Talking about the first time..., Some questions regarding compatibilities and such Options

[Arkain]

Greetings!

First of all: Hey there, I am new. And happy to have joined the BWL rather than limiting myself to just reading

...

Ok, now what was my thread about? Ah, right.
I was just thinking about starting a new game, as I finished my M/C. Fun . This time I am going to try a F/M/C and as Improved Anvil v4+ requires a new game anyway I could try it as well. Difficult battles and stuff.
Now the problem I have is to decide which things to uninstall from my mod-list, mostly concerning battles, as follows:

Saerileth: Now, do I have to uninstallt it to have no problems or do I have to not have her in my group at all? Though it might be a doubtable question why I should keep a NPC mod if I can't use the NPC . I rather like her though...

Tactics: Is there anything I can keep? Like "The Ritual" or the F/I in the docks? Or may one of the contents cause problems?

Ascension: Now I *can* leave Demogorgon and the core component (the final battle, that is) untouched but have to uninstall the tougher bhaalspawn, correct?

Kiara and Zaya: First of all it includes some battles in the mod (at least one which needs to be fought and one encounter which can be installed seperately) and more important there is a component for a harder Suldanessalar, consisting of tougher monsters (like mariliths and such instead of... whatever lurked around before). There is a tougher Irenicus at the tree of life component as well. Problems?

Ease of Use: Nothing about compatibility but rather about the readme: "- Wear Magical Armor AND Magic Rings (Recommended)" I always considered this some sort of cheat, or at least cheesy. Care to tell me why it's recommended?

Planar Sphere mod: Well, it's some expanded mage stronghold. IA seems to add some content to this stronghold as well... may there be problems? I guess if so it would be the best way to do the "normal" PS stuff first and do the PS mod content afterwards, correct? Are the new quests (or whatever) avaiable before the regular routine (the disciples, the fanatics... is there anything else?) is finished?

I guess the rest won't cause anything vicious... uh.. I hope
Now... on to the next questions. Talking about partyplay... I have no clue whom I should take with me, so I hope there are some tipps regarding this topic. I thought about:

F/M/C
Keldorn
Valygar
Cernd
Jan (*sigh*)
In ToB: Irenicus

As I wished for some extra muscle I decided to take Keldorn as he's useful everytime . Even more so with the new holy avenger. Or so I hope. Valygar ist one guy I just have to try with TLR installed. Hoping for some interesting banters with Jon. Cernd because I want to take him once... and intend to use the auramaster kit. Jan because Imoen is annoying. As is Nalia. Not because they are so whiny or weak or anything ^^ ... I just love to use traps from time to time or to dispel illusions via a thief. Jan seems to be the only option apart from a multiyplayer character. The problem with this party is that I have no full time mage. Jan is a half time mage and I am a "triple cripple" mage. So until ToB there will be no real mage in the party. Same with cleric btw, but I guess the F/M/C can do it anyway with some help from Cernd. I hope (yep, hoping for many things)
Next problem: no romance =/. Though the Valygar romance might do the trick. Gonna try it anyway when he's in the party, right?
Yet another "next problem" ^^: Weapon profiencies. How the heck should I distribute those? Any tipps? My guess for Keldorn would be to go the two handed weapon way, thus quarterstaffs, halberds, two handed swords and spears. As there are many good swords and halberds etc. around the choice about what to use as the main weapon may be tough, Carsomyr get's boring after a while...
Valygar would be the stealthy guy with katanas to backstab. Well... and then? Long swords? Daggers? Gaaah... *sob* so many choices, so few profiency points.
The F/M/C would go for the blunt weapons of course. So flails and hammers, I guess. Any other ideas? Maybe quarterstaffs because of the SoM? Two weapon style, shield, or two handed weapons (read: quarterstaffs *sigh*)? Somewhat hard to make a choice. For every fighter character... especially when there are sooo many nice upgrades to be done
Oh, and what about the usual Carsomyr +6 upgrade made by Cespenar? The eye of tyr seems to be something reserved for the old Carsomyr.

This post has been edited by Arkain: May 8 2007, 04:00 PM

[thetruth]

First of all welcome to the BWL forums Arkain

About compatibility (Sikret can correct me of course):

Saerileth: Now, do I have to uninstallt it to have no problems or do I have to not have her in my group at all? Though it might be a doubtable question why I should keep a NPC mod if I can't use the NPC . I rather like her though...

First of all it is incompatible with Kiara and Zaiya mod IIRC, since the latter makes W.Keep unreachable in SoA.
Also there is an incompatibility issue with IA (look at the readme of IA).

Tactics: Is there anything I can keep? Like "The Ritual" or the F/I in the docks? Or may one of the contents cause problems?

I.Ilyich, Ritual, I.Bodhi, Kuroisan, Red-Badge encounter, Improved MaeVar, Lich in the Docks, Fighter/Illusionist in the Docks, Random encounters, smarter Beholders/Mind Flayers/Vampires, Improved N.Forest should be compatible with IA.

That said though I wouldn't recommend the installation of other tactical mods,except from Ascension, with IA (and I am a fan of mods like Tactics etc.).

The reason is that they will make your game much easier with the XP you will gain and with some weapons/items/gold these mods introduce.
(Especially the Random encounters component of Tactics).

Improved Anvil adds more content than any other tactical mod so you will have a "full" game from that point of view.

Ascension: Now I *can* leave Demogorgon and the core component (the final battle, that is) untouched but have to uninstall the tougher bhaalspawn, correct?

Yes, Demogorgon and the core component of Ascension are compatible.

Kiara and Zaya: First of all it includes some battles in the mod (at least one which needs to be fought and one encounter which can be installed seperately) and more important there is a component for a harder Suldanessalar, consisting of tougher monsters (like mariliths and such instead of... whatever lurked around before). There is a tougher Irenicus at the tree of life component as well. Problems?

IA has it's own improved Irenicus at the Tree of Life. Some enemies of Suldanesselar are also improved.
I wouldn't install this mod.

Ease of Use: Nothing about compatibility but rather about the readme: "- Wear Magical Armor AND Magic Rings (Recommended)" I always considered this some sort of cheat, or at least cheesy. Care to tell me why it's recommended?

Sikret recommends this component only because enemies of IA use Magical Armor and Rings. Personally I don't use it.

Planar Sphere mod: Well, it's some expanded mage stronghold. IA seems to add some content to this stronghold as well... may there be problems? I guess if so it would be the best way to do the "normal" PS stuff first and do the PS mod content afterwards, correct? Are the new quests (or whatever) avaiable before the regular routine (the disciples, the fanatics... is there anything else?) is finished?

It is compatible if you finish first the improved Mage Stronghold of IA and then start the Planar Sphere mod.
Again here IMO the mod will make your game much easier since you gain some insane amounts of XP/items/scrolls.

Also remember that IA must be the last in the installation order except (from the readme):

TS (Tortured Souls) and NEJ2 (Never Ending Journey) are the only mods which should be installed AFTER Improved Anvil. Their compatibility with Improved Anvil is NOT tested in practice, but they are probably compatible. The fact that they must be installed after Improved Anvil actually increases the risk of incompatibility. You may try them together on your own risk.

Now... on to the next questions. Talking about partyplay... I have no clue whom I should take with me, so I hope there are some tipps regarding this topic. I thought about:

F/M/C
Keldorn
Valygar
Cernd
Jan (*sigh*)
In ToB: Irenicus

Not bad though a better Mage would make your life easier.
Still doable though (I had only Jan and HaerDalis as mages).

Go for Hammers and Flails for your F/M/C, Katanas and Longswords for Valygar,
2-handed swords/halberds and Longswords for Keldorn.

Generally I prefer dual wielding and I.Haste.
Long Swords and Halberds are very good choices in IA. Also try to give to all your characters PPoints at least to one blunt weapon (immunities of some enemies).

I just love to use traps from time to time or to dispel illusions via a thief.

Ehm, Detect Illusions has been tweaked to get blocked from SI: Divination, so Keldorn's TS is still the best choice (read carefully the Readme with the Fixes and Tweaks).
Also traps are not so effective anymore. But not Timetraps (take many of those).