I don't like the whole concept of having UAI and then restricting it to prevent cheese. It's ok to have item restrictions but implemented inside the item by the opcode or special flag bits. I want to get rid of UAI at some point, but for now I don't want to have lots of clutter inside the baldur scripts whose only purpose is to fix something that should be fixed on a conceptual level.

I don't care much if somebody cheats with UAI, all these checks are superficial, the game could be broken easily in any case.

Ctrl + Q can let the player add any monsters as allies. After some usage, I found out that this function did not allow players to see the special abilities of monsters.
For example, Ihtafeer seems to immune against low level spells but this kind of information didn’t show up at the panel after using Ctrl + Q.
Can anyone point out how could I see more enemies’ statistic, except looking at the combat log ?

One thing I noticed from fighting the Mercenary of Ritavin is that many monsters have the same name. This makes it hard to understand what is going on by looking at the combat log. When the mage, cleric, fighters all called Mercenary of Ritavin, it is hard for me to tell which one has which buffs and debuffs.
Is it possible to give monsters in one encounter different names?

One thing which puzzles me is that is it cheesy from the mod designer’s point of view to pre-buff your group with short duration buffs before a battle. I tried to avoid buffing my group with short duration buffs when playing SCS mod, which has an option giving enemies caster long duration buffs at the start of battle. This way it is fair between players and enemies. In IA, I noticed enemy casters would have short duration buffs at the start of combat.

Only by browsing the game's internals through some kind of editor such as Near Infinity.


In this specific encounter - probably, yeah. What are those mercenaries anyway?


Huh? Why?

Emm, then I should settle with Ctrl + Q for now.

Mercenary of Ritavin in the Bridge District. The mage, cleric and some melee are all called Mercenary of Ritavin.


Well, from the point of view of SCS mod author, it is ok for the enemies and players to have long term buffs before combats, since it is logical to have long duration buff on during exploring. For example, any mages should have stone skin and magic armor on all the time. These buffs last several hours in game.

Short duration buff is different. It is expected to be casted during combat depending on the situation. The SCS mod give short duration buffs to the enemies only when enemies are teleported into the map, which can be explained by the theroy that the enemies teleporting to the map are expecting a fight with players, so they pre buff themselves with short duration buffs. The players are expected to no pre-buff themselves with short duration buffs for this reason.

Well, the mod also have the option of prebuff enemies with short duration buffs to increase the difficulty.

Well, IA does some things differently, this is something that one'd have to accept.

In vanilla BG2EE v2.5.16.6, the effect of Improved Invisible (opcode20, type=1) gives the target a +4 bonus to all saving throw, but in IA64 the pre-buff spell Improved Invisible (SPWII41), there are opcodes (33-37) which give additional +4 bonus making the total of +8. I wonder it's a historical fix to original BG2 which should be removed in EE-only IA, or just intentional。

This was already fixed once not so long ago, I definitely remember that. I guess it'd come back for some reason?

Unfortunately it's just in the install file of IA64, and directly copied to override (line 476 in 01_copy_new.tph).

Maybe I removed the patch by mistake at a certain point. I'll check it out.

Checked it out, I've fixed only the wizard's spell file. Didn't realize there was another spell file for this. Fixed locally.

The alignment restrictions to the Judgement Day and The Truth by using opcode #319 seems are not working well, in IA64 installed on BG2EE v2.5.16.6.

Comparing with ax1h01(an axe in vanilla game which forbid use by druid), when power set to 0, the creature who meet the condition forbid to use, and when power set 1 it's just the opposite.

In my test, when the IDS value is set to every particular alignment (LAWFUL_GOOD, CHAOTIC_EVIL, etc), it works as expected. But if the value is set to MASK_XXX with power=0, everyone can use it, and with power=1 which is just like in the Judgement Day and The Truth item files, nobody can use them.

TL;DR: the #319 seems buggy when checking the alignment by using MASK_XXX condition.

Since the UAI opcode overrides not only the unusable flag but also opcode #319, I suggest just write good-alignment-requirment in the unsuable flag of the item, before you have changed the function level of UAI (or even delete it like you mentioned before).

Thanks. Yes, this has been reported already and fixed locally for The Truth. I'll check some more.

This is fixed locally.

I think those two crafted halberds should follow the concept in BG2EE and set the damage type to Piercing/Slashing (more) .

And make Treefolk's Arm with opcode #344 (Enchantment vs. Type) to a +5 vs. unnatural creatures , just like one of base weapon The Root of the Problem.

Updated both things locally.

Does the halberd change mean that the the halberd will do either piercing or slashing damage? If so, that is a rather large buff to two of the most powerful weapons in the game.

Note that the Root of the Problem hitting as a +3 weapon is perhaps OP in early Ch 2/3 and further undermines Treefolk's Arm as a weapon upgrade, particularly given the way in which its damage is calculated.

Just my 2 cents.

Why would it undermine if Treefolk's is just better than the original in many ways?

Bulian is right, in IA damage type was always one of the most important components when it comes to strategy and forging. Now swords(especially 2h) are nerfed due to that change, because they pale in comparison with the mighty halberds.

All halberds in EE already has slash/pierce damage except for the two added by the mod. So the only other way is to revert all halberds back to piercing only.

IMHO, due to lacking of APR and other equipped-effects from weapon in off-hand, 2H weapons could be never OP in most circumstances. 2H swords are not nerfed, they have their unique usage and effects, early-gaining, much less cost in forging...

I wouldn't say that swords are nerfed, but both spears and two handed swords are certainly less competitive as a weapon proficiency for fighter types. The warblade is powerful under certain circumstances, but there are maybe only 1-2 cases where a player would use that sword over PW or DL halberd. Given the increased power of halberds, perhaps increasing the forge cost of PW/DL and the purchase cost of Harmonium Halberd (or move the latter to a late Ch 3 random location) would make sense.

Regarding TFA/Root of the Problem, the upgraded weapon being +3 used to put it in a unique position within the game - very strong for Ch 2/3, particularly since many important early encounters are gated by the availability of +3 weapons (Lilarcor - greater crawler, frostreaver axe - the snake, Torgal's gem golem). TFA its easily available and has the potential to be one of the first +3 weapons the party can get besides staves and the beastmaster club. Since RotP now hits as +3 against in all of the above examples, there isn't a huge early motivation to forge TFA to access another +3 weapon, and at least when it didn't hit as a +5 weapon, not being a+4 weapons meant it wasn't as useful in the late game. To be honest, I like the weapon but I could never justify using a very limited Ch 2/3 perm scroll on it - hence why I suggested additional Ch 6 upgrades for it in another thread. I would pick a +5 (equivalent) TFA over the +4 rimed club - it does more damage and cold resistance is of marginal importance, and in the majority of my games I have forged the +4 rimed club because of its enchantment.

Having the items behave consistently is a good thing, but these changes would/do represent a (perhaps significant) buff to the player.

bulian makes some good points and maybe both tweaks were a bit rushed. I haven't been thinking about it within the framework of the whole game. The TFA issue could probably be circumvented if we were to prevent it to hit as +5 and introduce further upgrades. The halberds would probably need to be reverted though.

I do agree with bulian mostly.

Adjusting the cost/requirments along with changing the damage type of PW/DL is a good idea. But I still think a halberd has multi damage type make much more sence rather than single slashing/piercing. Imaging we were holding a halberd in reality, we could either slash or jab depend on different situation.

I suggested that TFA has a +5 based on the bonus damage to specific foes. If we are going to have a further upgrade, make it +2/+4 and upgraded +3/+5 may be an option?

I think when a weapon is +5/+5 to hit and damage, it should be considered as a +5 weapon in regards to what it can hit (i.e weapon enchantment). That just seems to follow common-sense to me. I don't like mismatches. If the bonus is situational, such as just a certain group of creatures, then that should apply to that group of creatures. There are many unnatural creatures. In fact, most of the monsters in the game would be considered unnatural.

This is how it's implemented. +5 is against specific groups of creatures. But it is indeed a quite large group, including the undead.

I don't like mismatch either, but it exists since original BG2 like Mace of Disruption +1/+2 which has a +3/+5 enchantment but +1/+2 damage/tohit bonus, Staf of Magi +5 enchantment but +1 bonus. Specific design overrides common sence, I think, so I accept it.

One could make the to hit and damage bonuses consistent if desired. I don't recall off-hand an example in DnD 3 or 3.5 where to hit differs from to damage in magical weapons. However, what I was getting at is enchantment score. For example, Tree Folk's Arm is +5 to hit unnatural creatures; however, if that unnatural creature requires a +4 enchantment score or better to hit, then the weapon fails to hit. I have always found that very irritating, because as I said before I think a +5 to hit should equate to a +5 enchantment bonus in that case (no mismatches). I'm not sure if you can set Treefolk's Arm up to be a +5 enhancement bonus against all unnatural creatures, but as I said before, there are more unnatural monsters than natural monsters in this game.

It is possible to set this up in EE, and I did. The discussion was about whether this is a good idea or not to give a +5 weapon at that stage of the game against many enemies.

Yes, the group is quite large Root of the Problem set, almost included all strong enemies introduced/modified by IA, except githyanki and raksasha. Undead (skeleton, lich), GiantHumanoid (golem, fire giant), Monsters(spider, demon, yuanti...).

My suggestion is to change the enchantment of Root of the Problem to +2, and to change the Tree Folk's Arm to +4(or +5). The Tree Folk's Arm+3 is powerless in the late game in the previous versions, so why would people spend 50000 gp to forge it? To keep balance, Tree Folk's Arm should be less powerful than the Rimed Club (i.e.,to lower its hit or damage bonus or something), or more expensive.
The double damage type will also make halberds more welcome than 2H swords, just as bulian said.
The PW and DL halberds are expensive but irreplaceable, for they have special use in many situations. One possibility is that no one wants to forge a 2H sword, because when they already forged a halberd, there's no need to pay extra money just for a little extra benefit on 2H sword.

I lean toward chaser's suggestion. I want a weapon useful against the mithril golem. So, if you don't want Tree Folk to be +5, then +4 would do. First time I ran into that mithril golem (in an earlier version), I had no +4 weapon at all - that sucked. Phosphorus is great but very expensive, because you have to buy/forge the ingredients too. It would be nice to have more than 1 person swinging at the golem. So, a +4 club would be appreciated. I think natural creatures could play a great part in this game and be terrific opposition, just level them up and outfit them well. However, that is seldom the main enemy in this game. Natural includes player character races and animals - creatures that are encountered on the game's planet without magical influence. Natural does not include Githyanki in my mind, because they are extraplanar creatures (not natural to the planet). Natural certainly does not include rakshasa, which are outsiders.

I may be wrong but I believe mithril golem can be hit by +3 weapons. The demon on the second floor of Watcher's Keep, skeleton grandlords, troll king/queen, and probably Orcus are the memorable monsters requiring +4 weapons. I don't believe there is a measurable difference between +4 and +5 weapons in the game, so changing it to +2/+4 isn't really doing anything.

I'd be interested to see whether anyone could complete WK lvl 2/3 pre-spellhold using Staff of Rynn (if lucky), Phosphorous (3 permanency scrolls, 90k gold), staff of strength (2 permanency scrolls, 75k gold), Water's Edge +4 (50k, Manual of Elaboration) and Treefolk's Arm (1 permanency scroll, 50k gold). I don't have a strong feeling either way and hate to suggest a "nerf", but it seems that if TFA is to hit as +4/+5 against all the important monsters it needs to cost more resources - otherwise it is a no-brainer buy for parties using vagrants, Valygar, or a dual-wield custom Avenger. Maybe that's OK.

I still like the Ch6 second tier upgrade option that I had suggested as well as another means to keep it viable in the late game.

@bulian

Your target is achievable. In my latest walkthrough, I forged Phosphorous, Water's Edge and a Protection Cloak +2 before sailing, left more than 200k gp (only cleaned part of the first floor of WK). And you can get exactly 6 permanency scrolls if you get to the second floor of WK: Torgal, Shadow Dragon, Screaming Statue encounter, Ship of Slavers, the Warden in prison, fire room of the second floor of WK.

But why do you need 2 +4 staves?

@rbeerjr

Unnatural is just a description. Opcodes in Root of Problem checks if the "General" value of your target is set to Undead, GiantHumanoid or Monster, examples given in pre post. General of Raksasha/Githyanki is Humanoid, all races player can choose to be are Humanoid too.

As critto said, the discussion was about whether this is a good idea or not to give a +5 weapon at that stage of the game against many enemies. My answer is yes, with adjusted cost if needed.

First, the proficiency is club, it seems only the BeastMaster will be forced to use it. Too many strong weapons with crushing damage type, TFA +3 is uncompetitive especially costs a precious permanency scroll.
Second, one can get a +3 club (without tohit and damage bonus vs. type but at least a +3 weapon) very early, and the Root of Problem is already +3 vs. type, why should one put resources in TFA? Rimed Club +4 is much better choice.
Third, the TFA is only usable by ranger/druid, who can only put at most 2 slots in proficiency, with lack of 1/2 APR or 1 if improved hasted, and 2 point of tohit bonus, compared to fighters. A bit stronger itself should not be a problem I think.

Further upgrade suggested by bulian is good, though I still think TFA should keep consistant with RoP conceptually.

The demon in WK level 2 requires +4 weapons to be hit, so every +4 weapon helps, and I don't think a pre-spellhold party would have enough arcane damage to take him out, not to mention his fiercesome entourage.

Note that beating that demon would allow the party to forge The Truth long sword, as well as the Flail of the Ages+4, and then completing the maze in Watcher's Keep level 3 would enable Rimed Club +4 to be forged. Personally I don't think its possible to do this but would love to be proven wrong.

I don't have anything more to add about the TFA, but a dual wielding Avenger with Paws of the Furious Cat, Water's Edge (or Belm), TFA (or Rimed Club), under the effects of Holy Power, Righteous Magic, Improved Haste, and Combat Trance has 8 APR with the base THAC0 of a fighter, which is quite strong and achievable in Ch 3.

Can I assume that you then end up with tougher spellhold? You would be gaining serious XP to get all those things.

If the club is only +5 vs undead, giant humanoid, or monster AND you must be druid or ranger, then I'm only mildly interested anyway. One of the weaknesses of IA to me is that the club frequently departs from DnD rules. DnD has monster categories. To restrict "unnatural" to those 3 categories seems ridiculous to me. Out of all the many categories, why those three?

My notes say that I needed +4 to hit the mithril golem. I use these forums for info, so I want to have things correct. Can someone confirm what weapon is needed vs the mithril golem before I depart to visit him?

+3 weapons are enough. And this club is great to defeat the golem due to that additional 1dmg you deal.
No monster in ch4 and 5 requires +4 weapon to defeat it

The exp of WK lvl 1-2 is approximately 300,000 per person. As long as the quest order is well arranged, and the exp of PC dosen't exceed 2.23M before Chapter 4, the high difficulty spellhold is unlikely to be triggered.

The monsters in the northwest room of WK lvl 1, the spider queen, and the fire giant of WK lvl 2 level will bring a lot exp, but are also very difficult to deal with. However, by using appropriate methods, such as quickly accessing to the monster refreshing area (before the monsters refresh), you can make sure that the monsters do not appear.
The demon in WK lvl 2 only requires +3 weapon, and can be defeated with the right tactics.

To complete WK lvl 3 pre-spellhold is impossible, for the green wyvern battle cannot be triggered before defeating Kruin.

Hey guys im playing the latest version of IA with a Vagrant

Im curious at which point Lord Roennal attacks the keep.
i finished the underdark and did most of the quest before suldanessalar.

any suggestions ?

What was the last quest you did in the fighter stronghold questline?

I think strongholds need to be completed before chapter 7 after that they don't work.

@critto

the last one was the story with the cleric i guess

another question ...

Grandfather of assasins

i cant solvwe this code ...

any hint for me ?

I think HTRT may be right about the stronghold. What is the current state of the KeepPlot global variable right now in your game?

As for grandfather of assassins, where and when did you find the code, please remind me?

@critto

I dont Know how to See this Variable i dont Know how to use console and Stuff.

I found one half on the Doppelgänger and the other on the guildmaster in firekraags lair

I always do this fight after underdark. And if I need I use some walkthroughs on the internet to see how many quests are left in this strongolhold plot

well i solved the grandfather riddle

nice one with that !

btw im still in chapter 6 i can do nothing about roennal ? i want the items he offers :/