Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition

Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition

Penultima by Stefan Gagne
 This topic has been pinned, so it's probably important
Roadie  [developer] 19 Apr, 2018 @ 8:14pm
Spoilers and Hints: P3 - Hazard Pay
Warning, spoilers ahead. This document is mostly for folks who have finished the module or need help getting through it.

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General Tips

The module has a series of maps where you progress from south to north, then go through a door to reach the next chapter. If you want to take the shortest possible route it's a good idea to stay to follow the road of Chapter 1, stick to the middle in Chapter 2, and the right in Chapter 3.

Off the beaten path you'll find optional (harder) encounters, particularly in Chapters 2 and 3, which will net you some extra experience and possibly a treasure chest or two.

Chapter 1: Roadblocks

The key ambush spots are: the hollow tree trunk, a niche in the cliff wall (and the opposing island-cliff on the other side also spawns orcs), a corner niche, and then the final area with the wooden structures. There are three spawn points in the final camp: the foxhole which typically spawns a strong orc/ogre and two helpers, a small riser which usually spawns a shaman, and the larger riser which spawns a little of everything. It's a good idea to attack the foxhole first, then the shaman on the small riser, THEN the large riser. The large riser can't see you properly when you're on that side of camp and you can assault it at your leisure.

Talya Al'nez gives you the option of fighting a duel (against a quick and nasty lv6 fighter) or paying a bribe. If you're a caster who can't deal with meelee combat, it's probably better to pay the bribe, but you can always lead Talya out of the roadhouse and battle her in the open so you can make use of the risers. When she 'dies' she'll give you a key, and you can proceed.

Chapter 2: Wild Things

Very much a straightforward brawl, but with optional encounters on the fringes of the map. Inside the temple you'll find some books which hint at the history of this forest and how it relates to the thesis paper Sally was reading in Dewey's Decimal; there's also a locked chest with some treasure. A rouge will be able to pick it, but bashing it will be tough on lower level characters.

At the end of the chapter you'll find some halflings you can hire. If you have no trap detection ability and don't wanna risk it, hire Carver, but your better bet is to hire Joanne. She's a healer, and she has some nice spells to stun the enemy or otherwise get them off your back. You can't control what magic she uses, and she's a bit trigger happy, so you'll want to rest to replenish her before the last battle in Chapter 3.

Chapter 3: Little Problems

Stick to the righthand side of the map for the easiest time through the network of traps, corridors, and what not. There are optional encounters on the fringes and deeper into the northern section if you want the added experience.

In the Taint Camp, you may want to run around the cluster that charges you so you can attack Raynebow. He's a nasty caster, and has some stunning spells that could leave you open to attack. Let your halfling henchman distract the crowd (they have plenty of healing potions, and at this point it's no biggie if they die) and take care of Raynebow, then clean up the rest. Pick up the key Raynebow dropped to open the door to Chapter 4. Your henchman (if any) will stay behind.

Chapter 4: Strange Trip

This chapter does not have any direct combat in it until you get to the challenges, so you get a breather.

Talk to the guardian fragment to get the subquest. Your goal is to beat two of the five greater fragments at their little challenges and such. The harder the challenge, the better the experience points you get. They're on the map as such:
Kloud Konqueror Konfused Kandy Klein
Kandy and Klein are the easiest, since they involve no combat, but get you no reward for your efforts. Kandy actually takes away money to try his challenge (a hard dexterity roll), and Klein needs a really strong Persuasion skill to pass his. If you're not up for combat and you don't mind the difficulty, they're the ones you'll want to face.

Konfused dumps you into a maze with the goal of killing four pieces of 'fluff'. Astute players will recognize the layout of the maze as the maze from Pac-Man. If you do, your life will be easier; less wandering around trying to figure out where the fluff is (location of the power pellets from the game). There are some very unpleasant Zombie encounters down here; if you know where you're going you can probably get away with only triggering two of them. The exit is inside the 'ghost cage' in the center of the maze.

Kloud and Konqueror both have very combat driven challenges. Konqueror's is simply to enter a small cave and deal with 6-8 Chaos Fragments of varying types. CF's don't do a lot of damage, but when swarming en masse they can be a problem. A stout barbarian or fighter shouldn't have too many problems here.

Kloud's is another matter. It takes place on two towers physically seperated by a gap; that means no meelee combat whatsoever. Arrows and spells are the only things that will reach her. She casts some nasty magic, and has plenty of ammo to last throughout the fight. Finally, only one person can challenge her at a time. It's a difficult challenge, but nets you a few hundred experience points once she dies.

Once two fragments are gone, talk to the guardian fragment again, and the door to the far north will unlock.

Chapter 5: Unknowns

The plot actually can branch here, so you may want to save your game so you can see what happens each time.

Once you ask Ralph Neckerson about his research, the option to 'break the chit-chat' and get down to business appears. You have multiple options.
  • One, swear to kill the dark god. Combat begins.
  • Two, admit you're unsure but want to take Kaos. Combat begins.
  • Three, get some revenge on Ralph. He whimpers a bit then combat begins.
  • Four, say you don't understand enough to call it one way or the other. No combat, and Sally arrives!
  • Five, gleefully allow Ralph to continue. No combat, and Sally arrives.
  • Six, stall. Decide later.
If you pick four or five, Sally will appear briefly, get paranoid, and run for it with Kaos. So in the end she always gets Kaos, but if you keep getting skinned alive by Ralph Neckerson's boss battle, this is another way to go. No risk, no reward, mind you. Vigil will also get a little ♥♥♥♥♥♥ at you, but will choose to blame himself instead and the outcome's basically the same.

You can't attack Sally after she arrives, in any case. Even if you stay on friendly terms with Ralph, attacking Sally causes her to flee immediately with Kaos. (She's rather good at that, isn't she?) Ralph will chew you out a bit, too.

Did you notice...
  • ...that transluscent image of an old man appeared in front of the dragon when he disappears in Chapter 5?
  • ...all the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy jokes when taking Konfused's challenge?
  • ...the Blue Velvet reference when you talk to Kandy?
Last edited by Roadie; 20 Jan, 2020 @ 7:41pm