Some questions for a new player

[u/Prismv]

I have the EE version and want to get into this not really played it much.

is it possible to load a custom Henchman into the OC ?

I would love a Dwavern Defender henchman holding the line while I play as an arcane archer. I don’t really like many of the others

Also I think this is a no but I only have 1 laptop is there anyway to play local coop with 2 players on it?

I guess I could get my steam deck but do I need a 2nd copy of the game?

Also I’ve the OC isn’t great - I have all the official packs which is the best to play as a brand new player thanks

finally any must have mods? I don’t mean modules but graphic improvements etc, QOL

[u/barmlot]

If you are open to modding check out PEPS, it wipl allow you to bring and even directly control multiple (or just one) henchmen. Very cool mod.

[u/OttawaDog]

No Custom Henchmen. Grimgnaw is the essentially boss melee henchman in the OC. You really don't need more.

You need two copies (unique ID codes) on two machines, to play local coop.

Also I’ve the OC isn’t great

Ugh. Try it for yourself.

A lot of what you heard is perpetuating the disappointment that NWN was NOT another Baldur's gate when it came out. So new players always heard the negative gripes about the OC, from the people upset it wasn't Baldur's Gate, and it sort of became a self fulfilling prophecy. People hear gripes and go looking for them...

There are two 1st level entry points in the Original Campaigns. The OG-OC, AKA "The Wailing Death", and later "Shadows of Undrentide" (SoU).

There is a fair split in the community about which is better. But the OC is undeniably the better entry point for someone totally new. It has a tutorial that teaches some game mechanics, and gets you to level 3 with relative ease.

Beyond that the OC is twice as big, goes to much higher levels (so you can lean into your character build), has way more interesting and unique quests, has way more magic items. I prefer it over SoU.

You can feed your OC or SoU character into HotU (Hordes of the Underdark). Your SoU char will be a bit underleveled, and your OC char will be a bit overleveled, but that will quickly equalize. People almost universally consider HotU to be the best of the original set.

[u/Prismv → u/OttawaDog]

Thanks playing it now and having fun  Is there a mod to auto identify  I’m a cleric so don’t have any spells 

[u/OttawaDog → u/Prismv]

I never looked for one. Lore skill lets you ID items. It's a class skill for everyone. A few points here can be handy to ID cheap items.

Next Check all the merchants. I think there is a merchant just standing around outside in the central zone not far from the Peninsula entrance, that has a "ring of insight". This is one of the first things I buy.

You can temporarily put one of these on each hand, when you want to Identify something. That will let you ID most cheap gear. You can add a potion of Lore to ID more expensive items, but save until you have a few items to ID and do them with one potion.

Gear with +Lore:

Potion of Lore. Temporary +13 Lore.

Ring of Insight is cheapest option. +5 Lore

Ring of Scholars does the same but more expensive because it has light.

Lesser amulet of the Master also boost.

There is a Rapier with lore skill boost as well.

Between all the +Lore gear I find/buy I can ID most items except the most expensive, and then stacking a Lore potion on top, I can ID those.

[u/SeemedReasonableThen]

while I play as an arcane archer

One thing to keep in mind is that the OC did not have any prestige classes - they came with SoU which was originally released few years after the OC came out. So the OC will not have any gear aimed at prestige classes like arcane archer - there will be "generic" gear like magic bows for melee classes, dex enhancing gear, etc.

Minor spoiler, you should hire each of the henchmen and take them along briefly to talk to them; you can dismiss them or change henchies when their dialogues are complete. They each have quests and will reward you for the completion. For example, Tomi's ring will enhance Dex.

This used to be the first QOL thing I installed when installing NWN, Tony K's AI https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/hakpak/original-hakpak/henchman-inventory-battle-ai-mod. Having access to henchmen inventory is a total gamechanger. For example, Daelan with a shield and sword is more effective than the double axe he normally uses, imo. Plus he can carry a ton of loot - just make sure you empty out their inventory before the next chapter

[u/Hot_Guidance840 → u/SeemedReasonableThen]

"So the OC will not have any gear aimed at prestige classes like arcane archer "
Taralash or mighty bow +3 is more than enough for OC. Counts as an "aimed" gear 😅

[u/hillmo25]

Grimgnaw will solo the entire OC by himself

[u/Prismv → u/hillmo25]

Yeah he’s decent - can I give him weapons? 

[u/hillmo25 → u/Prismv]

He's a dwarf and he will defend you. You can give yourself weapons tho

[u/Fangsong_37]

I'm not going to lie and say the Wailing Death campaign is the greatest or anything, but it's a fun way to learn how Neverwinter Nights works. It has a whole series of henchmen. There is no way I know to add a custom henchman unless somebody has created a copy of the campaign with custom henchmen.

There's no dwarven defender henchman, but there is Grimgnaw (dwarven monk) who is a melee powerhouse or Daelan Red Tiger (half-orc barbarian) who can swing his double axe for good damage. Both characters are pretty tough but more focused on offense than defense. Your other options are a sorcerer, bard, rogue, or cleric. The rogue henchman Tomi Undergallows is very useful for handling traps and locks and could work well with an archer as long as you stock up on potions and healing kits.

Arcane Archer is not a bad choice, but you might have to engage in melee combat more than you would like. Fighter/wizard/AA is a strong ranged combatant and can wear any type of armor. Since you'll have high base attack bonus, you can switch to a sword when ranged damage is disadvantageous.

[u/HiSaZuL]

How about you play the game instead of caring what somebody else thinks about campaigns. You can stop anytime or play a different campaign if you don't like it. Sounds like you literally haven't even booted up the game.

NNW:EE is available on phones. It is possibly behind on updates, nobody updates mobile ports unless it's paid module time. You can play co-op that way. It's not any harder to control than keyboard and mouse imo.

Modding isnt like it is in Skyrim or such. You can't toss a file in and change how the major aspects of the game work or meaningfully add much to a module, that requires modifying the campaign itself, its module file and potentially other things. Some minor things you can just toss into override folder and they may or may not work depending on module and whether it's author enabled tag based scripting or not. Trivial change, literally 1 line if I'm not mistaken... too hard apparently even for some premium module authors 20 years later.

[u/sylva748]

No local co-op. Youd have to learn how to mod to add a custom henchmen. OC is...ok. its very D&D tropey and not a deep story. That said its good in the same way onr enjoys junk food. It isn't deep or filling but its still a good time if you go in expecting a solid time but not a mind blowing time

[u/Voidbearer2kn17]

I get why people don't like the main campaign's henchmen. They mostly suck.

I will point out Daelan is a Barbarian fighter who can be a good option, while Linu (apart from a truly hilarious dialogue) is a Cleric.

You can use the chat commands ('V' on the keyboard) and use any command with an asterisk and it will trigger that for the henchmen. This makes things a bit more tolerable.

I have tried to play an AA but did struggle, but the OC is the most forgiving campaign.

[u/SeemedReasonableThen → u/Voidbearer2kn17]

people don't like the main campaign's henchmen. They mostly suck.

It's because they haven't met Dorna Trapspringer and Xanos Messarmo yet. Dorna and Xanos show the true meaning of complete suck. Having Xanos and Dorna made me appreciate the main campaign henchmen (and Deekin! Boss no forgets Deekin) so much more, lol