Neverwinter Nights 2: Nightsinger's Bane

NX4 Equipment Upgrades

Neverwinter NightsOne of the biggest features of NX4: Nightsinger's Bane is the addition of upgradeable companion equipment. These items allow you to grow your companion's power without having to delve into crafting - or worrying about your party looking as though a unicorn vomited on them.

Upgrade Mechanics

Each companion begins with between five and eight pieces of gear - some pieces start out enchanted, others, (initially), have no innate powers at all. (The average is five wearable magical items, a character history relic, and one or two enchanted weapons per character). Each item is designed to match the theme of the character, averting your team looking like rainbow-hued murder-clowns.

Most of the Companion's magical items begin in the +4 range, with item utility ranking somewhere above the top items in the OC but below the more powerful objects in MotB. As they grow, they will become truly mighty artifacts.

NOTE: Enchanting Companion Items, while possible, will not carry over on a tier upgrade. Keep this in mind before you use rare components to enhance.

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Each piece of equipment can be upgraded up to three times - first using a bar of Asterite, then Netherium and fianally Arcanium. These rare crafting materials are sprinkled about the main campaign in dangerous dungeons, hidden passages and other difficult to find locals. During the primary story arc, a player will encounter enough bars to fully upgrade two companion's gear if they explore every nook and cranny.

Additional bars can be won by:
- Completing the harder arena challenges.
- Getting very lucky at the Shadow Thieves "member's only" gambling table.
- Farming the stronger bosses in the Infinite Abyss.
- Stealing from certain NPC's during side-quests.

Below you can see the starting state for Ammon Jerro's Armor:

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Name: Ammon Jerro's Flesh
Type: Mithral Breastplate
Description: This suit of composite armor has been through hell and back again - literally as it turns out. Though badly worn from years of the worst punishment, the armor's constant exposure to infernal energies has imbued it with stunning magical power - far beyond what one might expect given it's tattered appearance.

Powers:
    • +4 Armor Class
    • Damage Reduction 5/Adamantine
    • Material: Mithral
    • 80% Weight Reduction
    • Useable by: Human
    • Useable by: Neutral Evil
    • Useable by: Warlock

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By giving Sage Melchior an Asterite bar, and selecting the piece of gear you with to upgrade he will take the old item, and replace it with a more powerful version:

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Name: Ammon Jerro's Flesh - L2
Type: Mithral Breastplate
Description: This suit of composite armor has been through hell and back again - literally as it turns out. Though badly worn from years of the worst punishment, the armor's constant exposure to infernal energies has imbued it with stunning magical power - far beyond what one might expect given it's tattered appearance.

Powers:
    • +5 Armor Class
    • Damage Reduction 5/Adamantine
    • Material: Mithral
    • Immunity: Paralysis
    • 80% Weight Reduction
    • Useable by: Human
    • Useable by: Neutral Evil
    • Useable by: Warlock

The process repeats with a Netherium Bar:

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Name: Ammon Jerro's Flesh - L3
Type: Mithral Breastplate
Description: This suit of composite armor has been through hell and back again - literally as it turns out. Though badly worn from years of the worst punishment, the armor's constant exposure to infernal energies has imbued it with stunning magical power - far beyond what one might expect given it's tattered appearance.

Powers:
    • +6 Armor Class
    • Damage Reduction 5/Adamantine
    • Material: Mithral
    • Immunity: Paralysis
    • Immunity: Fear
    • 80% Weight Reduction
    • Useable by: Human
    • Useable by: Neutral Evil
    • Useable by: Warlock

Fianally, after locating an ingot of ultra-rare Arcanium, the armor takes on its final form:

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Name: Ammon Jerro's Flesh - L4
Type: Mithral Breastplate
Description: This suit of composite armor has been through hell and back again - literally as it turns out. Though badly worn from years of the worst punishment, the armor's constant exposure to infernal energies has imbued it with stunning magical power - far beyond what one might expect given it's tattered appearance.

Powers:
    • +7 Armor Class
    • Damage Reduction 5/Adamantine
    • Material: Mithral
    • Immunity: Paralysis
    • Immunity: Fear
    • Immunity: Death
    • 80% Weight Reduction
    • Useable by: Human
    • Useable by: Neutral Evil
    • Useable by: Warlock

As noted above, some Companion Items begin with no innate powers:

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Don't get rid of them! Even a pair of humble boots have hidden enchantments lurking below the surface. While Companion Equipment cannot be sold, these trinkets CAN be dropped, and if abandoned someplace the player can never return - or dumped in an incinerator - they might be lost forever.

 

Sage Melchior

While exploring AP2: The Tomb of Horrors, the players may discover Sage Melchior - the last surviving architect of Acererak's murderous labyrinth.

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The wily arc-mage divined his employer's murderous intentions, and hid himself away within a pocket plane inside enchanted painting. There he has remained, trapped for untold centuries, with only his bound genies for company.

Sage Melchior knows spells and magic from forgotten ages - some of which has become lost or forbidden in the modern era. With his ancient magic, he can draw innate magical powers out of seemingly mundane objects - or enhance the powers of already enchanted items.

If the party decides to assist Melchior, he will travel to Crossroad Keep and open a shop inside Sa'Sani's Merchant Headquarters. Besides his primary function of upgrading Companion Items, he's capable of changing equipment appearance using Charlie's Appearance Changer for a small fee.

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NOTE: Using the appearance changer on Companion Items or Quest Objects is unadvisable, as it may break them. With great power, (to look cool), comes great peril!

 

Character History Relics:

Each companion has an inventory item related to their character lore. Observant players may recognize many of these items from their play-throughs of NX0, NX1, NX2 and AP1.

These objects provide a description of why it is important to the character's narrative, and grant a small passive bonus. Just like a companion's other equipment, History Relics are upgradeable, and they are usable only by the race, alignment and class of their owner.

Some of the relics can cast spells when used, generally using charges to do so. A player should be cautions when employing their relic's active powers, as these items vanish when the charges are depleted. Upgrading an item will restore its charges to maximum.

Current History Relics:
- Ammon Jerro: The True Name Scroll
- Kaelyn The Dove: Grandfather's Feather Token
- Bodvarr: Uthgardt Thunderbeast Fetish
- Charissa: Holy Symbol of Tyr
- Eirinn: The Lantern of Cliodhna
- Finch: The Collapsible Clockroach
- Gann: The Telthori Totem
- Khelgar: Ilrah's Rib
- Kistrel: Spellguard Credentials
- Mantides: The Root of Life
- Ithefelle: Grinning Skull Ioun Stone
- Neeshka: Leldon's Lucky Coin
- One of Many: The Malarite Totem
- Ribsmasher: The Ivory Horn of Valhalla
- Rinara: Nightmask Keycharm
- Safiya: Aramin's Aromatic Draught
- Terukawa: Mist Dragon Token
- Umoja: Bal-alak's Tusks

Here you can see the standard form of Ammon Jerro's True Name Scroll:

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Name: True Name Scroll
Type: Miscellaneous Small Object
Description: This scroll contains a jumble of writing in a script undecipherable to your eyes. To a trained sage however, this document lists the True Names of the Shadow Reavers. This scroll is part of a set used to utterly destroy the creatures during the final war against the king of shadows.

While the papers no longer serve their original purpose, they still confer great magical power to those who bear them.

Powers:
    • Bonus Feat: Combat Casting
    • +2 Concentration
    • Useable by: Human
    • Useable by: Neutral Evil
    • Useable by: Warlock

As with other items, each step increases its might - here is Asterite:

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Name: True Name Scroll - L2
Type: Miscellaneous Small Object
Description: This scroll contains a jumble of writing in a script undecipherable to your eyes. To a trained sage however, this document lists the True Names of the Shadow Reavers. This scroll is part of a set used to utterly destroy the creatures during the final war against the king of shadows.

While the papers no longer serve their original purpose, they still confer great magical power to those who bear them.

Powers:
    • Bonus Feat: Combat Casting
    • +3 Concentration
    • Useable by: Human
    • Useable by: Neutral Evil
    • Useable by: Warlock

Followed by a Netherium bar:

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Name: True Name Scroll - L3
Type: Miscellaneous Small Object
Description: This scroll contains a jumble of writing in a script undecipherable to your eyes. To a trained sage however, this document lists the True Names of the Shadow Reavers. This scroll is part of a set used to utterly destroy the creatures during the final war against the king of shadows.

While the papers no longer serve their original purpose, they still confer great magical power to those who bear them.

Powers:
    • Bonus Feat: Combat Casting
    • +4 Concentration
    • Useable by: Human
    • Useable by: Neutral Evil
    • Useable by: Warlock

And finally, after an Arcanium Ingot, the scroll takes on its final and most powerful form:

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Name: True Name Scroll - L4
Type: Miscellaneous Small Object
Description: This scroll contains a jumble of writing in a script undecipherable to your eyes. To a trained sage however, this document lists the True Names of the Shadow Reavers. This scroll is part of a set used to utterly destroy the creatures during the final war against the king of shadows.

While the papers no longer serve their original purpose, they still confer great magical power to those who bear them.

Powers:
- Bonus Feat: Combat Casting
- +5 Concentration
    • Useable by: Human
    • Useable by: Neutral Evil
    • Useable by: Warlock