I am quite enjoying this mod so far, even more than I thought I would!
But I've noticed one minor bug. When Hephernaan levels up as a cleric his spell list remains correct (the limited cleric spells + unique spells for the "false priest kit"). But when he levels up as a mage he also acquires all the other cleric spells (in addition to his unique spells). When he levels up again as a cleric his spell list resets itself to those for the false priest kit.
(It's not a big deal -- I just ignore the "regular" cleric spells when they appear -- but I thought I would mention it.)
The Gibberlings3 forum has many veteran modders who might help you. Off-hand, I'm unsure who specifically who would be best to ask to have this problem solved.
Seriously? You're informing me that G3 exists? Have you noticed that I've been G3 and SHS modder for something like... 10 years now? I know who I may ask and where to ask, I am just unsure who has time to spare on that one. And I'll end my reply like that to keep it healthy.
@Endraire a word of advice (as a regular forum user, not moderator). You need to stop telling people what they should or shouldn't do (especially when it comes to EET compatibility or crossmod compatibility). This is really getting out of hand and a) it's annoying as hell, b) it's only doing damage to EET as a project.
Look, I get you have a mission to be some sort of caretakeer of a EET well-being, but this approach of yours is not working. You need to chill and let modders do their (awesome) work. Most of those modders are very experienced in what they do, and I'm sure they know who or where to ask in case of stumbling upon a problem that is (currently) above their heads. In case of new modders, I would say they do their reaserch before jumping in to the modding scene. It can be intimidating at first and doing a home work first is really the only way to not bounce back from the WeiDu solid wall.
You may have fixed this already in the most recent update, but I noticed that if you select the cleric HLA spells (e.g., Fallen Deva), they disappear when Hephernaan levels up as a cleric (I assume that they are edited out when revising his spell list to that appropriate for the kit).
Also, one small question:
When Oxariusz offers to "sell" the PC special items, do you have to purchase them in order, or can you "skip" an item and be offered a different one later? I ask because my character keeps being offered the short sword, even though he isn't really interested in it.
That's not fixed, but... now, thinking of it, I may need to take a look at his HLA in general. Thanks!
As for your question:
Nope, you can't skip them That's the idea: he's going to lure you with more and more powerful items, with the last one not being just strong, but also you you get an extra something - an item that may corrupt sacred items, IIRC... And yes, there are many original items you can actually corrupt.
And who said I would write any crossmod talks with Roxanne's Caelar? It's not going to happen.
When I say I eat vegetables, it doesn't mean I'm going to chomp on a raw potato.
So he's a cleric/mage with 10 int and 12 wis with useless cleric spells sans raise dead. To compensate he gets 10 phys res at lvl 20 and a kitty. Must be one hell of a kitty. Turns out his HLA are bugged too. Don't think you should be talking about raw potatoes with this one, man. PS. It gets even more spicy - his abishai trasformation does not further boost his stats and substracts one reputation on every use. His amulet does nothing and takes up a slot. This guy is not a devil, he's a troll under cover. This is an npc for story mode difficulty, it seems.
While in it, he may perform 3 attacks per round, becomes immune to normal weapons. He gains resistances: 50% to Cold and Magic Cold, 100% to Fire and Magic Fire, 100% to Poison Resistance and cures Diseases, He receives +20% Hit Points and regeneration (1 Hit Poitn per Round).
So yes, it deoes improve stats. Also, he is an evil NPC and does not work well with good NPC. However, many BG2 qests include reputation increase, what creates a possibility that some of them may leave. This feature that lowers reputation is not only a penalty for good NPCs, but something useful for evil PCs to prevent problems regarding half of your party leaving in the middle of a quest.
Regarding spells - it was described in this thread:
It will have VERY little to do with normal cleric class, he will only have few spells that will be more like a support for his arcane powers. But he will still be able to turn undead, summon undead and use some nice tricks. That includes summoning Hellcats. He won't be able to heal, though, use restoration etc. His powers will be more diabolical. He will still remain full arcane powers and he will gave some diabolical resistances. That is mostly why his cleric-oriented abilities were greatly limited.
So if you expected a normal cleric, then no. And it was never a secret. His cleric book is a support to his usual arcane powers. It includes spells like minor drain, curse, command, hold person, animate dead, domination, cloak of fear... I wouldn't call those useless. Also remember that all arcane spell you get through cleric's spellbook leaves a potential slot for other arcane spells in your arcane spellbook.
Regarding his physical statistics:
He is a character with a total of 89 statistic points and that very much (Minsc = 71, Aerie = 82, Edwin = 72, Viconia = 85) AND he has ~40% more HP than Aerie. By changing to his true form, in critical situation he may also get +20% HP what can save him when he gets into trouble. He also starts with resistance (to fire) almost equal to immunity (90%).
Regarding other bonuses:
Having him in the party allows you to get plenty of diabolical items unavailable to most players, so it's not just in the numbers. Thanks to the special book that allows you to teleport to his private chamber, you get a safe place that can be compared to a pocket plane.
I wish I could be such troll.
What you won't get:
- access to most cleric spells and he gets only some healing
- many NPCs won't stay with you if he joins
What needs more fixing:
- HLA, as they were reported as bugged and I already commented on that topic
There are many mods and they handle different matters and systems differently. Is this a normal NPC? No, it's not. Hephernaan BG2 comes with many upsides AND downsides. I also believe that an NPC may handle some utility features: like a place to rest and store items. Or like a chance to get unique set of items. Or a chance to reforge original items. This one comes with that future. It probably comes with big negative results: like locking many NPCs as I can't imagine some of NPCs being fine with working with a devil.
Having Hephernaan will make some thing harder. And some parts/quests will become easier.
I am sorry the mod is not what you expected it to be. There will be new versions, I will look at HLA, maybe provide new ones, and maybe I'll add something new. But there is a chance this mod will never be a project for you. This one is kind like a wildcard. And I like it that way. Perhaps after few updates it will be even better.
I hope you will find some other mod that will match your expectations and will help you to enjoy your game There are many NPCs out there, just waiting to join your party.
Does a spell have at least -2 penalty to saves? If not, with scs it is indeed useless. Hold , command, curse, priest domination unlike a wiz one, cloak of fear fall into this category. 9 out of 10 times they do nothing. Spell revision nerfs malison's malus to 2, so no hope there. His cleric spells do not supplement his wiz slots - because the muilticlass splits the xp. Cleric/mage main feature is cleric spells with long cast times in triggers and contingencies - doom+curse trigger, tripple bolt of glory trigger, heal contingency, tripple gate chain contingency and other such fine slices of cheese. A mage's hp is irrelevant - it is always less than what double incoming damage does, hence you rely on using protections to take no damage at all. Nobody remotely important uses normal weapons. Otherwise, yes it would have been cute with protection form magic weapons. His trasformation + (tenser's + improved haste + sth else nice) trigger turns him into a nice fire resistant fighter. For a limited time and at a rep cost. Compare that with a regular fighter mage - prot from fire + fire shield red for the fire immunity and dualwielding and fighter levels + specialisation for the attacks. Hephernaan has no advantage in that scenario. Maybe allow free abishai form in dungeons/eveil aligned cities (sahuagin town and ust natha) and remote outdoor areas?
What we are left with is the item system which i have yet to try and his book. So you can rest in avernus aka pocket plane in shadows of amn, that surely is op. For no reload playthroughs, in spellhold and the mind flayer underdark dungeon that is, everywhere else you are free to go back to an inn. Or if you play with limited rest house rules, in which case, fair enough, he is actually a must have.
Also, please note that i have nothing bad to say about the story/quest/item/area selection/recolour aspects. I have not played with him yet, but based on your other mods i've played - colors of infinity, shadow adept, innershade, the new atkathla district, ivette, oozes lounge i have great expectations. For me your writing is close to planescape torment tier, well above bg2 standards.
Frankly i was feeling salty precisely because i was looking forward to him a bit too much. Blame his glorious portrait for that ^^
Just to clarify: I do not use mods like SCS, Spell Revisions, et cetera, because I'm not really into building complex strategies to deal with certain enemies and I play/create mods with stories in mind. Thus yes - if you use mods that change weakens spells and improve enemies (especially resistances) then some of these spells are going to become less useful. However, I am also not going to write my mods with SCS, Spell Revisions and other such mods in mind. Not because I am against such mods, but simply because there are too many variables and you can't just make a mod work smoothly with every single mod (specially tweaks). Or at least that's too much for me. So, when I play, I find these spells useful.
What may be actually a nice idea is being able to turn into Abishai form without penalty in dungeons. I think I like the idea, but I must check how I actually coded that part. That may make it harder to balance the reputation to keep certain characters, BUT perhaps if such change is allowed in dungeons... that would be okay, as there are only few NPCs you join under such circumstances and you can still use it before the delve into a dungeon.
As for everything else: well, you just must see if you like it and it's OK if you don't. There are mods I made and even I am not a fan of them. For example T'viy. I think it could be soooo much better... So it's okay if you do not like Hephernaan. Perhaps it should become a well known fact that he works better without SCS and some other mods. It's still fine
So check it out and if you do not enjoy it. What I may change are:
-fixing HLA
-taking a look into Abishai form penalty being free of reputation loss in dungeon areas,
-adding a tiny (but a really tiny) bonus to his class so people fet he got something more
...and obviously all bugs should be fixed. Remember many of the new items come with a big price (like perma -2 HP for PC, and greatest items require ability score payment, BUT some items you can get are quite powerful - one of the items include: check spoiler)
a special item that can corrupt holy items - including Keldor's sword, if Keldor's dead, but... also some other quite recognized and remembered items
I can't say when the new version will be released, because right now I am working on another NPC that will be brought back to BG2EE. And the number of mods that could use an update is starting to scare me...
@StummvonBordwehr - thank you for your kind words! I wish I knew how to use time magic, though, and get some more time and help with updates.
As an aside SCS doesn't really touch saving throws, that's against the philosophy of the mod as I understand it. There are occasional exceptions in individual components, but specifically in BG2 it seems rare (in BG1several of the components add a few levels to specific enemies).
It's true that regardless of SCS spells without a saving throw penalty start feeling relatively weak in BG2.
Lava, tnx for taking the time to reply. Its fine to balance for vanilla, i was getting a bit narrow sighted with my assumptions for most people's mod config.
Ammar, it gives them potions - sometimes its potion of invulnerability, other times straight up clarity or freedom. In the latter case a penalty to saves wont even help, now that i think about it.
@teodar1 - I had problems with writing dialogues for the other mod today, so I prepared a new version of Hephernaan. What's new in 2.2:
-Fixed HLA bug (he may no longer take cleric's HLA, but gains 4 new unique options)
-Changing into Hephernaan's original form does not lower reputation is he's in a dungeon
-Additional bonuses when in the original form: +2 Strength and +1 Constitution
-Updated kit description (his race abilities are mentioned in the description: Dimension Door, Animate Dead)
-Fixed ToB script (reputation loss upon change to his natural form now works properly in ToB)
-Included README in the tp2
Probably not everything you'd like to see, but I think it should be somehow more enjoyable to some now.
I regret that I was unable to complete my run with Hephernaan as my old computer stopped working a couple of months ago.
But I thought that the mod was great devilish fun, and plan to use it again (with all the fixes!) in a future "dark side" game.
I think you did a excellent job developing the character from his SoD version.
Comments
That makes sense but I thought I would check.
One last question about this. What about:
Some people are so particular about associating with fiends...
But I've noticed one minor bug. When Hephernaan levels up as a cleric his spell list remains correct (the limited cleric spells + unique spells for the "false priest kit"). But when he levels up as a mage he also acquires all the other cleric spells (in addition to his unique spells). When he levels up again as a cleric his spell list resets itself to those for the false priest kit.
(It's not a big deal -- I just ignore the "regular" cleric spells when they appear -- but I thought I would mention it.)
Look, I get you have a mission to be some sort of caretakeer of a EET well-being, but this approach of yours is not working. You need to chill and let modders do their (awesome) work. Most of those modders are very experienced in what they do, and I'm sure they know who or where to ask in case of stumbling upon a problem that is (currently) above their heads. In case of new modders, I would say they do their reaserch before jumping in to the modding scene. It can be intimidating at first and doing a home work first is really the only way to not bounce back from the WeiDu solid wall.
Edit: Lava, sorry for off-topic.
Also, one small question:
Thanks again for this very cool mod!
As for your question:
When I say I eat vegetables, it doesn't mean I'm going to chomp on a raw potato.
His transformations provides: So yes, it deoes improve stats. Also, he is an evil NPC and does not work well with good NPC. However, many BG2 qests include reputation increase, what creates a possibility that some of them may leave. This feature that lowers reputation is not only a penalty for good NPCs, but something useful for evil PCs to prevent problems regarding half of your party leaving in the middle of a quest.
Regarding spells - it was described in this thread: So if you expected a normal cleric, then no. And it was never a secret. His cleric book is a support to his usual arcane powers. It includes spells like minor drain, curse, command, hold person, animate dead, domination, cloak of fear... I wouldn't call those useless. Also remember that all arcane spell you get through cleric's spellbook leaves a potential slot for other arcane spells in your arcane spellbook.
Regarding his physical statistics:
He is a character with a total of 89 statistic points and that very much (Minsc = 71, Aerie = 82, Edwin = 72, Viconia = 85) AND he has ~40% more HP than Aerie. By changing to his true form, in critical situation he may also get +20% HP what can save him when he gets into trouble. He also starts with resistance (to fire) almost equal to immunity (90%).
Regarding other bonuses:
Having him in the party allows you to get plenty of diabolical items unavailable to most players, so it's not just in the numbers. Thanks to the special book that allows you to teleport to his private chamber, you get a safe place that can be compared to a pocket plane.
I wish I could be such troll.
What you won't get:
- access to most cleric spells and he gets only some healing
- many NPCs won't stay with you if he joins
What needs more fixing:
- HLA, as they were reported as bugged and I already commented on that topic
There are many mods and they handle different matters and systems differently. Is this a normal NPC? No, it's not. Hephernaan BG2 comes with many upsides AND downsides. I also believe that an NPC may handle some utility features: like a place to rest and store items. Or like a chance to get unique set of items. Or a chance to reforge original items. This one comes with that future. It probably comes with big negative results: like locking many NPCs as I can't imagine some of NPCs being fine with working with a devil.
Having Hephernaan will make some thing harder. And some parts/quests will become easier.
I am sorry the mod is not what you expected it to be. There will be new versions, I will look at HLA, maybe provide new ones, and maybe I'll add something new. But there is a chance this mod will never be a project for you. This one is kind like a wildcard. And I like it that way. Perhaps after few updates it will be even better.
I hope you will find some other mod that will match your expectations and will help you to enjoy your game
We just wish that you will remain Lava. It’s pretty OP - even in my book.
Ps. Thanks for all your contributions- we hope that you somehow will find the strength to carry on
What we are left with is the item system which i have yet to try and his book. So you can rest in avernus aka pocket plane in shadows of amn, that surely is op. For no reload playthroughs, in spellhold and the mind flayer underdark dungeon that is, everywhere else you are free to go back to an inn. Or if you play with limited rest house rules, in which case, fair enough, he is actually a must have.
Also, please note that i have nothing bad to say about the story/quest/item/area selection/recolour aspects. I have not played with him yet, but based on your other mods i've played - colors of infinity, shadow adept, innershade, the new atkathla district, ivette, oozes lounge i have great expectations. For me your writing is close to planescape torment tier, well above bg2 standards.
Frankly i was feeling salty precisely because i was looking forward to him a bit too much. Blame his glorious portrait for that ^^
What may be actually a nice idea is being able to turn into Abishai form without penalty in dungeons. I think I like the idea, but I must check how I actually coded that part. That may make it harder to balance the reputation to keep certain characters, BUT perhaps if such change is allowed in dungeons... that would be okay, as there are only few NPCs you join under such circumstances and you can still use it before the delve into a dungeon.
As for everything else: well, you just must see if you like it and it's OK if you don't. There are mods I made and even I am not a fan of them. For example T'viy. I think it could be soooo much better... So it's okay if you do not like Hephernaan. Perhaps it should become a well known fact that he works better without SCS and some other mods. It's still fine
So check it out and if you do not enjoy it. What I may change are:
-fixing HLA
-taking a look into Abishai form penalty being free of reputation loss in dungeon areas,
-adding a tiny (but a really tiny) bonus to his class so people fet he got something more
...and obviously all bugs should be fixed. Remember many of the new items come with a big price (like perma -2 HP for PC, and greatest items require ability score payment, BUT some items you can get are quite powerful - one of the items include: check spoiler)
I can't say when the new version will be released, because right now I am working on another NPC that will be brought back to BG2EE. And the number of mods that could use an update is starting to scare me...
@StummvonBordwehr - thank you for your kind words! I wish I knew how to use time magic, though, and get some more time and help with updates.
It's true that regardless of SCS spells without a saving throw penalty start feeling relatively weak in BG2.
Ammar, it gives them potions - sometimes its potion of invulnerability, other times straight up clarity or freedom. In the latter case a penalty to saves wont even help, now that i think about it.
-Fixed HLA bug (he may no longer take cleric's HLA, but gains 4 new unique options)
-Changing into Hephernaan's original form does not lower reputation is he's in a dungeon
-Additional bonuses when in the original form: +2 Strength and +1 Constitution
-Updated kit description (his race abilities are mentioned in the description: Dimension Door, Animate Dead)
-Fixed ToB script (reputation loss upon change to his natural form now works properly in ToB)
-Included README in the tp2
Probably not everything you'd like to see, but I think it should be somehow more enjoyable to some now.
Special thanks to @kjeron for consultation!
But I thought that the mod was great devilish fun, and plan to use it again (with all the fixes!) in a future "dark side" game.
I think you did a excellent job developing the character from his SoD version.
Thankee!