Replaying BG2 - recommended modding strategy

[sengir]

Hey there people,

New member here, I've been browsing the threads here and see that this forum is packed with knowledgable BG-veterans. I've been looking to replay the game (perhaps with BG1 added to the mix) & Throne of Bhaal, but most of all I'm looking for the best possible experience using mods. I actually tried playing the game before with added mods a couple of years ago, but always found the game buggy as hell (even gamestopping bugs at the end of Throne of Bhaal, which frustrated me to no end).

Now as I'm looking to replay the games, I'm looking to get the most bang out of my buck as you might say , with as much extra content added without bugging the game up. Can you guys recommend some strategies/install plans to get the most out of some of mods that are available without screwing up the game? I'm not really looking to add more difficulty gamewise (I've seen a lot of mods created to scale the difficulty up, this isn't really what I'm looking for), just more content, no or very high level cap (I'm an XP hunter, but no real power/hardcore tactics player), maybe even more items and more stuff to do in general (as I've finished the game a couple of times before).

This without actually changing the original game, but adding to it, and this without screwing the game up (mods conflicting with eachother and mods conflicting with the regular game).

I'm also on Windows 7, don't know if I'll have to do a lot of stuff to get the game running properly, but that's the OS I'm on

So, any suggestion you guys have for me, I'd love to hear them. Sorry for starting a new thread for this, but most of the modding questions seemed to be more difficulty then content related and on the modlist sticky I have no idea which mods work best with which mods to add the most but not screw the game up.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

My mod setup with a pretty similar goal to yours (albeit on Vista) is:
BG1: BGTutu (with patched and Gibberlings 3 Fixpack/Tweakpack), BG1 Unfinished Business, BG1 NPC Project.
BG2: ToB, official ToB patch, Gibberlings 3 Fixpack, Dungeon-be-gone, Level 1 NPCs, BG2 Unfinished Business, Xan NPC mod, Kivan NPC mod, Gibberlings 3 Tweakpack (no XP cap option and a few other convenient changes). I'd also suggest the Item upgrade mod, but I just edited the items I wanted changed myself (mostly making NPC items more useful and letting pure mages use Elven Chain) so I don't use it.

I find with this setup the game still 'feels' like BG2, but a bit more, well, complete - small details like making Mazzy a Paladin or Valygar a Wizard Slayer/Thief multi, adding in an Archer character with Kivan and a depressed Wild Mage with Xan, as well as ironing out a lot of the bugs with the fixpack.
But I'd get a few other people's opinions on this too.

[sengir]

Thanks for the suggestions, I see you haven't added Ascension, is this a bug related choice or more personal preference?

[cbarchuk]

Hey Ode,

What's the correct order for installing all that stuff? I didn't see BG2 SoA anywhere.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Thanks for the suggestions, I see you haven't added Ascension, is this a bug related choice or more personal preference?

A combination of personal preference (I haven't used it but from the Readme there isn't much in it I'm really after) and not wanting to have to spend a few hours reinstalling all the mods I have as it is.

Hey Ode,

What's the correct order for installing all that stuff? I didn't see BG2 SoA anywhere.

There's a certain amount of leeway AFAIK.
For Tutu you'll need a full install of both BG1 and BG2 (the BG2 install gets consumed for Tutu), and after that as long as you install the Tweakpack last it seems to work OK. The mods are pretty user-friendly, so read the Readmes and if in doubt ask here or at other BG2 forums.
For BG2 IIRC I installed SoA first, then ToB, then ToB patch, then Fixpack, then whatever you like (I usually go DbG, Xan, Kivan, UB, L1NPCs), and the Tweakpack last it should be good.

And don't forget to grab Shadowkeeper too.

[sengir]

Thanks for all the info Ode

Was wondering are there any other people suggesting stuff?

[Sykar]

My personal modding list and yes I wrote them down in the appropiate order:

* Official ToB Patch
* Ascension (must be installed before G3 Fixpack, major content addon for the final confrontation and more satisfying conclusion)
* G3 Fixpack (Core Fixes, some stuffs from "Tweaks" and "Optional, but cool" , nothing from beta fixes)
* npckit (Proper Kits for Sarevok, Mazzy, Nalia and Korgan)
* Oversight (Mainly alignment fixes)
* Teleport without Error (More power for wizards)
* 1pp (For real flaming swords like in BG 1)
* Unfinished Buisness (Major content restoration)
* Rogue Rebalancing (Bringing thieves and bards closer to PnP and differentiate them more HLA wise)
* D0Tweaks (Ioun Stones after Tweaks, tweaking some spells and other stuff)
* Refinements (Swashbuckler Imoen, Shapeshifting fixes, Universal Lesser Robes)
* BG2_Tweaks v9 (must be installed after Refinments)
* SCS 2 (Improved tactical challange)
* atweaks (Some tweaks other tweak mods did not provide.
* Virtue (Much better reputation system coupled with a new virtue system)

I initially had the Tactics mod installed but its just a big pile of trash for my personal taste.
SCS II is much better overall imho adding a challange without being blatantly disbelievable, breaking major rules/logic or breaking atmophere royally imho.

My aims were to restore unimplemented content, fixing as many bugs as possible, increasing atmosphere, diversifying NSCs more, blocking some bad cheese like Simulacrums and PI casting from quick item slots, no more killing opponents from off screen via Cloudkill/Incendiary Cloud thanks to many Zone of Sweet Air spells and opponents moving out of cloud effects if possible.
Moved extremly powerful items like Robe of Vecna to appropiate places etc.
Removed Shield of Balduran.
Dragon, devils, tanar'i, celestials, mind flayers, djinns and efreeties aren't pushovers anymore and much more dangerous thanks to uninteruptibe magics, more HP (Dragons up to 600 HP) and smarter scripting.

Imoen starts now as a level 10 Swashbuckler with correct amounts of thieving points dualed to a level 1 mage in Irenicus dungeon (She essentially got 161k Exp like after Tales of the Sword Coast addon).
Nalia got the Adventurer Kit which ups her primary thieving skills (Open Locks and Disarm Traps) significantly. Both are more differentiated now and Nalia is not a cheap Imoen rip off anymore.
Both lose backstabbing which is appropiate imho considering their personalities.
Sarevok got a proper Deathbringer Kit.
Mazzy got a proper Truesword of Arvoreen Kit albeit it was originally a priest kit.
Korgan is now a Battlerager which is mainly a change in name but ultimately is still a Berserker. It's more a flavour change.
Edwin is labled as Red Wizard instead of Conjurer.
Minsc is labled Rashemaar Ranger now.

Wizards got some buffs. First 2 utility spells which no Sorc would pick most likely. Teleport without Error (Level 7 spell), Dimension Door (Level 4 spell) and most importantly seperate versions for the Spell Immunities which enables them to put them into Contingencies and Triggers.
Finally PnP spell progression so at some point they do not trail behind Sorceres so much in terms of spells per day.
Now broader spell selection pays off without any contest anymore. As it should be.
Exclusive HLAs for each monks, bards and rogues.
True Grandmastery at 5 proficiency points. It's now available for multi classed characters.

Just mentioning a couple of changes so you get a feel for what I aimed for exactly.

I do not have my BG 1 CDs anymore but I played it through several times albeit with just one party through BG 1 and BG 2 ToB.
Therefore I am not very interested in playing BG 1 albeit it has a certain charme BG 2 does not provide anymore.
BG 1 has a certain innocent charme with your wide eyed young Bhaalspawn stumbling through the world just trying to save the Sword Coast while BG 2 has the more epic feel with the Bhaalspawn being a veteran and ultimatly a force on the realms maybe on par with some demi gods and atmosphere being much darker and grittier. Dead Khalid being just one example for that.

Keep one thing in mind though, the more mods you use the more likely BG 2 is prone to occasional crashes or slow downs.
SCS II is very resource heavy in particular.

[sengir]

Thanks a lot for the info!

[Sykar]

I forgot to add I use two components of the mod Spell Revisions. I do not use the main component which alters a lot of spells but I do use the Mirror Image fix and the Dispel Magic fix.

Mirror mage fix basically let's AoE spells work on characters under Mirror Image greatly toning down it's power as it should be for a level 2 spell. It was silly you could dodge every AoE with it.
While that gives you an easier time to deal with enemy mages you too are more vulnerable to AoE spells now.

Dispel Magic now at least got the mentioned small chance of dispelling magics from higher level mages unlike before where it did nothing.