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Which mod adds the encounter outside Firkraag's dungeon in Windspear Hills?

xzar_montyxzar_monty Member Posts: 631
I have a rather wide selection of mods in my current game, and one of them adds an encounter outside Firkraag's dungeon in Windspear Hills. Does anyone remember straight away where that one comes from? There are four guys, one of whom is quite powerful, and basically it's just another fight.

But what bothers me, and I mean seriously bothers me, is the loot. Whoever designed this encounter clearly has no sense of balance. I believe the best armor in the game gives you a basic AC of -1 (could be -2, though I can't remember which one that would be). But this encounter leaves you with an armor giving you an AC of -4. Sheesh. You also get an item that allows you to cast a 20th level Sunray spell twice a day. I mean, come on.

These items were so over-the-top ridiculous that I just didn't keep them. They'd ruin the balance in the whole game. I am in Chapter 3, mind you!

Who did this?
booinyoureyes

Comments

  • HalcyonHalcyon Member Posts: 56
    I temember this encounter, the loot was perposterous. Alas, I have no helpful information about where it came from.
  • xzar_montyxzar_monty Member Posts: 631
    That's quite all right. Looking at my mods, I cannot see the obvious one, either. Strange.

    The loot is out-of-this-world ridiculous, for crying out loud. I like loot as much as the next guy, but this I just had to leave.
  • LudovikHLudovikH Member Posts: 46
    It may help if you post a file called weidu.log inside your game directory or open it yourself with a text editor. Ir shows you all mods and their components you have in your installation.
    xzar_monty
  • MateoFrozenMateoFrozen Member Posts: 82
    edited April 2018
    @xzar_monty
    Use ee keeper to know this item resource name and simply search it in Baldurs Gate folder. You should have 2 result one in override and one in mod files.
    Post edited by MateoFrozen on
    xzar_monty
  • xzar_montyxzar_monty Member Posts: 631
    Ok, thank you both. I may get around to this a bit later on, maybe during the weekend.
  • CaszidyCaszidy Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 299
    I remember this encounter too, and yes the loot is ridiculous.
    Though I am not 100 % sure, but I think this particular encounter is part of CoM Encounters MOD. I remember, that it also adds some encounter with group of Shadow Thieves from the city of Baldurs Gate (Black Lily etc.) in sewers under the Copper Coronet in which one of the thieves drops after battle the Shadow Leather Armor (so player will have this armour twice, because it is already in game from Mae'Var quest I think?). It also ads some merchants with items on the edge of being overpowered, but this items are usually for really high price. On the other hand BGII (same as BG) has little gold inflation problem, so player could buy these items quite early in the game.
    LudovikH
  • LudovikHLudovikH Member Posts: 46
    Caszidy said:

    I remember this encounter too, and yes the loot is ridiculous.
    Though I am not 100 % sure, but I think this particular encounter is part of CoM Encounters MOD. I remember, that it also adds some encounter with group of Shadow Thieves from the city of Baldurs Gate (Black Lily etc.) in sewers under the Copper Coronet in which one of the thieves drops after battle the Shadow Leather Armor (so player will have this armour twice, because it is already in game from Mae'Var quest I think?). It also ads some merchants with items on the edge of being overpowered, but this items are usually for really high price. On the other hand BGII (same as BG) has little gold inflation problem, so player could buy these items quite early in the game.

    If there is a merchant Shikoku on the promenade, you have that mod.

    It also adds General Chang and his men to Windspear where they await you at the dungeon entrance. They have some +4 weapons. So this might fit to your description.

    CoM Encounters is from the the same author as Dark Horizons in BG1. With the same balance approach to items and encounters. CoM = Chosen of Mystra forum
    Caszidy
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    To be fair, it is also a very difficult encounter, and was a lot of fun.

    I just did it in my own game, and I can't in good conscience use the Green Dragon armor or whatever it is that General Chang drops. I do save it for ToB though, where I might feel less guilty.

    Also, the dialogue leading up to the encounter is also pretty terrible. You are only given one response option at every opportunity, and of course it is always snarky.
  • xzar_montyxzar_monty Member Posts: 631
    Thank you all. It definitely appears to be the CoM Encounters mod. I do indeed have that extra merchant at the Promenade, and I did also encounter the thieves in the sewers.

    @booinyoureyes: Not only is the dialogue terrible, but the item descriptions are also written in bad English. English is not my first language, either, but looking at those item descriptions I couldn't help but think that whoever wrote them really didn't know what they were doing. Grammar, vocabulary, style -- all woeful.
    booinyoureyes
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    edited April 2018
    Ah, I wondered where the thieves in the sewers were from. Another fun encounter.

    I enjoyed both encounters a lot actually, but I completely agree that the loot was overpowered.

    I also fought Durlag's children and wife in the Temple District Sewers for some reason. Did anyone else experience that?
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    edited April 2018
    Say hello to CoM-hosted mods in general.

    I’ve personally never understood the appeal of ‘tactical encounter’ mods that base their difficulty around insanely high levels and endgame equipment, and ‘rewarding’ the player with enough experience and items to trivialize everything in the base game. Sounds like the very antithesis of fun.

    And yes, they don’t seem to proofread or find editors for their writing ever, even looking past the horribly railroaded dialogue options.
  • LudovikHLudovikH Member Posts: 46

    Say hello to CoM-hosted mods in general.

    I’ve personally never understood the appeal of ‘tactical encounter’ mods that base their difficulty around insanely high levels and endgame equipment, and ‘rewarding’ the player with enough experience and items to trivialize everything in the base game. Sounds like the very antithesis of fun.

    And yes, they don’t seem to proofread or find editors for their writing ever, even looking past the horribly railroaded dialogue options.

    Dark Horizon is slightly better. The dialogues are at least readable and you can leave the items lying around. Most people don't like it if you run into the BG1 assassins unprepared for the first time. It is a mixed experience, so much is true.
    Those BG2 encounters are less immersion breaking (quality apart) because in BG2 you have a more uneven difficulty level. Firkraag's dungeon by itself can be quite hard if you go there too early and there is nothing that prevents you from going there once the guy in Copper Coronet invited you.
  • xzar_montyxzar_monty Member Posts: 631
    Which, by the way, greatly increases the credibility of the game world, in my view. I think it's perfectly logical that difficulty level doesn't increase steadily in a game where the world is as open as that, and I really enjoy the fact that early on in the game, you can enter places where you're clearly out of your depth and unlikely to advance or even survive.

    You can walk into the Guarded Compound within an hour of leaving Chateau Irenicus. Your chances of surviving? Nil.

    (This kind of stuff only becomes tedious if you HAVE to survive a place where you're out of your depth.)
    LudovikH
  • BallpointManBallpointMan Member Posts: 1,659
    I remember doing this encounter once. I think the most ridiculous part was the Green Dragon armor could be used by a Monk (I think I had Rassad at the time. It was somehow even more game-breaking).
  • xzar_montyxzar_monty Member Posts: 631
    It can also be used by a mage. So whoever did this either didn't know what they were doing or didn't care.
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