It's a new BG2 mod advice request topic!

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Hey everyone, I'd like to ask what mods you can recommend, as well as anything else that might improve my game.

I'll be taking my BG1 character into BG2+ToB, a human good male wizard.

What I'm looking for is the following:
- anything that's a handy utility (without unbalancing the game)
- anything that odds more content/quests to the game
- things that might make the game more challenging.

What I am NOT looking for:
- things that will unbalance the game, or make it ridiculously easy
- new NPCs, unless they are REALLY good, coming with at least one major quest AND frequent, interesting banters. Still, the vanilla NPCs are hard enough to bring down to just 5.

Also, what patches/fixes are helpful? I don't think I ever ran into bugs in BG2 while playing it the first time, but it's been a while.

Anyhow, thanks in advance for all advice


PS - if any mods mentioned are not on SP, please add a link or some sort of instructions. If any mods do not come with a stupid-proof installation instruction, please help now instead of making me start a separate thread for it

[ December 06, 2006, 23:45: Message edited by: Hugo ]

 

My advice would be to go to pocketplane.com and check through there modlists. It is extremely well set out and I have found pretty much everything there.

Mod List

Also, are you using Easytutu or just the original BG1?

 

If you like challenge, I recommend Ascension mod. The other challenging mods are quite unbalanced, IMHO.
Unfinished Business is good for supplementing the game.

 

Ease of Use. Can't be without it.

Unfinished Business is the standard recommendation there. Unfortunately, more than a few quest packs have AI or rules changes, but they're almost always well-documented and frequently optional.

Pfeh, why don't you just PM Silverstar? The only recommendation I'd make here would be Improved Anvil, but tentatively since it's a package deal unlike most mods. Silver can give you more details.

And the obligatory since you asked about patching and fixes...
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1. BG2:SoA
2. BG2:ToB
3. ToB patch
4. Baldurdash / BG2 Fixpack (I'm sure Sim or Cam will be along to recommend this. )
5. WeiDU mods
6. Non-WeiDU mods

 

Ease of Use is now BG2Tweaks.

 

Well, only one really, but the name does lend itself to smearing the good reputation of other quest mods out there, heh.
Quest Pack is, although I'd be presumptuous to cast certain judgement, probably the most well-established of the "totally new quest content" mods out there, and as Fel notes, includes AI changes as one of its distinct optional components, as well as award-winning (or worthy!) documentation.
Beyond the AI, I don't tweak the game rules or anything because there are plenty of other mods to do that. (Out of interest, did anyone see my explanation of why all the AI stuff is in QP anyway? I think I justify it pretty well, so it's not like I've just thrown some random crap into the package for lack of anywhere else to put it.)
I'm really quite openly rambling now, but such is the way of my wily self-promotion!

I am along, and I do.

 

In terms of new content, I can no longer play without the following:

Unfinished Business
Quest Pack (you're welcome, Sim)
The G3 Anniversary Mod (it's just for fun!)
Keto (this NPC mod is REALLY good, comes with one major quest, and has frequent and interesting banters. Only drawback is no ToB content, but you can dump her for Sarevok, if you like. )

These mods also add content (including some challenging fights, but they ALL add VERY overpowered items to the game:

CoM Encounters
Improved Asylum
Improved Planar Sphere (although it's being redone, with an eye towards making things more balanced).

For handy utilities, you really only need BG2 Tweaks . It compiles damn near everything that anybody else ever put together to make the game run smoother. Also, each component is optional, and the readme gives detailed explanations as to what does what. Because of the sheer amount of stuff it does, it may take awhile to install, especially if you want to go through each component individually, but it's worth it.

I'm not keen on mods that increase difficulty, so I can't help you much there, but I've heard good things about Ascension .

All of these mods can be found in the PocketPlane list previously mentioned.

 

If this is supposed to be an install order, then 5 and 6 are reversed. It's non-weiDU first, then weidU mods. And I believe if you use the BG2 Fixpack, it should be installed after non-weiDU mods (although this needs confirmation from someone "in the know").

 

Splunge is right...

Install game, install expansion, install official patch, install non-weidu mods, install fixes, install other weidu mods

 

Improved Anvil is new and cool, and is better than old mods, AFAIK. But it is incompatible with most mods(check readme) and should be installed last. It makes the game all-new, chalenging, and fun! Adds a ton of new and fresh air to the game, and fun of exploring all new things!

Other than that, Tactics is a nice mod, makes some rather easy and boring battles more fun! Adds a few semi-large quests as well! Imp. battles do the same thing to different battles. Ascension beefs up ToB bosses, except Sendai, you need Oversight mod for harder Sendai, and she is very challenging, scary and neat!

 

With one world, she is cheesy I would advice you not to install improved Sendai if you don't like cheese. I beat her on core rules, althought I'm still not sure how I managed to do that But Silverstar is right in one thing, she is a totaly new experience. So, if you're ready for some nail bitting, go for it. The same goes for Improved anvil, but without the cheese factor. So, if you would like some tought but fair battles(which I can't say for improved Sendai), go for Improved Anvil. Tactics, I would also advice you against. For more info, read this(lots of laught too). But, the decision is ultimately yours.

 

With the release of Fixpack v1, I actually took the time to play BG2 again (it's been years). I even forced myself to play Throne of Bhaal. At any rate, this is what I used and I would recommend any and all of these wholeheartedly:

• BG2 Fixpack
• One Pixel Productions
• Improved Horns of Valhalla
• Banter Pack
• Flirt Pack
• Song and Silence
• Quest Pack
• Unfinished Business
• G3 Anniversary
• Divine Remix
• Ding0 Tweaks
• BG2 Tweaks
• Virtue

I'm not a big fan of AI and NPC mods, as my selection shows. I'm not going to flog my own mods (today) so I'll highlight UB, QP, and Virtue in particular as excellent additions. Virtue adds a great deal of roleplaying depth for your party and UB and QP are a collection of fun and well thought-out content additions to the game.

Some other good mods that I would recommend (or that I've seen recommended by folks whose judgment I trust), even though I may not play them myself:

• Amber
• Ashes of Embers
• eSeries & gMinion
• Kelsey
• Oversight
• Refinements
• the bigg's Tweaks

The problem is that there are so many mods now... mods are not listed here typically because I haven't even read their readmes, much less know enough to have an informed opinion. A lot of preferences are dictated by playing style--some players install every NPC known to man, others go for insane difficulty, etc. Myself, I prefer enhancements (subtle and otherwise) to the gameplay and content expansion that rigorously matches BG2's existing content.

 

Forced yourself to play throne of bhaal?

dont worry I realize I also prefer shadows of amn.

Tactics seems cool, but dont install improved ilyich if you want to make it out of irenicus's dungeon in anything except a body bag. slightly improved ilyich I've installed but not tried.

Quest pack and unfinished business are cool, item upgrades makes cromwell and cespenar a bit more useful. they seem balanced too.

I like improved summons cos in BG2, all summons except summon deva/planetar are completely useless.

improved battles seems to continue the work of tactics without being unfair.

How tough is improved anvil?

 

Didn't try Tactics yet, but on the scale from one to ten(and if we assume that vanilla game has a difficulty of ten), I'd say IA is twelve

 

IA is, quite honestly, tougher than tactics in some respects, like the AI (they are smart!), and the actual abilities of high level bosses (they use HLAs, even in SoA part of the game, if they are high level enough ofcourse), but they are also easier in some respects (they do not cheat or use cheese AFAIK)

Why don't you do like I do, get Tactics and Improved Battles and Ascension (the components which are OK to go with IA) and then add IA and then you will have a really awesome gaming experience!

And, oh, do not shy away from Improved Ilych, iti s a quite doable fight! And it makes the first dungeon really exciting, thrilling, fresh, and enjoyable! People even solo Improved Ilych on insane difficulty!

 

I'm curious. What do you consider to be "cheese"? Cheese to me is ForceSpells, hacked resistances, undroppable items, and the like. I have yet to see a tougher battles mod yet which doesn't embody these properties. Sadly this is very much a property of BG2 itself--it's difficult to produce a reasonable challenge for even a level 20 party without bending the rules a little, forget when you're level 40 in ToB.

 

Silverstar is right. Spellcasters in Improved Anvil do not fire their spell triggers on invisible PCs. (This cheat was common in all other tactical mods before the release of Improved Anvil as far as I remember.) They do not cast spells on invisible targets, targets beyond their range, etc. They do not typically use ForceSpell either. (Some creatures such as dragons must use Forcespell, however, according to the rules.)
Adding undroppable items to creatures is a usual and standard method to add abilities to them. There is nothing cheesy in this. The same abilities could have been added directly to the creature files as well. (Not to mention that after installing IA some items will change, but a naive observer may just see CLCK26 in the codes and may think that it is Cloak of Mirroring, while Cloak of Mirroring is actually omitted from the game entirely. In fact, the mod nerfes many of the overpowered items of the game.)
Additional resistance is netiher cheat nor cheese. It is there in the original game as well. It just promotes the game's difficulty just like you are playing on insane when you are actually set the difficulty at core and you are playing on a higher difficulty than insane when you have set the game's difficulty at insane level. It's just like adding a new difficulty level to the game above the "insane" level.

 

Okay, so clearly we have different definitions of cheating and cheese. I find the damage changes the difficulty slider applies pretty awful to start off with, so I guess I'm bound to think hacked resistances and such are cheesy.
Personally, I consider DEF JAM to be a much cleverer way of making the game more difficult than just powering up enemy creature stats. I don't say that just because it's my mod--I made it with that consideration already in mind. That said, there's obviously some appeal in uber-powerful characters that I don't get (I'm very much a BG1 man), and presumably anyone who doesn't want to lose their HLAs and so on will opt for the buffed creature approach.

And thanks you everyone who's recommended Quest Pack! I'm still preparing the ol' update, which is coming out pretty slick.

 

@SimDingo

Some cheesy/cheating things I can recall from tactics and likely mods:

-Enemy mages using triggers on invisible characters. (as Sikret mentioned)

-Enemy mages having spell triggers and sequencers, but when you turn/dominate them you find that they actually do not have those!

-Liches casting a Teleport Field when they can't see any body, this is OK, really OK, and smart, BUT the teleport field also dispels everything you have instantly! Fun and effective? YES. Cheesy? Also YES!

-Enemy mages having unlimited spells, permanent Improved Alacrity, and all spell casting time reducing items in the game, AND also the ability to dimension door at will and casting Cure Critical Wounds infinitely and.... (cough...Tactic's improved Irenicus..cough...)

-Illegal sequencers and contingencies around...Time Stop in a Chain Contingency? Sheesh!

Do not get me wrong. I really loved and enjoyed these small cheeses. They really make the game a lot harder and thus more fun for me. But....

BUT...

IA also makes the spell casters harder, go and tackle the Pirate Mage in the Thumb's secret back room, if you do not believe. But I haven't seen a caster/mage/lich using ANY of the cheesy tactics I mentioned above in IA. And they are still difficult, if not even more difficult, to defeat! I like it!

Please do not misunderstand me, SimDingo, I did not want to anger you, I must say I really love your Quest Pack mod. Truly it adds more depth and additional gaming hours to the game, without distracting people from originality. Soem guys were discussing The Tragedy of the Rashemen quest, and they were talking it so normally that I thought this was a quest in the original game, and thus I smacked myself for not noticing it.

Only weeks later I learned the truth, and then, I got your mod and was able to play it,. What I am trying to say is, your mod is seamlessly installed on top of BG2 world, and I can only thank you for such a good work!

 

That's not really cheese; it's pretty much unavoidable given the game engine (it's true for mages in the unmodded game, and it's true for Improved Anvil mages). If it helps, remember it's true both ways round: the computer won't use your spell triggers if it dominates you! You can always assume that triggers take too much concentration to use when charmed.

Fair point. But Bear in mind that some creatures in the game (liches, for instance) are deliberately given the ability to see invisible creatures, and there's no indication that the game designers didn't intend them, at least, to be able to ignore II. So fewer creatures cheat than you might think.