Creatures, so get used to it. If you have not done so yet, summon your familiar. As you leave the room, (the way you came in) youll be accosted by a mysterious mage, who will sick a couple of one-hitpoint goblins on you. Dont bother with spells, this is a game of paintball- one tag and down they go. If you havent rested and have unmemorized spells, now would be a good time to rest. Note that the sneaking-down-the-hall style is not very effective in the prelude, even for rogues- youre just not high enough level with Stealth yet, and youll rarely if ever avoid detection long enough to get a sneak attack. Wait until level four or so. Now would also be a good time to SAVE THE GAME. You can either go a few steps down the hall and then to the large door to your right that you havent gone into yet, or you can clean out the training floor that you recently passed through. Although any experience you get is pointless, (leveling from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 is going to be automatic) the treasure is still good and it will help you get used to Neverwinter Nights. Each room has a few goblins in it, and the Warriors training plaza has about five to contend with. Dont bother zoning back past poor dead Olgerd- all you discover in the starting room is that Bim is also dead. Gee, how did a pack of goblins that probably have fewer than twenty hitpoints between them wipe out these veteran warriors and spellcasters? Ive beaten the game, and I still dont know. Once you go through the big door, prepare to fight the mage and his goblins again. No big deal. Now, save the game. Theres a chest to the left that offers something sweet- warriors seem to get a breastplate, spellcasters a Ring of Fortitude +1. Proceed throught the stables to meet Pavel the Brotherless, who offers to join you. Theres no reason not to take him up, so let him teach you about henchmen and tag along. Go through the door to a hallway that forms a square on your map around a central room. Go into the central room, and wipe out the inhabitants and loot the area. Through the door intersecting the square hallway, and youll meet an old man who gives you your first free level up and offers you a tutorial on how to level up. D&D vets wont need it, everyone should listen once. After youre through leveling (I suggest you save it first- leveling is a time of experimentation, and things go wrong.) go through the door. Clean out the goblins in the room immediately to your right for fun and profit. Then leave the room and continue south down the hallway. Clean out the skeletons behind the door at the two-way intersection (you may want to rest and heal around now) for more fun and profit, then continue west toward the T intersection. All three ways here lead to the same spot. Assuming youre looking to do everything, first go right (north) and clean out the warehouse, then about face and go south to clean out the library. Rest and save, youre finally about to finish off that inispid Mysterious Mage. If youre a combatant, rush the mage and hack him to interrupt his spells. (Dual wielders obviously have an advantage here.) If youre a caster, then try hitting him with a stunning spell, wipe out the goblins with Pavel, then melee the mage. Elminster hes not, as long as you can shut him down fast. Loot the Archers Belt (usually) from his body, and put it on- its a nice item. Proceed to the Stables and the end of the Prelude. In the stables, you get to watch a couple of goblins with four hitpoints among them free the Waterdhavian Creatures despite the best efforts of a pair of clerics. Help the latter mow down the goblins, then talk to one of the clerics. Youll learn about the relationship between Aribeth and Fenthick, (yeah, too bad hotshot) and that Desther has even more of a stick up his rectum than what D&D fans expect from a Helmite. Congratulations on your level up. This is your last automatic one, unfortunately- from now on, every little bit of experience counts. Proceed through the door before/after you level up. (You start Chapter 1 at the rear of a Tyrran temple.) 1.0 CHAPTER 1 (a.k.a. More utterances of the word Waterdhavian than there are citizens of Neverwinter.) Emerging into the back of the Temple of Tyr, you can have a conversation with Fenthick and Desther, standing before you. They tell you about goings on in the past week, and the dire straights the city I in. Wait, its in which the city is. Thats better. You now have your first of several enjoyable opportunities to be rude to Desther, which I enjoyed. You also discover Lady Aribeth is waiting in the next room. Go speak to Lady Aribeth, and she charges you with the recapturing of the Waterdhavian (sigh) creatures. Apparently, chaos is reigning- a prison revolt in the Penninsula district, an explosion of undead in the Beggars Nest, an uprising of cutthroats at the Docks, and a bunch of callous aristocrats in the Blacklake district. Sounds like a job for Superman, but hes on vacation so youre up. She suggests (and I agree) that you try the Penninsula district first. Like any good RPGer, youre going to want to peer around town first, to see who says interesting things, what quests need to be done, and what equipment you can afford (not much). Talk to Tomi Undergallows on your way out- he costs more money than hes worth right now, but if you dont plan on following my advice and taking a level or two of rogue down the road, (or cant because of race/class restrictions) youre going to be coming back for him quite often. Familiarize yourself with Sergol and the portal in the temple- youre going to donate tens of thousands of gold pieces to Tyr via those portals before the final blow against the as-yet-unknown enemy is struck. After talking to the girl just outside the temple, (she asks you to help with the problem at the Penninsula, simply report back to her for some more experience when you clear out that part of town) youre free to explore. First thing on your list should be to walk around every section of the City Core. On the itinerary for magi is the Cloaktower and Eltoora just to the left of the door from which you emerge. Druids and Rangers should check out Nyatar at the tree next to the Cloaktower and receive a quest for (much) later. Melee classes should get a feel for the Shining Knight where a certain dwarf in the basement will make relics if you have the cash and the ingredients. Everyone should check out the Trade of Blades, where five useful henchmen (like Tomi) can be hired. Daelan Red Tiger is a powerful half- orc barbarian of the Uthgardt and a compliment to anyone. His quests are the easiest to do and net you a nice amulet that gives you more strenght throughout the game. Linu Laneral is an elven cleric and a godsend for warriors, especially later in the game when the Heal spell becomes more accessible. (Note that her AI is terrible- you should tell her manually to heal you if you need it.) Boddyknock Glinckle is a sorcerer, a profession not suited to AI. You may get good results out of him- I didnt. If you decide to try him out, remember to rest a lot, because he WILL blow all his good spells on goblins with a dragon on the horizon. Sharwyn is a bard, and Ill be frank- *phhbbbt*. Besides her overstated I-Care-Not, she specializes in dying and failing to be of use. Her defense spells are helpful, but she has a tendency to stop in the middle of the road and start casting them for no reason, making you choose between waiting for her and using the Follow command (you should have this hotkeyed for all henchmen) to yank her along. Grimgnaw fills the same role as Daelan Red Tiger and just as well, except that a)hes quite evil and b)he lacks the barbarians hitpoints but outmatches him in Armor Class. Quests accumulated while exploring the city core will be discussed in section 1.5- Chapter 1 Side Quests. 1.1 PENNINSULA DISTRICT Since the releasing of the Waterdhavian creatures, theres been a prison break, and the inmates have overrun the district. Rumors have it that Captain Alaefin, the head Gaoler in Neverwinter, has gone crazy and set all the prisoners free. The guards are barricaded in front of the gate to the city core, determined not to let the escapees penetrate the inner district. Into this mess comes you, the new recruit. Talk to Captain Kipp if you like, and find out interesting locations on your itinerary- primarily, the Militia Headquarters. Clean out the house and containers in the cul de sac to the left. Then take the right fork, helping the guards in front of the ramp take out some rebel prisoners. Go up the ramp. Take care to notice the scattered groups of prisoner guards (small joke) patrolling. Just ahead from the ramp, youll have to fight a particularly large group in and around the ruins of the main wall of the prison, so save the game. If the fight gets too hot (it probably will) run back to the gate and the guards will cover for you. You should be using Daelan, because none of your other henchmen are as consistantly effective yet. (Tomi, Sharwyn and Grimgnaw dont have enough hitpoints, Linu and Boddyknock dont have enough spells.) The enemies in this district are more alert than anywhere else in the game- maybe BioWare hadnt gotten the hang of scripting a good alert radius yet- so assume if you see someone that theyve seen you. Try leaving your henchman behind (the Stand Ground and Follow commands should be hotkeys, so you can switch between them) and sneaking up on someone if youre a rogue or ranger. After you take out the prisoners partying in the ruins to the right of the ramp-path, about-face to the east across the street and talk to Master Johns. He was being kept a prisoner of the prisoners, for what purposes I dont care to imagine. Take him back to the gate for 62 experience and some Good alignment if you want. Go back to where you founnd him and continue generally East, looting and pillaging as you go. (Hey, if you dont take it, the prisoners will. And how else are you supposed to fund this little operation?) Go East, cleaning out the standalone house to your right and the row home to your left- both sport a number of prisoners and some treasure. Make your way to the corner where the Mercantile and the Militia Headquarters stand side be side. Dont go in yet, unless you really want to. Go North, kill a few prisoners, clean out the guardhouse behind Mrs. Dulicae, then rescue her (just like Master Johns). The guardhouse sports four thugs and a leader. Then go behind the HQ building and kill the one or two stragglers lurking in the cul-de-sac. Loot away. Go into the Mercantile and unburden yourself. Buy maps of the city if you want them- the advantage is knowing where everything is and how the city is structured without having to explore. The disadvantage is not knowing if youve been to a certain area before. Rest, Save, then head into the Headquarters and get down to business. Sebos Sedile is the leader of this area. She seems kind of ditzy for the head of a militia company, but she offers a 300 gold piece reward for taking care of the problems in this district. Intrepid adventurer that you are, you readily accept, and she tells you about getting into the prison. You can decide how to get in…once youve finished getting the most exp and treausre possible, of course. In any case, head toward the Sewer Access on your new map. (If you didnt buy the map, head southwest.) Around the Sewer Access youll fight a miniboss, so save it. The gang leader has about eighty hitpoints. You might want to try parry-mode if you levelled it up. Rogues may try losing him in the streets, then returning for a sneak attack- or you can just sneak attack as Daelan distracts him. Dont be shy with the Healing potions- you get more of them than youll need. Make sure to drink some Barkskin before the fight, if you have it. DO NOT OPEN THE CHEST. Save the game first. Now, before you is the first of what I like to call Boss Chests. Boss Chests, as I explained in the Walkthrough Notes, randomly drop a really cool (for your level) item. Feel free to keep loading the game until you get something you can use- dont be too picky, though- you shouldnt ditch the good armor just because you really want a magic axe. It could be an hour before an axe shows up. Also, if youre getting frustrated, just go with an item you think will sell for the most- heavy armor generally sells the best, as do heavy weapons. Now, save it and head into the sewer. Youll be plunged into a battle- royale. Prepare to use your Stone of Recall to teleport to safety. Work on the thugs, first, then go after the leader. Now, go back outside (from any door) and work your way around the perimeter of the Prison, killing and looting. Be cautious- there is at least one more (less difficult) Gang Leader waiting for you. When you cant go any further, go into Lady Tanglebrooks house. (The key is under the mat.) Save the game- two stink beetles await you in the west room. After you kill them, check out both south side rooms, (the door in the west room is trapped) then go downstairs. When you get into the chess room, save the game and TELL YOUR ASSISTANTS TO HOLD THEIR GROUND. Walk up to the chessboard, activate Detect Mode…then go get something to drink, maybe a snack. Let your character just sit there, his Search check slowly uncovering all the traps. When youre ready, save the game and go to the left of the board. Loot the boxes. Then work your way slowly to the right side. Loot the boxes. Then save it, and look across the other bridge- see the Fire Beetles? Move close to the gap, but not the bridge. You should have them trapped, or at least with a long stretch to cover before they get to you. Open fire. When the beetles are dead, go across and up into the Prison. ONCE YOURE IN THE PRISON, tell your assistants to follow you again. Go around the bend and east into the room. Defeat the gang, then move north to the cell block. Dont bother with the cells now, but head east and then north through the door. (The door on the right is trapped, wait a while.) Take out the gang guarding it, then heal up. Youre now in the MAIN HALL, so if you did the quest the way it was supposed to be done (i.e Finding the key) youve just come in. I was just about to tell my fellow Max Powerites to go into the Southwestern door, in which is another gang is defending the locking mechanism to all the locked cells they passed by following my way. You can loot the South Wing cells if you want, but when youre done go into the Northwestern door (from the Main Hall) and wipe out yet another subgang to open the North Wing Cells. The Armoire in this room usually furnishes good loot. Next, clean out the Northeastern room, (the door is trapped) which has (gasp) another mini gang, and two loot containers. Now, head out the Westernmost door on the North Wall. A fight near the intersection, and youll be in the North Cell block. Clean out the cells, then head into the only North door leading from that cellblock. It leads into an storehouse. Relieve the prison of its surplus valuables, then rest and SAVE THE GAME TO A SEPARATE FILE, especially if youre the type of person who likes to quicksave during a large battle. On the other side of the West door is the biggest fight of the game so far. Try to pull foes one at a time, because if the forces) farther south (lead by a powerful Gang Leader) join up against you…youre doomed. Make sure you have potions handy here. DO NOT TRY TO SNEAK UP ON ANYONE TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM. Youll be instantly surrounded and cut to ribbons. Instead, pull one of them with a missile weapon. Make sure your henchman stays out of the way of this delicate procedure until the fighting starts. Anyone but Daelan is going to get ripped to shreds, and even he is probably going to bite the dust once. If youre a caster, prepare to spend some money teleporting back for healing- and even then, I hope you levelled up Concentrate. No matter what your class, take out the thugs first, then take the leader. Casters should memorize defense spells. Once youve (if youve) managed to win this brouhaha, SAVE THE GAME BEFORE LOOKING AROUND. Theres a two real nasty guard dogs around that hit for more than ten damage. The chest by the stairs is a BOSS CHEST, so you may want to save it. You can open the four doors on the East side of the room. Two lead to small storage rooms (with the guard dogs, and no treasure), the middle one leads into the main corridor leading back to the Main Hall, and the other door leads to the South Cell block. If you havent been everywhere on this floor, finish up, then head downstairs. When you get downstairs, youll be greeted by an elf. Follow him into the proper room, then lock the door as he tells you. Hell fill you in on the prison and details. When youve finished, leave him and go out into the heavily patrolled halls. Your first objective is to kill everyone in the central room- no easy task, as its gaurded by a mighty spellcaster and nearly a regiment of thugs. Heres my suggestion: Open the door, and shoot an arrow or spell at someone. Then turn tail and run back to your henchman, who should be planted down the hall a good fifty yards. Kill those goons that are still chasing you, then work your way back to the room. If a large pack starts to form again, run for it. If the sorcerer is in range, run for it. Then work your way back. When the sorcerer is out of earshot of his support, sneak up on him (literally if you have stealth) and let him have it. In the center room is a boss chest, and some other good loot. There are four other rooms on this floor, two on the North and two on the South, packed with minigangs and treasure. (The wooden door on the south side is trapped.) Some of the cells have lootable bodies on them. Visit all these places, watching out for prisoner patrols as you pillage. When youre all finished, head downstairs. Welcome to the Pits. A.k.a. The Hole in Oz. Flip the switch to open the door, then get ready for a fight as a spell casting gang leader is waiting for you, along with some thugs. You may want to pull them with a bow, to limit how many can fight you at once. Loot the room, then head south. Kill the door guards, then open the door. Theres a trap in the middle of the room- after you kill the thugs, either avoid it by sticking to the fringes or disarm it. In the next room, theres another, smaller trap in the middle of the floor, but the larger problem is the half-dozen thugs led by a sorcerer. Pull them out in as small numbers as possible- you may even want to try the HitNRun tactic (pun intended) from the sorcerer upstairs. This is the Hub of this floor- southeast is the way you came in. West is just a cell with a dog, a prisoner, and some valuable garbage. North is the right way, and thus is the last way you should go. Southwest leads you to a battle with a pack of thugs. Kill them, and save it, because the next room (not the locked door) sports a gang being led by (another) sorcerer. Use the same hit and run tactic if you have trouble. The room youre in now should be shaped like an insect. The Western legs lead to locked up treasure rooms, one dog in each. The treasure is pretty good- you may want to consider chopping the doors down, though it will take awhile. The Southeast leg is the direction you came in, and the Northeast leg takes you toward the end of the floor- but assuming youre looking to sweep the whole floor, return to the Hub room instead of going in, so we can stay on the same page. From the hub room, go north now. You will be entered into two battles, each supported by a Leader. Kill them, rest, and save. The east door, if you can open it, leads to a small room with a foe and a treasure. Follow the corridors Notheast, and youll soon see a Gang Leader on the edge of your vision. Save it, this ones a doozie. Plant your henchman, open fire, and get ready for a Defensive Fight. (see Walkthrough notes) When youre finished, open your Boss Chest and then make your way to the 3 way intersection to the Southwest. Fight your way down the East hall, then go back to the intersection and go South. Clean out the room, take the treasure- the circle on your map should be complete. Go back north, then down the East hall you just cleaned out, Rest and Save the Game. Heres the first of two bosses. The half orc Kurdan Fenkt is a formidable fighter. Luckily, you only have to get him down to Near Death, but its still a very tough fight, and a DEFENSIVE BATTLE. Boddyknock is pretty handy here, shooting Acid Arrows at the Half-Orc as you parry with your swords or block with your shield, maybe even switching between the two if you find that even with Parry, hes still hitting frequently. (If youre using two handed weapon attacks, stop for this fight.) Dont be shy with Healing potions, this is what theyre for. After you beat Kurdan, hell declare a truce. I strongly suggest you agree while you can. Interrogate him, discover that youve managed to corner the Intellect Devourer, (one of the Waterdhavian Creatures, if you dont remember) then let him go and teleport back to the Temple. Sell, recruit Daelan, rest, go back in the portal and save the game. The battle against the Head Gaoler is certainly a DEFENSIVE BATTLE. If Daelans still with you, dont go into parry mode unless youre a rogue. (the Gaoler will just turn his attention to your henchman). Once Daelan dies, of course, feel free to parry away. Once the head Gaoler dies, (dont be ashamed about wasting money on teleporting back and forth) youll have to take out the Intellect Devourer as it possesses each of the four other guards. If you persuade the guards to leave beforehand, you can forego this and just kill the Devourer. Once thats over with, Recall home and SAVE THE GAME. Sic Daelan on the Devourer. The things AC is off the charts, and its magic resistance is also a bit high, so expect a long and wearisome battle. It isnt that hard once the Gaoler is dead, however. (Except for the insane AC.) Again, prepare to eat the teleportation costs, and you should be fine. After youve slain it, loot the chambers (including two Boss Chests) and teleport home, victorious. Congratulations, youve liberated the Penninsula District. Remember to tell the people hanging out in front of the gates to the district, as well as the girl outside the temple, of your victory for some extra experience. 1.2 BEGGARS NEST Shortly after the release of the Waterdhavian creatures, undead began appearing in the common housing district of Neverwinter, also known as the Beggars Nest. Within a week, the walking dead had multiplied to the hundreds, and had forced those still alive to flee the district. Now its your turn to force back, as you walk into the district well rested and with your game saved to a separate file. Note that Clerics and Paladins should not waste their Turning on random patrols of Beavis Zombies. Wait for the large groups, or the harder undead, or right before you rest if you have extra. Talk to Ergus. From the guard barricade, walk forward, take out the undead, then scythe north around the standalone building. Go right (East) at the first intersection, then right again (south) at the next. Walk down the street toward the Shining Serpent. Get ready for a fight, as four armed thugs jump you outside the building. Melee combatants shouldnt have trouble at full hitpoints, casters should have a defense spell up before going near the building. Pick a note off of one of your assailants. Read it, then take it back to Aribeth and Fenthick whenever you feel like it- you get some gold and get to insult Desther again. Go into the Serpent. Talk to Herban Ashensmith, who will fill you in on the situation and give you a quest to find Krestal and Jemaine. Also speak to Drake for another perspective on the problem. Then go upstairs and loot the containers- the loot is very good, with a semi-boss-chest in one room. Head over to the temple of Tyr across the road, and talk to the priests, preferably getting the Lost Soul quest. Head back to the Guard post near the core and get the Find Walters quest if you want it. Now Get ready- this next run is going to sweep the town and leave a lot of twice dead corpses. From the guard barricade, walk forward (maps open, boys and girls) and make a left in front of the standalone house from before. Kill the undead surrounding the house, then go into the row-home door just to the East of it. More undead need slaying. You can go into the standalone home if you want- theres a (justifiably) afraid man in there, and a bureau to loot. Go north past the sewer grate, (a black dot on your map) then left at the corner and into the first barricaded home. The sign on the merchant shingle says Sirils Bakery. Take out the zombies and loot Sirils Corpse, which has a recipe that will enable you to solve Boddyknocks quest when he gives it to you at a higher level. Congratulations, youve solved a quest you havent been given yet. See details in section 1.5.1. Also, check the containers, as one contains an Ingredient that will enable the dwarf in the Shining Knight in the City Core to make you a low level relic. From the bakery, go back onto the North/South street and take it up to the next barricaded home. Wipe out the undead- this battle is sort of a chain reaction and may take you further up the street than you intended. Thats fine, just come back to the second Barricaded Home when youre done. (Its next to the ruined garden.) Inside is Jemaine. Talk to him and get you to give you the key to the Strange House to the North. Go outside and head North. The cul de sac with the strange house is where youll be going. If you want to just get it over with, skip to where I type STRANGE HOUSE in caps. The rest of us are going on a rampage, well meet you there in a little while. From the Strange House cul de sac, go east. You should be well rested- get ready to take on a small army of undead by the gates to the graveyard. Find Marcus corpse, and take everything on it. Go south past the warehouse and veer East. Find Krestal in the barricaded home. From there, go into the middle of the city and talk to the halfling couple waiting for their friend. Go south until you reach the southeastern corner of the zone. Go into the Wheel Repair shop and find Hector, and return him to the halflings waiting for him. Return the journal to Bertran at the Tyrran temple. If you return the staff, you get 400 gold pieces and 3 points of Good. If you sell the staff to a merchant, you will get about 1200 gold. Ouch. Is virtue its own reward? Magi, of course, may want to keep it for themselves. Now its time to bring down the cause of the undead. There are two ways: going into the warehouse and investigatinge the STRANGE HOUSE. If you want to go in through the warehouse, head over to the Warehouse in the Northeast. Clear out the undead on the top floor, loot heartily, then head downstairs. This floor is straightfoward enough. Equip a missile weapon, and pick off the shambling zombies one by one with arrows, bolts, and low level spells. Loot as you go. When you get all the way around to the next door, rest and save. This next battle is definetely a DEFENSIVE BATTLE, if you can even manage it. The best way to handle it is to keep running away, then shooting spells and arrows at the Sword Coast Boy as he shambles after you. You may even want to save to a separate file before the battle, then quicksave during the battle. Loot away. Rest and Save, its not getting easier. Drawl is a doozie. Barksin, Cats Grace, fight defensively. If youre a caster, make sure you throw your hottest stuff while your henchman is still alive to distract the lightweight lich. After your hench dies, (and he or she will) you may want to go retrieve him, if your armor class isnt high enough to match Drawls cruel mace. After Drawl goes down, Walter awaits you. Talk to him for some more information on whats causing the plague, then go downstairs. Take the first left and fight your way to the switch (there are two traps in the left hallway) to open the door. Follow the corridors into a big room, then follow the hallway east. Theres a trap at the end of the hall near the corner. Save the game and rest, and recruit Daelan if you dont have him. The Bloated Dire Spider hits for eighteen regularly, and you should be on the defensive. When it dies, you can explore the rest of the floor, or you can just go up the stairs behind it into the Graveyard. The Graveyard is a battle royal. Twenty something zombies later, head to the other tomb- the one that can be opened (the other one is part of a Temple of Tyr quest, see 1.5.0) Youll be greeted by Gulnan, speaking through her pet zombie. Let her rave, then go through the antechamber and make a right. Blast down the undead waiting for you, then enter the chamber at the end of the hall. Go into the room on the left where youll find the remains of Jemaines poor brother (take the ring). Go back out into the hall and head right/north. The chamber ahead, of course, has a platoon of zombies taking an unhealthy interest in you. Get through and fight your way up the hall, entering yet another chamber of the living dead. Do the deed and turn left. If youre having trouble with your life, note that Linu should be able to keep up your HP if you order her manually, and Daelan kills things fast enough that they dont hit you. When you see the door on your left, its time to make a decision. Left takes you into the central chamber and the end of the place. Forward takes you on a path that eventually forms a square around the central chamber, imparting mucho experience and loot. After you decide to go forward, (everyone else look for TOMBS below) go to the end of the hall and go left/south. Go into the first room on your right. The chests in here are very good, and are also very heavily trapped. Most of them WILL kill you, and are hard enough that only full rogues have a ch