Thinking about playing BG2 again - need tips on mods

[Melusine]

I played the complete BG series about... I think it was over 2 years ago, my does time fly. Anyway, I haven't played BG2 in ages, so I'm thinking about installing it again and playing through it all over. I'm not one of those replay-nuts that can play the same game over and over and find entertainment enough simply in switching character class, tactics or party combinations. I have a good memory and I still know all the quests by heart, so that's why I only completed the game once and played a few characters about halfway into the game. But now that there's so many MODs out there, I think I could play the game again and make it a totally new experience. So I'm looking for advice. I'd like to start a new game and install a few mods that'll spice up the storyline, add quests, NPCs, romances and items. But I want to keep the chance of bugs as small as possible, hate it when my game crashes!! I also detest bad spelling and corny dialogue crap so I want the mods to be high quality.
The only thing I've decided on is that I'd like to play through the Ascension mod once I'm in TOB. But apart from that I have no idea what kind of add-ons are out there.
Some advice on high-quality, entertaining, bugfree mods and where I can find them would be really really appreciated. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Oh, I usually play a female cleric, so a male romance NPC would be nice, as would be other NPCs that would complement the party. I'm still in dubio as to how many of the original NPCs I want to take along (also depends on whether there are mods that make the existing NPCs more fun) but I am planning on taking a full party of six. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Thanks for any help!!

Edit: I forgot to say - I'd like to hear suggestions for several mods to be added that would fulfill all my requirements, and that you know are compatible and fun combinations. So not "well this one is nice" and then someone else "yes and this one is good too" and then finding out the two of them are incompatible or something like that. Just tell me which add-on/add-ins you'd install that'd make a good combo and that will add something extra to the normal game.
Yes, I'm fully aware I'm demanding, I'm a woman... doh. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ 11-09-2003, 11:37 AM: Message edited by: Melusine ]

[Raistlin Majere]

Ill make an attempt to try to fill your demands [img]smile.gif[/img]

If its challenge your looking for(you gave that sort of a hint with Ascension), I would suggest the Tactics mod(my personal favorite). It has some INSANELY difficult add-ons(such as Improved Ilyich), and some to add a bit of a spice to the old and boring encounters, and to remove the possibility of the old cheese tactics. This is made by Weimer and Co., and can be found here. From that very place can also be downloaded the Items Upgrade mod(some overpowered items here), Ease-of-Use mod(again, some overpowering concepts) and the NPC Solaufein mod(yup, the drow), whom is romancable by both sexes, i believe. He is a Fighter/Mage, by the by. These are all relatively bug-free mods(the multiple strongholds and any race romancing thingies in the EoU mod may have some bugs, so dont install those if you hate bugs).

Then at www.forgottenwars.net you can find some of the best NPC mods out there, and some to en-change the old ones. the Flirt pack is to add a possibility for YOU(well, the PC, actually) to initiate a limited conversation, from where you can flirt with the romancable characters. Then theres the completely new, and indeed, excellent Kelsey mod. Kelsey is a romancable male Sorcerer for the female characters, and has been praised to the heavens by nearly all whom have played him. I liked him too, and hes not even overpowered(stat wise, atleast )! Then theres the banter-pack, i havent tested it yet, so cant say much about it. Considering that its FW made, i should think its a quality mod...The oversight mod is also to add a challenge to ToB, though if im not mistaken, it makes Sendai the nearest thing to Impossible(i heard your woes, Xen [img]smile.gif[/img] ).

Now thats about all the really good mods i can think off the top of my head,(the darkest day might be good, but i hear its INCREDIBLY buggy, so i think you should stay FAR away from it) and they are all Weidu made, making them completely compatible with each other.

Just thought of this one, the Baldurs Gate Trilogy is very good. It allows you to play BG1 with the BG2 engine. This means that the utterly slow movement of the characters is gone, you can play the BG2 classes AND the XP cap is lifted. It also includes Ascension. It does, however, have a few bugs, even one near-gamebreaking bug in ToB(has something to do with Sendai). All the bugs have a work-around though, i hear. Then theres the fun Imoen Romance(both sexes), though its kind of hard to get to work the way you want it(Imoen is sensitive). It can, among numerous other mods, be found here.

Hope these satisfy your demanding taste

[Dundee Slaytern]

What level of difficulty do you have in mind as well? It is unfortunate, but all too often that people tend to recommend Mods that were designed to exceedingly increase the level of difficulty in the game to players that are not prepared for it; leading to much frustration and contempt for Mods in general.

You mentioned wanting to install Ascension, so I assume you will not mind challenges too.

For male romances, there is Kelsey. Kelsey is a male Sorcerer. This is about the only Mod I can recommend to anybody.

For better AI, there is the Tactics Mod. Listed below are the components that anybody can safely install without resulting in severe hair loss or unbalancing the game. The rest of the components is up to you.

• Improved Twisted Rune
• Improved Guarded Compound in the Temple District
• Gebhard Blucher's Improved Demon Knights
• Ishan's "Always Toughest Random Spawns in Dungeons"
• Gebhard Blucher's Random City Encounters
• Improved Golems
• Smarter Dragons
• Xyx's Smarter Beholders
• Kensai Ryu's Smarter Vampires
• Slightly Smarter Mages and Liches
• Fighter-Class Archer Kit
• Kensai Ryu's Improved Copper Coronet

Happy gaming.

ADD] Dayum! Raistlin Majere types fast, although what a coincidence we share similar lines of thought. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Hehe... ...

[ 11-09-2003, 12:27 PM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

[Melusine]

Thanks man!!

I'm not really interested in insanely difficult adaptations of known monsters, firstly because I'm not patient enough to reload a battle over and over again and change tactics until I find something that'll work. And secondly because I'm looking for mods that add new stuff, not adaptations of known stuff. But I might install Tactics anyway, will do some reading on it on the forum. [img]smile.gif[/img]
The Kelsey mod sounds good! I've heard a lot about it and I do want a romance [img]graemlins/showoff.gif[/img] Maybe I should try all romances - the Imoen, Kelsey and Solaufein ones - at the same time? [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Anyway I think I read about that banter pack, that sounds like the sort of thing I'd love!
About the Ease-of-use mod, I take it that you can pick which options you want to activate like in IWD2? (I used the EoU for IWD2) In that case I'll take it.

I think I'll start downloading this week, right after I get off my lazy ass and finish the university work I need to do...

Thanks again for your help [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Melusine]

Thanks Dundee, that's definitely helpful. [img]smile.gif[/img] I think I'll take Kelsey along then...

[jcompton]

Originally posted by Melusine: Maybe I should try all romances - the Imoen, Kelsey and Solaufein ones - at the same time? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

You COULD. The Imoen and Solaufein romances have no awareness of each other, Kelsey has no awareness of the Imoen Romance, and Kelsey is only aware of the Solaufein romance if you install an optional (but in my view, recommended) component. Depends how tightly you want to roleplay your character, really.

About the Ease-of-use mod, I take it that you can pick which options you want to activate like in IWD2? (I used the EoU for IWD2) In that case I'll take it.

Yeah. Wes did the BG2 EoU first, it's the same design.

[Raistlin Majere]

Originally posted by Dundee Slaytern: ADD] Dayum! Raistlin Majere types fast, although what a coincidence we share similar lines of thought. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Hehe... ...

Thanks for compliment, Dundee [img]smile.gif[/img] . I HAVE been practising the watchuma-call-it typing system since 3rd grade now(im in high school, by the by), and to brag a bit more, ill say that it took me less than 5 min's to type the thang...*cough cough*thank you, thank you! Autograph's will be signed after the show!

As for the sharing the similar lines of thought, ive noticed this a long time ago from your posts/advice to others. Some people think the Insane difficulty is too hard because of the double damage(i know i used to), yet they still want some more challenge. I think the tactics is perfect for those people, since nobodys making you play insane, and the, should i say seriously made(?) components of the Tactics mod, are fairly balanced...it retains some of its challenge even in the easier difficulties! anywho, have fun Melusine!

[Melusine]

Thanks!! [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]

And that's good to hear about the double romancing thing, hehe...

More tips are always welcome!

[Tancred]

There's plenty of rather smart little mods around that I appreciated.

Revised Hell Trials was a nice one (a bit hard to find, though), if only because it gave you the option of being Neutral (with a different set of rewards) when facing the tests in Hell, and allowed you not just to turn a good character evil, but an evil character good (and both into neutral). All round, very nice. The Banter Packs and Flirt Packs from those guys at Forgotten Realms add a huge dollop of stuff into the game. If at any point I started to get bored, a new banter popped up, or I was able to hug someone. Yay.

Oversight is very handy, if only for the components that make every person in the game the proper alignment and class. This makes things like alignment-based spells and Detect Evil... work. A nice tweak. Ease-of-Use is full of things that make BG life less frustrating, including a set of romance patches that make the romances less... buggy.

Personally, I couldn't stand the Tactics mod. I tend to see BG2 as more of an interactive story than an actual game, and having to reload again and again and being unable to do simple things like charging ahead and damning the arrows (you know, acting like a HERO) was a soul-destroying experience. I know, I'm soft. However, Ascension comes highly recommended from me - not because it's hard, but because it adds a lot more depth to the end climax and feels 'right'.

[ 11-09-2003, 02:38 PM: Message edited by: Tancred ]

[Raistlin Majere]

Originally posted by Tancred: There's plenty of rather smart little mods around that I appreciated. Revised Hell Trials was a nice one (a bit hard to find, though), if only because it gave you the option of being Neutral (with a different set of rewards) when facing the tests in Hell, and allowed you not just to turn a good character evil, but an evil character good (and both into neutral). All round, very nice. The Banter Packs and Flirt Packs from those guys at Forgotten Realms add a huge dollop of stuff into the game. If at any point I started to get bored, a new banter popped up, or I was able to hug someone. Yay. Oversight is very handy, if only for the components that make every person in the game the proper alignment and class. This makes things like alignment-based spells and Detect Evil... work. A nice tweak. Ease-of-Use is full of things that make BG life less frustrating, including a set of romance patches that make the romances less... buggy. Personally, I couldn't stand the Tactics mod. I tend to see BG2 as more of an interactive story than an actual game, and having to reload again and again and being unable to do simple things like charging ahead and damning the arrows (you know, acting like a HERO) was a soul-destroying experience. I know, I'm soft. However, Ascension comes highly recommended from me - not because it's hard, but because it adds a lot more depth to the end climax and feels 'right'.

but you do have to admit that the story DOES get a bit boring after the nth time through the game, dont you. with tactics, you get more challenge into completing the game, giving more of a rewarding expirience. and besides, now i think Irenicus is as he should have been in the end, powerful...