Original Campaign [OC] Character Build: Multi-Classed Melee Mage [Wizard 15 Fighter 2 Monk 1].

Overview

A comprehensive guide to building and playing a character through the Original Campaign, on Very Difficult, with no Henchmen.

INTRO

Hello to another corner of the internet where nwn people hang out!

Brief backstory: I’m a long time nwn 1 player [online that is, my handle is theflyingrodent] that a couple of years ago decided to revisit the single player campaigns, on Very Difficult and without henchmen for some challenge.

I mucked around with a few types of characters that I thought would perform well in these scenarios [battle clerics, monks, mages, etc.], and eventually settled on what I feel to be the most ‘optimised’ type of character for the Single Player Campaigns: A Melee Mage!

I recently went back and played through the 3 campaigns again on NWN EE [in part to see if the two games had any mechanical differences, which they don’t, as well as to check out the new visuals], and figured I’d share this build with you guys on this Steam Forum.

The Original Campaign and Expansion Campaigns each have their own slightly different build [Human for OC with Monk, Dwarf for Expansions with Assassin], but the concept for each is basically the same. I’ve previously posted this build in its’ entirety on the Nwn ECB Guild forums, which includes a comprehensive build and play through guide.

[link]

Rather than completely repost what I put on the ECB GUILD forum, I figured I’d post a little summary of the build here, as well as a little description of what it does and why I think it’s a rather nice build for the campaigns. Would still recommend people read the link either way though!
It’s assumed that the player is using all the extra spells from SoU and HotU, as is the case with someone who’s playing the OC via NWN EE.

BUILD INFO SUMMARY

Full Build info, including Spell list, in link above.

Human, Any Lawful. STR 16 [18], DEX 12, CON 14, WIS 8, INT 16 [18], CHA 8. First 2 points onto Strength, next 2 onto Intelligence.

Illusion Specialised School, for an Extra Slot at each level. Does remove Sleep [and other Enchantment spells] as a Level 1 spell, but given Wands of Sleep are relatively easy to find, and the fact that the character will spend a lot of time fighting in Heavy Armour at early levels, this isn’t an issue.

First 4 Levels: Wiz F Wiz Wiz, OR Wiz Wiz Wiz F, depending on whether you complete the Prelude the super sneaky way or not [see the link for more info]. End result either way is Wiz 3 Fighter 1 at level 4.

After this: Wizard levels 5-8, Monk at Level 9, Wizard levels 10-17, Fighter at Level 18. End result is Wizard 15 Fighter 2 Monk 1.

Feats:

Power Attack + Cleave [1], Extend Spell [3], Weapon Focus Halberd [On the first Fighter Level, which is either 2 or 4], Knockdown + Empower Spell [6], Great Cleave [9], Spell Penetration + Maximise Spell [12], Imp. Knockdown [15], Greater Spell Penetration [17], Imp. Power Attack + Imp. Crit Halberd [18].

Skills:

Concentration, Heal, Lore, Spellcraft levels 1-8 [Wizard + Fighter].
Persuade + Tumble at Level 9 [Monk].
Concentration, Heal, Lore, Spellcraft, Taunt thereafter. Spare points onto whatever you want after that.

Notable lack of Discipline! Discovered that monsters tend not to use combat feats on characters with High AC. So if your AC is kept high, then you shouldn’t need discipline!

WHAT IS THIS BUILD AND WHY SHOULD I PLAY IT?

In a nutshell, this build is a Mage sprinkled with some combat proficiencies, skills and feats. It plays more like a Battle Cleric than a traditional spellcaster Mage, in that most of the build’s offense comes from melee, rather than Damage/Disabling spells [although it does have the option to use those, being a Mage].

However! Unlike a battle Cleric, it doesn’t have ‘as many’ buffs that it has to cast upon waking up, it gets Haste/Improved Invisibility early, and it doesn’t have to continually cast Short-Term Attack spells [Divine Favour/Power etc.] every minute or so to keep its’ damage and AB numbers up. Which means it suffers less from the buff micromanagement syndrome than battle clerics do [and thus IMO is a lot more fun to play!].

It also, despite being so Wizard heavy, has enough consistent AB to hit everything that it needs to [mainly thanks to ability/weapon buffs staying ahead of the AC curve], and has Cleave/Great Cleave to make up for the lack of Base Attacks/Round. By the time high AC enemies start consistently showing up at the end of the OC, it has lots of fun Arcane spells to play with too, in addition to True Strikes/Darkness/Bigby Hands/etc.

HOW TO PLAY IN A NUTSHELL

From this point, thar be spoilers.

The OC of NWN is relatively cruisy, but it can definitely pose a challenge if played on Very Difficult with no Henchmen to hide behind. Sadly, not being Druid, this build cannot complete ‘everything’ in the Original Campaign, but it comes pretty close.

Rather than regurgitate the link here, I’ll just do little summaries of each game, and point to the link where I think would be appropriate [which is just about in every Chapter].

Prelude and Chapter 1:

Buff up, then hit things. Pretty simple! Sell your Fire Resistance robe, and buy a Halberd and a Splint Mail to use once you have a Fighter Level. Hold on to the Rod of Frost, it’s really useful for sniping things and clearing out the Prelude.

Unequip Splint Mail to buff, put back on when running in to fight. Maybe quickbar Armour to make things easy. By the end of the Chapter you can probably just skip equipping your Armour for most fights and rely on your AC from spells/monk gear/tumble, and give yourself room to cast Haste whilst naked mid-fight.

‘Super Sneaky Prelude Run’: Use Faerie Dragon familiar to make yourself invisible, run through the chapter to the end, level up to level 3, then go back and clear all the enemies and get level 4. Continue using Familiar for Improved Invis buffs where possible, and at Level 6, switch out your familiar for a Pixie [personal lockpick!]. Do this by possessing the familiar, and casting spell on yourself. Details in the link.

Good Long-Term Buffs to learn are: Light, Mage Armour, Magic Weapon [up to level 6 Wizard], Protection from Alignment [Evil], Shield [Extended where possible], Bull’s Strength, Flame Weapon, Ghostly Visage [Extended where possible], Greater Magic Weapon [from level 6 wizard onwards]. Ghostly Visage is the most important spell on this list, so prioritise this over others!

After this: everything else should be normal/extended Expeditious Retreat and Haste. Running is fun. Item list in link [focus on Regen/Resistance/Immunity items, as you can get AC from spells].
When you can: Make yourself a Ravager Halberd. Dragon Blood can be found in the Docks, and the final boss area in the Peninsula should have a Weapon Chest with a Halberd +1 in it. This Halberd is basically the reason why this weapon type is chosen: 1d6 Sonic [and later on Stun on Hit] is rather nice.

Chapter 2:

Dark Moon Robes! Perma Haste is fun. Ditch Expeditious Retreat spells for more buffs [True Strike, Ultravision, Cat’s Grace, Endurance], ditch Haste spells for some AoE spells [Darkness, Fireball, Evard’s Black Tentacles]. If you don’t want to continually rely on Lesser Mind Blank for Mind Immunity, you can of course buy the Golden Circlet from Eltoora. I did, even though I didn’t mention it in the link.

From this point onwards the build is quite silly strong, so there’s not much else to say with regards to play tips other than ‘have fun crushing everybody’. Link for all other gear related things!

Chapter 3:

Shadow Shield + Damage Shields is silly. Bigby’s Forceful Hand is pretty broken too. Greater Spell Breach helps get through Spell Resistance. Upgrade your Ravager to +4 and go ham on things.
You can probably max your Strength out in this Chapter with Max Bulls Strength + Ogre Gloves + Fire Giant Belt if you happen to find one. Other details in link.

Chapter 4:

Buy lots of Heal Potions/Time Stop Scrolls, buy +5 Sun Soul Boots and +5 Protection Cloak, then roll out! Other tips in the link.

CONCLUSION

Basically: This build gets a ridiculous amount of tools to use to tackle problems thrown at you in the campaigns [melee for long fights, spells for tricky fights, rogue familiar and flame weapon for negotiating the million locks that you’ll encounter, etc.]. It requires a little knowledge of Arcane Spells, but not ‘that’ much beyond a few buffs and a handful of offensive spells.
If you’re looking for something different to run through the original campaign, you should totally give this build a try! 😀