Author: Zyraen
Please note that if you
have individual components installed prior to this compilation, you will need
to uninstall them first, before installing this. If you try to install this
compilation without uninstalling them, the components which already have been
installed will not be updated, but will be skipped and not be installed. The
exceptions are for Improved Statue of Riddles and Item Nerfs, which can be
installed even if the stand-alone versions are already in place.
These are miscellaneous Mods
written to improve some aspects of Baldur's Gate 2 gameplay. Some of these
components, such as accelerating the Ust Natha, reducing the gamer's cost of
having Yoshimo in your party, were done with the Roleplaying Gamer in mind,
whereas others, like the Item Nerfing and XP Caps, are more for the Technical
Gamer. Because of the relatively wide base, components should be installed
according to the needs of the individual player, and it is unlikely that all
the components will be installed.
If you have a suggestion for any
improvements, please feel free to post it up at the Pocket Plane Group Forum.
Compatibility
Installation
Groupings - Convenience, Balance and
XP Management (added v2.0)
1. Alternate, Accelerated Ust Natha Route –
Convenience
2. Improved Statue of Riddles – Convenience
3. Transfer Yoshimo's XP to either Imoen or the Party
– XP Management (updated v2.0 – Bug Fixed)
4. Solo With a Party AI Script – Convenience
(updated v2.0 – Major Change)
- 4.1 Features
- 4.2 Using the Script
- 4.3 Gameplay Issues
5. Item Nerfs & Balancing –
Balance
- 5.1 Changes from Stand-Alone NerfItem Release
- 5.2 Primary Nerfs - Reducing Overpowered Items
- 5.3 Secondary Reductions - Instant Kill Reductions
- 5.4 Periphery Tweaks - Less Noteable Items
6. Remove Alignment Restrictions for all Items
(Patch) – Convenience
7. Stage Based XP Cap – XP
Management
- 7.1 Descriptions of Difficulty Setting
- 7.2 XP Caps in Detail
8. Uber Weapon for Testing –
Convenience
9. Expanded Spell Progressions –
Balance
- 9.1 Expanded Spell Progression for Rangers
- 9.2 Expanded Spell Progression for Bards
- 9.3 Expanded Spell Progression for Paladins (added v2.0)
10. Hidden Uber Kit - Reaver –
Convenience (added v2.0)
- 10.1 How to Create a Reaver
- 10.2 Notes when Using a Reaver
11. Auto-Sell Script – Convenience
(added v2.0)
12. XP Evener Script – XP
Management (added v2.0)
13. Item Stat Bonuses – Set to Inc
(Patch) – Balance (added v2.0)
14. Halves Weapon To-Hit & Damage Bonuses
(Patch) – Balance (added
v2.0)
Contact
Information
Thanks and Acknowledgements
This compilation was tested
primarily on Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn with the Throne of Bhaal
expansion pack, but most of its components should be compatible with purely SoA
installations. Components that probably will not work without ToB would be
Staged-Based XP Cap, and Expanded Spell Progressions would be quite meaningless
with the 2.95 million XP Cap that SoA imposes.
Simply unzip the contents of the
Zip file to the directory where your BG2 game is, and then run
Z#Misc-Setup.exe.
The
components have now been grouped into 3 Groups, Convenience, Balance, and XP
Management. Option will be given on which components you wish to be involved
in. They are indicated in brackets next to the title given. Kudos to The Bigg
for the greatly improved WeiDU that provides this functionality!
Components
which are Patches modify the files AFTER they are installed, and so they should
be applied LAST, ie try to install as many components as possible before
installing them.
1. Alternate, Accelerated
Ust Natha Route ( Convenience )
Differences from
Stand-Alone Installation : There have been *no* changes made so far, from the stand-alone
Z#UNA-Setup.exe, so it is up to the player to decide if they wish to uninstall
the stand-alone. If there are any future updates and improvements, they will be
applied to this version in the compilation, and not to the stand-alone.
This Component aims to seamlessly
speed up the quest in Ust Natha, while still allowing the player to experience
most of the Ust Natha quest portions where NPCs are likely to comment.
It is targeted mainly at NPC Mod
players who are playing the section all over again, and want to shorten the
experience, especially the walking tedium, but who also wish to hear at least
some of the places where NPC interjections most commonly occur (in my opinion),
which I think are concerning killing Solaufein, sleeping with Phaere, and the
Demon Summoning ritual. The gnome-patrol portion is removed from the
accelerated experience.
The main change is that if you
manage to clear either pit fights or duels BEFORE talking to Solaufein for the
first time, Phaere will show up in the Inn and order you to see her in her
private quarters within an hour :)
From there the story goes on. If you talk to Solaufein before clearing the pit
fights or duels, the gameplay will continue as if the Mod had NEVER been
installed.
Other minor notes include
- Solaufein casts some spells on being approached by you for the kill
- an Elder Orb is visiting on a Spelljammer ship after Ardulace tells you she
needs an eyestalk
- Adalon's Imp offers to teleport you out of Ust Natha, but there is a risk
involved...
Ust Natha Accelerator uses as
much of the original dialogues as possible without mistaken back-references,
which are avoided by circumventing the original text.
2. Improved Statue of
Riddles ( Convenience )
Differences from
Stand-Alone Installation : Some of you may have this from a component from the Beyond the Law Open
Alpha. This installation does *not* check for that component, and there
shouldn't be any compatibility problems. If you wish to keep on the safe side,
either uninstall the BTL Alpha component first before installing this
component, or just skip this component altogether.
The original Statue of Riddles in
Spellhold, is frankly, very irritating, as it forces you to have to press all
the faces, and teleport in and out, *TWELVE* times. This little tweak improves
it so that once you go in, the Statue will keep asking you Riddles until you
have answered all 12. However, if you answer wrongly, you will remain inside
the little room, and will have to attempt to answer until all 12 riddles are
answered or until the "trapped" NPC is killed.
3. Transfer Yoshimo's XP
to either Imoen or the Party ( XP Management )
Differences from
Stand-Alone Installation : There have been *no* changes made so far, from the stand-alone
YoshiXP-Setup.exe, so it is up to the player to decide if they wish to
uninstall the stand-alone. If there are any future updates and improvements,
they will be applied to this version in the compilation, and not to the
stand-alone.
This Mod aims to provide some
incentive to continue using Yoshimo for the early part of SoA, and remove issues
that deal with things like "rushing" for Imoen, provided one uses
Yoshimo. This Mod assumes that the primary "cost" of Yoshimo's
betrayal lies in losing the XP which he has earned earlier, effectively wasting
it, and attempts to rectify that while promoting RP of Yoshimo's betrayal. It
has no effect if Yoshimo is not brought to Spellhold.
It works by reducing Yoshimo's XP
when the party first enters Spellhold, and later restores it after Bodhi
releases the party into the Spellhold Maze. Yoshimo's XP reduction is not
noticeable unless someone checks his Character Sheet while in Spellhold, though
he may "stutter" a little as the script takes effect.
If Imoen joins the party, Imoen
gains the XP from Yoshimo ; if she joins at level 13 and has considerable XP, she
won't gain as much XP as otherwise. If Imoen does not join the party and is
"dismissed" from the Maze, Yoshimo's XP is awarded to the party as
Experience.
Update v 2.0 – Bug Fixed
Thanks to anowack at
Pocketplane Group forums for highlighting a bug that prevents the Chest Riddle
in Spellhold from working due to a missing line of code in this mod.
4. Solo With a Party AI
Script ( Convenience )
Differences from
Stand-Alone Installation : This script has been improved from the Version 2.00 to cover a few other
contingencies, and so it is a recommended that you uninstall the previous
version. The updates include checking for STATE_NORMAL instead of just
STATE_HASTE, and allowing the script to be used in a party of less than 6
characters without flooding the inventory with Invulnerable Rings.
Updated v 2.0 – Major Change
This script is now applied to ONE Party member at a time, and will no longer
interrupt Player1 in his or her Spellcasting or other activities. It has NO
effect when placed on Player1. Therefore it is also now useable for
“baby-sitting” situations, to keep a Party Member out of
harm’s way. AI MUST be enabled for the Script to have any effect.
This component should be
compatible with SoA only installations, but there might still be minor issues,
so if there are problems do email me here.
This Mod is for those who want to
try out a Solo, yet also wish to enjoy party banter, have someone to disarm /
detect traps, romance an NPC. It is also for those who import a powerful PC and
don't wish to babysit their party members on a playthrough with a new NPC, and
hate having to lug the slow-moving party along.
a) XP Awarding – For every
party member using the Script, and has XP exceeding 100,000, your main
character gains 20,000 XP and the party member loses the same amount of XP.
b) Solo Combat - When engaged in
combat, the party member running the Script automatically disappear into a
Maze, without ANY Maze effects to clutter up your screen. Freedom is autocast
to get them out of the Maze if the PC is in the same area as the party members
were when they were Mazed.
c) Invulnerability Protection -
All party members running the Script are invulnerable to all damage and deaths.
d) Improved Haste - For ease of
movement along the maps and to keep up with the main character, all party
members running the Script have Improved Haste on them at practically all
times.
e) High level NPCs joining you -
If a party member running the Script has XP exceeding 140K, the party member
proceeds to lose XP until it has fallen under 140K, before XP is awarded to the
main character.
f) Enhanced Thief Skills - All
party members with Thief skills and running the Script gain 150 to both Trap
Detection and Open Locks. This allows you to continue to pick locks and traps
even in Throne of Bhaal, even though your party members are of a low level,
provided you have a thief in your party.
g) Intelligence Boost - All your
party members running the Script have their intelligence set to 7. This ensures
that they will not leave the Maze anytime soon.
Before you enable the script, you
may wish to make sure the party member has *NO* RINGS in the Inventory as this
may cause errors like loss of rings, though it doesn't always (don't worry
about Nalia's ring). Once that is done (or not done, your choice, heh) assign
the Solo with a Party script to the party member and enable AI. The script has
NO effect when placed onto the PC.
What you should see is a line of
"Party Has Gained An Item" and then your party member will probably
start losing Experience Points, and you gain some of them.
If you want to revert back to
normal gameplay and get rid of the Invulnerable Rings, move your Mouse over
your character running the script and press S. What will happen is that the
script will destroy the Invulnerable ring on the character and the game will
pause. Use this chance to disable the AI or change your custom script, so that
the Ring will not be recreated when you unpause.
a) Attacking your own party
members - This immediately causes all party members running the Script to be
Mazed. To prevent this, the moment the attacking character(s) emerge from the
Maze effect, stop them from attacking.
b) Inventory issues - Make sure
you have all the equipment you may want to use in combat on your main
character, and not carried by someone else, as they are not retrievable from
Mazed Characters
c) Summoning - A slight
detraction from a pure Solo-game is that party members can help summon monsters
prior to a battle, before battle ensues and they get Mazed, giving you extra
help that you might not normally have in a solo
d) Extra XP - There will be some
extra XP gained by the main character, as compared to a normal Solo, as XP
being awarded to your other party members for completing Quests will eventually
come to you, and every new NPC that joins you above the 140K XP mark will
essentially earn you an extra 40K
e) Pausing and Levelling -
Pausing the game or turning off Party AI will halt the script that reduces the
party members' XP and award them to you. If you wish to "force" a
level up, you can use a cheat or editor to increase the Party Member's XP, level
the person up, and then unpause to have the Experience drop again to the
desired level (and in the process gain an extra 40K or so experience)
f) Departures - Sometimes the
game crashes when one of your party members with an Invulnerable Ring leaves
your party and disappears, such as Jaheira when she Escapes Area during her
Harper Quest. To prevent this, get rid of the rings by moving your Mouse over
your main character and pressing S (see above, under Using the Script). Only
re-enable the script when the party member has left.
5. Item Nerfs &
Balancing ( Balance )
Differences from
Stand-Alone Installation : There *have* been changes made in this installation over the previous
stand-alone release, as covered below. This installation does *not* check for
the component from the stand-alone installation, and there shouldn't be any
compatibility problems. Still it is recommended to uninstall the previous, as
only this version will be updated in future.
This Mod aims to weaken the items
in BG2 : SoA & ToB to provide a greater challenge in gameplay.
Note that this Mod does not
reduce the quality of items, such as their enchantment level, but mainly
focuses on their abilities as a candidate for reduction. The Mod is divided
into 3 components, as follows.
- Primary Nerfs - Reducing
Overpowered Items
- Secondary Reductions - Instant Kill Reductions
- Periphery Tweaks - Less Noteable Items
5.1 Changes from
Stand-Alone NerfItem Release
Staff of Magi - 50% dispel down
from 60%, Spell Trap now Dispellable
Carsomyr - 25% and 35% dispel respectively, down from 30% and 40%
Celestial Fury - stun back up from 4 to 6 seconds
Crom Faeyr - up from 40% to 60% Slay, with Save vs Death
ADDED : Shield of Balduran - 60% chance of deflecting beholder ray
Silver Sword - kills at -2 Save back
up from -1 Save
Azuredge - down from 35% to 25% chance of killing
Runehammer - up from 30% and 40% to 40% and 50% respectively
Wave Halberd - up from 50% to 75% Slay, with Save vs Death
5.2 Primary Nerfs -
Reducing Overpowered Items
This category aims to remove the
Uber Element that makes these items notorious in BG2 for being cheesy,
overpowered, and other such negative notes. The Items affected are as follows,
in the following ways.
Cloak of Mirroring - originally
100%, now 40% chance of deflection
Shield of Balduran - 60% chance of deflecting Beholder Rays
Robe of Vecna - Casting Duration -2 instead of previous -4
Staff of Magi - no more invisibility on Equip. Invis 3/Day, 50% of Dispel Magic
per hit, Spell Trap now Dispellable
Blackrazor - 10% chance for all down from 15%, Str +3 is 20% down from 100%,
drains 2 levels only instead of 4
Celestial Fury - originally 100%, now 30% chance to Booming Thunder, Stun
remains at 6 seconds
Carsomyr +5 - Magic Resistance from 50% to 25%, 100% down to 25% chance of
Dispel Magic per hit
Carsomyr +6 - Magic Resistance from 50 to 35%, 100% down to 35% chance of
Dispel Magic per hit
Crom Faeyr - 25 Str down to 22 Str, 100% down to 60% chance to slay specific
creatures instantly, with Save vs Death
5.3 Secondary Reductions
- Instant Kill Reductions
These items have a percentage
chance to kill instantly, some without saves, some specific to some enemies.
Most cases the Saves penalties are reduced, most 100% requiring a save have now
been reduced to a percentage, and high percentages have been reduced.
Silver Sword - 25% chance to kill
now reduced to 15% chance, Save vs Death remains at -2
Mace of Disruption +1 - 100% reduced to 30% chance to instant kill undead
Mace of Disruption +2 - 100% reduced to 40% chance to instant kill undead
Runehammer +4 - 100% reduced to 40% effect of instant kill undead
Runehammer +5 - 100% reduced to 50% effect of instant kill undead
Wave Halberd +4 - 100% reduced to 75% chance of killing specific creatures
instantly, with Save vs Death
Ravager +6 - Vorpal Hit previously unsaveable, now has a -4 Save vs Death
Axe of the Unyielding +5 - Vorpal Hit Save vs Death penalty reduced to from -4
to -2, Regen 3 hp/round reduced to 1 hp/round
Axe of the Unyielding +3 - Vorpal Hit Save vs Death penalty reduced to from -4
to -2, Regen 1 hp/round reduced to 1 hp/2 rounds
Azuredge - 100% reduced to 25% effect of instant kill undead
5.4 Periphery Tweaks -
Less Noteable Items
These tweaks are more
miscellaneous tweaks, for items that may be abused in a variety of ways, and
for other powerful items that have a 100% chance of imposing cumulative
penalties. The popular, no-saves allowed item effect has also been given a
save.
Daystar - Sunray changed to False
Dawn, considered +3 weapon when hitting
Soul Reaver - 100% down to 30% chance of causing enemy Thaco to drop by 2
Flail of Ages - Slow, previously no save, has -2 Save vs Spells
Flail of Ages +4 - Slow, previously no save, has -4 Save vs Spells
Flail of Ages +4 - Slow, previously no save, has -4 Save vs Spells
Flail of Ages +5 - Slow, previously no save, has -6 Save vs Spells
Short Sword of the Mask +4 - 15% down to 10% to entangle
Short Sword of the Mask +5 - 15% down to 10% to entangle / level drain
Answerer +4 - 35% chance each, down from 100%, to reduce 15% MR and -2 AC
Kundane +2 - +1 Attack reduced to +3 Attack Speed Factor
Belm +2 - +1 Attack reduced to +3 Attack Speed Factor
Firetooth +3 - +1 Attack reduced to +3 Attack Speed Factor, 2d4 melee damage
reduced to 2d3, 2d4 missile damage reduced to 1d5
White Dragon Scale - Thieves are no longer able to Stealth while wearing this
armor, and it is now unusable by some kits
6. Remove Alignment
Restrictions for all Items (Patch) ( Convenience )
Based on how items like Azuredge
can be used by Good characters only, and others like Staff of Terror, Skull of
Death, Wyvern's Tail can be used regardless of alignment, Bioware's
alignment-based restrictions for items seem inconsistent and distinctly leaning
towards the side of good characters. This component therefore completely
removes all such alignment restrictions for all items. Class restrictions
remain.
Note that this component is a
patch, and as such only affects Items which have been installed *before* this
component.
7. Stage Based XP Cap ( XP Management )
Differences from
Stand-Alone Installation : There have been *no* changes made so far, from the stand-alone
ChpXP-Setup.exe, so it is up to the player to decide if they wish to uninstall
the stand-alone. If there are any future updates and improvements, they will be
applied to this version in the compilation, and not to the stand-alone.
This Mod aims to return some
challenge to SoA and ToB by setting different XP Caps for different stages of
the game. For SoA, the stages of the game are denoted by varying Chapters ; for
ToB, the stages of the game are denoted by Challenges in the Pocketplane. There
are 4 sets of XP Caps - Easy, Normal, Hard and Very Hard.
These XP Caps, combined with the right difficulty setting inside the game,
should be able to make even Spellhold a decent challenge for most, and the
players may choose to leave some quests or parts thereof for Chapter 6.
During gameplay, every time a party member exceeds the XP Cap for that stage,
the person loses 50K XP, and a storing variable is incremented. This loss of
50K XP is clearly shown and will serve as notice for the gamer that it is time
to "move on" to the next stage.
For every difficulty set of XP
Cap in both SoA and ToB, there is also a component called the XP Restorer. When
the party proceeds to a new stage, the XP Restorer returns to the party the
amount of XP previously taken from the party when the XP exceeded the limit for
the previous stage.
This allows players to keep playing in a particular stage of the game without
too much fear of "wasting" the XP earned. It does however also makes
the Mod easier, so those seeking a challenge might not wish to install this
component.
If the XP Restorer is installed, when a new stage is entered, the script checks
for the party member with the highest XP in the party. If his XP is more than
50K less than the Cap for the new stage, the Party gains 50K XP and the storing
variable is decremented. This restoration of XP continues until either the
storing variable is reduced to 0, or the XP of the party member with the
greatest amount of XP comes within 50K of the XP Cap for the new stage.
Note that this Mod is built on
scripting, and as such ignores the effects of any XP Cap Modifier / Remover
Components that may have previously been installed. It will come into effect
once a game is Loaded, and so if you load an old saved game don't be too
surprised to see your screen filling up with XP Reductions for a period of
time.
7.1 Descriptions of
Difficulty Setting
Easy - If you install this
option, I feel, it's probably defeated most of the purpose of this Mod, lol.
But you can try it to see how it goes. Used for Novice players, and it is
unlikely that you will see much effect in the Mod. There is effectively No
final XP Cap for the final portion of ToB, so you can still exceed 8 million XP
with this installed for ToB.
Normal - This is probably close
to what the game designers had in mind. The SoA XP Cap of 2.95 million XP is
put in place, as well as the 8 million XP Cap for ToB. Intermediate levels are
a matter of approximation. Most players should still be able to complete most
of the Quests in Chapters 2 and 3 with this, assuming XP Restorer is installed.
Hard - This is somewhat
challenging and may make it difficult to complete some Quests in Chapters 2 and
3, such as slaying dragons etc. Combined with the Cap it should also lead to
saving quite some game content for gameplay in Chapter 6. ToB should be
reasonably difficult.
Very Hard - This can get rather
steep and tough, and is GREATLY NOT recommended for players who don't like some
considerable gameplay challenge. The XP Cap for facing Irenicus in Hell is a
mere 2 million, and for ToB the final XP Cap is 5.5 million.
SoA is divided into 4 stages,
each with its own XP Cap.
03 - Chapters 1-3
05 - Chapters 4-5
06 - Chapter 6
07 - Chapter 7
ToB is divided into 4 stages,
each with its own XP Cap
YS - prior to killing Yaga Shura and completing Pocketplane Challenge 2
SD - prior to killing Sendai and completing Pocketplane Challenge 3
AB - prior to killing Abazigal and completing Pocketplane Challenge 4
BL - after completing Pocketplane Challenge 4
These are the XP Caps for each
difficulty. Modders may wish to modify the Z#Misc-Setup.tp2 to alter the values
to a setting that is of sufficient challenge for them. If so feel free, no
problem there.
Easy
03 1600000
05 2200000
06 2900000
07 3500000
YS 6000000
SD 10000000
AB 15000000
BL 9999999999
Normal
03 1200000
05 1900000
06 2500000
07 2950000
YS 4500000
SD 5800000
AB 7000000
BL 8000000
Hard
03 1000000
05 1700000
06 2200000
07 2500000
YS 4000000
SD 5000000
AB 6000000
BL 7000000
Very Hard
03 750000
05 1200000
06 1600000
07 2000000
YS 3000000
SD 3750000
AB 4500000
BL 5500000
8. Uber Weapon for Testing ( Convenience )
This is just an item, using the BAM
of Celestial Fury, that kills every enemy within a 30' radius or so of the
wielder when equipped. It has been tested to have semi-instantly killed 40 or
so demiliches at once. It is useable by all characters from all classes and
also grants near-invulnerability. It can also be used to attack anything in
sight, physically. To bring it into the game after installation, simply use
Shadow Keeper to place Z#DIE.ITM into your inventory, or use
CLUAConsole:CreateItem("Z#Die").
The Uberweapon, as I call it, is mainly
used for Testing purposes. It will not kill non-hostile creatures in its
radius, nor will it kill Characters with MINHP items, although it will reduce
them to minimum Health. The main advantage of it is that it kills very quickly
while awarding the XP to the party, and can be used for Modders to play through
various quests to test for interjections and to test Quest Functionality. It
can also be used to quickly play through SoA, gaining all the usual XP in a
party, and then using that party to face-off against an encounter to gauge the
difficulty of the encounter. Other than that, when a Mod causes a game freeze
or hang, and the last save game is long ago or the fixed installation requires
starting a New Game, the Uberweapon is also handy for catching up to that stage
of gameplay.
For hard-core Roleplayers, I
suppose it also can be used to play through SoA and ToB with minimal effort to
check out that new NPC mod and so on, since it makes battle a non-issue. Well,
it's yours to use or to abuse, heh.
9. Expanded Spell
Progressions ( Balance )
When looking at the Progression
tables for classes, especially non-core classes like Bards and Rangers, it
doesn't take a genius to observe that when AD&D designed these classes,
they never planned for them to exceed say, level 20 or so. However in ToB,
characters can go up to as high as level 40, but the progression for hybrid
classes like Rangers and Bards do not seem to improve. These components attempt
to rectify that by granting them limited access to higher levels of Arcane /
Divine spells, and giving them better long-term gameplay prospects.
9.1 Expanded Spell
Progression for Rangers
Rangers seem to be the most
generally "short-changed" of all the Fighter-based classes, most of them
lacking the proficiencies of Fighters, most kits having armor restrictions,
being able to Stealth yet unable to backstab (except for Stalkers), and on top
of their other bonuses, Paladins get better Divine spell access than they do!
Leaving kits out of the comparison, when placed against the Cleric, Fighter and
Paladin classes, the Ranger class seems almost meaningless except as a roleplay
entity.
This component gives Ranger more
Divine Sphere spells starting from level 14 or so, and since they gain Cleric
spells earlier than the Paladin (at level 8 vs the Paladin's level 9), they
consistently remain ahead in this new progression. Their maximum number of
spells are now capped at 4 instead of 3, and their spell progression slows down
more and more considerably the higher level they go. They learn level 4 spells
at level 14, level 5 spells at level 19, level 6 spells at level 25 and level 7
spells at level 32. They have no access to Cleric HLAs.
9.2 Expanded Spell
Progression for Bards
While at low-levels, especially
in BG1, Bards have a distinct advantage over mages, the long term prospects for
Bards in a BG2 ToB party game seems rather dismal, being capped at level 6
spells and being neither capable fighters nor adequate thieves. This gives them
some longer-lived arcane usefulness, though again, they do not have access to
mage HLAs. They gain access to level 7 spells at level 20, level 8 spells at
level 26 and level 9 spells at level 33. Even at level 40, they can memorise no
more than 3 spells each from levels 7 and 8, and 2 spells from level 9.
9.3 Expanded Spell
Progression for Paladins (Added v2.0)
Almost obligatory, I guess,
despite my earlier sentiments. The best thing to remember is that if you find
this upsetting, just don’t install this portion. Paladins can now use
level 7 Spells at level 37, along with some other tweaks. Their higher level
Spell Progression slower than that for the Ranger’s Expanded Spell
Progression.
10. Hidden Uber Kit -
Reaver ( Convenience ) (Added v2.0)
11. Auto-Sell Script (
Convenience ) (Added v2.0)
12. XP Evener Script ( XP
Management ) (Added v2.0)
13. Item Stat Bonuses - Set to Inc (Patch) ( Balance ) (Added v2.0)
Generally, I've always felt that in BG2 there are WAAAAY too many items that set Stat to value X, especially for Strength. It has always made rolling for Strength a general non-issue. So I've done up a Patch Component that changes things, so that any item that sets any of the 6 Stats to a value greater than 17, the Patch converts the Set Value to a Increase Stat according to the following Scale
Set to 18-19 replaced by +2 Bonus
Set to 20-22 replaced by +3 Bonus
Set to 23-25 replaced by +4 Bonus
So for example, Crom
Faeyr will only give a +4 Str Bonus, instead of setting to 25.
Similarly, Gloves of Dexterity will provide a +2 Dex
Bonus, instead of setting to 18.
This component has been separated
into two parts – for Items that modify Strength, and for all other Stat
modifying Items. They can be installed separately.
14. Halves Weapon To-Hit & Damage Bonuses (Patch) ( Balance ) (Added v2.0)
This mod was created by Zyraen, who can be reached via email by
clicking on his name. Most comments and suggestions for improvement can be
posted on Pocketplane Group
Forum, in the relevant forum for this compilation of Mods, along many other
Mods and Tweaks. Zyraen can also be found at Chosen of Mystra Forums,
which hosts some of his larger NPC-based projects like Beyond the Law,
as well as many other interesting NPC Mods.
First, a big thanks to the
wonderful IE community, especially in #ppgmod, the IRC channel of Pocket Plane Group, and to
friends on the forums of Chosen
of Mystra, where I received my first forum hosting! :) Thank you to
Revan@Chosen of Mystra, TheWizard@IEGMC, Dragon_Lord@Black Wyrm Lair for
hosting my various Mods, and to JCompton@Pocket Plane Group, for the soon-to-be
hosting of my Miscellaneous Mod forum.
Tools Used in Creation
WeiDU by Wes Weimer
Near Infinity by Jon Olav
Hauglid
IESDP
maintained by igi
BGHead, added v2.0 – For
advice, feedback, guidance and overall support. Thank you!
SixOfSpades, added v2.0 –
From Pocketplane Group Forum, for caution and ideas on STR items being nerfed,
as well as other valuable feedback.
Cap’n rofl, added v2.0
– From Pocketplane Group Forum, for suggesting that STR setting items be
nerfed.
Anowack, added v2.0 – From
Pocketplane Group Forum, for spotting the Bug in the Yoshimo’s XP
Component
Majortomsawyer, added v2.0
– For advice and ideas along the way.
The Bigg, added v2.0 – For
the awesome WeiDU v197, the great GROUP function for ease of managing the many
components
JCompton - For offering help on
the XP Restorer condition, for helping me with the name and with proofing
through other readme's (and probably this one) to make sure I make sense. Thank
you once again, for the encouragement and guidance, and more recently, for the
place on the forum at Pocket
Plane Group :)
Fantasy - for your sincere
interest and thought in these components and many other areas
Grimsqueaker - thanks for helping
with the bug squishing for Ust Natha Accelerator
CamDawg - for Invaluable
Scripting Advice and Help, especially for the WeiDU Subcomponents and Action_If
commands, and for helping check my code for Removing Alignment Restrictions :)
Thanks a million! Learned lots from you.
Thanks also for giving feedback on the items and the nerfs :) As well for
helping me go over the list of weapons etc that you feel should be nerfed, and
for commenting on possible abuses of Kundane and Belm. You can visit his forum
Gibberlings Three here.
LuckyOne - For feedback on the
items and the nerfs, going over the list of weapons with me, helping me spot
Answerer +4, Ravager +6, and Wave Halberd +4.
Dellaster - Thanks for the last
minute notice on Azuredge and on Firetooth +3 - I've never had it before so I
didn't know what it did, but when I looked at it thanks to you my jaw dropped,
heh.
Lilly - Thanks for the great
addition which I almost forgot :) My favourite thief armor of all time.. but
probably way over the top, White Dragon Scales. Thanks a lot for the tip off.
MoonElf - Many thanks for the
discussion in Spellhold Studios. I have since taken up and implemented many of
the changes you suggested for Item Nerfs, thank you very much for your most
useful feedback! If anyone is reading this, just bear in mind that this guy is
the one behind almost all the Changes made to Item Nerfs.
Revan - Thank you for reading my
PM at Chosen of Mystra
and being cool with the notes on this compilation, as well as being supportive
of my ideas and thoughts in modding and other areas :) Many thanks!
Ghreyfain - Many, many thanks for
the idea of using Invulner.itm to make things easier, via an MB post in PPG Forums
for Solo With a Party. I had written it off previously, as the Ring would
prevent Maze from coming into effect, but after some experimentation, I found
it rather interesting though, how I could actually get a potentially deadly
spell to come into effect despite the protection of the Invulnerable Ring.
Thank you Ghrey for the idea!
And of course, for the NPC Creation Tutorial :) Where would many of us n00bs be
without it? Thanks a lot for that great piece of work!
Silk - for testing and enjoying
Uberweapon, and testing future, yet to be released components of these
Miscellaneous Mods
Veloxyll - for offering help on
the XP Restorer condition
Sillara & Nethrin, creators
of the Saerileth Mod - Saerileth was one of the main reasons why I managed to
finish v 1.0 of the Solo w/a Party component and later on, v2.0. You can visit
the Saerileth Mod here.
SConrad - for your notes on
TP2ing in the Chrysta Private Forum, that's where I first learnt and experimented
with using TP2s to directly manipulate and play around with files :) You can
visit his forum Spellhold Studios here.
SimDing0 - to the one and only
inimitable SimDing0, who, Back when I was toying with an Underdark-Be-Gone or
Underdark-Guide Idea, Sim mentioned about a way to speed up the Ust Natha
experience, and that's when I really started to consider focusing on Ust Natha
rather than on Underdark as a whole :) and 2.5 hours from getting the Idea,
tossed out Ust Natha Accelerator.
Many thanks also for patience and guidance given in the last day of doing up
Solo w/a Party v2.0, and who taught me how to convert it into a standard
script. Without him none of this would have been remotely possible. Kudos to
Sim for all the invaluable help, ideas and guidance!
This mod may not be sold, or
redistributed in any form without the consent of its author. Zyraen's
Miscellaneous Mods is ©2005, Zyraen.