NWN Dwarven Defender Rogue Build
The Dwarven Defender Build is a NWN Build for BioWare's cRPG Definition of 2002, Neverwinter Nights 1. This is a Dwarven Defender build with some Rogue mixed in. cf. Dwarven Defender Build (basic).
NWN Dwarven Defender Rogue Build Foundation
- Dwarf, Female, Lawful Good, Rogue (3) / Fighter (6) / Dwarven Defender (8)
- Stats: Str 16, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 8
- Role: Tank, Physical-based damage dealer, Knockdown → sneak-attacker, crafter, diplomat, skillmonkey.
- Above all, Dwarf!
NWN Dwarven Defender Rogue Build Progression
- 01. Rogue 1: Dodge, Rogue: Sneak Attack (1d6)
- 02. Rogue 1 / Fighter 1: Weapon Focus: Scimitar [save skillpoints]
- 03. Rogue 1 / Fighter 2: Toughness, Power Attack
- 04. Rogue 1 / Fighter 3: Str +1
- 05. Rogue 1 / Fighter 4: Cleave
- 06. Rogue 1 / Fighter 5: Weapon Specialization: Scimitar
- 07. Rogue 1 / Fighter 6: Blind-Fight
- 08. Rogue 2 / Fighter 6: Str +1, Rogue: Evasion [dump skillpoints]
- 09. Rogue 2 / Fighter 6 / Dwarven Defender 1: Defensive Stance, Improved Critical: Scimitar [save skillpoints]
- 10. Rogue 2 / Fighter 6 / Dwarven Defender 2: Defensive Awareness (1)
- 11. Rogue 2 / Fighter 6 / Dwarven Defender 3: --
- 12. Rogue 2 / Fighter 6 / Dwarven Defender 4: Str +1, Knockdown
- 13. Rogue 2 / Fighter 6 / Dwarven Defender 5: Defensive Awareness (2)
- 14. Rogue 2 / Fighter 6 / Dwarven Defender 6: Damage Reduction: 3/-
- 15. Rogue 3 / Fighter 6 / Dwarven Defender 6: Improved Knockdown, Rogue: Uncanny Dodge, Sneak Attack (2d6) (UMD & Tumble to 18)
- 16. Rogue 3 / Fighter 6 / Dwarven Defender 7: Str +1
- 17. Rogue 3 / Fighter 6 / Dwarven Defender 8: --
• Weapon: Scimitar.
• Suggested Armor:
◦ Red Dragon Armor [NW_MAARCL027] AC Bonus +5, Base Item Weight Reduction 80% of Weight, Damage Resistance: Fire Resist 20 / -
◦ The Gilded Defender [x2_cus_thegildeddefender] AC Bonus +8, Decreased Ability Score: Dexterity -2, Use Limitation: Racial Type: Dwarf
Epic Damage Reduction
If you keep leveling, you may want to pump Con to 21 in order to get Epic Damage Reduction (x3), which stacks with Dwarven Defender Damage Reduction. Then, you can shrug off 15 points of damage per hit! If you take 20 more DDs on top of that, you can shrug off up to 30 points of damage per hit.
6 DD DR + 9 EDR + 15 DD DR from 20 more DD levels = shrug off 30 dmg per hit.
As Fighter 10 / DD 30, you can get Devastating Critical NWN but not Epic Weapon Specialization NWN because that needs an Epic fighter level. The choice is: EWS vs. +3 DR.
Swordflight Dwarven Defender: At Chapter 1's conclusion:
Post-Humanoid Armies (Chapter II):
Post-Assisting Kalomas and -Gadaran's Garb & Gear:
Build Comparison
The following screencaps depict three Dwarven Defenders whose builds and level attainment are the same; it's the gear that's different because each build was taken through a different campaign. The builds are depicted with Defensive Stance active. Indeed, they are mostly in "AC mode".
FR Trilogy Dwarven Defender Build
Dwarven Defender after having gone through Siege of Shadowdale, Crimson Tides of Tethyr & Tyrants of the Moonsea:
- Weapon: Divine Fury +3 (katana, Electrical 1d6, on-hit DC-14 Stun) [BAB/dmg]
- Armor: Full Plate +5 (Base AC 8, AC Armor +5)
- Shield: Hastsezini's Shield (Base AC +3, AC Shield +5, Lawful only)
- Helm: Cowl of Warding (Freedom, Immunity: Mind-affecting)
- Cloak: Cloak of the Wolfborn (Regeneration +2, DR +2 soak 5)
- Gloves: Bracers of Blinding Strike (AC +5, Haste)
- Boots: Boots of the Sun Soul +5 (AC Dodge +5)
- Belt: Belt of Frost Giant Strength (Strength +5)
- Amulet: Amulet of Natural Armor +5 (AC Natural +5)
- Ring 1: Ring of Clear Thought +5 (Intelligence +5)
- Ring 2: Ring of Protection +5 (AC Deflection +5)
- On-switch: Boots of Speed (Haste), Greater Amulet of Health (Imm: Poison, Disease, Level/Ability Drain, Regeneration +1), Greater Belt of Guiding Light (Imm: Death Magic), Gargoyle Boots (Stoneskin), Pendant of Dragonkind (Battletide), various Regeneration items (+6 per round).
Aielund Saga Dwarven Defender Build
Dwarven Defender after having gone through Nature Abhors a Vacuum & Defender of the Crown of The Aielund Saga:
- Weapon: Diamond Edge +3 (crafted katana, Keen, Mass Crits 2d10, Acid 1d6, Regeneration +1, SR 16 [BAB/dmg]
- Armor: Armor of the Gladiator (Haste, weight reduction -80%)
- Shield: Heraldric Shield (Base AC +3, AC Shield +4, weight reduction -80%)
- Helm: Blessed Helm of Command (Charisma +2, Imm: Death Magic, Imm: Fear)
- Cloak: Sir Godfrey's Cloak (AC Deflection +2, Constitution +2, all-saves +2)
- Gloves: Gauntlets of Ogre Power (Strength +2)
- Boots: Boots of the Rising Storm +4 (AC Dodge +4, Dexterity +2)
- Belt: Belt of Hill Giant Strength (Strength +3)
- Amulet: Amulet of Natural Armor +4 (AC Natural +4)
- Ring 1: Ring of Protection +4 (AC Deflection +4)
- Ring 2: Ring of Clear Thought +3 (Intelligence +3)
- On-switch: Stonemantle (cloak, DR +3 soak 10 dmg), various regen and blanket immunity items.
- Weapon: Laughing Blade +3 (crafted scimitar, Keen, cold +1, on-hit DC 14 Confusion) [BAB/dmg]
- Armor: Masterwork Full Plate +3 (AC Armor +3, all-saves +1, weight reduction -60%)
- Shield: Shield of Strength +3 (AC Shield +3, Strength +3)
- Helm: Headband of Intellect +4 (Intelligence +4)
- Cloak: Mantle of Wisdom (AC Deflection +2, Wisdom +2)
- Gloves: Bracers of Blinding Strike (perma-Haste, Dexterity +2, Constitution -2)
- Boots: Hardiness of the Wild +3 (AC Dodge +3, Constitution +3)
- Belt: Belt of Strength & Stamina +3 (Strength +3, Constitution +3)
- Amulet: Amulet of Toughness +3 (AC Natural +3, Fortitude +3)
- Ring 1: Ring of Clear Thought +4 (Intelligence +4)
- Ring 2: Dragonslayer's Ring (AC Deflection +4 vs. Dragons, all-saves +2, Discipline +8)
- On-switch: Magekiller Shield, Gloves of the Dexterous Rogue, Ring of Scholars.
***
Note the AC of the FR Trilogy build: +10 over the Aielund and Swordflight ones, yet its combat encounter design is a complete cakewalk in comparison. The mobs and singular toughies can barely hit us and are falling about us like leaves in autumn. And that AC is always well ahead, not just "at the end". Let's be frank: the FR Trilogy is an utter doddle compared to Aielund, which itself is much easier than Swordflight. And yeah, that holds true not just for combat encounter design, but across the board.
Weapon-wise, that on-hit Stun was OP throughout the third part of the FR Trilogy. Not as OP as in IWD [pic], but it also allowed for follow-up Sneak Attacks. The Swordflight wield's on-hit Confusion (SA follow-ups) + 12-20 crit range was nice as well, and the Keen + Mass Crits of the Aielund wield were devastating. All three were solid wields. The difference is that Aielund and FR Trilogy enemies are squishier than Swordflight ones, and there are fewer of them.
Note the sheer number of stat boosts on the Swordflight build. We have a more intelligent DD due to Swordflight's custom itemization. We are actually pretty versatile for a grunt. As part-Rogue, we love those boosts to Intelligence and Dexterity. It's also much more interesting to play this build (indeed, any build) in Swordflight than in the other campaigns, because stats, skills and other build-based parameters are checked in the game-world much more often; it's called reactivity.
What won't be obvious (unless the reader has played through the above modules themselves) is that it takes about 60 hours to get the Swordflight build to that point (Ch.I and Ch.II), 30 hours to get the Aielund one there (NAaV & DotC), and just 15 hours to get the FR Trilogy one there (SoS + CToT + TotM). So power progression in Swordflight is much more graduated. We can feel the growth of our character much more. The levels (and items) come thick and fast in the other campaigns: they are like sprints compared to Swordflight's marathon. Yes, forever becoming and never being is a factor in all campaigns, we are always changing, but it's nice to just be something for a discrete moment in time, and go up against a variety of enemies in that moment, isn't it?
I mentioned items up there... well, the amount of magical gear that drops in early Aielund and the FR Trilogy is burdensome: no wonder these modules itemize two and four Bags of Holding respectively. We don't find our own Bag of Holding in Swordflight until 40 hours in... and that's not to say that Swordflight doesn't have plenty of loot or that we wouldn't want one, but it doesn't throw magical arms & armor about like confetti (which are not only heavy but take up a lot of space in our inventory). Instead, it's mostly lightweight potions, scrolls and other vital consumables, along with gold, gems and jewelry.
Unshown, and also true of HotU (indeed, of most non-Swordflight modules), is that both FR Trilogy and Aielund itemize gear that grant blanket immunities that ward against crippling negative status effects such as poison, disease, fear, mind-affecting, level/ability drain, death magic, knockdown and non-paralysis immobilization (subbed in whenever required), whereas in Swordflight such immunities only come innately from a build or from scrolls, potions and other consumables and limited-charge items (if at all). This holds true for regeneration, damage reduction, spell resistance and elemental resistances as well (though we can get perma-resists through very specific means: crafting).
It's set and forget versus "better quaff this, cast this and activate this or we're dead".
Not only that, but in the FR Trilogy we find multiple instances of items that bestow such immunities, resistances, and powerful perks. For example, freedom status from ring, cloak or helm - take your pick, and mix and match as you like. Oh, and we can buy as many as we like so now our three companions are immune, too.
Basically, I went up against a dracolich towards the end of TotM and didn't blink an eye: it dropped like a butterfly. I didn't check my gear, wards and buffs because I had been untouchable for the last several hours. But when I see even a mob of goblins in Swordflight, I'm thinking about how to slay them as efficiently as possible, without incurring too much damage, and without expending limited resources unnecessarily [1]. Later on, there are a few items in Swordflight that bestow blanket immunities, buffs and wards, but they are limited-use-per-day [example], and thus their use is subject to its stricter resting restrictions.
[1] Mobs in early Aielund and the FR Trilogy are, in most cases, only three, four or five in number. At the equivalent level range in Swordflight, they can be one score in number. This, along with thugged-out singular toughies, tests our build and strategies much more. Check this out, too.
Another difference, which is valid to Dwarven Defenders and other builds that must maintain a Lawful Good alignment if they wish to continue advancing as such, is that, in the FR Trilogy, it's easy to fall into Chaos and almost impossible to reinforce Lawfulness (even solemn vows will not yield Lawful points). Aielund and Swordflight, on the other hand, offer many more opportunities to tailor alignment or reinforce it. However, Swordflight is a bit more balanced: it's all-too-easy to maintain and reinforce Lawfulness in Act I and II of Aielund.
Thank you for doing these!
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