It really depends on what you want to play. It also does depend a bit on which campaign you're jumping into. I would warn you that the original NWN2 campaign is very flawed; it has some truly brilliant moments, but it also has a lot of mindless filler strung together by haphazard writing. Really needed someone to take the editorial hedge-clippers to it to allow the good stuff (which is really good) to shine.
If you're looking for a melee character, my recommendation would be a Fighter/Rogue multi-class. This gives you the best of both worlds, with the versatility and skill-set of a rogue with the combat power of a fighter.
* Human is the best race selection
* Take your first level in Rogue. You get a huge skill point bonus for beginning your career as a Rogue, and you'll reach level 2 to multi-class before the end of the tutorial so you won't even miss the Fighter's abilities.
* For background, either take No Background, Flirt/Ladies Man, Tale Teller, or Farmer. Everything else has more downsides than upsides.
* The "luck of heroes" feat at the 1st level is a no-brainer
* Attribute scores of STR 16, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 14, WIS 10, CHA 10
* Skip the two stealth skills and invest your skill points elsewhere; potions or scrolls of invisibility are dirty cheap and don't interfere with your ability to wear armor, so use them instead.
* Max out bluff, diplomacy and use magic device. Bluff and Diplomacy get a lot of use in the campaign and are well worth maxing out. The ability to use scrolls and wands is invaluable.
* Use a two-handed weapon like the greatsword; with the combination of rogue sneak attack damage with generally good strength, you'll be a beastly damage-dealer in combat.
* The Weapon Master prestige class is an excellent long-term option, but you need to plan ahead for it since it requires so many feats to qualify. Otherwise, you can lean more heavily on the Rogue class to build up better sneak attack damage, making you the perfect "flanking buddy" for another fighter in the party.
If you're looking for a dedicated spellcaster, you need to decide whether you want to play as a Sorcerer or Wizard. If you play as a Sorcerer, you know a small number of spells but can cast them at will. If you choose a Wizard you can know as many spells as you like, but must prepare them ahead of time. Sorcerers require more care when planning your character build (since you must pick spells intelligently every time you level up) while Wizards require more care in actual play, but you can freely switch things around on the fly. If you want to play as a Sorcerer, my recommendation would be to play as a human and max out your charisma. If you want to play as a Wizard, my recommendation would be to play as a Sun Elf and max out intelligence. In either case, make sure you take the "spellcasting prodigy" feat at the 1st level. As a wizard, ensure you specialize in a school of magic; Illusion and Necromancy are the best choices, in my opinion. For prestige classes, the Arcane Scholar and Red Wizard are very good (although Red Wizard requires you to be a non-good human wizard, so it's pretty restrictive on character concepts). Other multi-class options are either niche or just plain bad. Ensure you take the quicken spell feat once you're about level 12; quickened spells are really expensive to cast, but well worth it for "do-or-die" fights. Avoid backgrounds; there aren't really any good ones for wizards (wizard's apprentice is cool for roleplay purposes, but the penalties outweigh the benefits).
If you're looking to play a more supporting role, look no further than the Bard. My first playthrough of NWN2 was with a pacifist bard who literally refused to use a weapon or damage-dealing spells. Entirely buff, debuff, and conversation skills. I quite enjoyed this character, although choosing the Drow race was painful for the first half of the campaign. Go with a human or a regular elf variety. You can also play the bard with more of a combat flair, and is the best choice if you want to play a "jack of all trades". He has the same caveat as the Sorcerer, in that you must choose spells very carefully. Flirt/Ladies Man is the obvious background of choice for Bards.
Finally, if you're looking for a niche that there's no recruitable NPC to cover, look no further than the Cleric. There is a Cleric NPC, but she appears very late in the campaign and her stats are poorly placed for a front-line warrior/spellcaster that Clerics just scream to be played as. Avoid prestige classes; the Warpriest isn't as good as it looks, since most of its abilities can be replicated by spells. The "devout" background is a no-brainer for Clerics.
Post edited September 04, 2014 by Darvin
