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SCS party/weapon considerations (and install/version questions)

ChiefBigFeatherChiefBigFeather Member Posts: 15
Dear Community,

I‘d like to try another SCS run of BGII and ToB EE 2.5. After getting the game I rolled up an exceptionally powerful character, so I thought I have to play him.

My main character will be a Kensage dualed at 13.
The rest of the party will be Jan, Aerie, Nalia/Imoen
The 5th spot is for Jaheira (untill I get the ring of wizardry), swapped for Cernd and lastly Haer‘Dalis at level 15. The last spot is for quest NPCs in BGII and Sarevok in ToB.
Does my Kensage need to reach Wizard 15 for Haer‘Dalis to get the second pip in longsword?

I cannot quite decide on the best weapon layout for my main character.
When talking about weapons I should disclaim that I intend to mod Blackrazor to +5 and change the haste to improved haste (because the weapon is nearly useless if it breaks IH as it used to, dunno if some patch changed that).
He should be dual wielding and Belm is probably the best offhand choice. Blackrazor is probably a great main hand choice, but I‘m not sure if its better then FoA. Afaik FoA won‘t break the concentration of protected SCS mages as it used to do in vanilla. But there are lots of tough golem fights for a mage heavy party in SoA, so going all out longsword might be a bad idea. Foebane is another good consideration, but the game is almost over when you can improve it.

The next tough choice is about Sarevok. I forgot how much you can customize him, but dualing him to mage should cost him his xp. Maybe he catches up in xp if you kick him out of the party, level yourself and pick him up again?
If not, he should probably remain a pure fighter. This would make him an even better candidate for blackrazor, because he will be squishy and cannot haste himself. Black razor and Kundane should help a lot with those issues. Making him a dual wielder should trigger his death bringer ability more often too.

Lastly Haer‘Dalis is also a strong longsword candidate with his (hopefully) two pips. He is probably best off with Arguvardal and the scarlet ninja-to though.

How are things regarding attacks per round? Will the boots of speed round up half numbers getting me from 9/5 to 5 without gandmaster? Or will I need the 5th pip to reach 10 attacks with improved haste?

Is str still applied to all slings? Aeries midgame sling choice might depend on it :)

Are the displayed weapon damage ranges for characters correct? Or do I need to verify them through testing?

Does the bigworld installer generally work fine for 2.5? More specifically the big world SCS install?

Sorry for the wall of text and thanks in advance for any help!

Comments

  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,758



    Does the bigworld installer generally work fine for 2.5? More specifically the big world SCS install?

    For 2.5 patch, see https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/971562/#Comment_971562
  • ChiefBigFeatherChiefBigFeather Member Posts: 15
    Whupsi, I'm on 2.3

    There are some oddities with the install though. I had to spawn Joluv and Deidre. Spells seem to work fine, I didn't have to play much mage chess yet though.

    I also installed the improved hell trial component from the big picture tactical encounters submenu (the one that lets you keep your alignment even if you take the evil choice in one of the tests, not enhanced hell trial that offers neutral choices), even though the installer said there are some minor errors. I hope this won't brick my save at the end of SoA.
  • BorekBorek Member Posts: 513
    SCS has a TON of customization options, it sounds like you installed a default version which i'm guessing either removes the special merchants or delays them turning up. There's likely a file you can edit to toggle various features on or off during the install process. I don't use BW myself, but i do have SCS and had a step by step installer that allowed me to pick whether to install each component on a case by case basis. I can't imagine BW doesn't have that option, but you may have to look into how to customize it to suit you.
  • ChiefBigFeatherChiefBigFeather Member Posts: 15
    Yeah, I might have missed the fact that I installed that component... so many SCS options. I hope I got it right.

    After finding Cernd in my playthrough, I just noticed that I didn't install the shapeshifter buffs :/
    Even after revisiting the install options in the big world setup I cannot find the component. This is something for the BigWorld thread though.
  • NeverusedNeverused Member Posts: 803
    Oh, I know something of the last one, if you're talking about the shapeshifting tokens: it's component 4030, which @subtledoctor requested be not a default option in BWS, since the original use of the tokens was to prevent the paws from being dispellable. I can't find the comment to save my life, but I found it while trying to figure out the exact same issue. You can add it back to a BWS install using instructions from here.
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