Hmmm...I just read that "Mass Raise Dead" is replaced by something else.
I found this spell awsome. Not for Clerics of course, but Cernd can cast it....heals entire
party..awsome...a lesser version of Greater Restoration. I'd leave it, at least for Druids.

I am sad because expanded druid stronghold is postponed. I planned the following party for IAv6:
auramaster protagonist
riskbreaker
Valygar
swashbuckler
necromancer
ranger>cleric

There would be several advantages in this party for me:
- exploring the new changes in swashbuckler and Valygar
- exploring a new kit for me: riskbreaker
- only 1 arcane caster would give an additinional chalennege compared to my former parties
- I could see a new content also in form of expanded druid stronghold.

Sadly if I want to see more new content, I have to play with either mage or ranger protagonist. I have played both in IA v5, and if I chose vagrant again, Valygar should be skipped since 2 pure rangers are too much. I am desperate now.

Yes, it's a shame that we had to postpone the expanded druid stronghold to v7. If we had insisted on including it in v6, the mod couldn't have been released sooner than November. We decided to postpone the new druid content to v7 so that we can release v6 a lot earlier than that.

I suggest that you consider a new party composition with a good-aligned Necromancer protagonist for your first run of v6. You will see a lot of new content in your game.

A Vagrant protagonist is a good choice for your second run. A new big quest is added for vagrants too.

Thanks, Sikret! I know it is not your fault, and we shouldn't demand anything from IA modding and testing team. I just wanted to write down my feelings, because I waited v6 very very much. Yes, probbaly I will play a necromancer. I have a v5 run with necromancer also, I am at Supreme Leader in WK and all SoA content is finished. I took a break from the game for several months but I wanted to do and finish ToB also before v6. Maybe I will skip it now, since v6 proptagonist will be the same. In this case I will try a C/M maybe instead of auramaster, or another pure fighter for two-handed weapons (like berserker). I wanted to do a v6 party without arcane spellcaster anyway, so it would be good practice to do 1st v6 run with ony 1 arcane spellcaster. I will think on it.

I have two suggestion after rereading V6 changes:

Maybe you should allow expanded stronghold for cleric/mage multi also. They are similarly dedicated to spellcasting as single class mages. Also new quests only for good necromancer is a very strict dependancy... If someone would like to play other single-class mage, he looses half of the expanded stronghold quests. I don't know new spells in v6, but with the new amulet and new necromancy spells in v5 necromancer are equal or better than other specialists. Maybe you shouldn't force ppl to forget all other specialist than neromancers.



I agree with this in case of F/M or even in case if T/M. But C/M should get IA imho, since - as I mentioned above - they are dedicated to magic also.

Just a suggestion for Faldorn...she, as a high-lvl druid, knows that CHARNAME is a Bhaalspawn etc. She could probably know
which class she is. Why does she cast Summon Bears if she sees a ranger!? To get slaughtered 15 sec later by her own bears I guess...
why not make her (if she fights rangers) cast Nymphs first? It would be much more fair to other fighter classes which have severe difficulty killing her early.

This is a Quote from Vuki in the Vanilla Bug thread.

In respect to this a suggestion.
Temples sell greater restoration for 750gp, thereby healing the entire party to full. (and the character selected will be fatigued asmentioned by Vuki).
Temples also sell heal for 750gp, thereby healing only one party member to full.

The cost is thus the same, but I believe it should be different (higher cost for Greater Restoration).

I want to install IA and make a run through the game but I'm not sure if I should go with v5 or wait a little for 6. Do you have a revised ETA for v6?

Testing the mod is going on a bit slowly on these days. We have reached Yaga-Shura in TOB. I hope that we can release the mod in October, but it really depends on too many factors to be predictable with certainty. I say start a game with v5. It can at least be counted as a practicing game session for you while waiting for v6.

I'm real sorry about this delay...just out of curiosity, how come the new Twisted Rune is also postponed to IA7? I'm sure I read somewhere about it being a marathon and was very interested abound it (harder than EDEv5 and all). Where does it take place, also Pocket Plane?

It's a very complex battle and we don't have enough time to test it for v6. It will be done for v7.



No, you return to Oasis for that.

Heh....Anvil6 is not out yet and I can't wait for 7.... Hope the testing works out fine.

The changes look great to me, especially in the (over)wishing and triple class mass HLA departments. It goes a long way in making the game a bit more challenging in the late game, especially since this mod is designed to make BG2 as difficult as humanly possible without making the game impossible.

As it stands now, early to mid game is pretty much already a masterpiece, but late game is always autopilot easymode. I've done five complete IA5 playthroughs and my personal record stands at 48 reloads; needless to say, I can't wait to find out where/when these new tweaks will cause me an unexpected series of epic failures.

Judging from the regulars posting on here, I suspect I'm not the only one who enjoys playing games with my face buried in my palms, head slowly shaking from side to side, periodically muttering, "are you kidding me?!?" in steady crescendo.

Thanks for the kind words and compliments, darkjeshush and Kerkes.

To Sikret:

Some pecteptions to IA v. 5

1.When fighting Kangaxx (after turning to demilich) he (in some cases) can´t die:-) In this time all of his spells are already used. And I beat him, doing big damage and he still lives.
2.In chapter 6 Firkraag died too quickly before trigger his protections. But in IA6 he is improved further and this problem is solved I supposed… Right?
3.Poseidon's Wrath +5 problem: There is chance to freeze target. I noticed this in fight with Lord Roenall. And some snow flakes remains with him and he droped nothing:-(
4.When protagonist is Necromancer: I can´t find Robe of Vecna in SoA and WK. I finished all quests (and whole WK) except Orcus. It seems „Danger at harbors!“ will not start? Then is impossible to forge Potion of Superior Mentality??
5.I played IA5 with Protagonists: Vagrant, Berserker and Assassin also. Vagrant is before Supreme Leader fight in WK. Berserker is before Ancient dragon fight and Assassin is at 15 level. So I never find 48-sided Garnet. Some hint please?
6.In multiplayer the game goes very slow when I have gem bag or scroll case in inventory. Bug? I have a few other mods instaled.

Your game is corrupted, because I'm pretty sure that there is no such bug in IA. Perhaps you have installed some incompatible mods.

All dragons are improved further in v6, yes.

However even in v5 you shouldn't be able to kill him so fast before he even triggers his buffs if you refrain from using questionable/cheesy methods.



This is a normal (and intended) side effect of any weapon which inflicts cold damage.

Robe of Vecna has disappeared in your game? It's a local glitch in your game which could have several possible causes (cheating during the game, using shadow keeper to modify your game, installing incompatible mods, using a saved game from another installation in which IA wasn't installed, using the ClUAConsole command to travel between areas, etc).



We don't spoil the location of this item in the forum, sorry. Send an e-mail to some known IA players and ask them for hints.



After starting a game in multiplayer mode, you need to save your game, quit the game, go to BG2 main folder and the mpsave folder, cut the saved game and paste it into your "save" folder. Now start the game in single player mode and load the saved game.

As for Kangaxx, at first I thought you were saying that he doesn't change to demi-lich form (which is a vanilla game bug I have fixed in IA); so, I wrote a different answer. However, I immediately re-read your post and noticed that you are saying that he doesn't die in his demi-lich form and I changed my answer to what you read above. This is certainly a local bug in your game (it's not even a vanilla game bug).

You say you have few other mods installed. Is Tactics by any chance one of those few? 'Cause I remember that simultaneous installation of "improved mages" and "improved kangaxx" caused the latter to become invincible. If it is the case, you might want to reconsider using Tactics together with IA.

It's been mentioned many times that players who do not follow installation instructions accurately are on their own and should not send reports of the bugs they have created in their own games by not following the installation guidelines.

Pity. I didn't think mage -> X was that good.

November is quite near. Sikret, can you give any more precise releasing date?

Regarding demogorgon.... Just did the fight and what an antiklimax(right spelling?) it took like 5 seconds to hack him to pieces :-( I have had harder times with coin golems. Hope he will get a do-over if not in v6 then in v7 ahh should mention I didnt have it on insane in that battle but really considering how easy it was - core rules is not enough strength.

The IA testing team is currently divided into several specialized categories to perform particular and specialized tests. One tester is testing the mod on Vista; one other tester is testing the mod on windows xp and with TS installed; one other tester is testing on windows XP and without TS installled (and with a particular protagonist), one other is testing certain features of TOB, etc, etc...

At this point, despite having a good number of testers working on different specialized tests, I need one more tester who can devout several daily hours on playing the game to test one other specialized test for me (The tester should have windows xp). If someone can step forward and volunteer, we may be able to release the mod in time. Otherwise, I'll have to start a game myself and join the testing team to do this particular test, but it will certainly cause more delay in the releasing date, because my playing time is very limited.

I dont know whats involed in being a tester but I am willing to give it a go. I have the time and I enjoy the mod I am not a tactical genius though.

Thanks for the offer!

Give me some time (a few days) to see what I shall do. I have received similar offers from others as well and I should decide how many new testers I need. I will most probably accept more than one.

Wouldn't making +3 & +4 rings of prot not stack with magical armor make regular armor + the magical ring more useful than many high lvl armors. For instance, why wear any magical armor like +2 full plate or armor of the heart (besides the really powerful ones) when you can wear cheap regular armor and a magical ring. What about making it so that you can only wear one ring/amulet/cloak of protection but it stacks with magical armor.

I dont know how this would effect the enemies gear and consequential defenses or your ability to withstand their attacks though.

What about changing comet to deal ice damage and calling it ice comet? There are so few ice/cold spells in the game that this could be a boost. The stunning effect also makes more sense with being hit with a big chunk of ice than fire.

+2 protection items (rings/cloaks etc) can still be worn together and with armors; it's just the +3 and better ones which can't be worn with armors and with each other.

So, you can still have magical armor + 2x(Ring of protections +2), which gives a totally better protection than a non-magical armor + one Ring of Protection +3.

Full plate and two +4 rings give you better stats than +4 armor and two +2 rings (same AC but 4 less to saves). It is true that armor can have other useful stats on it, but unless you're dealing with great wyrm plate most full plate armor is just AC or the bonuses are outweighed by the saving throw bonuses if you go with +4 rings. Even huskar armor and green wyrm plate (very useful for that optional late game encounter) bonuses are outweighed by the ring bonuses.

You can't wear two +4 rings.

+3 and better protection items can't be worn with magical armors and/or together with each other.

Quote from the original post in this topic:



Read the texts accurately before posting.

Ohh, no.

I continue my V5 game and do not wait for V6.

I'm sorry for the extended delay.

Two groups of testers are currently testing the mod. The pioneer testing group is now at Abazigal's lair. The second (supporting) testing team is now re-testing the important battle in SOA portion of the game. The SOA part is already tested but we want to test the important encounters again. This second team is now in chapter 6.

More than two years has passed since we started working on IA v6 (v5 was released in November 2007). The content of IA v6 is more than 100% more than IA v5 (more than doubled amount of new content compared to v5). I admit that I could have added even more new content to the mod in two years, but two main factors interfered and slowed down our progress:

First, the new wilderness area which was supposed to be used in Expanded Druid Stronghold didn't get ready in time. I waited for 18 months just to receive an incomplete version of the area from the graphics artist who was making the area. I had already spent a lot of time making the required files for the expanded druid stronghold which remained unused and are now all archived to be used in v7.

Second, we spent some time blocking possible cheats and cheesy methods. This amount of time could have been used for adding more new quests to the mod, but I believe that blocking cheats is a very important thing to do. Players who play the mod honestly and without cheating have the right to be sure that cheaters can't finish the mod easily and laugh at the honest players. They also have the right to be sure that any report sent by other players to the forum contains true (rather than forged) information.

Saros' reports (both here and in Bioware Forums) proved that we were wrong in assuming that every player who installs the mod, installs it with the intention of playing it honestly. We realized that some people (even though a small minority) may just install the mod with the intention of beating the encounters with any illegitimate methods they find available in the game and then return to forums to write lies and forged reports to glorify their victories and pretend that they are important persons. This sort of players violate other players' right to read true information in the forum. A portion of our time was spent blocking those possible cheats and exploits.

Despite these delaying elements, we did manage to add a huge amount of new content to the mod. As I said, IA v6 adds 100% more new content to the game when compared with IA v5.

The time between IA versions is generally quite a long time, but I find that the end-result, the released mod, is all the more worth the wait.

I would be saddened if a new version came out every few months, because that does not give us the proper time to finish our game from the beginning of SOA right until the end of TOB. You've changed basically everything in the game to some extent, such that the extra content isn't finished once you hit TOB but goes on until the end... I cannot say the same for other large mods that basically stop once you've finished SOA, or which don't kick in until late TOB.

I also find that some challenges are so difficult (dependent on party setup) that I think I can handle it, but then I'm still stuck for a few days trying out different tactics before I "have" to give up and venture elsewhere to level up, gain items or gain spells. I find that fun, but that also means that I cannot finish the entire mod within half a year.

Granted, I'm going through v5 for the third time, but since I'm using different characters the challenges are much different and are done in a completely different order (first game stopped half-way, second game finished to the end, third now ongoing and will be the second in v5 to reach the end). I'm already thinking about v6 though... and since I will be playing as a mage protagonist this time, I'm thinking I will be slaughtered so often.... I'm so bad with keeping mages alive.

Yes, and add to this the fact that different classes have access to different content/quests. This adds to the replaying value of the mod and will require you to spend a longer time to see everything the mod adds to the game.

In addition to the protagonist's class the NPCs' classes/kits also matter (though in a lesser degree than the protagonist's). For example, a player who has played a v6 run without a swashbuckler or protector or riskbreaker may be curious to play another game to see the new abilities added for these kits. The same is true for the new HLAs added for druids.

In general, Improved Anvil supplies the player with enough motive and material for playing the game several times while waiting for the mod's next version.

For v7, we plan to add Expanded Druid Stronghold and Expanded Paladin Stronghold as well. The Extended Twisted Rune also includes a complex encounter which I prefered to postpone to v7, because testing it alone would take a few months and could prolong the delay of releasing v6 even further.

Oh, Paladin stronghold is really cool but what about Fighter Stronghold? Riskbreaker is such a beast, in IA 6 he's improved, playing riskbreaker as a protagonist with new quests...oh, boy...amazing!


About the delay. February 2010 is, for the first time, a REALISTIC date, in my opinion. Quality needs time, that's all I have to say.

I played AD&D with SIKRET for many years (may be 10 years) and he was our Dungeon Master. He wrote many outstanding scenarios and I still have a lot of them in my memory.
I am sure that IA v6 will be the best mod for BG2 and TOB (as I now SIKRET, may be the most difficult one also )

Wait and see, you are in the domain of perfection....

Hi, Chevalier! You reminded me of good old days of Playing pen and paper AD&D. Thanks for that as well as your kind words.

Hi. I have a proposition to make for the new version of the imroved anvil. I think that the spellcasters that appear when you cast spells out in the open should be improved. They're ridiculously easy, and farmable with 9-level party, hence they provide a cheesy way of gaining xp.

Hmm...what do you mean, improved Zelanora? Are you sure you have Improved Anvil properly installed?

Zellanora comes in after 6-7 waves

Exactly. After 6-7 improved waves.

Can we get a more specific "rough estimate" about the time of release? Like, is it gonna be in the first, the second or the third tenday of march?

Thanks in advance.

It's still februari. Tomorrow too

We are testing EDE v6 (the final battle of the mod).

I see release date changed to March, still no concrete date yet?

It's been delayed a year. Just ignore the date and wait until it comes out.

It's really hard to predict when the new version will be released because it depends on how testing goes. Sikret can't predict how much time testers will be able to spend playing and also can't predict how much time will be needed to revise each battle (some need virtually no changes, others need to be changed, tested again, then changed again, tested again etc.). So it's really impossible to give an accurate estimate for the release date even though the testing process is nearly finished.

Hopefully a June/July release, sigh why mislead people with several false release dates
Was initially gonna wait for v6 in Feb, but already started a new v5 game when the release date changed to March. Meh :/

Worry not, the release date is near. Everything's pretty much been tested, except for EDE. But that is a tricky one, as all of you who played IAv5 know. Sometimes it is simply hard to find a sufficient time to play (a decent EDE attempt requires around 1 or 2 hours whereas a fully successful one could take up as much as 4 hours).
I honestly don't think it will be delayed until summer, but however it might take us the rest of March.