The Imoen romance creeped me out. I can't remember specifically why (it's been a long while since I tried it out), but it felt... wrong. Like she suddenly wasn't the Imoen I knew anymore. I also do not remember it being particularly well written. I can't say much else about it, though. Just figured I'd throw out a vague warning.
Edit: NPC-related mods that I do recommend would be Kelsey, Gavin (anything by berelinde, really), Keto, Xan, NPC IEP, Banter Packs, and perhaps the NPC Flirtpacks (if that appeals to you).
Hubblepot is an excellent NPC mod, if it hasn't already been mentioned.
For my taste, I wouldn't consider any NPC mods "essential" though. The only truly "essential" mod I can see is SCS/SCS II for its truly outstanding AI enhancements. That mod elevated the BG series gaming experience for me to a whole new level.
I definitely see 1PP and Widescreen Mod as essential. Cannot stand to look at the original games without them. I also feel that the banter packs add a lot to the game. I don't think I'd ever play without them.
Kulyok NPC mods are really well written and coded, I recommend both Xan and Angelo (most of all Angelo). Speaking of NPC, I always wanted to try Valen, but I heard that she is too powerful and this would ruin the fun of the game, in my opinion
Fade would have to be my favorite NPC mod because the character was thankfully balanced and likeable. That and I get to find out more about tieflings from her than I did from Haer'Dalis :P
Banter Packs added alot of detail into the existing characters that made them seem a little more three-dimensional. Small things like characters talking as they're near death and additional banters with lilarcor make it seem like NPCs are developing with eachother and not just with the PC. There's an item upgrade mod which puts all that useless coin you collect in BG2 to good use, and is especially useful if you're like me and wanted Cromwell to forge more things.
NPC Flirt Pack adds a little more intrigue to the love interests, and changed it so that you can summon them in ToB with the SoA component of the romance already completed. I like mods like this that let you have more interaction options with characters.
I tried Ascension and the Longer Road, but Ive had bug problems with each of them - which is a shame, because they're incredibly interesting and make the expansion more entertaining (especially at the end).
Unfinished Business and the Kivan mod are musts for me. As is the mod that makes it so you can battle the Shadow Thieves in Chapter 6 or so, that one made me feel a lot better.
The one that makes Solaufein a party member is cool, but a bit ridiculous with the battles.
The Xan mod was cool, but I never played it out (computer crashed before completion).
Unfinished business, SCS, spell and item revisions, atweaks, rogue rebalancing, and BGspawn mainly. I am hoping the enhanced edition gives some momentum for more content mods, I'd like to play Dark side of the sword coast and north side of the sword coast but keep seeing that it is really unbalanced.
Very unbalanced... we're talking about mods that'll give you a vorpal sword and a book that doubles the xp of any single classed mage, among other powerful itens.
Also the one time I played them I dualed Imoen in the beggining of Darkside at level 7 as a thief. She recovered her abilities before I finished Dark Side, and I was using a XP reducing mod.
With the whole delay thing going on I'm thinking of mods to keep me interested. Does anyone know some mods that add content to the game which won't directly conflict with each other? also will they work with Baldur's Gate Trilogy? because I don't like Tutu.
Will have to second many of the mods here that have already been mentioned. Been a very long time since I fired BGII up but I remember many of these mods fondly. As far as NPCs go, I'd suggest Fade. Female Fey'ri shadow thief, what's there not to like? Granted I'll admit I'm a little biased as I had a small part in bringing her to life but nevertheless you could do far worse as companions go.
As far as NPCs go, I'd suggest Fade. Female Fey'ri shadow thief, what's there not to like?
Mainly the lack of ToB content, unfortunately. If I can't carry an NPC over for the final stretch, it feels like a bit of a waste to have them occupy a party spot for any great amount of time in SoA.
Edit: To contribute more, the only NPC mod, if it can even be called that, I'd consider essential is the BG1 NPC Project. It adds so much feeling to BG and is so well written that after a great many playthroughs it has more or less become the canon in my mind. The Dynaheir romance and Kivan friendship (followed by the Kivan & Deheriana mod in BG2) are my particular favourites, both by Domi.
Agreed Shin. I've tried to contact the author from time to time but to no avail. Would be fantastic to get Fade into ToB though. Domi does do superb work, no doubt about that!
I have been working on my BG2 mix for a while. And, if you are going for a somewhat vanilla experience but want the smoothest run on a modern resolution, here's what I do:
Go into config and enable 3D options, raise the cache size, raise path-finding to 60000, and frame rate to 35-40 updates per second (makes things go a bit faster).
Add in unfinished business, extra NPCs, etc. to taste. Enjoy.
Oh, and the Ajantis BG2 mod is pretty solid. No TOB content yet, sadly. Decent romance, if you are into that. You can be married to Ajantis to start SOA, which is fun. You've got some options with that one. Kivan is also a great BG NPC brought into BG2. I wasn't a fan of Xan, mostly because I felt he interjected too often and the voice acting wasn't very strong.
If you're looking for a much more challenging Irenicus' Dungeon, the Improved Illych mod (part of Weidu's Tactics mod) will keep you busy reloading for a while. You'll get some decent magic items and more XP, and you'll definitely feel like you worked hard for it if you manage to make it out alive.
1.) Sword Coast Strategems (because it makes the game way more challenging so that you can literally fight armies of opponents, plus extra dragons, etc., the opponents become more intelligent, etc.) 2.) Shadows over Soubar (because it adds several lengthy quests to the game, and additional items) 3.) Baldur's Gate Tutu (which is essentialy Baldur's Gate 1 with Baldur's Gate 2 rules. I like it because it made it possible for me to import my Throne of Bhaal party into Baldur's Gate 1 so that I could avenge Viconia's honor by annhilating Beregost, etc.)
@Paladin Thanks for the bigger fonts mod link. For some reason I had never heard of this one. My eyes are very thankful indeed
Glad it helped. With the widescreen mod, the bigger fonts mod is hugely important for the health of our eyes. With a text heavy game like this one, it's definitely a game changer.
The Imoen romance creeped me out. I can't remember specifically why (it's been a long while since I tried it out), but it felt... wrong. Like she suddenly wasn't the Imoen I knew anymore. I also do not remember it being particularly well written. I can't say much else about it, though. Just figured I'd throw out a vague warning.
Edit: NPC-related mods that I do recommend would be Kelsey, Gavin (anything by berelinde, really), Keto, Xan, NPC IEP, Banter Packs, and perhaps the NPC Flirtpacks (if that appeals to you).
Something "creeped [you] out." You mean aside from the fact that Imoen is your sister, so a romance with her would be incestuous?
Comments
Edit: NPC-related mods that I do recommend would be Kelsey, Gavin (anything by berelinde, really), Keto, Xan, NPC IEP, Banter Packs, and perhaps the NPC Flirtpacks (if that appeals to you).
For my taste, I wouldn't consider any NPC mods "essential" though. The only truly "essential" mod I can see is SCS/SCS II for its truly outstanding AI enhancements. That mod elevated the BG series gaming experience for me to a whole new level.
I also feel that the banter packs add a lot to the game. I don't think I'd ever play without them.
I was talking about mods that I would use for the old game versions.
Speaking of NPC, I always wanted to try Valen, but I heard that she is too powerful and this would ruin the fun of the game, in my opinion
Banter Packs added alot of detail into the existing characters that made them seem a little more three-dimensional. Small things like characters talking as they're near death and additional banters with lilarcor make it seem like NPCs are developing with eachother and not just with the PC.
There's an item upgrade mod which puts all that useless coin you collect in BG2 to good use, and is especially useful if you're like me and wanted Cromwell to forge more things.
NPC Flirt Pack adds a little more intrigue to the love interests, and changed it so that you can summon them in ToB with the SoA component of the romance already completed. I like mods like this that let you have more interaction options with characters.
I tried Ascension and the Longer Road, but Ive had bug problems with each of them - which is a shame, because they're incredibly interesting and make the expansion more entertaining (especially at the end).
BG2 already has most of the stuff I'm looking for in a game. The unfinished business mod is pretty tempting for finishing off all the loose ends.
The one that makes Solaufein a party member is cool, but a bit ridiculous with the battles.
The Xan mod was cool, but I never played it out (computer crashed before completion).
Also the one time I played them I dualed Imoen in the beggining of Darkside at level 7 as a thief. She recovered her abilities before I finished Dark Side, and I was using a XP reducing mod.
This site is quite good and has some interesting mods.
I found Valen as an NPC to be a really fun mod. OP but fun
Edit: To contribute more, the only NPC mod, if it can even be called that, I'd consider essential is the BG1 NPC Project. It adds so much feeling to BG and is so well written that after a great many playthroughs it has more or less become the canon in my mind. The Dynaheir romance and Kivan friendship (followed by the Kivan & Deheriana mod in BG2) are my particular favourites, both by Domi.
Play it play it PLAY IT
But anyway, people who have played the last game will get my point.
http://www.gibberlings3.net/bg2fixpack/
http://www.gibberlings3.net/bg2tweaks/index.php (none of "cheats" or cheese like infinite stacks)
http://www.gibberlings3.net/widescreen/ (my monitor's native resolution is 1920x1080, but I find 1280x720 looks pretty good)
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/52452-bigger-fonts-mod-for-baldurs-gate-2/ (copy into override)
Go into config and enable 3D options, raise the cache size, raise path-finding to 60000, and frame rate to 35-40 updates per second (makes things go a bit faster).
Add in unfinished business, extra NPCs, etc. to taste. Enjoy.
There's also a Slightly Improved Illych mod if you find the first one too difficult.
Enjoy!
1.) Sword Coast Strategems (because it makes the game way more challenging so that you can literally fight armies of opponents, plus extra dragons, etc., the opponents become more intelligent, etc.)
2.) Shadows over Soubar (because it adds several lengthy quests to the game, and additional items)
3.) Baldur's Gate Tutu (which is essentialy Baldur's Gate 1 with Baldur's Gate 2 rules. I like it because it made it possible for me to import my Throne of Bhaal party into Baldur's Gate 1 so that I could avenge Viconia's honor by annhilating Beregost, etc.)