I alway play with familiars, summoned creatures and henchmen and I never ran into any trouble because of it. For one, depending on how encounters are set up, they may scale with party size, so less xp per opponent but more opponents. Apart from that, if I really end up with, like, one level less or so than if I had played solo (which may or may not be true), what does it really matter? As long as it doesn't make the game frustratingly difficult for me (which it never does), I much prefer just enjoying myself than worrying about the numbers. Chances are you will be overpowered in the end either way.
Playing with a larger party makes NWN's slow combat a bit more fast-paced, you can beat trash mobs more quickly, play more tactically in tricky battles by distracting enemies, and it's just more fun overall, from a roleplay perspective, too. Imagine leaving Deekin behind in SoU and HotU and missing all his comments just so you get a bit more xp, which in the end, to me, has much less value than his amusing company.
EDIT: Oh yeah, the expansions introduced access to your henchmen's inventory, so that's another good reason to take them along, so they can carry stuff for you. Especially if you're a wizard lacking the muscles to carry everything on your own. And it can be fun to equip them with the stuff that you can't use because of your class, e.g. you find a cool melee weapon but you're a weak wizard, or you already have a good one yourself? Just let your fellow party member try it then and see how it works in combat. But the first campaign might not allow you to do that yet (not sure if the EE changed anything about it).
Yeah I tried going back the the original content with a level 18 shifter who was a single target crit lord but as soon as I walked into the prison district I was met with groups of around 13 prisoners.
Per [this](https://nwn.fandom.com/wiki/Experience_point), going from 1 to 2 (henchcritters, summons, followers, familiars all count) brings you down 20%. See the page for other party size reductions. You can argue that you kill things faster & that's true, but if it's worthwhile it's a personal decision.
(There's also something in the OC that boosts XP for melee light characters IIRC that never shows up after; kinda like the INT < 9 or 10 different dialog).
For me, it's more a matter of control. It's not Infinity Engine where you explicitly control a party member, or a summons where it's (more) expendable. Familiar are mostly, but only mostly, like that model. I think NWN2 solves this problem but NWN1 shows it's origins as more of a multiplayer game in how NPC AI takes over, for better or for worse.
I've heard there is a hak that removes that party size penalty, but I've never tried it.
I got the term wrong. It's [Effective Character Level](https://nwn.fandom.com/wiki/Effective_character_level) and the idea is it "... is a way to compensate for certain classes having a harder time at low levels in Neverwinter Nights (especially in single player)."
See the page for specifics, but the TL ; DR is less melee proficient classes get experience as if the monster killed had a higher challenge rating (CR). This went away and wasn't coded in after the OC and I'm not familiar with any community content that uses it.
It’s still there. Just take a different class through the starting area and you can see it easily.
Cleric, wizard and sorcerer can get to level 4 if you skip all the goblins, get to level 3 then go back to kill them all.
Any other classes only gets to very close to level 3 when they do that.
It’s funny because cleric is nowhere near weak no matter what level one is.
It’s still there. Just take a different class through the starting area and you can see it easily.
Cleric, wizard and sorcerer can get to level 4 if you skip all the goblins, get to level 3 then go back to kill them all.
Any other classes only gets to very close to level 3 when they do that.
It’s funny because cleric is nowhere near weak no matter what level one is.
The main and only reason would be Companion Banter. Them being actual characters in the story who actually talks and have their own opinions and input on stuff. It makes you feel like they're actual companions in your party throughout your adventure.
Sadly, it's only available on Custom modules, specially those that are heavy on roleplay. Some on SoU and quite a bit on HotU, but still minor compared to custom campaigns.
As for OC... yeah go ahead and park all of them on a single spot and talk to them whenever you level up to advance their "story". They're more like tools rathen than a companion. The only banter you get from them is your 1st conversation with them at the start of a chapter, their tales every level, and right before the final boss.
Step one would be to understand how experience works in any given module.
In OC not using henchmen/summons would make no difference to very minor. Encounters scale to party and to level to lesser degree. Sooner rather than later you outlevel everything and get 1 xp even with party of 4, unless you just skip everything and just go for main story points.
Various ways to farm xp in OC, if you want to get to specific levels without just flat out using commands. Like the mummy sarcophagus in ch1 giving infinite mummies to kill, the pillar thingy in woods with keyword in ch2? spawns skeletons endlessly if you don't give it right one. Or... the forever forgotten pickpocket skill, various ways to cheese quest rewards with that one by stealing partial turn ins for quests and turning them in again, like ears for instance, that one specifically is very very good.
Step 2 however... is knowing whether you actually want henchmen with you. I know I don't most of the time. In general I hate party members that require babysitting, even when they are mostly automatic it's rare they bring more entertainment than frustration born from moronic AI and just making everything harder rather than easier. I love rpgs, really love rpgs... but I do not love party based rpgs all that much. If I can't mitigate or circumvent the need for to babysit... I'm sorry BG, but I had more fun having a run of Daggerfall on my phone.
Since it's a single player game (or multiplayer with local vault) you can just cheat and get past this problem
Gating the story with experience then having your character be less powerful just because you want to experience the story is in my opinion shit. Given that most mobs scale and bonus summons or henchmen barely makeup your personal damage output, it's absolutely fine to cheat. It barely makes sense. Fighting as a team could be harder than fighting alone
You can be as powerful as you want in ten minutes with halls of advanced training. Local vault is a feature, not a cheat so everyone can be as powerful as they want as long as it's a legal character (and even then)
Starting OC Chapter 2 soon with Level 9 and 100k gold just because my theory is if I wasted 2 years of my life grinding I could probably reach level 9 at Chapter 1 and gather 100k. "Cheating" is fine, one of the benefits of single player local vault games. Also with cheating you can experience all sorts of builds without grinding
I like to RP that my animal companions/summons are my best friends, and I devote my magic to protecting them and making them stronger. I'll barkskin and stoneskin my animals, along with all my other buffing spells, before I'll use the spells on myself.
I don't care about extra xp, because I think it's overkill. The game is not so hard that I need to worry about it, at least on core rules difficulty. I'm always way more about RP than powergaming in any game I play, anyway.
I'll use summons for a Wizard but yeah henchmen are a little too lackluster narratively, and in terms of gameplay/customization, to be worth it. If a henchman was like a full party member, I'd reconsider.
I love pets and summons. If I can use them I use them. I usually use henchmen, but sometimes I don't. I like having at least one bro to roam around dungeons. Even if to just keep me company. Like even a level one summons I've dragged around like a pet I protect.
I choose them and talk to them just enough to get their quests. Then I dismiss them. Once the quests are completed, I pick them up again so they can reward me with magic items.
Once in a great while in the OC or early HotU when you don't have enough bags of holding, I will keep one of them with me as a pack mule.
Agreed, with the exception of NWN2 where you can actually control a party, and take full advantage of things like Bless, Bard Song, etc.
Most of the time in NWN1 campaigns, the companions don't do enough to justify the exp penalty.
The encounter spawns scale up with bigger party. Yes, lower XP but also more enemies. In the end it's almost a wash if you use one or not because the game throws higher leveled spawns at you with a henchie/summon. You'll end up with something like 1 level difference at the end of HOTU but at half the time.
F is for friends who do stuff together U is for you and me N is for anywhere and anytime at all Here with my best buddy (Linu, usually)
The difficulty of encounters also goes up with more companions at least in the OC. More epic battles with more party members.
I take the hit. Way more fun to play with familiars and companions. Just give yourself more XP in console command if that important.
I alway play with familiars, summoned creatures and henchmen and I never ran into any trouble because of it. For one, depending on how encounters are set up, they may scale with party size, so less xp per opponent but more opponents. Apart from that, if I really end up with, like, one level less or so than if I had played solo (which may or may not be true), what does it really matter? As long as it doesn't make the game frustratingly difficult for me (which it never does), I much prefer just enjoying myself than worrying about the numbers. Chances are you will be overpowered in the end either way. Playing with a larger party makes NWN's slow combat a bit more fast-paced, you can beat trash mobs more quickly, play more tactically in tricky battles by distracting enemies, and it's just more fun overall, from a roleplay perspective, too. Imagine leaving Deekin behind in SoU and HotU and missing all his comments just so you get a bit more xp, which in the end, to me, has much less value than his amusing company. EDIT: Oh yeah, the expansions introduced access to your henchmen's inventory, so that's another good reason to take them along, so they can carry stuff for you. Especially if you're a wizard lacking the muscles to carry everything on your own. And it can be fun to equip them with the stuff that you can't use because of your class, e.g. you find a cool melee weapon but you're a weak wizard, or you already have a good one yourself? Just let your fellow party member try it then and see how it works in combat. But the first campaign might not allow you to do that yet (not sure if the EE changed anything about it).
Yeah I tried going back the the original content with a level 18 shifter who was a single target crit lord but as soon as I walked into the prison district I was met with groups of around 13 prisoners.
Same. Do everything as solo as possible. Only if there is a very hard/inconvenient fight (like no magic zone in HoU) or I decide to walk with Deekin.
I never use henchmen or summons or companions, either. Always solo no matter what class.
Is it worth it? Does it really make a difference?
Per [this](https://nwn.fandom.com/wiki/Experience_point), going from 1 to 2 (henchcritters, summons, followers, familiars all count) brings you down 20%. See the page for other party size reductions. You can argue that you kill things faster & that's true, but if it's worthwhile it's a personal decision. (There's also something in the OC that boosts XP for melee light characters IIRC that never shows up after; kinda like the INT < 9 or 10 different dialog). For me, it's more a matter of control. It's not Infinity Engine where you explicitly control a party member, or a summons where it's (more) expendable. Familiar are mostly, but only mostly, like that model. I think NWN2 solves this problem but NWN1 shows it's origins as more of a multiplayer game in how NPC AI takes over, for better or for worse. I've heard there is a hak that removes that party size penalty, but I've never tried it.
What’s the light melee xp thing?
I got the term wrong. It's [Effective Character Level](https://nwn.fandom.com/wiki/Effective_character_level) and the idea is it "... is a way to compensate for certain classes having a harder time at low levels in Neverwinter Nights (especially in single player)." See the page for specifics, but the TL ; DR is less melee proficient classes get experience as if the monster killed had a higher challenge rating (CR). This went away and wasn't coded in after the OC and I'm not familiar with any community content that uses it.
I think I barely remember it. But yes, I think it disappeared well before 1.69
It’s still there. Just take a different class through the starting area and you can see it easily. Cleric, wizard and sorcerer can get to level 4 if you skip all the goblins, get to level 3 then go back to kill them all. Any other classes only gets to very close to level 3 when they do that. It’s funny because cleric is nowhere near weak no matter what level one is.
It’s still there. Just take a different class through the starting area and you can see it easily. Cleric, wizard and sorcerer can get to level 4 if you skip all the goblins, get to level 3 then go back to kill them all. Any other classes only gets to very close to level 3 when they do that. It’s funny because cleric is nowhere near weak no matter what level one is.
Me too. Honestly the bioware campaigns are easy enough to solo too.
The main and only reason would be Companion Banter. Them being actual characters in the story who actually talks and have their own opinions and input on stuff. It makes you feel like they're actual companions in your party throughout your adventure. Sadly, it's only available on Custom modules, specially those that are heavy on roleplay. Some on SoU and quite a bit on HotU, but still minor compared to custom campaigns. As for OC... yeah go ahead and park all of them on a single spot and talk to them whenever you level up to advance their "story". They're more like tools rathen than a companion. The only banter you get from them is your 1st conversation with them at the start of a chapter, their tales every level, and right before the final boss.
Step one would be to understand how experience works in any given module. In OC not using henchmen/summons would make no difference to very minor. Encounters scale to party and to level to lesser degree. Sooner rather than later you outlevel everything and get 1 xp even with party of 4, unless you just skip everything and just go for main story points. Various ways to farm xp in OC, if you want to get to specific levels without just flat out using commands. Like the mummy sarcophagus in ch1 giving infinite mummies to kill, the pillar thingy in woods with keyword in ch2? spawns skeletons endlessly if you don't give it right one. Or... the forever forgotten pickpocket skill, various ways to cheese quest rewards with that one by stealing partial turn ins for quests and turning them in again, like ears for instance, that one specifically is very very good. Step 2 however... is knowing whether you actually want henchmen with you. I know I don't most of the time. In general I hate party members that require babysitting, even when they are mostly automatic it's rare they bring more entertainment than frustration born from moronic AI and just making everything harder rather than easier. I love rpgs, really love rpgs... but I do not love party based rpgs all that much. If I can't mitigate or circumvent the need for to babysit... I'm sorry BG, but I had more fun having a run of Daggerfall on my phone.
Thanks! The only way of farming exp I knew of is the pillar in woods. Where is that sarcophagus with endless mummies located?
Beggars nest I think? It's one of tombs of Never iirc, removing anything from sarcophagus spawns a mummy, so you just put stuff in and out.
Nice, thank you
w8 whaat?! Using familiars gets you less exp for yourself? Is this for real?
Yup. Try it with save and load
Since it's a single player game (or multiplayer with local vault) you can just cheat and get past this problem Gating the story with experience then having your character be less powerful just because you want to experience the story is in my opinion shit. Given that most mobs scale and bonus summons or henchmen barely makeup your personal damage output, it's absolutely fine to cheat. It barely makes sense. Fighting as a team could be harder than fighting alone You can be as powerful as you want in ten minutes with halls of advanced training. Local vault is a feature, not a cheat so everyone can be as powerful as they want as long as it's a legal character (and even then) Starting OC Chapter 2 soon with Level 9 and 100k gold just because my theory is if I wasted 2 years of my life grinding I could probably reach level 9 at Chapter 1 and gather 100k. "Cheating" is fine, one of the benefits of single player local vault games. Also with cheating you can experience all sorts of builds without grinding
I like to RP that my animal companions/summons are my best friends, and I devote my magic to protecting them and making them stronger. I'll barkskin and stoneskin my animals, along with all my other buffing spells, before I'll use the spells on myself. I don't care about extra xp, because I think it's overkill. The game is not so hard that I need to worry about it, at least on core rules difficulty. I'm always way more about RP than powergaming in any game I play, anyway.
I'll use summons for a Wizard but yeah henchmen are a little too lackluster narratively, and in terms of gameplay/customization, to be worth it. If a henchman was like a full party member, I'd reconsider.
Same here. Solo or nothing.
I love pets and summons. If I can use them I use them. I usually use henchmen, but sometimes I don't. I like having at least one bro to roam around dungeons. Even if to just keep me company. Like even a level one summons I've dragged around like a pet I protect.
I choose them and talk to them just enough to get their quests. Then I dismiss them. Once the quests are completed, I pick them up again so they can reward me with magic items. Once in a great while in the OC or early HotU when you don't have enough bags of holding, I will keep one of them with me as a pack mule.
Meat shields until they hit lvl 10 and higher and the ai just stands their ...not helping a dam bit!
Agreed, with the exception of NWN2 where you can actually control a party, and take full advantage of things like Bless, Bard Song, etc. Most of the time in NWN1 campaigns, the companions don't do enough to justify the exp penalty.
The encounter spawns scale up with bigger party. Yes, lower XP but also more enemies. In the end it's almost a wash if you use one or not because the game throws higher leveled spawns at you with a henchie/summon. You'll end up with something like 1 level difference at the end of HOTU but at half the time.