I write guides on different aspects of Neverwinter Nights 2. This is the second one, but the first I uploaded here (because I need to reformat the Wizard one)
Description
Eldritch Knights are awesome. They combine the best thing in the game, casting spells, with the most fun thing in the game, stabbing people in the face. When most people think of an Eldritch Knight, they think of throwing a fireball and charging into battle. This is stupid, since direct damage spells suck and Eldritch Knights can�t fight worth a damn without buffs. This guide is about real Eldritch Knights with real ultimate power and how to play them.
Races
There are a couple good races for an Eldritch Knight. Those are Human and Dwarf for the Wizard Eldritch Knight, and Human and Human for the Sorcerer Eldritch Knight. If you�re willing to play one of the Bad-Touched races, Aasimars works for Sorcerers and Tieflings for Wizards. I don�t suggest playing an Aasimar though, since the Sorcerer Eldritch Knight is a Paladin and a person can only hold so many sticks up their ass.
Classes
There are two kinds of Eldritch Knight-Wizards and Sorcerers. Bards cast arcane spells, but they�re totally awesome and don�t need levels in Eldritch Knight. Wizards take 2 levels of Fighter, 8 of Wizard, and 10 of Eldritch Knight and cast totally awesome 9th level spells like Disjunction. Some people might like to get more levels of fighter and less of Wizard, but they�re stupid because no amount of bonus feats compares to 9th level spells. I suggest being a Necromancer, because for some reason Blind Sight is Transmutation.
Sorcerers take 2 levels of Paladin, 8 of Sorcerer, and 10 of Eldritch Knight. They trade the bonus feats for Charisma to saves and a stick in their ass (this is an unlisted Paladin class feature). Because WotC hates Sorcerers, they don�t get 9th level spells. I�m not sure what they get in return, since spontaneous spellcasting doesn�t matter when you only cast a couple of each spell every day, but I�m sure it�s something. I�d say their higher Charisma lets them get laid more, but Paladins are prudes and don�t get laid. Some of these Eldritch Knights trade 2 levels of Sorcerer (and, by extension, their precious 8th level spells) for 2 more of Paladin to get +1 BAB and Turn Undead, which allows them to get Divine Power or Divine Shield. They can only get one, because Obsidian didn�t fix Bioware�s screw-up that prevents you from taking a Divine feat if you�re not taking a level in a divine class. I suggest Divine Shield, because your buffs should cover you on damage. You could also be a Blackguard, which is totally better because you get to wear cool armor and don�t have to be a Paladin. Sorcerer/Blackguard/ Eldritch Knights get the full benefit of their high Charisma scores which, contrary to popular belief, is not the huge bonus to saving throws but rather the ability to have good social skills despite eating babies and kicking puppies.
A special note for Aasimars becoming Blackguards: You are an Outsider, and contact with yourself is hopefully going to be peaceful. This doesn�t matter in NWN 2, but in D&D that�s a requirement for the class to make peaceful contact with an evil Outsider.
Oh, and your familiar is a Beetle, because it gives you more HP and you�re a warrior. Standard familiar saving procedures apply.
Feats and Skills
The most important thing to do with feats is to download the fix that allows you to take Practiced Spellcaster. Somehow, it also allows you to take Practiced Spellcaster in online games, which is totally awesome. Once you�ve done that, you take Luck of Heroes as your first level feat because it�s totally awesome. If you�re a Wizard, you took a level of Fighter at 1st level (I don�t know how that works either) and get a bonus feat like Power Attack or Combat Expertise or Knockdown. These are all feats you�re going to have sooner or later, so get whichever one you think is going to be most useful at low levels. If you�re a Sorcerer you took a level of Paladin and don�t get this awesomeness. You might be a Human though, in which case you get it anyway. Your 3rd level feat is Practiced Spellcaster because that�s when you take your first level in a spellcasting class. After that I don�t care as long as you get the right feats, which are Power Attack, Combat Expertise, Knockdown, Improved Knockdown, Extend Spell, and Persistent Spell. If you�re a Sorcerer you don�t get Persistent Spell because WotC hates you and you don�t get 9th level spells. You might want to get Weapon Focus, which you take in some two handed weapon like the Greatsword or Falchion. There�s no reason for you to ever use one handed weapons.
The only skills you care about are Concentration, Spellcraft, and Tumble. You probably have more than that, so go nuts and get Use Magic Device and maybe some other crazy things. Blackguards need 5 ranks in Hide for some reason. Why a heavily armored warrior of darkness needs to be able to hide I don�t know, but I don�t write the rules.
Spells
Level 1: You take Mage Armor and Shield and you rock the house. If you�re a Wizard you take Enlarge Person and hit things really hard. Except for Mage Armor, you�ll be using these spells forever, so get used to it. Ray of Enfeeblement is an awesome debuff spell and you�ll be using it later. Magic Weapon is useful if you have the slots to spare, but you probably don�t so forget about it.
Level 2: You get Mirror Image and False Life and people can�t touch you. Then you get Heroism and make up for most of the BAB you lost. Death Armor is silly at this level but gets good later when it doesn�t run out before you finish casting it. Bull�s Strength, Cat�s Grace, and Bear�s Endurance rock the house and you use them a lot. Blind Sight and Darkness is a great combo that makes other people cry. Ghostly Visage is awesome at this level because most monsters don�t have magic weapons. If you�re a Wizard you scribe a scroll of Combust. This isn�t a really good spell, but it lets you set people on fire.
Level 3: Improved Mage Armor replaces Mage Armor. Note that it stacks with the base armor bonus of your armor (which is a Mithral Chain shirt hopefully made to reduce spell failure) but not the enhancement bonus. It gives +6 as of patch 1.03. Greater Magic Weapon is awesome and you love it and memorize it every day. Spiderskin gives you more AC, and you love AC. It also does some other stuff that�s useful and makes you look cool. Displacement is good for one level until you get Greater Invisibility. Haste will be useful once you can Extend it or are high enough level that it doesn�t go away in 10 seconds. You also want Keen Edge. Rage does something silly like give you someone else�s best class feature for a single spell. Level 3 spells are the ones you really won�t have enough of, which is why Wizards are best and scribe lots of scrolls.
Level 4: Even though Wizards don�t get these until level 10 and Sorcerers level 11, they still rock. It has silly things like Stoneskin and Greater Invisibility that make people not hurt you, Elemental Shield which kicks people in the nuts whenever they hit you, Wall of Fire and Black Tentacles that let you control the battlefield, and Enervation which never misses and makes people weaker.
Level 5: At this level you get things like Mind Blank (Lesser) and Spell Mantle (Lesser) and that�s it. You also get Interposing Hand which makes people miss and Firebrand which is the only damaging spell you ever use. You�ll probably use this level for Extended 4th level spells.
Level 6: At this level you can get Acid Fog and Forceful Hand to make people cry, Globe of Invulnerability Etherealness and Greater Stoneskin to make you unstoppable, and Transformation to turn you into a killing machine. You might also use Stone Body prior to using Transformation because it�s not like you�re going to be casting spells anyway. There�s also Greater Heroism which you cast before every fight, ever.
Level 7: This gives you Energy Immunity, which you use for Acid so you can stand in an Acid Fog and not get hurt. Later you use it for Fire and Incendiary Cloud, but that�s still 4 levels away. You also get Grasping Hand to make people stay away, Shadow Shield to protect you from the mean Necromancers, and Ethereal Jaunt to buff up while enemies look around going �WTF?�
Level 8: For protection you now have Protection from Spells and Iron Body if you ever want to risk it. You also get Incendiary Cloud which you stand in while immune to fire and make people take an extra 8d6 damage. Clenched Fist is used to make people cry while you stab them in the face. The only useful Divination spells are at this level, but you took Divination as your barred school and don�t care. Create Greater Undead gives you a friend who helps you stab people.
Level 9: Only Wizards get these spells because WotC hates Sorcerers. You can do fun things like Disjoin people who rely on buffs or Summon an Elemental to help you or use Crushing Hand to remove people from the fight and slowly kill them. You might sometimes use Shapechange, which is like Transformation on crack if you use the right form. If Energy Drain ever gets fixed it�s another awesome debuff, otherwise it sucks and you never take it.
Fighting People for Fun and Profit (Mostly Profit)
Clerics and Druids: These guys like to buff up to insane levels and hit you in the face. You don�t like being hit in the face, so you cast Greater Dispel Magic or Disjunction and laugh at them, followed by stabbing them. If they drop something crazy like a Save or Die you laugh because you�re a Wizard and are immune to it. Note that they�re better than you at fighting, but you can dispel them so you don�t care. They can dispel you too, but your spells are better. By a bit, anyway. You might win these matches if you�re smarter than your opponent.
Fighters, Barbarians, and Other Brutes: These guys probably fight better than you, but if you buff up you�re better. However, you should make good use of your battlefield control and debuff spells to make them suck before stabbing them in the face. As long as you�re smart you win.
Rogues and Assassins: These guys stab you in the back when you�re not looking, so you can�t prepare for a fight. But you can cast Ethereal Jaunt and then kill them. If you can�t cast Ethereal Jaunt you�re dead. Stone Body and friends makes you immune to Sneak Attack, so enjoy it. If you get lucky and don�t die before you can make yourself immune to them you�re good to go.
Bards: Bards are like you, but with worse spells and a better singing voice. You dispel their buffs and hit them in the face. Watch out for Curse Song since it screws you over. You might want to Enervate and Enfeeble them before engaging. I don�t know who�d win this fight.
Wizards and Sorcerers: These guys are like you but they cast spells better and go �squish� when you stab them. Therefore, you want to dispel their doom buffs and stab them in the face. Hopefully they don�t kill you before you can start spamming Knockdown. Don�t get your hopes up though.
Other Eldritch Knights: The mirror match is tough. You Dispel them and debuff them, and hope you take down more of their buffs than they take off of yours. Don�t bother with battlefield control, since they�re not going to be meleeing you until you�re screwed over. If they�re not smart you win, but that�s standard in a mirror match.
I don't know if it's because this was written before some updates to the game mechanics came along, or because the author is just speaking out of his ass, but there's a lot in here that is plain wrong. ("Only Wizards get [level 9 spells]..." for instance)
Eldritch Knights are useless; they are worse fighters than the figther types, and they suck when it comes to magic. I don't see the point of them.
Cootie, I believe the problem is that there is a hard-coded limit to the total number of different classes a single character can have; which I thought was 3, but might be 4.
GameBanshee writes that if you have Martial weapons proficiency and are able to cast 3rd level arcane spells your character can become an Eldritch Knight. My character is a 3rd level fighter, 1st level barbarian, 2nd level warlock and a 6 sorcerer. It can cast 3rd level spells and has martial weapons profficiency. However, in the leveling up procedure I don't get a chance to get the Eldritch Knight upgrade. Where's the problem? Is that 'cause of this character class mixture?
Posted by DirtyFinger at 2007-09-11 09:01:48 Voted 2.00 on 09/11/07
While the Strategy behind this build might have some merits, the infantile writing-style totally ruins any credibility to this guide.
"Only Wizards get these spells because WotC hates Sorcerers."
Too often the reason given for a build-decision is merely "because it's awesome" or other non-explanations, which don't really add to the quality of his guide.
"[..]This is stupid, since direct damage spells suck ..."
Personal preferences do have their place in a guide, but not as debile as:
"I don�t suggest playing an Aasimar though, since the Sorcerer Eldritch Knight is a Paladin and a person can only hold so many sticks up their ass. "
The last quote pretty much describes the author himself, if his attitude shown in this guide isn't just a failed attempt at humor.
Well, a good bet is to hit them with a good Breach spell, or Disjunction if you can. After that, you hit them with an action denial spell that functions off Reflex, like Grease. Black Tentacles works too, but I don't think that's a Reflex save. Really, anything to keep them from casting spells at you works, since you'll be better than them in melee once you've dispelled their buffs. After that you try to guess if they have Energy Immunity on and which one, and drop either Acid Fog or Incendiary Cloud, followed by fighting them. You might want to soften them up with Firebrand if they don't have Energy Immunity: Fire up. Basically, anything you can do to deny them more actions than you take to cast the spell is good. Improved Knockdown with Enlarge Person gives you an extra +8 to the check beyond your Str bonus, so that always helps. _________________________ Eldritch Knight
I'd like to hear a serious strategy against clerics and druids. Since their weakest save is usually reflex (clerics at least), most save or die spells vs clerics are not that effective.
That is only true if you assume every module is set up like the OC's rest rule. Unfortunately that's not the case. On many servers where you may have to fight clerics or druids you will not have rest anytime rules. Buffs will run out, and you also do not have infinite number of spell slots to prepare the specific spell (spell mantles, I take it?) to counter their attacks. That is not true immunity, especially as mantles do not last long.
Buffs do last forever in this game, since you can rest pretty much whenever you want and it only takes 6 seconds. _________________________ Eldritch Knight
How are you immune to Cleric's/Druid's save or die spells because 'you're a wizard'?? Spell protection buffs don't last forever; that's far from being an immune.
Ah, but fighting doesn't limit you. If you're in melee, you aren't using your spell slots. Going again with my character (who has a 14 Str base since I didn't want to cut corners on Wisdom and Charisma), I'll have 18 base Str at level 20. With Bull's Strength, 22. Damage 2d6+9+3 (enlarge person)+2 (adamantine)+5 (weapon), or 2d6+19, averaging 25. With 5 attacks per round (haste), at +36/+36/+31/+26/+21, assuming an opponent with AC 40 and immunity to critical hits for the sake of me having to finish this and go to lunch, I do an average of 68.75 damage per round, without having to use any spell slots beyond those for buffs. Assuming the enemy makes the save for your spell... let's say 25% of the time, you deal 52.5 damage per round, while expending spell slots. Obviously, this is much less effecient. Now, direct damage isn't always bad-against hordes of enemies Firebrand works wonders to soften them up first. But it's never used as a kill, always to make your job easier. Of course, Black Tentacles+Incendiary Cloud also works for that. _________________________ Eldritch Knight
Posted by Magius_Black at 2006-12-13 07:48:11 Voted 4.50 on 12/12/06
As a suggestion, could you post your character .bic file? I'd love to take a look at how it works in-game.
As for your argument against direct damage spells, I'm not convinced. Sure, it's 70 dmg. Assuming you're referring to delayed blast fireball, that's 70 dmg to a bunch of opponents, not one.
Besides, assuming you go for a 4 attack/round build using a greatsword, that'll be 2d6 + 5 + (Str bonus x 1.5). Let's just say your Str is 16. With Bull's, that'll be 20.
So that'll be 7 + 5 + 7.5 (not sure whether NWN2 engine rounds up or down), which will be 19.5 per hit. Assuming you hit all the time, that'll be 78 dmg per round. With haste, that's 97.5 dmg per round to a single target. Not bad but this is assuming you hit on all your attacks. If you miss on your last 2 attacks, with haste you'll deal 58.5 dmg.
All in all, I'd say direct damage spells and buffing are equally valid, which is why I disagree on your assessment that direct damage spells suck.
PS: It's commendable that you don't vote for yourself. Heh!
I just realized something that I had ommited. The Harper Agent allows a sorcerer to get 9th level spells and 16 BAB. Sadly, it costs 2 useless feats (Alertness and Iron Will), and a bunch of skill points, and it only gets you one 9th level spell, but it's better than nothing. Although if you want that you don't get to be a Paladin and you don't get that huge bonus on saving throws.
As for a monk of the same level? Well, I'll compare at level 10, since I have a character of that level following what I wrote here. With the following equipment, I have an AC of 32, an attack routine of +14/+14/+9, and damage of 2d6+12, with an additional 6 if I use Power Attack. The items are a Greatsword (nonmagical, buffed with GMW), Chain Shirt (nonmagical), Belt of Haste, Ring of Protection +3, Boots of Hardiness +1, Gloves of Dexterity +2, and a Cloak and Ring that don't contribute to combat. Stats are Str 16, Dex 16 (18), Con 14, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 8, as a Tiefling Fighter 2/Wizard 6/Eldritch Knight 1. Buffed with Spiderskin, Heroism, Greater Magic Weapon, False Life, Mage Armor, Extended Bull's Strength, Extended Shield, Enlarge Person, and Mirror Image. After buffing switch armor to Chain Shirt. Armor class of 32 (10 +4 shield +4 armor +4 mage armor +3 Dex +3 Spiderskin +1 Boots +3 Ring +1 haste -1 size), attack routine of +14/+14/+9 (+6 BAB +4 Str +2 magic +2 Heroism +1 haste -1 size), and damage of 2d6+12 (2d6 base +7 Str +2 magic +3 enlarge person), which I can turn into 2d6+18 with Power Attack. Hp is about 100 or so, with 77 of that being actual hp.
Paragraph break for the sake of your eyes...
Someone want to build a 10th level (making sure to account for Level Adjustment) Monk with the same level of equipment to compare? It would be better for my argument if I wasn't the one to construct the Monk.
New topic, direct damage. The reason direct damage sucks is rather simple. Damage per spell increases by 3.5 per level (1d6 averages to 3.5), while hp increases by an average of 8 per level before Constitution. If we assume that you are, at 20th level, fighting someone with 14 Con and a d8 (average) Hit Die, they have 200 hp. A spell that does 20d6 averages to 70 damage, meaning that, supposing they fail every save, it takes 3 spells to kill them. If they save against half of the spells, each does an average of 46 2/3 damage, meaning it takes over 4 spells to kill them. If you use save or dies, with the same rate of them making their save, they die in an average of 2 spells. I can do comparisons at other levels as well, if you'd like.
Also, I successfully resisted the urge to vote for myself. _________________________ Eldritch Knight
Posted by Phil Norris at 2006-12-12 18:54:40 Voted 10.00 on 12/12/06
Awesome. Not only right on, but the funniest thing I've read in a while. I'm playing a human W5/F1/EK4 (W8/F2/EK10 to be) that seriously regrets not specializing. I love playing a wizard and agree with some of the other posts regarding spells when playing a wizard, but the EK is about the buffs, debuffs and fighting, preferably dual-weilding custom katanas.
As for the my character against the monk of the same level, I'd haste and true strike. Getting stuck in the face six times in a round @ 1d10 plus elemental does some damage.
I'm voting a 10.00 (with the new rating system in mind), because I think this is the Eldritch Knight. I enjoyed your writing style, too.
Well, comic value is somewhat high, I'll give you that much, however I feel your work is yet to be completed, and until then I shall not vote.
How do you think your builds would fare against a pure monk of the same level? _________________________ God created Man, and in return Man created God
Posted by Magius_Black at 2006-12-12 10:15:35 Voted 4.50 on 12/12/06
Based on the voting standards, I'd say it deserves a 4.5. For comedic value alone though, I'd give it an 8 but since we're not voting for comedy, I'll stick with 4.5 for now. I'd be happy to revise my vote if you release a version 2 of this guide. :)
A decent guide but you seem to cover only the buffing aspect of the Eldritch Knight. I'd say a 10/10 Wiz/EK with a greater spell focus on evocation can cause a world of hurt with direct damage spells while still be more than capable with multiple buffs for up-close and personal combat. Besides, with the pretty Meteor Swarm animation in the game, it'll be a shame not to use it if you can. One thing I don't understand though. Why Luck of Heroes? I'd think there'll be more useful feats for you to take rather than that.
If I'm making a pure damage dealer (ignoring all those wonderful social skills like diplomacy, etc), I'd go for a 10/10 Wiz/EK with the following general build.
Start as a human with 14 Str, 14 Dex, 14 Con and 15 Int. As you level, pump Int all the way. For increased DC, use Fox's Cunning. Still metamagic feat taken for increased flexibility in spell slot selection.
Level Feats
1 Weapon Proficiency (Martial), Spell Casting Prodigy
3 Toughness
6 Armor Proficiency (Light) - for the sweet armor later on...
9 Craft Magical Arms and Armor
12 Spell Focus A
15 Greater Spell Focus A
18 Craft Wondrous Items
Level Bonus Feats (Wizard)
5 Extend Spell
10 Still Spell
Spell List (Incomplete but used as a general guide and based on my playing style)
1. Magic Missile, Shield, Protection From Alignment, Identify, True Strike
2. Bear's Endurance, Cat's Grace, Bull's Strength, Fox's Cunning, Knock, Gust of Wind
3. Improved Mage Armor, Haste, Greater Magic Weapon, Keen Edge, Protection from Energy, Dispell Magic
4. Stoneskin, Greater Invisibility, Ice Storm, Elemental Shield, Lesser Spell Breach
5. Firebrand, Cloudkill, Vitriolic Sphere, Cone of Cold
6. Isaac Greater Missile Storm, True Seeing, Chain Lightning, Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Spell Breach
7. Prismatic Spray, Shadow Shield, Spell Mantle
8. Premonition, Mind Blank, Horrid Wilting
9. Mordenkainen's Disjunction, Wail of Banshee, Meteor Swarm
Posted by Alex Hugon at 2006-12-12 09:46:00 Voted 8.25 on 12/12/06
Posted by Miric_Asgard at 2006-12-12 04:48:51 Voted 4.00 on 12/12/06
I hate to be mean but, this hurt my head to read. Some of your points you provide no justification as to why you made them.
Oh, and explain how direct damage spells are not good? If I recall, when fighting most the mobs in the campaign, the only thing that really was reliable for me was Missile Storm. Granted, buffing is a nice way to go, but having no direct damage spells, which is what you imply with Sorceror, is a really bad idea.
Posted by rykard at 2006-12-12 02:18:01 Voted 6.00 on 12/12/06
It certainly is 1 way to do it. The wizard write-up is good, however you can still get 9th level spells with a sorceror if you leave the stick out of your ass and go sorceror 10 ek 10. You have to be a dex fighter for this to work and also waste a feat on martial weapons but you dont really need practiced spellcaster for the 1 level you lose as an ek. The dex gives you good ba and decent ac, and since you love ac and ba (for stabing people in the face and not getting stabbed yourself it works out... I don't recomend going for the maximum dual-wield as it wastes your limited feats (not an issue with the wizard build as you get extras). The buff up and debuff your enemies strategy is right on, but I found my offensive spells fairly effective even when compared to pure sorcerors and wizards and of course I had far superior stabbing abilities... With the 10/10 build you are basically a bard with far better spells so the loss of a single possible attack wasn't too terrible. All in all I prefer the wizard build as it allows you to get a bit more of the best of both worlds (you can play max buff melee crazy or if your get a wild hair, finger wiggling crazy). The wizard dex fighter can also forego the fighter levels for a more focused caster, but I say screw it and just take practiced spellcaster and drive on... for those of you playing the OC, you can wait and take neverwinter nine instead of your last fighter level if it makes you happy since we now have 4 classes to play with (it isn't as good as a fighter level but if you are interested in doing it just for the sake of story you only lose 2 hp and a feat and your companions get a little buff). When you are out buying items, don't forget to get a good strength item since you will still be very interested in damage... If you go with the fighter method you can also consider a shield... a mithril heavy shield has a 0% arcane failure and you can get that extra 5 shield ac (you would have to make a tower shield in the toolset or find a recipe I missed someplace to undo the whole -50%). Also it is very possible to craft mithril plate and add in the reduction to arcane failure as well so your spells work... In the early levels I just buffed before the fight and didn't cast offensive spells so regular full plate and a tower shield were my friends. I still used the rapier as its base damage isn't that much worse than a longsword but the crit range makes it more useful (at least in the early game).
Good job on the write-up... I hope to see more.
Posted by coreyh2 at 2006-12-12 01:12:13 Voted 8.00 on 12/12/06
This is awesome.
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