IATweaks 1.1 - IA Rebalance, New spells, enemies, items and many balancing changes Options

[SparrowJacek]

Hello,

Today I'd like to share the results of my ambitious project to rebalance Improved Anvil. What began as a loose collection of changes in a few separate areas kept growing month after month, as new ideas appeared and my experience with Near Infinity modding increased. What I present now is a project that touches many aspects of the game: new creatures, animations, spells, items and kits, as well as a number of changes to the graphical interface.

I took inspiration from many amazing mods, such as SCS and Spell Revisions. I went through the component lists of dozens of projects, trying to adapt the best solutions in a way that would still fit the spirit of Improved Anvil. At the same time, I implemented several completely unique elements that have never been used in any mod before (for example, a fully rewritten Hide in Shadows mechanic).

This was a very ambitious undertaking, especially for a single person. Despite hundreds of hours spent on development, the work is still not complete - many encounters remain untouched or only lightly adjusted, and I already have plans for future releases. Because of the sheer scope of the changes, I was not able to test everything exhaustively. I am certain there will be issues, particularly with the redesigned enemy AI, which in many cases was written from scratch. If you notice anything strange, please let me know and I will try to fix it as quickly as possible.

I tried to rebalance many aspects of the mod, toning down things I deemed too powerful and improving things that were unusable in Improved Anvil, however that was just one man's perspective, checked only with a single run and a specific party composition. I count on you for feedback regarding the changes, it will surely help to create a more fun and balanced mod, I'll be really grateful for any comments and suggestions for improvements.

Known issues (the list might change):
- You might see "Sequencer Active" icon on some characters that shouldn't have such abilities. Without going into details, there are some new abilities that internally rely on mechanics related to Sequencers, however the game automatically puts the icon if such effects are active on a creature and there is no way to remove it without breaking the mechanics, so please just ignore the icon.
- Hide in Shadows button works only for party members, using the button on any other creature (like a dominated Thief) will not work properly and might bear strange results. The game does not allow any modifications of real Hide in Shadow button, so in order to make reworked Hide in Shadows to work properly, I had to create some hacks and workarounds, which are sadly limited to party members.
- If Controversial Changes component is applied, then most rings and cloaks +X will apply their bonuses with a slight (1s) delay, so their effects won't be visible immediately.
- Single Weapon Style bonus to APR might also take around 1s to be applied

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who helped - directly or indirectly - in the creation of this mod.

First and foremost, the amazing Improved Anvil team: Sikret, Critto, Bulian, Nicoper, HTRT.
To Pekkae, who volunteered to test parts of the mod while it was still in a very early state.
To Morpheus, for sharing the fantastic new animations you will see in this release.
To OlvynChuru, for the tool that allows seamless addition and removal of class- and kit-specific spells.
To the many modders whose work inspired me and showed how to implement the mechanics used here.
To Berzerkerzz, for his passion and tremendous work on his own vision of IA encounters.
And last but not least - to all the fans who keep the mod alive, for the hundreds of posts across IA threads and especially for your ideas on how to make Improved Anvil even better.

You can find the latest version of the mod here: https://github.com/SparrowJacek/ImprovedAnv...ee/IA_rebalance
To download, please press the green "Code" button and select "Download ZIP"
For more details, please check the readme file provided with the mod files.

The mod has only been tested on BG2EE version 2.6.6. and with IA v7

This post has been edited by SparrowJacek: Mar 6 2026, 04:07 PM

[SparrowJacek]

I'm trying to avoid asking all of the questions I have but here's a few I can't resist asking. Also with a few comments smile.gif.

For spells you can always create a new character and check their description whenever you have access to the game

What are the changes to Nature's Fist?

Its base damage was increased to 6d10, but its damage to Rakshasa was decreased to 24d10 (from 28d10). A small change, but it should be slightly more useful for general use, especially for Auramasters. Bigby's Hands got a more significant upgrade.

Cleric/Mage multiclass can now pick Improved Alacrity as a HLA -> This is absolutely fantastic!! I have personally always though it should be so. Now Aerie looks like a playable character

M/C are quite weak in general, so there was no need to nerf them further by preventing them from learning IA. And regarding Aerie - there's a component now that turns her into a Shaman and changes her specific item upgrade. You can readd about it here http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net/index.php?...494&st=361# if you missed it.

Rework of Defensive Stance of Dwarven Defender --> This was like a cheatcode before, (especially with a shaman) -> what's done with it?

For 1 turn, the Dwarven Defender gains +20% resistance to all forms of physical damage, a +2 bonus to Armor Class, a -2 penalty to Save vs Breath, a 50% movement rate penalty and immunity to any forms of knockback. This effect cannot be removed or dispelled.

A bit less PDR and penalty to save vs breath (as it's related to dodging and reacting fast), but got some bonuses to compensate for the change.

Reworked: Bigby's, Prismatic Spray, PW:Silence + Black Blade of Disaster, Spellstrike, Energy Drain

Some changes were small, some larger, but Spellstrike is now a completely diffferent spell, I hope it'll be an interesting choice now, though RVE/Wish are still unmatched

Rework of Cloak of Atonement --> Haha, no more cheat code - I think this is good even though most of the players missed how superbly powerful this item used to be. (including myself for most of the runs, hah)

You'll be able to use it much more reliably now, though you might have to invest some money into it. And all of the item's abilities should be useful at some point.

This post has been edited by SparrowJacek: Mar 8 2026, 08:32 PM