TGDB.net - Game news, cheats, solutions, walkthroughs, trainers, saved games and much more!

levels.  As I mentioned in the introduction, multiclassing is virtually essential for Rogues, so this can be a great benefit if you want an unusual combination.

ELF
Best Rogue race for single player NWN.  The Dexterity bonus doesn't play into
NWN the way it would in a normal 3rd Edition game (since you get it *before* you spend your ability points, see Abilities, below), but is nice.  However, Keen
Senses means that your Search and Spot skills are always engaged even when at full-tilt run, and as an Elf, you get +2 to both of these skills.  Elves also get +2 to Listen, another important Rogue skill.  Even better, Elven weapon proficiencies mean that you get some heavier-hitting weapons, particularly the rapier and longbow (the 3rd Edition Rogue's friends, for reasons I'll get into later).  Elves are also immune to some mind-affecting spells -- the bane of the
Rogue's existence -- and have excellent low-light vision.  Finally, Elves have
Wizard as their preferred class, which is one of the best multiclassing options for Rogues.

DWARF
Average Rogue race.  The primary advantages to playing a Dwarven Rogue are the
Constitution/Fortitude bonuses and the bonuses against poison and magic saving throws.  Dwarves also get decent bonuses against goblinoids, orcs, and giants, all of which play a surprisingly major role in high-level NWN.  Dwarves also have the best low-light vision and a Lore bonus.  Dwarves make the best all- around "thuggish" Rogues because they can multiclass Rogue with Fighter with no experience-point penalties for mismatched levels.

GNOME
Below average Rogue race.  Play a Halfling or an Elf instead.  Gnomes combine the disadvantages of playing a Small-size character with none of the benefits of being a Halfling.  Gnomes receive the standard Small size armor class bonus against larger creatures and combat bonuses against reptilians, goblinoids, and giants, as well as decent low-light vision.  They also favor the Wizard as their multiclass option.  However, their other skills are bent in the Wizard direction, including Concentration bonuses and bonuses using Illusion, NOT the favored spell school among the smart Rogue.  In addition, their stat bonus
(Constitution) is of only marginal use to Rogues.  Combine all this with the
Small size and the drawbacks of that, limited carrying capacity and a narrow weapon selection, and you get a race not really suited to the Rogue lifestyle.

HALF-ELF
Below average Rogue race.  Play an Elf, Halfling, or Human instead.  The only reason to consider a Half-Elf Rogue is if you want to combine Rogue with something unusual (Cleric, for instance).  Half-Elves, like Humans, get one "free" multiclass, meaning that you can play a 15th level Rogue/5th level Cleric with no experience point penalties for mismatched levels.  In these cases, Half-
Elves get partial immunity to mind-affecting spells and +1 to Listen, Search, and Spot checks.  Even in these cases, though, I'd probably rather have the bonus feat/skill points for playing a Human or the assortment of Halfling bonuses.

HALF-ORC
Worst Rogue race.  The Strength bonus is nice, but comes at the cost of two critical Rogue abilities, Intelligence and Charisma (yes, Charisma; I'll explain in a bit).  Half-Orcs also get excellent low-light vision, but the trade-offs for those two Strength points are NOT worth it for a Rogue.  They also favor the
Barbarian class, not a particularly good Rogue multiclassing option.

HALFLING
Above average Rogue race.  The Dexterity bonus doesn't play into NWN the way it would in a normal 3rd Edition game (since you get it *before* you spend your ability points, see Abilities, below), but is nice.  They receive bonuses to two
Rogue skills, Listen and Move Silently.  Halflings also have immunity to fear and the standard Small-size armor class bonus against larger creatures.  They also get +1 to hit with all missile weapons and +1 on all saving throws.
Halflings also have Rogue as their favored class, meaning that you can play a
Rogue multiclassed with anything else you like.  The major drawback to playing a
Halfling is their size, which affects both the size of the weapons they can use and the amount of gear that they can carry.  However, in a multiplayer, PvP scenario, Halflings are the best NWN Rogue race specifically due to their size.
A Human player is going to have a very tough time spotting the tiny Halfling graphic, particularly when the Halfling in question is Hiding in Shadows,
Invisible, or in the midst of a chaotic fight.



------------------
3.0 ABILITY SCORES
------------------
Obviously, Dexterity is at the top of the heap for Rogues, playing to virtually all of their best Skills, Feats, and supernatural abilities.  However, I'm now going to raise a lot of eyebrows by suggesting that you set your initial
Dexterity no higher than 16.  The reason is simple: a higher initial Dexterity is far too "expensive" in the rather-limited number of ability score points (30) that NWN gives you to create your initial character.  Your precious allotment of these points is put to far better use setting up your other ability scores.  Do your job right during the character creation process, and you won't ever have to mess with the other ability scores again.  You get five additional points to apply to ability scores in your career (at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th levels).  If you want that 18 or higher Dexterity, buy it with those points.
With that said, I'll go through each stat in detail, with suggestions.

STRENGTH
Earlier, you decided what type of Rogue you wanted to play.  For you non- "thuggish" Rogues, 10 is more than sufficient.  That gives you an initial loot allotment of 100 pounds, and no Strength bonuses or penalties.  You can even consider an 8 Strength.  That's 86 pounds and a -1 penalty, but you won't be using your Strength to attack in most cases anyway (see Feats, below) and the -1 damage penalty might be worth it to get a 16 Charisma or Intelligence, for instance.  If you decided on a more "thuggish" Rogue, then you're going to want a 14 here (+2 bonus).  Thuggish Rogues will want at least 13 Strength for the
Power Attack and Cleave feats.  However, if you feel a temptation to set your initial Strength any higher than 14, you should be playing a Barbarian or a
Ranger, not a Rogue.  Rogues are all about the fast knife in the dark, and a paltry one or two more additional damage points is going to make NO difference added to a multiple-d6 sneak attack.  The primary uses for Strength for Rogues are, in the early game, the ability to carry a lot of loot, and in the late game, as a damage adder to your composite bow or melee attack.  However, there are scads of excellent items in NWN to boost your Strength bonus in the late game and those initial points are far too precious to spend on something like
Strength.

DEXTERITY
As I mentioned, set this to 16, no matter what type of Rogue you decide to play.
Do not under any circumstances set it any lower than 15; if you are tempted to set Dexterity lower than 15, play a Fighter or a Ranger instead.  Elves and
Halflings, with their racial Dexterity bonus, might have a point or two to spare after setting their other ability scores.  This is because going from a 14 to 15 to 16 Dexterity costs Elves and Halflings only one point each, and 16 to 17 to
18 cost two points each out of the 30 points per ability score point.  For all other races, 14 to 15 to 16 costs 2 points each, and 16 to 17 to 18 costs 3 points each.  Therefore, if you're playing an Elf or a Halfling, you might find yourself with two points to spare after setting your other abilities.  In this case, and in this case only, you may have 17 Dexterity if you wish (but strongly consider putting the points somewhere else even in these cases).  Whether you set your initial Dexterity to 16 or 17, you get a +3 bonus here.

CONSTITUTION
Rogues have a relatively scanty d6 for their hit die and as a result, a
Constitution bonus is an agreeable thing to have.  This also helps with poison and other Fortitude-based saving throws, which are one of the annoyances of the
Rogue existence.  Finally, a high Constitution will help with the Concentration skill if you decide to multiclass into arcane spell-casting, and there are a few points in the NWN single-player campaign where a high Constitution is nice.  I recommend a 12 (+1 bonus here).  If you're playing a more "thuggish" Rogue, consider a 14 (+2 bonus).

INTELLIGENCE
After Dexterity, this is the second-most important Rogue ability score, affecting your character in two ways.  First, a high Intelligence score gives you bonuses to your skill points, and Rogues live or die by their skill point totals.  Additionally, should you decide to multiclass into Wizard, a high
Intelligence will be crucial to your higher-level spell-casting abilities.  14 is the lowest score I would recommend here for any Rogue (+2 bonus), and if at all possible, I suggest a 16 (+3 bonus), particularly if you plan to multiclass into Wizard.  Thuggish Rogues will have to accept a hit (either 10 for no bonus or 8 for a -1 penalty) in this ability, with a corresponding loss of the Open
Lock and Disable Traps skills.  Thugs will be bashing chests open instead.

WISDOM
Overall, this is probably the least critical ability score for Rogues (though some would argue that Strength is least important).  An 8 is probably sufficient in this ability (-1 penalty), but the Rogue's toughest saving throws are in the area of mind-affecting spells, which this penalty will drop right into.  For that reason, some might feel uncomfortable with the penalty and want a 10 in this statistic.  However, there are many excellent items in NWN that grant immunities to mind-affecting spells so that by the time this becomes a problem, you can probably acquire an item to balance it.  In addition, the Rogue supernatural ability Slippery Mind (which you can pick up at 10th level) will in effect give you the best of two saving throw rolls against every mind-affecting spell.  Finally, if you accepted my earlier advice and chose an Elven or
Halfling Rogue, some mind-affecting spells just ain't gonna be a problem.  ;-)
However, see my notes below about Charisma; if you're not going to be playing the single-player campaign that ships with Neverwinter Nights, some of your
Charisma points would probably be better spent here.  In addition, Wisdom is the key component in two Rogue skills, Listen and Spot.  The campaign that ships with Neverwinter Nights also has an undocumented Insight ability that is based on your Wisdom score.

CHARISMA
If you did not choose a thuggish Rogue, then this ability score is absolutely critical.  Again, I can see eyebrows going up all over the world at that statement, so I'll explain.  Charisma is the key ability to the Persuade skill, which in the NWN single-player game, is going to be your most-used skill after
Open Locks.  You will run into more situations where Persuade will be crucial to your success in the single-player game than even Disable Traps, most of which can be sidestepped or triggered from afar if need be.  A high Persuade skill combined with a high Charisma will literally open many locks to you that no amount of open locks skill, bullying, evading, or slicing-n-dicing will do.  I suggest a minimum of 14 (+2 bonus) here and if you can at all justify it to yourself, go with a 16 (+3 bonus).  It will be easier to justify it to yourself if you plan to multiclass into Bard or Sorcerer later, but even the most single- minded Rogues will be happier with a high Charisma.  If you're NOT going to do the single-player game, though, be advised that of the fan-written modules I've seen as of this writing, almost none of them make use of the Persuade skill.
Until some do, you can probably forgo more than a 12 or so in this skill.

If you followed my advice, then, your ability scores will be in the neighborhood of two 16s, a 14, a 12, a 10, and an 8.  For Rogues entering the campaign that ships with Neverwinter Nights, you'll want your highest scores in Dexterity,
Intelligence, and Charisma, in that order.  Thuggish Rogues will want Dexterity,
Strength, and Constitution, in that order.  Rogues entering fan-written modules will probably be happiest with their high stats in Dexterity, Intelligence, and
Strength, in that order.  Diplomat Rogues might even set their Charisma score higher than their Dexterity -- after all, you'll soon be finding +1, +3, +6, and
+10 lock-picks...

As you advance, you will pick up additional points to apply to your ability scores.  Where you put these points is mostly up to you, but you only get additional bonuses at EVEN-numbered ability scores.  Therefore, if you add a point to a skill to make it an odd number (DEX 16 to DEX 17 at 4th level, for instance), make sure that either your next point is applied to the same ability score or you have an item that makes up the difference to bring you to an even number.  Most Rogues, however, will be happiest using their first two bonus points to add to Dexterity and use their other three points to enhance their statistics in support of their multiclass option.

Two stats to watch out for, though, are Dexterity and Strength.  To get most of the Dexterity-based feats (Ambidexterity, for instance), you're going to need a
15 Dexterity.  To get most of the Strength-based feats (Cleave, for instance), you're going to need a 13 Strength.  You'll note that those are ODD numbers.
;-)

Finally, a small note: I've been told that it is impossible to boost any ability score more than 10 points from its "natural" level no matter the number or strength of magical enhancements.  In other words, if you have an 18 Dexterity, no amount of magical trickery will get you more than a 28 Dexterity.  I haven't been able to confirm this myself, but I believe the source, so keep it in mind...


----------
4.0 SKILLS
----------
Skills are the bread-and-butter of the Rogue class, with even the most average
Rogues bringing home 8 skill points per level.  A smart Rogue (which you might very well be) will have even more points to apply, usually in the neighborhood of 10 or 11 per level.  You'll need them, too, because Rogues also have the broadest array of skills in a surprising number of areas.  The skills you should concentrate on:


4.1 CRITICAL SKILLS
-------------------
OPEN LOCKS (DEX).  All I can say to this one is "duh," but surprisingly, it doesn't benefit you very much in NWN to set this skill higher than a total of 15 ranks or so.  The reason is that there are a variety of magical lock-picks in the game (all the way to a +10 bonus!), other items that increase lock-picking skill, your Dexterity modifier... and it will be rather rare that you'll be using your lock-picking skills in combat.  You will therefore be "taking 20" at almost every lock, giving you a nice round 35-40 in this skill by the time you hit a decent level (8th or so), which you can add 10 to by using +10 lock-picks.
So, initially, max this skill, putting all the points the game will let you into it, but when you hit 15 or so, you can start slowing down or stop, and use the points for other things.  If you find yourself playing a thuggish Rogue, you can forgo this skill entirely and just bash chests open.

PERSUADE (CHA).  After Open Locks, this is the most important Rogue skill in the single-player game, which you should max at every level you can throughout your career.  As I stated earlier, there are important plot points that only open up