deathknight1728: The dialogue and story is terrible compared to infinity engine games. Im playing Planescape and the story is epicly done.
Now this I can agree on. The NWN series definitely compares poorly against most of the IE games for its story. It's still passable and I personally feel the rest of the game (and the fan-made content especially) shores up those weaknesses.
deathknight1728: Well of course you beat the campaign in SOU. You were using a single class rogue. They are one of the best damage dealers in NWN. At lvl 6 they have a decent sneak attack with every chance.
Not true! Not by a longshot!
The problem is that Rogues have lower accuracy and fewer attacks per round than a fighter. This is subtle at first but becomes more noticable as you go on. In practice, the fighter hits significantly far more often than an equal-level Rogue. The rogue actually
needs to get a sneak attack on every hit just to break even with an equivalent fighter who lands hits far more reliably. And if he encounters enemies that are immune to sneak attacks or finds himself in a scenario where he cannot get a sneak attack, the Rogue is in deep trouble.
The real power of the Rogue is his 8+int skill points, evasion, and the use magic device skill.
He has 70 health for a lvl 6 bard and his song lets him do good damage. He has 26 armor class and when buffed I soloed each of the elementals
Never underestimate a holistic advantage. If you deal more damage, hit more often, and get hit less often, the net result can easily overshadow someone who just deals a lot of additional damage. The Bard is a weaker class, but in a solo fight with time to pre-buff but with no flanking-buddy he's going to outshine the Rogue.
Mages seem to always have an excuse for why they are powerful. Having 250 health or whatever isn't realistic in a game where fighters have half that.
The HP bloat I was talking about is specific to chapter 1 of the OC. It's definitely not an issue in SoU.
I just opened up the editor to see J'Nah's exact stats. She has 64 hit points, which is only slightly above average for a Sorcerer of her level and constitution. If you throw the powder at her it about cuts her health in half. Her armor class is actually insubstantial, so if you can get through her defensive spells she'll drop pretty quickly in combat.
Bards must suck because I took all the advice they gave me.
Bards
were buffed in the D&D 3.5 rules edition, and that was for a good reason. They were definitely a below-average class in 3.0, which NWN is based on. So yes you are correct to an extent. They aren't that bad, though. Certainly playable and enjoyable.
I think that is why D and D has a few inconsistencies in their games.
While it's true that bosses are often given specific exemptions, it appears that J'Nah is more or less just a very high-level character. She has a few unique bonuses, but they're
very minor and nothing that couldn't be granted by level-appropriate equipment.
DarrkPhoenix: I see why you might be having trouble- single-classed bards don't have much in the way of offensive power, and are designed more to back up the rest of the party.
Single-class Bards certainly aren't that powerful in NWN, but so long as they have a decent strength score they can deal damage just fine.