NWN Henchmen

NWN Henchmen

While playing the official campaign I got fed up with the henchman's poor behaviour in combat and started to research what can be done. I started a thread at rpgdungeon.net which discusses improving henchpersons.

I write a bit about henchmen in my NWN Playing a Paladin snip.

I started to look at NWN Vault and found references to the following pages.

• Pausianias Improved Henchman
• Auldar's Henchman Replacement Pack V0.5

I discovered the Wikipedia has a very comprehensive article on the henchmen.

4th November 2006

I have installed Henchman Inventory & Battle AI mod v1.07, its readme file is on the 'net here.... It comes with a binary installer for XP, and there's a shell installer for Linux. Seems quite good, although in my first fight after installing Linu dies straight away.

Henchman Inventory & Battle AI Mod

I've been playing this for a month and half now. It really makes a difference although there remain some bugs.

• Do not place items straight from your character inventory straight into the "in use" slots.
• Do not seek to replace items in the "in use" slot, the mod does not copy them back to the backpack, you loose them.
• I lost all Sharwyn's gear when transitioning from Chapter Three, to Four. I assume that the published games upgrade scripts, that awards new gear on the change of chapter overwrites the NPC possessions list.

There are a number of dimensions that that mod allows you to tune, magic before combat, aggressive use of magic, reluctant use of magic, melee vs missile, frequency of heal, help with traps and locks. You can give a magic user scrolls and they get used. Fantastic! You can use the henchman's Lore, but sadly not specifically ask for a bard song, nor will Sharwyn use a harp, although maybe I couldn't tell, or they won't powerfull enough by the time I installed the mod.

So some limitations in the AI mod,

• Sharwyn won't use a harp
• Linu seems to have problems with potions of Heal in the Last Fight, see below.

There are also a couple of pretty hard fights in which the henchmen die. One may need to be a lot cleverer.

• Does setting the action mode to Guard make a difference?
• You can set for aggressive use of spells and combat weapons. What is best for fighting the Balor Lord, Klauth and Morag and her entourage? NB Linu survived the Balor Lord fight.

I am not a very subtle player, I tend to maximise the buffs, then hit them as hard and frequently as possible, using high energy spells if a spell caster i.e. fireball, cone of cold etc. Its time to think.

Levelling Up

It seems they start at Level 4 and will level up at the same time as you, once you reach sixth level in the Official Campaign.

How can you influence their weapon proficiencies? Linu was unable to use a number of great blunt weapons because she didn't have the proficiency. I have tried ensuring they are in her inventory when she levels up, but no good.

Sharwyn

At high levels, with Henchman Inventory & Battle AI mod v1.07 installed, she becomes really useful, rings, belts and better weapons all help, becoming an archer helps here survive and using scrolls is really helpful. "Planar Binding" produces a bolt weilding Slaad, although she still died in the fights with the Balor and Kaluth.

Mischa Waymeet

Mishca becomes available in a fan authored module posted in the Vault, and explained on the Bioware Forums. This is an add-on to Shadows of Undrentide. She is a, not very bright, Paladin but so far good fun to travel with; she opens the paladin specific quests in the module. She owns a two handed practice sword which can act as component to "The Tinoman", a magic great sword that can be made in Drogan's home. She is alignment aware. She is particularly unhappy about bad behaviour in the Elven tomb, but I was experimenting with the Altar in the penultimate room of the Tomb of the Kel-Garas, in the desert and she doesn't blink an eyelid if you pray at the evil altar. I must have been pretty good on the way over. Maybe she's just happy about the armour and shield she got from the elven tomb.

Dorna Trapspringer

She's a Cleric/Thief. The AI Mod gives a fair amount of control on the thieving abilities allowing you to instruct her to detect and disarm traps, open locks that you can't and search rooms for treasure. The default settings may not be what you want, and that may change.

The Last Fight in Neverwinter Nights

I have now done this twice, the first time with Sharwyn, the 2nd time with Linu. They've died both times.

No Stone of Recall, and no resting place as far as I can tell. I have tried a second time with Linu, and got her to the door to the final room having used virtally no spells. Despite having a load of heal potions she doesn't seem to want to use them, even to keep them alive and we don't get the chance to Raise Dead or Resurrection in the O.C.

Is there anywhere to rest on this level?