NWN Expansions

[pakman]

It's been about a year since I bought Neverwinter Nights. I haven't played in a while and there is something inside of me that wants to play a good RPG. The other thing is that I need a different game besides Counter-Strike. I know that two expansion packs have come out, Shadows of Unrentide and Hordes of the Underdark, but I am wondering which one to get. Should I even be looking at these expansions as a source of entertainment. TechTV's show XPlay said they were pretty good and had many new features and a very good story to go along with them. Are they worth the money? Have people made mods for these that you can download?

Thanks,
-pakman

[AtomicKitKat]

Well, they add prestige classes, among other things. Plus you can jump between the different expansions' chapters(purists will scream bloody murder of course) with the same character. That's the neat thing about NWN, in my opinion, it's backwards AND somewhat forwards compatible. There MIGHT be issues with installing over a patched version though, so I recommend getting a clean installation(backup your saves), THEN patch.

[Artega]

Advice: don't listen to a damn thing any of the TV shows says. Both the gaming channel and TechTV spout a bunch of wash.

That said, they've all gotten good reviews from numerous sources, and they're BioWare games. The fact that BioWare developed them should make them at least worth looking at. Perhaps you have a friend that has one of the packs? I can't run NWN, so my opinions are based on what little gameplay I've seen, reviews, and my faith in BioWare as a company. I'd at least get SoU, since I've heard it's pretty cheap now that HotU is out. Get both if you can afford it, I'd say.

As for mods, there is the persistent-world mod of Nordock, and the modified version of Nordock made and maintained by my fellow Lancers, which they have dubbed "Sevenwinter Lances". I'm sure that there are other mods and total conversions out there, but I haven't been digging for any.

[Bido]

I'd say you should get them. I have NWN and both the expansions and I'm not the least bit sorry that I got them. Most servers use HoTU now so you don't have to worry abotu it going to waste. Besides, the expansions campaigns are a lot of fun.

HoTU adds a lot to NWN. There are several new prestige classes, there are new tilesets, there is a crafting system where you can make items and a lot of other stuff. You should definetely at least get SoU, which also has a fun campaign.

[Oomph-aak]

I would also recommend both expansion packs... This Game as a whole is really well thought out and the variety of character classes is even more varied than all the possible D2 builds. I really wish D2 had used a more D&D like approach to character building. Multiclass anything with almost anything else and the prestige classes add a whole new dimension. This was the one that broke my D2 addiction. Morrowind couldn't do it, Warcraft 3 couldn't do it, and neither could Dungeon Siege.

In this game a wizard truly is a wizard, with more spells to choose than he can actually use, and fireball is NOT the end all be all spell. Time stop is pretty dang cool. Ray of Enfeeblement is also cool.

Rogues can be damn sneaky ;)

Monks are Ultra cool. Carradine on steroids.

Henchmen are actually useful and in the expansions you can set their equipment, tactics and have them cast useful buffs on you. My only bummer is that Grimgnaw is not available as a henchman in the expansions, he was my fave.

I am going to be exploring this game for a long time....


Oomph-aak

[pakman]

Well, my copy of SoU and HoTU from Amazon arrived a couple days ago and I have been playing it almost non-stop. I have not yet been able to try out the prestige classes, but I will get to that eventually.

My first impressions:

Since I bought the original NWN about a year ago, this game still has not lost it's fun. The character I started to play with in SoU is an true neutral, Elven wizard named Nethendril. Today (april 2) I beat the first chapter I have killed a dragon, beat up a witch, and become an Ice Giant. The story starts off like it does in The original NWN, you are in training and someone attacks and suddenly you are thrown head-first into a conflict without knowing what's going on.

So far the story is following the formula it did in the original NWN. You have to do something but there is a "Greater Evil" out there that must be dealt with otherwise life as we know it will cease to exist and YOU are the only one that can do anything about it.

Nethendril is an elf that works for his own good, but will help others if they need it. Sometimes he will play NPCs against each other getting items that will help to kill both of them and he gets to keep the rewards, in fact, that is how I beat the first chapter :P. His companions include Dorna, a dwarven cleric/rogue, and his familiar, Kitty-Kat, a black panther.

There are a lot of new spells, feats, and abilities that I have yet to make use of since there are almost infinite combinations :). I plan on my next character to be a blackguard or a shifter.

So far it has been a lot of fun. I have not yet played HoTU because I would like to use a character that I have built up from either NWN or SoU.

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

Nordock: Richterm's Retreat

The three main servers support up to level 20; the general population and Administration doesn't feel that the epic levels (up to 40) from Hordes of the Underdark are worthwhile on the mains. That being said, the main servers support all the prestige classes, feats and spells of the two expansions; Red Dragon Disciples are rampant. ;)

Each server can handle approximately 35 players (room held reserved for DM presence on each).

There are two alternate servers labelled "Difficult" and "Revenge". Both of these are "Epic" compatible, allowing character to advance to level 40. The various increases in death penalties and levelling expenses make this a long and slow process, however. These are the definite "Roleplaying enforced" servers on the Retreat. The nature of their rules keeps most of the idiots away, but can become frustrating for someone that's bent on levelling and hording as opposed to roleplaying their character.

The majority opt for the main servers.

Lag can become insane in the fat of the weekend or afternoon; I recommend trying in the "off-peak" hours, if you want a peek.

Talk to Argyle when you first hit town, he'll have some jobs for you.

*tips helm*