A new player's questions

[Praetor]

Hi everybody,
so as you can see from the topic, I'm new to the server. So new, I haven't even started playing on it yet I had a long break in NWN (nearly 1 year), but it seems like that I just can't stop it for a longer period
After a lot of searching I found that NS4 looks great! Many changes, many players. And thanks for removing those sorcs from the 'Gods' list by nerfing their spells!
In the past few days I have been searching through this forum and NS4Wiki. I still haven't decided what character to play, and some questions popped up in my mind:
1. Does Improved Expertise shut off when casting spells?
2. Are there any horses on the server (ie. worth to put points into Ride)
3. What is the max AC / AB bonus you can find on items?
4. I find a little difference between the forums and the Wiki, and I don't know which to belive. It's about Earth Genasi special ability (damage reduction and natural AC bonus). Wiki states a much weaker progress as far as I can remember
5. Another thing from you Wiki from Word of Faith : 'While blind, a PC's dodge and dexterity based AC are negated (even with the Uncanny Dodge feat)'. Is this a change too? In 'normal' NWN, while blind you do not lose your Dexterity and Dodge AC. You only get -4 ab and skill modifiers. However, since you are blind you can be easily caught flat-footed. While flat-footed, you do lose your Dex and Dodge AC, BUT Uncanny Dodge prevents the Dex AC loss. So, on NS4, is Uncanny Dodge (or Word of Faith) modified so you lose your dex bonus when caught flat-footed?

This is all I think. Thanks in advance!

[diddy33]

1. yes
2. not anymore.
3. +6 for armor i think and +8 (rare) for weapons.
4. there have been many changes lately. earth gen is as follows:
Character Level AC Damage Power Damage Reduction

1 3 no damage reduction
10 3 +5 5
20 5 +6 6
30 6 +7 7
40 7 +8 10

5. being blind makes you be flatfooted, so you will lose your dex ac. uncanny dodge i think is buggy but if it works correctly you should keep it.

[Chernobyl_Glow]

Agree with Diddy. But one more thing...

Welcome. You'll enjoy the server. Its very challenging but overcoming the challenges has a great satisfaction too.

Please keep one thing in mind. Unfortunately, the wiki pages have numerous errors. Most are insignificant. And many times when you read something that has been changed simply understand that it may or may not be exactly like they have written but most likely has changed somehow. I know some members are working very hard to get the wiki pages updated but it is a very difficult to get them all. Best thing to do is ask (as you have) when you have concern about something that will be critical to your build.

Welcome again and we all look forward to seeing you in game.

- Glow -

[Zysek]

I highly suggest reading the "Change Log" topic (even if I don't understand what they're writing about half the time ).

I've also found linking to the "view active topics" page helps me to keep up with current events. That way I don't miss those Change Log entries. Also anything authored by a DM or answered by a DM, I read first.

Oh, and don't forget to actually LOG IN to the forums to read them. There are certain topics ("off topic" is usually a total scream ) that you won't see if you aren't logged in. In my user control I've activated email notification of private messages so I don't miss those.

Have fun! Hope to see you in game at some point.

[disastro]

flatfootedness/uncanny dodge/blind fight are broken enginewise as far as i can tell (confirmed on a mini flame fest on the bioware boards for 1.69... i was briefly part of... yuck).

as far as i can tell, these effects dont work the same way they do in pen and paper.

normal:
in certain situations you are flatfooted, period. you lose your dex and dodge ac bonus. you are subject to sneak attacks.

uncanny:
when being attacked by an unseen character (you are blind or they are invis/hidden), uncanny dodge will let you retain your dex ac. but you are still flatfooted, and you are still subject to sneak attacks, and you still lose your dodge ac. this is in contrast to pen n paper rules, where you are only flatfooted if you have no dex ac, and anything that lets you retain your dex ac prevents you from being flatfooted in the first place. note that there is a long and goofy list of situations where you are flat footed in nwn. caveat dexer.

blind fight:
normally an unseen attacker gets a +4 to hit you (first attack out of invis or hidden, every attack if you are blind). blind fight negates this +4 only as far as i can tell. blind fight does of course have the extra benefit of allowing you an attack reroll on misses due to target concealment.

these are all stock engine features. i've run tests with dex based characters with both blind fight and uncanny, and this pretty much tracks my experience. note that detecting a hidden character via listen skill STILL makes them an unseen attacker! so even though you can "see" them they will still munch up your dex dodge ac and sneak you.

blindness == dexer genocide. listen == dexer genocide.

[Praetor]

Thanks for all the answers and welcomes! Looking forward to meeting you in-game!

[trent]

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to coment on the listen check thingy

"note that detecting a hidden character via listen skill STILL makes them an unseen attacker! so even though you can "see" them they will still munch up your dex dodge ac and sneak you."

It was my understanding when you just "hear" something .. you still can't "see" it. the fact you can see it is due to the game engine. if you notice someone in game that's kinda see-thoughish or behind a door ect. that's the game letting you know you hear this thing and not "see" it.

So I guess my point is ... though you detected a hidden char via listen skill .. doesn't mean you can see them ... you just know something is around. so when this character attacks he's still infact "unseen"

[number one bastard]

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to coment on the listen check thingy

"note that detecting a hidden character via listen skill STILL makes them an unseen attacker! so even though you can "see" them they will still munch up your dex dodge ac and sneak you."

It was my understanding when you just "hear" something .. you still can't "see" it. the fact you can see it is due to the game engine. if you notice someone in game that's kinda see-thoughish or behind a door ect. that's the game letting you know you hear this thing and not "see" it.

So I guess my point is ... though you detected a hidden char via listen skill .. doesn't mean you can see them ... you just know something is around. so when this character attacks he's still infact "unseen"

this is a decent idea, trent, but if it's true, then y if i hear a toon, and they have crippling strike, am i not str drained? just food for thought

[cRaZy8or5e]

The reason is because it isn't a sneak attack as you don't have the character flanked. Can't crip strike without your attack meeting the requirements for being a sneak attack.