Question about Discipline

[Maragaram]

How useful is Discipline for a buff-provider caster character? Is there really any reason to bother getting it?

The NWN skill system makes me cry.

[Norfildor]

Skilldumping into discipline is always a good idea. Pretty much a mandatory skill if you expect to engage in PvP at some point.

[The Man of the Moon]

There are also many npc encounters who love to use kick... A character with low discipline may be kissing the soil forever in certain areas.

[Tomato Sword]

You have to have realistic expectations, I think. There are people and monsters who just have really high AB. In those scenarios, it won't really matter even if you were able to get 33 non-CC ranks of tumble with all of the equipment you have also having discipline on it. Your butt will be landing on the ground!

I think it's more worthwhile the lower your AC is. Otherwise, I personally have liked the more Arelith-specific RP-related skills over the "Will this save my butt in PVP?"

Also, some of the knockdown like effects in the game aren't even Discipline based (though this is mostly PVM). Wing buffets are Fort saves, there are touch attacks that will knock you down if it hits, etc. etc.

[Mayonnaise]

I usually take Discipline on my casters. Often in combat with other characters, someone's going to get up in your face, and try to trip you with your own staff. It's a strong weakness, if you go without it, but you won't be insta-pwned.

[msterswrdsmn]

It depends on what your AC looks like. Most things that target discipline are AB based; if theres a significant gap between your discipline and AC, discipline is a bit less important. If something is hitting you almost every time when you have 60 AC, then 40-some discipline isn't going to do a damn thing for you 95% of the time.

That said, with gear, it isn't hard to get a high discipline, so there really isn't an excuse for that MOST of the time at epic levels. Especially if you run around unbuffed or have an AC score that fluctuates a lot (expertise feats, high dodge AC, dex with no uncanny dodge, etc)

[Scurvy Cur]

I would generally consider discipline to be non-optional to get to at least a decent score. There are enough monsters in the module with KD that, even if you never PvP, it's going to hurt not to have discipline. Only skip this skill if you intentionally want your character to fold like a cheap tent in any sort of melee.

[The Rambling Midget]

I've actually had many a character without a shred of discipline who got along just fine, except in very rare cases, and with only 40-45 AC. If you're a melee fighter, you absolutely need it, but if you're a range fighter or caster with access to concealment and half decent AC, you can survive without it by being smart. And that's without using summons either.

But, you should still take it if you can.

[Lorkas]

I got halfway through writing a post that said just what TRM said above. Discipline is good to have and if you're a low-to-mid AC meleer then definitely take it, but if you're literally anything else then you'll be fine in PvE. Heck, I even have an 8-AC TF sorcerer who likes to cast in melee, and he has been mostly fine without it.

[Dinosaur Space Program]

Pretty much I always let the character's play style dictate if they had discipline or not (along with most things). I've ran a lot of pure casters and even pure caster for most of their lives until epic and discipline is Very Useful if you are in a position to draw aggro or PC hate.

It's possible to play a low AC, squishy mage, and not eat death constantly in PvP and PvE but it takes skill, knowing how to manipulate aggro pull (mind this was before guard was put in, but they are still useful skills) and knowing the exact distance on any spell you are casting to avoid jumps on you. Also knowing when to kite mobs (and PCs) and how to do so to keep yourself alive while your party or partner is busy. I ran a pure squishy wizard once with no summons (illusion school focus) and it's completely possible.

The easy version of this is just take discipline and make sure your concentration is up to snuff and puts lots of con on your gear. But really, there are a lot of different ways to skill a mage! So it depends on the character in question.

If you are just looking for a yes or no answer, then yes. Discipline is pretty much Always good on Everything.