Neverwinter Nights

Paladin Guide
By Lord Zero
(dskzero@yahoo.com)
Version 1.0

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Index:

1.- File History.

2.- Introduction.
3.- About this file.
4.- Introduction to the Paladin.
4.1.- Paladin Stats.
4.2.- Paladin Strenghts.
4.3.- Paladin Weakness.
4.5.- Paladin Abilities.
5.- Creating a Paladin.
5.1.- Sex.
5.2.- Race.
5.3.- Attributes.
5.4.- Feats.
5.5.- Skills.
6.- Paladin Building.
6.1.- Multiclass (Minor)
6.2.- Multiclass (Major)
6.3.- Interesting Weapons, Armors and Items to Find.
6.3.1.- Weapons.
6.3.1.1.- BASTARD SWORDS
6.3.1.2.- BATTLEAXES
6.3.1.3.- KATANAS
6.3.1.4.- LONG SWORDS
6.3.1.5.- GREATSWORDS
6.3.2.- SHIELDS.
6.3.2.1.- SMALL SHIELDS
6.3.2.2.- LARGE SHIELDS
6.3.2.3.- TOWER SHIELDS
6.3.3.- ARMOR.
6.3.4.- HELMETS.
6.3.5.- CLOAKS.
6.3.6.- RINGS.
6.3.7.- BOOTS.
7.- Playing the Paladin.
7.1.- VS SPELL CASTERS.
7.2.- VS FIGHTERS.
7.3.- COOPERATIVE PARTIES.
8.- Henchmen.
9.-Credits.

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1.- File History.

-0.1 Start of the guide. (07/06/2004, 11:36)

-1.0 First published version. (11/06/2004, 15:49)

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2.- Introduction.

Paladins in Neverwinter Nights are amongst the most well-rounded classes,

but their power has greatly diminished from BG II. (I might be just biased,
because they were incredibly popular back then) Nonetheless, they are still
a competent class and a powerful choice either for dungeon crawling or
duels. Not to mention very flavorful.

With many weapon proficiencies and powerful class abilities, the Paladin
is an interesting class to try, and I've chose to write a guide about
the messenger of God. With a little bit of fun factor to keep up the good
mood. Besides, Aribeth's a Paladin. And she rules.

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3.- About This File.

This guide is better view under a 800x600 screen resolution. You know,
old habits die slowly, and I've come to write something similar for like
5 years by now. Oh well. Things of a FAQ writer.

This guide is meant to give effective ways to build a Paladin, either pure
or multiclassed. The Paladin itself isn't meant to be a killing machine,
and this guide won't make one. It will make a powerful and durable one,
more than capable to hold its own.

If you really, really want a Killer Machine (tm), go and make a Sorcerer
or a Barbarian.

I'm open to suggestions. Feel free to email any comments to

dskzero@yahoo.com.

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4.- Introduction to the Paladin.

A Beacon of Light.

A Defender of Justice.

Or God's Wrath Incarnate Tucked in a Tin Can.

However you see it, the Paladin Class represents a manifestation of a

warrior who dedicates his or her life to punish evil. The Paladin is a
crusader who roams the land erradicating all that threatens good. His or
her mere presence lifts everyone's faith and hope against the forces of
evil.

The Paladin is an above average fighter who can use its faith in battle
against unholy foes. He gets a near full set of armor and weapon
proficiencies and it's a capable melee fighter, and has a few abilities
to fight evil and undead.

4.1.- Paladin Stats.

Hit Die: d10

Base Attack Bonus: 100%
Armor Proficiencies: All armor and shields.
Weapon Proficiencies: All simple and martial weapons. No exotic weapons.
Primary Saving Throws: Fortitude.
Secondary Saving Throws: Reflex and Will.
Spellcasting: Divine, Wisdom-based.
Base Skill Points per Level: 2
Class Skills: Concentration, Discipline, Heal, Lore, Parry, Persuade, Taunt.
Requeriments: Paladins must be Lawful Good.

4.2.- Paladin Strenghts.

- Good hit die, allowing for a durable character.

- All armor proficiencies to start with.
- Almost all weapon proficiencies.
- Able to cast Divine spells, without being affected by armor.
- Able to turn undead, one of the most common class of enemies found around,
not to mention among the most powerful.
- Able to use Lay Hands, providing free healing for emergencies.
- Able to use Smite Evil, providing extra damage against evil enemies.
- Able to use Divine Grace, adding the CHA modifier to his or her saving
throws.
- Able to use Cure Disease, as well as being inmune to disease him or
herself.
- Inmune to fear.
- The Paladin him or herself is a powerful melee fighter, resistant and
damaging.

4.3.- Paladin Weakness.

- Not many skill points to play with.

- Has to keep five attributes out of six on a decent level to be most
effective, giving little space to access some feats.
- Has to keep Lawful Good alignment in order to keep advancing in
Paladin levels, though this doesn't affects multiclassing.
- While competent in melee battle, it's not the most effective against
Monks' multiple hits or Barbarians sheer power.
- Has to spend a lot of money on equipment.

4.4.- Paladin Growth.

1st Level - Divine Grace (CHA modifier is applied to all saving throws).
Divine Health (immune to disease).
Lay On Hands
2nd Level - Aura of Courage (immune to fear).
Smite Evil
3rd Level - Turn Undead.
Remove Disease once per day.
4th Level - 1st level spells become available.
5th Level -
6th Level -
7th Level -
8th Level - 2nd level spells.
9th Level -
10th Level -
11th Level - 3rd level spells.
12th Level -
13th Level -
14th Level - 4th level spells.
15th Level -
16th Level -
17th Level -
18th Level -
19th Level -
20th Level -

4.5.- Paladin Abilities.

DIVINE GRACE - Level 1 Ability -

Divine Grace adds your Charisma modifier to all your saving throws, which is
perhaps the most useful ability the Paladins have over a Fighter or a
Barbarian, as well as the most important reason to keep your Charisma very
high. Can be used once per day.

DIVINE HEALTH - Level 1 Ability -

Divine Health makes your Paladin immune to disease. Obviously good against
masses of Ghouls or Mummies.

LAY ON HANDS - Level 1 Ability -

Lay On Hands heals target living character by a number of HP equal to the

Paladin *Class* level X the Paladin Charisma modifier. Useful indeed, but
quite unpowered later on.

AURA OF COURAGE - Level 2 Ability -

Aura of Courage makes your Paladin immune to fear. Top notch.

SMITE EVIL - Level 2 Ability -

Smite Evil is a powerful attack which only works against evil-aligned enemies,
hitting the opponent adding his Charisma modifier to the attack roll, and
adding his level to the attack roll. Quite damaging.

TURN UNDEAD - Level 3 Ability -

The Paladin is also able to turn undead like a Cleric would, but his
abilities are not as powerful, and his turn would act like a cleric
two levels below his own level. Taken from the 3rd edition D&D rules,
the first roll determines the maximum Hit Die of enemies affected
(1d20 plus the Charisma modifier), then the second roll determines
how many Hit Die of undead will be affected. This is a 2d6 plus
the Paladin Level plus the Charisma modifier, however you need to
substract 2 due to the Paladin limitations.

In human terms, the first roll will determine the undead which will be
affected. Here is a table right away stolen from the 3rd edition rules:

______________________________________
| |
| Turning Check MAX HD |
| 0 or less Paladin's level - 6 |
| 1-3 Paladin's level - 5 |
| 4-6 Paladin's level - 4 |
| 7-9 Paladin's level - 3 |
| 10-12 Paladin's level - 2 |
| 13-15 Paladin's level - 1 |
| 16-18 Paladin's level |
| 19-21 Paladin's level + 1 |
| 22+ Paladin's level + 2 |
|______________________________________|

So, a turning check which results in a 10, by a level 10 Paladin, would

8 HD undead creatures (If I'm not mistaken, a spectre, for example would
be turned, but a vampire would not). The second roll will determine
how many undead would be affected, so if the roll results in another 10,
probably a skeleton and the spectre would be affected, but probably the
other creatures would escape.

If the undead's HD is half minus two the Paladin's Level, it will be

destroyed. Surviving undead will flee in fear.

Both Clerics and Paladins can also add Extra Turning to their feats. This
adds 6 extra turnings per day. This is really overkill, but if you think
you REALLY need to turn everything, feel free to add it.

REMOVE DISEASE - Level 3 Ability -

Once per day, you can remove diseases from a target. Not very exciting,
but very useful.

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5.- Creating a Paladin.

5.1.- Sex.

Sex refers to the sex of your character, not frequency or lack

thereof. ;) This is, obviously, irrelevant.

5.2.- Race.

Any race save Half-Orc or Dwarves would do. These two races have
a hefty penalty to Charisma, and thus will be bad Paladins.
Halflings and Gnomes are also bad ideas due to their small size,
which will likely bring them problems using weapons, though they
will make for interesting strategies.
Elves are good choices, as well as Half-Elves. Humans are very good
since you can easily multi-class your Paladin, and the extra
skill points are very useful.

5.3.- Attributes.

A good Paladin attribute score would be

STRENGHT 14
DEXTERITY 10
CONSTITUTION 14
WISDOM 14
INTELLIGENCE 9
CHARISMA 16

We're sacrificing a lot on Dexterity to get that high Charisma, but

since most of your abilities are based off charisma... what can you do.

14 Strenght will add a +2 modifier to your attacks, and you will be able
to find plenty of items to get it up later.
10 Dexterity will get you where you need to go, but some feats will
require a much higher Dexterity: you will live without them. Furthermore,
the Paladin is able to wear the bests armors around, so the loss on the
AC bonus will not hurt you as much.

14 Constitution will add enough HP to your pool to deal with most melee
attacks. Magic attacks will be something else, but, once again, items will
add help against this problem.

14 Wisdom should be enough, and you don't need to raise it any further.
It will get you all of your spells and even then you won't be using them
that much. It will also add enough fuel for them.

9 Intelligence to avoid talking like an idiot. Feel free to drop it lower

if you want to have some fun not understading someone. You may argue
that a 10 intelligence would be good for extra skill points, though.

16 Charisma is enough to start, though you will need to raise it one way
or another. Nymph Cloaks will help a lot here.

5.4.- Feats.

Weapon focus for your weapon of choice is always a good idea (I took
the long sword, which is cheap and easily found, not to mention there
are some really good long swords), and if you multiclass to a fighter,
it will allow you for Weapon Specialization, an even better idea.

Since you start with almost all Weapon Proficiencies, Exotic Weapon
Proficiencies could be an attractive shot. If you plan to use a Bastard
Sword, then by all means choose it: Bastard Swords are VERY damaging.

Improved Parry should be choosen if you actually took Parry as a class

skill. Paladins could choose Parry since they lack the massive attack
power of either Monks or Barbarians, and this would be an interesting
choice, gaining a +4 to your defensive stance.

Toughness is another tempting choice, but it's better left for later.

Knockdown is a powerful attack tactic as well. Having an enemy prone is

a guaranteed hit.

5.5.- Skills.

Discipline is always a good choice, though it isn't a class skill. It

is very recommended that you multiclass to a Fighter to get this skill,
as the Paladin needs to be resistant to knockdowns, the most annoying
tactic in the game.

Lore is always good to identify items on the run. Later in the game
you can safely ignore it, though in some modules it might be worth
it.

Heal is good on most modules with difficulties to rest, not to mention

is a lot cheaper to use a healing kit than a potion. Unfortunately,
on the official campaign, is rather useless given the easiness to rest.
(and the ridiculous ammount of potions you will find)

Persuade is also a very good skill, especially early on.

Parry is a good skill... but you won't have many skill points to work
with. This is potentially wonderful, but it doesn't seems to work
alright. Perhaps via a good combination of points and items, a "parrying
Paladin" might be viable, though.

Concentration, set traps, hide, listen, move silently, open lock,

pick pocket, spellcraft, taunt and spot are all useless for a Paladin.
Some of them even rightaway contradict the Paladin's idea, and move
silently and hide are severely punished by your armor.

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6.- Paladin Building.

The Paladin needs to concentrate points on Strenght and Charisma above

everything else. Since you get 5 points to use on your attributes all the
way to the 20th level (every 4 levels) you might want to spend them on
those two stats, though depending of your multiclass (if you do), that
might vary.

6.1.- Multiclass (Minor)

To put it bluntly, the Paladin sucks as a secondary class. The only

class midly good for this is the Sorcerer, and that's only because of
the immunity gained and the ability to use its already obsene Charisma
modifier to his or her saving throws.

All class (restricted by alignment) may want to multiclass three or two

levels for the Paladin for the Divine Grace and immunity to disease and
fear, but the proficiencies and most other abilities aren't good on any
other class (save for the Cleric, whose abilities are already stronger).

6.2.- Multiclass (Major)

Perhaps the best multiclass for the Paladin is the Fighter, for two reasons:
the Weapon Specialization feat, and the Discipline class skill. The extra
attacks are nice but hardly that needed.

16/4 Paladin/Fighter are wonderful. Take Weapon Specialization with your

weapon of choice.

Another good idea is a Paladin/Cleric, with the Sun Domain. Just one
level is needed to make your turning powers increase, so a 19/1 Paladin/
Cleric is recommended.

19/1 Paladin/Monk is also a powerful choice, able to pick up Evasion and

Cleave.

Other classes offer little with a lot of penalties. And don't even think
of a Paladin/Wizard multiclass, please. The Arcane Spell Failure should
be larger than the San Francisco bridge.

My own Paladin is a 16/4 Paladin/Fighter, though a level of Monk could

have improved it. He's a mighty fighter indeed.

6.3.- Interesting Weapons, Armors and Items to Find.

Depending on your taste, the weapon should be chosen. I've seen from
regular Long Sword wielding Paladins (like mine) from some exotic
Paladins using Scythes (and you shouldn't laugh: that piece of weapon
has a critical multiplier of FOUR). I'm yet to see a Paladin using a
ranged weapon, though.

There is a bit of luck involved on finding most of these items, though.

6.3.1.- Weapons.

6.3.1.1.- BASTARD SWORDS - Exotic, 1d10 19-20/x2 -

Powerful weapons, though they will require the Exotic Weapon

proficiency to use. Can be held with one hand, though, allowing
for a shield as well.

BLOODLETTER +4 - Vampiric +2, DC 14 wounding -

In terms of sheer power, the best Bastard Sword around. The

HP-sucking thingie is also quite useful. Not very interesting,
though.

DRAGONSLAYER +1 - +5 Vs dragons, +1d10 sonic damage against dragons -

Obviously good if fighting dragons. However, against other enemies,

it's nearly useless. Funny to mention than most spellcasters love
to change into dragons when their useful spells are out.

NAMELESS LIGHT +2 - +5 vs evil, +1d6 electric damage against evil -

This thing has "PALADIN" written all over it. Very powerful, and
interesting enough to be kept as a main weapon throughout the game.
It is quite rare that enemies would have electric resistance. One
of my favorite weapons.

(I will not mention Aribeth's Sword. One, because you need to be at a

ridiculous high level to use it, you need to be a Paladin, and you need
to be LAWFUL EVIL to use it. My own Paladin is that way, and the thing
is a +5 sword, but, unfortunately, that kinda screwed up the character
for the XP unless I find a way to become LAWFUL GOOD again. Dammit.
The thing is a +5 sword with a +5 bonus against good. Natch.)

6.3.1.2.- BATTLEAXES - Martial, 1d8 20/x3 -

Not very good at all, though dwarves look good wielding them.

DEEPSTONE PRODIGY +2 - Immunity to Death Magic -

Only axe worth a damn, this thing's special ability is invaluable

against opposing spellcasters using Circle of Death or something
similar. Would be better upgraded, tough. Dunno if you can upgrade
it, however.

6.3.1.3.- KATANAS - Exotic, 1d10 19-20/x2 -

Some people love katanas. I hate them. Besides, they are very out of
flavor for a Paladin. What's this? The Otaku Paladin, defending nerds
all around the world?

Note: I don't dislike nerds or otakus. I dislike katanas.

DIVINE FURY +3 - +1d6 electrical damage, DC14 Stun 50%/2 rounds -

Well, look at it. Ridiculously effective and damaging, not to mention

nice looking. If I ever gave a katana a chance (I have a distinct
dislike of katanas), this one would be.

6.3.1.4.- LONG SWORDS - Martial, 1d8 19-20/x2 -

Good and loyal weapons, not to mention cheaper than most others, Long
Swords were my weapon of choice, though this is largely a matter of
preference: I just liked them.

SOULRAZOR MINION +3 - +1d6 Acid dmg against good, Vampiric+2 -

As you might guess, this is probably the best Long Sword available.
I personally love this weapon, thought it is really out of character.
Good idea to keep both the Nameless Light and this one together,
as they are able to take down enemies from both sides. As for the
neutral... The Bloodletter would do. I guess.

6.3.1.5.- GREATSWORDS - Martial, 2d6 19-20/x2 -

Since these are two-handed weapons, they will deprive you of your shield.
That said, there are two powerful Greatswords which merit a second view.

SHINING LIGHT OF LATHANDER +2 - Cast Searing Light 1/day, Light 15m -

Well in flavor, and Searing Light is a powerful weapon against

undead... and you get free light. Oh well. The spell is the good
part.

THE DAGGER OF CHAOS +2- DC14 Confusion 50%/2 rounds, Vampiric+3 -

Powerful abilities, though the confusion might get on your nerves.

Perhaps better left for another characters, but it's worth the
trouble it will take you to find it.

6.3.2.- SHIELDS.

6.3.2.1.- SMALL SHIELDS - Shield AC 1 -

DWARVEN MIRTH - AC +1, Charisma +2 -

Obviously because of the charisma bonus, though I'd rather use

a shield that doesn't looks like a kitchen table.

6.3.2.2.- LARGE SHIELDS - Shield AC 2 -

SHIELD OF THE HOLY - AC +4, Extra Turning feat -

The best large shield, with a good bonus and a free feat which
might come in handy in certain situations. Difficult to find,
though. :( Perhaps the best shield in the game, I might note.

6.3.2.3.- TOWER SHIELDS - Shield AC 3 -

SHIELD OF THE DRAGONSLAYER - AC +3, +5 against dragons -

 A good contender to the Shield of the Holy, though I prefer the
other one: The bonus to the armor are bassically the same, and
the turning feat it's perhaps better. Finding both isn't a bad
idea, of course.

6.3.3.- ARMOR.

While the Paladin has access to almost every armor, I heartily recommend
this one:

BALDURAN ARMOR - Half Plate, AC 7, Armor AC +2, Charisma +3, Regeneration -

For reasons that should jump to your eyes. The charisma bonus is
amazing, and the armor is by itself powerful. The Regeneration
is the tip of the iceberg. Found on the armor store on Beorunna's
Well.

ARMOR OF FREEDOM - Full Plate, AC 8, Dexterity Bonus 1, Armor AC +3,

Freedom -

The most interesting Paladin armor. Powerful stuff, though the charisma
bonus on that previous armor is incredible. However, there is one last
interesting armor.

RED DRAGON ARMOR - Full Plate, AC 8, Dexterity Bonus 1, Armor AC +5 (!),

20 resistance to fire, weight -20% -

The most resistant Paladin armor. Plus it looks damn cool. Hellish
hard to find, though. You gotta kill Klauth to get it. :S

6.3.4.- HELMETS.

Most helmets will do. There are a couple of helmets which are interesting.

MASK OF PERSUASION (Greater) - Charisma +1 (+2), Persuade +2 (+5),

Concentration +1, Light 10m -

More charisma bonus. You ought to look hawt by now. The persuade
bonus is also quite good.

GOLDEN CIRCLET - Immunity Mind Spells, Will+1, Concentration+1, SR 10 -

My favorite helmet, if only for the spell resistance. The bonus

and immunity are nice, but there are other items that will do that
much better.

6.3.5.- CLOAKS.

There is only one cloak you can find useful (save for all those Protection
and Resistance cloaks)

NYMPH CLOAK - +1 to +5 charisma -

I shouldn't even have to mention why. Sold bassically anywhere, as

well, so no dungeon crawling to find a frigging cloak.

6.3.6.- RINGS.

Rings come in all varieties. There are many of them, and here are a few
worth looking.

LANTANESE RING, POPHYRO RING - Charisma +1, +3, +4, regeneration -

Given to you by Boddyknock (ugh) by completing his quests. These

are pretty good, though the process finding them is quite difficult
(you have to kill a dragon to get the final ring). The regeneration
bonus is also pretty nice.

RING OF ELEMENTAL RESISTANCE - +15 resistance to cold, fire and electric -

Good stuff, absolutely necesary against fireball-wielding-

pyromaniacs. Like any sorcerer. :S

6.3.7.- BOOTS.

Well, Boots...

DRAGON SLIPPERS - Dexterity +2, SR 10, Immunity to fear and

knockdown -

Well, I certainly can't think of any boots that can top this one.
Bonus to dexterity (for extra AC), spell resistance, and even
immunity to the most annoying combat trick in the game.
Powerful indeed.

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7.- Playing the Paladin.

So you have your fine Paladin and want to kick butt with him? Well...

Good luck.

Okay, just kidding. The Paladin makes a good fighter and as such you can
use him to deal with most enemies, but perhaps the part which might
require a bit of explanation would be the part of PvP. Duking it out
will require different strategies with each class.

7.1.- VS SPELL CASTERS

Perhaps the most annoying enemy. I myself have a powerful level 20

necromancer with 6 Horrid Wiltings and three Time Stops, not to mention
a huge array of protection spells.

(Not to mention a friend of mine... Her sorceress has the ability to send
like twenty fireballs per day, I haven't asked about other spells. Geez.)

(What's a woman doing playing NWN anyway? No wonder she's my *best

friend* and not my *girlfriend*!)

Well, anyway, your Knockdown ability should play an important part of it.
Be sure to equip rings of elemental resistance and spell resistance items,
which should already be equipped. Depending on the spellcaster, you might
want to deal with his or her familiar, which is likely to be a Panther
or a Memphit. If it's the first, kill it as soon as possible. That thing
can deal tremendous ammounts of damage. The Memphits are much easier
to deal with, as are most of the other familiar. The only exception are
the Pixies, which might require also massive attention before they get to
send invisibility spells up and down. It's doubtful that you would find
extravagant casters with other Familiars (Unless you find me and my
Hellhound)

You should be able to knock the opponent down quickly before most big
spells come into play. The opponent will likely cast Time Stop, cast
protection spells, then go full out with Horrid Wiltings. There is not
much you can do about this, except keep pounding at it. Fortunately,
an exceptional Wizard will have no more than two Time Stops
equipped, unless they neglected other spells such as Gate or Wail of
the Banshee or even Shapeshift. A good SR is very useful here more than
Sorcerers, since the Wizard will cast a lot more spell count disabling
you and adding protections, as it's spell ammount it's often outrageous.
(I'm yet to find a darned Power Word of Kill scroll. Congratulations,
Zero, for going excited about TIME STOP AND GATE :().

Be sure to keep two or three swords, as you might need to change

to a dragonslaying weapon to deal with some Dragon shifting spellcasters.

As for a Sorcerer, they are bassically the same, thought they will
send out a very likely large barrage of Wiltings or Maxed out fireballs.
Fortunately, they won't do anything else than deal damage (as if it wasn't
enough), so you can simply walk up to them with your (I hope) ridiculous
magic resistance and slash away at his or her eyeballs.

Druids are sort of a magic-oriented fighters. With their ammount of

damage spells and their powerful animal companion, you need to destroy
their company as fast as possible. Just like Familiars. Not to mention that
there are PANTHERS that can be choosen as a pet, which are hellish
annoying, and Bears, which are easy to hit but take a lot of damage and
do even more. Fortunately, almost all of their magic (at least the direct
damage one) are elemental, which will hopefully be halved in damage or
something similar, RIGHT?

7.2.- VS FIGHTERS

Paladins, Fighters and Barbarians all play regulary similar. Paladins

might have more tricks, Barbarians might have a lot of firepower, and
Fighters are more or less the same thing except a lot more resistant.

From a Paladin's eye, they are all the same. With a very few differences.

Paladins can cast a few spells which will greatly improve their
performance. Well, you can do it, I mean. If you can find some means
to dispel, then by all means keep the opponent from winning that side.

Fighters will do a lot of damage and are quite resistant. Playing

defensive (Parry is a lot of fun here) is key.

Barbarians, on the other hand, once they get on rage, just nail them
down. You (should) have enough defensive power to resist.

The problem with Fighters is that they all have a high fortitude,
so your Knockdown ability kinda sucks against them. Parry is put to
good use here, though you should always try to cast your best defensive
spells and buffs in order to give yourself an advantage. Make sure to use
a high-end offensive damaging weapon: a +3 or more. Also, make sure to
wear a shield. The extra armor class should be useful.
(Funnily enough, the only level 20 fighter character I have is my own
Paladin - 16/4 Paladin/Fighter, Lawful Evil due to Aribeth's Sword -. I
have been thinking about making a Dwarf Barbarian, but I have
to get over a lot of stuff before I actually think about it, not to
mention I think i'll get the XP in a few days. :))

Monks, as well (I do have a level 20 monk I. I didn't liked her, which is

a shame because she looked quite interesting), do fight and do not much else,
with a catch: They have a few combat tricks you might want to avoid. Thanks
to your fortitude, you should be able to pass many checks, but try to keep the
initiative. These things hit ridiculously fast.

Well, how the hell am I supposed to fight a Rogue?

The thing gets invisible, runs at you, backstabs you, and runs away.
Sure as hell is that annoying.

It will be rare that you might see a Rogue duking it out with a Paladin
because of the obvious disadvantages involved, but Rogues found around
who might want to loot you out of your very expensive equipment are
something that will annoy you. There is not much to do against Rogues:
they are frail but hellish hard to hit, and not very damaging but sneaky.

Just try to take 'em down with a good knockdown, then hack away. Just try
for whatever's sacred for you to avoid letting them get on your back.

It will hurt. (For the record, I don't have a Rogue. I want to make one,
though. The frustration of getting killed by traps is ridiculous)

Finally Rangers. Rangers aren't that hard if you can actually get them
to fight toe-to-toe, because they are ussually elves with a very good bow,
sending arrows flying at your chin. Like Rogues, frail but difficult to
hit. Perhaps you should find a bigger sword. You could ask Link to lend
you a Biggoron Sword. I bet you can swing that thing. Or ask the dude from
Silent Hill II to lend you THAT sword.

(I know that he isn't a superhero, President Evil, but hell is he a

pansy!! He can't even lift that piece of metal!)

Anyway, back to the deal, Rangers will ussually go for you with ranged
strikes and run away while their Bear or whatever they have for a pet
distracts you. If you manage to kill it, they will summon one of those
deadly cute Badgers to scratch you. Perhaps patience is your best weapon
here, to wait until they can't summon anymore, then run at them to hit
'em. If you have a pair of Boots of Speed, you're set.

7.3.- COOPERATIVE PARTIES.

Unlike Clerics, Rogues or Wizards, you're bassically fighting for space

on most parties. A Barbarian fights better than you, and a Cleric heals
and turns better than you. And Hell, if you're male, a female Paladin
simply looks better than you (Let's remember that on this sexist videogame
sub-culture women are, though real, often requiring a Planeshift (tm) to
be found, and many of the guys you will find are single. Specially those
with names like "LORD OF DESTRUCTION" or "Britney Spears b00bs". The
latter is even a M:TG deck, geez.).

(Yes, after playing Mu and seeing how people hit on a female elf
whose player is a 23 years old male dude who works as security guard,
I'm disturbed.)
So, you got a few of everything, so make sure to keep yourself valuable
trough the journey. Unlike Rogues, for example, you don't have to keep
up with the weight of anything, just be sure to protect the weak. For
crying out loud, you're a Paladin. It requires to be nice to play one
(Unless, like me, you have a Lawful Evil Paladin. Damn you, Aribeth),
and it's pretty funny to go around playing the all-righteous dude. I mean,
if I could, I would be kissing ladies hands and carrying drunken people
back home.

Your spells, generally, should be whatever buff spells you can find.
they last for a looooong time, and any other spell isn't very likely to
be that useful for you.

A good strategy is to use your own tanking ways to scare people off.
When the battle starts, head against the archer or the spellcaster. If
you're playing a team-deathmatch, this is a lot of fun. People will
scream, Barbarians will run back to protect, everyone will shoot at you,
and your Wizard will hopefully nails down a Gate and a couple Horrid
Wiltings in the process. If they even manage to kill you, they will
very likely lose. If you go on Parry mode, they will, very likely,
lose and you will stay alive.

*************************************************************************

8.- Henchmen.

Just for the single player game, you can choose to use a henchman to help
you on the game, and it's quite useful. However, remember that experience
will be reduced depending on how many allies you have when you kill an
enemy (If you kill an enemy being alone, it will give a lot more experience
than if you kill it with an henchman by your side or, significantly more,
if you would have a familiar and a summoned creature aiding you.)

(You don't know how satisfying was to see Boddyknock die just before I
sent that frigging white dragon to Hell, getting a lot more experience)

Henchmen will always be a couple levels behind you, and they can't raise
above level 14. They will also offer you a tale if you talk with them
and if you grow in levels (first chapter - level 6, second chapter -
level 10. I ignore the level requeriment for the last task, but it should
not be above level 14), they will offer you a quest which will net you an
item. You need to have the previous item to get the new one, though.

(Ladies first)

LINU LA'NERAL - Benefactor Elven Cleric -

Clerics are always useful, and Linu is not only useful, but a rather
warming company to have by your side. She's incredibly nice and
lovable, but she's always causing havoc around. Of course you ain't
looking for a girlfriend on a RPG games (though I could tell you
few tales of people hitting on the female characters on some online
RPG, ignoring whether the person behind the polygon model is,
in fact, a woman), you're looking for utility, and Linu is perhaps
the second to best overall helper you might find.
(Not to mention her appearance is remarkably similar to Sharon
Osbourne, Ozzy's wife)
She's an average fighter, an excelent healer, and wonderful turning
 undead. However, that last ability overlaps your own turning, and
not to mention you're enough of a meat shield to take hits. Perhaps
a better choice for Druids and spellcasters than for a full blown out
fighter, but if you find yourself needing healing often and don't like
warping around to the Temple of Tyr looking for that sexy Paladin
Aribeth, she's a good extra hand.
She's armed with a mace and a shield, and has a crossbow for ranged
attacks. The items she will offer are VERY useful, offering a
dexterity bonus, and the final offers also immunity to mind spells, so,
if you choose her, be sure to complete them.

SHARWIN - Reconciler Human Bard -

Speaking of lovable companies, we also have this very beautiful bard.

Sharwin is stunning. If I could find a girl who looked like her, it
wouldn't matter if she was a psychopath schizo, I would fall in love
with her. Of course we're being superficial, but this is a game. She's
also quite funny and witty, but I'd also note that she's exactly like
those pretty girls from high school, and I often wonder how's she's able
to run around the world without that meathead I'm sure she has for a
boyfriend and she's hiding from my knowledge.
Anyway, she's a Bard, which means she's a jack for all trades, and
offers limited healing, limited damage support, and limited usefulness
in the end, save for her Bard songs, which is quite useful. Furthermore,
she has ridiculously low AC, which ends up getting her killed easily.
All in all, she would be a lot more useful if she could live to be.
She's armed with a rather spectacular two bladed sword and a shortbow.
The items she offers are useful since they offer a Charisma bonus,
though the Persuade bonus is useful, the Perform one isn't.
(For the sake of information, if you manage to finish all of her
three quests, you can insinuate that you would like her as a reward.
As much as she seemed to enjoy the attention and like me, frankly,
the chat I had with her at the final zone before Morag didn't changed
in the slightest despite my words of regretting that I never kissed
her. That is, of course, if you're male.)
(I think I'll stick to Tokimeki Memorial if I'm in that need to
hit on a fictional gal. It's far more satifying.)

GRIMNAW - Dominator Dwarf Monk -

Well, so much for lovable companies. Grimnaw is indeed grim, and

his ideas of beauty and pleasure will often collide with your
"Holier than thou" Paladin, not to mention he will often end up
killing your prey. This dude is unnerving, ugly, and frightening,
but, heh, I'll be damned if I don't recgonize how effective he is at
destroying stuff. He also has a tendence to find all of my characters
to have the Mark of Death (tm), no matter which class or alignment
the character is. Perhaps he's has a new kind of AI which actually reads
the player's mind.
As a Monk, he's obviously a powerful melee fighter, but he's not really
useful for a Paladin to have by his or her side. You will often end up
both hacking and kicking at the same enemy, while an enemy spellcaster
bombards you both with an endless array of Fireballs or - even worse -
Horrid Wiltings. He's, however, useful against most bosses, as any good
lightning-fast, kick-wielding, bald dwarf character would be.
He is obviously unarmed, and does extra cold damage.
His quest items are however very good, offering an immunity to level
drain and a significant Constitution and spell resistance bonus.
DAELAN RED TIGER - Rebel Half-Orc Barbarian -

While he's definitely a disgusting sight (well he's an orc!), he's

quite a nice guy with a funny way of talking. I have the impression
he's Sharwin lost boyfriend, for he's a huge walking wall of muscle
without much brain or patience, as he's know for screaming "FOR URGARTH'S
BLOOD!" whenever he gets frustrated, which, very likely, is going to
happen very often.
Daelan is a walking tank which will quickly tore down whatever was
in front of him that's not a door or a chest - perhaps is my bad luck,
but he never seems to be able to open even a bag of chips -, and he's
also able to take lots of damage, but he will be dead meat against
most spellcaster, which is something you need help with. While Grimnaw
would help you kill enemies you would kill alone, at least he manages
to resist magic. Daelan would merely think of pregnant birds while he
dies. Very effective dragon-breath-meat-shield, if I ever saw one.
He's armed with a huge double axe, and a crossbow.
Daelan's items are not very good, though they offer a Strenght bonus,
the immunity to fear isn't really impressive for a character already
immune to it. The spell resistance of the final item could be attractive,
however.

BODDYKNOCK GLINCKLE - Judge Gnome Sorcerer -

I'm always scared by spellcaster's AI in RPG games. Having a gnome with

that suspicious accent asking me about myself, and staring at me with
that medieval french haircut was, to the very least, quite scary. I'd
rather have the stupid half-orc or the unnerving dwarf by my side. Of
course, I'd rather have the stunning Human, but that's because I'm a
young man. I will always choose a woman to have by my side, lest my
human instincts would kick me in the head.
Boddyknock is quite a powerful sorcerer, but he's stupid as they come.
I didn't used him much because I got frustrated of him sending his last
Fireball to the Deadly Wounded Weak Goblin, instead of aiming it at the
INTACT KICK ASS DRAGON BREATHING FIRE DOWN ON ME. He's, in theory, a good
partner, but his AI, like Grimnaw's ability to sense my inner evil,
is especially designed to piss ME off.
Armed with a crossbow or a dagger, which you shouldn't ever send him
to use. Actually, just don't use the gnome.
His quest items are quite good for a Paladin, offering regeneration and
a Charisma bonus, so you might want to spend a good time with him on
the third chapter in order to extract the last one from him. Too bad
you can't extract it under duress, as I would be happy to kill him.

TOMI GRIN UNDERGALLOWS - Free Spirit Halfling Rogue -

Tomi is quite hillarious to talk with. Had Yoshimo not betrayed me in

Baldur's Gate II, though, and my trauma with not trusting Rogues would
let me do some good comments on him. Since I hate Rogues, I tried
hating him, but he's way too cool to dislike. In the end, I invited
him a few beers and had a night hanging out with him drunk and taking
turns hitting on Sharwin. Actually, I might have been on some real
bar drunk, talking to an unknown midget and hitting on a Drag Queen,
but the psychological impact was there. I'm sure.
Tomi is perhaps the best henchman there is on the original NWN. He does
it all, opens doors, disarms traps, picks locks, and does a lot of
damage for a midget- i mean, halfling. He has ridiculous AC thanks to
his also ridiculous Dexterity, and his weapon, a Kukri, has a
remarkably long critical hit range. Very good choice.
 Armed, as mentioned, with a Kukri and a shortbow, and quite
proficient with both of them.
His quest items, however, are simply useless for a Paladin.

*************************************************************************

9.-Credits.

- CjayC for keeping that wonderful site better known as gamefaqs.com. Way
to go dude. Say hi to your family and dog.
(I realize that comment can be offensive. It wasn't meant to.)
- Bioware, Black Isle, Wizard of the Coast (quit printing crappy M:TG
expansions), and everyone else involved into making this game. It rocks.
- My Grand Maestre and most importantly friend Tannia for introducing me
to this game. You still owe me that duel, girl. You will feel my cold steel
entering your body.

Wait.

Well, did that sounded funny or what? *shudders*

- Duncan Clary (duncanclay@msn.com) for his impressive reference guide.
I used the darned editor for my list, but had I found his guide before, it
would had be a lot easier.
- Hmph. Evanescence, Nightwish and Theatre of Tragedy. Now get out of my
head.
- Lady Aribeth of Tylmarande, for corresponding my feelings in the end of
the game. You know girl, you really touched my heart. Congrats to whoever
wrote the script. Actually, no, go screw yourselves, both real and fictional
characters. You made me fall in love with a bunch of polygons! IDIOTS!

Random musing about that particular Elven Paladin:

<<<SPOILER BECAUSE I NEED TO VENT IT OUT>>>

Don't take this seriously.

You know, the programmers might have been a bit more considerate.
Aribeth's love history is ridiculously short-lived. I haven't played
the expansions, but if you forgive her and go and speak with her, she
will reveal she's falling for you. You know what? I'm sick of these
cut-off sub-plots. I spent the whole game wondering about this gal
and suddenly I realize I could have done something with her, but not
minutes before I'm attempting to force-cut her hairstyle. Isn't
it stupid and ironic? THREE GALS IN THE GAME WHO CALL YOU THEIR BEST
FRIEND AND YOU CAN'T EVEN HIT ON ONE OF THEM? WTF???? WTF IS WRONG
WITH YOU PEOPLE?? IS YOU CHARACTER AN EUNUCH??? I mean... unless your
character is a very aged dude, dammit, a man and a woman traveling
around the world have... NEEDS! Does it means that Forgotten Worlds
campaign setting requires fighting to the death to start a romantic
sub-plot which was announced and screaming the WHOLE FRIGGING GAME?
IS IT EVEN SUPPOSED THAT FENTHIK FOUGHT A GAL WHO CAN USE A SWORD
TO CUT A GODDAMNED TANK AND SURVIVED TO GET HER TO BE HIS GIRLFRIEND???
Where is the sense in that part of the game? Get funny feelings
from a script and then realize that the gal is likely to be killed??
WHY THE HELL DID ARIBETH WAIT SO FRIGGING LONG TO SAY ANYTHING??
HOW OLD IS SHE SUPPOSED TO BE? TEN???
The world is UTTERLY SCREWED, and you can all go to hell. Dammit.

Note: That particular bit on the fourth chapter pissed me off. Not
only extremely well written and manipultive enough to move me, but
also something I expected the whole game but didn't got the first
time through (I killed Aribeth using the Chaotic Evil Necromancer :S).
As a matter of facts, you CAN hit on the two female "henchwoman",
however, as far as I can tell, except for a few nice words, you don't
get anything special.

(it's been awhile since I ranted like that on a guide. Hehe.)

<<<END SPOILER>>>

- To me. For being such a good person, handsome, and patient. I rule.
- To you. For reading this guide. If anyone does ;)