Okay, I had just finished running through BG2-TOB for the 3rd or 4th time. This time it didn't even seem difficult - I chopped down Demogorgon without even a single reload and nothing took more than a reload or two just to avoid some "1's" rolled on saving throws, etc.
So I figure, it's time. Time to try out some mods. I go through the boards, look at what's supposed to be balanced, etc., yadda.
I decide to put in some mods that'll make the game harder, and others to make it easier, and others just to add content, hoping for some kind of balance.
I installed The Darkest Day, Tactics, Item Upgrade, a Banter pack, and a couple of other minor things.
And then I started a new game.
May I ask, of the things I installed, which is responsible for these INSANE duergar mages that spawn EVERY SINGLE time I rest, that instantly sprout Blur, Mirror Image, Protection from Normal Weapons, Protection from Normal Missiles, Stoneskin (and when you finally get through, a contingency will kick off another one instantly), Protection from Fire, Protection from Cold, and that then start throwing out Confusions, Hold Persons, etc.? My party's virtually naked here. I was looking for a challenge, but the fact that I can't EVER rest without one of these insanely protected mages and a heavy duergar fighter also spawning seems a bit over the top. If this is what I'm getting just in Chapter 1, I dread to think of what I'm going to meet in Chapter 6.
It wouldn't be so bad if I could just rest without these guys showing up. I -can- take them out (and even that takes a couple reloads), but not without taking such a beating that I basically need to rest again immediately, which means another battle.
Was doing Darkest Day and Tactics combined a mistake? There was a component of Tactics (I think) that said "Always have Toughest Spawn on Rest in Dungeons", but I uninstalled that, and yet starting fresh after doing so didn't change anything. Is that my problem? Is it just not uninstalling? Do I need to totally uninstall BG2 and reinstall without ever putting that particular component in? Or is that part of Darkest Day or something?
Qwinn
More than I bargained for
Update:
How odd. Looking at the Hint-Illych file that comes with Tactics, it notes that you're supposed to get -thieves- every time you rest, not a mage and a fighter. How odd. Oh well - if those thieves are the super-backstabbing kind, I suppose I'm better off, hard as that is to imagine.
Occassionally I can take care of what I'm dealing with with a Dispel Magic on the mage from Jaheira and then a magic missile from Imoen to interrupt the mage's Confusion spell. It's usually enough for me to be able to deal with them quickly enough to heal slightly more health than I lose. It's still brutal - I'll basically have to rest 4 or 5 times in order to heal up from a badly beat-up state, but at least I -can- rest now, sorta.
Course, now I'm dealing with Illych - and I understand now that my complaining was premature - heh. Apparently, when these guys said they wanted to make the game a "challenge", the notion of keeping it where someone -could- do it without thirty or forty reloads was simply not a consideration. The "challenge" lies in being able to do it -at all-, on the tenth reload or the hundredth, heheheh.
I guess I can get into that (I'll be playing this game for another three years, it seems). Never mind.
Qwinn
How odd. Looking at the Hint-Illych file that comes with Tactics, it notes that you're supposed to get -thieves- every time you rest, not a mage and a fighter. How odd. Oh well - if those thieves are the super-backstabbing kind, I suppose I'm better off, hard as that is to imagine.
Occassionally I can take care of what I'm dealing with with a Dispel Magic on the mage from Jaheira and then a magic missile from Imoen to interrupt the mage's Confusion spell. It's usually enough for me to be able to deal with them quickly enough to heal slightly more health than I lose. It's still brutal - I'll basically have to rest 4 or 5 times in order to heal up from a badly beat-up state, but at least I -can- rest now, sorta.
Course, now I'm dealing with Illych - and I understand now that my complaining was premature - heh. Apparently, when these guys said they wanted to make the game a "challenge", the notion of keeping it where someone -could- do it without thirty or forty reloads was simply not a consideration. The "challenge" lies in being able to do it -at all-, on the tenth reload or the hundredth, heheheh.
I guess I can get into that (I'll be playing this game for another three years, it seems). Never mind.
Qwinn
Heh, you give a similar reaction to mine.
Well its Tactics.
It really is great. Makes all your fights harder. Many are impossible untill you have breach.
Well, go to the second floor and complete that (get yoshi).
I did this just with Me (Kensai) and Jaheria. I would rest, dispell the effect on the mages, and attack them. Yes it took me over 2 days to do the dungeon, but boy, did I have to use tactics!
Then I checked an online guide for Improved Illych. Well it reccomending completing the top floor and the rest of the dungeon before tackling Illych, and making use of Yoshimo's traps. So get Yoshi and your wands!!
Then go to the big corridor leading to the library, and slowly lure out the duegar. Have traps already set, and just hope its just 1 duegar. I got Rasputin first, a monk. He died quite fast, he Quivering Palmed my Summoned Dryad. Then we just all shanked him. Then run to the sewery area and quicksave. Then just rest, and do it again.
Just keep doing that, and its all dandy. One bit of big trouble was the Golem that came out. He was damn tough! He takes like +2 wepeons or something to be hurt, so you do have to go to the second floor to be able to kill him, and man is it tough.
Anyway, hope this helps, you might wanna check the readme for a better guide, or telling you where the guide is.
Good luck!
Well its Tactics.
It really is great. Makes all your fights harder. Many are impossible untill you have breach.
Well, go to the second floor and complete that (get yoshi).
I did this just with Me (Kensai) and Jaheria. I would rest, dispell the effect on the mages, and attack them. Yes it took me over 2 days to do the dungeon, but boy, did I have to use tactics!
Then I checked an online guide for Improved Illych. Well it reccomending completing the top floor and the rest of the dungeon before tackling Illych, and making use of Yoshimo's traps. So get Yoshi and your wands!!
Then go to the big corridor leading to the library, and slowly lure out the duegar. Have traps already set, and just hope its just 1 duegar. I got Rasputin first, a monk. He died quite fast, he Quivering Palmed my Summoned Dryad. Then we just all shanked him. Then run to the sewery area and quicksave. Then just rest, and do it again.
Just keep doing that, and its all dandy. One bit of big trouble was the Golem that came out. He was damn tough! He takes like +2 wepeons or something to be hurt, so you do have to go to the second floor to be able to kill him, and man is it tough.
Anyway, hope this helps, you might wanna check the readme for a better guide, or telling you where the guide is.
Good luck!
The mistake was probably in installing all of the components of Tactics without reading the README first. Improved Ilyich is
A. a joke
B. insanely hard
and in that order.
A. a joke
B. insanely hard
and in that order.
"t's a testament to the determined RPG fraternity that a number of Baldur's Gate II mods have been successfully produced. The best can be found at pocketplane.net." - PC Gamer UK
Heh, fair enough (although for something that's considered a joke, that Hint file sure has a ton of advice on how to beat it 
Alright, I'll deinstall Illych and start over, if nothing else so as to not unbalance the game afterwards with too much good equipment too early on.
I've been wandering through modlists and decided to install a couple more mods (Unfinished Business the big one among them). As noted before, I'm particular to stuff that's most in keeping with the original game's intent (which is why Ascension and Unfinished Business are no-brainers, and stuff like the Banter Pack, since it doesn't actually change the game, are easy choices too).
I'm also pondering adding PPG's NPC Flirt Pack, since I'm a big fan of the romances (even though I've only tried Aerie's so far). I'm gathering, however, that it may conflict with Ascension's alternate endings. Is this true? I'm probably going to wind up romancing Aerie (yet again) - and I do have to say I'm rather disappointed in the standard TOB endings (SPOILER: like, if I chose to be a God, why -didn't- I give her back her wings like I suggested? And what the heck happens to the baby?)
Basically, my question is, if I haven't played through Ascension's alternate endings before, should I hold off on installing the Flirtpack?
When I'm done with all this, I'll probably post what I consider to be a "recommended mod" list after I try 'em out, since that seems to be a popular thing to do around here, and it -is- very useful to those of us choosing which mods to tinker with.
Qwinn
Alright, I'll deinstall Illych and start over, if nothing else so as to not unbalance the game afterwards with too much good equipment too early on.I've been wandering through modlists and decided to install a couple more mods (Unfinished Business the big one among them). As noted before, I'm particular to stuff that's most in keeping with the original game's intent (which is why Ascension and Unfinished Business are no-brainers, and stuff like the Banter Pack, since it doesn't actually change the game, are easy choices too).
I'm also pondering adding PPG's NPC Flirt Pack, since I'm a big fan of the romances (even though I've only tried Aerie's so far). I'm gathering, however, that it may conflict with Ascension's alternate endings. Is this true? I'm probably going to wind up romancing Aerie (yet again) - and I do have to say I'm rather disappointed in the standard TOB endings (SPOILER: like, if I chose to be a God, why -didn't- I give her back her wings like I suggested? And what the heck happens to the baby?)
Basically, my question is, if I haven't played through Ascension's alternate endings before, should I hold off on installing the Flirtpack?
When I'm done with all this, I'll probably post what I consider to be a "recommended mod" list after I try 'em out, since that seems to be a popular thing to do around here, and it -is- very useful to those of us choosing which mods to tinker with.
Qwinn
Um, no, not at all. From where did you gather this impression, so that I may correct it/them as well?Qwinn wrote:I'm also pondering adding PPG's NPC Flirt Pack, since I'm a big fan of the romances (even though I've only tried Aerie's so far). I'm gathering, however, that it may conflict with Ascension's alternate endings. Is this true?
The flirt packs do add alternative epilogues but in no case are they mandatory.
Frankly, Ascension's expanded endings aren't that big of an improvement and don't generally address the issues you'd like to see addressed.Basically, my question is, if I haven't played through Ascension's alternate endings before, should I hold off on installing the Flirtpack?
"t's a testament to the determined RPG fraternity that a number of Baldur's Gate II mods have been successfully produced. The best can be found at pocketplane.net." - PC Gamer UK
JCompton:
My mistake. It seems I misremembered a comment in the Readme that says:
"There may also be issues with Ascension overriding epilogues introduced
in a TOB flirt pack. Therefore, install WeiDU-Ascension BEFORE the TOB
flirt pack for your favorite NPC(s)."
In other words, the issue is resolvable by installing properly. So, apologies, and never mind. I have installed the Flirt Pack now.
In fact, here's what I'm trying out for my first run-thru with mods (I'll be playing a kensai-mage):
Check the Bodies v150 (all components)
Ascension (all components)
Unfinished Business (all components)
Item Upgrade
NPC Flirtpack
G3 Anniversary Mod
JPS Portraits (select components, Aerie, Jaheira, Imoen, Nalia)
Quest Pack v1
Tactics (select components, maybe 50%, avoiding the ones that people seem to feel are cheese or force cheese)
Ease of Use (select components, maybe 30%)
Planar Sphere Return Mod
Banter Pack v5
That's roughly the order I installed them in, too. Every last one was a WeiDU install, so I'm hoping I'll be relatively bug free.
Qwinn
My mistake. It seems I misremembered a comment in the Readme that says:
"There may also be issues with Ascension overriding epilogues introduced
in a TOB flirt pack. Therefore, install WeiDU-Ascension BEFORE the TOB
flirt pack for your favorite NPC(s)."
In other words, the issue is resolvable by installing properly. So, apologies, and never mind. I have installed the Flirt Pack now.
In fact, here's what I'm trying out for my first run-thru with mods (I'll be playing a kensai-mage):
Check the Bodies v150 (all components)
Ascension (all components)
Unfinished Business (all components)
Item Upgrade
NPC Flirtpack
G3 Anniversary Mod
JPS Portraits (select components, Aerie, Jaheira, Imoen, Nalia)
Quest Pack v1
Tactics (select components, maybe 50%, avoiding the ones that people seem to feel are cheese or force cheese)
Ease of Use (select components, maybe 30%)
Planar Sphere Return Mod
Banter Pack v5
That's roughly the order I installed them in, too. Every last one was a WeiDU install, so I'm hoping I'll be relatively bug free.
Qwinn
Ack, I think I just figured out where my confusion came from.
I did indeed find a post that said that the Flirtpack may be incompatible with the BANTER pack - and I just conflated it with the Readme Ascension issue.
So, since I got ya here JCompton, is there an issue with the banter pack?
This is where I saw it referred to (on this forum):
http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showt ... ight=debug
Qwinn
I did indeed find a post that said that the Flirtpack may be incompatible with the BANTER pack - and I just conflated it with the Readme Ascension issue.
So, since I got ya here JCompton, is there an issue with the banter pack?
This is where I saw it referred to (on this forum):
http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showt ... ight=debug
Qwinn
The modlist I used is:
"(1) Ease-of-Use
Components 0-6, 9-10, 15, 18, 20-21
Skip the faster cutscenes, it's incompatible with Tashia and a few other mods.
Skip Multi-romance and multi-stronghold components, they may cause problems.
Skip No Traps and Locks, the game loses a lot that way.
Skip Bottomless Bag of Holding, use G3Tweaks' Bottomless containers instead.
(2) G3 Tweak Pack
Components 0-2, 4, 10, 12-13, 15-16, 21-23
(3) SimDing0's Tweak Pack
Components 0-4, 7-8, 10
(4) Oversight
Components 0-4
Skip the altered Monk HLA tables - Refinements does it better.
(5) Cleric Remix
Components 0, 3-4
See my remarks about Viconia above. You might want to skip this altogether
(6) Dark Ritual
Components 0-2
(7) Revised Forgotten Wars Item Pack
Most of these items are grossly overpowered. I haven't used any of them yet.
(8) Underrepresented Items
(9) Ascension
All components. Install this before Kelsey if you use him. He has Ascension-specific dialogue
(10) Tashia
(11) Kelsey SOA
(12) Kelsey TOB
(13) Tsujatha
(14) Chloe
(15) Rogue Rebalancing
All components
(16) PnP Celestials
(17) Unfinished Business
All components except the kits. I have grown wary of what new kits can do to the game, so I only install what I need, even though it's a hassle to answer 22 times yes and 2 times no.
(18) SimDing0's Quest Pack
Components 0-2, 4
(19) Rahul Kanakia's Potion Quest
(20) Planar Sphere Return
(21) Improved Oasis 2
Both components
(22) Improved Battles
Components 2-14, 16-18, 24
(23) Tactics
Components 1-3, 6-15, 17-25, 28-29, 31-35
Plus the Generic Archer kit which is one of the skipped numbers.
(24) Pocket Plane Banter Pack
Components 0, 2 (no accelerator, I don't play fast)
(25) TOB Refinements
Components 0-3"
Its a great set of mods, I decided to slightly change it, and I went for things like Improved Illych, Torgal, Bhodi and Irenicus, that most advice against. But otherwise its a great selection, yes its difficult, but I just see it as more exciting.
"(1) Ease-of-Use
Components 0-6, 9-10, 15, 18, 20-21
Skip the faster cutscenes, it's incompatible with Tashia and a few other mods.
Skip Multi-romance and multi-stronghold components, they may cause problems.
Skip No Traps and Locks, the game loses a lot that way.
Skip Bottomless Bag of Holding, use G3Tweaks' Bottomless containers instead.
(2) G3 Tweak Pack
Components 0-2, 4, 10, 12-13, 15-16, 21-23
(3) SimDing0's Tweak Pack
Components 0-4, 7-8, 10
(4) Oversight
Components 0-4
Skip the altered Monk HLA tables - Refinements does it better.
(5) Cleric Remix
Components 0, 3-4
See my remarks about Viconia above. You might want to skip this altogether
(6) Dark Ritual
Components 0-2
(7) Revised Forgotten Wars Item Pack
Most of these items are grossly overpowered. I haven't used any of them yet.
(8) Underrepresented Items
(9) Ascension
All components. Install this before Kelsey if you use him. He has Ascension-specific dialogue
(10) Tashia
(11) Kelsey SOA
(12) Kelsey TOB
(13) Tsujatha
(14) Chloe
(15) Rogue Rebalancing
All components
(16) PnP Celestials
(17) Unfinished Business
All components except the kits. I have grown wary of what new kits can do to the game, so I only install what I need, even though it's a hassle to answer 22 times yes and 2 times no.
(18) SimDing0's Quest Pack
Components 0-2, 4
(19) Rahul Kanakia's Potion Quest
(20) Planar Sphere Return
(21) Improved Oasis 2
Both components
(22) Improved Battles
Components 2-14, 16-18, 24
(23) Tactics
Components 1-3, 6-15, 17-25, 28-29, 31-35
Plus the Generic Archer kit which is one of the skipped numbers.
(24) Pocket Plane Banter Pack
Components 0, 2 (no accelerator, I don't play fast)
(25) TOB Refinements
Components 0-3"
Its a great set of mods, I decided to slightly change it, and I went for things like Improved Illych, Torgal, Bhodi and Irenicus, that most advice against. But otherwise its a great selection, yes its difficult, but I just see it as more exciting.
No, there's no problem using the two dialogue packs together. Would be silly on my part if there was.
"t's a testament to the determined RPG fraternity that a number of Baldur's Gate II mods have been successfully produced. The best can be found at pocketplane.net." - PC Gamer UK
Just to add some advice I would uninstall check the bodies as it will add a 100 hours of game play. If you want that, fine, but it will make the normal parts of the game ridiculously easy. For example you’ll be at 30th level once you get to Irenicus because of all the experience points you gained.
Meow has a good list that is balanced, very similar to my current install. Tactics I would read, though before installing as some components are ridiculously hard. For example all those spells your complaining about, well get used to it because every single magic user and lich in the game has some sort of spell trigger that unleashes 10 defensive spells in one round. Also they’ll be casting horrid wilting at your 9th level character, which you can’t survive. That one component is smarter mages and liches. Uninstall that component would be my recommendation.
Meow has a good list that is balanced, very similar to my current install. Tactics I would read, though before installing as some components are ridiculously hard. For example all those spells your complaining about, well get used to it because every single magic user and lich in the game has some sort of spell trigger that unleashes 10 defensive spells in one round. Also they’ll be casting horrid wilting at your 9th level character, which you can’t survive. That one component is smarter mages and liches. Uninstall that component would be my recommendation.
Its worth keeping the smarter mages, makes it more realistic!
Although fighting many magic users, becomes near impossible. You really need a sorcerrer with breach and detect hidden.
You really start to love immunity to magic, choose necromancy, and you can withstand the horrid wilting. - But man, its so much hassle. You really use good tactics. Or you start rellying more on storming your warriors into the mages. Powerword silence is also so usefull once you've got it.
All the smarter mages does to the equation is force you to tacticly devise what areas to go for first. Like doing the slums, then the graveyard, then temple (avoiding the unseeing eye) then D'nairse. You have to do it like that. Really is annoying sometimes.
goodluck anyway.
Although fighting many magic users, becomes near impossible. You really need a sorcerrer with breach and detect hidden.
You really start to love immunity to magic, choose necromancy, and you can withstand the horrid wilting. - But man, its so much hassle. You really use good tactics. Or you start rellying more on storming your warriors into the mages. Powerword silence is also so usefull once you've got it.
All the smarter mages does to the equation is force you to tacticly devise what areas to go for first. Like doing the slums, then the graveyard, then temple (avoiding the unseeing eye) then D'nairse. You have to do it like that. Really is annoying sometimes.
goodluck anyway.