Weapon master and prestige class questions

shift244 · Post by **shift244** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 6:24 pm

hmm.. i'm not sure about +1 attack per 3 levels. once into epic levels, a character no longer gains BAB as when pre-epic. i hope you know that. all epic characters gains +1 attack every 2 levels regardless of class, so a level 20 warrior has +10 attack compared to a level 20 mage , but so will a level 40 warrior have a +10 attack compared to a level 40 mage. check that the +1 per 3 levels does not include that. otherwise, i see very little reason to take a fighter past any more levels than when necessary to get whatever you want (like eligibility to WM).

as for how much a +4 attack is.. well, there are a few ways to look at this:

one is ratio-wise. your rolls are made with a d20, so you get a 1-20 result. this will put each point at 5%. hence a +4 will give you a +20% to hit advantage.

another, is linear-wise. a chainmail +4 AC, so a +4 to attack will effectively negate all protection less than a chainmail, or half of, a full plate mail (+8 AC). this reduces the "perceived value" +4 bonus somewhat, but you're effectively "removing" a sheild's worth of AC (on average) from the target.

as to the reason for my question of MUST take a fighter level at char level 21+ is that, the wpn spec feat requires that a char must be a fighter with a +4 BAB. i can start with 1 fighter level, then take 6 wizard levels (to get a +4 BAB), and then i still have access to the wpn spec feat. i need not take fighter levels to get it in my feat list anymore. so i was wondering if that is the case for imp won spec also...

Aremah · Post by **Aremah** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 5:48 am

I just stated what I read up and NWN forums. It seemed that you do indeed must take a Fighter level for Imp. Weap. Spec., but I'll be sure when I get HotU. Also, the WM attacks is an exact quote (then again, I've just read up that a lvl 10+ prestige class is already considered epic, i.e. a lvl 11 WM is an epic WM).

Originally posted by shift244
all epic characters gains +1 attack every 2 levels regardless of class

How would I know if I don't have HotU and regular character epic levels are not very well described on the net. Are you sure about this? Seems like a boon to many classes, but actually a handicap to some (Fighter, Barbarian).

Aremah · Post by **Aremah** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 5:24 pm

I've scoured the NWN Bioware boards and still found no mention of this +2 BAB every two levels. But it doesn't really matter, because the Weapon Master gets his attacks as a class ability (Superior Weapon Focus: +1 to attack with chosen weapon) at levels 5, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25 and 28. He's supposed to get another at level 10 according to the manual but it's just a mistake there (and all this is a fact, not a question), but anyhow, this must mean in the end that these bonuses are extra (as they do not factor into the Base Attack Bonus, just the chosen weapon). So it's still +7 over a pure fighter (and +6 over a Fxx/WM7 build).

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 6:25 pm

The +1 to BAB every two levels for epic characters is shown in a table in the HotU manual. (page 57, my version)

Aremah · Post by **Aremah** » Sat Mar 06, 2004 2:51 am

As I said, I don't have HotU yet, but thanks for the heads up

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Sat Mar 06, 2004 3:52 am

Originally posted by Aremah
As I said, I don't have HotU yet, but thanks for the heads up

Well - most information about HotU - is infact in the HotU manual

Aremah · Post by **Aremah** » Sat Mar 06, 2004 12:25 pm

True. Less than a month to go for me.

EDIT: Deleted some 95% of this post because I found what I needed over at the NWN boards

Also went over this thread and saw how much crap I was saying without knowing the facts straight

Anyway, in order to be able to get Weapon Specialization, a character needs to have at least 4 Fighter levels (was patched sometime along the road). In order to get Improved Weapon Specialization, the character must obviously meet the specified requirements, but MUST also take a Fighter level to get it (because it is a Fighter-only feat).

As such, I consider the case closed, am going to polish my two WM builds and perhaps will submit them to GameBanshee (though I'll have to wait until I get HotU to be absolutely sure it all works).