Author Topic: It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...  (Read 812 times)

Legacy_Vansen Elamber

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               Hello everyone, I played this game a few years back and loved it, then when NWN2 came out I moved on to it. Since then the motherboard fried on my main gaming computer and I have had to go back to an older Pentium 4 system with an AGP graphics adaptor. So I thought why now install NWN again! It should run pretty good on my old pentium 4 and it does.

The things I can't seem to figure out is how do I get Henchmen/Henchwomen to use potions, and learn the spells I want them to learn when we rest? They all seem to have a preset list of spells they will learn if they are magic based characters but maybe I want them to learn all the healing spells and none of the other ones and I can't figure out how to do that. Also more importantly I can't seem to get them to even drink a heal potion and for the most part my PC is the only one standing at the end of a battle. I can use the healing skill on them, of course, but that requires me to run to them during the battle and administer the heal on them and it would be much simpler if they would drink a potion instead. Is there any way I can do this? I have looked through my manual and I can not find anything in there telling me how to manage henchmen, that documentation seems to be missing....or maybe you can not do it, I don't know.

Thanks in advance for any answers... '<img'>

Oh, and I forgot how great this game is I am really enjoying it other then the inventory problems....
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Vansen Elamber, 24 novembre 2010 - 03:50 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_jmlzemaggo

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2010, 09:04:58 pm »


               Hello
Check my list in my signature, Tip N°1, it's gonna make your henchies way smarter, including the drinking.
You could still drop the health potion over their specific icon, but that's gonna make you move closer to them, and probably stop fighting just about the same.
Don't forget to fill their inventory with some green bottles.
I know nothing about a way to have spellcasters using only your choice of spells.
My personal thoughts being having a spellcaster as a henchy is quite a waste of time anyway, because of the AI, even with Tony K's one.
Be the wizard yourself, and hire some tanks for the frontline.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par jmlzemaggo, 24 novembre 2010 - 09:05 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Vansen Elamber

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2010, 03:27:07 pm »


               Thanks, I figured out how to feed potions to my henchmen, when I recieved a message saying "you can only feed potions to your henchmen" when I tried to do something else, I forget what that was now though. And yes I have Tony K's mod installed now and things do seem to work much better or alot smoother....

So you are saying I should tell the Drow lady you meet in HOTU to concentrate on her assassin abilities and leave the mage stuff behind her?

On another note: I was laughing my ass off when I heard Deekin say he wanted to write a low fat diet cookbook for dragons...lol ....gotta love that little guy! 'Image
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Vansen Elamber, 25 novembre 2010 - 03:31 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_HipMaestro

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #3 on: November 25, 2010, 04:48:57 pm »


               

Vansen Elamber wrote...
So you are saying I should tell the Drow lady you meet in HOTU to concentrate on her assassin abilities and leave the mage stuff behind her?

If TK's AI doesn't make the spellcasting control any easier to control (as jml seems to infer) it's typically better/easier to derail the spellcaster levels as early as possible in favor of the combat abilities, regardless of which hench has been recruited.  Deekin seems to be the only exception to this rule due to the awesome bard song that he achieves at high bard levels. 

In the vanilla OC, resting places virtual heal potions in the hench inventory.  Perhaps you can actually see these potions since you are running a hak?  Dunno, but resting works.

One basic method to limit the self-buffing and offensive casting, is to force the hench to exhaust all stored buffs on the party before entering combat.  You'll only need to do this once, after resting, as the hench's AI will be switched to physical attack until the next rest period occurs.

What we need are here are more TK experts to fine tune your AI customizations.
               
               

               


                     Modifié par HipMaestro, 25 novembre 2010 - 04:53 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_jmlzemaggo

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #4 on: November 25, 2010, 05:38:36 pm »


                Yes, you're right Hip, Tony K's AI allows you to work with the henchman inventory, even in the OCs. And yes and again, I wouldn't use any spellcaster as a henchie, useless and even dangerous sometimes if you play on hardocre difficulty or higher. And again, a spellcaster is much more fun to play one yourself: I play as wizardess or sorceress half of my NWN time!
One last tought about using Nathyrra as an assassin. Good idea. And as Hip was saying, the guy is almost like a wiki to me, just funier, as soon as possible, short for ASAP. To the point to hire her very early in the game. This is one of the most amazing class I ever play. I know it's a bad one, but... loads of fun ahead. I learned a lot from watching my henchies fighting. And they're much better than myself for choosing the appropriate weapon for a combat. I even used to give them mine to see how and when they use it. So, watch that drow assasin lady closely, as you might be willing to play one yourself sooner than you expect. It took me one year before I allowed myself playing evil... Don't forget, in my opinion, an assassin is meant to fight stealthy, or at least undetected, not as the primary opponent. So ask her to behave as she should, or manage to have her stricking in such a way she can make the best use of both of her Sneack & Death attacks. 
You don't know about a death attack before you die from the first one...
I remember a bridge somewhere in some OC, guarded by a couple of those... I died ten times before wikiing for help...

Deekin is Deekin. Just let it/him go with is own flow. Bard is also a lot of fun.
Depending what class you're playing yourself. He could be quite a decent tank with some RDD levels, from my feeble OCs memory.
But remember, Deekin is cult around those part of the internet, especially with girls. Not to be taken rudely.
Actually I'm surprised there is not a mod allowing to play with a Deekin in any module...

(In general, I'm no fan of spellcasters as henchies. They're wrong most of the time, unless you turn them off, but then...
But my least favorite one in that matter is the paladin. Never count on him in a fight. Those guys can easily spend hours admiring themselves in their portable mirror, making up, buffing up, doing their long blond hair nicely... while you're being cut into tiny pieces right next to them. 'hate those guys.
I just needed to say that once in my life. And I thank you for giving me the opportunity today.)
Actually you know what, you should be playing instead of reading us! '<img'>
Enjoy yourself!
               
               

               


                     Modifié par jmlzemaggo, 25 novembre 2010 - 06:09 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_BelgarathMTH

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2010, 09:59:58 pm »


               @jml, concerning paladins:



I first noticed that problem with a certain female paladin in HotU! I finally had to tell her to stop casting spells, ever, unless I asked her to. Otherwise, just like you say, she would stand there during every combat casting short-duration pally buffs until she was usually ready to join the fight just at the time the other henchie and I had everything dead! Talk about useless!
               
               

               
            

Legacy_Vansen Elamber

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2010, 03:21:58 pm »


               Actually I had to ditch TK's AI mod because as I approach chapter 3, I found that pretty much every battle was way to difficult, even on the easy setting. I am not a young man and my relfexes are not good enough to tackle any game on its hardest settings. First thing I do with any RPG is set the difficulty to "easy" because really all I am interested in is seeing how the story plays out and the battles, at least for me, are meant to be fun and not make me start doing things that break keyboards, mice, etc. If I have to reload a battle more then a few times, at that point I wish a "skip to next part" button would pop up.

Tony's AI made the NPC's way too difficult and I wish there was a mod that just fixed Henchmen AI and left mob AI alone....

Does anyone else feel guilt when they have to tell Deekin to remain behind? I mean the little guy gets so upset that it almost seems like he starts crying! I had to tell him to stay in the temple when I went to the Isle of the Maker because he seemed almost useless against the golems, but the guilt of doing that made me finish off that dungeon fast so I could get him back in party again...he needs to finish his book! 'Image
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Vansen Elamber, 29 novembre 2010 - 03:32 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_HipMaestro

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #7 on: November 29, 2010, 04:55:38 pm »


               

Vansen Elamber wrote...
I found that pretty much every battle was way to difficult, even on the easy setting...

Don't be afraid or shy about using the pause function.  Singleplayer modules, especially the Bio campaigns are training ground for learning all the NWN/D&D gaming basics and yet still provide plenty of depth to enjoy.

Tony's AI made the NPC's way too difficult and I wish there was a mod that just fixed Henchmen AI and left mob AI alone....

Hmmm... that's odd.  I would have thought that would have been customizable somehow.  Interesting.  Yo, all you TK manics!  How about the customizing aspects? Do they exist or not?

Does anyone else feel guilt when they have to tell Deekin to remain behind? I mean the little guy gets so upset that it almost seems like he starts crying! I had to tell him to stay in the temple when I went to the Isle of the Maker because he seemed almost useless against the golems, but the guilt of doing that made me finish off that dungeon fast so I could get him back in party again...he needs to finish his book! 'Image

Being a leader is not necessarily a bed of roses.  Sometimes you'll need to withstand the gnashing of teeth to achieve the better good.  Just tell Deekin that you're doing it for his own protection and you will fill him in on all the spicy details later on.  Believe me, he will understand, even with all the whining.  It's that 'ol "tugging at the heart strings" technique some "creatures" have cultivated into an art form. :innocent:
Sounds like you don't have any kids, eh? ':blink:' 
               
               

               
            

Legacy_Shia Luck

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #8 on: November 29, 2010, 06:52:56 pm »


               

HipMaestro wrote...

Vansen Elamber wrote...
Tony's AI made the NPC's way too difficult and I wish there was a mod that just fixed Henchmen AI and left mob AI alone....

Hmmm...
that's odd.  I would have thought that would have been customizable
somehow.  Interesting.  Yo, all you TK manics!  How about the
customizing aspects? Do they exist or not?


Well there is an option to install the improved henchmen without installing the monster AI. What effect this has on the way the henchies act I don't know because I use it for the monster AI mostly.

But it looks possible...

Have fun '<img'>
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Shia Luck, 29 novembre 2010 - 06:54 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_jmlzemaggo

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #9 on: November 29, 2010, 07:58:15 pm »


               ':ph34r:' It's getting more and more difficult to see the new posts in these d.... forums. I missed the last 3 here.Anyway, as a respectful TK maniac myself ':devil:', I installed it too long ago to remember about the options, but I know there are quite well made, just from listening to PC TK's users.
And I could trust anything Shia would say, even without listening to it, unlike Hip Maestro, who knows almost as much as she does, but that I could suspect of impartiality when it comes to Tony K's AI, an AI he has always been afraid to confront just by himself, for some personal reasons I rather not discuss at present...The TK AI for Mac users, such as I, is quite an old one compared to the latest PC one. So anything I could say would be irrelevant.
For a change... ':whistle:'
Therefore, I decided I might just '-_-' instead of borthering you any further.
You cowards! ':wub:'
               
               

               
            

Legacy_BelgarathMTH

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #10 on: November 29, 2010, 08:14:40 pm »


               @Vansen, in answer to your question:



1) Make sure you have your old install of the Tony K AI completely deleted from your override folder.

2) Rerun the henchai.exe. installation program.

3) You will come to a window with a whole lot of option checkboxes. Uncheck everything that refers to monster behavior. Leave checkmarks on everything that refers to henchman behavior.



Voila, you have your improved henchie AI without any improvement in monster AI. All features are completely customizable.

Ones that I always leave unchecked are "monsters wander freely" and "monsters bash, unlock, or open doors". If you check those, you will wind up facing every monster in every dungeon all at once - true mobs!

Even without those two features, I still get mobbed uncomfortably often, because the basic monster AI makes them respond to noise. I have gotten chain reactions where I get in one fight, the next group of monsters down the hall hear it and come running, the next monsters after them hear that commotion and come running, etc. In a certain group of gnoll caves, I once found myself fighting about two or more dozen gnolls at once! Yikes! (I actually survived at Near Death when the last one went down. What an adrenaline rush!)
               
               

               
            

Legacy_Vansen Elamber

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #11 on: November 29, 2010, 11:34:10 pm »


               OK thanks I will give that a try, I don't remember that list of checks but it must be there if you say it is. The NWN community is so helpful, of course I remember this from my past NWN experiences and also my NWN2 experiences. Also I can't wait to get a new computer this spring when the golf course opens up again and I get called back to work, because today I was searching for some Adam Miller mods that I played, not to completion, in my first adventures in NWN and I noticed he has moved on to modding in Dragon Age and I would love to see his work in that game...
               
               

               
            

Legacy_jmlzemaggo

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #12 on: November 30, 2010, 06:49:05 am »


               I spent a few NWN seconds on my "work" Intel Mac to look at the PC version and it does offer a great deal of options when installing TK, as described above. Then I went home to play a bit of the updated Sanctum of the Archmage 1 - The Sight... 
but without TK as Andarian didn't write that (great) module around it, but another system which makes both kind of conflicting.
Like if my companions don't know which one of their too many brains to listen to anymore, and start dancing instead of fighting, even when it's pouring down blows.
Life is feminine.
               
               

               
            

Legacy_Vansen Elamber

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #13 on: November 30, 2010, 03:53:13 pm »


               Yes, I reinstalled TK's mod and took out the things I didn't want and now it works the way I want/need it to, thanks for the tips everyone! This is without a doubt one of the best NWN mods out there because not only does it fix a ton of things the Henchmen do wrong but you are also able to custom install it to suit your own needs, very well done indeed! :'Image
               
               

               


                     Modifié par Vansen Elamber, 30 novembre 2010 - 03:54 .
                     
                  


            

Legacy_Shia Luck

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It has been a while since I have played NWN and I have a few questions...
« Reply #14 on: November 30, 2010, 11:16:27 pm »


               Ahh a problem with a happy ending... wicked!



Have fun '<img'>