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| - Neeshka's stats are close to optimal for a Rogue, and her Tiefling ECL hardly matters at all. Her starting feat is Improved Initiative. As the only Rogue-class companion, Neeshka is an almost essential if the PC has no typical Rogue skills. While the Knock spell is widely available to get chests open, you will still lose part of its content if the chest is trapped and therefore destroys itself when you access it. Many dungeons have traps on floors as well. Stats: You should definitely maximize her Dexterity, so Neeshka, using Weapon Finesse, gets the highest attack bonus possible and can fully learn Two-Weapon Fighting. Her Intelligence is more than high enough once you learn the importance of the different skills. Feats: By default, Neeshka takes the Weapon Finesse feat, which works well with Two-Weapon Fighting, and later Improved Two-Weapon Fighting and Greater Two-Weapon Fighting. This will double her attacks, including potential Sneak Attacks that can make short work of enemy wizards. The player may consider giving her Improved Critical and Weapon Focus in a light weapon of choice. The Toughness feat is recommended to raise her relatively low hitpoints a bit. Among her bonus rogue feats, Slippery Mind is recommended to compensate for her low Will saves. The feats Skill Focus (Disable Device) or Nimble Fingers are worth considering, as the DC for disarming traps is usually high in the game. A Headband of Intellect and Grobnar's Inspire Competence bard mode will also help her disable any trap. Skills: Rogues are all about skills, so knowing them well will help you with Neeshka a lot. You will want to have her Disable Device maximized at all times. Many of the other skills can be kept at lower values. Avoid all social skills as they don't matter on anyone but your main character. It is no problem to give Neeshka Craft Alchemy or Lore as well, or even Craft Trap if you want that one, when you know enough about skills. As Neeshka will usually move around the battle field very much, Tumble for avoiding attacks of opportunity is essential. The DC for Tumble is always 15, therefore values above 12 + 4 (Dex) - 2 (max light Armor penalty, for Chainshirt) = 14 are not neccessary for moving; but for every 10 points in tumble you get +1 AC. It is enough to raise only Listen and not also Spot because opponents will seldom stay put at one place. For her own sneaking, there will be enough items that you don't need to maximize her Move Silently and Hide skills. Between the fact that Neeshka has an abundance of skill points and the fact that she doesn't have the greatest will or fortitude saving throws, Spellcraft can be a helpful skill to buy into to keep her safer from spellcasters. As of Patch 1.23, the Appraise skill is only useful for the player character, so it is useless to give it to Neeshka. Equipment: Very important for Neeshka is equipment that protects her against Enchantments, as she has very bad Will saves. The Armor of Loyalty you get in the earlier game works wonder on her for that. Alternatively, you can keep her under the effects of the cheap and longlasting Protection from Evil spell all the time. Anything better than Leather Armor gives Neeshka an Armor Check Penalty that, as a specialized skill user, affects a lot of her abilities. You should try to craft her a Belt of Agility when you have the resources for it. Together with Bracers of Armor, Neeshka can reach AC 28 (Dex 30 = 22 natural, +8 from Belt, for AC 20, plus +8 AC from Bracers) without any Deflection or Natural Armor bonus yet. Later in the game when her Dex is high you should probably equip her with a robe. Neeshka should wield a rapier in the main hand and (once you have given her Two-Weapon Fighting) a light weapon (such as a short sword) in the offhand. If you have given her Improved Critical in a light weapon, she should of course wield one of those in both hands. Battle: As with any DnD Rogue, try not to let her be attacked, because she has mediocre hitpoints. With high enough tumble skill, she can run away from attackers and cause AoO's from her allies when she runs close by to them, which very likely causes the attackers to let her be. Move her around the rear side of opponents to turn her into a deadly killer. This can later be skipped for undead and other opponents who are immune to Sneak Attacks anyway.
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