This is a little off-topic but I had to deal with this in the Planar Sphere as well, I have Clay Golems inflicting Cursed Wounds component installed. Is it supposed to last forever until you Remove Curse it? It really bugs me that I rested the first time expecting it to wear off and I have "120 days and 8 hours rested" and no healing done. Are there any other ways of getting rid of them, cause it's really annoying having to memorize several Remove Curses and turn off rest until fully healed, cast it, then rest again. Dispel Magic doesn't seem to affect it.
Also, if I didn't have my Sorcerer with Polymorph Self I probably would've been stuck in the stupid Sphere forever. I eventually gave in trying to fair fight and cheesed Lavok and Tolgerias with Mustard Jelly form. Even then the Tolgerias fight took me about 40 tries and a lucky break with Insect Plague. I definitely wouldn't recommend doing the Planar Sphere straight away with SCS.
SCS is a very great deal more than just its "Smarter Mages" Component. And even that allows for considerable customization.
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From the SCS ReadMe:
SCS allows mages to cast some spells instantly, to simulate casting before battle begins (in BG2 it's very difficult to script enemies to do the sort of pre-battle buffing that PCs can do). They will always do this with any spell with a duration of more than a couple of hours (e.g. Stoneskin, Melf's Minute Meteors).
There are five options, though, for the casting of short duration spells. (Note that whichever option you choose, mages will still use contingencies and spell sequencers.)
Option 1: Mages are always allowed to cast spells instantly at the start of combat. This is basically the same way magic works in SCS, and is tactically the hardest challenge; however, on occasion it might appear a bit unrealistic.
Option 2: Mages are allowed to cast spells instantly at the start of combat only when they are created near the PC (e.g. enemy mages teleporting in to ambush you). This is basically how Tactics handles this (though I think I keep to the rules more strictly than Tactics does). It's somewhat less challenging, but since even casters whom you catch off-guard have contingencies and sequencers to defend themselves with, mages can slam up defences pretty quickly.
Option 3: Mages never cast spells instantly. (Though, again, they can very quickly use contingencies and sequencers to defend themselves.)
Option 4: Option 1 for BG1, option 2 for BG2. The logic here is that many mages in BG2 teleport in, but hardly any do in BG1 - partly because they are lower level, partly because of different design philosophies. (For what it's worth, this is my own preferred option.)
Option 5: Mages use short-duration spells at the start of combat, but only if the difficulty is set to Hard or Insane.
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I'm really going to go out on a limb here and conjecture that maybe, just maybe, choosing the most difficult option in this component, despite DavidW's caveat about it, and then claiming that SCS is "dumb" is a little unfair to the maker of this mod.
And as for the observation that "Wizards being pre-buffed with spells that don't last hours, without having to use contingencies or triggers, is absurd," all one needs to do is choose Option 5 and play on Core Rules or lower difficulty to mitigate this 'absurdity'.
I confess my prejudice. I think that this mod, with its many options and options within options, is a fantastic gift.
I generally postpone Planar Sphere quest and bard´s quest until chapter 6. You can have Valygar even if you don´t do his quest and I don´t like Haer Dalis. General rule with SCS: do quests with high level mages/liches in chapter 6 (I give HLA to all high level mages via SCS).
@Schneidend: No, SCS is, for the most part, extremely well done and provides a good extra challenge for those who like it and consider themselves to pretty good at the game. Some of it is over the top, though.
Wizards being pre-buffed with spells that don't last hours, without having to use contingencies or triggers, is absurd.
Are you aware that SCS is highly customizable, ie. you can cherry pick the components you want to install? Personally, I rejected all bits that somehow nerfed my characters/spells somehow (absolutely hate the idea; IMO challenge should not come from handicapping/nerfing your character) and set prebuffing so that it only happens on difficulty settings of hard and above. As a result, I find myself playing and immensely enjoying a mod that is challenging but very much doable with the right tactics, even with a low level, non-powergaming party.
I would understand your complaints if they were targeted against Improved Anvil, a nightmare of a tactical mod in which you are forced to take the whole package, which includes scripts that make mages recharge their spells if you get out of their line of sight and other such atrocious cheese. With SCS, however, you are largely free to take what you want and do what you want. If a component seems absurd to you, just change or uninstall it. After all, BG2 is a single player game and there is no objectively right or wrong way to play the it. Go with the choices that suit you the best.
Comments
Also, if I didn't have my Sorcerer with Polymorph Self I probably would've been stuck in the stupid Sphere forever. I eventually gave in trying to fair fight and cheesed Lavok and Tolgerias with Mustard Jelly form. Even then the Tolgerias fight took me about 40 tries and a lucky break with Insect Plague. I definitely wouldn't recommend doing the Planar Sphere straight away with SCS.
That was back when monsters were monsters and rightly feared, of course.
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From the SCS ReadMe:
SCS allows mages to cast some spells instantly, to simulate casting before battle begins (in BG2 it's very difficult to script enemies to do the sort of pre-battle buffing that PCs can do). They will always do this with any spell with a duration of more than a couple of hours (e.g. Stoneskin, Melf's Minute Meteors).
There are five options, though, for the casting of short duration spells. (Note that whichever option you choose, mages will still use contingencies and spell sequencers.)
Option 1: Mages are always allowed to cast spells instantly at the start of combat. This is basically the same way magic works in SCS, and is tactically the hardest challenge; however, on occasion it might appear a bit unrealistic.
Option 2: Mages are allowed to cast spells instantly at the start of combat only when they are created near the PC (e.g. enemy mages teleporting in to ambush you). This is basically how Tactics handles this (though I think I keep to the rules more strictly than Tactics does). It's somewhat less challenging, but since even casters whom you catch off-guard have contingencies and sequencers to defend themselves with, mages can slam up defences pretty quickly.
Option 3: Mages never cast spells instantly. (Though, again, they can very quickly use contingencies and sequencers to defend themselves.)
Option 4: Option 1 for BG1, option 2 for BG2. The logic here is that many mages in BG2 teleport in, but hardly any do in BG1 - partly because they are lower level, partly because of different design philosophies. (For what it's worth, this is my own preferred option.)
Option 5: Mages use short-duration spells at the start of combat, but only if the difficulty is set to Hard or Insane.
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I'm really going to go out on a limb here and conjecture that maybe, just maybe, choosing the most difficult option in this component, despite DavidW's caveat about it, and then claiming that SCS is "dumb" is a little unfair to the maker of this mod.
And as for the observation that "Wizards being pre-buffed with spells that don't last hours, without having to use contingencies or triggers, is absurd," all one needs to do is choose Option 5 and play on Core Rules or lower difficulty to mitigate this 'absurdity'.
I confess my prejudice. I think that this mod, with its many options and options within options, is a fantastic gift.
I would understand your complaints if they were targeted against Improved Anvil, a nightmare of a tactical mod in which you are forced to take the whole package, which includes scripts that make mages recharge their spells if you get out of their line of sight and other such atrocious cheese. With SCS, however, you are largely free to take what you want and do what you want. If a component seems absurd to you, just change or uninstall it. After all, BG2 is a single player game and there is no objectively right or wrong way to play the it. Go with the choices that suit you the best.