Thanks for the feedback.

It's a pre-existing change, I opted not to mess with anything of such nature.


I think we nerfed the physical resistance in the end. Too much for early to mid game.


I didn't bother with Wilson (haven't even seen him, to be honest). As for the evil npcs, they have never been a part of IA scope. It might change in future, theoretically, but not today. Hexxat I find particularly annoying with all the convoluted mechanics for her receiving damage at sunlight or not.


Monks are nerfed


Shouldn't be anything problematic. She's a solid choice for a party member now.

Dwarven defender is still okay with his physical resistance bonus. Too much is indeed not challenging enough. I would rank him on par with barbarian now as a damage absorber.

Rasaad I took along for a while and crafted the monk items, but I did not carry him all the way to the end (actually went back to an earlier save). At the time I discarded him he was shrugging off magic left and right without problems.

I think I will try another run through with a different class (not necromancer then).

I will use that thread for my usual questions and comments to IA6.2

1. critto, you mentioned somewhere in bulian's necro playthrough that Level1NPC mod is working together with IA. I installed it last (after IA6.2), but didn't see any effect on Minsc and Jaheira ?!?
   Edit: My bad. I was thinking that components #0 and #4 are enough to get Lvl 1 NPCs, but apparently you must also mod the NPC...
2. I really do like the new readme. Great job! But I was using the search function a lot to check whether an item is needed for an upgrade receipt or not. Now I need to unfold everything first...
3. My party setup plans are: Necro, R/C, B9/M, Mazzy, Jaheira, Valygar. Any advices?

I have never tested it with IAv6.2. And it is a known fact that level1NPCs does not work on EE.


I had some plans for more functionality inside the readme regarding the items page. I'll try to spend some time in the near future to improve it.


Nope, it seems to be pretty solid, in my opinion. Not OP, but should be comfortable to play.

A good party composition, it is nice to see 3 BioWare NPCs here! Also I wonder how will you like these 2 new/changed kits that Mazzy and Jaheira have Good luck!

Let's see how it goes...
To rescue Mazzy early on is not that easy anymore...Jailor + 2 Skeleton Lords + some minor Skeleton Warriors and Shadows
And some new animations for the Lords...NICE! The Stone Golem in Umar Hills also had a sweet texture...I'm excited to see Gem- ,Coin-,... Golems

One way to avod that was to create custom made champion of Arvoreen and swap him/her with Mazzy when on levels that grant you victory. But that way it's more challenging

When it comes to skeleton lords:
don't forget that
SPOILER!

I'd also recommend grabbing Anomen short-term. He's pretty powerful early on with his numerous clerical buffs.

Looks like this thread has become the 6.2 thread, so... congratulations to the team for the release! I'm quite looking forward to trying a run.

Few questions on some of the new items:

1. Is all (6D6+3D6) or just the 3D6 portion of the damage from Mazzy's shield subject to the save vs wand?
2. Is the Avenger "Perform Ritual" HLA of limited duration or permanent?
3. Is Elven Ancient Expertise (Potion) usable by dual F/M and M/C or just multiclass?

Currently planning on the following party from BGEE 1.3 (new to me):
Vagrant
R->C (dual)
Sorceror
B-> M (dual)
Jaheira (Avenger)
Bioware NPCs, eventually Mazzy

Thanks!


Just the 3d6 portion.

Limited. I'll amend the ability's description to show this. it already does, though, on the HLA selection screen, but not in the kit's description.


Only multiclasses.


Looks strong. I recommend taking Neera (EE NPC) instead of a custom sorcerer. She's also a sorceress in IA and has upgradable equipment.

Some questions:

1. QUOTE
   one of the new items caused a crash on ToB installations because of EE-only effects present in the item structure
   Which item is it exactly? I'm a bit afraid of reinstalling IA, spent already some hours playing and dont want to break my installation...(The Four and Level1NPC comp #0 + #4 are installed after IA)
2. QUOTE
   a small tactical encounter is added to spice up the early stages of the game
   Any hint? Couldnt find that encounter...
3. QUOTE
   a third craftsman is introduced to provide services for the player's party
   Early or late game?

Thanks in advance.

S!sw21

You won't break anything by reinstalling (if IA is installed on top).

2 & 3: both early.

SPOILER!

Thanks for the tip about Neera - I'll use her instead of a custom sorcerer.

Just got out of Irenicus dungeon. Interface in EE has some nice elements, particularly the loot button. Couple of questions/comments:

I really like the avenger (Jaheira) class so far.

Vagrant gets "Bala's Axe, Wizard Slayer" from the Djinni in Irenicus's prison - I suspect the item is non-magical, which makes it really strong, particularly if it is in fact treated as unenchanted.

I'm rethinking Mazzy - her kit still seems a little underpowered compared to many other options. Would be great if she could get GM in a blunt weapon as well.

Instead of Mazzy, the blackguard seems really strong
-aura seems really overpowered: -4 thaco/-4 damage/-4 AC on enemies for one turn. Does that aura work on most IA enemies? You may want to (nerf) add a save vs spell at a penalty or reduce duration from 1 turn to a few rounds, maybe 3-5 rounds.
-immunity to level drain
-evil so can't be turned by evil clerics?

R->C dual no longer has access to ironskins in EE? That's a serious nerf!

Do either "blessed watchfullness" or "mental equilibrium" spells cleanse/protect against greater/grave silence? I still think the biggest difference between vagrant/necro protagonists is the immunity to silence on a mage.

This is part of vanilla/Beamdog's feature that gives the protagonist a particular item from BG1. I haven't studied this in depth, people usually use DbG to skip the dungeon. I'll check it out.


You might be right, but I specifically didn't want to have more OP classes. The changes I've prepared seemed to be more consistent with whatever lore is available on the subject. This, of course, could be amended if needed. The class is a mix between fighter and paladin. Paladins generally don't go higher than specialization in weapons. This might be subject to change, of course, if we review paladins in the future.

I have done no tests whatsoever on blackguards or Dorn. Not enough time. So you might be right on all subjects. This is listed among our plans whenever we get to it.


That's not a nerf, rather a feature of EE. Check out the Fixes & Tweaks section of the readme, the bottom section ("Existing bugs and feature of the game"). You can get the druidic spells back, it's a matter of changing an option in the game's configuration file. You'll need to gain a level with your R->C, though, after changing it if you'd already started playing.


No, they don't. Avenger's ritual ability, on the other hand, provides immunity to greater versions of silence. Regarding the silence question in general, I have plans to address that in the future releases as well. Right now it is indeed somewhat unbalanced.

Thanks critto.

SPOILER!

I downloaded Near Infinity; the axe looks to be magical FWIW.



The reason for the above was I was thinking that the Holy Avenger may not have an alignment flag - indeed it doesn't, so our dear Blackguard friends can run around in Improved Human Flesh armor wielding that sword and have 70% magic resistance. Does that make sense? I don't know. Is it OP? Yes indeed.

Thanks, I found what you were talking about and fixed it - adding the line didn't help since there is already one present with the wrong flag in that file. Changing the value in that line did the trick. The new player section of the readme page suggests that R/C is the best tank because of the ability to cast iron skins, so it may be worth amending the installation instructions if you don't want to patch. Not sure whether there is an easy way to patch that file, which is now located in a My Documents folder.



Makes sense and is a good goal. I think there is a ton of variability now and many many really good choices. Looking forward to actually playing a bit more!

Double post

Location of the configuration file differs from installation to installation and will never be patched during the mod installation. This is left for players to decide, I can only provide recommendations on what to do.

2 Azoth:

replying to your message (sorry, my installation was corrupted so I couldn't install the mod properly and check the resources), there's no restoration. There are some effects that it applies on hit and all should be rendered and displayed properly if they occur. But definitely no restoration.

I couldn't reproduce, but i'm pretty sure that something weird was going on...

Looks like Breach is bypassing Spell Turning using EE1.3 and IA 6.2 - forgot to buy Secret Word and was trying to drop the defenses on the Greater Yaun-Ti. I have a save available if needed.

Interesting. Could you please send it for inspection?

Sent.

Thanks, we'll investigate.

There wasn't done anything to those spells for a long time. I strongly suspect that this has been present for ages. Stuff like Melf's Arrow, etc. has a secondary type that seem to be blocked by ST. Breach and Lower Resistance, however, are not. So it appears that while you can Breach the Lizard, you would still need to use Secret Word to bring ST down if you want to use offensive magic on him.

In case of wizards with SI:Abj+GoI+ST combo, you can't Breach or do anything else until you get SI down, and you need three RRRoRs for that.

So, my conclusion so far is that this bug/feature is something that's been there for a long time. There's just not that many cases where you get a wizard who uses ST without SI:Abj or SI:Div+Invisibility combo.

But I'll think about possible solutions.

Yes, I did some research and can confirm that this has been present for a long time. The fix will be available in the next version, we need to test it thoroughly first.

Definitely enjoying 6.2! I've just come across my first problem though.

Once I grab the Dragonslayer sword and shield Samia shows up and talks to me but as soon as it's time for her party to spawn my game crashes.

Does that sound like I need to try to reinstall my game?

No, you need a patch. I've posted it here: http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net/index.php?showtopic=5327

Sorry about that, sometimes we miss compatibility issues between EE and ToB.

Hi Hideous!

Good to see that you're enjoying 6.2

As critto said, the patch will fix Samia problem. Can I ask what team did you choose for your 6.2 run? You're known for very interesting party compositions and I'm really curious whether it's something different this time!

Thanks critto! I actually saw the patch thread and didn't download it because I read it backwards thinking I didn't need for a ToB install. Oops!

Hi Sparrow (not to be confused with a certain character from Game of Thrones if you watch it. )

Nothing too interesting yet. I'm running...
Vagrant
Jaheira
Mazzy
Edwin
Berserker>Cleric
Fighter/Mage

I'm more so exploring the two new classes as well as new weapons and gear. Glad I chose Katanas for my F/M

Haha! That was a clever one and yes, I watch it so your comment really made me laugh!

Your party looks pretty decent, it's good to see that everyone wants to test both Jaheira and Mazzy, hope you'll like them! Edwin is a bizarre choice, he still doesn't have his upgraded item, can't cast foreknowledge and use AoP, so he basically won't be able to get past -2 casting speed, also your second arcane caster is a multi if I understand correctly so he won't have IA, right? That makes the game a bit more difficult B->M are extremely powerful, my first(and only to be honest) full run of IA was done with 2 of them in party, I wonder whether F/M multi can achieve same level.

I'd love to read some info on how you manage to win some hard fights with party, mailny the one against demogorgon!

And in my next run I'm planning to use Anomen, so I'll might finally understand why people sacrifice iron skins from R/C to pick F/C(well, B/C > F/C but Anomen has a nice shield )

I'm enjoying the avenger class so far at about 1.3 XP in Ch 3. The summon ability is quite powerful and does a lot of damage.

Here are a few encounters that are still Vanilla that could be fun to improve upon.
Reijak part II in Trademeet
Neb in the cleric's quest
Gnome in the circus
Neera/Rasaad final fights

I don't think I can complete Dorn/Hexxat quests since they won't rejoin my party after I kicked them out. Oh well.

There is some strange behavior in the planar prison that I've seen in previous versions as well, so I don't think its new to IA 6.2. After destroying the orb, sometimes 2 hounds will spawn and sometimes more - 5-6 will spawn along with a web spell. If only 2 hounds spawn, then resting after defeating the waden causes the other hounds to spawn as well as the web spell. Also, if the party approaches from the south, only the warden is present. I seem tor recall that approaching from the east causes minotaurs etc to be present with the warden - this group of minotaurs/yaun ti mages can be spawned after defeating the warden by heading from the warden's room east and then west.

Critto - I just sent you 2 saves

All planned for the future. Right now we've returned to the druid stronghold, discussing it at the moment, I expect to resume work shortly.

Regarding the warden, yes there is some sort of scripting involved regarding resting before the fight. I'll check it out. As for the Warden and minotaurs, I am not sure if this could be affected, there's a spawn point but I am not sure if trigger is manageable. Plus, the fight with the Warden and minotaur/yuan-ti group together could be too difficult for some players. This requires more thinking. I'll add both issues to our todo list.

Just a little cosmetic thingy (see screenshot) and a question:
My B9/M has 5* in halberd and 2* in Quarter Staff -> 5/2 apr using a halberd and 2 apr using a staff.
But under mage's haste he has 3 apr using both, isn't there 1/2 apr missing?

Thanks, I'll fix it.

As for the question, I think you get extra 1/2 attack from grandmastery in halberds. I am not entirely sure how the game handles those extra 1/2 attacks when haste or improved haste is assigned. It does not function in the same manner as the opcode that grants strict APR bonus.

I'll try to do some research and give you a more definitive answer during the weekend.

Another one:
During the fight against Nevaziah (Nether scroll lich), i was under the impression that ADHW casted by the lich is not interruptible (there was no "cast a scroll" message) by physical hits anymore Is this correct?

Are 3x potions of insulation for Jaheira's Pin available in Ch 2/3? I know I had at least one and sold it but now I can't find the merchant and none of the merchants I've checked are selling any. Thanks!

He has a CC with ADHW which is uninterruptible. All the other castings are performed in the usual manner and can be interrupted.



SPOILER!

Hmm... this doesn't look like a CC and the lich was hit by Jaheira and others during preparation time of his spell (see screenshot). The next spell after that was ADHW again and the same happened. Physical hits but no interruption...

Could you send me a save to check out? I don't see any specific immunities to spell failure so he should be interruptible.

IIRC not every hit makes you fail spell casting, this was mostly visible in Brynnlaw during fight with that wizard in one of the houses, interrupting his spells was hard but not impossible, but I might be wrong, it was a long time ago...

I've studied both issues. Extra web trap is some sort of anti-cheat feature that reacts to player resting before the fight. I'm not entirely sure what it is supposed to prevent but I agree that it might be annoying. And it could easily be overcome by saving & reloading after the rest (some parameter that is checked by PartyRested() trigger is reset this way, I think). There are two ways to go here, basically:
1) have the trap trigger always (which would increase the difficulty)
2) or remove it altogether.

Another option is to make it experience-based and trigger if the party has higher levels.

As for the Yuan-ti & Minotaur spawn that's a random group that is summoned by a proximity trigger. In this case, when you approach the warden room from the right side (where you've fought the orb master demon). The solution is the same (have the group present always, never, experienced-based or do nothing).

We'll do something about both things for the next release but I don't have a specific answer right now as to what exactly. Personally, I'm liking the experience-based approach (the triggers are xp-based already, by the way).

The axe is unenchanted, actually. It'll get a modest enchantment and will be toned down somewhat for the next release.

Thanks for looking into it. I like the XP based approach in the planar prison FWIW. I didn't realize resting on that map was cheating?

The other EE item you may want to look at is the Gem of Seeing - its way too good (insta cast True Seeing) for how early one gets it. I'd suggest having it cast Oracle or Invisibility Purge instead of True Sight.

Well, it's not. Straight up resting was never considered a cheat. I think this was put in there for another reason but I can't figure out which one exactly


I'm fairly sure that it's actually already toned down but you might be right. I'll check it out.

Maybe you are right SparrowJacek and it was always like that...but I don't remember it being so hard to interrupt spells.
Im having fun with the Greater Yuan-Ti in de`Arnise Keep atm, it`s almost impossible to interrupt his Greater Malison

Found a pretty severe bug with Mazzy - if she becomes fatigued, she will continuously speak her lines and even stop moving to speak. BG2EE1.3/IA 6.2.

See attached screenshot. I have a save available if wanted.

[attachment=4237:Picture1.jpg]

That's strange. Send me the saves please.

I dont have this bug with Mazzy in my game (TOB/IA6.2).

But two other minor oddities:
1st pic: De'Arnise Keep: Vengeance trolls are emerging when mage becomes unconscious. Maybe its intended like that...
2nd pic: Pirate coordinator. One of the pirates became immune to all weapon types when unconscious. Didnt do much experiments why...

They should emerge when the big troll gets closer to lower health. Maybe it's just a coincidence. There's no scripting that connects mage's unconsciousness with the appearance of trolls.


How did he become immune exactly? Emotion?