I've made this mod at the request of one man from czech forum, who complained, that normal Ilyich is too ease and Improved Ilyich from Tactics is nightmare.
It changes duergar Ilyich and his party to be more difficult, but not impossible, to defeat. Rest of the dungeon is unchanged.
Download link and basic information can be found here: http://addoncz.jinak.cz/viewtopic.php?p=5389#5389

[ December 10, 2005, 23:46: Message edited by: Razfallow ]

Sounds good; when do you move on to the rest of the encounters? No extra drops, please, unless it is a relocate. :D

If you mean rest of encounters from Tactics, then maybe sometime.
Now, I would like to make little quest of some sort for BGII.

Well I loved Tactics Ilych battle, it was fun and required a lot of strategy and micro-management. I really do not think I need this mmod but I think newbies will really appreciate it.

If you mean rest of encounters from Tactics, then maybe sometime.Absolutely not; Tactics a poorly designed, poorly made mod that shouldn't be even mentioned here. It's all about giving the AI ability to cheat and whatever balance the original authors had created.

What I meant is this: hopefully you intend to make the original battles slightly more challenging in the future. If you know how to code, I can create the design, if you ever want to. ;)

What I meant is this: hopefully you intend to make the original battles slightly more challenging in the future.I've planned encounter for one item from small item pack, that I started to create with friend almost year ago. Unfortunately we hadn't much time, so we decided to put it off. Its semifinished version is still on my hardisk.
I hope that I will finish it someday.

If you know how to code, I can create the design, if you ever want to. Sure, I have some skills in coding.

I played it and it's great, I imported my 18th level monk and all on his own without any items and potions he tried to beat the little guys. He got hacked apart of course.
So I ran away after talking to the guys, hid in the shadows directly around the corner and saw Ilyich and the invisible thief (drinking potions so i saw him) run past. a few seconds after them came the mage, stoneskinned of course. I followed him and with some luck i killed him (he used mirror image so it took some time)
Just when the mage died the fighter/cleric popped in, he tried to buff but I disrupted him and was able to put him down quite fast.
I hid again in the shadow and used draw upon holy might (innate abilty) a very tough battle with Ilyich followed, and halfway through the thief appeared behind me, luckilly his backstab missed, I finished off Ilyich and the thief was no match against my stunning blow.

So with some luck it was do-able on normal for my 18th level monk (ac-2) After that I tried it on core with just the monk, but the berserkers and Ilyich stay close together and do 20 damage each hit, so four or five hits and it's game over, so i gave this up for now.

suffice to say I like this mod a lot better then the tactics one, think this one will stay on my harddisk for a long time! Good work Razfallow!

anyone else tried it already, wit an all fresh party?

It would be great if you could spice up some other encounters too, the shadow thieves in the dungeon are such a laugh, and for example the slavers could use some patching up too.

suffice to say I like this mod a lot better then the tactics one, think this one will stay on my harddisk for a long time! Good work Razfallow!I'm glad that you like it.

the berserkers and Ilyich stay close together and do 20 damage each hit, so four or five hits and it's game over, so i gave this up for now. All fighters have Potion of Hill Giant Strength, maybe I will remove it or replace it with Potion of Strength.

It would be great if you could spice up some other encounters too, the shadow thieves in the dungeon are such a laugh, and for example the slavers could use some patching up too. I could. I will take look at shadow thieves in Irenicus dungeon next week.

I could. I will take look at shadow thieves in Irenicus dungeon next week.That's great news! If they actually fought as thieves would, I'd be delighted. Seeing them use (poisoned)throwing daggers instead of composite longbows would be a nice start I'd say.
And if they are using ranged weapons, why don't they position one on the ''balcony'', to be safe from melee attacks...
Also, the thief/mage is pathetic, he casts protection from normal misslies, casts two larlochs'minor drains and goes melee.
And the other guys are hidden quite nicely, but then they strike out with their bows instead of trying to backstab.

I'm sure a strike force of one of the most powerful criminal organisations in the realms should be somewhat stronger, they couldn't even hit my monk with his ac of -3 (only criticals got through, for a pathetic 8 damage)

Also, I'd like other board members to check out this small mod, because I really liked it and would like to see more spiced up encounters.

First of all, thank you for making this mod! :) I’ve often felt the same way as your friend on the Czech forum, which is why I’ve chased every hint of a dungeon-improving mod that doesn’t go as far as Tactics (I’ve heard that someone at the Pocket Plane group is working on one also, but it’s nowhere near release).

I must say, when I saw the words “level 18 monk” in this thread I groaned inwardly. If it’s balanced for a level 18 monk, thought I, a talentless hack like me is never gonna have a chance. Nonetheless, I downloaded it, installed it, and I played it. I wrote this report at the exact same time, so hopefully it didn’t get completely jumbled. :) Also, that might be the reason for any glaring tactical mistakes on my part.

***SPOILERS BELOW -- READ AT YOUR OWN RISK***
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I approached it with a brand new character in the form of Roy Greenhilt, level 7 fighter, alignment lawful good, who had stats of 18(31)/16/18/15/11/9 and grand mastery in two-handed swords. (Yes, I have read every episode of Order of the Stick, in case you were wondering :) .) I was playing on Easy, as I tend to because I suck.

After taking out the goblins and mephit in the library, catching their breath, and binding their wounds, Roy and his companions Minsc, Jaheira, and Imoen walked down the hall into Ilyich’s room. Hmm, this is different already – Ilyich didn’t initiate conversation until I walked up and stood about six feet away from him. Maybe this is a feature so that you’ll start within range of his minions? Though, I think you could abuse it if you were metagaming – he’s well within range of a Fireball, Holy Smite, or Stinking Cloud before he’ll initiate dialogue. Anyway, the fight began after this.

To start off, Imoen cast Haste and Jaheira attempted to aim a Summon Insects spell at the mage. Roy rushed Ilyich and Minsc tried to cut off the third man from joining the fight. I did not see the Duergar thief coming, though! He got in a backstab on Imoen! At the same time, Ilyich rushed right past Roy towards Imoen (who scarpered!), and Roy got in a good hit with his greatsword.

Having completed her Summon Insects spell, Jaheira grabbed her quarterstaff and joined Roy in attacking Ilyich. He in turn spun to face the two fighters and used a healing potion. The mage seems to be throwing Melf’s Minute Meteors at Minsc. And then he made his Save vs. Breath Weapon! :mad: At this moment it was mostly a toe-to-toe affair. Imoen cast a couple of Magic Missiles at the mage, though it didn’t seem to do too much – I think he had Stoneskin or some such. Thanks to their Haste, Jaheira and Roy got in some good hits on Ilyich, taking him down to Badly Injured in spite of a couple of potions. Speaking of which, the Third Man is tough – he was still Barely Injured! One thing at a time, though.

Imoen aimed another Magic Missile at the mage, who had cast Mirror Image. Dang! In spite of this, he had still managed to resolve a Greater Malison. That’s gonna smart. Imoen cast Monster Summoning I to try and keep him busy. Jaheira had taken some damage from Ilyich and the thief, but she had a healing potion on hand. Roy and Jaheira smelled blood (literally, Ilyich was down to Near Death) and pressed their attack, taking him down! :cool: Jaheira then vaulted the long table and went for the mage, and Roy turned for the thief, but he was nowhere to be found!

Meanwhile, Minsc had inflicted major damage to the Third Man, who was on his last legs. He tried to cast a spell, while Imoen fired an arrow in his direction. In spite of this, he managed to cast Defensive Harmony – but it was the last thing he ever did, as a mace blow from Minsc dropped him. The thief, who had ignored Roy (wearing splint mail) in favor of Jaheira (studded leather) now found himself the attention of a massive rush as Roy, Minsc, and Imoen’s summoned kobold rangers closed in on him. Jaheira, though, fell back and played her wild card – Call Woodland Beings.

Wait a minute! What spell was that? Suddenly half the people near the mage were blinded! It must be an innate ability, I can’t see any spell announced in the feedback box. Roy made his save, fortunately, and continued pounding at the mage with his sword. He got up another Stoneskin, though, as well as Shadow Door. This could get ugly . . .

Jaheira and the summoned nymph were trying to turn the tide with their magic, the druid by invoking Mielikki’s blessing and the nymph with an enchantment to hold their enemies in place. Imoen couldn’t do much to the mage until she could see him – she hurriedly grabbed a scroll she had found in the library and began reading it. It was True Sight, and suddenly everything came into focus for Imoen. She prepared to cast another spell, as Jaheira tried to Curse the duergar.

Meanwhile, the mage managed to fire off a Slow spell! Gah! Roy tried to use his Oil of Speed to counteract it. And it worked! Finally the mage fell! Only the thief was left, who in his blind rage had set his sights on Imoen. As she fled, the other party members turned their attentions to him. The kobold rangers fired a couple of darts at him, but they were hampered by the Slow spell. He landed a couple of hits on Imoen, and then went invisible just as Jaheira caught up to him brandishing her staff. After a frustrating couple of moments of helplessly listening to his empty healing potion bottles clatter to the floor, he got within range of Imoen’s True Sight and was revealed again! He killed the nymph, and then Jaheira had to fall back as she hadn’t had a chance to heal herself from before. Imoen hit him with an Acid Arrow, but he kept coming. Roy started using his innate power of Draw Upon Holy Might, while Minsc just tried to get to the fight – he was still fighting the effects of the Slow spell.

Jaheira was still trying to staunch the bleeding when Roy engaged the duergar thief again. Under a continuing rain of blows from Roy’s greatsword (now operating at 20 Strength!) and a couple of arrows from Imoen’s short bow, he finally fell. Whew! The party stood amid the wreckage of the fight and took stock of their situation. They were all battered and bruised and bloodied – Roy’s hit point total was down to 74 out of 115, Minsc’s was 43 out of 69, Imoen’s was 15 out of 57, and Jaheira’s was 23 out of 51!

Now that was a fight! I felt like these guys were fighters worthy of the setting (and of the dwarven race!) and not of a sick joke, like Zhivago and his Fallen Deva. I really didn’t take on the mage as efficiently as I probably could have – I should have hit him with a Magic Missile first up rather than a Summon Insects. My idea was to disrupt his future spells, but I hadn’t counted on him making his Save vs. Breath Weapon. Speaking of his future spells, I was really caught off guard by the Greater Malison and the Blindness, mainly because I forgot to have Jaheira ask Mielikki for a Cure Blindness or Deafness spell. Though, I did have a Dispel Magic scroll which I didn’t manage to use. I noticed that the thief only got off one backstab right at the beginning, though he went invisible at least once more. Near the end he just seemed to be trying to heal himself. It’s a good idea and it probably would have screwed me over if I hadn’t had the True Sight scroll. (As an aside, I had the most amazing luck with picking up scrolls this time. I also looted a scroll of Pierce Shield (!) from one of the goblins.) I think Roy and friends won because they managed to stay on top of the characters most of the time, and because Roy and Jaheira took out Ilyich quite early. With his berserk ability and his axe he probably could have done a lot of damage it they'd allowed him to.

Well, if anyone is still reading at the end of this extremely long and rambling post, I enjoyed my first run at Slightly Improved Ilyich very much. I feel the fight is tough, but fair, even for a n00b with no tactical skills like me. I give it three thumbs up!

Edit: If you're going to make more mods, like a quest or enhanced encounters in this style, I'd definitely like to play them.

I must say, when I saw the words “level 18 monk” in this thread I groaned inwardly. If it’s balanced for a level 18 monk, thought I, a talentless hack like me is never gonna have a chance.That is a solo monk without any items, with a hit point total of 84, so not really a godlike PC I thought. But good to see you liked it too!

(OOTS rules!)

First of all, thank you for making this mod!You are welcome. :) I'm glad you've enjoyed it.

Wait a minute! What spell was that? Suddenly half the people near the mage were blinded! It must be an innate ability, I can’t see any spell announced in the feedback box.It was Glitterdust, my favourite spell from second level. ;)

Well, tried the mod again with a level 7 priest of Helm, and minsc imoen (swashbuckler) and jaheira. really great fight on normal difficulty, had to reload a few time but it was fun!

Umm so you actually fought ALL the gang of the Ilych at once? And still you beat them (though just barely) I play Tactics Ilych and try to lure each member one by one, and even then they are so deadly it is fun:D

Zhivago and his Fallen Deva, as soon as he is seen casting a conjuration magic he gets magic missiled so no problem! Shooting an arrow may work but he has an undroppable full plate mail+2 so his AC is BIG problem! :D

However I am very impressed about this one, as people say it must be a both balanced and fun mod! Tatcics was unbalanced ofcourse but fun regardless!

BTW there is already a mod which upgrades Shadow Thieves significantly, giving them higher levels, better equipment and 'sneaky' AI. It can be found here:
http://www.gamesector.co.yu/avenger/

Thanks for the links silverstar, and imho the tactics ilyich is as much fun as fighting Firkraag without armor and with only an unenchanted club or something... pointlessly difficult, nothing to do with realism at all etc, the wat to win is exploiting design flaws...

In case you wondered, yes I beat the ugly tactics Ilyich crew with a fresh party, but the cheesy aprroach is just really not my style

That link I gave, I am not sure if it upgrades Irenicus dungeon Thieves or not, my last battle in the dungeon was upgraded, they used many spells, carried +2 daggers (which I sold right after for quick GP in the very beginning) and tons of invisibility potions (which my MP Half-orc F/T really appreciated) and they were sneaky. Sure they backstabbed my PC but I had stoneskins, and they were visible BUT after I injure them they turn invisible, drink healing potions while invisible and re-attack...smart! I don't remember which mod upgraded them though, I have so many it is so hard to remember. :roll:

BTW I am happy that another one beat Tactics Ilych, mine was not cheesy at all, luring them one by one, stacking 5+ dooms with GM and then using a disabling spell, laying tons of traps with Yoshi and fellow MP F/T, Immy running in circles while Ilych tries to hit him and all others happily shooting at Ilych safely, or fraying big bad Ilych with re-bounding Lightning Bolts in a very tight corridor, thanks to Immy, or casting a magic misle each time Zhivago tries to cast something... :D I do not think these were cheesy at all, but hey that is just me!

BTW there is already a mod which upgrades Shadow Thieves significantly, giving them higher levels, better equipment and 'sneaky' AI. You mean cheating AI. They haven't any healing or invisibility potion. But when their HP drops below 76 percent of maximum, script creates healing potion and they use it, same with invisibility potion.
They don't even try to sneak behind you, they just move close to you and attack.

EDIT: I think that Rogue Rebalancing mod doesn't change thieves in dungeon. But Improved Battles mod does. Script that I speak of is from Improved Battles.

[ December 12, 2005, 18:55: Message edited by: Razfallow ]

NO I am sure they had inv. potions I looted from their dead bodies.

And what's wrong with cheating AI if it does not make it for the player to know that AI is cheating? If the player does not know, what is the difference?

If you like it, then forget what I wrote about that script ;)
Personally I don't like it. I fought with lich in Docks from Tactics yesterday. I casted Creeping Doom on her successfully, but she was still able to cast Time Stop and other spells, because her script use ForceSpell action command.
Mages often use SI in contingency. How can they do that?
Enemy follows you, when you are invisible, but doesn't attack, because can't see through invisibility.

[ December 12, 2005, 20:08: Message edited by: Razfallow ]

1)Well she is a lich and a very special and nasty one, and I think she casts her TSs from scrolls, so Creeping Doom etc. may not disturb her. I just love when she goes berserk with BBoD+Imp. Haste+Tenser's trans. I wailed 'MOMMY!' and ran in circles! Very nice scripting there! She was Near Death, and now she has a lot of HP and just deadly, fast and furious!

2)Well not all secrets of arcane are revealed to PC, for example, liches have something nasty called Tatoo of Power, which is like a big bad Contingency, and PC can NEVER have one. So some powerful mages can have dirty little secrets, perhaps they researched the spell themselves and put it into good use, thus learning how to put correct SIs on Contingencies. PC, on the other hand, is constantly busy travelling and adventuring and thus never has a chance to research new and uniques spells or improve old ones.

BTW I was mad when Improved Firkraag and that Ritual Dragon Irakoud'neg released an instant Time Stop with a Contingency! But they are dragons, truly ancient and magical things, they can not care about the limits designed for mere puny humans. :p

3)Even you are invisible you still make sounds, if you do not have Move Silently skill of course, so we can assume that smartest enemies know where you are but can not attack you directly when you are invisible. :p

By Second edition Attacking somebody invisible was only a -4 penalty so by Second edition rules if they can hear you they can attack you. But unless your a brain dead moron wandering around in a boneyard you usually don't make enough sound when invisible unless your stomping on the sticks and kicking the rocks and everything else. It's a reasonably protective spell without getting followed around but not infallable even to attack.

OK my explanation may be dumb but come on, it is very likely that a character will make sound while walking with a heavy and dangling armor, or hushing robes, loads of big fat full potion bottles and all other stuff he/she carries.

:p OK I confess, I love all those extremely cheesy, unbalanced modes with a most wickedly cheating AI! What will be my punishment? :cry:

We shall make you play a party of low strength Dwarves! ~nod nod nod~

Razfallow, I'm quite taken with this mod. So I wonder, would you mind if I put a link to this thread in my signature for my forum accounts at the Gibberlings Three and Pocket Plane? :)

Western Paladin: I don't mind at all.

Questions for next version:

Should I replace groups of goblins with different creatures(Hobgoblins, Ogrilion, Orcs, Orogs)?
Also I find out, that one encounter in Irenicus dungeon was cutted from game. Shoud l restore it?

What encounter was that? I am curious. Or should it be suprise? :shake:

You really need to chaneg those goblins with something else. Tough and deadly duergar polleteriats and annoyingly smart and wily mages were decent. :thumb:

BUT you should add a few orcs and a orcish shaman to cast a Hold Person or two at least? Is it too much?

Yes, please replace the goblins with some stronger humanoids, and I wonder what encounter you are talking about?

Just so you know, I had great troubles with those nasty goblins when I was just a newbie player. They kept shooting me always. :p I thought they were really good archers, but SK says they have a THAC0 of 19 or 20? How can they manage to make such hits then?

In new encounter you will meet two Shadow Thieves as they examine one of Irenicus golems.

wow that certainly sounds good! (So kicked him in the head, till he was dead! hahaha)

Any news already, Razfallow?

*bump*

I sent new version for uploading on web (BG2 addon-CZ and Dragon's Hoard) one hour ago.
When it will be avaible to download, I will announce it.

Any particular reason why you're sending this everywhere else but SP?

I'm sorry about that, force of habit. I will set it right as soon as possible :)

New version can be downloaded here (http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/dl.php?s=BG2&f=BG2/SlightlyImprovedIlyich.rar).

Changes:
- few changes in Ilyich's party; I lowered their levels and some of their atributes, and remade their AI
- added:
- groups of goblins have been replaced with stronger enemies (duergars, orcs a hobgoblins)
- Ogre mage is now capable to cast few spells
- one mephit has been replaced with Baby wyvern
- you can walk into fights between duergars and Shadow thieves
- Shadow thieves facing Ulvaryl and Shadow thieves waiting at passage to exit have been improved
- small encounter with Shadow thieves and golem at second floor

[ December 22, 2005, 01:34: Message edited by: Razfallow ]

Just tried the new version out and it seems very nice. I like the other goblinoid minions on the first floor. The hobgoblins actually killed Minsc when I met them, because he was way weakened from the other fights. Unfortunately, there were a couple of bugs.

- Some of the Shadow Thieves in the second part of the dungeon don't have names. They fight and do everything okay, but their names don't appear correctly.
- When I was installing the mod it reported a parse error near the beginning, I think where it was compiling scripts. The mod still installed fine, though, and the enemies didn't seem any less hard.
- After I whacked Ilyich and went back into the library, Imoen started the dialogue she's supposed to say in the room with lots of glass jars (where the wyvern is).

Generally I like the way the mod plays. The wyvern in the glass jar room wasn't very hard to defeat, but then again we should keep in mind that I tested it with the same character as before who had grandmastery in two-handed swords. I found the duergar groups, especially Ilyich, generally harder than the goblinoids. Ilyich's mage seems harder in this version - he cast some spells I don't recall from before, including Mental Domination. I know I should really be disrupting his spells, but my guy was a fighter and I didn't have enough Magic Missiles.

Interesting, should I really uninstall Tactics Ilych and get this? But I will not start a new game soon.

Congratulations on the hard work regardless!

- Some of the Shadow Thieves in the second part of the dungeon don't have names. They fight and do everything okay, but their names don't appear correctly. That is strange, I will take look at it, but after I return from home, which would be on New Year's Eve. I will be without computer during yule.
- When I was installing the mod it reported a parse error near the beginning, I think where it was compiling scripts. The mod still installed fine, though, and the enemies didn't seem any less hard. Could you send me file Setup-SlightlyImprovedIlyich.DEBUG on email(razfallow@sigil.cz), please?

- After I whacked Ilyich and went back into the library, Imoen started the dialogue she's supposed to say in the room with lots of glass jars (where the wyvern is). That should not be fault of my mod.

BTW Cleric casts Mental Domination.

New version (can be downloaded here (http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/dl.php?s=BG2&f=BG2/SlightlyImprovedIlyich.rar)).


v1.3
- update to WeiDU 187
- fixed minor bugs in scripts
- fixed missing names of certain thieves

Congratulations again for your hard-working. Though only 8 people has downloaded this mod so far? Why? We should do more to make everybody know it and appreciate your hard-work.

I believe, that it was download by more people than 8, because it has other download links.

Download - BG2 Add-on CZ (http://addoncz.gamestar.cz/download/SlightlyImprovedIlyichv1.3.exe)
Mirror 1 - Dragon's Hoard (http://dragonshoard.blackwyrmlair.net/download/razfallow/SlightlyImprovedIlyichv1.3.exe)
Mirror 2 - Sorcerer's Place (http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/dl.php?s=BG2&f=BG2/SlightlyImprovedIlyich.rar)

Western Paladin: I read your whole post and you are quite good at telling stories....maybe you should become an SPS account holder and join the roleplay thread, I think you would be good...

The mod hasn't been officially listed on SP yet, so only the people reading this thread have seen the link thus far. It'll be listed with the upcoming site update.

Western Paladin: I read your whole post and you are quite good at telling stories....maybe you should become an SPS account holder and join the roleplay thread, I think you would be good... Heh, thanks! :) I have considered getting an SPS account in the past.

Well, I'm finally reporting back. The new download works fine for me - the name problems with the thieves on the second level seems to have cleared up. Having played the mod with a couple of different characters now, my previous comments still apply - I find it makes the dungeon more interesting while still quite do-able for an intermediate player. Thank you again. :)

A wonderful mod, Razfallow. I'm truly impressed how a meager encounter can be rendered challenging without making it borderline impossible.

A little bug here, although I'm unsure if it was fixed in the newest version - the golem/shadow thieves encounter in the second level of Chateau Irenicus, specifically.

The dialogue fires as normal, and they start banging on each other. However, as soon as the golem kills the male thief, he just stops moving and doesn't attack the other thief. Since the female thief has a non-magic dagger, she cannot damage the golem and therefore the fight does not end until I force-attack either of them. Shouldn't the golem pound the second thief as well and then turn hostile towards me?

Some other questions - is it normal that Illyich does not drop the Mail of the Dead +2? I'm certain I checked all the bodies and I cannot seem to find it at all. And what happened to the Duergars guarding the chests past the Golem encounter?

Ziggyveld: I already know about Golem and Shadow thieves encounter bug. I'll fix it in next version.
Ilyich not droping his armor: Sorry, that's my fault. Will be fixed in next version as well.
I moved that duergar's party down to first level.