Expanded Thief Stronghold

Raduziel

Hello

I love to play as a thief. It's by far my favorite class, using cunning and wits against strength and power.

But I don't play as a Thief in BG as much as I like because the stronghold is... lame to say the least.

Many years ago I've played a mod called "Expanded Thief Stronghold" (ETS for short) that made that stronghold fantastic!

If you never heard about it: http://www.sorcerers.net/community/index.php?threads/bg2-expanded-thief-stronghold-mod-review.57148/

Well, today I was preparing myself for a Thief -> WS run (thanks @subtledoctor for the link for RR!) and notice that the link I have for the ETS is dated from March 2010 (http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/757-expanded-thief-stronghold/)

So... two questions:

1) Is it compatible if EE 2.X?

2) If not, is there a newer (or similar) version?

Thank you very much, guys. The way I see is impossible to play a Thief after using those mods!

GrimLefourbe

I tried it and it worked on BG2EE 1.3. I haven't got to test it on 2.0 though.

jinxed75

Can confirm it is compatible with V2.3. Finished all its additional quests this weekend, and the other content works as intended.

Aerakar

Good news! I will try it out on my current run (another bounty hunter, my first character to soon enter SoD, finishing Durlag's so may take a few weeks at my current pace!).

Edvin

Playable does not means fully compatible.
Spawning is sometime broken (I saw six copies of the same thief) and the last quests are not always accessible.
But with a bit of luck, is possible finish everything.

Aerakar

That of course is much less encouraging.

jinxed75

Aerakar said:

That of course is much less encouraging.

I didn't face a single issue with the mod.

Aerakar

jinxed75 said:

Aerakar said:

That of course is much less encouraging.

I didn't face a single issue with the mod.

I will try it out.

Aerakar

Question, what about install order? I currently run this mod install order:

1. Assassinations
2. Song and Silence (items only)
3. Rogue Rebalancing
4. CD Tweaks
5. SCS

I would think it would be before Song and Silence.

SharGuidesMyHand

A question about this mod (I'm using v2.20 that's been updated for EE):

If I install the component that allows a non-thief to get the stronghold, does it count against the one-stronghold limit or can I still get the stronghold that would normally apply to my character class as well?

Sour

A small review of this mod with spoilers:

This mod brings back some familiar faces with character art that fits the BG style of art and adds a few new quests and a recuring added income to the guild. On the flip side, your thieves that you control with the vanilla stronghold seem to get caught more often so you are not making as much profit as it may look at first which keeps this from being too imbalanced. The first extra mission brings you to an old cave where a large battle erupts with the goal of freeing some of your thieves that were captured. The second mission might be a problem for some players as it pits you against a garrison of city guards and you will lose your reputation. The cost to regain your reputation will probably be made up for by the loot in this mission unless you plan to raise your rep to ultra high levels. It makes sense that you would clash with the law and I think it adds a bit of nasty business to the game that can be cool but I could see it turning some people off.

This mod achieves it's goal of adding a little more depth and realism to the thieves stronghold and provides a few tough battles and a few new ways to make money and shake up your regular operations. I didn't experience any bugs or crashes with this mod and the rewards are not OP in my opinion. It's a good mod and I'd rate it as a solid "B" class mod. I will install this on future runs through the game series.

Aerakar

Thanks for posting this @Sour . I have always considered using this mod, but was not sure if it would leave OP loot which I try to avoid. I will give it a try.

Sour

There are some old power items from BG1 that are dropped by enemies and some full plate armor. A bit of gems and gold as well but you will spend most of that at the church to fix your reputation after the last mission. There are a few gems that your new team members will leave in your safe every weak or so but your regular thief's get caught more often and you have to bail them out so I would say it's pretty balanced. Of course you can abuse this just like you can abuse the normal stronghold by sleeping alot and making time go by faster. I use SCS to boost the cost of things in the city and self imposed rules to avoid taking advantage of merchants so for me it's hardly a concern but I don't think it will be an issue for anyone else either. I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of the mod after you are done playing it.