- This article is about the companion. For the creature type, see Construct (Creature Type).
The Construct (true neutral construct fighter) is a joinable NPC in Neverwinter Nights 2.
"An animated suit of thick metal and armor, this blade golem is a fearsome automation bound to its controller’s will. Its right arm is a blade as long as a grown human. The armored plates of this golem have a metallic blue sheen and the styling of the armor is unlike the fashion of armor found in the Sword Coast. Standing well over eight feet tall, this metal giant moves with remarkable speed and grace despite its mass."
Reactivation[]
To reactivate the Construct, you need three items:
- Glowwater from Ember Well Caves (Grobnar must be with you)
- The tome found in Aldanon's book shelf in Crossroad Keep
- Runepieces from the cauldron in the Arvahn Gem Mines
After collecting all three items, return to Crossroad Keep and speak with Grobnar in the basement to reactivate the Construct (All items must be in your inventory or it will not work).
Gameplay[]
The Construct has outstanding starting stats. At level 07 it has Str 23, Dex 14, Con 22, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8, AC 26 and 112 HP. It obtains these statistics with a point buy of 50 (assuming Strength and Constitution have a +4 starting bonus as racial modifiers). In addition it has a spell resistance of 20 and, as a construct, is immune to sneak attacks, critical hits, mind affecting spells, poison, paralysis, disease, death magic, level & ability drain.
However these advantages are sufficiently offset in that it cannot wield/wear any items, weapons or armor aside from the creature weapon it uses - which sadly cannot be enchanted in any way outside of normal party influencing enchantments (e.g. bless, aid, prayer, inspire courage, etc).
The Construct is the second-to-last companion you can get in the game and, unlike all others, it can be skipped completely. The earliest you can activate the Construct as a companion is level 7 (an extremely difficult exercise in patience and planning), by which time it will have acquired feats at the following levels:
- Power Attack and Weapon Focus (creature)
- Cleave
- Knockdown
- Weapon Specialization (creature)
- (nothing)
- Expert Tactician and Power Critical (creature)
The Construct will automatically increase strength on its own at level 8 and every 4 levels thereafter. Because of its starting Intelligence and Dexterity, the Construct is an excellent candidate for Whirlwind Attack and will automatically select the prerequisite feats to obtain this on its own at level 18. However, should you somehow manage to acquire the Construct at level 7, consider focusing on the necessary prerequisites to obtain Whirlwind Attack at level 12 instead - although this means delaying Improved Critical and Greater Weapon Focus (normally selected by it at levels 8 and 9) until at least level 14.
As a pure fighter acquired in the second chapter, the Construct isn't very customizable, aside from its skills and feats, but it is well prepared for its intended role as a tank and high damage-per-round dealing companion. The player can also apply several enhancements through the use of Craft Alchemy, Craft Weapon, and Craft Armor, but due to programming missteps this section of the Construct's dialogue is bugged so that succeeding will provide the wrong feats: five (5) point Warlock resistances to fire, cold, and electricity. These resistances upgrade to 10 points when the Construct reaches level 20. With the Alchemy upgrade, if you fail in the attempt and Sand is in your party, he will speak and reluctantly offer to help. If you let him he will do the upgrade for you, which in the base game may do nothing or may apply the Warlock feat Resist Fire and Energy. A totally untrained Intelligence 14 character can pass the DC 15 needed in each of the skills, with the help of a Headband of Intelligence +8, Grobnar's Inspire Competence, a Greater Heroism spell, and the Greater Gloves of the Artificer.
To fix this, download this simple mod and copy the file to the Override folder. Doing so will make sure all the correct feats are applied (as detailed below) and Sand's intervention will always succeed. However this must be done prior to doing any upgrades, as this patch will not work retroactively.
If the mod is installed, these upgrades give the Construct a +3 AC boost from the armor improvement, a +6 Strength from the weapon boost and +15 hit points from the alchemy upgrade. After killing the Shadow Reaver who carries the Tome of Iltkazar, you can use it to upgrade the Construct further: Have the tome in your inventory, and both Grobnar and the Construct outside of your active party. Talk to Grobnar and ask him to use the tome to upgrade the Construct - it will gain +2 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution.
Note that the above upgrades are considered base statistical enhancements; spells and passive items may boost its statistics further without overlapping each other. Consider the following examples:
- Bull's Strength will still increase its strength by 4
- Mephasm's infernal token (strength based) will further boost the Construct's strength by 3 (this will not stack with statistic enhancing spells such as Bull's Strength shown above). At level 20, this can leave the Construct with a Strength as high as 38.
- Ilrah's Rib will grant the feats Blind Fight and Toughness
- If the Construct has enough rank in Use Magic Device, the Charm of Joy will boost its Charisma by three and provide a +3 (dodge) bonus to its AC vs. evil aligned opponents
If the construct mod seems disproportionately strong, consider that Half-Orcs, Gray Orcs, and Wood Elves can all obtain a strength of 24 at CLVL 20 (32 with a Belt of Storm Giant strength) and use any large sized weapon enchanted up to +5 with up to two additional enchantment effects (e.g. the Headsman with +2d6 vs evil), in addition to various other wearable enchanted armors and other objects.
Overall the Construct is an excellent tank - with the patch applied, especially if the party does not have a PC or companion(s) capable of crafting magic arms & armor and other magical items. Without the patch, or if the party can craft magic items to the game's full potential, it is arguably of less value.
Background[]
The Construct is a Blade Golem first seen when Black Garius sends it against the Githyanki assassins that were hiding in Neverwinter. It attacks both the Githyanki and PC party and after being damaged enough escapes through a Githyanki portal and is captured. The Githyanki somehow manage to damage it and render it inert. The PC comes across the Construct again when rescuing Shandra in the Githyanki's stronghold where it is being torn apart by Ammon Jerro's demons. After rescuing Shandra, the PC brings the Construct back with him/her and Grobnar attempts to repair it. A minor quest is activated where the PC must find parts in order to help Grobnar repair the Construct. Shortly before the Construct is reactivated, Bishop manages to trick Grobnar into giving him the override code for the Construct.
The final fate of the Construct is determined by the PC's influence with Bishop and Grobnar. If the PC has high influence with Bishop, the Construct remains under Grobnar's control. If the PC has low influence with Bishop and low influence with Grobnar, Bishop gains control of the Construct with the override commands and uses it to fight against the PC. If the PC has low influence with Bishop but high influence with Grobnar, Bishop will initially succeed in gaining control of the Construct but Grobnar will reveal that he has another set of override commands which grant the Construct free will. The Construct then decides to side with Grobnar and the PC against Bishop and Black Garius. It is assumed to be missing along with the PC and Grobnar after the defeat of the King of Shadows.