Regarding Qn. 4, the bonus ankheg armour found in Nashkel stays throughout all the patches, including those after TotSC (according to another forum user). Secondly, I believe the patches are 'cumulative', that is, they progressively patch up the game with each release (the patched TotSC won't return the Ring of Wizardry). Eg. installing TotSC will also patch BG up to the point of time when the former was released.
As for the modified backstabbing which comes with the patches, it does add additional realism to the game, ie. you can no longer 'backstab' your adversary when your thief is face-to-face with it; and 'hiding in shadows' in broad daylight is MUCH harder now. I'm an avid backstabber, so as you can expect, it has made backstabbing in the game harder, but not to the extent that it is an impossibility. One more thing, the patch also seems to have lowered the damage you get from backstabbing... - now this has REALLY annoyed me no end.
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