Item placement.

[Unknown Soldier]

Hi, I'm a returning fan of Neverwinter Nights, having not played the game in a while. I see SoU has several changes, one of the biggest being the item property amount you're allowed to place on certain items, cloak, ring, etc. So, my question is, what's the best method of item property placement to max out my characters potential? Is there a certain way of creating items that would make a better character? For example, regeneration should only be placed on a particular item, as should Ability Bonus, etc.. Also, is the extra AC point still allowed for boots or was that also changed?

Thanks.

[ 08-27-2003, 01:41 PM: Message edited by: Unknown Soldier ]

[Micah Foehammer]

There is no short answer to this as it depends not only on the class you are trying to optimize for but also on the effects you are trying to achieve. It also depends on whether you are talking about building custom items or using stock items and trying to maximize those.

Here is an example though of how you could achieve what you are asking simply using stock items:

Dwarven fighter - 20th level

Base case
Armor: heavy plate +5 (Armor bonus)
Shield: Tower +3 or ???? (Shield bonus)
Helm: Golden Circlet
Belt: Frost or Fire giant
Boots: Boots of Speed (Dodge AC bonus)
Cloak: Protection +5 (Deflection bonus)
Amulet: Natural Armor +5 (Natural Armor Bonus)
Ring 1: Regeneration +4
Ring 2: Ring of Magical Defense
Bracers: ????

Notice that this maximizes the dwarf's armor class (good idea for a fighter), gives him a strength boost and a massive regenerative capability. You have the golden circlet which does help against mind altering spells and the ring of magical defense for protection against elemental attacks. The Tower shield can be swapped out for a slightly less effective AC shield that will boost strength or provides additional spell protection (mirror shield). If you are willing to reduce AC even further, you can either swap out the Boots of Speed for Boots of Striding +5 or the Amulet of Natural Armor for Amulet of Will +5. The Bracers are left blank as given this choice there are not a lot of strong options here - at least NOT for a dwarf with heavy armor as the bracers of dexterity +5 would be partially wasted. Notice that the weapon slots are not discussed - magical weapons can often supplement some of the character's deficiencies and add stat additions, defensive power, additional immunities and can allow you to swap out these items.

NOW, if you are talking about using custom items to turn the above character into an impregnable bastion of butt-kicking power, check out this:


Augmented

Armor: Heavy Plate +5 (+5 Soak 10)
Shield: Tower +3 plus?
Helm: Immunity: Mind altering spells, disease, poison
Belt: Strength +5 / Con +4
Boots: Haste, Freedom, Improved Evasion, Immunity to Knockdown
Cloak: Protection +5, Immunity to fear
Ring 1: Regeneration +4 / Spell Resistance
Ring 2: Protection against Elemental damage (Reduction 20/0 to ALL forms of elemental damage)
Amulet: +5 Natural Armor AND +5 Saves (Universal)
Bracers: Strength +5 / Con +4

This is only a partial description of what you can do. Notice that, in general, the best way to achieve what you are trying to accomplish is to start with items that have the properties you are looking for.