Hail, members of the ECB! I have been the most active member of this guild lately, a small and easy-to-accomplish feat, given my 2-year hiatus, so I thought I would pitch in a little of the knowledge I gained from you guys.

In my experience, being in the ECB requires, beyond above average intelligence, a significant amount of pre-existing knowledge for a member to be able to understand what to many of you may seem obvious. I have suffered from this in the past, like when I posted a DEX Ranger, and I didn't even know what Epic Dodge was . I didn't play online until very recently, so I had nobody to discuss ideas with and to learn from, like Avado learned from Stryder. This mini-article is aimed at the beginners, newbies that do not understand what is relevant and what is not, what works and what does not, which classes have best synergies, and which ones do not work well together. It is a thorough guide that will hopefully diminish the existing gap of knowledge between the elders of the guild and the newcomers.

As a general rule, I will try to divide the process into steps, but at any given point, you may realize that something doesn't work like you wanted it to, or even have a better idea that will require you to change something in the previous steps. If that is the case, don't be afraid to do so, the entire build should be revisited and revised multiple times, even after you consider it's ready. Experimenting is the best way to learn.

If during the process, a question that you don't know the answer to pops up, go to NWN WIKI to find the answer. It's the most reliable source of information you'll find. Now let's get to it!


1- COMING UP WITH A CHARACTER CONCEPT:


The first thing you wanna do when building a character is come up with a character concept, and it may come in many ways. If you are a more RP-oriented player, then perhaps you'll have an idea for a character you'd like to roleplay. If you are an action player, perhaps there is a new class combo you want to explore, or if you are like me, BOTH! One thing is for certain: if you are truly an Epic Character Builder, you want to POWERBUILD!

So now that you've defined what you want to play (FOR EXAMPLE: I want to RP an elven barbarian / I want to explore the synergies between Clerics and Monks), what's next?

Next you need to understand that, building for level 40, there is no case in which a character won't benefit from having a second class. A Fighter / Weapon Master is much stronger than a Fighter, a Ranger / Rogue is much stronger than a Ranger, etc.. You get the point. Anyway, now that you've chosen your second class, what's next?

Similarly to the prior statement, there are VERY FEW CASES in which a character won't benefit from having a third class. That happens because of skill dumps (this means that if you take 10 levels of Fighter and then 1 of Rogue, as long as you have enough skill points, you can raise your skills as high as those of a Rogue 11), complementary class features and sometimes requirements for Epic Feats.

FOR EXAMPLE: A Cleric / Monk is very strong if made a DEX build, because Monks add WIS to AC when not wearing armor / shield, and Clerics' casting is divine, which is WISDOM-based. Also, the Cleric has many AB (Attack Bonus) and damage buffs (Divine Power, Divine Favor, Darkfire, Greater Magic Weapon, etc...), so being a DEX-based character doesn't mean you won't do damage, but you will still have a high AC.

Now any DEX build will benefit GREATLY from having Epic Dodge. As all the elders know, Epic Dodge requires Tumble 30+, DEX 25+, Improved Evasion and Defensive Roll. They also know Monks get Improved Evasion at level 9 and Tumble as a class skill. Now that only leaves Defensive Roll. There are 2 classes that get it: Rogue and Shadowdancer. Rogue gets UMD and Sneak Attack, which are nice, but you need at least 10 levels to have access to Defensive Roll, and that will hurt your casting ability and make you dispellable. Plus, many of the Rogue's Skills are also Monk skills, and there is XP penalty involved because these are 3 base classes. Shadowdancer, on the other hand, gives you Defensive Roll at level 5, and also has HiPS (Hide in Plain Sight, which allows you to hide after attacking a creature), which is VERY USEFUL for any DEX-based character that has Hide, Move Silently. I have actually posted a build using this class combo, and I'll use it as reference throughout this article, so here's the link: The Shadow Priest

As you can see, there's a lot of thinking involved in building characters. Hope you're up for the challenge!


2- DEFINING THE OPTIMAL SPREAD:


This is where its starts to get tricky. The character spread is the number of levels of each class you take throughout the build. In "The Shadow Priest", it's Cleric (26) / Monk (9) / Shadowdancer (5). The pre-epic spread is the number of levels of each class you will take from level 1 to level 20 (In "The Shadow Priest" it's Cleric 16 / Monk 4).

To define your spread, you need to take many things under consideration. Here's a rough list:

- BAB (Base Attack Bonus) PROGRESSION: This is the rate at which your character gains AB. For the first 20 levels, it is class-related, meaning that the number of AB points you will gain depends on which class you choose. From level 21 to level 40, it progresses at a rate of 1 point every two character levels, regardless of class (you gain 1 point of AB every odd level: 21, 23, 25 etc..).

For the first 20 levels (commonly referred to as PRE-EPIC, hence the term pre-epic spread), there are 3 different BAB progressions, which for the sake of simplicity I'll refer to as good, average and bad:

- Good: 1 BAB per level. The classes that get this progression get 4 attacks per round at level 20, each attack at -5 from the previous one. Here's a list of the classes that have this progression: Arcane Archer, Barbarian, Blackguard, Champion of Torm, Dwarven Defender, Fighter, Paladin, Purple Dragon Knight, Ranger, Weapon Master.

- Average: +3/4 BAB per level (This means that every 4 levels you take in that class, you gain 3 points of BAB distributed as follows: level 1 = +0, levels 2, 3 and 4 = +1 each). The classes that get this progression will have 3 attacks per round at level 20, each at -5 from the previous one. Here's a list of the classes that have this progression: Assassin, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Harper Scout, Monk*, Red Dragon Disciple, Rogue, Shadowdancer, Shifter.

* Monks have a singular AB progression when they're unarmed or wielding a Kama, but since it's so different from the general rule, it's best left for later (or never ).

- Bad: +1/2 BAB per level (This means that every 2 levels you take in that class, you gain 1 point of BAB distributed as follows: odd levels = +0, even levels = +1 each). The classes that get this progression will have 2 attacks per round at level 20, each at -5 from the previous one. Here's a list of the classes that have this progression: Pale Master, Sorcerer, Wizard.

Now as a general rule, once you've decided your final spread, in terms of AB you want to fit as many levels of the class(es) that have the best BAB progression as you can without hurting your spread before level 20. By combining classes in the first 20 levels you'll get a different number of attacks per round. The MAXIMUM PRE-EPIC BAB IS 20. You get that if you only take classes with a good BAB progression until level 20. Similarly, the MINIMUM PRE-EPIC BAB IS 10. In terms of attacks per round, they are defined by your pre-epic BAB. Once you are level 21+, your BAB will continue to grow, but you won't get any extra attacks per round. Here's a table of how it works (level 20 numbers):

-PRE-EPIC BAB 10 = 2 attacks per round
-PRE-EPIC BAB BETWEEN 11 AND 15 = 3 attacks per round
-PRE-EPIC BAB BETWEEN 16 AND 20 = 4 attacks per round

In "The Shadow Priest" build it doesn't matter, since all three classes have the same progression, but on a Fighter 12 / Weapon Master 25 / Rogue 3, it's best you avoid taking the first Rogue until after level 20, lest you lose 1 AB for nothing. On another build with the same classes, but a different approach, say a Fighter 14 / Weapon Master 7 / Rogue 19, DEX-based with Epic Dodge and Self Concealment 5. You can go Fighter 9, Weapon Master 7, Rogue 4 pre-epic and lose only 1 BAB, saving up Fighter Bonus Feats to take important feats on epic levels. Like I said, this is only one of the many factors that need to be taken into account when defining your pre-epic spread and level 40 spread.

- SAVING THROWS (A.K.A. Saves: Fortitude, Reflex, Will): Similarly to the BAB progression, the saves also stack up during the first 20 levels and then grow constantly from levels 21 to 40. Each class has 1 or 2 Primary saves (Monks have 3 ), which grow at a higher rate than the other ones, and generally a weak save too, which will grow very slowly. If you've understood the mechanism behind the BAB progression, it's the same logic, only applied to saves. If that's still not enough for ya, here's the link to a full explanation at NWN WIKI

I have never given much attention to the saves progression, but it can be useful as a tie breaker if you're undecided on your pre-epic spread.

- SKILLS AND FEATS: You have to decide which skills and feats you want to have, check the requirements to try to define the MINIMUM number of levels of each class you need. If you want Divine Shield on a build that has Paladin, for example, you need at least 3 levels of Paladin, because it requires Turn Undead, which Paladins only get at level 3. Many classes gain bonus feats as they advance in levels, with Monk being the most remarkable one. At level 1, they get Cleave, Evasion, Improved Unarmed Strike, Monk AC bonus, Flurry of Blows, Stunning Fist; at level 2 Deflect Arrows; at 3 Monk Speed and Still Mind; at 5 Purity of Body; at 6 Knockdown and Improved Knockdown; at 7 Wholeness of Body; at 9 Improved Evasion, so on and so forth. Some of these feats aren't really that useful, like Still Mind and Wholeness of Body, others, such as Improved Evasion, KD / IKD, etc.. are AWESOME! You have to decide what you're going for and then define the minimum level for that class, and do the same for each of the 3 classes.

It's important to try to maximize your gains by trying to end on a specific level that gives you something. As an example of that, Weapon Master 30 is the same as Weapon Master 28. So a Fighter 10 / Weapon Master 30 is weaker than a Fighter 12 Weapon Master 28, because the latter gets one extra feat with fighter 12 while losing nothing. Similarly, the same Fighter 12 Weapon master 28 is weaker than a Fighter 12 / Weapon Master 25 / Rogue 3 because the latter gets Evasion, Uncanny Dodge, 2d6 Sneak Attack damage, Tumble AC, UMD (Use Magic Device), while losing 1 AB and 1 Epic Toughness (The last Weapon Master Bonus Feat leaves you nothing to choose from). Optimizing a build means trying to attain the best possible benefits from that class combo.

In "The Shadow Priest " build, I wanted Improved Evasion because it's a requirement for Epic Dodge, so 9 Levels of Monk was enough. Same thinking with the Shadowdancer, I wanted Defensive Roll, so 5 levels were all I needed. As for the Cleric, I wanted undispellability and all the spells, so I needed 25 Levels at the very least. So there was 1 extra level. What to do with it? The answer is simple: PRIORITIZE. In this case, Monk 10 would give me +1 AC, Shadowdancer 6 would give me nothing, and Cleric 26 would give me 1 Epic Bonus feat and 1 more caster level. Easy choice: Cleric.


3- SELECTING YOUR STARTING STATS:


I usually don't start thinking about starting stats until I have a pretty good idea of what the character is gonna be like. It doesn't necessarily mean you need to wait until you've defined your spread, but for the sake of organization I'm making this my number 3 step. The truth is that you think about this somewhere inbetween defining your spread and pre-epic spread. It all has to come together and that's what is important. Again what you do here is try to define the minimum of each attribute that you'll need to be able to get all the feats, skills and spells that you want and then PRIORITIZE when distributing the leftovers.


4- SELECTING OF FEATS AND ATTRIBUTE POINT DISTRIBUTION:


As for selecting feats, Cinnabar Din created a topic quoting Mithdradates on very good advice about feat selection. I doubt I could do better myself in explanation, and there's no need to be repetitive, so I'll just direct you to the topic: Click Here

Selecting the Attribute point distribution can be easy in some builds and somewhat complicated in others. You need to know a few things in order to make the correct decisions:

- Requirements for Feats you want your character to have;

- Skills, feats and class features that require a certain minimum attribute score to be used. Spells, for example require a certain ability to be 10 + Spell Level in order for you to be able to cast them. Each class has its own primary casting ability: Wizards use INTELLIGENCE, Sorcerers and Bards use CHARISMA, Paladins, Clerics, Druids and Rangers use WISDOM.

Remember you gain one modifier every 2 ability points spent (or Greater Ability feats taken), so there is little point in ending the build with an odd score on any ability unless it's a requirement for something. Even then it's probably better to get one more increase for a higher modifier. Only end on odd scores if you REALLY CAN'T AVOID IT!!!!

In the "Shadow Priest" build, I wanted to get enough Wisdom to cast all Cleric spells as soon as possible. I was going to wait until Cleric 23 to take Great Wisdom 1 with the Cleric Bonus Feat, but then I found out I could also take Armor Skin with that feat, so I chose to swap them. I wanted to put as many points in DEXTERITY as possible while being able to cast all Cleric spells. I could've ended on WISDOM 19, but with the Monk AC bonus, WISDOM 20 gave me +1 AC.


5- DEFINING THE LEVEL-UP ORDER:


Now it's time to define which class to take on which level. That is very important for you character to grow and heavily impacts playability. The order in which you choose to level up can prevent or grant you the possibility to attain a certain desired feat. You have to revise which class features are attained at which level and then establish your priorities. You also need to consider skill updates and / or skill dumps and at which levels they'll be most effective. But before even that, you have to consider WHICH CLASS TO START WITH! As a general rule, you need to start with the class that has the most skill points, because at level 1, the skill points received are multiplied by 4. If you don't do this, be sure to have a good reason not to (XP Penalty being the main one, not enough levels of that class to waste being the second).

After selecting which class your character will start as, you need to select the order in which to choose your levels. For that, you need to know how a few things work:

- SKILLS:

You need to know the basic principle that a MAXIMUM TOTAL on a class skill is always CHARACTER LEVEL +3. There are a few skills that are vital to many builds, and knowledge of how they work can help you choose when to take certain classes, mainly those that are taken for the sole purpose of skill dumps. The general rule is to take these classes on levels that will grant you an optimized skill rank / modified rank for the most important skills.

- Tumble: You gain 1 AC for every 5 RANKS you have in this skill. That means that NO MODIFIERS APPLY TO THE AC BONUS. Also, that you only need 40 ranks in this skills to attain the maximum possible bonus. To have a Tumble score of 10, you need to take a class that has it as a class skill at level 7. Normally, you're going to see classes such as Rogue, Bard, Shadowdancer, Assassin, etc... being taken at levels 7, 12, 17, etc... That is done because of Tumble.

- UMD: This skill works with MODIFIED RANKS in multiples of 5. If you have 9 UMD total, it's the same as having 5 UMD. The next multiple of 5, in this case 10, will enable you to use better gear. UMD is modified by CHARISMA. If you have a negative CHARISMA modifier, you'll need to take a class that has UMD as a class skill at level 8 in order to have a total of 10 Modified Ranks.

- Spellcraft: This skill works with MODIFIED RANKS in multiples of 5. Again, you gain +1 to all saves vs spells each time your Spellcraft total reaches the next multiple of 5. Spellcraft is modified by INTELLIGENCE.

- FEATS:

Some feats are only attainable if you take a level on a specific class. The main example of this is Weapon Specialization. It can be attained at any given level if you've fulfilled the requirements. You need at least 4 Fighter levels to be able to get it. Coincidentally or not, you do gain a bonus feat with Fighter 4, but if you use it for something else, you'll need to take a Fighter level on a general feat level in order to have access to it. I am assuming that you know a NWN character gains a new feat every 3 levels. If not, now you do .

Following the same line of thought, you need to know which class-specific feats you get at which level and then PRIORITIZE! The key to doing this is knowing the classes you're playing very well. That will make it easier for you to determine which feats are the most useful and in what order you should take them.

For the purpose of explaining the order of acquisition of feats, "The Shadow Priest" is just the perfect example. I wanted to get the Cleric buffs up and running as soon as possible, and in terms of that, 8 Spell levels were more than enough. So my pre-epic spread was 16/4. Notice how I took Monk first for the skill points, then at 7, 12, 17? Now you know why!

After 21, I started with priorities. The first one was Improved Knockdown, then right after that was Hide in Plain Sight. Then I went back to Cleric because of the casting power, since my melee power was already formidable. Monk 7 and Monk 8 were used for Skill dumps, then I needed to rush the Shadowdancer levels to be able to take Epic Dodge at level. If you read the whole topic, you'll realize that I would take Monk 9 at level 34 instead of 37 for earlier Improved Evasion, but I hadn't done so because I was planning to be able to max out Discipline as well, which wasn't possible due to the lack of skill points.


6- BUILD MODEL:


After you are done with the planning, it's time to test it. After that and if everything goes according to plan, publishing your build is the next step. Make sure your build isn't an exact copy of someone else's build and has enough originality to be posted. If you're not sure, post it in the Build Request forum and ask . Here's the model I use for posting my builds in this guild:


ECB Build Model

RACE:

ALIGNMENT:

PLAYABILITY:

STARTING STATS:

STR -
DEX -
CON -
WIS -
INT -
CHA -

ENDING STATS:

STR -
DEX -
CON -
WIS -
INT -
CHA -

BASIC STATS:

- Hit Points:

- Skill Points:

- Skills:

- Saving Throws (Fort/Ref/Will):

- Naked AC:

- BAB:

- AB:

- Spellcasting:

LEVELING GUIDE:

1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
15-
16-
17-
18-
19-
20-
21-
22-
23-
24-
25-
26-
27-
28-
29-
30-
31-
32-
33-
34-
35-
36-
37-
38-
39-
40-

SIMILAR BUILDS:

SPECIAL NOTES:


7- FINAL NOTES:


Well, I didn't say that it was going to be easy, but if you follow these guidelines, you should be able to create some nice builds, but most importantly, you will be capable of understanding the insightful advice that the elder members of the guild have to offer you. Good luck on your adventures, and most importantly, HAVE FUN DOING IT!!!

Take it EZ!

Edited By Maximillian Kane on 07/27/10 19:01

Copy and paste this in the new forum! nicely done Also, the Character Calculator provide you with a finished, form based structure that we all mostly use. All you need to do is fill in all things you want and it will tell you if its legal or not even, plus all the numbers!

All you have to do is spend a little time learning how to use it properly. (Works poorly in Open office however...)

Well done Max, you've compiled most of the useful info needed to become a novice ECB.

Also, this is a compilation of all links to info and other tools you might need as a builder.

Edited By lillesmurfen on 07/28/10 11:36

Quote: Posted 07/28/10 11:29 (GMT) -- lillesmurfen

Also, the Character calculator provide you with a finished, form based structure that we all mostly use. All you need to do is fill in all things you want and it will tell you if its legal or not even, plus all the numbers!


Yeah, the CBC is indeed an invaluable tool, but it's not best in terms of knowing what's legal and what's not, unless you wanna do some serious scrolling. The skills are SO FAR APART from the actual body of the build it's not practical in terms of that. Every single time I make a Weapon Master build, it tells me it's illegal because of the 4 Intimidate requirement, because I only fill out the skill section after I am done with the rest, but if you know what you're doing, there's no better way to cough up a build.

Just a pointer, be sure your CBC version is 2.834, lest you get some incorrect results. To download it, just type Character Build Calculator on Google and it'll come up, or click on lillesmurfen's link

But IMO you should use the CBC as a tool, not as a replacement for knowledge. You should KNOW all relevant requirements and AB calculations on your own, and if you don't, go to NWN Wiki and refresh your memory. Don't leave all the calculations for the CBC, you should ALSO do them yourself by hand. I learned my lesson when I built a Fighter / Monk / Assassin and got the wrong AB stats for it because my CBC was out of date. I only found that out after I had already deleted the build because the AB was too low, but turns out the number was off and I had to do it all over again, which was a major pain in the ***!

Quote: Well done Max, you've compiled most of the useful info needed to become a novice ECB.

Thanks!

Take it EZ!

Edited By Maximillian Kane on 07/28/10 11:51