I think I saw some other topics about this on the boards, but didn't please me. So, I'll start a new one. I finished Baldur's Gate 2 + ToB several times and I want to go for something new this time. I don't own BG1.
What I'm looking for, basically, it's something with more challenge. Something to make the battles as hard as can be. And also new quests, especially the ones that have some connections with the main plot. I'm not looking for new items, neither new spells (only if it does really worth it). Or small NPCs for that matter (NPCs that bring a big change to the main plot or has some huge quest are always welcome). And no new class. Well, if it's something really good, I'll go for those things, too.
I think you guys kinda got the point... Please, help! Thanks in advance.

Well, for hard battles you can install Tactics.For more quests, install Quest Pack. Check the download section from Sorcerer's Place and you will find them.

Try here (http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/index_editors7.php) for the big list on SP. I've found Tactics, Ascension and Solaufein fights very tough. How tough? When I resort to CTRL+Y monsters, it's *that* tough! Solaufein doesn't change much of the game, but the additional fights that follow him are down right nasty, IMO.

Thanks for the list, kuemper! I think that's what I was searching for. Anyway, if there are more please, keep it comin'.

www.pocketplane.net (http://www.pocketplane.net) has them all.

NOW this is my kind of subject! :banana:

Get Tactics, Improved Battles, these two makes battles rock hard! Install every last component!

You will have great fun even in Irenicus's dungeon(which is normally a boredom area for experienced players) well, install Improved Ilych for a very hard, challenging, but still doable battle! I think you are fairly experienced yes? Even more than me as you finished ToB a few times? (I did one in unmodded game) Then you will enjoy these. Some call Improved Ilych 'too hard, insane, impossible' but I hope you will like impossible odds like me and will do your best to complete it! (I managed to kill him and his gang in approximately one hour and countless loads)

Habe you seen Improved Bodhi? She is a terror to behold, a 'real human shredder' as players say. Much improved than the weak original Bodhi.

You want to see real power of Jon Irenicus? Like he does in cutscenes? Improved Irenicus is a very fun and massive battle, a final fight that suits grand Shadows of Amn! Take a look at my topiç but beware of spoilers!

Also these mods will make lots of the battles harder, dungeons will spawn in hardest setting (it thinks your level is too high and fills dungeons with all kinds of nastier critters!), quests bosses will be much, much harder and you will have to be a very resourceful and experienced player to beat these. Wanna test your limits?

Tactics mage are soo powerful, liches are soo smart,demonic things are horribly powerful and deadly just like their original pen&paper ones, nearly every opponent's scripts are enchanted, they will occasionaly drink potions, make formations, call for help etc. Just great! :thumb:
http://weidu.org/Weimer-TacticsMod-v23.exe

Get Ascension to enhance ToB to a really hard and epic experience! Do never underestimate Ascension enemies or you will be dead for sure! (like I did once. Hah Illisera eh? I beat Improved Jon Irenicus what can she do to me?...Then I was killed miserably by her. :cry: )

Plus all other bosses will be much, much harder, I haven't tried them but heard very nasty things about them, which is a good thrill for an experienced player!
http://weidu.org/Ascension-WeiDU-v1.4.21.exe

Unfinished Business adds quests, and enhances some old quests greatly! It will be a new, thrilling experience!
http://mods.pocketplane.net/UnfinishedBusiness14.exe

Get Sola mod (that good drow in the underdark), you can romance him too and fight the toughest battles ever designed!
http://weidu.org/Weimer-SolaufeinMod-v102.exe

Get Valen mod for a vampire PC, given to you by that obvious leader if you side with her. (I am trying my hard not to spoil any fun!) Oh also, do you want to fight Buffy the Vampireslayer and Dr.Van Helsing? :D
http://weidu.org/Weimer-Valen-v45.exe

If you want those harder mods, I highly reccomend you to have Upgrade Items mod, this mod allows you to upgrade some old items by Cromwell and/or Jaspenar, very good one! Get it ASAP!
http://weidu.org/Weimer-ItemUpgrade-v32.exe

Get Ease of Use it makes playing the game much more easy and fun, do not install all components though, get item stacks, bottomless bags,(real heroes should not waste time by micromanaging inventories) unnerfed THAC0 tables, unnerfed spell charts, (makes it like true AD&D pen&paper) multiplayer characters fix(allows them to wait when kicked out, very handy!) etc.
http://weidu.org/Weimer-Ease-v32.exe

Get oversight to enhance weak (yes I think she is weak) Sendai so she can be compared with other four!
http://www.gibberlings3.net/oversight/

Banterpacks add lots of new funny dialogues between all NPCs, and adds a lot of new experience to the game!
http://mods.pocketplane.net/BanterPacksV6.zip

Quest pack adds new quests and enchantments soo! Try it!
http://mods.pocketplane.net/D0QuestPack_v221.zip

Flirt packs add lots of interaction with romancable NPCs (like kissing, hugging, bathing, shaving (incase of Anomen ofcourse)) it is depended on the level of your relationnship. It is soo fun!
http://mods.pocketplane.net/NPCFlirtV101.zip

Improved Asylum mod increases the difficulty of the fights in the Asylum, adds several new items, and changes the puzzles so that the Asylum should deliver a new experience.
As of the July 2004 release, the mod also adds new areas.
There will be improved opportunities for roleplaying your character in addition to the improved fights.
This mod also adds an adventuring party (non-hostile), complete with portraits and voice-acting! They are COOL beyond words and have the most powerful new and unique items you can ever dream. Try to kill them, they are soo powerful I did not dare to attack them twice after loading my game. Why, maybe you can beat them? (I pickpocketed one good ring though)
http://dragonshoard.blackwyrmlair.net/download/rpgdungeon/ImprovedAsylumV92.exe

If you have any difficulty, just ask for help, never use CTRL+Y it is evil!

I hope you will have fun with these like I did. I have all of these mods and they simply rock!

Have fun!

While I appreciate the various recommendations to PPG, Silverstar, in the future it would be more beneficial to everyone if you would point people to a mod's home page rather than a direct file link. Among other reasons, that way when the version changes and people reference this thread later in the future, they will still be taken to "the right place" to get the file, rather than just given a broken file report. The somewhat ugly portal URLs on PPG all have "shortcut" links clearly indicated at the top of the page.

^Sorry, I was just a little excited!
'I just wanted to help!' :cry:

Here, one can find most of them here:

http://weidu.org/
http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/
http://www.gibberlings3.net/

Blackwymlair (http://dragonshoard.blackwyrmlair.net/) will probably have most of the bigger mods.

The link to Improved Asylum is http://www.rpgdungeon.net/impasylum.html

If you want a nasty fight, try out this mod: http://www.rpgdungeon.net/superfirk.html . It makes the Tactics dragons look like panzies.

[Fixed the link. -Tal]

[ September 28, 2005, 17:08: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

PLease remove the last '.' dot in your second link :p

Big thanks goes to Silverstar. I will surely try those. And I also apreciate the full links, since I will begin downloading as I write these words. Now... A big question. I am now kinda afraid. Yes, I am sort of a experimented player (not as experimented as the veterans that I know from this boards, who have completed the whole saga 20+ times...), however this will be at least a great challenge. Should I solo the game? I did that once, while playing the game without mods. Before reaching Fierkraag (think I mispelled the name) my sorcerer learned Summon Planetar; should I play this game with a imported character (already finished the game with that one)? Should I play it with my multiplayer party (I spent half a day rolling for high stats for a sorcerer, berserker, monk, multi ranger/cleric, assassin and archer)? Or should I just take my ol' Sorcerer from the beginning (this is my class of choice, and this is what I'm best at)? Which classes are better for playing this mods and which are worse? Advice will be apreciated. Thanks!

^Well, it is good to know that my hard work is appraciated. :)

Anyway, I was not a veteran player, I was even more newbie than you when I installed the mods, (beat the ToB ONLY once, SoA a couple of times) but I had fun! I learned new tricks (some call this cheese, but if oppononce is too strong, you have to find a new way to deal with it) and won all my battles upto now. Some were really hard and made me mad, but I just kept playing, eventually wining! That is the key, never give up or CTRL+Y!

You should NOT re-start with an exported character. I did it and it sucks, as struggling in low levels is much more fun than high-end levels. It is boring, even when you play in insane. You can not watch the progression of your characters as well. If you want real challenge, get a brand-new character and play with it. I created a human cleric as protagonist, and created a MP kensai as loyal companion (even mentioned in Biography! Cool!) but that is all. Do NOT make a full MP party or it will be like IWD(don't get me wrong, IWD is not a bad game) BUT with that extra banter packs and romance options I gave links of, NPCs will be much more fun! Try it!

I started the game at Core Difficulty, with my Cleric and Kensai, got Immy, Jaheira, Minsc, Yoshimo for the first dungeon (trust me you will need lots of NPCs if you have Improved Ilych), then played most of the game with only Kensai, Jaheira, Minsc (to get some level ups) then when my PC reached level 14 I dualled him into a mage, then got Keldorn (very useful against annoying, smart tactics mages), and got Immy eventually. Once I surpassed level 14, my PC became a uber-character, and played in insane ever since, up to ToB, where I killed Improved Gromnir lastly.

I do not reccomend soloing, it will be just TOO hard, especially improved Ilych needs a good group!

But these mods really add tons of XP! You will reach high levels pretty quickly, then (only then) you may solo but still, NPCs are so fun, and I do not change my uber Kensai for any fighter NPC!

Do not flinch or be afraid! If you start playing and have difficulties, (it is completely normal) just tell me, or other guys here, we can help! If you are frustrated in the difficulty of a battle, it is possible that you are using wrong tactics. Just ask! OK?

It will be a most legendary journey if you have all these modes! Like mine is! :thumb:

Ok, I'll list here what I intend to do. First of all... To clear things out... I never used Ctrl+Y. Infact, I never inserted the "Debug Mode=1" line. I always thought it spoils the fun. I didn't do it not even for creating a character (which is kinda the only usefulness I've found to the cheats, because it saves quite a couple of hours). And I've never used cheesy tactics. And I don't intend to.
I intend to start with an elven male Sorcerer I exported before I started the game. It has minimum Charisma (9; with the Friends, I never needed more), 12 Strength (once, a long time ago, I managed to roll a 14 here), and everything else is maxed. My 'companion' shall be either an Assassin (this game lacks a good thief, IMO), either a multi Ranger/Cleric (for all the priest spells). For the Irenicus' Dungeon I intend to take Minsc (and Boo, let's not forget about Boo), Jaheira (I intend to keep her until later, so I could get a specific ring) and maybe Yoshimo, too. Later my awsome party shall be composed of my two pre-made characters, Korgan (the best fighter), Keldorn (for fighting support; if things are the way you put it, I will need it)and Solaufein (you made me curious). In ToB, my half-brother will join my party. Also, I've heard about a specific mod, Redemption, which brings a specific NPC in your party... Now that's 7... :( I don't know who shall I dismiss. Hmm... Can somebody tell me what class Solaufein is?

Sola is a fighter/mage multi-class, can be very powerful if you do him right. You can also romance him even you are male, as Sola is bi-sexual. :D Caution: Becareful though, if you take him you will fight the hardest battles in all BG2!!!(I did not try it so I can't help!)

Redemption is also a Weidu mod, so you can find it on its site. It allows you to get some old acquentance, the most popular, charismatic, powerful and respected character ever created
in BG series. (no spoilers, if you want to learn, get the mod and read its readme!) However, this can only happen in the big final battle of ToB, and your group must be 5 people, and there may be some more requirements too!

OK, your party looks capable enough, I SERIOSULY reccomend you to take Immy in the first dungeon, if you have Improved Ilych component she will be great help against him!

Sorcerer is a true power-class, and if you can avoid weaker spells you will rock!

Quickly, install these (they are very user-friendly) and start playing! If you need help, or get stuck ,n Irencius's Dungeon, do NOT uninstall the mod, just ask for help! I am more than willing to help you out!

Before I get to serious butt-kicking for goodness, one last question: I downloaded all the mods listed by Silverstar, plus Super Firkraag. Is there an incompatibilty between these mods? Is there an order to keep in installing them?

I just got an idea! Since this is my first time through a moded game, I will keep posting here while I progress through the game. I will try to keep it as much spoiler-free as I can, however if there it will be any, I will mark the specific paragraph, so one will know there will be spoilers ahead.

NPC mods -> Banter pack/flirt packs and you're gtg.
Iirc banterpacks has some banters for Valen, so she should be installed first.

Ascensions should be installed as one of the last mods. D0questpack has for some reasons messed up one of my games before.

OK I don't know much about installng order, but there is an order! Or you will have a mod-conflict, like strange dialogues and all.

I am waiting impatiently for your posts! I will help whenever I can! Just see Improved Ilych and call for help! :D

It allows you to get some old acquentance, the most popular, charismatic, powerful and respected character ever created
in BG series.I don't understand. Bruce the Cockney Barfighter doesn't appear at all in Redemption.


Ascensions should be installed as one of the last mods.But it should be placed _before_ the Flirt and Banter Pack, and any other mods which add epilogues to Bioware NPCs.

:hahaerr: You do have a sense of humor! BTW who is that Bruce the something? Somone from BG1?

@Hyperion, you would do well to listen these people's ideas about installing order, less you may have trouble like me! My towncriers are horribly bugged! I can not understand wht they say as they continously tell me the history of spiffy Quiver of Plenty! :shake:

Nah, don't ever listen to me. :p

OK, this is becoming a problem, about the order. So, if there is anyone good at this, I'm asking him for help. These are the mods I intend to install: Oversight (only for improved Sendai), Unfinished Business, D0Quest Pack, Ease of Use, Item Upgrade, Tactics, Ascension, Improved Asylum, Solaufein Mod, Super Firkraag and maybe Banter Pack (I'm not yet sure about this one yet). I don't intend to add other classes or kits to the game thorugh any these mods. Please, please, help! Thanks in advance.

This is from Kish on PPG forums:

If you have Throne of Bhaal:

1) Install Shadows of Amn.
2) Install Throne of Bhaal, if applicable. DO NOT install the Shadows of Amn patch.
3) Install the Throne of Bhaal patch.
4) Install the Baldurdash fixpack for Throne of Bhaal.
5) Install up to one non-WeiDU mod.
6) Install any desired WeiDU mods.
7) Play.

If you do not have Throne of Bhaal:
1) Install Shadows of Amn.
2) Install the Shadows of Amn patch. DO NOT install the Shadows of Amn patch if you have Throne of Bhaal.
3) Install the Baldurdash fixpack for Shadows of Amn.
4) Install up to one non-WeiDU mod.
5) Install any desired WeiDU mods.
6) Play.If the mods you have are WeiDu format, there shouldn't be a problem in how you install them. Though the Flirt Pack and Banter Pack should be installed *last* as Compton said. Most of the readmes say whether the mod is WeiDu and what other mods it is compatible with.

My $0.02 is this and I've never played any of these, so YMMV:

Tactics
Ascension
Oversight
Improved Asylum
Ease of Use
Item Upgrade
Solafein
Super Firkraag
Unfinished Business
D0Quest Pack
Banter Pack

I began playing. I'm doing it at Core Difficulty, with a Sorcerer as the main character, and a multi-classed half-elf, Ranger/Cleric. Imoen, Minsc and Jaheira are my first companions.
So, here's my progress 'til now. It isn't much, since most of my time I'm at work.
Mainly, I've encoutered the first group of Duergar. Not small was my surprise when, instead of the regular goblins, I've met the Duergar in my first fight, after the genie who summoned the Ogre Mage (forgot his name). And I thought I'm a good BG2 player... This fight made me reload the game at least 10 times! I'm not kidding. The AI is improved, I can't make an enemy stop chasing one of my NPCs just by blocking his path with another. Now one of the Duergar is continously following SkyHigh, my PC Sorcerer (so this makes him kinda useless), while the others hack at the rest of my party. And most of the time, 3-4 hits from them is more than enough to kill a party member. Now they are tough. And it seems normal to me this way.After all, they are dwarfs, just like Korgan or any other fighter dwarf PC. They hit alot more often, (probably they have more proficiency points in War Hammer, or the THAC0 is fixed, so it will match with the one of a fighter with the same level they are; or maybe both) and their HP is definetely improved. Before the mods 3 Melf's Minute Meteors would've been more then enough. Not now, anyway. Speaking of Melf's Minute Meteors, this is a spell I love. And I was surprised to see the Duergar Party Memeber (the mage) casting and using this. Beating this low level mages is now more of a challenge, and this is how it should be. Now they cast Web and confusing/stuning spells (this is annoying, you know) which are very hard to save against at this level. And their saves are rather good, since many times they managed to save against my Silence radius spell. However, I think there is a bug. Most of the time, they don't seem to be afected by Skull Trap. The few times that they were, they died from the first (at most, the third). Now they cast Protection from Normal Weapons and Protection from Normal Missiles, which makes this encounter a lot more difficult. I finally found an use for that priest spell which makes the caster wield a +1 club (forgot the name of that one).

It took me more than half of hour to get rid of that group. Anyway, the XP pays back the time spent. 2000 xp points/Duergar killed. If things continue this way, I thing I'm going to spend a looooong time playing. Hopefully, this weekend I'll have more time for that, and Monday I'll post about my encounter with improved Illych and whatever else I'll find new in this adventure.

^Yes, that duergars are very tough and require good strategies! Here are some:

*As you found out, fighters chase one target exclusively! It is generally the first character they see, so abuse this! Approach them via stoneskinned/mirrorimaged Imoen, be careful not to be seen to the mage, who is behind the fighters. Just attract the fighters, and let Imoen run around in circles. By the time, Minsc can shoot them with longbow, Jaheira can launch bullets from slings, and you can hit them via spells and melf's minute meteors, they will fall easily! Just be careful, they must not touch Immy! Or, have Immy cast Fireshield, and they will suffer as they try to tear her mirrorimage and stoneskin!

*If you encounter some wild dogs, charm them via Minsc's charm animal ability! This is the only stage it will come to use!

*Mages have a nasty contingency: Protection from Magical Energy, which makes them immune to Skulltrap! If you can launch two magic-misiles when you saw one, if you are fast enough, they may die before contingency kicks in!

*Have Imoen cast Minor Globe Invulnerability! It absorbs lots of spells, except confusion so watch out! Practically, Immy will be immune to web and minute meteors, flaming arrow, and hold person, but NOT confusion!

*Resting is very dangerous as you will meet more duergars! The best way is having Yoshimo, and setting traps here and there BEFORE each rest, this will take care of duergars!

*Or, when a mage spawns, QUICKLY, cast magicmissile on her, both you and Imoen, this can take care of the mage immediately, if you are fast enough to avoid contingency! Having auto-paused when enemy sighted helps!

*Attention! If you encounter Ilych, his gang is far TOO POWERFUL to beat in a one&one fight! Your only hope is to attract one person at a time, if they attack you in groups, reload, you have no chance! Scan the area with Farsight spells from Jaheira or your cleric. Only if all of the party attack one target at one time you have a slight chance of killing it! After killing one, run! RUN! All of the gang will rush to the place where their friends were killed, and if they can't see you there, they will return to their posts!

*Hisgang has lots of nasty abilities, you may even be shocked! Trust me, it is doable! Only, every party member needs different strateiges and weaponry. (some are immune to magic, some require a certain weapon, some are too tough etc.)Just be patient, and if you can not figure out, I will be here to help!

*Resting is very dangerous as you will meet more duergars! Happened to me, too. However, if you uninstall the mod that summons the best enemies when you rest (I forgot that mod's name, too), from the Tactics mod collection, I think this will be more likely not to happen. I'm not sure, but I will try.

^Why do you want to uninstall it? It is the part of the fun! I agree it is rather distasteful that you can't even rest peacefully and you know what? It will last till you escape the dungeon!!! :eek:

SO rest less, that is the solution! Have your characters drink coffee! :shake:
:coffee:

I checked. It isn't from that mod. Is just a feature of the Improved Illych. Anyway, I finished the dungeon. It was easier than it seemed at first glance. It was necessary though to go and take Yoshimo with me first and take the wands from the second flor. In fact, I've cleared all the 2nd flor and only then I went back and fought the great battle with Illych and his new friends. The only difficulty was to drive them out of the library one by one. First it was the monk. Died fast. While I was fighting with him, the cleric casted Summon Falen Deva somewhere out of my sight. So, I killed the monk and ran as fast as I could. The duration for the Deva was quite short. So I didn't have to wait long. The cleric was next. First of all I have to mention something. I wrote in a previous post of mine how much I love Melf's Minute Meteors. Now I love them more! This was the spell that got me through all this battles. It inflicted damage to anyone of those super-duper enemies. Now, about the cleric... I ran into one of the tunnels, south of the Otyugh chamber (that was also an interesting battle). The cleric followed me and started casting something... I don't know what spell did he tried to cast, 'cause he died quite quick. Yoshimo was shooting his arrows at him, Imoen casted Magic Missiles and SkyHigh, my sorcerer was attacking him with the meteors. In the six seconds time when Imoen couldn't cast another spell, SkyHigh threw his Magic Missiles also. Another spell from Imoen turned the cleric to dust.

Next it was the wizard slayer. He didn't last long, neither. Neither did the demon, since it was afected too by the fast attacks from my meteors and beside that, he was greatly outnumbered. It was a battle of 6 vs. 1. My team won.

The hardest battle it was with Illych himself. He casted a weird spell, something related to Asia or something, and slowed my whole party. After that he killed them all one after another. So a reload was needed. Priest, my multi-classed Ranger cleric drew upon himself Holy Might and aproached Illych all by himself. The rest of my party was at distance... so the weird Asia-related-spell afected only Priest. He tried a quick retreat, but Illych was kinda in a hurry, so he reached him quite fast. So, the battle begun. Minsc came to help, screaming something about 'the bigger they are... the harder I hit', and indeed it was so... He missed more than hit, since Illych was kinda small... Once again, I had to rely on my magic. Jaheira was of great help, having two memorized spells of Cure Critical Wounds. Priest was a little little behind, since his god didn't grant him that spell... yet. So Jaheira casted Insert Plague. Damn! No effect. Illych managed to save against that one. My fighters were quite in a bad shape, so I had to take advantage of a little bug (I hoped it didn't have to come to this, but I was disperate): the Doom spell. Jaheira and Priest casted simultaneosly Doom on Illych. Ha! No save against that one, Illych, my friend... It was only normal to be that way. Now he was not hiting that often. And Minsc had his chance to actually hit something (before that he was to busy drinking healing potions). SkyHigh kept throwing his Meteors... But the number of attacks was kinda low... So, rather than using the Oil of Speed on 3-4 party members, I nicely asked Imoen to cast a Haste spell. Now the odds were on my side. Sure, Illych didn't gave up one minute, being the fact that he had some potions on himself... I had to summon some animal friends and monsters, but it isn't worth mentioning, since they had quite a quick death.

What can I say... Illych fell. Eventually, he did. I didn't manage to recover any healing potions from his body, and I had to use 10 or so potions of mine in this great battle. So, I was kinda cripled myself. But the way to the surface was now clear. However, I took my chances and rested. I disposed quickly the two duergars who disturbed me after I awoke. It was piece of cake after the previous fight I had.

So... this is how it happened for me. Like I said before, and I'll repeat it everytime I have the chance, Melf's Minute Meteor was the big help in this part of the game.
More details about my adventures will come soon...

^Astounding! :banana: See, you are more experienced than me, and this just shows it! I was getting crazy at that fight, but yours was relatively easy I presume?

Oh that doom glitch is not a bug, have you seen my Doom thread? It is my favourite lvl 1 priest spell! :thumb:

A few notes on the battle:

*Cleric had a undroppable full plate mail +2 which makes his AC ridiculously good, so any kind of attacks, including Melf's meteors (even they have +5 bonus you use crappy mage THAC0) are next to useless at this point. But, cast a magic missile on him whenever he casts a nasty spell (Fallen Deva!) to disrupt him!

*Ilych has a Classic Blunder: Land War in Asia ability which fatigues and slows the victims. However, if you approached him via mirror imaged PC or Immy, mirror image CAN stop that spell, and he only casts it once.

*Golem could only be hit by Quarterstaff+1 found in the dungeon, but as you killed it I am sure you found it, or Shillelagh spell can help too?

*Neophyte Galebresu requires +2 enchanted to hit, but vulnerable to spells (low MR) plus Melf's Meteors can hit him too (they even hit Demi-liches!)

*Now you looted them right? they have nice +3 weapons welcomed at this part of the game, and lots of potions. (if they could not drink them)

Anyway, what quest are you going to do now? Nalia's keep is extremely hard, so wait till you level up a few bit. Try unchanged quests like Circus etc. for XP and then tackle BIG ones!

Do not forget to post your adventure, I am here to help but it seems you do not need any? Hope your luck continues. (Just wait to see Improved Liches, Mages, Kangaxx Guards, Firkraag, etc. and Bodhi (human shredder) and Irenicus (as powerful as he is in the cutscenes!!!)and cry down for help! Hehehe! :evil: )

PS:Hope you re-installed Tactics component 'Toughest Spawns?' It really adds combat and XP! And fun too! OK?

@Silverstar: I'll comment some things you said in your last post.
See, you are more experienced than me, and this just shows it! I was getting crazy at that fight, but yours was relatively easy I presume? Well, it wasn't as easy as I let the people think from reading my post. I tried to give the post a more epic touch... I kinda failed. :o In fact, it took me half a day at least to finish the dungeon. And it was needed many reloads, just for dragind them out, one by one. If you try to take them all in one shot, you don't stand a chance. At least, I didn't. OK, maybe you do, but with imported characters. So, I'm not that experimented. :p

Oh that doom glitch is not a bug, have you seen my Doom thread? Ok, here I'm a little bit :yot: . But, if you remember, I had a post there, too... So I know what you think about Doom. ;)

*Cleric had a undroppable full plate mail +2 which makes his AC ridiculously good, so any kind of attacks, including Melf's meteors (even they have +5 bonus you use crappy mage THAC0) are next to useless at this point. Somewhere earlier in this post I wrote the stats of my Sorcerer. It has 19 Dex. Trust me, it hits most of things. Melf's Minute Meteors are, first of all, missiles. So they are based on Dex as in the + to hit and the + to damage (at least I presume it is this way; since I hit many things with it, it must be this way). Surely, 3 out of 5 or so, he missed. But on regular enemies, trust me, is deadly. And has more attacks per round, too (not just the 1 attack, like most classes do in the beginning; from this point of view, he is better than a fighter. :D

*Ilych has a Classic Blunder: Land War in Asia ability which fatigues and slows the victims. However, if you approached him via mirror imaged PC or Immy, mirror image CAN stop that spell, and he only casts it once. I did know he casts it only once, but I didn't know about the Mirror Image trick... Like I always say... Everyday you learn something new...

*Golem could only be hit by Quarterstaff+1 found in the dungeon, but as you killed it I am sure you found it, or Shillelagh spell can help too? Shillelagh helps, because it acts like a +1 club in every aspect (it makes you proficient also, for the duration). And I had 2 priests to cast it (Priest and Jaheira). However, this was not the way for me to kill it. Seems I have to say this again. I'll do it with great pleasure. :D Melf's Minute Meteors rocks! Maybe it doesn't inflict the piercing damage (at least I think is piercing, never checked), but it does inflict the fire damage on everything it hits. And the Jail Golem hasn't great HP. Priest, Jaheira and Minsc kept it busy (Jaheira and Priest also could inflict some damage with Shillelagh, Minsc was there just for distraction), while SkyHigh was using this.

*Neophyte Galebresu requires +2 enchanted to hit, but vulnerable to spells (low MR) plus Melf's Meteors can hit him too (they even hit Demi-liches!) Indeed, Neophyte Galebresu also felt to the Meteors. They act like +2 enchanted weapons and, this time maybe, the fire damage doesn't help, however the piercing one is always welcome. :D
Now, I'm not that sure about the usefulness of Melf's Minute Meteors on Demi-Liches... I love the spell, however, I don't remember to be of any use against those. Demi-Liches need +4 weapons or better to do damage on them, so neither the fire or the physical damage don't help, since it doesn't connect (like I said, the missiles are considered +2 in every aspect). I'm quite sure that Melf's Minute Meteors it's kinda useless here... However, this is the reason why one can get Energy Blades as a High Level Ability. :roll:

*Now you looted them right? they have nice +3 weapons welcomed at this part of the game, and lots of potions. (if they could not drink them) Yes, I did get the weapons... However, I wasn't fast enough to get the potions. Not for Illych, at least.

Try unchanged quests like Circus From what I saw, The Circus quest, the Illithium quest and maybe there are more, are changed. I'm talking about the Unfinished Business mod.

I'll continue to post as soon as I progress through the game and as soon as I have the time to do so.

Umm I hit Kangaxx with Melf's Minute meteors once and it did damage to him! This means meteors are pretty high enchanted, to the point of +6 perhaps? (AFAIK nearly every weapon or touch created by spells are +6 enchanted? Somebody confers this?) Of course, I could do only 1 damage to Kangaxx and he regenerated quickly, also I missed often (with 8 dexterity yay! :p ) I am not sure if high dex adds bonus to attack though. The meteors themselves give +5 bonus, so check your THAC0! See the difference between your base THAC0 and current one with meteors! But we are getting off-topic!

Anyway, UB adds lots of enhanctments on quests bıt does not make them very hard like Ilych. Still, if you have hardest spawns, slightky smarter mages&liches, you will have great fun! Have you ever faced a true mage? Even minor magelings are something to be feared now, and liches (if you play on insane they will have so many extra abilities and defenses) are just way too SMART! Try and see, if you can manage to live and tell the story though!

BEWARE! Every lich is accompanied by one Improved Pit Fiend! This PF is equally as powerful as its pen&paper counterpart. He has 6 attacks per round, and all attacks are poisonous, victim must save vs poison (death) or die, (take 999 damage, it means instant death!) they have these spells: Symbols, Dispel Magic, a 20d6 fireball, occasional demon fear, improved invisibility! I am writing these for you to make it clear what will kill you when you face them. I remember some players calling them buggy as they managed to kill (N)PCs alike quickly! NO, they are not buggy, it is just pure pen&paper AD&D! :D

I will leave it to you to find a way to deal with these. Beware, their scripts are near perfect and they use their powers soo smartly! Good Luck!

Melf's Minute Meteors are +5 iirc.

Glad you got the mods working!

^Was there a good chance they might not work?

Come on, these are WEIDU mods mostly they do not produce much problems IIRC?

Oh and for Melf's meteors, as I said, they hit Kangaxx, so they are at least +4, I thought +6, you say +5, oh well, a little mystery is good here and there... :)

I did a little checking with Melf's Minute Meteors. The spell description says they're +5, HOWEVER: they work against a character protected by Absolute Immunity. Assuming the description to Absolute Immunity is correct, the meteors must be +6. And yes, they work against demi-liches.

^Thanks for clarfying that, it is as I suspected.

Damn, am I good or what? :shake:

Though I think we are getting a little off-topic, so...

end of melf's minute meteors enchantment discussion, ok?

Anyway I still feel like Hyperion is a better player than me, but I am just curious how he will fare against improved beholders, mindflayers, elder brain, oh you know the fun?

Keep posting Hyperion! :wave:

Sometimes, mods don't work together as well as expected even though the readmes say they do. Especially if you're installing a lot (I'd say 10 is too many imo) and can't figure out which way to install. Weird bugs are known to happen - usually people saying the wrong things.

:yot: Absolute Immunity confers invulnerability to all weapons except for those of +5 enchantment or better. Melf's Meteors are +5.

People saying the wrong things is 99.999% of the time a user install error (specifically installing a non-WeiDU mod or patch after WeiDU mods or installing mods or patches with the game or a game editor running).

You may correct me, but if I recall "Banter Pack" is non-WeiDu, and it should be installed on top of everything else even WeiDu?

Banter Packs is WeiDU, I'm possitive... And it should be installed after all mods it effects (i.e. NPC's and such)...

okeee dokeee

Everything from PPG (and G3, and Black Wyrm) is WeiDU. And it doesn't matter when you install the Banterpack really, since it is content for the BioWare NPCs.

Everything from PPG (and G3, and Black Wyrm) is WeiDU. And it doesn't matter when you install the Banterpack really, since it is content for the BioWare NPCs.Okay, I somehow got into my head it contained some Kelsey banter :rolleyes:

Off topic again, but kuemper: Absolute Immunity's description says you need greater than +5 to get through. I remember that Crom Faeyr can't get through it, and it's +5.

OK, back to the game. I finished the Shadow Thieves' quest. And I am very disapointed of the mods instaled. They should've increased the dificulty of some battles. In my case, it lowered it.

Have you ever faced a true mage? @Silverstar: Yes, I did. A cowled one. The one from the Mae'Var quest. This should've been a tough fight, right? Wrong! It's been the easiest fight 'til now. The duergar from Irenicus' dungeon were harder, the random enconters were harder, the goblins are harder... He didn't bothered to cast a spell! Oh, he did. When he was near death he casted Symbol: Fear. 5 out of my 6 party members saved. He was just taking a walk through the room, sometimes he would've just stay in one place... He was receaving axe blows, sword blows and all that, and he nearly didn't move a finger. This was more of a fight before the mods.

Now... I took in my party Korgan, as a substitute for Minsc. After I finished the slavers' quest from Copper Coronet, I took Jan Jansen, as a substitute for Yoshimo and also Keldorn. I had to be careful in the sewers, however, because I encounterd a Beholder there, so I had to take a different route. I was to weak to face him.

So, when facing Mae'Var himself, my party was composed of me (SkyHigh, elven sorcerer), Priest (half-elven multi-clased Ranger/Cleric), Korgan, Keldorn, Jaheira and Jan Jansen.

The fight with Mae'Var turned to be very disapointing also. It's nothing to tell stories about it. Keep in mind that I had instaled the Improved Mae'Var mod (from Tactics). With this mod, Mae'Var surounded himself with several backstabing Assassins. What can I say... It was a joke. No reloads needed here. It happend something like this: Keldorn casted True Sight. And the fight here is kinda over. My party dealed with most of the assassins. When the True Sight spell expired, Keldorn casted another one. It was a matter of a round or two to finish the rest of the assassins. And Mae'Var was outnumbered, so he died. Quickly.

Now, I don't want to hear anyone saying this was cheesy, OK?
And this is it. This is not an improved fight at all. Hopefully, the unpleasant surprises stop here.

I'll continue to post as I progress through the game and as I find the time to do so.

Hehe great thread here! I truly wonder if you faced the same Mea'var as I did, the bugger drove my 5-men lvl 10 party really really mad!

^Hey this is not right! Every mage from tactics have huge protection from (fire, cold, etc.) spells, armors, stoneskins, spel protections, AND minute meteors right when they start the battle (think they just pre-buffed), they have some triggers as well, Fireshield Red+Blue, Improved Invisibility on self, Remove Magic, Chaos, Chain Lightning on enemies. They also use cast+attack technique, they cast a spell and attack with melf's meteors at same round. They should prove to be tough, if you play in insane you will even have more random protections, aka Spell Immunities:Abjuration and Divination makes a caster immortal on top of other spells.

So didn't your rival mage do any of these? Or are you just too good? :confused:

You think Maevar was easy? Did you play on Easy Difficulty?

I had him in Insane Difficulty, he had lots of protection spells, plus spell Immunity:Divination which for some reason made him completely invisible, cleric summoned and buffed like crazy, and asasins did 100+ damage on a good back-stab=chunky, unresurractable death! LOAD!

Didn't Maevar cast a single spell? Weren't the assasins tough? I don't understand, maybe you should re-install tactics, or...

are you really that good? :eek:

I am envious! I spent 40+ minutes to beat Maevar, he always goes for unprotected targets, not stoneskinned ones, but to my poor, completely nude kensai and smashing him into very tiny pieces with his blow that even temples can not find a way to re-construct him. You can not even go back to other room for retreeat as long as the battle rages. So what I did? Left him in the upstairs,(kicked out of the party, thanks to EoU, he waited there and did not go forever) this was the only way to save him!!!

@Silverstar: Hey this is not right! Every mage from tactics have huge protection from (fire, cold, etc.) spells, armors, stoneskins, spel protections, AND minute meteors right when they start the battle (think they just pre-buffed) It did had all of those. Forgot to say I casted a Breach spell with SkyHigh before my warriors started to hack & slash him. :)

You think Maevar was easy? Did you play on Easy Difficulty? No, I play on Core. It's the pure AD&D. No more, no less.

Or are you just too good? :confused: [...] are you really that good? :eek: :yot: Stop saying such things... I'm not as good as you think I am. As I said before, there are lots of better people than me on this forums, who finished the entire BG saga more than 20 times, everytime doing something new. Now, they are really that good. I'm more of a casual player.

Maybe you had such hard times because you played on Insane. I'm not that good...

More on this maybe tomorrow.

Ok sorry if I irritated you, but judging from your posts I thought you really had a easy time beating Maevar whilst I was smitten countless times.

BUT, have you ever challenged a lich? Go to City Gates and try your luck! :evil:

If you have Improved Firkraag he will prove to be a most worhty foe too of that I am sure.

Have you noticed that even the weakest undead cast annoying spells like blindness, horror, larloch's minor drain etc. They hurt at these levels. Isn't that really cool?

Susipaistli: You are wrong. Absolute Immunity gives protection up to (and including) +4. Crom Faeyr +5 does damage characters protected by AbsImm, but you may have been using Crom Faeyr +3 when your attacks were ineffective. Or the enemy was protected against Magical Weapons.
We can never know though, too many mods are out there and they can mess up our games.

No, I have heard from other guys here that only a few +6 weapons can bypass Absolute Imunity, as Melissan casts it always in Ascension battle or so I heard. Can someone really clarify this but we are getting offtopic again. Anyway, it is useful to spam this thread!

Oh, bloody hell. I've already been through this Absolute Immunity thing with other people. The misunderstanding is probably caused by the manual, which wrongly states +5 is sufficient. It's not, and the spell description in the game says you need greater than +5. When battling Irenicus, the regular, unmodded Irenicus in pure SOA, I couldn't so much as scratch him with Crom Faeyr or the Staff of the Magi, when he was protected by AbsImm. That's what he casts right at the beginning of the battle, it's not PFMW. I also tested it with my own characters in TOB.

And by the way, there is no Crom Faeyr +3. I know the difference between CF and the regular Hammer of Thunderbolts.

Ok, people, move along, nothing to see here. Back on topic.

There is. Readers of this thread, especially any potential starter players, deserve precise information. (I think this help players to choose mods as well, as there are many mods out there or will be released which change spells, e.g. AbsImm as well -- Lost Crossroads :) )

It may be a misunderstanding, due to different game versions and many mods that are available.

No, I have heard from other guys here that only a few +6 weapons can bypass Absolute Imunity, as Melissan casts it always in Ascension battle or so I heard. Can someone really clarify this but we are getting offtopic again. Anyway, it is useful to spam this thread! Ascension is not standard BG2 ToB. I don't have Ascension, and Crom Faeyr seemed to hit Melissan in the final battle. I can imagine that in certain version of ToB +5 does get through AbsImm. Let's see two spell descriptions anyway:

Seems to be the (correct) ToB description:
Absolute Immunity (Abjuration)
Level: 9
Range: 0
Duration: 4 rounds
Casting Time: 1
Area of Effect: Caster
Saving Throw: None

When the spell is cast, it confers complete invulnerability to all weapons except for those of greater than +5 enchantment. This spell is incredibly powerful, hence the short duration. However the casting time is also very short making this spell incredibly useful in the thick of combat where buying a few seconds can mean the difference between life or death. It is important to note that this spell does not work in combination with protection from magic weapons. This spell lasts for the duration or until dispelled.From official BG2 manual, as Susipaisti mentioned:
[quote]Absolute Immunity (Abjuration)
Level: 9
Range: 0
Duration: 4 rounds
Casting Time: 1
Area of Effect: Caster
Saving Throw: None

When the spell is cast, it confers complete invulnerability to all weapons except for those of +5 or better enchantment. This spell is incredibly powerful hence the duration is so short. However the casting time is also very short making this spell incredibly useful in the thick of combat where buying a few seconds can mean the difference between life or death. It is important to note that this spell does not work in combination with protection from magic weapons. This spell lasts for the duration or until dispelled.Some additional BioWare info (http://forums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html?topic=387183&forum=18&sp=0)

I would say you are right, but I can't say so because as I have said in my unmodded original ToB, AbsImm didn't protect against Crom Faeyr.

What I can imagine is that it is due to the more game versions. Just like the SpidersBane matter in case of BG1 and OS.

By CF +3, I meant the Hammer of Thunderbolts.


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Umm I hit Kangaxx with Melf's Minute meteors once and it did damage to him! This means meteors are pretty high enchanted, to the point of +6 perhaps? Melf's Minute Meteors are +5 iirc.
I checked them in my ToB and despite the description they're +6. But I can imagine that they were +5 in SoA. And there may be game version assymetry risk as well (like the Spiders Bane case of BG). I would have to look into it more seriously.

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As for the recommended mods available at the moment, SilverStar, in his first post, summarized the current possibilities well. However, new ones may be released occasionally, make sure to check SP forums and modding websites, as well as Dragon's Hoard: http://www.sorcerers.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/10/4044.html

Have fun!