Given it's been a few months and the changes have not only had time to settle but people have had a chance to play different types of characters in the new environment at different level ranges I thought it might be good to relook at the effects these changes have had. If possible, I'd like to keep this thread to a collection of experiences and observations, it is feedback after all and not get into back and forth about what the right or wrong way to change this part of the game might be.
My own observations
In this timeframe I've played three characters:
- A Warlock to mid 20's in the Underdark
- A shadow-dancer to late teens on the surface
- Currently playing a Barbarian in the Underdark, as I write this, very early teens.
This is based on having fun, doing whatever writs I felt like doing, spending a lot of time roleplaying with people and sometimes having a grind. You could absolutely optimise and get a lot more gold in a shorter timeframe if you wanted to.
Experiences and observations from the new system
Class and build have a huge impact on gold and some are close to breaking point
A gold tier list exists, classes with both healing, native buffs and that level through summons (or use summons but don't care for healing) such as warlocks, many clerics and potentially Druids, have no problems with gold. Closely following this are other summon based classes and classes that provide relevant buffs native to their class such as Wizards.
These classes tend not to be gear dependant, certainly not for expensive gear, to level. By the time I rolled the warlock it was still wearing basic bonze chain with a +1 AC from a basin that it made at like level 4 or 5. They don't have major expenses in equipment, provide most or all their own buffs to themselves and their summons and the summons themselves cost nothing but do the majority of the heavy lifting.
The gold situation feels tighter than before, but is still flush.
Then we get to more mundane melee's (I can't talk about archers as I don't play them), where again a smaller division exists. Dexterity and summon based melees (Shadowdancer, blackguards) have a much harder time than the caster-based classes above, but still suffer more than the above primarily due to having to spend gold for required buffs and healing but not having to convert quite as much GP into HP via healing kits or potions and having a less painful gear ramp.
Which leaves us with the poorest of the poor, strength melee.
Equipment for strength characters is expensive and has to be upgraded incrementally. Full plate, tower shield, helms, weapons and so on. You are desperate for each additional +1AC or AB and each level of upgrade costs an order of magnitude more than the last.
You have to purchase every buff, from barkskin to zoo buffs, and you need to actually use many of them to do the dungeons and writs appropriate for your level.
You get hit more and have to turn GP into your HP via heal kits or potions.
The gold reduction has hit strength melee particularly hard.
I'm a decent player at NWN. I understand the mechanics and I'm naturally an optimiser. I've played NWN for close to 20 years, I've levelled a lot of characters on Arelith and know the PvE content really well. I enjoy squeezing every last % out of my characters mechanical capability.
I have really struggled to keep the Barbarian going. I can't just take any writ I enjoy; I have to select for writs that will deliver enough profit to cover the costs it takes to be able to do it, I have to be incredibly selective about where I grind to ensure it has a positive return. It’s hard to keep your head above water right now.
I don't mind a challenge but I recognise most players don't approach the game like me, most players don't track the exact times each potion lasts and ensure they save 80GP by drinking the next zoo at 17 minutes and 30 seconds. I have no idea how they are expected to do well with a build that is going to struggle on gold while facing into the incremental gear checks the server presents.
Epics are grinding lower-level writ content
I noticed in some previous thread that Iron stated this is something the team wanted to avoid. But the changes have driven this particular behaviour. As I've been levelling, I'm forced to pick writs I know deliver a good gold value to keep my characters head above water. In these areas I have been bumping into a large amount of epic level characters who are running it as a source of gold.
Thankfully, every single one I've personally bumped into has been considerate enough to leave and let the level appropriate character do their writs, which I think does speak well of the community.
But the logic behind their decision can't really be faulted. The result of the changes appears to have squeezed the gold earned from epic dungeons and running something 20 levels below you close enough that taking the risk of doing something more level appropriate (and burning the resources to complete it) is no longer worthwhile compared to strolling through the under-level content. As such we've got a system that's pushing those levelling into the same few areas that provide a positive gold return (it’s not just straight positive return, it’s having to build towards the next level of equipment required so you can do the next level range of writs) as those who are trying to attain gold at higher levels.
Conclusion
Perhaps I've lost my touch and everyone else is getting along fine? Either way I think it'd be worthwhile collecting experiences to inform the team. I’ve been lucky enough to find a few groups (I play in a rather quiet time zone) and a very lucky loot drop to keep on track and able to progress. But the worrying thing is, if I didn’t, I’d be forced into being a mid-level grinding and overcrowding a low-level spot purely for the gold to get to a point I could go out and do level appropriate content and I can’t believe that’s the intention here.
