I'd been half expecting one or more devs to say that there's been delays. Granted, I don't know how many (or even any at all) of them live in the States, but its the holiday season. Not a time of year that involves extra spare time.
Just a bit of a shame it took this long to be informed really. For me and presumably others based on this and other threads, ascension being ready around release was a major selling point. I'm not saying its the end of the world and understand there can be issues but its certainly frustrating.
Really, I was never expecting any updates until at least after Christmas. Let the devs (who are doing all these mod updates in their spare time) enjoy their holidays without us constantly bugging them for updates.
My apologies to everyone who's been waiting, but time has gotten away from me and it doesn't look like I'll be able to get it converted right away. Again, I'm really sorry for getting people's hopes up, life has been busier than I expected since release.
Just a bit of a shame it took this long to be informed really. For me and presumably others based on this and other threads, ascension being ready around release was a major selling point. I'm not saying its the end of the world and understand there can be issues but its certainly frustrating.
For me, playing BG2 without Ascension is like playing Mass Effect 3 without the Extended Cut - no point in taking the journey if you're just going to get irritated at the end.
You have no idea. Ascension is one of the best things that happened to BG2 TOB. As Tansheron mentioned. It can't really be put into words :-)
The amount of "agony" one feels when your tight plan unravel with only Amellisan left and she scores a critical hit on the pc and it's over. Or the feeling when you beat ascension with not a single death and you feel like a badass.
Once you play ascension you'll never go back to vanilla. Ever!! :-)
I must've played BG2 over 27 different times over these last 13 years and I never played with Ascension I feel like I'm missing out.
@Fablewynd It is a really great mod. I actually don't install the "higher difficulty" battles because I find them actually too difficult (Illesara slaughters me every time within 30 seconds) but the additional content to the story are incredible.
The fact that Illasera turns from one of the biggest push-overs in the entire saga to incredibly hard is what makes it hilariously good though.
Yeah it makes a lot more sense. Its more believable that she'd be one of the five. But... it is impossible, lol. I kinda don't like how she is so much superior to charname... i feel like your main character stands no chance one on one vs any of the other 5 bhaalspawn.
The fact that Illasera turns from one of the biggest push-overs in the entire saga to incredibly hard is what makes it hilariously good though.
Yeah it makes a lot more sense. Its more believable that she'd be one of the five. But... it is impossible, lol. I kinda don't like how she is so much superior to charname... i feel like your main character stands no chance one on one vs any of the other 5 bhaalspawn.
And then there's the final battle... O_O
Illasera is still kind of a pushover with the shield of reflection, and she ends up dispelling herself against it. But you gotta be really quick with it if she changes targets.
Abazigal is crazy, he's a 30/30 kensai/mage multiclass. And a dragon. Realistically there should be no way he'd ever lose to charname.
It's his kensai/maginess that I find hard, I don't think he even uses lightning in the final battle. I always take him out first because otherwise he just wrecks everyone in melee while being untouchable... like most kensai/mages I guess.
I enjoyed the storyline in Ascension a lot, but after doing the improved battles once I'll never do them again. The one that broke it for me was Yaga-Shura. Having to hit him 200 times to kill him because he only took 1 damage per hit wasn't fun at all, and it made the final battle a nightmare.
There are ways to bypass Yaga Shura's insane physical damage resistance, which make the Assension battle a lot easier. One is the cleric spell harm. Another is Saravoks deathbringer assault. It will at some point trigger if you use greater whirlwind.
I'm more annoyed about Abazigal's cheesiness. Maybe it has been removed in later versions of Ascension. But throwing a greater mantle/absolute immunity and some other protective stuff in my timestop. Say what!! And he is a damage beast.
For me, playing BG2 without Ascension is like playing Mass Effect 3 without the Extended Cut - no point in taking the journey if you're just going to get irritated at the end.
I agree with this. ToB without Ascension is a lot like BG1 without the NPC Project or BG2 without SCS, but the impact is arguably even greater here since ToB is short, heavily combat-oriented and concludes the saga. And much like the ME3-effect making people unwilling to play ME1 or 2, this tends to spread to the other games in the series. If you don't have an exciting and satisfying conclusion to look forward to, why even bother starting?
Another is Saravoks deathbringer assault. It will at some point trigger if you use greater whirlwind.
That ability is beyond amazing.
Of course, not so much when he turns against you... and then YOU get randomly Deathbringer Assault-ed to death Very rude awakening for me the first time I faced him
Another is Saravoks deathbringer assault. It will at some point trigger if you use greater whirlwind.
That ability is beyond amazing.
Of course, not so much when he turns against you... and then YOU get randomly Deathbringer Assault-ed to death Very rude awakening for me the first time I faced him
It doesn't have be end that way, concerning the spoiler content. I love bringing Saravok into the fray when you deal with the five. If you're really want to lay the hurt on your enemy, give Saravok Vhailor helmet and make a clone of him. Now you have "two" tank that can soak up damage and dish it out.
This is truly disappointing. Ascension is what I wanted to be included in the EE edition since it so enhances the experience of ToB. Without it ToB has a very unsatisfying end to an epic saga. This was the one mod I wanted to make sure would work with EE and it seems, the one that won't. The BGNPC project of this release and we all know how long that one has taken so far.
I would definitely be up for the storyline improvements, but I'm not at all interested in the difficulty increases (the final battle on core is plenty hard enough imho). Can you install it to where the final fight includes the five at or slightly higher than their vanilla difficulties?
Comments
Beamdog, you know what to do. UNLEASH THE HOUNDS!
You have no idea. Ascension is one of the best things that happened to BG2 TOB. As Tansheron mentioned. It can't really be put into words :-)
The amount of "agony" one feels when your tight plan unravel with only Amellisan left and she scores a critical hit on the pc and it's over. Or the feeling when you beat ascension with not a single death and you feel like a badass.
Once you play ascension you'll never go back to vanilla. Ever!! :-)
But... it is impossible, lol. I kinda don't like how she is so much superior to charname... i feel like your main character stands no chance one on one vs any of the other 5 bhaalspawn.
Illasera is still kind of a pushover with the shield of reflection, and she ends up dispelling herself against it. But you gotta be really quick with it if she changes targets.
Abazigal is crazy, he's a 30/30 kensai/mage multiclass. And a dragon. Realistically there should be no way he'd ever lose to charname.
I'm more annoyed about Abazigal's cheesiness. Maybe it has been removed in later versions of Ascension. But throwing a greater mantle/absolute immunity and some other protective stuff in my timestop. Say what!! And he is a damage beast.
Please use layman's terms and avoid spoilers.