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

open the door.  A locked object will say it is locked without setting off the trap, but an unlocked object will fry him or her.  Then apologize profusely.
"Damn, I'm sorry... didn't see that there."  ::grins::)


9.5 MULTIPLAYER TACTICS
-----------------------
Multiplayer Rogue tactics are generally discussed in the sections above dealing with general tactics.  However, there are a few things a Rogue can do in a all- multiplayer, all the time game that he probably wouldn't do in any single player scenarios.

First off, in the multiplayer game, if you expect to spend your full career in a cooperative party, you might not necessarily need a high Charisma.  Let the party decide up front who the party leader is going to be.  This person should be doing all the talking to the locals.  That might very well be you; because
Rogues have the highest Persuade and Lore skills, they make terrific party leaders!  However, both skills are also class skills for the Cleric and Bard classes, and both of these classes have an even greater need for Charisma than you do.  As a result, chances are pretty good your Rogue won't be party leader.
Do not despair.  That simply gives you 6 or 8 of your initial character creation points that can immediately be dropped into Constitution, Intelligence, and
Dexterity!  Have fun.

Here's another highly profitable, highly unethical tactic.  While in town, buy cheap versions of several types of magical items, but stick to the somewhat unusual ones!  Good choices are the Nymph Cloak (bonus to Charisma) and the
Lesser Amulet of the Master (bonuses to various Rogue skills), for instance.
Rogues are generally the first to open chests since they're standing right there after the chest is untrapped and unlocked.  When you pull unidentified items out of a chest, if these items are at all of interest, the game will not immediately tell you what they are.  All that will appear in the status box is "Acquired
Item: Amulet".  That means, all the rest of the party saw was "Acquired Item:
Amulet".  I mentioned earlier that Rogues tend to have among the best Lore skill in the party, which means that quite often, you're going to be identifying items.  After you put such an item on, nobody in your party can see what it is.
If you are very unethical, there is absolutely nothing to stop you from grinning wildly over your new Amulet of Health as you type, "Damn!  It's just a Lesser
Amulet of the Master.  I'll add it to the cash pile."  Yeah, it's not a very nice thing to do.  I try to be lawful and everything, but what can I say?  I'm a
Rogue.

Sadly, even when you are scouting far ahead of the party, your actions will be displayed in everyone's status bar.  This prevents you from engaging in the really high-end item acquisition that's been known to go on in regular D&D games.  They're going to know you picked up something, and have a general idea of what it was.  The major exception to this is when the rest of the party is involved in heavy duty combat somewhere far from you (and you'd be surprised how often this can happen).  During these times, it is fairly unlikely that anyone in the party is going to be watching your actions very closely, nor is it likely that they are going to scroll their status box upward to see what you've been up to.  If you're of a mind to do this sort of thing, try it a couple of times on very minor items (small amounts of gold, healing potions, et cetera) and see if it is noticed.  Some characters find this sort of thing reprehensible.  Rogues call these people "Clerics" or "Paladins."

The advantage to your actions being displayed in the status bar despite a distance gap between you and the party is that things that you "shout" in the message box will also be displayed.  Feel free to keep the party informed of what you find.  Think of it as telepathy.

When scouting, some Rogues like to keep a collection of small items -- arrows work the best here; the graphic for even a single arrow is enormous -- to leave behind them as a trail for the party to follow.  Different types of arrows can be used to send different messages -- fire arrow for "guard around this corner", ice arrow for "there was a guard here, but he's dead now", for instance.  At a minimum, I recommend setting one arrow type to "there was a trap here and I disabled it."  You might wonder, why do that?  The trap's gone now, and it certainly isn't returning.  True, but if your party starts running into disabled trap arrows one after another, even the dumbest Barbarian will think to himself, "maybe I shouldn't wander off the trail."  Make sure someone collects your arrows.  This is primarily useful if you jump from one map to another to another, allowing the rest of the party to catch up to the area that you're in.
If you're in the same area, a green diamond will mark your location to the rest of the party.  If you need to hide your direction from some but reveal it to others, an excellent alternative breadcrumb item are shuriken.  Human players can very easily miss the tiny graphic for them, even with the Tab key pressed, if they're not looking for them.

Rogues do not do well in one-on-one PvP scenarios, so don't bother.  Even the dumbest human player is smart enough to turn to face the Rogue no matter how he might try to distract them.  The only exceptions to this are full on melees or free-for-alls.  In these cases, pick and choose your targets carefully.  You probably won't get more than one or two sneak attacks in before the person's full attention is directed to you.  However... if you have a lot of patience, a
Rogue with an outrageously high Parry Skill could theoretically win a PvP duel through sheer patience.  A sufficiently high Parry will give the Rogue a counter-attack that could slowly wear down an opponent.  I haven't tried this myself though, so if you give it a shot, let me know how it comes out.  ;-)

Finally, if you intend to swindle your erstwhile allies and run, you are much better served by building as much trust as you can, then cutting and running after making one big score rather than a lot of little ones.  Don't do something stupid like setting your character's alignment to Neutral Evil, either -- I know it looks cool and all, but the other players can see your alignment.  The alignment you put on your character sheet, that is.


-------------------------------
10.0 TIPS FOR NWN SINGLE-PLAYER
-------------------------------
The last section of the guide is simply semi-random tips for Rogues playing
Neverwinter Nights' single-player campaign.  There are lots of NWN walkthroughs, so I'm not going to go into anything like that level of detail.  If you want a walkthrough, go get a walkthrough.  ;-)  These are just areas and things to watch for as you play the game, or ways to play the game in a particularly
"Rogue style."

10.1 PRELUDE
------------
There are a few random chests and treasure locations in the Academy that should all be looted.  In particular, there's a chest in the room you wake in and the two adjoining rooms.  There is a bookshelf and a pile of books in the room adjoining combat training.  Near missile weapon training, there is a weapon rack that you can and should loot.  In the Mage training room, there is a chest and two bookshelves.  In the Cleric room, there is a desk.  In the graduation room, there are two desks.  Take all of this stuff back to the Academy shopkeeper and sell it (except for the Arcane scrolls if you're going to multiclass to Wizard later) and buy some things you want, like a rapier and a healing kit (and Level
1 Arcane scrolls if you're going to multiclass to Wizard later).

If you don't already easily have the 200 GP you may need to hire a henchman when finished with Aribeth at the start of the Chapter One introduction, you've done something very wrong in the Prelude.  I've come out of the Prelude with as much as 700 GP.


10.2 CHAPTER ONE
----------------
In every area of Neverwinter, there are chests and crates and barrels all over the place if you will but look.  This stuff is community property, and you are defending the community.  Therefore, ipso facto, this stuff belongs to you.
Don't neglect the two towers across from the Hall of Justice.  Both house storage areas with small treasures for Rogues only (locked in bash proof chests).  As stated above, most of the peasants walking around Neverwinter have
40 or 50 gold in their pockets if you have a good Pick Pockets skill.

At various locations throughout Neverwinter, if you keep a sharp eye out, you'll see "Shady Characters" here and there.  These folks are selling Rogue-specific equipment, including poison arrows for Gunship Rogues.

Linu wants the Silver Chalice of Moonbow, which you'll find in Meldanen's Estate in the Blacklake District.  Tomi wants the forged papers you'll find in Thomas
Wheelright's Wagon Repair in the Beggar's Nest.  The celestial elixir that
Sharwyn wants is in the library of the Tanglebrook Estates, across from the weapon rack guarded by the stink beetles (see below).

In the Moonstone Mask, Ophala has the Rogue-specific Art Theft quest.  Other character classes have to Persuade her to get it.  Rogues can Persuade her to give up a diamond after the quest is completed, which is a useful smith component.

There's a +1 dagger (almost certainly the first magical weapon easily usable by
Rogues that you'll find) in the weapon rack in the back room of the Tanglebrook
Estate in the Peninsula District, guarded by two stink beetles.  You may scoff at using a dagger, but remember, a small attack that hits for sneak attack damage is better than a big attack that misses.

Rogues have the easiest time with the Intellect Devourer if they play that room correctly.  The correct way to play it: tell your henchmen to wait by the door.
Go Stealth and wait a bit.  One of the "zombie guards" will eventually approach you without you having to move.  Persuade him to leave.  Stealth over (or use
Invisibility) to the guard on the right, staying behind walls wherever possible.
Persuade HIM to leave.  You'll know the Head Gaoler has noticed you because his first action is to drink an Aid potion.  When this happens, order your henchmen to attack, unstealth, then RUN to the other two guards and Persuade both to leave.  By this time, your henchmen will be well and truly engaged and you can sneak attack at leisure.  When the Head Gaoler falls, the Intellect Devourer will have no new body to claim.  However, the Intellect Devourer fight itself is almost dull because nearly all of his spells are non-damaging mind-affecting spells that will probably cause you to fail multiple saving throws.  Plan to spend about five minutes real-time dazed or stunned.  Eventually, the Devourer will have to resort to physical attacks instead and becomes easy meat.

The Docks are great fun for Rogues.  Don't even think about entering the Seedy
Tavern until you have at least 30 smuggler coins.  Do this by making sure EVERY possible enemy in the District is dead before heading for the tavern, plus getting the coins available at Twenty in a Quiver, The Golden Apple, and
Callik's house and storehouse.  Get in the tavern free by wearing a Bloodsailor pirate uniform (obtainable at the pirate ship in the southwest), and then use all of your smuggler coins to buy a magic longsword (take this to Marrok!), a sash of shimmering, and magic leather armor, plus one or two other cool items.

You can loot Meldanen's warehouse in the Blacklake District before giving
Formosa the key.  All she wants is the grain, which is of no use to you.
Incidentally, Rogues enjoy making the deal with Meldanen, getting his tooth, and
THEN killing him before he can depart.  There's no alignment impact and this gives you the best of all worlds: experience for letting him live, more experience for his demise.  This works on several other "I give up!" creatures, too.

Never's Tomb in Blacklake is VERY tough for Rogues.  Better to run past the animated swords, loot the chest, and then use your Stone of Recall to get out.

Gulnan the Yuan-ti is a ridiculously easy fight for Rogues.  She spends the first three rounds casting spells and is therefore particularly susceptible to the sneak attack.  Do enough damage and she won't get a thing off before she falls.  Without her support, her troops are easily dispatched.

In the Helm's Hold Summoning Chamber, banish the demon, then reestablish Helm's
Guardian Spirit, then ask for an item.  The item is very cool for Rogues.  :-)

Desther is a very difficult fight for Rogues... maybe the single most difficult fight of the game for Rogues.  Quicksave often when you get an advantage and just keep pounding away at him.  First though, as the Rogue, it is YOUR job to destroy his ritual creatures, especially if you're in a large party.


10.3 CHAPTER TWO
----------------
Aribeth has a "henchman quest" of her own and can be Persuaded to tell the tale.

Like Neverwinter, Port Llast has various community chests and crates strewn about.  Please help yourself to the contents.

The Star of Calimshan that Tomi wants is in the summoning room of Wanev's Tower.
The journal that Linu wants is on one of the random corpses (her ex-husband?) in the Troll caves.  The lock of nymph's hair that Sharwyn desires is (duh) in the nymph's house in the Deep Neverwinter Wood.

The Alliance Arms Inn is where you should sell anything and everything you find in Chapter Two.  Alhelor gives much better prices for found items than the other shopkeepers, which will quickly put your finances in good shape for the rest of the game.  (I'm told that this might have been adjusted in a recent update to the game, so compare prices first!)  Do not complete the Black Wolf quest until you're ready to leave Port Llast.  For obvious reasons, when the Black Wolf quest is done, Alhelor and his limitless stock of cash disappears.

Nearby, you'll see Elaith, "the Serpent."  Don't accept Elaith's quest until you use your Lore skill to remember he's a smuggler.  At this point, a new set of dialog options will open to you.  Gently persuade (through the dialogue; no
Persuade skill needed, your Lore skill took care of it) him that you don't believe he's retired.  He'll become a shopkeeper at that point.  THEN you can accept his quest and during later visits he'll either be a shopkeeper or a quest item return point, your choice.  But don't complete his quest until you buy a set of Shadow Legion Armor from him.  Though expensive (about 25,000 GP), this armor (Leather AC 2+4, Hide in Shadows +5) is not only the best protection you'll find until late in the game, but looks pretty cool when worn.  ;-)

The Tome of Ice is in Wanev's Tower and gives the formula (skeleton knuckle plus quartz crystal plus Mage Armor) for an Amulet of Natural Armor +3.  Just about any Rogue should be able to work out a way to get a Mage Armor cast, either through a level or two of Arcane spell-casting or Use Magic Item on the appropriate scroll.

Rogues will have little difficulty convincing the graveyard caretaker that they are a member of the Luskan Arcane Brotherhood and therefore get into the graveyard for free.

Mutamin's Challenge in the Green Griffon Inn is an enjoyable little jaunt for