Overall, it should still work. There might be some tweaks that will lead to errors. Just as with SCS, for example, which is almost playable with 2.6, with the exception of a few issues, see https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1160741/#Comment_1160741 and the subsequent post.
Didnt see any mention to this as i didnt see any mention about why this quest wasnt restored in IWD, neither why all the others restorations werent applied to all other games, i mean, if you restored things in IWD why not restore cut content in all other games including neverwinter?
Didnt see any mention to this as i didnt see any mention about why this quest wasnt restored in IWD, neither why all the others restorations werent applied to all other games, i mean, if you restored things in IWD why not restore cut content in all other games including neverwinter?
Well, I don't think it is really possible to officially restore cut content any more. Unfortunately, many of the developers who are actually familiar with the IE games, the ones you could say knew the heart and soul of these games, are no longer working for Beamdog. This means that any new or restored content is probably not going to be implemented officially anymore.
Sad as this is, the modding community for these games is still as active as ever. Most of the IE modders could indeed be called experts on the games. Some of them (such as myself) even take requests. I would suggest this kind of thing is best handled by the modding community.
Just don't ask me about this particular one... I am not too familiar with IWD yet.
One item from the latest (2.6.4.0) update caught my eye:
All Games | Potion buffs should be noncumulative with themselves
Can you clarify which potions are affected by this change? I find myself using potion-stacking strategies quite a bit - particularly stacking Int potions for spell learning, or stacking thieving potions for shoplifting.
If I didn’t know better, I’d file that fix as a game breaking bug....
And by the way: hands off from the “Exploits, tricks and nonstandard tactics thread
Wow, that's unexpected. It will certainly require a change of tactics and especially make no-reload runs more difficult. Among other, the toughest to me seems no guarantee to scribe a rare and important spell anymore by sacrificing two potions of genius
That's a bit of a strange fix indeed. Not the end of the world, but that will make learning spells with "medium int" characters (Bard companions especially) pretty hard.
Let’s not despair. A couple of tweaks modders surely most have picked up an idea for another tweak...
And for the int buff, you can still stack potions of mind focusing and genius for a total buff of 7 to the int stat. The change log said that the stacking cap only applied for potions of the same type. A +7 int buff should cover much of the gap - if not it all.
Let’s not despair. A couple of tweaks modders surely most have picked up an idea for another tweak...
And for the int buff, you can still stack potions of mind focusing and genius for a total buff of 7 to the int stat. The change log said that the stacking cap only applied for potions of the same type. A +7 int buff should cover much of the gap - if not it all.
True, I forgot that it said same potion only, not same effect. That only means you need more money to safely learn the good spells and wait longer until you scribe many scrolls at once. You get both potion types (genius and mind focusing) in the temple at the FAI already, not only in the city.
For resistances, a green scroll should still stack with a potion, right?
That's a bit of a strange fix indeed. Not the end of the world, but that will make learning spells with "medium int" characters (Bard companions especially) pretty hard.
In particular, consider Haer'Dalis. You can feed him a potion of genius and a potion of mind focusing to get him to 22 Int. 98% chance to learn shown, 84% actual chance due to bugs.
You want to do better than that? It's either combining the Watcher's Keep bonus Int with the +Int ioun stone available in ToB, using the exceedingly rare Red Potion, or getting the 25 stats option on a Wish. Or lowering the difficulty.
Jan is also limited to an 85% chance outside his specialty before ToB. The other mage companions in BG2 (Aerie, Edwin, Imoen, Nalia, Neera) can all reach a 100% chance with one of each potion.
That's a bit of a strange fix indeed. Not the end of the world, but that will make learning spells with "medium int" characters (Bard companions especially) pretty hard.
In particular, consider Haer'Dalis. You can feed him a potion of genius and a potion of mind focusing to get him to 22 Int. 98% chance to learn shown, 84% actual chance due to bugs.
You want to do better than that? It's either combining the Watcher's Keep bonus Int with the +Int ioun stone available in ToB, using the exceedingly rare Red Potion, or getting the 25 stats option on a Wish. Or lowering the difficulty.
Jan is also limited to an 85% chance outside his specialty before ToB. The other mage companions in BG2 (Aerie, Edwin, Imoen, Nalia, Neera) can all reach a 100% chance with one of each potion.
First, all of the displayed spell learning chances - and most other percentage chances in the game - are 1% lower than what you actually get. A random number that should be 1-100 is actually being rolled as 0-99.
Second, the 15% penalty for a specialist learning spells outside their specialty is incorrectly applied to anyone with any kit. Such as a Blade (Haer'Dalis), a Wild Mage (Neera), or an (any kit)-mage dual (popular among protagonists).
Note that 24 Int gives you a displayed 150% spell learning chance, strong enough to overcome the specialist penalty. Any mage or bard that can get to 24 Int has no risk of failure.
Let’s not despair. A couple of tweaks modders surely most have picked up an idea for another tweak...
Do not despair indeed! I have already made and uploaded a fix for this issue. It can be found with my tweaks here.
I think that this change is a very bad one, especially at this stage in the game. I would suggest that if you don't like it, then say so. Let the devs know that this is a very bad change. If enough people complain about it then they may actually decide to reverse it. A thread full of complaints about the change will make them rethink things. Remember, as I said earlier, most of the devs currently working on the patches do not know the heart and soul of the IE games. Let them know how you feel.
I think that this change is a very bad one, especially at this stage in the game. I would suggest that if you don't like it, then say so. Let the devs know that this is a very bad change. If enough people complain about it then they may actually decide to reverse it. A thread full of complaints about the change will make them rethink things. Remember, as I said earlier, most of the devs currently working on the patches do not know the heart and soul of the IE games. Let them know how you feel.
I request that this be reversed officially too, or perhaps made an option in the game settings if feasible. I play mainly on my iPad, and to the best of my current knowledge, the iOS games cannot be modded. I also rely on stacking Master Thievery and Perception Potions in BG2 particularly.
Let’s not despair. A couple of tweaks modders surely most have picked up an idea for another tweak...
Do not despair indeed! I have already made and uploaded a fix for this issue. It can be found with my tweaks here.
I think that this change is a very bad one, especially at this stage in the game. I would suggest that if you don't like it, then say so. Let the devs know that this is a very bad change. If enough people complain about it then they may actually decide to reverse it. A thread full of complaints about the change will make them rethink things. Remember, as I said earlier, most of the devs currently working on the patches do not know the heart and soul of the IE games. Let them know how you feel.
Yeah, I'd also vote for reversing this change. I'm not a great tactitian, I always play the games to embrace the story, not to use elaborate tactics or leverage exploits that game allows me to leverage. BUT... even I used a Potuon of Genius stacking to learn spells easily. That is a clear sign (for me at least) this is a bad change. Unnecessary and unwanted.
I never used potion stacking and I play quite some tactical mods. Spell learning just becomes more fun and if you want success dialing the difficulty gets you the same.
What else do you use it for? I cannot imagine something that you cannot already get from a combination of items, potions and spells.
I never used potion stacking and I play quite some tactical mods. Spell learning just becomes more fun and if you want success dialing the difficulty gets you the same.
What else do you use it for? I cannot imagine something that you cannot already get from a combination of items, potions and spells.
I often use stacked potions of heroism. Usually for tough fights like Belhifet in SoD. At harder setting the fight can be quite hellish (literally), and I guess for many players playing in LoB setting this is a major setback.
Otherwise stacked potions of genius is a good buff against mindflayers. And stacked potions of mind focusing is handy for the cumulative dex boost.
But that’s just power playing.
In BG1 I will sorely miss stacking potions if elemental resistance. I can still do it with a scroll of elemental resistance and a potion. But the scrolls are rarer in that game
I'd also vote not to implement this change, or at least make it optional if that's not too complicated.
It would lead to a lot more save-scumming or lowering the difficulty and changing it back, for spell scribing and other things.
I imagine it wouldn't bother some players, but a lot of people have been playing no reload or minimal reload for years.
To have such a restriction right from the start is one thing, but such a huge nerf after so many years?
I like this change, will force me to be more creative
Of course, that's a very good point. Although people who dislike stacking potions always have the possibility to make that a self-imposed rule. Nobody forces you to use something that some consider an exploit. That goes for many things, like recharging wands or the greenstone amulet, or using the quick loot button to pick up the goblet and helmet in Durlag's Tower, for example.
For what it's worth, potion stacking should be banned from the beginning (like 20 years ago beginning) and not now. Now it's as part of the franchise as Imoen or Minsc characters.
Okay, the examples help understand the use cases. Seems indeed a bit niche.
Bg1 though, other than that I rarely find more than one of these potions throughout the game, have you considered to use (level 2 priest) spells for resistance?
I would also like to voice strong disapproval of a potion stacking "fix." I've been looking forward to this patch for a while, but this is not what I had in mind.
The ability to stack potions has been a part of BG since the beginning and as others have pointed out, has become an important part of spell scribing for those of us who do no-reload, high-difficulty runs. I truly hate the idea of having to either save scum or lower the difficulty everything I want to put something in a spell book.
Int 19 gives 95% success rate and if the non-mage kit bug of -15% is solved, is potion of genius stacking still even required at all?
Or am I missing something?
Comments
Didnt see any mention to this as i didnt see any mention about why this quest wasnt restored in IWD, neither why all the others restorations werent applied to all other games, i mean, if you restored things in IWD why not restore cut content in all other games including neverwinter?
Well, I don't think it is really possible to officially restore cut content any more. Unfortunately, many of the developers who are actually familiar with the IE games, the ones you could say knew the heart and soul of these games, are no longer working for Beamdog. This means that any new or restored content is probably not going to be implemented officially anymore.
Sad as this is, the modding community for these games is still as active as ever. Most of the IE modders could indeed be called experts on the games. Some of them (such as myself) even take requests. I would suggest this kind of thing is best handled by the modding community.
Just don't ask me about this particular one... I am not too familiar with IWD yet.
And by the way: hands off from the “Exploits, tricks and nonstandard tactics thread
Wow, that's unexpected. It will certainly require a change of tactics and especially make no-reload runs more difficult. Among other, the toughest to me seems no guarantee to scribe a rare and important spell anymore by sacrificing two potions of genius
Not a fan.
And for the int buff, you can still stack potions of mind focusing and genius for a total buff of 7 to the int stat. The change log said that the stacking cap only applied for potions of the same type. A +7 int buff should cover much of the gap - if not it all.
It somehow makes the game a little bit more challenging in a good way.
True, I forgot that it said same potion only, not same effect. That only means you need more money to safely learn the good spells and wait longer until you scribe many scrolls at once. You get both potion types (genius and mind focusing) in the temple at the FAI already, not only in the city.
For resistances, a green scroll should still stack with a potion, right?
You want to do better than that? It's either combining the Watcher's Keep bonus Int with the +Int ioun stone available in ToB, using the exceedingly rare Red Potion, or getting the 25 stats option on a Wish. Or lowering the difficulty.
Jan is also limited to an 85% chance outside his specialty before ToB. The other mage companions in BG2 (Aerie, Edwin, Imoen, Nalia, Neera) can all reach a 100% chance with one of each potion.
Never heard of that bug. Can you elaborate ?
Edit : From https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/56003/my-bard-fails-too-much-when-trying-to-learn-spells it seems like there is a -15% chance to learn spells for kitted bards ? (Edit2 - And wild mage ?)
First, all of the displayed spell learning chances - and most other percentage chances in the game - are 1% lower than what you actually get. A random number that should be 1-100 is actually being rolled as 0-99.
Second, the 15% penalty for a specialist learning spells outside their specialty is incorrectly applied to anyone with any kit. Such as a Blade (Haer'Dalis), a Wild Mage (Neera), or an (any kit)-mage dual (popular among protagonists).
Note that 24 Int gives you a displayed 150% spell learning chance, strong enough to overcome the specialist penalty. Any mage or bard that can get to 24 Int has no risk of failure.
that would be sweet fix actually.
Do not despair indeed! I have already made and uploaded a fix for this issue. It can be found with my tweaks here.
I think that this change is a very bad one, especially at this stage in the game. I would suggest that if you don't like it, then say so. Let the devs know that this is a very bad change. If enough people complain about it then they may actually decide to reverse it. A thread full of complaints about the change will make them rethink things. Remember, as I said earlier, most of the devs currently working on the patches do not know the heart and soul of the IE games. Let them know how you feel.
Yeah, I'd also vote for reversing this change. I'm not a great tactitian, I always play the games to embrace the story, not to use elaborate tactics or leverage exploits that game allows me to leverage. BUT... even I used a Potuon of Genius stacking to learn spells easily. That is a clear sign (for me at least) this is a bad change. Unnecessary and unwanted.
I never used potion stacking and I play quite some tactical mods. Spell learning just becomes more fun and if you want success dialing the difficulty gets you the same.
What else do you use it for? I cannot imagine something that you cannot already get from a combination of items, potions and spells.
I often use stacked potions of heroism. Usually for tough fights like Belhifet in SoD. At harder setting the fight can be quite hellish (literally), and I guess for many players playing in LoB setting this is a major setback.
Otherwise stacked potions of genius is a good buff against mindflayers. And stacked potions of mind focusing is handy for the cumulative dex boost.
But that’s just power playing.
In BG1 I will sorely miss stacking potions if elemental resistance. I can still do it with a scroll of elemental resistance and a potion. But the scrolls are rarer in that game
It would lead to a lot more save-scumming or lowering the difficulty and changing it back, for spell scribing and other things.
I imagine it wouldn't bother some players, but a lot of people have been playing no reload or minimal reload for years.
To have such a restriction right from the start is one thing, but such a huge nerf after so many years?
Of course, that's a very good point. Although people who dislike stacking potions always have the possibility to make that a self-imposed rule. Nobody forces you to use something that some consider an exploit. That goes for many things, like recharging wands or the greenstone amulet, or using the quick loot button to pick up the goblet and helmet in Durlag's Tower, for example.
Bg1 though, other than that I rarely find more than one of these potions throughout the game, have you considered to use (level 2 priest) spells for resistance?
Edit : and, generally speaking, don't fix what is not broken !
The ability to stack potions has been a part of BG since the beginning and as others have pointed out, has become an important part of spell scribing for those of us who do no-reload, high-difficulty runs. I truly hate the idea of having to either save scum or lower the difficulty everything I want to put something in a spell book.
I sincerely hope this change is reconsidered.
Or am I missing something?
(keeping the other use cases on the side)