But some of those items do things that simply don't exist in BG2, or barely. Things that are really strong, I'm talking about stun and %damage resistance. %damage resistance is even stronger in tob since almost all enemies are going to hit you anyway.
In the mod, there are multiple items that can stun and/or grant % damage resistances bonuses. Those are a rarity in BG2 (I think the only vanilla weapon that stun in the game is Celestial Fury, and for damage reduction, you have very few, like the elephant figurine and easthaven). You also get multiple copies of the +2ac ring that also gives you some damage resistance. In general you get only one of those (without the resistance bonus!) + kangaax ring in a vanilla playthrough. I also seem to recall a +3 ac cloak. And I'm probably forgetting some.
Besides, the content itself is aimed at lvl10-12, and for that lvl you get really nice items.
I think a level 10-12 party would have a hard time completing the adventure. It's more aimed at level 14 and higher.
You're right that unnerfed items in the mod are quite powerful, especially if you start the adventure in the SoA part of the game. There are vanilla items in SoD and BG2-SoA with damage reduction, but they are rare or reduce only by a miniscule amount. It might be a good idea to tone down some of the more overpowered effects somewhat.
I don't think items with stun effects make much of a difference though, since you probably have wands of paralyzation or other ways to immobilize opponents by that time.
I don't think nerfing items to different power levels doesn't make enough of a difference that would justify the amount of work involved. The current options - original items and nerfed items - should be enough.
Oh, I'm certainly grateful for this mod. My opinion is just that the "rebalance weapons and equipment" should be the default, and people would have to select "original possibly unbalanced equipment" instead.
But it's just a minor change. In the end, I just sold everything I found
Oh, I'm certainly grateful for this mod. My opinion is just that the "rebalance weapons and equipment" should be the default, and people would have to select "original possibly unbalanced equipment" instead.
@argent77 Ladon has good point. The default install should provide the best of the mod when it comes to content and balance and have 'unbalanced equipment' as additional choice for those who want it.
Doing it the other way around would mean a huge amount of work for me with very little benefit. I have already adjusted the original loot somewhat, so that you don't get too powerful items out of the mod. There were a couple of "oversights" anyway that had to be fixed.
I think a level 10-12 party would have a hard time completing the adventure. It's more aimed at level 14 and higher.
Having just tried it with a level 11-12 party, I can very much attest to that. Great mod, but I think I will try it again a little later. I haven't tried the original Trials in years, and I'd forgotten just what a pain those spectral guards are.
I think a level 10-12 party would have a hard time completing the adventure. It's more aimed at level 14 and higher.
Having just tried it with a level 11-12 party, I can very much attest to that. Great mod, but I think I will try it again a little later. I haven't tried the original Trials in years, and I'd forgotten just what a pain those spectral guards are.
Yeah, some of the opponents can be quite challenging if you're not fully prepared. Next release will react more dynamically to current party level and selected game difficulty, so it should be more manageable even with weaker parties.
Hello argent77, I recently played the TotLM in my bgeet, and everything went well until I finished the Watchknights' Crypt. When I pushed the lever in each tower, only the one in northeast tower worked and shows "door of distance opens" words, others just moved with some sound (the sound of door opening in bg, you knovw), no words or the way to the downstairs. It results in the stuck of TotLM. I also tried some different orders to push levers but it just didn't work. Would you know the problem or something I don't know? Thanks a lot!
@charname_ver The mechanism for opening the trap doors should be rather foolproof. I can't think of a situation where it wouldn't work except maybe a compatibility issue with another mod. Can you please attach your WeiDU.log? It can be found in the game installation folder.
Did you try toggling the switches multiple times? Turning a switch on or off will open or close the associated trap door and display the appropriate message.
If nothing else helps you can open the doors via debug console. This is a bit complicated because the opened state of trap doors is linked to the activation state of their corresponding switches.
Enter the following commands into the debug console while your party is in the right area. You can use copy and paste to enter the lines.
@argent77 Thanks for your reply, it's very helpful! I've tried several times turning the switch to make sure if I made a stupid mistake but it didn't work. The debug consoles finally save my issues so I won't have to give up this task by using the "moveto" word, haha.
And here's my weidu.log, as a freshman in the bg moddling, it's hard for me to analyze the details in the weidu file. Could u tell me how to learn something about the mode making, debug, or anything else that matters? Just some links would be useful enough if you had the time. Thank you again for your sincere help!
There is nothing that really sticks out of your WeiDU.log, except maybe Sandrah NPC. That mod is notorious for making a great number of changes to all kinds of mods.
Could u tell me how to learn something about the mode making, debug, or anything else that matters? Just some links would be useful enough if you had the time. Thank you again for your sincere help!
I just completed TotLM in SOD with an Undead Hunter CHARNAME, and a near-full NPC mod party of Sirene, Emily, Aura, Vienxay and Neera on Insane difficulty.
When I started TotLM, everyone was already maxed out, less Neera (cos of how late you get her in SOD), so I didn't really have an issue of the XP gain making me "too powerful" for the rest of SOD. Although Neera wasn't maxed out, she was still at full SOD power (level cap).
My roughest fight was actually with the Dire bears, followed by the Jackals. Surprisingly, I had less issues with the Harpies. Before that, my roughest fight was at the Courtyard of the castle, despite taking care to trigger the Spectral Guards in 3 separate encounters.
I refused to use any of the permanent buffing potions/items found, as I was just "trying TotLM out" and intended to seriously do TotLM during BG2EE.
After completing SOD, I wondered how the "nerfed" items would have helped me for the rest of SOD (I started TotLM at the very end of Coalition Camp, just before the parlay, with everything else in Chapter 10 completed).
To be honest, with the exception of having more +3 and better weapons for Belhifet, which I didn't need, since both Paladins were 2H Sword users (Dragon's Blade +3 and World's Edge +3), the original IWD drops wouldn't have made much of a difference for the rest of SOD. Having a couple of "better rings" compared to the standard Ring of Protection +2 would help a little, but wouldn't really change how you have to approach the final Belhifet fight on Insane difficulty.
That said, it would certainly benefit Axe and Blunt Weapon users, who would otherwise have to stick to other +3 weapons, such as Aule Staff +3, Short Sword of Backstabbing +3, Tongue of Acid +3 and the Void weapons.
The only seriously OP item that would be out of place, would probably be the Bracers of Icelandic Pearl, due to ADHW.
Balance for the start of BG2EE wouldn't matter, since you lose everything at the end of SOD anyway.
Hence, I would suggest that the next version of the mod provide the option to allow the full items in SOD, instead of automatically nerfing them.
So my little gang (less Aura, replaced by Skie) finally got to ToTL in SOA. I decided that the starting location for TOB was too far down in the game (Saradush would probably have been better), so I did it at the end of Chapter 6 in SOA, post-Bodhi, pre-Elhan.
As I had completed everything in SOA by then, and also did Back to Brynnlaw, Sellswords and Eilistraee's Song, I was average 4.65M xp.
Life was much better, especially backed up by SOA gear. For most fights, I just brute-forced my way through, focus-attacking with my 2 tanks + 4 ranged. I hardly used HLAs or even high level spells, let alone meta tactics or summons tanking.
Even when I used high level spells, I never had to resort to Sequencer/Trigger/Contingencies just to power my way through. Most of the time, my 2 mages were just hitting with Gesen and Firetooth Dagger (Neera is as stronk as a Hill Giant....) without Tenser's.
If I had done it at the end of Chapter 3 (since I wasn't Imoen rushing), I would have been at 2.4M xp with all side quests done, and would probably have to use some meta tactics and cast a lot more spells. But it wouldn't be too rough.
Overall, ToTL is a very good BG port, and the various IWD components really add a nice flavour to the game. While doing it in SOD is definitely achievable, it is much much rougher, and to be honest, quite pointless, since you neither get the gear nor the xp from it. My SOD run was definitely a struggle, and less well-setup parties would probably not make it through with party members dying.
I would recommend that players do it in SOA, either at the end of Chapter 3, or in Chapter 6. If you do it too early, without important items such as Mace of Disruption, Flail of the Ages, Celestial Fury, etc, it can get rough for some of the fights, like how I struggled during my SOD run. If you do it in TOB, there isn't enough runway in the game to fully have fun with the ToTL items.
Finally, I would suggest that @argent77 shift Hobart Stubbletoes from Amkethran to Saradush instead.
So my little gang (less Aura, replaced by Skie) finally got to ToTL in SOA. I decided that the starting location for TOB was too far down in the game (Saradush would probably have been better), so I did it at the end of Chapter 6 in SOA, post-Bodhi, pre-Elhan.
As I had completed everything in SOA by then, and also did Back to Brynnlaw, Sellswords and Eilistraee's Song, I was average 4.65M xp.
Life was much better, especially backed up by SOA gear. For most fights, I just brute-forced my way through, focus-attacking with my 2 tanks + 4 ranged. I hardly used HLAs or even high level spells, let alone meta tactics or summons tanking.
Even when I used high level spells, I never had to resort to Sequencer/Trigger/Contingencies just to power my way through. Most of the time, my 2 mages were just hitting with Gesen and Firetooth Dagger (Neera is as stronk as a Hill Giant....) without Tenser's.
If I had done it at the end of Chapter 3 (since I wasn't Imoen rushing), I would have been at 2.4M xp with all side quests done, and would probably have to use some meta tactics and cast a lot more spells. But it wouldn't be too rough.
Overall, ToTL is a very good BG port, and the various IWD components really add a nice flavour to the game. While doing it in SOD is definitely achievable, it is much much rougher, and to be honest, quite pointless, since you neither get the gear nor the xp from it. My SOD run was definitely a struggle, and less well-setup parties would probably not make it through with party members dying.
I would recommend that players do it in SOA, either at the end of Chapter 3, or in Chapter 6. If you do it too early, without important items such as Mace of Disruption, Flail of the Ages, Celestial Fury, etc, it can get rough for some of the fights, like how I struggled during my SOD run. If you do it in TOB, there isn't enough runway in the game to fully have fun with the ToTL items.
Finally, I would suggest that @argent77 shift Hobart Stubbletoes from Amkethran to Saradush instead.
Thanks for this great mod!
Next version will react more dynamically to party level and/or game difficulty. It should make life easier if you decide to start the adventure in SoD, but at the same time should still prove a decent challenge if done in late ToB. Moreover, opponents will be closer to their original AD&D descriptions which will make the adventure more (or in some cases less) challenging.
I'll see what I can do about Hobarts meeting location in ToB. In any case, in the next release you will also have a chance to start the adventure in SoD after returning from Hell.
Encountered something strange in my 2nd BG2EE ToTL run, this time with my Warlock party.
In the 1st Undead Hunter run, Kossuth's Blood never dropped in the Southeast Tower fight, but it did during the Warlock run. Could just have been a glitch during the Undead Hunter run, guess I'll just console it in.
Encountered something strange in my 2nd BG2EE ToTL run, this time with my Warlock party.
In the 1st Undead Hunter run, Kossuth's Blood never dropped in the Southeast Tower fight, but it did during the Warlock run. Could just have been a glitch during the Undead Hunter run, guess I'll just console it in.
That sounds like a conflict with another mod. Kossuth's Blood is installed as an undroppable item by this mod, so that only opponents can benefit from its abilities. I "fear" you'll get one or two more instances of this item in the course of the adventure.
Can you please check which mods have altered that item?
Create a copy of (any) setup-xyz.exe installer binary and rename it to weidu.exe (or download it from here). Execute the following line from the command prompt:
weidu --change-log CISHELH.ITM
It should list all mods that have modified the item in any way.
Ah, I think it might have been the SOD to BG2EE Item Upgrade Mod, which also imports Kossuth's Blood. I'll just not use it then. It's not that game-changing for my playthroughs anyway.
Ah, I think it might have been the SOD to BG2EE Item Upgrade Mod, which also imports Kossuth's Blood. I'll just not use it then. It's not that game-changing for my playthroughs anyway.
@Shirak I couldn't reproduce this issue with TotLM and SoD-to-BG2 Item Upgrade mods alone. Can you please please check which mods have modified that item as I described above? It is possible that the responsible mod has changed more than just that one item.
Very strangely, I couldn't reproduce the issue in my next playthrough (I'm doing a 18 CHARNAME full trilogy non-EET run).
And I also encountered another strange thing that I couldn't quite reproduce either. In my Warlock playthrough, I found a Potion of Greater Resistance in the barrel closest to the Magic Mouth at Dungeon Level 2. But I didn't find it in the other 2 playthroughs.
Very strangely, I couldn't reproduce the issue in my next playthrough (I'm doing a 18 CHARNAME full trilogy non-EET run).
And I also encountered another strange thing that I couldn't quite reproduce either. In my Warlock playthrough, I found a Potion of Greater Resistance in the barrel closest to the Magic Mouth at Dungeon Level 2. But I didn't find it in the other 2 playthroughs.
Is it a random drop in barrel or something?
Yes, that barrel does indeed contain a randomized item which has a small chance to produce a Potion of Greater Resistance (among other kinds of potions).
I'm planning to run my BG1EE&SOD run with SCS and other quest mods like Stone of Avaskar, Northern tales and Dark Side w/o XP cap. When this mod is recommended to install? After all quest mods, NPC mods prior tweaks & SCS?
I'm planning to run my BG1EE&SOD run with SCS and other quest mods like Stone of Avaskar, Northern tales and Dark Side w/o XP cap. When this mod is recommended to install? After all quest mods, NPC mods prior tweaks & SCS?
This mod counts as a quest mod, so it should be installed earlier in the general mod order. However, I'd suggest to install the IWD-spells components from SCS before this mod because they provide a more complete set of spells. The same is true for IWDification if you plan to install it as well. Apart from that, mod installation order shouldn't really matter.
I'm planning to run my BG1EE&SOD run with SCS and other quest mods like Stone of Avaskar, Northern tales and Dark Side w/o XP cap. When this mod is recommended to install? After all quest mods, NPC mods prior tweaks & SCS?
This mod counts as a quest mod, so it should be installed earlier in the general mod order. However, I'd suggest to install the IWD-spells components from SCS before this mod because they provide a more complete set of spells. The same is true for IWDification if you plan to install it as well. Apart from that, mod installation order shouldn't really matter.
In addition to many bugfixes this update greatly improves creatures provided by the mod and brings them closer to their pen & paper descriptions. As a result some creatures become more challenging while other creatures become easier to defeat (see changelog below for details). Combat scripts of monsters have been improved as well and will react more sensitive to the selected game difficulty and party level.
Moreover, the adventure can now be started at two additional locations:
- SoD: Dragonspear Castle Basement (after returning from Avernus)
- ToB: Saradush Tavern
Italian translation for this update is currently incomplete and will be provided when it's ready.
Full Changelog:
Brought several creatures closer to their pen & paper descriptions:
Comments
In the mod, there are multiple items that can stun and/or grant % damage resistances bonuses. Those are a rarity in BG2 (I think the only vanilla weapon that stun in the game is Celestial Fury, and for damage reduction, you have very few, like the elephant figurine and easthaven). You also get multiple copies of the +2ac ring that also gives you some damage resistance. In general you get only one of those (without the resistance bonus!) + kangaax ring in a vanilla playthrough. I also seem to recall a +3 ac cloak. And I'm probably forgetting some.
Besides, the content itself is aimed at lvl10-12, and for that lvl you get really nice items.
You're right that unnerfed items in the mod are quite powerful, especially if you start the adventure in the SoA part of the game. There are vanilla items in SoD and BG2-SoA with damage reduction, but they are rare or reduce only by a miniscule amount. It might be a good idea to tone down some of the more overpowered effects somewhat.
I don't think items with stun effects make much of a difference though, since you probably have wands of paralyzation or other ways to immobilize opponents by that time.
No worries, even the nerfed items will be exceptionally powerful, just not as unbalancing as they are now.
What about install options that set the item power level?
But it's just a minor change. In the end, I just sold everything I found
@argent77 Ladon has good point. The default install should provide the best of the mod when it comes to content and balance and have 'unbalanced equipment' as additional choice for those who want it.
Having just tried it with a level 11-12 party, I can very much attest to that. Great mod, but I think I will try it again a little later. I haven't tried the original Trials in years, and I'd forgotten just what a pain those spectral guards are.
Yeah, some of the opponents can be quite challenging if you're not fully prepared. Next release will react more dynamically to current party level and selected game difficulty, so it should be more manageable even with weaker parties.
Did you try toggling the switches multiple times? Turning a switch on or off will open or close the associated trap door and display the appropriate message.
If nothing else helps you can open the doors via debug console. This is a bit complicated because the opened state of trap doors is linked to the activation state of their corresponding switches.
Enter the following commands into the debug console while your party is in the right area. You can use copy and paste to enter the lines.
NW tower (Harald):
C:Eval('ActionOverride(Player1,OpenDoor("ID9704_Door1"))');C:SetGlobal("ID9708_HIDDEN_DOOR_STATE","GLOBAL",1)SW tower (Wyverns):
C:Eval('ActionOverride(Player1,OpenDoor("ID9702_Door1"))');C:SetGlobal("ID9706_HIDDEN_DOOR_STATE","GLOBAL",1)NE tower (Harpies):
C:Eval('ActionOverride(Player1,OpenDoor("ID9706_Door1"))');C:SetGlobal("ID9702_HIDDEN_DOOR_STATE","GLOBAL",1)SE tower (Adventurers):
C:Eval('ActionOverride(Player1,OpenDoor("ID9708_Door1"))');C:SetGlobal("ID9704_HIDDEN_DOOR_STATE","GLOBAL",1)And here's my weidu.log, as a freshman in the bg moddling, it's hard for me to analyze the details in the weidu file. Could u tell me how to learn something about the mode making, debug, or anything else that matters? Just some links would be useful enough if you had the time. Thank you again for your sincere help!
Some links that might help you start (to understand) modding:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/34119/how-to-making-kit-mods-for-the-ee/p1
https://www.gibberlings3.net/forums/forum/62-modding-how-tos-and-tutorials/
http://www.shsforums.net/forum/125-ie-tutorials/
https://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php?board=16.0
Related links:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/30593/new-versions-of-nearinfinity-available/p1
https://gibberlings3.github.io/iesdp/
So my little gang (less Aura, replaced by Skie) finally got to ToTL in SOA. I decided that the starting location for TOB was too far down in the game (Saradush would probably have been better), so I did it at the end of Chapter 6 in SOA, post-Bodhi, pre-Elhan.
As I had completed everything in SOA by then, and also did Back to Brynnlaw, Sellswords and Eilistraee's Song, I was average 4.65M xp.
Life was much better, especially backed up by SOA gear. For most fights, I just brute-forced my way through, focus-attacking with my 2 tanks + 4 ranged. I hardly used HLAs or even high level spells, let alone meta tactics or summons tanking.
Even when I used high level spells, I never had to resort to Sequencer/Trigger/Contingencies just to power my way through. Most of the time, my 2 mages were just hitting with Gesen and Firetooth Dagger (Neera is as stronk as a Hill Giant....) without Tenser's.
If I had done it at the end of Chapter 3 (since I wasn't Imoen rushing), I would have been at 2.4M xp with all side quests done, and would probably have to use some meta tactics and cast a lot more spells. But it wouldn't be too rough.
Overall, ToTL is a very good BG port, and the various IWD components really add a nice flavour to the game. While doing it in SOD is definitely achievable, it is much much rougher, and to be honest, quite pointless, since you neither get the gear nor the xp from it. My SOD run was definitely a struggle, and less well-setup parties would probably not make it through with party members dying.
I would recommend that players do it in SOA, either at the end of Chapter 3, or in Chapter 6. If you do it too early, without important items such as Mace of Disruption, Flail of the Ages, Celestial Fury, etc, it can get rough for some of the fights, like how I struggled during my SOD run. If you do it in TOB, there isn't enough runway in the game to fully have fun with the ToTL items.
Finally, I would suggest that @argent77 shift Hobart Stubbletoes from Amkethran to Saradush instead.
Thanks for this great mod!
Next version will react more dynamically to party level and/or game difficulty. It should make life easier if you decide to start the adventure in SoD, but at the same time should still prove a decent challenge if done in late ToB. Moreover, opponents will be closer to their original AD&D descriptions which will make the adventure more (or in some cases less) challenging.
I'll see what I can do about Hobarts meeting location in ToB. In any case, in the next release you will also have a chance to start the adventure in SoD after returning from Hell.
In the 1st Undead Hunter run, Kossuth's Blood never dropped in the Southeast Tower fight, but it did during the Warlock run. Could just have been a glitch during the Undead Hunter run, guess I'll just console it in.
But Warlock + Kossuth's Blood = WOOHOO!!!
That sounds like a conflict with another mod. Kossuth's Blood is installed as an undroppable item by this mod, so that only opponents can benefit from its abilities. I "fear" you'll get one or two more instances of this item in the course of the adventure.
Can you please check which mods have altered that item?
Create a copy of (any) setup-xyz.exe installer binary and rename it to weidu.exe (or download it from here). Execute the following line from the command prompt: It should list all mods that have modified the item in any way.
Thanks!
@Shirak I couldn't reproduce this issue with TotLM and SoD-to-BG2 Item Upgrade mods alone. Can you please please check which mods have modified that item as I described above? It is possible that the responsible mod has changed more than just that one item.
And I also encountered another strange thing that I couldn't quite reproduce either. In my Warlock playthrough, I found a Potion of Greater Resistance in the barrel closest to the Magic Mouth at Dungeon Level 2. But I didn't find it in the other 2 playthroughs.
Is it a random drop in barrel or something?
Yes, that barrel does indeed contain a randomized item which has a small chance to produce a Potion of Greater Resistance (among other kinds of potions).
This mod counts as a quest mod, so it should be installed earlier in the general mod order. However, I'd suggest to install the IWD-spells components from SCS before this mod because they provide a more complete set of spells. The same is true for IWDification if you plan to install it as well. Apart from that, mod installation order shouldn't really matter.
Thanks a lot!
In addition to many bugfixes this update greatly improves creatures provided by the mod and brings them closer to their pen & paper descriptions. As a result some creatures become more challenging while other creatures become easier to defeat (see changelog below for details). Combat scripts of monsters have been improved as well and will react more sensitive to the selected game difficulty and party level.
Moreover, the adventure can now be started at two additional locations:
- SoD: Dragonspear Castle Basement (after returning from Avernus)
- ToB: Saradush Tavern
Italian translation for this update is currently incomplete and will be provided when it's ready.
Full Changelog:
One question: Is TotLM compatible with Tipun's IWD-in-EET mods?