practiced Spellcaster: Cleric


21. One of Choice (Vampiric Feast Or Epic Prowess)

23. Great Strength

25. Great Strength

27. Great Strength

29. Great Strength


Fighter Bonus Feats

1. Weapon Focus: Spear (SL requirement)

2. Blind fight

  • Monkey Grip lets you hold a spear in one hand, and a shield in the other. The extra AC granted by a shield is generally not worth losing for the few extra points of damage you do when wielding the Spear 2 handed
    • E.g. If you buff yourself with Bull Strength, your Spear does an extra 4 points of damage, when wielded two-handed compared to one-handed. But you lose potential +7 AC (Heavy Shield 2 + Magic Vestment 5) from a shield.
  • For you level 21 feat, you can choose from Vampiric Feast Or Epic Prowess.
    • Vampiric Feast is a powerful epic spell, but because you have relatively low Wisdom, its DC is not high. However, even if your foes make their save, they still lose half of their hit points. The main problem is that it can only be used once per day. I generally recommend this if you are taking the Good path in MoTB as that lets you rest more, and consequently use this feat more often.
    • Epic Prowess is a general combat feat that lets you hit more often. It is always in effect, and does not need you to rest. I generally recommend this if you are taking the Evil path in MoTB as then you cannot rest as often.


[edit] Skills

With 14 Intelligence, and Human bonus skill points, this build gets approximately 5 skill points per level. The core 5 skills you should aim to max out are:

Asides from that, you also gain a few extra skill points when you take Rogue level, and an especially large bonus when you take Rogue at your first level. The guide below tells you exactly how to handle your skill points on your first few levels.

Level 1: Rogue 1: Gain (8 + 3) * 4 = 44 Skill points

  • 4 to Concentration (Cross Class Total = 2)
  • 2 to Spellcraft (Cross Class Total = 1)
  • 4 to Tumble (Total = 4)
  • 4 to UMD (Total = 4)
  • 4 to Convo Skill of Choice (Total = 4)
  • 4 to Lore (Total = 4)
  • 4 to Appraise (Total = 4)
  • 4 to Spot (Total = 4)
  • 4 to Listen (Total = 4)
  • 5 to Taunt or Intimidate (Assign in whatever proportion you want. E.g. 3 Taunt / 2 Intimidate, or 1 Taunt / 4 Intimidate etc)

Save 5 points.

On level 1, Concentration and Spellcraft are cross class skills. So every point increase in them costs 2 skill points. E.g. To get Concentration to 2 points, you need to spend 4 skill points. They only become class skills when you take a Cleric level on level 2.


Level 2: Cleric 1: Gain 5 Skill Points

  • 3 to Concentration (Total = 5)
  • 4 to Spellcraft (Total = 5)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = 5)
  • 1 to UMD (total = 5)
  • 1 to Convo Skill of Choice (Total = 5)

Save 0 points.


Level 3 onwards: 5 Skill points per level

  • 1 to Concentration (Total = Character Level + 3)
  • 1 to Spellcraft (Total = Character Level + 3)
  • 1 to Tumble (Total = Character Level + 3)
  • 1 to UMD (Total = Character Level + 3)
  • 1 to Convo Skill of Choice (Total = Character Level + 3)

Save 0 points.


Newbie Note:

Although this is called the Beginner's Cleric, it starts off as a Rogue, so when first creating this character, select Rogue as your first class. Also, during Character Creation, you are offered the choice of selecting a Package. In order to assign skills manually yourself, select the "Customize" option.

[edit] Character Progression

[edit] Quick Start Guide

This portion of the guide is a step by step description on how to bring your character through the first 3 levels.

[edit] Level 1

  • Upon starting the campaign, you will be given the options of selecting or creating a new character. Click "Create Character"
  • Select Race and Gender: Set your race to "Human", and gender to whatever you prefer, then click "Next".
  • You can now customize your character's appearance to your liking. When you are done, click "Next".
  • Select a class: Choose "Rogue", then click "Next".
  • Select a Deity: Pick whichever you want, then click "Next".
  • Assign Stats: Click the +/- buttons until your stats are as follows:
    • STR 14
    • DEX 12
    • CON 14
    • INT 14
    • WIS 16
    • CHA 8
  • Select Background: Choose "No Background", then click "Next".
  • Select a Package: You don't want to select any of the packages listed. Rather, click "Customize" near the top centre of the screen.
  • Assign Skills: You can use the up and down arrows to raise or lower the number of points in each skill. Assign the following skills the ranks stated in the bracket:
    • Appraise (4)
    • Concentration (2)
    • Intimidate (4)
    • Listen (4)
    • Lore (4)
    • Spellcraft (1)
    • Spot (4)
    • Taunt (1)
    • Tumble (4)
    • UMD (4)
    • Convo Skill of Choice (Bluff or Diplomacy) (4)
    • At the end of this, you should have 5 skill points leftover (the number in the circle, at the centre top of the page). If you don't, check through the list again, and make sure everything follows the numbers stated above. When you're done, click "Next".
  • Select Feats: To choose a feat, click on the arrow to the right of the Feat's name.
    • Choose "Luck of Heroes" (near bottom of list)
    • Choose "Able Learner" (about 1/3 down from the top of the list)
    • When you're done, click "Next".
  • Input a name and history for your character. Select a voice. When you're done, click "Next".
  • You come to the final screen that gives a summary of your character. You can look things over if you want. When you're done, click "Finished".


At the start of the NWN2 original campaign, there is a tutorial you can play through, which will show you the ropes of character control. After completing some quests, you can level up.


[edit] Level 2

  • Click the "Level Up" button beneath your portrait on the Character screen.
  • Select a class: Choose "Cleric" and click "Next".
  • Assign Skills:
    • Concentration (5)
    • Spellcraft (5)
    • Tumble (5)
    • UMD (5)
    • Convo Skill of Choice (Bluff or Diplomacy) (5)
    • At the end of this, you should have 0 skill points leftover. When you're done, click "Next".
  • Select Cleric Domains: Domain selection is like feat selection. You have to click the arrow on the right of the domain name to choose it.
    • Select the "Time" domain
    • Select the "Plant" or "Strength domain
    • When you're done, click "Next".
  • Summary Screen: This summarizes the changes done this level. When you're done, click "Finished"


And thats it! You've officially multiclassed into Cleric. That wasn't so hard now was it. At the end of the tutorial, you should hit level 3.


[edit] Level 3

  • Click the "Level Up" button beneath your portrait on the Character screen.
  • Select a class: Choose "Fighter" and click "Next".
  • Assign Skills:
    • Concentration (6)
    • Spellcraft (6)
    • Tumble (6)
    • UMD (6)
    • Convo Skill of Choice (Bluff or Diplomacy) (6)
    • At the end of this, you should have 0 skill points leftover. When you're done, click "Next".
  • Select Fighter Bonus Feat:
    • Select "Weapon Focus: Spear"
    • Click "Next"
  • Select Normal Feat:
    • Select "Toughness"
    • Click "Next"
  • Summary Screen: This summarizes the changes done this level. When you're done, click "Finished"


And that concludes our step by step guide through the 1st 3 levels, which should coincide with the end of the campaign tutorial. Hopefully, you are now familiar enough with the system to carry on alone. Have fun!

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