Part IX of the Swordflight Walkthrough. Continuing from Part VIII: Legend of Zataroth. Swordflight (2008-2022) is a NWN Module for Neverwinter Nights 1 (2002).
The class-specific Rogue quest is the second one available to my build (the class-specific quest for arcane spellcasters was covered in the previous post).
Remember the bandit chief in Chapter I?
Well, while searching through the papers on his desk we found some interesting information relating to one Rajar and his hideout which is apparently located in the sewers of Calimport city:
We collected and held onto the information at that point:
Why is this piece of infomation notable? Because in Chapter II it's what allows us to gain access to the class-specific Rogue quest. Now, there are actually two separate paths to the Rogue quest. The first, which we could call "the good path", involves hunting down Rajar and slaying him on behalf of the City Watch. The second, which we could call "the evil path", involves joining the guild and carrying out burglary and assassination missions for Rajar. This post covers only the former. I completed "the evil path" back when I wrote my review (with this badly built character), but I may cover it more fully in a future post as well.
Since I am good-aligned, the evil path is not available to me. I ventured into the sewers, knocked on the door to the guild, gave the password written on the note, and was granted access to an entry-chamber. However, I was then set upon by a cleric who divined my alignment:
And I could not access the greater guild (the door was warded and locked).
Ergo, goody two-shoes that I am, I took the information to the Lieutenant of the City Watch. This kicks off "the good path" of the Rogue quest:
The location of a secret door is given, along with a Guard Golem Rod and Gem of True Sight:
We make our way down to the sewers, and then down deeper, in order to arrive in Rajar's domain. This time, instead of knocking at the front door, we find the secret door mentioned by the Lieutenant.
The secret door leads into the Thieves' Guild Maze:
This is how we get into the Thieves' Guild underhandedly. Note the amount of skill and stat checks in the maze. That's a lot of locks and traps to overcome. Buffing was essential for me, as I only have one Rogue level.
Of course, the thieves are not happy to see us. Even the merchant charges at us!
Mode of operation: Buff with Invisibility → summon Watch Golem from Guard Golem Rod and buff it with Flame Weapon, True Sight (Gem of True Seeing), tanking spells and potions etc. → Stealth in among the thieves with the golem following → golem tanks the aggro and inflicts mega-damage → heal golem with healer's kits where necessary.
Construct (15) unbuffed and buffed:
(Flame Weapon damage buff doesn't show, but it's active and works.)
Suitably buffed and healed at key moments, the Watch Golem with crush Rajar and his thieves. The PC remains invisible. While it's tempting to cast Fireball on the mob, doing so may invite aggro. A big no-no.
I note here that, at 7th level, I receive 280 XP for slaying Rajar without the familiar summoned, and 224 XP with it summoned. Also, 186 XP if the Watch Golem is summoned in addition. That is a notable party-size XP penalty. This should be removed, in my opinion (I believe Rogueknight removed it for companions). The party-size penalty is proximity-based as well. For example, if we order our two minions to stand their ground, well away from the battle, and then take Rajar out ourselves, then we get the full 280 XP.
There are some great items to be found on Rajar's corpse, and also in his quarters upstairs (where we take out mobs of thieves; 17 kills on the two upper floors).
Logically, those are specialty Rogue items. As such, they are of little use to my Illusionist (who has just one Rogue level and probably won't invest more than one more level in Rogue). However, these items can be sold off for a huge sum of gold. Depending on our Appraise skill and its roll, Rajar's Shadow Sword can be sold for 25,000 GP (the maximum sum a merchant can pay for a single item). Otherwise, some of the items could possibly be employed by Chelys or Kelem (companions with Rogue levels).
Yes, we also behead Rajar and deliver his head to the Lieutenant as proof the deed is done.
Ah yes, nothing like severing the head of a criminal and then delivering it to the authorities for five thousand big ones. True D&D, that.
So that's the two class-specific quests done that are available to me. I could potentially take a third class but then I would incur an XP penalty. That said, it may not matter. I went through the entirety of the HotU campaign with such a penalty active, and only dropped one overall level [link, search post for string: resulted].
Next up: Goblinoid Army!
Remember the bandit chief in Chapter I?
Well, while searching through the papers on his desk we found some interesting information relating to one Rajar and his hideout which is apparently located in the sewers of Calimport city:
We collected and held onto the information at that point:
Why is this piece of infomation notable? Because in Chapter II it's what allows us to gain access to the class-specific Rogue quest. Now, there are actually two separate paths to the Rogue quest. The first, which we could call "the good path", involves hunting down Rajar and slaying him on behalf of the City Watch. The second, which we could call "the evil path", involves joining the guild and carrying out burglary and assassination missions for Rajar. This post covers only the former. I completed "the evil path" back when I wrote my review (with this badly built character), but I may cover it more fully in a future post as well.
Since I am good-aligned, the evil path is not available to me. I ventured into the sewers, knocked on the door to the guild, gave the password written on the note, and was granted access to an entry-chamber. However, I was then set upon by a cleric who divined my alignment:
And I could not access the greater guild (the door was warded and locked).
Ergo, goody two-shoes that I am, I took the information to the Lieutenant of the City Watch. This kicks off "the good path" of the Rogue quest:
The location of a secret door is given, along with a Guard Golem Rod and Gem of True Sight:
We make our way down to the sewers, and then down deeper, in order to arrive in Rajar's domain. This time, instead of knocking at the front door, we find the secret door mentioned by the Lieutenant.
The secret door leads into the Thieves' Guild Maze:
This is how we get into the Thieves' Guild underhandedly. Note the amount of skill and stat checks in the maze. That's a lot of locks and traps to overcome. Buffing was essential for me, as I only have one Rogue level.
Of course, the thieves are not happy to see us. Even the merchant charges at us!
The dual-wielding assassin-guildmaster, Rajar, inflicts DC 15 paralysis and acid/neg-en dmg. Upon catching sight of intruders, he will likely enter stealth (Hide in Plain Sight) and then tear through Stoneskin with a single sneak attack flurry. Concealment granted by buffs such as Improved Invisibility or Displacement is very helpful in improving the tanking ability of our familiar (a Panther).
 |
| This guy can shred us to ribbons in no time |
Mode of operation: Buff with Invisibility → summon Watch Golem from Guard Golem Rod and buff it with Flame Weapon, True Sight (Gem of True Seeing), tanking spells and potions etc. → Stealth in among the thieves with the golem following → golem tanks the aggro and inflicts mega-damage → heal golem with healer's kits where necessary.
Construct (15) unbuffed and buffed:
(Flame Weapon damage buff doesn't show, but it's active and works.)
Suitably buffed and healed at key moments, the Watch Golem with crush Rajar and his thieves. The PC remains invisible. While it's tempting to cast Fireball on the mob, doing so may invite aggro. A big no-no.
I note here that, at 7th level, I receive 280 XP for slaying Rajar without the familiar summoned, and 224 XP with it summoned. Also, 186 XP if the Watch Golem is summoned in addition. That is a notable party-size XP penalty. This should be removed, in my opinion (I believe Rogueknight removed it for companions). The party-size penalty is proximity-based as well. For example, if we order our two minions to stand their ground, well away from the battle, and then take Rajar out ourselves, then we get the full 280 XP.
There are some great items to be found on Rajar's corpse, and also in his quarters upstairs (where we take out mobs of thieves; 17 kills on the two upper floors).
Logically, those are specialty Rogue items. As such, they are of little use to my Illusionist (who has just one Rogue level and probably won't invest more than one more level in Rogue). However, these items can be sold off for a huge sum of gold. Depending on our Appraise skill and its roll, Rajar's Shadow Sword can be sold for 25,000 GP (the maximum sum a merchant can pay for a single item). Otherwise, some of the items could possibly be employed by Chelys or Kelem (companions with Rogue levels).
Yes, we also behead Rajar and deliver his head to the Lieutenant as proof the deed is done.
Ah yes, nothing like severing the head of a criminal and then delivering it to the authorities for five thousand big ones. True D&D, that.
So that's the two class-specific quests done that are available to me. I could potentially take a third class but then I would incur an XP penalty. That said, it may not matter. I went through the entirety of the HotU campaign with such a penalty active, and only dropped one overall level [link, search post for string: resulted].
Next up: Goblinoid Army!
You will not necessarily get an XP penalty if you manage a 3rd class carefully, e.g., Prestige classes are not counted for purposes of the racial XP Penalty, nor would a base class so long as you kept it within at least 1 level of your rogue levels.
ReplyDeleteI would not recommend playing with an XP penalty in Chapters 1-2, though in Chapters 3-4 there are probably enough opportunities for XP farming that a player who really wanted to play a penalized build could probably get away with it.
You also might want to consider taking an additional rogue level or 2 at some point for skill-dumping (with DCs scaling up your scores in lock-picking/trap-disarming/etc. will get increasingly inadequate as the series continues, and of course it is always helpful to maximize the Tumble skill for increased AC), as well as a few additional benefits like Evasion and Uncanny Dodge.
Yes, I've added a second Rogue level and may add more as I progress. Specific build, itemization and quest progress is being charted/updated here:
Deletehttps://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/04/Swordflight-Series-Replay-Chapters-1-4-Part-I.html
(That post is a constant WiP.)
As per my initial playthrough back in 09-Mar-2015 (wow, doesn't time fly?), I experienced major framerate drops on the upper levels of the Goblin Fortress (DE and EE). I believe this is due to the size of the upper levels, the many wall-mounted torches (all of which are aflame), and the fact that NWN doesn't seem to like my AMD CPU and/or ATI display hardware/driver. :P
Changing the Video Options didn't seem to impact the framerate in any way.
Other large and complex areas don't seem to impact framerate as much. Thus, I point the finger at those flaming torches.
At any rate, I pushed on.
As you know, there is a bug introduced by the EE that affects two doors in Buried Ruins III of Chapter I. However, I found "a solution."
When these doors are bashed down, the transition indicator does appear but only briefly. If we pause the game just after bashing down the door, we can click on the transition indicator and pass through.
For the first door, it's possible to use the NumPad + trick to bypass the bug. But for the second, it's not possible because we can't see beyond the door. So we have to be quick to click the transition before it disappears.
Maybe you already know this as well but I just thought I'd mention it.