I'll be making several suggestions (or at least bringing ideas) to the appreciated, great IA game developers. Even if you don't like my idea, maybe it will spark one of your own. Critto can let me know when he's no longer interested in hearing these ideas from me.

My first idea has to do with weapon proficiencies. Simply put you get more proficiency slots as you spend more time with weapons. Dual classes would get slots according to whatever class they are currently.
Maximum weapon proficiency slots per weapon type:
1 for wizards and sorcerers;
2 for clerics, druids, thieves, ranger-cleric mc, thief-cleric mc, and bards;
3 for caster-melee types (rangers, paladins, multi-class caster-fighters);
5 for straight melee classes (all fighters and barbarians).
Wizards/sorcerers can’t have combat styles, but all others can. APR increases are not limited to warriors. Kits can’t increase the number of proficiency slots, except in very rare cases. For instance, rangers in more modern DnD versions can specialize in the use of 2 weapons or in archery. Consequently, it makes sense to me that a ranger specialized in archery can have 5 slots in bows.

I'm good with all ideas, it's a shame there's way more cool ideas than possibility and time to implement them.

As to what you propose, I'm not entirely sure what would be the mechanics of this. Perhaps you've seen a mod called Scales of Balance, it does similar things and implements some cool ideas regarding the way different classes improve their weapon skills. However, one cannot completely re-design the whole thing since scripting abilities are very limited. Although I'm surprised how many cool things authors of these mods pull off despite the limitations.

Oh, I'm not talking about like in some games that increase your skill by you using the skill (like Skyrim). I was just giving you the logic behind why I suggest the maximum slots like I do. If you are spending part of your time on things other than fighting (ala NOT straight melee classes), obviously you should not be able to develop such a degree of skill. I am sure that the maximum slots can be set. For instance, the vagrant is allowed 5 slots in axes and the avenger can have 3 slots in staffs. According to my proposal, the vagrant can have 3 slots in any weapon and the avenger can have 2 slots in any druid weapon. Or maybe you can come up with a wonderful background story about how a druid can be as good with a staff as a warrior, while also doing druidy things (spells, etc.).

I would like to see an IA item for Imoen. Out of all the NPCs, it makes most RP-sense that Imoen be in the party. If she could wear Neera's Greater Robe of Invocation, that would be fine. At least, she wouldn't be ignored that way.

An expanded druid stronghold sounds pretty great to me.

None of the following NPCs have IA custom items: Minsc, Korgan, Dorn, Edwin (but he has a special amulet), Imoen, Aerie, Viconia, Sarevok, Hexxat, Yoshimo, or Wilson. Of those, adding items for Minsc and Imoen should be prioritized since they are "canon" and fit into the good-aligned nature of IA.

I have gone through and taken out the class restrictions for special encounters before using Near Infinity. For example, letting a necromancer PC complete the Justice Day fight and do the Good/Bad/Ugly questline. Considering the time investment to play BG2/improved anvil (for me at least, my last game was in 2016, and a full game is easily >50 hr IRL), its nice to be able to do all of the fantastic encounters in one go even if the end game is perhaps not as perfectly balanced. Would be great to have that as an optional component.

Another set of reasonable optional components would be kit/class changes. Imoen to a riskbreaker, Minsc to a protector, Haer-Dalis to a swashbuckler, and Valygar to a vagrant so that there is an NPC presence for each of the IA kits. Imoen as a riskbreaker is admittedly a bit of a stretch from a RP perspective but could be made to work.

There are lots of opportunities for additional items to be added.

There is a new axe for evil chars that is kind of a special item for Korgan.

Kit/class changes are possible. Item ideas too, you're welcome to expand on those, if it seems reasonable and fun, we'll add it.

Here are some item concepts. I've kept with the theme that all items should be obtainable in SoA portion. Let me know what you think.

Treefolk’s Fist +4

Derived From:
Treefolk’s Arm +3
Bone Club +2 (Spellhold)
Skullcrusher +3 (Underdark)
Wyvern’s Tail +2
Blood of a Royal Troll (Troll Mound, new item)
Manual of Elaboration
25,000 gold

Abilities:
+1 bonus to Strength
THAC0: +4 bonus
Damage: 1D6 +4, +5 damage to unnatural creatures, +2 crushing damage
5% chance on hit to inflict 4d6 points of acid damage
5% chance on hit to inflict 4d6 points of poison damage

Usable by druids and rangers

Notes:
Ch 6 +4 version of treefolk's arm. I also recommend reducing combine cost for Treefolk’s Arm to only 25k gold, so total cost of this item is 50k.


Treefolk's Fury +5

Derived From:
Treefolk’s Fist +4
Storm Star +3
Club of Detonation +3
Rimed Club +4
Scroll of Giant Strength
Manual of Elaboration
50,000 gold

Abilities:
+2 bonus to Strength
THAC0: +5 bonus
Damage: 1D6 +5, +5 damage to unnatural creatures, +10 crushing damage
5% chance to inflict 8d6 points of acid damage on hit
5% chance to inflict 8d6 points of fire damage on hit
5% chance to inflict 8d6 points of cold damage on hit
5% chance to inflict 8d6 points of electrical damage on hit
5% chance to inflict 8d6 points of poison damage on hit

Notes:
Total cost is 150-175k due to forge costs based on 1) Rimed Club (50k), 2) Treefolk’s Arm (my suggestion of 25k), 3) Treefolk’s Fist (25k). Comparable to Poseidon's Wrath in cost and abilities. Excludes Royal Elemental Staff line from being crafted due to material overlap.

Ring of the Archmage

Derived from:
Ring of Acuity
Ring of Wizardry
Amulet of Power
Amulet of Metaspell Influence
Lich Ashes (Twisted Rune lich)
2x Scroll of Memory Boosting
Scroll of Vocalize
Scroll of Foreknowledge
Permanency Scroll
50,000 gold

Abilities:
Wearer can cast two additional spells per level per day
Casting speed improved by 1
Immunity to Silence
Immunity to level drain

Usable by:
Single class mages

Notes:
Not possible to forge this and Nalia’s ring or the Memory of the Apprenti due to overlaps. Could somehow be made into an Imoen specific item.


Gauntlets of Blessed Might

Derived From:
Paladin’s Bracers
Gauntlets of Weapon Skill (Brac 09)
Gloves of Healing
3x Oil of Speed
3x Ring of Protection +1
Permanency Scroll
30,000 gold

Abilities:
+10 hit points
+2 bonus to THACO
+1/2 attack per round
+1 bonus to saving throws
+1 bonus to armor class
Once per day, the wearer may cure target of disease, poison, level drain, and cure 20 hitpoints worth of damage

Usable by:
Lawful Good Paladins
Champions of Arvoreen

Notes:
Slight boost to paladin melee effectiveness. Somewhat related, I think Mazzy should thematically be able to use the other Paladin items (Holy Avenger/Purifier +4/Enhanced Pride of the Legion).

Noble Staff of Earth +4

Derived From:
Staff of Thunder and Lightning +2
Staff of Arundel +3
Staff of Earth +2
Staff of the Woodlands +4
Scroll of Memory Boosting
Permanency Scroll
100,000 gold

Abilities:
+3 bonus to Armor Class
Wielder may memorize one additional druidic spell per level
The wielder may summon an Elemental Prince for 20 rounds to fight by his side once per day
The wielder may cast chain lightning (10D6 damage) once per day
The wielder may cast Call Lightning (10d8 damage) once per day

THAC0: +4 bonus
Damage: 1D6 +4, +4 piercing damage
5% chance on hit to cause an additional 5d6 + 20 crushing damage
5% chance on hit to cause an additional 5d6 + 20 poison damage
Thunderclap: 10% chance of stunning hit target for 2 rounds (Save vs. Spell negates)

Usable by:
Druids

Notes:
The golem slayer and royal elemental staff still outclass this item. End game druid staff.


Greater Mage Robe of Resistance

Derived From:
Mage Robe of Elemental Resistance (IA forged item)
Robe of the Neutral Arch Magi
Belt of Inertial Barrier
2x Cloak of Protection
Manual of Elaboration
50,000 gold

Abilities:
AC 3
+2 bonus to Saving Throws
5% magic resistance
Wearer is under the effect of permanent Protection from Energy, granting 75% resistance to fire, cold, acid, magic, and electricity

Usable by:
Mages

Notes:
Robe of Elemental Resistance is pretty lacking and not worth forging. This is an improved end game option which may still not be worth forging. A B->M dual can use Poseidon's Wrath or Royal Elemental Staff to get equivalent/better protections.

So, this game is built on the DnD v2 rule set. Turn Undead in DnD has always been Turn Undead (i.e. not paladins, clerics, other people, just undead) - with the exception that some domains in the later versions will extend the turning ability to another specific type of creature, such the plant domain clerics also turning plant creatures. I don't agree that paladins should be subject to Turn Undead. That nerf makes no sense to me. While I object to that, I'm really disappointed that Cavaliers are no longer immune to fear in IA. I recall spending many hours adventuring in pen-and-paper DND with my friend who played a "No Fear Cavalier". That is the shtick of a cavalier! I hope that you will reconsider these nerfs in future versions.

I am a ranger-type myself in real life. Still, rangers and druids really aren't my favorite characters to play, and I like mages, bards, and thieves more in SCS. So, I guess I'm most looking forward to the fighter stronghold personally.

These look decent to me.


Looks interesting, however, to be honest I think the whole "immune to silence/level drain" mechanic is flawed because you either immune and rip the respective enemies to pieces or have to suffer for a lot of time without practical ability to do anything.

Looks like a decent, balanced upgrade. As for Mazzy I agree, but I think this is better achievable by making her kit to be a paladin subkit. Otherwise I'm not sure that the game would allow to implement these restrictions since they are largely based on the base class.


This might be a specific item upgrade for Jan since he's lacking one and he's a neutral-alignment mage now.


I have to concur that this is a strange nerf compared to superb things like immunity to silence in other kits. As for the whole turn paladin mechanic, it's an interesting notion but I have no idea yet how to make it better. Of course it could be just removed, but it's a tedious task and feels like a bit of a step backwards.

"Looks interesting, however, to be honest I think the whole "immune to silence/level drain" mechanic is flawed because you either immune and rip the respective enemies to pieces or have to suffer for a lot of time without practical ability to do anything."

I agree that the "greater silence" or whatever nerfs vocalize and acts just as you say. If there is going to be a greater silence, let there be a "greater vocalize" too, rather than, "look-see, play my kit". The immunity to silence is one of the primary reasons that I adventure with Cernd. I despise Cernd. Conversely, the auramaster has several very powerful features.

Level drain is just another way to damage and kill, same as fire or other stuff.

IA employs several things to make the game harder. Control of GP and XP alone goes a long way. Golems immune to everything and able to stomp gods (str=25) is another, albeit contrived way to increase the danger. (Golems cost a fortune to make in pen-and-paper DnD. They're everywhere in IA and in a thousand forms.) Otherwise, tough monsters can be challenging. Well played mages of a higher level than you have always been trouble in DnD. In the end, some of my suggestions will focus on making the game difficult through means that fits with the BG2 story and DnD canon. If you want the game to be really hard, you could take the SCS game (i.e. enemy AI must not be crippled as in the unmodded game), never level your character past 13 in SoA or 21 in ToB and never use any item that offers more than a base enchantment (ex. +3 weapon but not Celestial Fury, +2 ring of protection but not Ring of Gaxx). Although that's extreme and not what I'm suggesting, I'm sure you can realize that it would be difficult for many people.

Regarding removing Turn Paladin. I think a step backward to DnD canon is a step in the right direction. I don't typically play paladins, so I wasn't very vocal when this silly notion occurred way back when. Now, I simply would like IA to be the best it can be. Understand, while IA has a great group of playtesters and programmers (thanks guys!), DnD has had many more (millions) and has developed over the years. I'll be following its precepts in some of my recommendations.

Ok, here's my take on some of topics you guys tackled here.

1. Weapon specialties:

I really don't think that much should be changed here, only fighters should be able to put ***** in weapons as that is only thing they do - they pound. Exceptions should be ofc archer kit for bow/crossbow and maybe some other kits when we decide to tackle ranged weapons in IA. Paladin types could also get a boost in form of ***** in their respective weapons (2h sword for inquisitor as Holy Avenger is 2h and ***** in long for undead hunter(hesperus) and that demon slaying kit(The Truth))

Err... just read some more of your posts - can avengers really get ***** in staves/spears? That could be discussed as rbeverjr has the point.

2. Edwin will most probably get his item in new release of IA (or one after that )

3. Upgrades for treefolk - that +4 version is really something, this item needed an upgrade but +3 version is already powerful and extremely useful, I think that its price shouldn't be lowered, +4 version could cost 25k as compensation for that.

4. Ring of... - no more immunity to LD please it's not that much of a danger really, player has scrolls of PFLD, summons, that clerical spell, restoration spells and such + mages have PFMW. Also I am against any new items(apart from robes/amulets) that give -casting speed, ONLY necro should be able to achieve -5 and that should be his superpower (insta RRR breaches and such make even demogorgon fight far easier)

5. Gauntlets - yeah, quite nice addon for paladins, could even have once per day lay on hands as per champion of arvoreen skill

6. Is it even possible to create Ch of Arv as paladin kit? I think that ONLY Mazzy would be able to get this class then(since halflings can't be paladins at all) and to be honest... I don't mind. Though I'm not sure that would be balanced - look at my point 1. about weapon proficiencies.

7. I'm not really sure. Only viable druids are auramaster(Cernd has his staff and protagonist will have his weapon upgrade which will match other protag's items in power) and Auramaster(who is more fighter-druid and Golem slayer/Corrosive lance suit him more), so this item has little to no use IMO.

8. Turn paladin - I had some idea about extended paladin stronghold that could grant him permanent immune to fear as natural progression of the plot so it would partly resolve this problem however there is still a possibility that player would want to join Keldorn... paladins are not stronger than rangers, so they shouldn't be nerfed even further

Yes, why not? You can make a kit for a new class now, I think. Even for previously hard-coded sorcerers. As for Mazzy, she can be manually patched into whatever class and kit. Jan is an illegal dual-class now despite being a non-human.

My apologies for a mistake on my proficiency post (third post in thread; corrected): I thought avengers got up to 5 slots in staff, but they get mastery not grand mastery in staff - so only 3 slots. That's more palatable than 5. The description of the text suggests that the avenger is like a fighter-druid. Still, it has considerable spell power. I probably would have given it 2 slots like any other druid (according to my proposed proficiency post). Vagrant says grand master (5 slots) in axes, but I just tried to pre-generate one and I could only put 4 into axes with 2 slots left over for whatever reason. I still stand by my original post (first post in thread). I like consistency. Apparently, someone else agrees that only fighters should get 5 slots. I still think that barbarians should too, as they are melee only. I also still throw in the archer at 5 slots for bows; after all, he sucks with melee weapons (1 slot)). I'm not interested in playing an archer in IA regardless. I don't think paladins necessarily just pound. They spend time at church and have special powers granted by their gods. For balance-sake, I don't think they should get 5 slots. (Conversely, overall I think the fighter kits are superior, so maybe it isn't balance-sake after all...) In general, I don't think any class that can cast spells should get 5 slots.

Agreed. As far as I remember, the only creatures for which this really stands out are Green Dragon, and Ancient Dragon because breach works against those monsters. The other fights with silence - Dracolich, Orcus, and Twisted Rune - have monsters that are immune to breach. Another option is to make Green Dragon/Ancient Dragon immune to breach to level the playing field. I believe the shadow dragon and Fiirkraag, and Saladrex are susceptible to normal weapons so the silence isn't that bad.



I think the necro PC superpower is both the ridiculous number of spells afforded by Memory of the Apprenti in a customizable spellbook and high chance of getting RVE regen or doubling party hit points.

With the new gloves from The Four mod, currently all mages can achieve -5 casting speed. Vecna/Memory of the Apprenti (-2), Foreknowledge(-1), Amulet of Power (-1), Gloves of Spell Weaving (-1)
Sorecerors can access RVE and don't need the gloves of spell weaving.

I'm not sure the difference between -4 and -5 casting speed is that meaningful. It's certainly helpful and makes the micromanagement in certain fights such as Layene, Demogorgon, or Ancient Dragon easier to execute.

Key spells with casting time <5:
Flame arrow, magic missile, melf's acid arrow, lightning bolt, fireball, ray of fragmentation, sunfire, haste, improved haste, RVE, comet, dragon's breath

Key spells with casting time 5 or higher:
Cone of cold (5), breach (5), spell immunity (5), lower resistance (5), chain lightning (5), globe of invulnerability (6), ruby ray of reversal (5), spell turning, wish, spellstrike,



Level drain on mages used to be more annoying pre-EE because one would have to go through and re-select spells. I think I just brought that in because of the Amulet of Power component.

That's a EE feature, you can put more stars in later, you can't get grand-mastery from the get-go.

This is a suggestion thread, and many of my suggestions will be de-nerfs. With that in mind, I'd like to go over some of the ways the game can be made harder - which IA generally uses and does a good job at already. Pointedly, if you de-nerf some component, you can still maintain a consistent level of difficulty by making the game harder in other ways.

The easiest way to make BG2 hard is to slow the leveling. I've played with XP limiters in the regular game, and they can make a big difference. IA already has its own special leveling tables, but these could be adjusted if desired for more difficulty.

Another way is to limit gear. Gear includes all magical items, as well as spells, wands, and such (which is the gear of the arcane caster). IA did great by making wands cast spells, instead of breaking the rules of spell casting. Personally, I don't think you should be able to interrupt a wand (just like you can't interrupt a scroll), but a wand should not let you target the invisible. Now, when I say spells, I generally mean some spells should either be deleted or updated to the modern DnD equivalent. Project Image is an example - IA deleted it. I do not mean that you can't buy a scroll of Improved Haste in the City of Coin, Athkatla, or anything like that. I can see some L9 spells (may, perhaps, may) be difficult to find, but nothing less in this city. I think IA once again generally did well in this area. To prove the value of gear, just imagine trying to beat the game without IA forged items (I think thetruth either tried or did this in an earlier version)!

Of course, another way to increase the danger is with the opposition. You can increase the number of monsters and/or the difficulty of monsters. You can make them come in waves (no resting(, You can set up the terrain to be advantageous for the monsters. I'll have something to say about how the monsters are made tougher later. Personally, I think more anti-player teams (maybe even using the kits that we can use) would be interesting.

Then there is class (and kit) balance. Balance in DnD is challenging to achieve. This game has struggled with that for many years. Frankly, I think the regular game has better class balance than IA. I see this as a particular area that this great game can be improved.

OK, I will give you two things to consider today.

First, in the immortal words of Lilarcor: "BORING! BOOOOORING!"

The indestructible mage: Improved Invisibility, minor or regular Globe of Invulnerability, Stoneskin, Mirror Image, Fireshields, Blur, Protection from Magic Weapons ro Mantles, and Spell Immunity: Divination combination is the bomb for a higher-level mage. Routinely, you see IA arcane casters use most or all of these spells in their protection burst pre-battle. All 3 illusions (improved invisibility, mirror image, and blur) will stay, because of SI:D. You can’t remove SI:D, because you are not high enough level for Remove Magic to work and can’t see the target to use other spell removal spells. All spells that require a target (as opposed to area of effect) will not work against the mage. Often this is combined with the enemy monster’s spell resistance. Many of the casters you face will have magical resistance (yuanti mage, most/all bosses, and many other enemies), spell immunity (lich, through L5; rakshasa, through L7; demilich through L9; and other IA enemies), and good saves (often at least 65% save rate vs spells). Unless Mirror Image coding has been fixed, area of effect damage spells can be thwarted by mirror image. On top of that, the minor globe negates all spells of levels 1-3; globes get 1-4. These protections prevent Breach from working, because you can’t target what you can’t see (not even with items like the Wand of Spell Striking in IA). Remove Magic won’t work, because the mage is at a higher level. So, you can cast higher level spells and hope you get lucky. Your melee guys are largely ineffective too. First, they must be protected from the fireshields (and re-protected after enemy Remove Magic). While you are at it, protecting them from fire and magical energy (and sometimes other things), is a good idea. Then, your melee guys have to cut through Mirror Image and Stoneskin. In some cases, the enemy mages will also happily cast PfMW or the Mantle spell-line. Of course, with PfMW you can still switch to normal weapons, as long as the enemy is not immune to normal weapons – liches and several other IA monsters are. Even if the enemy isn’t immune to unenchanted weapon, you will still have mirror images and stoneskins to chew through. Many casters have several castings of these defensive spells (stoneskins, PfMW). You can send in the summons, but if the enemy caster can see you, he will prefer to cast Chaos or other spells at you. This is another thing I find boring (BOOORING) – watching Sikret monsters battle Sikret monsters.

I understand that these protections are reasonable and optimal. I get it. However, I want to encourage you to mix things up! Add some variety and spice. Try different things to enhance a battle's difficulty rather than the same oh, same oh. I have faced mages like this over and over and over. Yes, I can kill them, but I must confess I find it to be a grind.

Remember the story!

I am disappointed that my past recommendation was ignored without even a response. So, I will put forth the recommendation again. In the later versions of IA, some battles give you no XP and little or no loot (like one oracle spell scroll and 0 XP). It is true that in more recent versions of DnD, challenge ratings can affect XP rewards, but there is always a reward - even if the XP is small and the loot is crap. However, the story should be the driver. My group has a reputation of 19 with wonderful exploits known in Athkatla and the surrounding area. Groups that you think would give 0 XP would be smart enough not to attack at all! I haven't made it to the Underdark, but as I recall Kua-toa royalty (not the prince) was also like this in one version. Are you serious? Royalty without any loot and giving no XP.?! I really hope that was fixed in this version. I would advise that encounters that you view inadequate for XP award be deleted from the game. To me, these fights are an annoying waste of time.

Many of the things written here are sensible and written down into a neverending todo list. However, the time to implement all of them is incredibly limited. It's hard for me to give any prognosis when and what exactly will be added or changed. Things like caster AI are very fundamental in a sense that they have been made long ago by Sikret and never touched since. The only piece of AI code that I did myself is the Demogorgon battle. The rest is legacy.

Once again, my time is very limited to perform any in-depth feats of engineering required to re-haul the way works, etc. And, since IA is a mod enjoyed by few, I have no issues adjusting it to the players' tastes if specific ideas are given.

Here are a few more suggestions.

Add the following items to the item randomizer (proposed locations):
- Harmonium Halberd (Gaius' team, planar prison Warden, Samia's team)
- Arundel's Staff (Founder (trademeet crypt), Torgal, Conster)
- Blackblood Club (component for Treefolk's Arm) (Gaal, Torgal, Priest of Cyric (slaver compound))

Reduce or remove gold/gem/XP gains from gem/coin golems summoned by elemental or greater elemental golems. To compensate, I'd bump the XP for each of the summoners, perhaps by 20k, and have them drop 1.5k gold and a diamond, star sapphire, and rogue stone (used in crafting recipes). While the other gems add flavor, they just contribute to inventory clogs.

@ Critto - how many people do you think are playing IA based on downloads? Also given your and sparrow's time constraints, do you have any sense of timing for additional content (e.g. druid stronghold) - 3 months or 12 months or more? Just curious.

@ rbeverjr I think its pretty remarkable that any development on IA is still being done. This has generally been a pretty quiet forum - only in the past few months (since release of 6.4) has there been a lot of chatter.

If randomised to Priest of Cyric, you'll get it only in ch6 when Treefolk's kinda obsolete already. Otherwise it is simple to do.


This was discussed in the past. Somebody did propose a solution to decrease the rewards gradually from summoned golems. Of course, your approach is much simpler and probably more sensible overall.

Well, the download statistics are public knowledge: http://dragonshoard.blackwyrmlair.net/download.php I don't think that Baronius resets them when I ask him to re-upload a new release. So at best, 1k people are playing. Realistically, I think maybe 30-40? The majority of people who are active here and probably some "lurkers" / silent players. I haven't seen any meaningful activity discussing IA on any other large of the English-speaking community forums (and there are reasons for that beyond sheer popularity). I know that Chinese community has a decent IA following, but no idea about the numbers. Maybe Chaser or c4_angel could help out here with the numbers? I didn't study bg forums in other languages but I doubt I'll find much. It's a very niche mod for a 20 years old game. New gamers who came with the release of EEs are probably playing SCS and other mods.

The key problem with the druid stronghold is to come up with a coherent story, to be honest. We've been dancing around it for ages and while there are some solid ideas there's no finished comprehensive design document. My time is extremely limited so I these last few years I usually find some time occasionally that I divert from my other activities and spend it on IA. Small fixes, content additions and tweaks are obviously easier to accomplish, so I do them. They too, however, take more time each year since even in EE the engine is a mess of workarounds and gotchas one has to remember. For instance, it was pointed out a couple of days ago here about the opcode that allows/prevents usage of items based on char's alignment. Why on earth when it's a specific alignment, zero means it's allowed, 1 means no and vice-versa when it's a mask? You have to be constantly involved to remember things like that.

Anyhow, to answer your question, if there where a completed story and encounters that are thought out I'd probably be able to implement it in a short span of time.


This is true. There are many things that could be accomplished but the technology is limited. I like the uniqueness of how IA approaches difficulty, but if someone want truly clever AI within the constraints of the game I'd recommend checking out SCS, it's engineering is superb and we cannot expect to surpass that.

Chinese players generally discuss IA in the next two BBS's:

https://tieba.baidu.com/f?ie=utf-8&kw=%...8&fr=search
https://trow.cc/board/showforum=8

The first BBS is more commonly used, and the theme is the BG game. Many game threads about IA can be found there. However, the language, the login and the verification are big problems for foreign players. We have also considered sending our previous posts to other websites for long-term preservation, but it is unlikely to translating them into English.
It takes time and effort to write technical posts and game reports about IA, and not many people do. Most of the time, our IA players are using some chat software (like Tencent QQ) to discuss the game, so it is not public. We have a chat group of 100-200 people, but most people there are not only playing IA but also playing other games, and the number of active IA players is only about a dozen.

I meant the priest with Captain Haegen in the slums area, not in the Guarded compound. I'm sure there are other reasonable places too.

On the beamdog forums I know of only around 4 players including myself who still actively play it. There might be more but I am unsure. Here I pretty much only lurk for the updates and I am very happy about the support.

On most forums IA suffers from bad publicity from players who just didn't like some of the overhaul and that gets repeated by the oldies a lot. It also does not help that it is relatively incompatible with many other mods and that it is not included in mega mods like bws/eet (to my knowledge) while other tactical mods like scs are.

This limits traffic quite a bit.

I would like changes in the mod to make it more accessible and more fair but with the druid stronghold on hold for so long (and in need of finishing) I am guessing that new ideas will get a lot of delay.

I am even tempted to make my own mod that changes some of the IA rules post install (I already added some of my own kits and spells)... But i also have no time and would rather play it instead.

It is technically hard to make IA compatible with other mods. Many of the changes are done in the old fashion, by overwriting the resources inside the override folder. Compatibility assumes at the very least that all mods update the game files by patching rather than overwriting them. This alone is a huge issue to overcome. I tried it in the past. I've attempted to write software that makes binary diffs of IA's copies and original files and produces weidu-style patch sequences. But they come out incredibly human-unreadable which would further modding even harder. Plus, at the moment IA was supporting both ToB and EE installations. And original files in ToB and EE differ by themselves quite a lot. That'd added another degree of difficulty. It was more work to make it all function than I was willing to put in for a mod played by 50 people at best.

Yes, I totally understand

While everyone appreciates a good story in an RPG, considering IA is a tactical mod, there is probably a fair bit of leeway in terms of the quality of story that the community would accept. More bluntly, a loosely cohesive story is probably good enough (as is the case with several plots already present in the mod).

@ lroumen - I'd be interested in the kits and changes you are making/have made. You should post them!

Mostly I make lower end spells more viable at higher levels, or I add some druid only spells for 1-3 or I add some druid or thief kit for my protagonist. I have not figured out how to apply a kit to an npc or I would have done that already.

I'm thinking about adding some gear or upgrades somewhere but that becomes wieldly.

If you're interested and familiar with the tools (source version control software), I can publish IA to github. This way anybody would be able to clone a bleeding-edge copy, work on it, and propose modification requests to be merged into the mod. It's a fairly common practice. I've been meaning to do it long ago.

You make a good point. I have to admit I've been kinda stuck on trying to make a good story considering how long people have been waiting for it. Otherwise it would feel like a let down. However, I did come up with some good ideas how everything could be evolved into a greater overarching plot that might finish somewhere in the end of ToB. I would have been willing even adjust the plots the other two strongholds (ranger and necro) for that purpose. So right now I'm trying to simplify current ideas and build something smaller.

Github might be useful if you want help to finish some items or help with testing/reviewing additions but I am not sure how many relevant things a mini modder like me could add.

Small things aren't that hard to add because they could be implemented in a fashion similar to what already exists in the mod. Plus, I can always consult and give advice.

Critto, that was an appreciated response. I will still make suggestions as I have time and play, but I don't have a full understanding of how much time it takes to implement each one. I understand being busy and appreciate your willingness to work on this old game. I have many times expressed my appreciation for the modders and playtesters of this game and do so again! Thanks everyone!

I'm not so familiar with GitHub but think it could be a nice way to allow others to suggest/make changes and fix bugs directly. How many people would participate? Hard to say.

One of the benefits of IA not playing nicely with others is its quite easy to modify - one simply updates a file and drops it into the override folder.

DnD has given fans a lot of fun in several countries for many years. It has had many playtesters and players to help develop it over time. I suggest that sticking to its game mechanics as closely as possible may be a good thing. Now, things have changed over time and almost always for the better. One of the things they got rid of from DnD2 was the sequencer type spells. I use them only once per battle because the enemies use them too (in SCS). In IA, there is a limit to once a day for chain-contingency, which is fine. In DnD 3 they made it so that haste would allow you to cast another spell in the round, which they quickly figured out was a bad idea and stopped it in version 3.5. So, no system is infallible, but they can be refined and improved.

There has been a lot of confusion about the Freedom of Action spell. Here are some answers from the Main35FAQV06302008. What is key to note is that Freedom of Action does NOT prevent haste rather only impediment to movement.

Does freedom of movement work against mimics and other adhesives?
Yes. Freedom of movement will allow a creature to escape from any type of adhesive or creature that uses some type of adhesive attack, such as the mimic. This is of course unless the entry specifically states that freedom of movement will not allow the creature to escape.

Does the freedom of movement spell protect a character from being stunned? The argument is that “stun” is a condition that hinders movement.
Freedom of movement is one of those tricky spells that has a lot of open-ended wording that might lead to confusion. The spell becomes much more manageable if you just look at it as something that ignores any physical impediment to movement or actions. If you assign this restriction, then it makes sense that freedom of movement works against solid fog, slow, and web; each of these spells puts something in the way of the creature that stops them from moving/acting, or specifically targets the creature’s physical movement.
With this interpretation, spells and effects such as hold person that apply a mental impediment to taking any action would not be bypassed by freedom of movement. These are mental effects, and freedom of movement only helps you bypass physical effects (such as solid fog) or effects that specifically impede just your movement, not spells that stop you from taking any action, as hold person does.
In the same vein, freedom of movement would not work on someone who had been turned to stone by a medusa’s gaze or by a flesh to stone spell.
To answer the original question, being stunned is one of those mental effects and would normally deny a creature the ability to act at all. Since it’s not specifically focused on just impeding movement, and it is a mental, not physical impediment, freedom of movement would not help a stunned creature to act or move normally.
This interpretation of freedom of movement can make it easier to adjudicate the effects of the spell, but it is also more restrictive. As always, it will ultimately be up to the Dungeon Master to make the best call as he sees fit for his campaign and play session.

Now, my suggestions about maximum weapon proficiency slots differs slightly from DnD 2. The weapon proficiency slot system was dumped in later DnD versions where barbarians appeared. If it was kept, I would like to think that my refinements would have been considered, as they are logical. You can devote yourself to a weapon or spells or (with less effectiveness) both.

I like some or all of the PnP tweaks from aTweaks at Spellhold Studios. Where these tweaks have not already been incorporated into IA, I suggest checking them out for their suitability to use in IA. I like the variation and sometimes greater challenge that these tweaks allowed in my SCS games.

As a modder myself, I completely understand how difficult to accomplish a story mod (well, the druid stronghold may be treated as a mod itself) and I had never finished one, till now. We are all looking foward it and don't bother if it would be a bit flawed at the first time. IA have several versions itself, isn't it?

Using Github is more than a great idea, everyone can contribute to IA, you can also post unlimited pre-release on Git whenever you want, rather than "fixed locally". And the best of Git is: you need no longer save a bunch of backups on your local disk, Git saves all changes.
I will be the first forker.


To be honest, I am against the first half. To kill more even all of those summoned monsters (not only golems) is a high risky with high incomes tactic. Players can choose do it or not based on the power of the team. The more choices, to some extent, increases the Gameplay to a game or a mod.

I suggest placing those create-randomised-items blocks to a higher priority in the script of monsters. Those blocks are often with low priority, which may cause them never been triggered, if the monsters have been killed too quickly (it's possible without any cheat). There is a workaround of it: to put those blocks in area scripts.

Add on: Use PartySlot[1-6] replace Player[1-6] in those force-positioning cutscenes. Player[1-6] decided by the join order of team members, difficult but still possible to change. But PartySlot[1-6] is the order of the portraits, can be reordered any time. Different class placed in different point could make a great difference in the tough battles, in my mind, the formation should been left for the player to decide rather than somehow unexpectable. Those locally changes I made are: the Twisted Runes (shangalr.bcs), the final battle of SoA (cut85b.bcs) and the Demogorgon battle (s!cutdmi.bcs).

A few observations/questions based on my current game:

1) Avenger's can use daggers but cannot put proficiency points into daggers. Suggest allowing them to become proficient in daggers
2) Its really nice that Imoen/Neera join at level 1 and can pick spells. Let's do the same for non-dual class PCs (all but Anomen/Nalia/Jan/Aerie) so that player can select weapon proficiencies. A side effect would be that NPCs hit points are all maximized in this way.
3) Nalia does not appear to be able to use Githzerai Blade but fighter/mage types can - bug or intended for balance purposes?
4) Druids/Avengers cannot use the scimitar Yamato +4 - intended?
5) global dispel during the second drow ambush doesn't affect buffed summons
6) shadow lover in lilarcor encounter can dispel free action protection and stun enemies at the same time
7) I'm not sure that vampires detect that druids under Shield of the Archon or Dorn are immune to level drain
8) I like the philosophy that NPCs should join the party at any time and be relevant, but the new high XP upon joining for NPCs should cap out in early Ch 6 at say 3.5 million XP instead of getting above 7 million XP. The mechanism allows perhaps undesired behavior by keeping a small party for most of the game and then expanding the party later for lots of "free" XP
9) The reward for the Ancient Secret of Suldanessalar quest does not justify the effort of the quest. Suggest upgrading Protector of the Woods ring from Shimmering Light quest with Swanmay Jewel, which will give +2 to saves and allows an additional Swanmay Queen to be summoned once per day (call it a Swanmay Prince or something).
10) I can't think of a logical reason why Dracolich fight is limited to Ch 5. Certainly its much more challenging. Suggest enabling the maze in Ch6/7 with reduced rewards (no quest XP, only crafting/randomized items) or more difficult encounter
11) Suggest enabling all of The Four encounters regardless of class and adding randomized or crafting items to those encounters while either modifying or eliminating the current items which are either unbalanced (Robe of Eloquence on Edwin, for example, Gloves of Spell Weaving) or not worth using (The Bard Ring, Sunlight Helm)
12) It appears the 10d10 blunt damage component of comet was removed. Not sure whether Stellar Gravestone still has it. Suggest adding the blunt damage back in.

1) I'll amend that.
2) Maybe as an optional component.
3) I think the blade was originally intended for f/m multi-class. Giving it to pure mages seems a bit OP (extra free spells).
4) No, probably a bug.
5) I'll see how it's implemented.
6) probably something has changed in EE in that regard. I remember fixing a similar thing for level drain but I did a substantial rework of the mists' weapons (not sure if it was the only reason).
7) might be an AI bug, I'll check it
8) I'm not sure I'd really want to bother implementing the cap. If somebody wants to abuse the system this way, that's their choice.
9) And was is the current reward? The axe upgrade? I'm not sure about more Swanmay Queens, vagrants are powerful as it is.
10) Is there a substantial treasure to be gained?
11) this might be an interesting idea, I'll add it to the todo list.
12) probably a bug of EE. I'll check it out.

3) Nalia and Jan are thief/mage dual classes. Nalia with her ring and the sword would get +3 spells per level (+2 level 8/9), or just one less than a necromancer wearing Memory of the Apprenti. Potentially OP, but dual class thief/mage can put proficiency points into and wield katanas. I'm OK making it F/M or F->M only - making it a bastard sword, flail, or two handed sword would accomplish that (while not being true to Dakkon). Currently paladins, bards, rangers, and fighters can also wield it.
9) Current reward is upgraded axe or a few barbarian essence potions as well as swanmay army in EDE fight. Frankly, I'd take out the swanmay army (and Pasha for necromancers) from EDE as a mechanic. Its winnable without them. Vagrants and swanmay are very powerful but that quest is probably the longest and hardest in the game and there is no way to back out once its started.
10) Dracolich drops manual of elaboration, golden star garnet, scroll of bless, powdered body of dracolich, protection from level drain scroll, limited wish scroll, 5000 gold, and barbarian essence potion. Killing him grants 90k XP for kill and 15k quest XP per party member. He can also drop several randomized items. For a Ch 6/7 encounter without increased difficulty, I'll suggest reducing rewards to only crafting items (bolded above), randomized items, and eliminating quest XP. Note there are 6 PFLD scrolls in the game and only 5 are necessary for crafting hesperus, so the one from Dracolich technically isn't needed.

I must admit I haven't been diligently playing. I have so much to do, including family. I can say that I ran into my first amber golem at L12 (with Borinal). I was surprised at how quickly my 100% resistance to electricity became vulnerability! I guess I need to refine my technique now before Spellhold!

I recall that this has been pointed out before but forgot the conclusion - if any was made. Did you mean to nerf the ioun stones so that they do not protect against criticals? Personally, I think it is a silly notion that a helmet, cap, or stone would ensure protection from a critical wound. In the more advanced versions of DND there is a magical enchantment for armors called fortification that can protect from critical strikes. Still, most IA monsters are immune to critical strikes. (If only golems were immune, I think that statement would remain true. ) So, keeping the BG2 theme of equipping the head slot provides immunity to crits will level the playing field. Personally, I find that desirable when a lucky hit can mean I have to replay a very long fight... Unlike my more patient friends, when I have to replay more than twice, I become annoyed.

I think this is already fixed in the bleeding edge version (on github).

Hi critto, I see the file on GitHub. What do I do with it? I'm used to download exe file and run.

Could you clarify the question? Which file?

Removing PfCH from Ioun Stones are implented by EE probably 2.0. I buy this change logically, though it would make a great difference in gameplay. From SRD, Ioun Stones are crystalline stones always float in the air and must be within 3 feet of their owner to be of any use. Not like helmets, Ioun Stones do no protection to wearer's head, which CH deals damages mostly to.

Keep the history or follow Beamdog, I prefer the latter.

I am referring to this file. What I am seeing is an 8 day old tp2 file, while the exe file is apparently 4 months old. Am I supposed to use the tp2 file? If so, how?

It is certainly a matter of opinion about whether a person wants to allow his character to have immunity to criticals. It is not a matter of opinion whether a helmet will protect you from all critical strikes in reality - it won't. For example, there are several places not found on the head where a person may be fatally wounded (critical/mortal strike) from a single unarmed blow. Many more lethal targets are opened with weapons. The newer version of DnD allowed a better explanation by simply saying a certain magical enchantment (fortification) allowed the protection (although I don't think that explanation was perfect either).

I think when an enemy can do >80 damage in a non-critical hit (web and hardwood golems can do up to 94 damage on a hit, ultra golems can do up to 74), critical hit protection is required. At least for me it is. If you want to move critical hit protection from helms onto rings or some other piece of equipment from ioun stones, that's fine, but those items need to be accessible in Ch 3.