Bards rock, but you have to be comfortable playing them. The first time I ever used the Bard class as in SoU and he sucked (as did I at playing him). I gave up on Bards for a long time after that. However, when I tried them again, I did it differently. Grabbed a level of FTR so I could use heavy armor and more weapon types. Then Bard all the way. High STR and good CON. The Song rocks, Curse Song rocks, and he gets pretty decent buffing spells (just remove your armor to buff). I'd go this way for SoU if you're thinking of a Bard.

For companions, you get the choice of a Cleric/Thief, a Sorcerer (both available at the beginning), or a Bard/Rogue (encountered later in the game).

One thing about SoU is it seems it was really designed with the idea that the player would play as a Paladin. But you can play any class you like. I went through first time as a Sorcerer.

Bards will work, but they've got a very specific style of play that's not for everyone. Personally I like them better in NWN2 where you get a bigger party. However, they're the only class in NWN1 that has a balance of arcane spellcasting ability and combat ability.

Rogue may also work well for you. You won't have any spellcasting of your own, but using the "use magic device" skill you can use wands and scrolls. This can be a very effective style of play, and since you never have to worry about your own caster level you can freely multi-class (a few levels of fighter works wonders).


As for companions, you really can't go right or wrong. They're all decent picks.

Is neverwinter nights a possible game to solo? I played Neverwinter Nights base game and got up to the part where you have to fight that cleric. It was really hard and I didn't know how to make my class powerful, I just dual classed a rogue/fighter and it sucked. I would like to solo one of the NWN games or expansion packs but I doubt its feasible unless you are a powerful combination.

Since you start from Level 1, as I can remember (it has been a while since I played SoU), you can choose every class prefering to your way of playing. They all have their pros and cons.

If you like to know more about Character progress I would search for nwn boards. Unfortunately I only know some german boards. :-)

Perhaps this side could be of help: [url=http://nwn.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Character_builds]http://nwn.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Character_builds[/url] . The builds are up to Level 40 chars, but they always show the progression of them.

Absolutely! I've beaten every campaign solo with a variety of different classes. About 6 months ago I did a SoU/HotU run as a Sorcerer with a 1-level barbarian dip, and an OC/HotU run as a Fighter/Rogue/Weapon Master (greatsword). Desther is one of the nastier bosses. If you're not heavily over-leveled when you reach him, that fight can be frustrating. You certainly cannot afford to be weak if you're a solo character, but you don't need to be some super-optimized monster. I soloed SoU with a very mediocre Blackguard on my first playthrough; it's not that hard, the only thing your character must be able to do is reliably hit things to deal damage.

So what would you suggest for a solo warrior type class that has healing/buffing what not. I want to go with either the ranger, the bard or rogue. I played BG and Planescape almost exclusively as rogue but I didn't like rogues in 3rd edition. So that's down to ranger or bard? What would you suggest? I wanted to wield a dagger or short sword and shield.

If healing and buffing are your top priorities, the Cleric and Druid are your best picks. I'm not a huge fan of these classes, but they're exceedingly powerful choices. With the Cleric, you might be tempted to take a one level dip into Barbarian or Fighter to get weapon proficiency, but otherwise don't multi-class. However, all the classes you mention can definitely solo the game.

There is one golden rule when creating a solo NWN character: make sure he can deal damage effectively. Everything else is of secondary consideration, because you can't win fights unless you can effectively damage your foes. Here's an approach that would work well for a Ranger:

Put your natural ambidexterity and two-weapon fighting feats to use, and focus your combat style on two melee weapons. You can still use bows, but don't invest in any special abilities; your primary combat style will be melee. For the OC and SoU, I'd just use whatever weapons the campaign throws my way (avoid any feats that are specific to a single weapon), but in HotU I'd specialize in the Kukri with this character and get the "improved critical" feat at very minimum.

I'd recommend the following attribute array:
STR - 16
DEX - 14
CON - 14
INT - 10
WIS - 14
CHA - 8

Play as either a human, an elf, or a dwarf. If you don't care about being stupid, half-orc would also work. Avoid halfling or gnome like the plague (strength penalty = bad).

Put all your bonuses as you level up into strength. Try to find magic items that boost your strength. If you're a human or orc, multi-class one level of barbarian to rage. This will boost your melee damage output substantially. The weakness of this character will be that he has very poor AC (can't use anything more than light armor), so having good weapons and finishing combat quickly is a must. In HotU, your goal is to get two kukris with powerful enhancements. You may wish to pursue the weapon master prestige class, if you have the feats for it. Unless you're in love with the ranger spell list (it's not that great) there's little reason to stay with the class past level 10 in NWN1.

*sigh* third try at posting this. Forum's eating my posts, it seems...

IMO, you're better of going FTR with the character than Ranger. Drop WIS to 12 or 10, so you can raise DEX to a minimum of 15 and grab the Ambi/TWF line of feats with the plethora of bonus feats the FTR gets. You can wear heavy armor and still dual wield. Toss in a few Rogue levels here and there to get Tumble and UMD (as well as Evasion) and you're good to go.

Hmm, I'd forgotten that improved two weapon fighting didn't have a sky-high dexterity prerequisite in NWN1. Yeah, you really gain nothing over a Fighter/Rogue. Your spellcasting abilities will be better (use magic device to activate wands and scrolls), your defensive abilities will be better (evasion and heavy armor), you'll average more skill points, and all you're giving up is a few points of base attack bonus.

If you're looking for versatility you might want to give the Druid a try. I'm currently on Chapter 2 of SoU with a pure Druid and he's pretty much steamrolling everything. He's a summoner (Summon Animal, Summon Pet with Awaken and Magic Fang), a nuker (Call Lightning, Flamestrike, etc), limited crowd control (Entangle, Spike Growth) and he can buff and tank as well (Stoneskin, Barkskin, Bull's Strength, Resist Elements, shield and scimitar, shapechanging, etc.) Plus there is always the heals, if you need it.

Really the only role my Druid isn't filling is the stealth role but it's definitely possible to do. Assign skill points to stealth skills, Trackless Step, a few druid/ranger only items that increase Hide, and Camoflauge/Mass Camoflauge spells ensure your treehugger can sneak around with the best of them. Maybe add a few levels of Thief for some backstab damage.

I took Dorna as my henchman, she handles the traps and locks as well as healing/turning/Bless as needed.

I was honestly surprised at how easy SoU has been with this character. I thought that the lack of arcane spells and the lack of a dedicated tank would hurt me, but that hasn't been the case...

Do not do this. The druid is very poorly suited to multi-classing. The only alternate class you should even consider is the Shifter, and even then it's only worthwhile if you rarely do any spellcasting. Druid is the strongest overall class in the game. His shapeshifting ability allows him to be awesome in melee combat even if his stats stink for it, and on top of this he has an animal companion.

What's your reasoning behind this, if you don't mind me asking? I don't see much of a downside of adding a few levels of Thief if you are going for a stealthy Druid build. Some backstab damage, Druid stealth spells and a buffed up stealthy pet (like the panther) seem like it would work well playing a backstabber.

The only downside I see is the stunted spell progression as compared to a pure Druid.

Admittedly I've never tried this build, so this is all theory. I also don't know how this would do at epic levels, but it seems feasible at levels 12-14, which is where you'll get during SoU.

The shapeshifting forms depend on your Druid level, if memory serves, so it's not only the spell casting delay that's a concern with multiclassing a Druid. It's the shapes you get as well.

There are three aspects of the Druid that are critically-dependent on their class level:

1) spellcasting progression and caster level

2) shapeshifting - you will have to wait longer to (or may never) get access to more powerful forms.

3) animal companion - the strength of your companion is based on your class level as a druid.

The loss of spellcasting ability is much bigger than most people think. Don't forget that it's both your spell progression and your caster level. Your spells naturally grow more powerful as you level up, in addition to gaining access to more powerful kinds of spells. So for instance, an 8th level Druid deals 8d6 damage with flame strike, while a 10th level Druid deals 10d6 (a 25% damage increase!). The 10th level druid can also cast this spell more frequently due to additional spell slots, and has access to even more powerful spells that the 8th level druid can't even cast. As a rule of thumb, spellcasting abilities roughly double in power every two class levels.

You are correct in pointing out the level 12-14 range. The Druid is devoid of significant class features from level 13-15, so multi-classing in this interval is relatively less painful than usual. However, even at this ideal threshold it's still a steep tradeoff to give up spellcasting progression. If you don't cherry-pick an ideal threshold, a multi-class druid is just way behind a single-class one.