I am playing a game as a Thief in SoA (cannot build golems) and notice that after saving the Cowled wizard in Immervale (from his golem), I cannot have one of my mages who knows how to build golems use the site. Is there an issue of gaining site use if the main character cannot build golems?
Yeah, this place is only available if Charname is a spellcaster. I should probably mention this fact in the readme. There are still other places in SoA where you can build golems regardless of Charname's class, although they are not as easy to claim as this one.
I thought about it already when I designed the different golem types. Actually, the official 2e manual states that clay golems can only be built by lawful clerics. However, the game itself doesn't appear to stick to this 2e rule (most of them can be found in areas controlled by wizards), and it would be much work for little effect. I would also have to add new build locations which are more suitable for clerics (at least in SoA). I may follow this idea later at some point when I have more time.
I think the high level requirements are nerfing golems enough already. At the time you are able to build your first perfect flesh golem opponents should be powerful enough to damage or destroy them. In my own test runs it was always around SoA chapter 6 or 7. Of course there are exceptions, but they are mainly caused by an inefficient enemy AI (e.g. beholders), or when playing the game solo or with a small party.
When are you able to build perfect flesh golems, and which enemies are helpless against them in your game?
I was able to destroy pretty much everything that wasn't another more powerful golem. The only time he was destroyed was in Gromnir's stronghold.
I was able to build de PFG in Umar Hills. From there on, I pretty much watched the game. Now and then I need to save it from some enemy, but it was very, very rare.
Sorry for not being more precise, I did this run some time ago and don't remember much.
I guess the main problem for many enemies is the lack of powerful weapons. I can probably add a Tweaks component that lowers or removes (enchanted) weapon immunities.
It also helps to install some of the Tweaks components (such as "Improve enemy spellcaster AI" or "Golems for enemy spellcasters").
Edit: The level requirements have been increased (quite substantially for some variants) in more recent versions. It might be different now compared with v2.2 or older.
I've been thinking of adding more features to make dealing with golems more interesting. For example, certain spells could change basic properties of golems.
The spell "Flesh to Stone" could turn flesh golems into stone golems. And its counterpart "Stone to Flesh" could transform stone golems into flesh golems.
The spell "Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting" is supposed to evaporate water from the victim's body, so it could theoretically transform clay golems into stone golems. This might help if you don't have an enchanted blunt weapon at hand.
The Death Spell could auto-slay Maggot Golems as they primarily consist of low level vermin like maggots and worms.
Can you think of more spells that could potentially affect golems?
I would apply these vulnerabilities to all golems of the game (friendly, neutral and hostile) - probably in a separate component. It would give your party more options to defeat golems. At present you can effectively destroy them only in physical combat if you have no way to reduce their magic resistance to acceptable levels.
Sounds like an interesting idea. But this is probably more difficult to implement as I have to consider a greater number of spells. I would probably limit it to level 8/9 wizard spells and level 7 priest spells.
Since high level spells are usually party friendly it would mainly help hostile golems though (unless enemy wizards cast these spells on your golems as well).
Since high level spells are usually party friendly it would mainly help hostile golems though (unless enemy wizards cast these spells on your golems as well).
I have looked a bit into the current patch version of IWDEE (v1.4) and it looks like 95% of the feature set used by this mod has already been implemented into this game. The remaining stuff can probably be worked around in one way or another.
Since IWD takes place about 90 years before the events of Baldur's Gate, and even before the Time of Troubles, I have to make some changes to the availability of golem types.
Wild magic does not yet exist in this time period, so I will remove magic golems completely (strangely enough you can still choose to play a wild mage, but that's another topic). Maggot golems don't really fit into the frozen climate of Icewind Dale, so I skip them as well. Afaik there is no mindflayer lair in IWD, so I will remove brain golems too.
Moreover, the average power level of the party as well as of opponents is considerably lower than in BG2. Therefore I will also not include any adamantite golems or the means how to build them. I'm also planning to nerf the remaining golem types somewhat, but I don't know yet how much. For example, IWDEE iron golems have 16 strength and 2 APR, while BG2 iron golems have 24 strength and only 1 APR. Their physical resistances are also different.
Which leaves five different types of regular golems (in lesser, normal, greater and perfect variants), as well as three (or more) different types of exotic golems. The golem building tomes should also be more difficult to obtain than in BG2.
For now I have planned the following locations for constructing golems: 1. Dragon's Eye Level 3 (Presio's laboratory): You have to kill Presio and his minions first. 2. Severed Hand, Larrel's Study: You have to help fixing the Astrolab first. 3. Dorn's Deep, Bandoth's Tower: You can either bribe him, threaten him or kill him to use his tower for constructing golems. 4. Lower Dorn's Deep, Malavon's Home: You have to kill him and his minions first. 5. Gloomfrost, Tiernon's Forge: You can either ask him politely or kill him.
I don't know if there are any good locations in the TotLM areas where you could build golems, or if there is even a need for it. I'm open for suggestions.
I was curious about the perfect flesh golem being OP, so I make one and tried. He died pretty easy for me. In the underdark, everyone can chew him up. I do see in Athkatla where it can be strong. In watchers keep it doesn't stand a chance even on level 1. So it seems fine to me. If you solo (or two person party) and get it early, it does make the Chapter 2 quests easy. By the time my party of 4 got it, he was an ok meat sheild, but not OP.
The bigger item I saw was when the perfect flesh golem died, it did not create two regular flesh golems, Got nothing.
Yeah, golem aren't really OP stat-wise. Their resilience comes mostly from their many resistances (magic, elements, weapon enchantments, and sometimes physical resistances as well).
@Necromanx2 Perfect golem variants are scripted to always spawn two regular golems on death. Do you still know how the golem died?
He was killed in Watchers keep maze level. I think a demon ripped him up. I can't remember for sure. I'll make a new one and see what happens when it goes.
Hmm, I can't think of a situation where the script might fail. Even wild/dead magic zones shouldn't affect the spawning process. Maybe it was just a glitch.
OK. I created a perfect flesh golem. However, 2 golems is the max I can have from building (get a message saying I have too many golems if I try to build a third). I played the Wild Mage camp and the golem died in the Thayian enclave. He did split fine.
So here is my theory. When the golem split in the Thay enclave, I only had one golem so the split gave me 2. However, in watchers keep I had a second golem (clay golem and perfect flesh), so the split would have given me three. Given the limit of two I am seeing for building, it seems the split was cancelled because I would have had too many golems. If I get a chance I will try this theory out.
The maximum number of golems following your party is three. The fact that you can only have two golems following you suggests that the death of the perfect golem did not trigger correctly. Not only did it not spawn two regular golems it didn't decrement the golem count either. I know that at least one demon in WK uses a attack with vorpal effect. I'll test if this effect circumvents the death trigger somehow.
You can fix the golem count in your game by executing the following command in the debug console: C:Eval('IncrementGlobal("A7!GolemCount", "GLOBAL", -1)') Btw, golems spawned by the death of their parent golems are not checked against the max. golem limit. So you can theoretically build three perfect golems and kill them to get six regular golems following you.
Vorpal effects don't appear to interfere with the golem spawning process either. I will probably add a golem count fixer to the golem construction dialog.
Could it be a death wraith attack that causes the issue? Just trying to remember where I faced difficult battles. The demons and death wraith were the two that I needed reloads to beat and several party members died.
I can't really say. Most disabling effects are removed automatically when a creature dies. The creature script should run fine one last time to execute the final actions. It could be caused by an interruption of the script itself. Something like this is difficult to track down or reproduce because it's all about timing. I had one or two similar cases in earlier test runs where the golem count went out of sync without apparent reasons.
I have added a golem count fixer to the construction dialog for the next release in case that it has to be fixed manually.
Quick update: IWD:EE support is coming along nicely. I'm currently doing a test run to see if everything works as intended and is sufficiently balanced. Next release will also provide a new golem-related spell.
Oooooh. I want flesh golems for my Xzar-as-Charname BGEE->TOB run, very appropriate for him. Thanks for this great addition to the game.
EDIT: I've played around with it a little. I LOVE IT. For personal preference I'd prefer if Necromancers got a -2 reduction for the minimum level requirement when constructing flesh golems specifically. It just seems to fit the profile - much like they get this bonus with bone golems.
The construction of flesh golems does not involve any kind of death magic. However, you are dealing with humanoid bodies, so it might be justified in some way. I'll think about it.
Are you considering modifying existing Golems in a similar manner to aTweak's PnP ... components? I do not recall any mod that does anything similar out there.
Comments
Thanks allot!
I am playing a game as a Thief in SoA (cannot build golems) and notice that after saving the Cowled wizard in Immervale (from his golem), I cannot have one of my mages who knows how to build golems use the site. Is there an issue of gaining site use if the main character cannot build golems?
When are you able to build perfect flesh golems, and which enemies are helpless against them in your game?
I was able to build de PFG in Umar Hills. From there on, I pretty much watched the game. Now and then I need to save it from some enemy, but it was very, very rare.
Sorry for not being more precise, I did this run some time ago and don't remember much.
It also helps to install some of the Tweaks components (such as "Improve enemy spellcaster AI" or "Golems for enemy spellcasters").
Edit: The level requirements have been increased (quite substantially for some variants) in more recent versions. It might be different now compared with v2.2 or older.
The spell "Flesh to Stone" could turn flesh golems into stone golems. And its counterpart "Stone to Flesh" could transform stone golems into flesh golems.
The spell "Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting" is supposed to evaporate water from the victim's body, so it could theoretically transform clay golems into stone golems. This might help if you don't have an enchanted blunt weapon at hand.
The Death Spell could auto-slay Maggot Golems as they primarily consist of low level vermin like maggots and worms.
Can you think of more spells that could potentially affect golems?
Feeblemind could bypass magic resistance when cast on a Brain Golem.
The priest spell "Sunray" could weaken the adamantine alloy of Adamantite Golems and thereby reduce their physical resistances.
Iron conducts heat well
Since high level spells are usually party friendly it would mainly help hostile golems though (unless enemy wizards cast these spells on your golems as well).
Since IWD takes place about 90 years before the events of Baldur's Gate, and even before the Time of Troubles, I have to make some changes to the availability of golem types.
Wild magic does not yet exist in this time period, so I will remove magic golems completely (strangely enough you can still choose to play a wild mage, but that's another topic). Maggot golems don't really fit into the frozen climate of Icewind Dale, so I skip them as well. Afaik there is no mindflayer lair in IWD, so I will remove brain golems too.
Moreover, the average power level of the party as well as of opponents is considerably lower than in BG2. Therefore I will also not include any adamantite golems or the means how to build them. I'm also planning to nerf the remaining golem types somewhat, but I don't know yet how much. For example, IWDEE iron golems have 16 strength and 2 APR, while BG2 iron golems have 24 strength and only 1 APR. Their physical resistances are also different.
Which leaves five different types of regular golems (in lesser, normal, greater and perfect variants), as well as three (or more) different types of exotic golems. The golem building tomes should also be more difficult to obtain than in BG2.
For now I have planned the following locations for constructing golems:
1. Dragon's Eye Level 3 (Presio's laboratory): You have to kill Presio and his minions first.
2. Severed Hand, Larrel's Study: You have to help fixing the Astrolab first.
3. Dorn's Deep, Bandoth's Tower: You can either bribe him, threaten him or kill him to use his tower for constructing golems.
4. Lower Dorn's Deep, Malavon's Home: You have to kill him and his minions first.
5. Gloomfrost, Tiernon's Forge: You can either ask him politely or kill him.
I don't know if there are any good locations in the TotLM areas where you could build golems, or if there is even a need for it. I'm open for suggestions.
I was curious about the perfect flesh golem being OP, so I make one and tried. He died pretty easy for me. In the underdark, everyone can chew him up. I do see in Athkatla where it can be strong. In watchers keep it doesn't stand a chance even on level 1. So it seems fine to me. If you solo (or two person party) and get it early, it does make the Chapter 2 quests easy. By the time my party of 4 got it, he was an ok meat sheild, but not OP.
The bigger item I saw was when the perfect flesh golem died, it did not create two regular flesh golems, Got nothing.
@Necromanx2 Perfect golem variants are scripted to always spawn two regular golems on death. Do you still know how the golem died?
I'll make a new one and see what happens when it goes.
So here is my theory. When the golem split in the Thay enclave, I only had one golem so the split gave me 2. However, in watchers keep I had a second golem (clay golem and perfect flesh), so the split would have given me three. Given the limit of two I am seeing for building, it seems the split was cancelled because I would have had too many golems. If I get a chance I will try this theory out.
You can fix the golem count in your game by executing the following command in the debug console:
C:Eval('IncrementGlobal("A7!GolemCount", "GLOBAL", -1)')Btw, golems spawned by the death of their parent golems are not checked against the max. golem limit. So you can theoretically build three perfect golems and kill them to get six regular golems following you.
I have added a golem count fixer to the construction dialog for the next release in case that it has to be fixed manually.
EDIT: I've played around with it a little. I LOVE IT. For personal preference I'd prefer if Necromancers got a -2 reduction for the minimum level requirement when constructing flesh golems specifically. It just seems to fit the profile - much like they get this bonus with bone golems.