Having just played all the way through BGI from start to finish for the first time I am now moving on to BGII (trying to go through the whole saga). I’ve started the game several times but never got all the way through it once. After reading through the forums I see there are a number of mods available for the game and was wondering if any of them were worth installing on my first run through? (unfinished business, bonus merchants, etc)
If you reckon any of them will enhance my enjoyment of them game without spoiling it for me please let me know (if you could link where to find them that would also be great).
Bonus merchants is a must, beholders become easier than a poisoned mutated gibberling with Baldur's shield.
NPC Banter Pack enhances the feel of the game.
I like the Kivan mod which allows the Bg1 NPC to accompany you, with his own NPC quest and banters. Plus its the only Archer NPC you'll get, save if you play one as your character.
G3 tweaks has a range of modifications to the game that I like.
One Pixel Productions mod! No more crappy-looking BG2 paperdolls, back to Bg1. Elves in particular have regained their dignity.
Virtue is also something I like to use, you don't take a reputation hit (inside the party) for an act that will lead to the greater good for example.
Dungeon-Be-Gone is a necessary for me at least, Irenicus's dungeon is more boring than a Valygar tea-party by now.
I also like NPC tweaks and NPC kits. Mazzy gets a true AD&D halfling paladin kit (although it is still a fighter), Adventurer kits to increase Nalia and Imoen's thief abilities a little, etc.
For first-timers, I'd really recommend to play it vanilla. You won't be able to enjoy the benefits of mods unless you play without it first, and after you've done it once you can pick what mod's you want to use yourself.
Dungeon-Be-Gone might do the trick anyway, and One Pixel Production paper-doll-thingie. And yes, Bonus Merchants Mod, but that's one included in the mod, so I'm counting them to the vanilla game.
If you are really a first timer then you should try it without any mods,like Trifalas said.But if not,then i would recomend you Unfinished business and the banter packs are also pretty neat.Also i think that Virtue is good too but i only tried it once.
Bonus merchants & unfinished business add to the game in the way the game was meant to be, recommended.
Dungeon-be-gone should not be used during the first time (it simply cuts off the linear start and therefore a whole quest. It's useful if one replays the game for the tenth time, but means a loss of story and background for beginners).
Definately avoid Tactics for your first game, even experienced players rate Tactics "very tough" in some parts.
Thanks for the advice guys, these forums remain a great source of help for me.
I think I'll give it a shot without any mods first time, don't wanna risk ruining the experience of otherwise a great game. Trouble I find is I don't get as much gaming time as I would like so playing things through a second or third time often proves difficult. The only thing I've finished multiple time was PS: Torment - and that's because I love it!
There are a couple mods that might be worth installing even for your first play through, particularly the tweak packs like parts of Baldurdash and the G3 Tweak Packs.
I'm also a big fan of the Flirt Packs and the Banter Packs. They add a lot more to the romances and dialogues in BG2, which doens't unblance anything and enriches game play quite a bit.
Finally, I might recommend parts of the Quest Pack (like Improved Oasis II) and Ascnesion for ToB. They both enrich parts of the game significantly, and really significnatly improve the official version of things.
For subsequent play throughs, NPC mods like Kelsey and Keto are worth playing with. Likewise, merchants and additional quest mods are fun to play with.
