Well-balanced mods

[Ekental]

Isnt there an FAQ stickied about mods already? (And just about everything else)?

[MitchMc]

Originally Posted by Elvis

Tonight I tried the Twisted Rune for the first time, (the Improved
Twisted Rune from the Tactics Mod, that is).

Just one question, however, about something I noticed.

Shagalar expired in the middle of his round table/dais, after which
none of my party could reach him to frisk his corpse because the game
wouldn't allow anyone to cross the table surface.

Kind of irritating, actually, because I couldn't find out what he had on him.

For anyone who's done the Improved Twisted Rune before and killed
Shangalar in the middle of the table, is this result normal?

Or might it be a possible bug?

No items but about 3000 in gold as I recall

If you kill him while he is on the table you can ctrl J onto it
Grab the cash and ctrl J off,

Not a cheat in my opinion.

If you don’t get him on the table and he gets off the battle becomes much more difficult.

Before I would freeze him with the staff of power and use the undead throwing ax from the copper cornet (Alderidge ?SP?) on him. Killed him before he had chance to move. Problem was getting the cash

Now I like to freeze the bugger with the staff of power, then use the
Ring of the ram to knock him off, he stays frozen and you can thump him
while he lies there helpless. after he is dead the gold awaits

With the right tactics you can get the STAFF of CHEESE very early in the game even with tactics and w/o an uber level character.

Cheers
MitchMc

[Andyr]

I would like to think that Song and Silence from http://www.gibberlings3.net is balanced - though I am one of the creators.

If anyone disagrees, I am more than happy to hear them.

[Qwinn]

Since it hasn't been mentioned elsewhere in this post, I feel obligated to throw in a word on the Gibberlings Three Anniversary Mod. I just finished the recently released version 3, which turns a great mod into an almost perfect mod. Very balanced, very funny, gives a great deal of depth and atmosphere to the inns around Athlatka and definetly a "must-install" as far as I'm concerned. It can be found at the Gibberlings Three boards that Andyr just linked to in the previous post.

Qwinn

[Edar Macilrille]

Apart from the official patches etc here are the mods that I have downloaded and hope to get working for my next BG game, starting with BG I and ending with ToB.

Ascension
Item Upgrade
Ease of Use
Oversight
Ashes of Embers
Banterpack
The House of Sim Mods
Virtue (hope it works I really want to try it and last attempt it did not)
Kelsey (though I usually have e female elven sorcerer named Mordana and also a transferred NPC from Rolemaster with me, she is baaaaad news to opponents;-) I like Kelsey and two good sorcerers sometimes come in handy)
Unfinished Biz
BG II Refinements
Tactics (though only parts, I have completed one game with it installed and now know what encounters to avoid beefing up)
Flirtpacks
Rogue Rebalance
Restored Drow Innates
Clerical remix
Calculator
G3 Tweakpack
G3 Annerversary pack
Subraces
Bag Bonus
Underrepresented Items
Solaufein
Ironmodder 1, Ghrey's part of it.

Apart from Tactics, not too cheesy and if refined a bit I hope Tactics will prove less cheesy.

Best wishes; Palle

[araknid70]

Thumbs up for the Gibberlings 3 Anniversary mod - Highly amusing and well designed quest - had plenty of fun playing it. The final battle was challenging, without being cheesily hard (i.e cheese required to win). Made me sit down and think carefully about my spell preparation before activating the final battle (I used a spellcaster party of me (druidic sorceror - mod), edwin, aerie and jan). However a few minor gripes - equipment / reward for the final battle was rather disappointing. I was hoping for something unique instead of standard loot and a monetary reward... I didn't need a powerful item, but would have appreciated something related to the theme or plot of the mod. Also somehow I couldn't exit out of the final battle area. I had to CLUA myself to Athkatla to get my game back on track.

The Solaufein mod is quite well made as well, with two excellent encounters. However a Solaufein-unique item that he receives is rather overpowered. I just used it for RP's sake.

[Andyr]

I believe CamDawg has added some unique items as a reward in the most recent version of the G3 Anniversary Mod.

[araknid70]

Oh, is that so? Perhaps I should replay the last battle. As I said I couldn't exit out of the last area and had to CLUA out. Perhaps that's why I didn't get anything.

[MitchMc]

RE:Thumbs up for the Gibberlings 3 Anniversary mod

Originally Posted by araknid70

Oh, is that so? Perhaps I should replay the last battle. As I said I couldn't exit out of the last area and had to CLUA out. Perhaps that's why I didn't get anything.

downloaded it a week or two ago I have had no problems leaving the "crypt"
after the final battle. Great cutscene,after you leave the chamber

great fun all round, final battle on the mild side, ion stones have beeen added as loot (not very impressive ones mind you) but play this one just for the funny dialogue and wild/waco characters you meet,

Originally Posted by Qwinn

........ an almost perfect mod. Very balanced, very funny, gives a great deal of depth and atmosphere to the inns around Athlatka and definetly a "must-install" as far as I'm concerned.
Qwinn

Could not have said it better myself


MitchMc

[Tequila]

Personally I'm loving the Tactics mod. I just don't understand all the complaints about it. So far I've beat Ilyich, Torgal, Maevar, Firkraag, Bodhi(chapter 6) and Twisted Rune without any cheese. Did I get my ass handed to me before I figured them out? Yes. Did I enjoy the process of coming up with a strategy? Hell yes! All of them with the exception of Ilyich are very reproducable for me. I also don't have any problem admitting that Kurosian is kicking my ass and I had to disable him for now since I have other things I want to do.

Take Torgal for instance. I read the SixOfSpades review on it where he said he had to resort to cheesy set trap and sleep tactics. I don't particually enjoy that kind of gaming and when I got my butt kicked the 5th time around with a 8-9 level party I came to the realization that I needed one more level so my mages could cast lower resistance allowing me to land slow. That's all that was needed to turn that fight from seemingly impossible to very doable. Once you slow his regen he goes down easily.

Bodhi and Twisted Rune IMHO have been the most fun so far. Once again I read the SixOfSpades review of Bodhi where he tried it with a party between 10-12th levels. Now that I can see would be next to impossible but by the time I got out of Underdark my party was all 14-16 with Anomen at 17. Bodhi was very difficult but not impossible. With cleric regen and mage improved haste, cold resists, PME, not letting NPP drop, lots of heal potions and timly healing from Jahiera this one is very fun.

Twisted Rune finally gives you intelligent enemies. Shangalar's contingency fires off Remove Magic followed by two Horrid Wiltings so stay away from the entry room when the fight starts unless you want all your buffs removed and to die quickly Layene doesn't win the fight for you by gating in a deamon and casting meteor shower(I never understood the sheer stupidity of that). She actually uses the Staff of Magi to continuously invis herself - way cool!

The random city encounters are finally getting a bit more challenging although still easy at this point. It's nice to see a combo of a druid, mage, cleric, bounty hunters, zerkers and wizard slayers fighting against you in chapter 6 instead of the usual losers.

I find the Tactics mod a very satisfying experience. When you kill an improved fight you really feel like you earned what was dropped by them. As for unbalancing drops the only one I've seen is the claw from Torgal which was a 2D6+3 dagger. Pretty sick but I don't have anyone who can even take advantage from it. The +3 club from Ilyich is nice but not unbalancing at all. All other drops are unchanged: Carsomyr, SotM, etc.

My advice is this; if a fight is way too hard then back off, get a few more levels, spells, toys and try again. Not something you can do with Illyich but you can with all the others. This is not a mod where you can hack+slash your way through and claim to conquer Kangaxx and Twisted Rune at 9th level. It takes a combined effort and in some cases you have to wait a few levels before you can get those nice drops. The way the game should be, IMHO.

[BenBen79]

Hi!
Does anybody know the new site or download locaton of the Big Picture MOD?
All I seem to come across are dead links to the plaguezone site.
Thanks!
Ben

[Raven_Song]

The Big Picture can be found at www.spellholdstudios.net

[BenBen79]

Originally Posted by Raven_Song

The Big Picture can be found at www.spellholdstudios.net

Thanks heaps, RS, i was looking for it for ages!

[VoodooDali]

Good idea for a thread and hello again Fable.

I have a suggestion...

I want to play the game again, and want a bunch of mods. I am not in the least interested in the tactical sort of mods, since I'm not looking for longer more difficult battles.

What would any of you recommend as far as the most interesting new NPC mods and quest mods for someone that just wants the game to have new banter and play out a little differently (that is different options to resolve quests, etc)?

[Berethor]

I love the mods that people create for our enjoyment. They can make the game more interesting, more harder, easier, many things. I prefer just 3 mods that people have created.

I like the Saerelith mod the best. She is a 15 year old Paladin(Cavalier to be exact) of Tyr. She is sweet, kind easy to romance, a little hard to understand with what she says, but nonetheless, she is an amazing mod. Definatley give her the Purifier and she will be cuttin enemies up like they are bread on thanksgiving.

Rating:10/10!!Great Job!

I also like the Tashia Mod. She is a female elven sorceress that is also a romance option. When you get her she has a variety of good spells and gets many good ones later. Give her perhape the staff of the Magi or staff of the ram and she will be dukin it out with magic and physical combat.

Rating:9/10!Good Job on the mod!

And lastly I like the Kindrek Mod. He is a magic hating berserker of unknown origin. He is brutally strong and brutally efficient, an excellent choice for those that like to have their reputation average for some of the tough evil NPC's. He comes with a powerful halberd that cannot be removed, but it is like a carsomyr, and it has a disruptor that when cast, stops a enemy from casting a spell. And he moves at 1/2 points faster than other characters.

Rating:9/10!Very Nice!

Maybe you guys should give them a try. If you do, Saerelith is in front of the Order of the Most Radiant Heart building, Kindrek will talk to you in the city gates, and Tashia is in Vitaris pub in Trademeet, which you get the mission to go to in the city gates.

Have fun!