Add monk fists to other classes?

KronoKenisis

Hi everyone, I just got BG:EE and BG2:EE and it looks amazing. Havn't actually played it much because I want to play a specific character idea and cannot figure out how to implement it.

I installed EET and a number of mods, which may be important. But basically I want to make changes to the Monk class to be able to cast some arcane spells (I don't think this is actually possible to do) or make changes to a Bard kit to make them able to use monk fists, or any kind of custom fist slot weapon that would simulate the monk increases in damage for them.

I have fairly extensive experience fiddling with .2da files in the like in NearInfinity, but I don't know much beyond that. There is a class kit called "Arcane Fist" in the Sorcerer's Place Collection mod, but that unfortunately does not work for BG2EE/EET. I can install it, but the kit does not show up; after messing with 2da files for a bit, I got the kit to show up but when selected I just reverted back to default bard once the game started. I then tried replacing most entries in an existing kit with the Arcane Fist entries, and everything was working except for the most important part; Fist damage was correct, except if I exited the game and loaded it again, they revert back to standard 1d2 fists that most classes have. I don't know what is causing this. There is both a custom spell in the kit that adds the fists at appropriate levels, as well as a script that force-changes the fist slot to be appropriate to your level. I suspect neither are working as intended. Here is a link to the mod if it helps anyone understand what I'm trying to do: http://www.gibberlings3.net/spc/

If someone knows how to convert this to be compatible with BG2EE/EET, please let me know what to do. Alternatively, if someone has an idea of how to recreate the kit, also let me know that. Ideally it will be a bard kit as I don't want to use a Mage kit, since that would make THAC0 levels unacceptable without editing THAC0.2da, which would also improve all other mages in the game, which is also unacceptable.

KronoKenisis

Update: After doing a clean reinstall, I tried loading up the kit again. I had to tweak some 2da files again, but I got the kit to show up and (hopefully) work as intended, with the small hiccup that it still says "Bard" in my class instead of "Arcane Fist", but all abilities are functioning as intended so far. That may have been the case last time as well. If anyone can determine why it still says "Bard" instead of "Arcane Fist" that would be helpful. Is there a specific section in the 2da files that has a stringref for that? Not the name of the kit, but what name shows up in your character sheet for the kit.

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KronoKenisis

That would have been excellent advice had I not already gone and done it myself! Lol, I may end up waiting anyway, it sounds like that is a closer fit to the character idea I want to play, thank you for letting me know.

If anyone is curious, here is what I did;

Installed the Sorcerer's Place Collection normally. Only installed the Wushi Ninja and Arcane Fist components (didn't do anything with the Wushi Ninja, just wanted to fiddle with it later maybe).

Went to kitlist.2da in NearInfinity and added in the kit's ID (which can be found by searching "CDArFist" in the ID files). One of the ID files was missing the entry for Arcane Fist; I added it there too just in case, but I'm not sure it was needed.

I then searched "CDArFist" in all .2da files and corrected for any inconsistencies, such as placing proper string references. Be sure to make some races available for the class - for some reason, no race is allowed to pick it when you install it. This will be found in the CLSRCREQ.2da.

Everything SEEMS to be working alright. As a final note, if you plan on messing with the Arcane Fist abilities at all, keep in mind for this particular class there is a script that handles the fist upgrades. For instance, I made all the fists more powerful (about as strong as default monk fists) but have a much slower progression (final fist at level 30). This caused stuttering when simply editing the .2da file that handles their abilities at given levels; there is an entry for the spell that gives the appropriate level of fist, but there is also a script that does the same thing; you must edit both to match each other or you will get stuttering with the character using the kit. I recommend doing this before installing the mod. In this case, it will be spstuff\arfist\baldur.baf

I guess I ended up not really needing assistance, but hopefully this will help anyone else trying to do what I was doing.