I'm going to do it.

Qwinn · Post by **Qwinn** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 3:34 pm

Thanks for the info, gentlemen - and for your work in making this quest doable and better.

I'm dying of curiosity over this one, heh. I'm going to -try- and CLUA the guy in to the temple district and see if that kicks off the scene that I can't seem to get.

EDIT: Bleah! CreateCreature("Jadarath") doesn't work. I really am going to have to learn enough about modding to at least figure this sort of thing out for myself. Hell, I've been scripting and programming for years, I should get off my lazy butt and start doing some modding of my own, or help others with it...

EDIT AGAIN: Yay, I love figuring stuff out for myself. Checked out the .baf files and got it to work (I did CreateCreature("Potion2"). I can definetly see why you guys decided to rework that bit of it. A pretty unsatisfying way to end the whole thing. As it is, might as well label this quest "Only worthwhile for evil characters". Then again, I haven't seen what happens if you ignore that whole bit anyway, heh. I'm going to try it just to satisfy my curiosity, though that's going to take a while - I still need to find another 6 potions or so.

Qwinn

Qwinn · Post by **Qwinn** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 2:05 am

Well, I've now gotten to play through a good bit of the planar sphere mod.

Verdict? Hmmm. Well, it's definetly entertaining, as other posters have noted. From a roleplay/atmosphere perspective, it does a great job at creating a living, breathing planar sphere (although it could still use some more text updating, several typos, etc. still present in v.2)

But as for balance? Forget it. Even without starting the main quest, the items and spells available are WAY WAY WAY overpowered. Examples? Spells that give huge bonuses to AC and saving throws and tons of immunities including maze/imprisonment - insane for a fighter-mage. A robe that has a base armor class of -1 (equivalent to magical full plate) -and- 25% resistance to crushing attacks (the -1 it gives to dexterity hardly compensates). And then there's a battle-quarterstaff that would simply be insane in the hands of a kensai-mage. Tons of amulets/rings/etc. that one would be nuts not to use compared to the rest available in the game, including those in ToB (including one that gives a permanent fire shield). Some of these items wouldn't be so bad if they were restricted to pure mages, but in the hands of any fighter mage they're just ungodly.

If you're already playing with mods that completely unbalance the game, go ahead and install it, but if you've been taking care to keep your modded game at least somewhat balanced with the original intent, I really recommend passing this one by.

It's a shame, really. Some of those new items and spells are quite creative and have a very high coolness factor, and lesser versions of them, or fewer of them, would be pretty neat and would make for a balanced mod that gave worthwhile rewards. But the items and spells are so powerful, so easily obtained, and there's so many of them that it's hard to take the mod seriously.

I know I may be making it sound like this mod couldn't be any more unbalanced, and that's not true - it certainly could be worse, and in fact there are mods out there that -are- worse. There's certainly nothing hugely unbalancing (except in terms of gold) about throwing in a couple of girdles of hill giant strength or an amulet that gives a bonus 7th level spell. But let's put it this way - when you can get several rings/robes/etc. in a relatively easy "invasion" battle that are superior to anything you can produce in the item-upgrade mod (even if it's only superior by a little bit), I'm going to describe that as "WAY WAY WAY overpowered". A good modding community could produce an excellent mod by going through it and rebalancing it, though.

Qwinn

fable · Post by **fable** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 7:31 am

Once again, Qwinn, very useful information. Thanks for passing that along. While anybody's welcome to play the game anyway they see fit, I don't like mods that unbalance the game. The Planar Sphere mod's out for me.

Patrick · Post by **Patrick** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 7:19 pm

@Qwinn, I am in the mist of a game now can I install it now? I have done most of the Planer Sphere quest. I am at the point were the apprenti, is supposed to make potions for me in about a week to come.

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 5:58 pm

It's been quite some time since this thread was updated, but I'm about to launch a new SoA/ToB game with the following, installed in this order:

SoA
ToB
TOB official patch
ToB Baldurdash fixpack
Bonus Merchants
Ascension (portions)
Redemption (perhaps)
Item Upgrade
Ease of Use
Ashes of Embers
Banter Packs
Quest Pack 2
G3 Anniversary Mod
Kelsey
Unfinished Business
Refinements
Tashia or Keto (latter possible, but the lack of ToB content is a negative)

...also very possibly the Crossmod Banter pack, along 1 or 2 of that group; Fade, Kivan, Saerileth, etc.

Any thoughts? And anybody have any problems with the Baldurdash "Safe Experience Point Cap Remover for ToB"? I'm assuming it should go early in the installation process.

SimDing0 · Post by **SimDing0** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 10:47 am

Quest Pack should be installed after Kelsey and Keto if you want to see their interjections in the new content. (As a general rule, I recommend installing it last out of the "content-adding" mods. In your case, that'd mean just before Refinements and AoE, both of which should go towards the end.)

fable · Post by **fable** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 11:07 am

[QUOTE=SimDing0]Quest Pack should be installed after Kelsey and Keto if you want to see their interjections in the new content. (As a general rule, I recommend installing it last out of the "content-adding" mods. In your case, that'd mean just before Refinements and AoE, both of which should go towards the end.)[/QUOTE]

I'm going to drop Refinements; perhaps for a later game. So that makes the order:

SoA
ToB
TOB official patch
ToB Baldurdash fixpack
Bonus Merchants
Ascension (portions)
Redemption (perhaps)
Item Upgrade
Ease of Use
Banter Packs
G3 Anniversary Mod
Kelsey
Unfinished Business
Tashia or Keto (latter possible, but the lack of ToB content is a negative)
other NPC mods
Quest Pack 2
Ashes of Embers
Divine Remix (may play a cleric, never have)

Would Kelsey go before Unfinished Business? Or should that be moved, as well?

Anybody try Divine Remix or the Warrior Kitpack? Was thinking of adding one, possibly two kitpack mods, but something that was finished and well-balanced.

SimDing0 · Post by **SimDing0** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 4:08 pm

That looks quite reasonable to me. I'm not aware of any reason to move Kelsey or Unfinished Business. You could probably dispense with the standalone bonus merchants since I'm fairly sure they're included in Ease of Use.

Divine Remix has always looked extremely promising, but it's been through a few versions and I've lost track of whether they've got all the problems ironed out. I'll try to remember to direct somebody relevant here to provide a proper answer, unless any other posters can vouch for it?

(Oh, if you're still undecided about Redemption, may I shamelessly advertise Turnabout as providing some fitting endgame expansion instead? I'd put it in around the same place as Quest Pack.)

fable · Post by **fable** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 4:48 pm

[QUOTE=SimDing0]That looks quite reasonable to me. I'm not aware of any reason to move Kelsey or Unfinished Business. You could probably dispense with the standalone bonus merchants since I'm fairly sure they're included in Ease of Use.[/quote]

I think you're right about the merchants--I'll have to check.

Divine Remix has always looked extremely promising, but it's been through a few versions and I've lost track of whether they've got all the problems ironed out. I'll try to remember to direct somebody relevant here to provide a proper answer, unless any other posters can vouch for it?

Thanks. It's nothing negative about Refinements, only most of what it deals with is at this point of little interest to me. Divine Remix appears to add a few kits in areas I like, but of course, balance is always a concern. And I don't know if all the spells in it work,as yet. There's a hint that some of them didn't in version 2, up on their forum, but no indication that I could easily find about the current version 3.

(Oh, if you're still undecided about Redemption, may I shamelessly advertise Turnabout as providing some fitting endgame expansion instead? I'd put it in around the same place as Quest Pack.)[/QUOTE]

I've been thinking about that. Turnabout looks intriguing, but as version 1, I figured it might still have a few bugs to work out. (Few mods manage this on their first release!) Is version 2 in development?

stramoski · Post by **stramoski** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:01 am

I've played through with the Divine Remix, and it was a balanced and bugfree experience for me.

It did have a kind of "incomplete" feel, though. Clerics and Driuds are redone masterfully, but Paladins and Rangers are barely touched. From the G3 forums, they look like they're getting to it, but there are no timelines...

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:33 am

Already noted as one of the mods I'm going to use in that thread I linked to, above.

My primary reason for using it that I want to play a cleric or druid, for the first time. (I'm usually playing mage or mage combinations.)

fable · Post by **fable** » Sun Jan 01, 2006 9:34 am

I've gone with the following mod lineup:

SoA
ToB
TOB official patch
ToB Baldurdash fixpack
Ascension (portions)
Item Upgrade
Ease of Use
Banter Packs
Turnabout
G3 Tweak Pack
G3 Anniversary Mod
Kelsey
Unfinished Business
NPC mods
Quest Pack 2
Ashes of Embers
Herbs and Potions Addon
Crossmod banter pack

I only remembered the last two at the last minute.

Hopefully, the Crossmod banter pack will fully work. The H&P mod is a bit wonky: the backstory leading up to the herbs was missing most of its dialog, except for a couple of lines. I might simply remove it.

My imported NPCs include:

Chloe
Yasraena
Tsujatha
Saerileth

At the moment, I've ditched Yasraena and am keeping Chloe, though that may change. Frankly, for all that Yasraena is said to be less munchkin'd, her great mastery in short swords leads me to think otherwise. And despite Chloe's deific dexterity (25!), she actually doesn't hit as much as Minsc, at this point.

My final lineup will include my cleric (first time I've played this profession), Jaheira, and Jan. Kept looking for a better druid kit for Jaheira, but the only mod out there was one that completely changed her profession. It was either that, or use a new druid kit, myself.

That's it. I'm looking forward to the restored content. In the meantime, I take satisfaction from the pacing, depth and writing of the game, something that Bioware has never come close to matching, since.

Ishel · Post by **Ishel** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 11:07 am

Haha! Brilliant! I'm not the only one who still plays this game

This time will be the first time I'll use mods though, and after some research my list so happens to look exactly as yours, minus Turnabout and the last three on the list, plus Flirtpack. So.. ehm.. where would I put Flirtpack? Before or after Questpack? Does the order matter anyway? It's all Weidu, right? (My modskills are limited to downtuning Water's Talon's poison, so I really don't have a clue

)

And where did you get those other three NPCs, besides Chloe? I haven't seen them anywhere before. (So *not* going to take Chloe with me, by the way. The few preview banters I saw on the site made me hate her immediately

)

EDIT: nevermind, I found the NPCs. Perhaps I'll take Fade.. it's a shame she's still in beta though.

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:24 pm

The best "hub" I've found for BG2 mods is the Pocket Plane Group. They include their own mods and mods in development, but also plenty of links to BG2 mods on other sites, like the Gibberlings Three. Just click on their Modlist link, and follow through the menus logically to NPC mods. You'll see the links, there.

From personal experience, I'd suggest avoiding beta mods. Even finished mods, early in versions, sometimes have bugs (though not usually NPC mods; they're small enough). I've seen at least one other thief mod there, so consider that. Though Fade certainly sounds interesting enough.

Ishel · Post by **Ishel** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 3:14 pm

I already read those threads and checked those sites, but I still missed them, luckily google is my friend. Ah well, thanks anyway

By the way, I think it's very cool that people are still actively playing this game AND even modding for it. But that's completely off topic

EDIT: I decided to drop Flirtpack. Never really liked romances that much anyway.

Raven_Song · Post by **Raven_Song** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 3:33 pm

Although in BETA Fade it is perfectly playable and is on the whole free of bugs. If you are interested in playing her it might be an idea to check the bug thread over at Chosen of Mystra, it's only a few pages long.

@ Fable you might find that after a couple of hours with the "charming" Chloe you'll be clammering to get Yasraena back.

Ishel · Post by **Ishel** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:03 pm

Fade will definitely be in my game the next playthrough. And who knows, perhaps the ToB content will be finished by then.

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 9:54 pm

What with a fairly large amount of updates and some new mods, I thought I'd do another run-through of BG2. These are the mods I'm considering, in current order of loading. Please note the question marks:

G3 BG2 Fixpack
Bag Bonus
Item Upgrade
Banter Packs
COM: Food and herbal mod
Underrepresented items
Divine Remix
COM Encounters?
Turnabout?
Dark Ritual?
G3 BG2 Tweakpack
G3 Anniversary Mod
Unfinished Business
NPC mods (Auren, perhaps, or Kitanya)
Quest Pack 2.3
The Longer Road
Tower of Deception?
Dungeon Crawl
Ashes of Embers
iiItem?

Has anybody tried Dark Ritual, Tower of Deception, iiItem, or COM Encounters? I can't find much response to how they work with other mods, and I'm not quite sure about the loading order. Looking for advice. I do *not* want any conflicts at all.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:47 pm

Are you still avoiding romances Fable? If not Saerileth is quite well done IMO, and offers an alternative route to getting to Spellhold. In fact if you have a neutral or female protagonist romance isn't an option.

A decent Paladin alternative to Keldorn, she's a Cavalier and is stringent regarding missile weapons, she won't even keep one in he pack; that includes Azure Edge and Crimson Dart etc.. However the modder didn't anticipate the throwing spears in Item Upgrades, so you'd have to police yourself on those.

She'll also object strongly to such things as obtaining Crom Fyr (sp?), quite rightly IMO, and any other overtly evil acts.

Another NPC mod that I've enjoyed is Amber, no romance that I've encountered.

Neither are overpowered,

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:53 pm

I'm not so much objecting to PC romances, as putting them among the least important of personal mod aspects, far below quest systems, ease of use, new kits, better balance, new items, in-party banter, etc. Just my own POV. In a party NPC mod, I really want party interaction, lots of dialog, good construction, and one of the following professions: some version of fighter, cleric, or paladin. Or combination thereof. Oddly enough, I've seen no wild mage party NPCs, yet.

I did try Saerileth in my last run-through, but found the use of Elizabethan verse (if I recall correctly) thoroughly out of place, and her quest problematic. (An unkillable enemy for your party? Who can only die when you bring in another NPC who happens to show up at the right time?) I'm not saying it's an inferior NPC, just that it didn't meet my requirements.

I'm more focused in any case on the mods I listed above, getting their installation order correct, and checking out whether Dark Ritual, Tower of Deception, iiItem, and COM Encounters are relatively good. I'm assuming Dungeon Scroll is. Love the comic, and it looks like the current version runs pretty well.