Epic Character Builds – Dragon Kin
By community members SBully and cdaulepp
The Dragon Kin is a combination of epic wizard and formidable, shape-shifting druid. The Dragon Kin can handle himself in human form, but he truly shines after shifting into dragon shape. Designed by community members SBully and cdaulepp, the Dragon Kin was specifically tailored to improve the playability of a true dragon in Neverwinter Nights. When wearing no items, the Dragon Kin can achieve an AC of 85 making him devastatingly difficult to hit. The Dragon Kin was also built to give players one more template that could beat mages in PvP besides the traditional monk builds. Epic enemies might not fear a regular dragon, but they will fear the Dragon Kin as he has the epic feat “dragon shape” option to shift into an ancient red, blue, or green dragon.
Dragon Kin
Overview
Druid: 15
Wizard: 23
Monk: 2
Race: Human
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Starting Stats
Str: 8
Dex: 8
Con: 9
Int: 17
Wis: 18
Cha: 8
Final Stats
Str: 8
Dex: 8
Con: 9
Int: 20
Wis: 30
Cha: 8
Final Skills
Animal Empathy: 42
Concentration : 43
Discipline: 43
Hide: 43
Lore: 10
Move Silently: 43
Spellcraft: 42
Tumble: 43
Equipment
Robe
List Of Immunities
The Dragon Kin has had many adventures in his short life. He’s acquired a long list of abilities, some of which only apply to dragons. The following list of Dragon Kin immunities makes him one of the most powerful creatures that exist.
Immunity to poison – from druid Venom Immunity
Immunity to grease – from druid Woodland Stride
Immunity to web – from druid Woodland Stride
Immunity to entangle – from druid Woodland Stride
Immunity to mind affecting spells – dragon ability
Immunity to paralysis – dragon ability
Immunity to sneak attacks – dragon ability
Immunity to acid/electrical/fire – depends on the color of dragon shifted into
Immunity to level 4 spells and lower – Globe of Invulnerability
Immunity to instant death effects – Shadow Shield
Immunity to necromancy spells – Shadow Shield
Immunity to slow – Freedom of Movement
Immunity to death spells – Death Ward
Immunity to death spell-like abilities – Death Ward
Immunity to death effects – Death Ward
Permanent True Seeing – dragon ability
95% Immunity to spells with Reflex saves – Evasion
95% Immunity to one missile attack each round – Deflect Arrows
50% Concealment – Improved Invisibility
50% Immunity to cold – Elemental Shield
50% Immunity to fire – Elemental Shield
Damage Reduction 50/+20 – Epic Warding (short term buff)
Damage Reduction 20/+5 – Greater Stone Skin (long term buff)
Damage Reduction 10/+5 – Stone Skin (long term buff)
Damage Reduction 10/+3 – Shadow Shield (long term buff)
Spell Resistance 27 – Spell Resistance Spell
Spells
The Dragon Kin has devoted himself to learning the arts of both arcane and divine magic, and he eventually also gains the ability to cast epic spells. The Dragon Kin can also learn all wizard spells from scrolls and has access to druid spells level 8 and lower. The following spell memorizations help the epic character prevail in combat against most enemies.
Suggested Wizard Spell Memorizations – (quantity in parenthesis)
1st level – Mage Armor (1), Shield (1), Identify (1), Ray of Enfeeblement (3)
2nd level – Fox’s Cunning (1), Eagle’s Splendor (1), See Invisibility (1), Invisibility (2)
3rd level – Mage’s Circle Against Alignment: Evil (1), Gust of Wind (1), Vampiric Touch (1), Haste (2)
4th level – Extended Haste (2), Improved Invisibility (2), Remove Blindness/Deafness (1)
5th level – Extended Elemental Shield (1), Maximized Owl’s Wisdom (1), Maximized Endurance (1), Maximized Cat’s Grace (1), Lesser Mind Blank (1)
6th level – Extended Mestil’s Acid Sheath (1), True Seeing (1), Bigby’s Forceful Hand (2)
7th level – Bigby’s Grasping Hand (1), Protection from Spells (1), Extended Globe of Invulnerability (1), Shadow Shield (1)
8th level – Extended Spell Mantle (1), Greater Sanctuary (1), Empowered Isaac’s Greater Missile Storm (2)
9th level – Mordenkainen’s Disjunction (2), Maximized Isaac’s Greater Missile Storm (2)
The Dragon Kin only finishes with twenty intelligence. The DC on his wizard attack spells is too low to choose spells that allow a saving throw. Therefore, Dragon Kin focuses on spells that have no save, such as Vampiric Touch, Isaac’s Greater Missile Storm, Bigby’s Forceful Hand, and Bigby’s Grasping Hand.
Suggested Druid Spell Memorizations- (quantity in parenthesis)
1st level – Ultravision (1), Camouflage (1), Endure Elements (1), Extended Resistance (5)
2nd level – One With the Land (1), Barkskin (1), Resist Elements (1), Lesser Restoration (2), Lesser Dispel (3)
3rd level – Greater Magic Fang (1), Extended Blood Frenzy (3), Call Lightning (2)
4th level – Stoneskin (1), Freedom of Movement (1), Mass Camouflage (1), Flame Strike (3)
5th level – Spell Resistance (1), Death Ward (1), Owl’s Insight (1), Maximized Bull’s Strength (1), Awaken (1), Empowered Call Lightning (1)
6th level – Energy Buffer (1), Greater Stoneskin (1), Maximized Call Lightning (3)
7th level – Heal (1), Harm (2)
8th level – Extended Aura of Vitality (2)
The Dragon Kin finishes with 30 wisdom and is able to raise this to 42 with spells such as Owl’s Insight and Maximized Owl’s Wisdom. The DC on his druid spells is a respectable 10 (base) + spell level + 16 (wisdom modifier) = 26 + spell level.
Epic Spells
10th level – Epic Mage Armor (1), Epic Warding (1), Greater Ruin (1), Hellball (1)
Although the epic spells were chosen using the wizard levels, the DC for the epic spells is calculated using the highest modifier of either wisdom, intelligence, or charisma. So, in this case, because wisdom finishes at 42 (with buffs), the DC for the Dragon Kin’s epic spells is: 10 (base) + 10 (spell level) + 16 (wisdom modifier) = 36. That is excellent. These spells can be cast while in dragon form.
Skills
The Dragon Kin has remarkable skills in human form. These skills aid him in resisting taunts, disarm attacks, interruption of his spells, and knockdown attempts. They also give him boosts to his saves against spells and a boost to his AC.
Human form
42 – Animal Empathy – dominate almost any animal
43 – Concentration – so spells don’t get interrupted
43 – Discipline – resist called shots, disarms, knockdowns
43 – Hide
10 – Lore
43 – Move Silently
42 – Spellcraft: bonus (+8) to saves against spells
43 – Tumble: extra (+8) to AC
The astute player will notice that, once the Dragon Kin shifts into a dragon, he gains a huge boost to his already high skills. The most notable boosts that Dragon Kin receives are Discipline, Hide, Move Silently, and Tumble. These skills help Dragon Kin prevail in combat.
Dragon form
45 – Animal Empathy
58 – Concentration
66 – Discipline
84 – Hide: nobody should see the Dragon Kin without true seeing
64 – Move Silently
47 – Spellcraft – +9 to saves against spells
60 – Tumble – Dragon Kin can move around in combat with ease
Feats
Dragon Kin has several remarkable feats that aid him in his adventures.
Animal Companion – Dire Wolf – Having an animal companion not only distracts monsters but is particularly useful for PvP combat. When an enemy mage casts Isaac’s Greater Missile Storm, some of the missiles will target Dragon Kin’s pets.
Wizard Familiar – Pixie – Same as wolf, but the Pixie is also useful for picking locks, disarming traps, and healing.
Blind Fight – Re-rolls the miss percentile against concealed opponents.
Deflect Arrows – Can attempt to dodge one missile attack each round. The DC is only 20, so he has a 95% chance of dodging one missile attack each round.
Evasion – Whenever a Reflex save is allowed for half damage, the Dragon Kin will take zero damage if he succeeds at his save. His Reflex saving throw in dragon form is so high he should hardly ever fail his saving throw.
Flurry of Blows – Activating this feat gives Dragon Kin one extra attack each round. This can be used with Improved Knockdown attacks.
Improved Knockdown – Using this feat while targeting your opponent gives a +8 to Dragon Kin’s attacks against medium sized creatures.
Scribe Scroll – Make a scroll of any spell you know. Dragon Kin knows a ton of spells. This is very useful when blank scrolls are available.
Stunning Fist – Dragon Kin can stun his opponent for 3 rounds with a devastating blow. The DC to resist Stunning Fist is: 10 (base) + 20 (half character level) + 16 (wisdom modifier after buffing) = 46 total. Hardly anyone can resist this. Stunned enemies are flat-footed and easy pickings for Dragon Kin. He can use this ability in dragon shape or human shape.
Superb Saving Throws
The Dragon Kin has access to several spells from both the druid and wizard spell schools that will raise his dexterity, constitution, and wisdom. Raising these abilities also raises his saving throws. Shifting will raise the Dragon Kin’s base strength, dexterity, and constitution. Finally, other spells, such as Resistance and Mage’s Circle Against Alignment: Evil, can raise the Dragon Kin’s saving throws. After buffing, in dragon shape, his saves are:
Fortitude: 37
Reflex: 34
Will: 42
The Dragon Kin In CombatThe Dragon Kin’s spellcraft skill point ranks give him a boost of +8 while a human, or +9 in dragon shape, against any spell that allows a save. The Dragon Kin also has access to the spell “Protection from Spells”. Protection from spells will add an additional +8 boost to saving throws against spells. Considering that wizards and sorcerers cannot get a DC higher than 45 for their spells, the only way the Dragon Kin will fail his save against a spell is if he rolls a 1. If Dragon Kin is successful in his saving throw, and it is a Reflex save, he’ll take no damage because of evasion.
Hit Points
The Dragon Kin has access to several spells that will raise his constitution and give him a boost to hit points. Extended Aura of Vitality, Maximized Endurance, and Extended Blood Frenzy will raise Dragon Kin’s constitution by a total of 11 points.
Hit point calculation for human form:
15 levels of druid x 7 hit points per level = +105
23 levels of wizard x 3 hit points per level = +69
2 levels of monk x 7 hit points per level = +14
Toughness = +40
The Dragon Kin’s constitution modifier after buffing goes from a -1 to +5, which represents a total of +6 swing. Therefore, constitution bonus = +240
TOTAL = 468 hit points in human form. That is certainly enough considering the Dragon Kin has access to the heal spell. Anyone who underestimates the Dragon Kin in human form may just find themselves dead very quickly. He’s an epic wizard able to do full damage with Isaac’s Greater Missile Storm. He’s also able to cast such spells as Harm and Heal because he has up to level 8 druid spells. Don’t underestimate his power as a spell-caster. Even though his hit points are respectable in human form, his hit points climb to extreme heights when he shifts into a dragon.
Hit point calculation in dragon form:
15 levels druid x 7 hit points = +105
23 levels wizard x 3 hit points = +69
2 levels of monk x 7 hit points = +14
Toughness = +40
Shifting gives +480 permanent hit points by changing constitution to 32.
Shifting also gives +100 temporary hit points.
Maximized Endurance = +80
Extended Aura of Vitality = +80
Extended Blood Frenzy = +40
TOTAL = 1008 hit points in dragon form. That truly is remarkable. After the Dragon Kin applies damage reduction from such spells as Epic Warding, Greater Stoneskin, or Stoneskin, this dragon effectively has redefined the meaning of difficult to kill. An opponent must first hit the Dragon Kin to do any damage, which is no easy matter considering his AC is so high. Combining the Dragon Kin’s huge amount of damage reduction potential with his quantity of hit points, and his super high AC, makes the Dragon Kin a superb melee tank.
Battle Tactics
It is important that the Dragon Kin not be caught flat-footed or he will lose many of his bonuses to AC. To make sure this does not happen, before shifting into dragon shape, cast Improved Invisibility and Greater Sanctuary. Both these spells last for 230 rounds. Having invisibility means many melee people will have no clue that the Dragon Kin is there and thus they won’t be able to attack him. Casting Greater Sanctuary means for those who do have True Seeing, perhaps from a magical gem or item, cannot attack the Dragon Kin until he comes out from under the Sanctuary. This means they won’t be catching him flat footed most of the time.
Tactics vs. melee enemies without true seeing
Dragon Kin is invisible and he can spot invisible or hiding creatures. He can walk up to a melee person, catch them flat-footed, beat on them with his giant claws, and bite them with his razor sharp teeth. Once the enemy realizes he’s being attacked, it’s probably too late. The Dragon Kin will always get the first attack when he comes out of invisibility against a creature who does not know he is there.
The Dragon Kin is a level 24 wizard and a level 15 druid. He can kill opponents in human form using his spells. He can use Bigby’s Forceful Hand, or Bigby’s Grasping Hand to disable melee opponents. Once he disables a melee opponent he should have no problem using his spells to finish them off. The Dragon Kin can cast 1 Hellball, 1 Greater Ruin, 2 Maximized Isaac’s Greater Missile Storm, 2 Empowered Isaac’s Greater Missile Storm, 3 Maximized Call Lightning, 1 Empowered Call Lightning, 2 Call Lightning, 3 Flame Strikes, and 1 Vampiric Touch. This is more than sufficient to handle an opponent. Finally, don’t forget that Dragon Kin can cast Harm against living opponents or Heal against Undead. Harm can reduce an enemy to 1d4 hit points if they are not immune to negative energy and Heal will decimate even the most powerful of Undead.
Tactics vs. melee enemies with true seeing
The Dragon Kin’s best option is to fight them in dragon shape. Shift and attack them. With 50% concealment, and an AC after buffing of 85, the Dragon Kin is nearly impossible to hit. Even when opponents do hit him, he has 1008 hit points, and the enemy must overcome Epic Warding’s damage reduction of 50/+20. Good luck! Finally, for the lucky opponent who strikes the Dragon Kin, they will take 1d6 + 46 acid damage for every successful attack because of Mestil’s Acid Sheath. They will also take 1d6 + 23 fire damage from Elemental Shield.
Cast Greater Ruin, then Hellball on them. The Dragon Kin can do this while in Dragon Shape. Casting Hellball will knock the opponent down, but the Dragon Kin does not get knocked down. When the opponent is knocked down for a round, they are not only flat-footed, but they are prone. The Dragon Kin can easily hit them. I haven’t seen many opponents recover from this strategy. It works very well.
Melee enemies may have devastating critical. It is best not to fight an opponent with devastating critical in human form unless you are absolutely sure you can disable them before they come close enough to strike you. Dragon Kin suffers a significant drop in AC while in human form compared to Dragon Shape. However, in dragon shape his AC is 85, so it’s very difficult to strike a critical hit. Most creatures will not be able to strike the Dragon Kin unless they roll a 20. For most creatures to score a critical hit, they’ll have to roll another 20 on their threat roll. Then the Dragon Kin would have to fail his fortitude save against devastating critical. And don’t forget that the Dragon Kin has 50% concealment. The odds of dying from devastating critical are very low, but are possible.
Almost all spell casters have True Seeing, and some form of Dispel Magic and/or Spell Breach. They will most likely be able to see Dragon Kin, so he won’t be able to sneak up on them.
In dragon shape, it takes at least 6 spells to kill the Dragon Kin.
Mordenkainen’s Disjunction to get rid of spell mantles.
Maximized IGMS (dmg = 240 so far)
Maximized IGMS (dmg = 480 so far)
Maximized IGMS (dmg = 720 so far)
Maximized IGMS (dmg = 960 so far)
Maximized IGMS (dmg = more hits than Dragon Kin has so he dies.)
Knowing how many spells it takes to kill him will help the Dragon Kin stay alive. Please note that the Dragon Kin has a dire wolf animal companion and a pixie familiar. You may even wish to switch taking the Greater Ruin feat for Dragon Knight. Getting Dragon Knight will allow the Dragon Kin to summon a red dragon to fight at his side. With so many pets/familiars/summons, some of the missiles from Isaac’s Greater Missile Storm will be targeting the pet, familiar, and summon instead of Dragon Kin himself.
Tactics vs. spell-casting enemies
You can use the keyboard to move the Dragon Kin. You do not have to use the mouse. If you click on Mordenkainen’s Disjunction before you shift, the “hand” cursor on the screen changes to the “pointer”. The game has queued up a spell and it is waiting for you to choose an opponent to cast the spell on. Shift into dragon shape using the hot key. The game is still waiting for you to choose a target to cast Mordenkainen’s Disjunction against.
Use the keyboard to maneuver the Dragon Kin. When you see an enemy caster, click on them. This will finally cast the Mordenkainen’s Disjunction spell that you queued before you shape shifted. In other words, it’s a way to get rid of many of the defensive buffs of the enemy spell caster. Mordenkainen’s Disjunction is cast in dragon shape, and you benefit from all the abilities the dragon has. Maneuvering the Dragon Kin with the keyboard takes very little getting used to. It is easy.
After the Dragon Kin has dispelled many of his opponent’s buffs with Mordenkainen’s Disjunction, go attack them with his teeth and claws (unarmed attacks). Use improved knockdown hits. Keep knocking the mage down over and over again until his epic warding wears off or until the Dragon Kin has done so much damage that he cancels epic warding. Then finish them off.
In dragon form, run up to the mage, and use the Dragon Kin’s stunning fist attack. He has two of these attacks each day. Spell casters usually do not have high fortitude saves. They should fail their saving throw because the DC is 46 on stunning fist. If the Dragon Kin succeeds in his attack, they are held for 3 rounds, unable to do anything.
When you see they have been stunned, shift back to human form. Cast a Mordenkainen’s Disjunction on the enemy to get rid of anything like shadow shield. Then cast Harm, followed by Greater Ruin or Hellball. This will kill the enemy very easily. The Dragon Kin can shift back to human and cast those spells before the mage recovers from the stunning fist attack. It is an easy kill this way.
Tactic: In human form a battle against an opposing mage is almost always a matter of who sees the other person first and casts the spell quickest. Initiative only matters when you both cast spells at the same time targeting each other. In human form, cast Mordenkainen’s Disjunction followed by Bigby’s Forceful Hand to knock the enemy down. If you see the enemy first and click your spells first, you’ll win. If the enemy casts first, they’ll win. It’s a 50/50 shot, but it does work. If Dragon Kin knocks them down, finish them off with his attack spells.
Tactic: In dragon form, run up to the mage and start attacking while he is spamming IGMS at you. Remember that some of his missiles will target your wolf, pixie, and any summon that you may have. It takes a minimum of 6 spells to kill the Dragon Kin, probably more considering the little army that accompanies him. The Dragon Kin gets 4 normal attacks each round. He can get as many as 6 with haste and flurry-of-blows. If the mage does not have Improved Combat Casting, then the Dragon Kin will get attacks of opportunity as well. The Dragon Kin disrupts many mage spells, especially when he scores critical hits. Any successful hit is not only a knockdown hit, but has the possibility to disrupt their spells too.
Magical Equipment
Special attention should be paid to the Dragon Kin’s armor and helmet because any magical properties on these two will transfer over to dragon shape. Isaac’s Sequencer Robe would be a great choice, if available, or any monk robe. The spells cast on Isaac’s Sequencer Robe can only be activated in human form and would free up 3 high level spell slots. After choosing a good armor and helmet, Dragon Kin should seek items that boost intelligence. Each boost to intelligence represents more wizard spells per day.
Character Advancement History
Following is the path of the Dragon Kin during the first forty levels of his life.
| Character Level | Class | Skill Increases | Feat Selection | Attribute Increase |
| 1 | Wizard | Concentration 4, Spellcraft 4, Save 16 | Extend Spell, Knockdown, Familiar: *Pixie | |
| 2 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 20 | ||
| 3 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 24 | Empower Spell | |
| 4 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 28 | Wisdom | |
| 5 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 32 | Maximized Spell | |
| 6 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 36 | Blind Fight | |
| 7 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 40 | ||
| 8 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 44 | Wisdom | |
| 9 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 48 | *Spell Penetration | |
| 10 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 52 | *Greater Spell Penetration | |
| 11 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 56 | ||
| 12 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 60 | *Toughness | Wisdom |
| 13 | Druid | Animal Empathy 16, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 50 | Animal Companion: *Dire Wolf | |
| 14 | Druid | Animal Empathy 1, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 55 | ||
| 15 | Druid | Animal Empathy 1, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 60 | Improved Critical: Unarmed Strike | |
| 16 | Druid | Animal Empathy 1, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 65 | Wisdom | |
| 17 | Druid | Animal Empathy 1, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 70 | ||
| 18 | Druid | Animal Empathy 1, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 75 | Improved Knockdown | |
| 19 | Druid | Animal Empathy 1, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 80 | ||
| 20 | Druid | Animal Empathy 1, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 85 | Wisdom | |
| 21 | Monk | Discipline 24, Hide 23, Move Silently 22, Tumble 24 | Great Wisdom I | |
| 22 | Wizard | Concentration 2, Spellcraft 2, Save 2 | ||
| 23 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 6 | ||
| 24 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 10 | Great Wisdom II, Great Intelligence I | Wisdom |
| 25 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 15 | ||
| 26 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 20 | ||
| 27 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 25 | Great Wisdom III | |
| 28 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 30 | Wisdom | |
| 29 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 35 | Great Intelligence II | |
| 30 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 40 | Epic Spell: Epic Mage Armor | |
| 31 | Druid | Animal Empathy 11, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 36 | ||
| 32 | Druid | Animal Empathy 1, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 42 | Wisdom | |
| 33 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 47 | Epic Spell: Epic Warding | |
| 34 | Druid | Animal Empathy 2, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 52 | ||
| 35 | Druid | Animal Empathy 1, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 58 | ||
| 36 | Wizard | Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 63 | Epic Spell: Hellball, Epic Spell: *Greater Ruin | Wisdom |
| 37 | Druid | Animal Empathy 2, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 68 | ||
| 38 | Druid | Animal Empathy 1, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 74 | ||
| 39 | Druid | Animal Empathy 1, Concentration 1, Spellcraft 1, Save 80 | Dragon Shape | |
| 40 | Monk | Concentration 1, Discipline 19, Hide 20, Lore 10, Move Silently 21, Tumble 19 | Intelligence |
- Indicates this selection can be changed without affecting the integrity of the overall build.