No, i an not saying that NWN2 is a bad game, in fact is a amazing game and is in my top 10 RPG's but nwn1 is better IMHO because >

1 - More spells like time stop and some abilities are different like lv 9 spell Shapechange can't turn you into a dragon in nwn2.

2 - Better familiars. Pseudodragon, Pixie, Ice mephit, fire mephit, eyeball... I know that in DnD PnP there are a rule that only mundane creatures can become familiar, but in D&D this creatures are "mundane" and note that Druid with a expansion can have a tyrannosaur companion and an epic druid can have literally a dragon as a companion ( http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Companion and http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Dinosaur_Companion ), i can argue that a pseudodragon in D&D verse is similar to a dog in real life.

In final battle, in my first play trough, many years ago, i got wrecked many times due the massive party management and lack of equipment from unused party members but in my second playtrough, simple having a great amount of potions to all party members and an average gear... Killed the final boss without a single reload.

3 - The IA.The IA is terrible. For example, during the siege in my fort i simple launched a couple of firewalls in siege towers or after they break the gate, in the gate... Nobody tried to dispel my spell, they simple walked trough death.

4 - Warlock is too weak. Was a disappointment. I will not post the details of the 3.5 Complete arcanun book class description but there are a lot of things that Warlock can do in PnP and can't do in nwn2. Yes, the epic warlock can be deadly but nothing close to another casters

For example, his Eldricht Blast at lv 20 will deal 9d6 damage, a Flame Arrow at the same level will trow 5 arrows, each one dealing 4d6 damage. A LV 12 sorc/wiz can do more damage with a lv 3 spell than a warlock with his best offensive spell at end game. Yes, the warlock at epic level can do 14d6*1.5 damage, but this is nothing compared with a Hellball. 10d6 fire, 10d6 acid, 10d6 electrical and 10d6 sonic damage or 10d6*4. A lv 28 caster with a Maximized Flame Arrow that would utilize a level 6 slot and dish out a whopping 168 damage before saves.

And for summoning, he can only summon one undead creature that have no chance against any "greater undead". If you are a hellfire warlock, you can summon a Baatezu and the normal warlock can transform into demon. This abilities are the unique abilities that aren't completely underpowered. They lack in versatility since Druid/Sorc can choose that transform but are lack in power.

The unique reason to have a warlock in my party is because i need Ammon to use "true name scroll"

5 - Linearity.

For example, during the trial, you need to follow a strict path to prove your innocence. You can't try bribe/charm/intimidate people to be "witness" and say that have seed Kana receiving orders from the enemies and putting a fake letter in his house or arguing that you can shapeshifft(if you can) and if you are guilty, you will never use your real form to do a massacre because this is insane. You need to follow a specific way to resolve things that can be resolved in "N" lawful or not ways. And to burn corpses, why you need a specific powder that can only be obtain in one way? why not be able to use spell, alchemy and etc?

And despite the fact that you can be innocent or guilt, the game follows the same way...

Don't get me wrong, NWN 2 is for me 8.5/10. NWN 1 is 10/10. I loved the keep management, some new classes like Red Wizard and graphics but still prefer NWN1;

Lots of people prefer NWN1. AFAIK, NWN1 has always been more popular than NWN2.

My issues with NWN2:

D&D 3.5: I am old school, and I find a lot of 3.5 enhancement are just over the top silly. Example: letting you use Intelligence instead of Strength for weapon damage, then letting you double dip.

18 Str = + 4 damage

18 Int = +8 damage (with appropriate feats/classes)

Magic overload: NW2 is like Monty Haul on acid. You can build weapons that add something like 15 D6 damage of elemental damage per hit. Overpowered weapons devalue the character.

Effects overload: Once you have an elemental effect on a weapon, it's like you are fireball going off with every hit. Extremely annoying, you barely see what is going on. Maybe that is the point to handle weak combat animation.

Annoying Camera: The camera was great in NWN1, they messed it up needlessly in NWN2. Change for change sake.

Minor touches: There are a bunch of little things. Map pints are gone. I really like these to remind me to revisit a location. Save games in no longer list the module name, again handy little thing removed.

In short NWN2 looks prettier which is soon forgotten and has better party control. That is about it for advantages from my perspective. YMMV.

NWN1's interface is just better than NWN2's. And the NPCs party members are generally more interesting. You can't have nearly as many, but...

The Swashbuckler comes from the book Complete Warrior, so it's not really part of the 3.5 rules change so much as it was released in a product that was published after the 3.5 rules came into effect. I'd also disagree that it's necessarily silly; strength-based builds are really good and don't even need class features to be effective, so finesse builds kinda needed these bonuses to catch up. It's even worse in pen and paper than in NWN, since NWN nerfed the power attack feat quite heavily and didn't implement the best strength-based weapons.

I prefer play games that you manage a character or a small party than manage very big parties. Unfortunately there are few RPG`s that you play a character not a party and no, i don`t consider generic action games with some rpg elements as RPG.

IMHO the greatest problem of NWN2 is that i feel ~forced~ to play as melee character since :
1 - Melee weapons do much more damage. For example, my dwarf fighter can attack 3x per round and do about 40 damage per attack. This is much more than the majority of my spells.
2 - you need to talk to a boss before be able to fight him(start the cinematic/conversation and you will start the battle surrounded. I try put firewalls and delayed fireballs before talk to a boss, using spells to get damage resistance, shape-shift to a golem, etc only to have a little chance of go back to rear line.

Not fond of "Chosen One" plots, either. They can be done well...But in a game, it kinda hijacks your character. In NWN1, my primary motivation was what I decided it to be. In NWN2, the game kinda basically decided my primary motivation for me.

I will be in the minority I think - I preffer NWN2 over NWN1. But only if we are speaking in the matters of OC. For me MoTB is better expansion than HoTU. And the OC was better.

But when we are speaking of modding the game or modules itself, then NWN1 is better. The number of modules are speaking for themselves, we have a lot and a really good ones! Also, the toolset interface was far better than the one in NWN2, more user-friendly.

I had written differences between NWN1 and NWN2 from my perspective last year.

I read my list again and I feel the same today. NWN2 is prettier but NWN1 is more stable.

I also prefer NWN 1. The story is engaging and there is a sense of urgency. It's like reading a good book. You want to know what happens next. The main campaign and expansions just feels so epic. And of course, Aribeth.

Some things i disagree. For example 1 - Summoning makes the game less challenging so should reduce the XP. About the 5, is more realistic if bigger items takes more space. Other that, IIMHO nwn1 is better. But if i like more melee characters, maybe NWN2 will be better for me since i will not notice the lack of some usefull spells like Mestil's acid sheath and time stop. And be forced to talk to a boss before start the fight will not be a problem.

For those who don't know the acid sheath, this spell can return up to 80+d6 damage for anyone who attacks you and bypass spell resistance, so this with increased damage reduction makes golems a easy target ( http://nwn.wikia.com/wiki/Mestil%27s_acid_sheath )

At the moment I prefer NWN2 but I've frequently switched between one and the other because I've never quite made up my mind. They both have their pros and cons.

The strength of NWN campaign vs NWN2 campaign isn't relevant to me because I finished them ages ago and spend all my time playing community modules.

NWN2 did actually improve a lot of things but unfortunately screwed up a lot as well. Over the years I've made tweaks and installed mods that have made the game satisfying for me, but like I said I wouldn't be surprised if I changed my mind again at some point.

i also agree nwn 1 is far better than nwn 2-- i did install and try nwn 2 for about 20 minutes--- it felt liked a cosmetic graphics overlay of nwn 1's interface, with worsened stats and abilities for all characters.....

one day, i hope nwn 1 will get a complete facelift to make it super smooth and endless as a modern mmo, while retaining everything (including toolset, DnD rules, mathematical formulae and saves and attacks etc) else.

but i suspect it wont arrive. nwn 1 is just too good on its own. (esp the DM client)

One thing I'm wondering about is, it's clear that NWN1 is preferred by a majority, yet when you look at bestsellers of GOG, NWN2 stands quite a few places higher than NWN1. Why is that and how come it's still less popular than NWN1, then?

Thats the main problem with locks. They require quite delicate build. Here is few "fun" facts

1)Warlocks are buggy. When you try to overcome resistance(like one vampires has) only HALF of your caster level is counted. And since your eldritch blast is well, spell - thats kinda huge blow
2) Eldritch blast can crit. Yeah, it really can!
3)Warlock do NOT need charisma to use their invocations. Contrary to other casters even if you has ZERO charsma you can use all invocation
4)unmodified eldritch blast 10d6 or higher ignore spell resistance at all.

What it gives us in the end? A little fun fact - Warlock's do not need charisma if he doesn't want to try and control enemies. In other words - warlocks are... archers! And neet to be build as one with high dex for high AB, improve critical, weapon focus RTA, and blind fight with filling all their epic levels with epic eldritch blast. And every point you put in cha is a waste.

Just as example - tiefling warlock, who started as a rogue(ro1\war29) who dumped charisma, maxed dex on lvl up and get 7 epic eldritch blast feats with eldritch master will deliver 30d6 damage per round which also has 18-20 crit range. Now compare it to hellball, which can be used once per rest and unable to crit.

Yes, warlock in epic level are powerful. But in lv 20, your max damage spell will be 9d6. A sorc/wiz at lv 9 will have a lot of spells that can do 9d6 damage. And note that sorc are underpowered in mid/high level are underpowered in NwN2...

Mestil's acid sheath + Elemental shield. At lv 15 you can do 1d6 + 15 + 1d6 + 30 acid damage and in max level, you can do 1d6 + 80 + 1d6 + 40 damage, each time that a enemy strike you. This 2 spells combined with a increased damage resistance spell is simple game-breaking.

Look how a DRAGON easily die at CQB without i attacking or losing 1/3 of health.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Ayb--gpd0

And note : In end game i will be able to cast this 2 spells and shapeshift to a dragon(this 2 things aren't possible in NwN2) and even if i have no time to cast the spells. Time stop + cast defensive spells.