Adventurers seek gold, glory, justice, fame, power, knowledge, or maybe some other goals—perhaps noble or perhaps base. Each chooses a different way to attain those goals, from brutal combat power, to mighty magic, to subtle skills. Some adventurers prevail and grow in experience,wealth, and power. Others die.
A class is one of the fifteen player character types -- barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, favored soul, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, spirit shaman, swashbuckler, warlock or wizard. Class defines a character's predominant talents and general function within an adventuring party. Character class may also refer to a nonplayer character class or a prestige class.
Class determines what a character is able to do: combat prowess, magical ability, skills, and more. Class is probably the first choice made about a character -— just ahead of race, or perhaps in conjunction with that decision. The class chosen determines where a character should best place ability scores and suggests which races are best to support that class choice.
Base classes[]
A base class is a class that may be chosen at level 1 (as opposed to a prestige class).
The following 15 base classes are included in NWN2 (two added with Mask of the Betrayer, one with Storm of Zehir).
Combat Classes[]
- Barbarian (Brb): A ferocious warrior guided by fury and instinct.
- Fighter (F): A warrior with unequaled skill with weapons.
- Monk (M): A martial artist and master of exotic powers.
- Paladin (Pal): A champion of justice, strengthened by an array of divine powers.
- Ranger (Ra): A cunning, skilled warrior of the wilderness.
- Rogue (Ro): A skillful scout and spy who utilizes stealth.
- Swashbuckler (SB): A Dexterity/Finesse based Melee Fighter. (SoZ)
Spellcasting Classes[]
- Bard (Brd): A performer and jack-of-all trades whose music works magic.
- Cleric (C): A master of divine magic and a capable warrior as well.
- Druid (D): One who draws energy from the natural world.
- Favored soul (FS): A disciple chosen by their patron deity. (MotB)
- Sorcerer (Sor): A spellcaster with inborn magical ability.
- Spirit shaman (SS): A mystic that interacts with the spirit world. (MotB)
- Warlock (Wlk): A spellcaster with ties to dark, supernatural powers.
- Wizard (Wiz): A spellcaster schooled in the arcane arts.
Prestige classes[]
A prestige class can only be chosen once certain prerequisites have been met. These classes are limited to 5 or 10 levels (rather than 20 like base classes) and do not have epic progression (save epic bonus feats).
- Arcane archer (AA): Elven marksmen enhanced with magic
- Arcane Scholar of Candlekeep (ASC): Prestigious scholars well-versed in metamagic (MotB)
- Arcane trickster (AT): Arcane casters with a mischievous twist
- Assassin (Asn): Infiltrators skilled in espionage and wetwork
- Blackguard (BG): A dark marauder devoted to carnage and mayhem
- Divine champion (DC): A warrior devoted to their patron deity
- Doomguide (DG): Lawful Neutral Specialty Priest of Kelemvor (SoZ)
- Duelist (Dls): Nimble, intelligent fighters trained in making precise attacks with light weapons.
- Dwarven defender (DD): A champion of dwarven causes
- Eldritch knight (EK): Combining martial and arcane talent
- Frenzied berserker (FB): Warriors consumed with lust for battle
- Harper agent (HA): A member of the Harpers organization
- Hellfire warlock (HW): A more fiendishly-themed Warlock (SoZ)
- Invisible blade (IB): Experts in knife combat (MotB)
- Neverwinter Nine (NN): The elite bodyguards of Lord Nasher
- Pale master (PM): Macabre scholars of death, undeath, and necromancy
- Red dragon disciple (RDD):Spellcasters that unlock the power of latent draconic heritage
- Red Wizard of Thay (RWT): Highly specialized, human master wizards (MotB)
- Sacred fist (SF): Ascetics devoted to perfecting their body via divine magic (MotB)
- Shadow Thief of Amn (STA): Member of the prominent Shadow Thieves guild
- Shadowdancer (SD): Nimble artists of deception, operating in the border between light and darkness.
- Stormlord (SL): Masters of thunderstorms (MotB)
- Warpriest (WP): Clerics dedicated to warfare
- Weapon master (WM): Specialist melee warriors
Pre-release notes[]
- Obsidian has stated that NWN2 will support four classes per character (instead of three as in NWN), but one of them is reserved for a prestige class.
- Obsidian has stated that Sacred fist and Mystic theurge will not be included in base NWN2 as originally planned. The Sacred fist was eventually added with Mask of the Betrayer expansion pack.