Worthwhile Mods

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I know there are tons of mods out there, but I don't know which one are really worthwile (and not buggy).
Here is what I wish to do with Mods:
I am a veteran BG2 player, having gone through the game several times in the past. But I never played with any mods. So I am looking for the following:
- what patches / fixpacks should I download on the basic throne of Baal BG2 game?
- what mods will allow an interesting new experiences in terms of gameplay (new classes perhpas, cheese reducer, etc...), provide a few worhtwhile NPCs and sidequests, while keeping the BG2 feel and most importantly not having a plethora of annoying bugs?
- finally, what order should all the above be installed

Thanks much for any advice!!

[ April 13, 2007, 21:17: Message edited by: Blackthorne TA ]

 

My list of mods here, while not totally up-to-date, is fairly widely acclaimed as providing a high-quality playing experience.

 

Oh you must play Improved Anvil! It has new version too!

http://www.sorcerers.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/10/6148.html

Just read the readme for a few minutes and you will be awed! This mod makes the game all new, brand and cool challenge for veteran players! With top quality ideas and scripting and more too! Just check the readmes and try the mod, you can thank me later!

 

thanks, your Improved Anvil looks great!
Is it compatible with other mods (like those adding new NPCs)?
I heard unfinished business was fun as well.

 

It's not compatible with all mods (such mods in the complex mod category aren't common anyway...), but in the readme I see that it's only incompatible with Amber NPC mod, regarding NPC mods -- so all other NPC mods should go well with it!

Check its readme for more information, it has a detailed list of everything.

You can also see here what players said about Improved Anvil.

I can also recommend Tower of Deception. And there are probably others too, but these are the recently released, bug-free mods I know about (I don't browse all sites).

 

I totally recomend the banter pack. I never play without it.

 

Amber will apparently be fixed in the next version

 

Ok thanks!
What's the best place to get all the official patches for the game, and which should be downloaded before I downlaod any mods?

 

Just go to this place, you can download both the official patch and the mods from there. Install SoA and ToB, then the ToB patch and the fixpack. After that just fire away with mods.

"Improved Anvil" is a must these days. You should also try
- "Quest Pack" and the "Unfinished Business" for aditional quests (although UB can be somewhat buggy)
- some parts of "Ease Of Use" or "G3 Tweak Pack" to correct a few annoyances
- "Banter Pack" and "Flirt Pack" for more dialogues
- NP-NPC Portraits

They all work well together and are part of my regular BG install.

 

Before you install any mods, backup your override directory and dialog.tlk. Then, when you screw up, you will only have to delete override directory,weidu.log and dialog.tlk, and restore backups, and clean install's all yours again - no reinstalling again, ever.

(You could also backup chitin.key, baldur.exe and baldur.ini, but that's only if you're installing something big and terrible, which I wouldn't do).

 

Tried out several mods and given a look at all of them, but being picky as I am, I have found only a few worth keeping: Virtue, Baldurdash, Concurrent Romances, and "Cloak of Mirroring" -fix. ShadowKeeper too, if that is counted as a mod.

These do rather minor changes, since I have noticed how awful job most modders do with new (uber) items and ("tactical") encounters. Of these four, Virtue is perhaps the only one that changes the mechanics a bit. It effectively splits reputation to two groups: how the outside-party and inside-party view you.

Sadly, there are no high-quality, truly game-altering mods that would completely change how you play the game.

 

I don't agree. But it's your opinion, so it's okay. To each his own. Some players love overpowered stuff (I saw many such players, it was surprising), some players like very powerful stuff if they have to fight for it. Some other players (such as you, I think), prefer mods that are consistent with the original game in every respect, and add new content in harmony with this principle. And so on.

By the way, Shadowkeeper doesn't count as a mod. It's a program that grants a restricted read-write access to certain resources of the game, with a user-friendly interface.

 

OK thanks for all this info, so if I think I'll download the following, let me know if this might lead to errors / bugs, etc..

- BG2 SOA
- BG2 TOB
- Official patch
- Baldurash fixpack
- Improved Anvil
- Unfinished Business
- Qest pack
- Banter pack
- Tower of deception

Last question, any new NPC in the above mentionned patches / mods I am planning on installing (just say yes / no, no spoilers please )
thanks much!

 

Nope, no new NPCs in the above mentioned mods.

Just be sure to read the readme file of the Improved Anvil since it's not compatible with some parts of UB and Quest Pack. Also, I'd advise you not to install the "Restored Crooked Crane" part of UB since it *might* cause some minor problem with Tower of deception and "The Kidnapping of Boo" (also part of UB) since it was both buggy and overpowering regarding the quest's reward.

Everything else should work peachy

 

hmm, too bad, I was looking forward to a Minsc sidequest. Is it really so overpowered?

What are the best mods for extra NPCs that are viable?

thanks!

 

Minsc's quests had three things that bothered me. The first one was a group of unkillable Trolls (I couldn't even ctrl+y them), the second were some problems with exiting one room so I had to transport myself via CLUA and the third was the reward (I think that Minsc gets +1 STR, -6 thaco and an ability to summon a version of Boo that is *really* powerful). The quest is interesting and funny but just not worth it in the end IMHO.

 

I'd recommend Kelsey and Xan NPC's(SoA+ToB), and Keto NPC(SoA only) - fully voiced. Fade, Amber and Kivan might also be worth a look.

 

ok thanks. WOW, -6 to THACO is really overpowered for the Minsc quest. the +1 STR I guess is not too bad, and having a super Boo is kinda cool, but -6 THACO really makes Minsc overpowered...

So if you had to chose: Quest Pack or UB, which one is the best?

thanks again to everyone for their enlightened comments, really makes my mod strategy easier.

best

 

My money is on Quest Pack; I've used it longer, it's less buggy and has some very nice alternatives for evil characters.

 

The only bugs for UB is in the "minor dialog mod" and in Boo quest (there's a fix for that on PPG forums - the unkillable trolls stuff). I wouldn't miss either UB or QP.