Recommended mods for Cavalier playthrough?

Mhamza

I'm about to start a Cavalier playthrough for BG EE 1 & 2, seeing as how Cavaliers are my favorite class and I'm wondering what mods are most recommended gameplay wise. I already have unfinished business installed as well as JCompton's brilliant D'Arnise Romance, so I'm looking for mods that involve tactics and gameplay tweaks.

Thanks in advance.

Ardul

I would recommend SCS (a forum classic), Item Revesions and Spell Revisions - both will soon arrive in V. 4.0. These mods are staples in any BG playthrough for me.

I also recommend BG2 Tweak Pack for that extra customization.

Lord_Tansheron

I can absolutely second @Ardul in those choices. SCS is brilliant, and both IR and SR are amazing additions to the game (both should be EE-compatible soon; if you can find the v4 beta versions you can already use them).

I also very much agree on the awesomeness of the de'Arnise Romance mod. Definitely the best romance mod I've ever seen.

For BG2 I'd also run with Ascension, as the end of ToB is just not the same without it. The standalone Ascension mod is still being ported to EE, but you can use the Ascension component of the Big Picture mega mod pack (commonly referred to as BP Ascension) to get essentially the same mod without much trouble. I do not recommend the other BP components, they're mostly included in SCS already anyway (in some form or another).

BG2 Tweak Pack is useful but not required, it's mostly convenience stuff for experienced players. Same goes for DungeonBeGone, a mod I personally cannot do without :P

Mhamza

@Ardul and @Lord_Tansheron‌, thanks for the suggestions. Are Item and Spell revisions compatible yet? Also, what other TOB mods would you recommend, aside from Ascension?

Blackraven

@Mhamza, you could consider the Wheels of Prophecy mod for ToB, done by @DavidW‌. I think it's a nice mod that adds more depth to the ToB storyline.

Copied from the readme:

"In summary, Wheels of Prophecy doesn't change the events of Throne of Bhaal (not much, anyway), but it does allow the player to interact with them in a much more flexible way.

In more detail: the main change made is that the player can attempt to enter Balthazar's monastery whenever s/he likes, instead of waiting until after Sendai and Abazigal are dead. It's entirely up to you what order you do it in. If you decide to wait until Abazigal and Sendai are dead before confronting Balthazar, you won't notice much change from the vanilla game; if you decide to encounter Balthazar earlier, things may play out rather differently from what you remember. (Getting into the monastery early in the game isn't completely trivial, but it can be done (ask the smugglers, or slaughter your way in if you're that way inclined).

The mod also features:

Greatly expanded dialogue with Balthazar, Melissan, Sendai, Abazigal, and Elminster.
Modifications to dialogue with Carras, Saemon, Faheed, Zahee, and the Solar.
Minor unfinished-business content with the smugglers that didn't quite make it into Throne of Bhaal.
Extra encounters part-way through dealing with the Five (depending which route you take) and just before confronting Melissan.
An expanded conversation with the stone heads featuring voicing cut from the released version of Throne of Bhaal, but unearthed recently by K'aeloree of Spellhold Studios.
And more!
To get the most out of the mod, you should start a new game, or at least start a new party at the start of Throne of Bhaal. Most of the new content doesn't show up until you arrive at Amkethran, though, so any save before then should be compatible. (You will, however, miss the chance to tell Melissan where to go.)

IF you're looking to see the most new content on a first playthrough, probably the best thing to do is to start with Balthazar's monastery. Good-aligned parties may then have to beat a hasty retreat; more bloodthirsty parties may have other ideas."

It's EE-compatible, and can be downloaded here.

Lord_Tansheron

Mhamza said:

@Ardul and @Lord_Tansheron‌, thanks for the suggestions. Are Item and Spell revisions compatible yet?

I beliebe IR is compatible in its v3 (release) version, but SR is not. Both should however get their v4 versions with full EE compatibility released any day now (or at least that's what the mod creator promised :P). There are also v4 beta versions out already, if you can find them. May take some digging.

Mhamza

Guess I'll just have to wait for their releases alongside the BG1 NPC Project before playing then. Oh well, there's always Planescape to play.