Just installed- now what?

[KeyserSoze]

I have just installed BGII and TOB, and I have also installed the TOB patch from Bioware which was linked under Downloads on this site. I wonder what do I download now? Do you think I should start fresh and play with no mods? I remember years ago, when I got about halfway through the game, I had Shadowkeeper and a mod that allowed me to wear two +1 items. That seemed fair enough to me at the time without feeling like I was cheating.

My questions are:
Should I download shadowkeeper again or is there something else I should be looking for?
What mod do I need to wear more +1 rings of protection?
What other mods can anyone provide guidelines/suggestions for? Any considered to be essential?
Which Mods might provide me with extra Npcs and storylines to go with them?

I know you might get these types of questions often, and I did see the Sticky of Mods up top, but it is sort of chinese to me, without being pointed in the right direction. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Gibberlings 3 Fixpack - must have.
Gibberlings 3 Tweakpack - highly recommended, IIRC it has the multiple +1 items tweak you're after, along with many others that you can install component-by-component rather than all at once. The multiple concurrent romances tweak causes problems though, so maybe skip that one.
Shadowkeeper - it's worth having.
Level 1 NPCs - highly recommended, allows you to set starting classes and assign proficiencies for your NPCs, including kits and thief skill points. NPCs will retain their attitudes and dialogue - so, say, Korgan makes a pretty awful Paladin, but Imoen makes a much better Swashbuckler/Mage than vanilla Thief/Mage, Mazzy works great as a Paladin, and Minsc is a perfect Berserker or Barbarian. Use Shadowkeeper to set their experience to the usual level for dual-classing (still humans only) if you want to keep it close to the original game. Also allows you to make human NPCs multiclass (I have Valygar as a Wizard Slayer/Thief Multiclass), and have multiclasses use a kit for one one of their classes - you'll have to use Shadowkeeper if you want to assign a kit to the second class of a dual-class character though, and can only have one kit at a time.
Unfinished Business - I don't have it, but this one fleshes out a lot of the unfinished Bioware quests that got cut for time.
Dungeon-Be-Gone - lets you skip the opening dungeon if you want, which is a great dungeon and all but wears thin with the same old 3-4 NPCs and equipment after the 20th time.

For NPCs, the only ones I have are Xan (good but a bit elf-centric, which makes sense given his character; romanceable for female elves; class choices of Wild Mage, Enchanter, Sorcerer, Mage, or Fighter/Mage -I have him as Wild Mage), Kivan (haven't played it much of the way through, but from what I did play it seemed worthwhile and gives you an Archer NPC) and Saerileth (wonderfully Lawful Stupid Paladin female; 15-year-old romanceable-for-good-non-Thief-humans/elves/half-elves-with-16+-CHA Mary-Sue; kind of steals the show and leaves the party if you choose 'evil' options). Both Xan and Kivan are returning NPCs from BG1, add a nice little side-quest or two but don't overshadow the main story/quests, and add character classes that aren't usually available so I recommend them; Saerileth is worth a look-see.

[kiwidoc]

If you haven't played the game before then I would recommend sticking to mods that are more about tweaks and convenience. As OtG said the two excellent G3 mods - [url="http://www.gibberlings3.net/bg2fixpack/"]Fixpack[/url] and [url="http://www.gibberlings3.net/bg2tweaks/"]Tweaks[/url] - are must haves.

If you have already played the game let us know how many times, and with what NPCs - and also let us know what sort of game you liked. For example did you like NPCs who are better in combat or those that make you laugh? Are you more interested in a strong story line than lots of really hard battles? Do you want to go to completely new places?

I can recommend a lot of NPC mods so it would help to give me some idea of what you like.

There are also several mods out there that add more areas and/or quests. I'm gradually working my way through a load of these. Once again what would be best for you depends on what sort of game you like.

I almost never use tactics mods - purely to do with my own playing style and my own hassles with memory and multitasking - so I can't offer any advice.

Some rules of thumb for modding I've found useful for me ...

How many mods?
Don't overdo it.
* I find it useful to limit myself to at the most three new NPCs vs standard - if you like your NPCs to interact wtih each other then keep it down to 2 unless they are either from the same expansion or mega mod; or they are included in the [url="file:///E:/Games%20Stuff/RPG%20Games%20Stuff/BG2%20%20mods/Banter%20Packs/Cross%20Mod%20Banter%20Pack/G3%20Crossmod%20Banter%20Pack.htm"]Cross Mod Banter pack[/url]
* The more mods you use the more likely it is you will get some bugs. Also you may not be able to tell which tweaks, tactics changes etc are working for you and which aren't. If you are just starting to explore mods I'd stick to only one that changes rules/tactics; and only one exansion style mod.
* Install them in the right order. This is the standard order I use but check the read me for each mod!
BG2
ToB
ToB Patch
G3 Fixpack
Kit Mods
Item mods
NPC mods
Quest and/or expansion mods
Banter mods
Tweak mods
G3 Tweakpack
AI mods (like SCS II)
Graphic mods
Voices and Portrait mods can be added at any time.

Support and compatibility
* Mods found at [url="http://www.blackwyrmlair.net/"]Blackwyrm's Lair[/url] are all supoprted with forum backup. They tend to be compatable with other mods hosted and supported there, but no so much with mods from other sites.
* Mods found at [url="http://www.gibberlings3.net/"]Gibberlings 3[/url]; [url="http://www.spellholdstudios.net/"]Spellhold Studios[/url]; and [url="http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/"]Pocket Plane[/url] are also all supported. They tend to be compatable with other mods from these three sites.
My exerience is that any mods I've tried from any of these sites has been well supported, good quality and pretty much bug free. This doesn't mean other sites aren't as good, as well suported or have compatible mods ... just that I don't know much about them.

[KeyserSoze]

Thanks for the replies. For some reason, when I went to the gibberlings website, the first mod I clicked on came up with a Virus Warning. I got scared off from g3 site.

[kiwidoc]

Thats weird - I've been using that site for over five years and I've never had a problem. Did you contact the G3 admin?

[KeyserSoze]

I went back to the gibberlings site and it seems I had clicked something else. The downloads have 3 listings with the third one being correct. I think the top two are other download servers that norton decided were a trojan on accident. The third one is from the thegibberlingsthree.

Anyhow I decided to go with:
bioware patch
G3 fixpack
Amber
Tyris Flare
G3 tweakpack
In that order.

The tweakpack seemed like there was a lot of cheese in there, which I did my best to avoid. I got the multiple +1 rings and the improved spell progression charts, as well as the better thac0 rules.

As for playing the game, what difficulty should I play on, normal or AD&D?

I am now at the character choosing stage and I have decided to create a muliplayer party with 2 PC and pick up the rest from NPCs.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Whichever you like - read the descriptions and see if the trade-offs are worth it to you. You can adjust it back and forth in-game, so maybe use Normal for any hard bits and AD&D for the rest of the game.