NWN2 - Expansion News, Take Two

Dhruin

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This second NWN2 expansion story looks to be on firmer territory than the EB Games listing from the other day, with Eurogamer.de talking to Atari Germany PR rep Michael Roeder who confirmed the title NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer for release in Autumn 2007 -- and they have some screens to back it up.
Helping us with the German, reader Avantenor writes "It's directly connected to the original campaign, improvements: new races, techniques (?), spells, base and prestige classes, companions, weapons, armors, crafting, monsters and better modding tools".

More information.
 
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I think techniques means new feats. It's a little bit unclear from that formulation.

Campaign setting is Rashemen, maybe Thay also.
 
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Surprisingly fast, there has appeared a stickied thread on NWN2 forums.
http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=559062&forum=109

In Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer, players are transported back to the Forgotten Realms shortly after the events detailed in the original Neverwinter Nights 2. Following the climactic battle against the King of Shadows, the player awakens alone and stranded deep beneath the earth. Surrounded by a horde of evil spirits, the player embarks on an epic adventure that reveals his true destiny.
Set in harsh, spirit-rich Rashemen, near the powerful nation of Thay, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer will present players with an exciting new campaign; epic levels; dozens of new feats and spells; new races, base classes and prestige classes; new companions; new weapons, armor and crafting options; hordes of new monsters; and enhanced modding tools.
 
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The only problem I see is that the forgotten realms is already pretty bloated with high-level adventures, it would be cool to bump into Edwin/Edwina in Thay though.
 
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I hope that you start back over at level 1 again. I'm not a huge fan of epic levels.
 
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Rashemen and Thay aren't bad choices at all. Will be interesting to see what Obsidian can come up in that scenery.

However I wish Obsidian would have chosen the expansion to be played from other (fresh) perspective of a totally different character that would have tied into the original game's story. It would have been more interesting choice than the same overpowered 20++lv that already can beat anything in his/her way. Sort of what they do in some strategy games with different factions.

Epic anything in dnd just doesn't scale well in practise. The original game lacked in challenge, but it's even harder to come up with challenging encounters high level monsters or not when you're characters are armed in teeth with boatload of items and abilities.

edit: oh yeah, shouldn't the game name be changed to Rashemen Nights now? :p
 
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So they did continue the story. Good. The end of NWN2 was the worst with the game. They do not say anything about your followers though.

They mention Epic Levels. I am also not a fan of Epic Levels. At a certain point the D&D characters loose their charm IMO.

Thay will be a refreshing change from the swordcoast though.
 
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Does "continuing the story" mean continuing with a new character or starting the next chapter in the story with the old character?
 
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It's meant to be the character who defeated the King of Shadows. If you really need an old character from OC I could not say. Normally you have the possibility to create a new character and level up to an adaequate character level.
 
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I was kinda hoping for a brand new level 1 adventure (ala Shadows of Undrentide) but I'll take it nonetheless. I agree that D&D just doesn't translate all that well into extreme upper levels. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just doesn't seem as fun. It might be because the magic doesn't scale well. I hope that this is not the last expansion pack.
 
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And the roof, caved in!
 
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I was kinda hoping for a brand new level 1 adventure (ala Shadows of Undrentide) but I'll take it nonetheless. I agree that D&D just doesn't translate all that well into extreme upper levels. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just doesn't seem as fun. It might be because the magic doesn't scale well. I hope that this is not the last expansion pack.

I dunno ... I had an awful lot of fun raining mass destruction with my Sorc in HotU ...
 
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I'm glad it's epic; I HATE low level campaigns as playing a caster, you are WEAK and die rather easily and very quickly. Once you get to the higher levels, the character becomes more fun to play!! I think low levels suit tanks better than epic!!
 
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I don't mind the epic levels per se as long as you play up to them; that is, import your old char from NWN2. It's when you have to go from level 0 to level 20 in a few seconds and make all those decisions about your spells from memory( let's see, do I want Tasha's hideous Laughter or was that What's His Names Hideous Wilting??) that I get irked.
 
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Just give me Banshee baby!! :biggrin:
 
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Maybe I'm just too negative, but somehow I hate the fact that "better modding tools" are keyed to buying an expansion. I would also be very interested in what that actually means... sounds like they are going to release the plugins they did NOT use put together the official campaign.
Thus said, I'll buy the expansion - of course... I'm an idiot.
 
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I haven't had a chance to read up on all this, so I will just ask here. Do they plan to impliment the use of the crafting skills by you AND your party members now?
 
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CM I thought that party members could craft, if they ever got high enough stats. Didn't Khelgar start out with a crafting skill?
 
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