Not able to level

[austinrastaman]

Hello! I'm 1 xp point from 32nd level and I kept leveling and each time I did the little graphic that appears above your head didn't happen. Then I would fight another monster and get more XP and level again. But never make it to 32nd lvl. Both Doom Guard and Miles witnessed it. I hope this is helpful info. The character I'm referring to is Rastaman and is a Drarven Fighter.

[FunkySwerve]

And I'm guessing you were trying to take devastating critical?
Funky

[archmage]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess you were trying to take Dev Crit. This feat is disabled and does exactly what you perceived as not being able to level. Take another feat and try it.

[FunkySwerve]

Or maybe he was trying to take dev crit? What about dev crit? Oh and don't forget dev crit, of course!

[austinrastaman]

I'm hitting the "recommended" button and yes, devasting critical is the one it selected. This problem is not new then. I"ll pick another Thanks!

[FunkySwerve]

It's not a problem, it's intended behavior. The Dev Crit feat is disabled on this server, with the sole exception of the Assassin class (forthcoming modification there). Please check out the boards in the Docks near the boat, they'll give you more information about what changes we've made. Also, you were being sent a message telling you this, in your combat log. Many new players often neglect to look at it, but it is an invaluable resource. Its the second pop-up window from the left on the bottom of the screen, and whgile it often scrolls to quickly to see, you can always stop after combat if you want to try to figure out an enimies ac, or spell resistance, or what have you.
Best,
Funky

[hiryuu]

Dev Crit is coming back? I'm rather glad to see it gone, honestly. Another good idea gone horribly wrong under Bioware's care. I wouldn't mind it implemented as quadruple damage or death magic, but I suspect that would require a hak. Unless it requires around 30 assassin levels, I anticipate a lot of Assassin/Weapon Master builds coming up the ranks.

[archmage]

Not to worry Hiryuu, we took extensive care in getting it to balance.. And its not exactly going to be dev crit as you all know and love/hate it. And yes, its gonna require a healthy dose of assassin levels.

[Ralkain]

archmage said:

Not to worry Hiryuu, we took extensive care in getting it to balance..

I too am glad dev crit is gone, but trust the DMs to carefully bring a limited version back.

And its not exactly going to be dev crit as you all know and love/hate it. And yes, its gonna require a healthy dose of assassin levels.

For consistency, can you also change the AA Death Arrow ability to work in the same manner you decide the new DC does?

Not saying AAs should get the new DC, but whatever the save values, mechanics, etc you assign to DC, it would be nice if DA worked the same way (even if only once/day).

Dave.

[austinrastaman]

funkyswerve said:

It's not a problem, it's intended behavior. The Dev Crit feat is disabled on this server, with the sole exception of the Assassin class (forthcoming modification there). Please check out the boards in the Docks near the boat, they'll give you more information about what changes we've made. Also, you were being sent a message telling you this, in your combat log. Many new players often neglect to look at it, but it is an invaluable resource. Its the second pop-up window from the left on the bottom of the screen, and whgile it often scrolls to quickly to see, you can always stop after combat if you want to try to figure out an enimies ac, or spell resistance, or what have you.
Best,
Funky

Ahh, intended recommendation. Ok. So, you intended for me to not level and then come post here on the website! You sly dog! Now, if you could just will me to win the lotto, then we'd have something to talk about. But I digress. I didn't mean to use the word problem. That sounds bad doesn't it? It was just puzzling the heck out of me because I was hitting the recommended button so it was recommending dev. crit. I now understand what you're saying though. Sure, it recommends it but it's disabled. I'm just guessing for a good reason too. It must make things too easy? Is that a rule in the 3rd edition of the Dungeons and Dragons rulebook?

Well, atleast the Assassins will get a limited version of it.

[hiryuu]

That Dev Crit is recommended, or even available, is a limitation of the Neverwinter engine -- levelling is all done client-side, and the results are given to the server. I can understand levelling during combat once and getting confused, but levelling outside of combat would clearly state the issue, even if you didn't read the board the NPCs told you to read.

The D&D rulebook is designed for a live, all-controlling, DM that can deny the cheesier builds and activities that go on in NWN. Dev Crit is a broken culmination of several engine quirks:
* Kama Monk/Fighter -- 7 right, 2 left, 1 hasted = 10 attacks/round.
* Natural 20 (5%) is always a hit, on any enemy.
* Natural 1 (5%) is always a failure, by any enemy.
* There is no Imm: Dev Critical, only Imm: all critical.

Together, anything that isn't immune to all critical attacks (which kills Sneak Attack, as well) will eventually fall to a Dev Crit, even if you couldn't normally damage it. A real DM would give you the slap across the head you deserve, but the NWN engine blissfully plays along. As a result, the 'real DM' on most servers has squished it. Otherwise, all significant creatures would need to be imm: crit, to the frustration of fighters, and to the death of rogue as a viable class.

[FunkySwerve]

Just to answer a few concerns:
1) We'll be playtesting it extensively to see how unbalanced it truly is when restricted to a lower ab - it requires 30 levels of assassin, cutting a few ab off the max. Based on what I saw in initial playtest, its not all that bad on an assassin. Most WM levels achievable with this build? 5, so the extended criit range of ki crit is an option, but I doubt a very useful one given the lowered ab. Given that dc will max around 42, the toughest critters will fail only on a 1.
2) If I want, I can remove the STR 'real' dev crit version and give the strength builds the dexer version (which, on reflection, may be the more popular one anyway), which uses a rebuilt (hak-free! ya you know me) dex-dc version, with reversed rolls and some clever (pardon my immodesty, not all were mine originally ) workarounds for missing Bioware functions (like GetAB, GetIsCritImmune, GetIsCritical, GetHasWeaponFocus, GetHasWeaponofChoice, etc, etc, etc). In that version, I can disable or enable whatever I want, like autofail and success, I can switch dcs, increase the penalty on the crit check roll, etc etc.
If there's a problem (yo) we'll solve it.

Excuse the cheesy song references, feeling cheeky.
Funky

[archmage]

Check out my hook while my dm revolves it, Dev Crit Baby

[hfb]

Greetings one and all,

Given the rumors of the possible expansion to 60th level advancement, I have been thinking a bit in those terms of late. Given the rumors of dev.crit. assassins, I have also been thinking a bit about those as well. The following is something that may or may not be worthy of note:

Ftr 1-10
Wm 11-20 (For bab = 30)
Followed by 30 lvls of Assassin
+ 10 lvls WM (For wm ab bonus = +5)

Further, with feats for 40 epic levels, maximal str/dx boost is easily possible for an approximate values of 56 (base 21 + 15 ability bumps + 10 epic feats).

Hence,
60th ab = 60 (=any full on 1-20 ftr-type)
~ 56 dex/str = 23
Weap mod = ~12
WF,EWF,EP = 4
Wm mod = 5 (@5,10,13,16,19)
Total ab = ~104

104 is certainly not maximal in light of a ftr 10/wm 50 or 50 lvls of AA, but is nonetheless not insignificant.

I guess the point is, dev.crit may be particularly nasty and intriguing with the possible boost to 60th lvl even with the 30 lvls of Assassin necessary for its acquisition.

Cheers,

The Dancer

[hiryuu]

Level 60 AB is 40, not 60. All characters increase every other level after level 20. You also missed attribute enhancements for +6 AB (+12 to the attribute).

I'd imagine they would change the minimum to 45 assassin levels or so, but it still brings up why I am generally against a level 60 path at this point. Not only would all of the spells and class secret limits need adjustment, but character builds would fundamentally change. Many (especially caster) builds focus on maxing your primary stat with Great * feats, which is a challenge now, but a given for level 60. You would be nuts to pass level 20 with anything less than 16 AB and 4 attacks. I don't think you could balance it and iron out the quirks before the move to NWN2, and I think you'd hurt the gameplay to try.