Thank you! Options

[Sikret]

Hi everyone!
After near 10 years, I am back here to express my sincere gratitude and say "thank you" to all those good people who keep Improved Anvil alive and progressive. This includes (but is not limited to): Baronius, Critto, nicoper, SparrowJacek and everyone else.
You guys make me proud. Keep up the good work.

[pekkae]

What makes IA so great?

Here's how I feel.

1. The abilities

BG2 is an extraordinary game. It's huge, there's numerous different techniques and tactics around. There's oodles of spells, protections, mechanics, techniques and tactics. The vanilla version sort of botches this as it let's the player to develop a few different techniques which then work for (almost) all encounters in the game (hello releasing 2xspell triggers with 6xSkull Traps or so). There is no need for the player to take an in-depth look at the game mechanics, explore the possible spells & protections or utilize the extremely wide variety of different tactics / mechanics available. Even when playing on more advanced difficulty levels.

IA changes this. IA forces you to understand the game mechanics and pretty much all of the different spells / abilities available (for clarity something like "war cry" could be omitted, as I don't think there is any use for that single ability (haven't tried so might be wrong ofc.)). It's 'oh'so'nice that the player has to develop a variety of strategies and utilize almost all spells available (outcounting infravision or so) together with different abilities in the crew.


2. The weapons & crew development

The vanilla version has numerous completely overpowered items, that change the flow of the game. The most shining examples being cloak of reflection, celestial fury and Robe of Vecna. While IA has even more powerful weapons available, they are not game/mod-breaking. And as the vanilla version gives you weapons and abilities and you develop your crew forward, it does almost nothing to provide you with appropriate challenges with those weapons and abilities. Once you are on high enough level, the game is a complete breeze-through. It quickly becomes uninteresting and boring.

IA changes this completely. You become strong, super strong and in the end you are with 6-demi godlike characters but still every encounter provides challenge / challenges. It's amazing!


3. The balance

As in point #2, the balance is superb in IA. There's new improved enemies all the way notching up the difficulty. The enemies keep on improving and they develop more advanced abilities and techniques all the way. Also there's a clear structure with quests to follow, which might be superbly annoying when you are on your first run, as taking in a too challenging encounter is just not possible (well, perhaps 1/100 odds with a perfect strategy). Outcounting that, the structure / balance is great for balancing purposes. With new abilities a plethora of new quests then become possible. Most notably reaching level 6 arcane spells gives you access to numerous new encounters.

Godo job dear sirs!