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DequNew
QUOTE(SparrowJacek @ Dec 10 2024, 01:16 AM) *
Hmm, if temples don't have those potions then it's a good idea to provide them, who should sell those potions if not temples after all?

I see that Roger the Fence has 10 of those potions if you need and some vendors (eg. Roger and Mrs Cragmoon) have potions of invulnerability, which work wonders for Riskbreakers.


Thanks for tip, I will certainly need those soon. I been saving them only for very hard fights, I just used 3 out of my 4 potions of invulnerability vs Samia party. Wanted to challenge them as a "low level" party at level 11 characters.
lappen
i used potions of resurgensce for that they are far better
bulian
Did you beat Samia as level 11 party? How in the world did you pull that one off?!? Nice work!
SparrowJacek
I rebalanced races regarding the bonuses to Thieving Skills they get. Dexterity should also be a more valuable stat. Hopefully half-orc won't be the go-to race for a Thief any more smile.gif

Because Thieving Skills will have a MUCH greater value now and all Thieves will get much less of them per level, it will be hard for kitted Thieves to get enough points in Find Traps. To address that, there will be a spell disarming traps, as a counterpart to Knock, which opens any locks. If that's not enough IATweaks has a component for traps and locks removal for more comfortable playthrough.
lappen
wow sounds great! i dunno about ur combat ideas regardging the rogues. but my idea was to give them some kind of cripple. for example slow ANY target with that.
lappen
Hey guys,

i had a little time to some up some ideas for the upcoming release.

First about rogue rebalancing:

to make a rogue more fitting for AI i think we should utilice the on hit effects. like on the swashbuckler.

perhaps it makes sense to create or change a few items to make a thief/mage more viable they could utilize polymorph self or create some magic weapons like blade of desaster but less strong, so enhance the few attacks they have to be strong. for example male shadow theif armor so enable spells while equipped.

the assasin should do high single strike damage or at least doing a very crippling strike.perhaps decreasing speed factor or movement speed to half or slowing. Or reducing strenght or makes the enemy bleed or poison. at least they should have the poisen like the black guards. or there damage should last as for example piercing damage for a few rounds.

the bounty hunter should do more damage with "spells" with his traps. or lets say throwing grenades. a grenade that makes blind like glitterdust or a acid/fire grenade which can hurt even undead or soften their AC or slowing even golems.
perhaps he develops anti magic grenades who can dispell magic or reduce magic resistance ir elemental resistance. that opens up a few more tactical ways to start fights. or a haste grenade.

the shadow dancer is a reallz hard topic, but i can imagine that he should onlz be able to hide in shadows and gain a special ability that he can stay invisble even after attacking just for around or two.

for bards

the blade is good as he is. i guess with a few good items he can be a viable fighter or tank for some time with limited spell progression.

the jester should go with manipulation skills. his songs should be able to confuse or dominate the battlefield.
give him a long casting time confusion with big penaltys or like the gaze of umber hulks or like the touch of a sirene. or make his song sound like that of a sirene which debuffes enemys like the aura of despair from blackguard. or he can paralize enemzs like the bone golems...

the skald should have the role of a buffer and healer. give him on hit effects like mass cure on sibel club but smaller which can get better the higher levels he get. his song could be like this
1st: gives allies +2 to hit, +2 to damage, -2 to AC and immunity to Fear
9th: gives allies +3 to hit, +3 to damage, -3 to AC, immunity to Fear and Confusion
18th: gives allies +4 to hit, +4 to damage, -4 to AC, immunity to Fear, Stun and Confusion.

or give him a ranged healing ability like the protector.

i have a little inspiration from rogue rebalancing

Sound Burst (replaces Time Trap)

Range: Visual range of the caster
Duration: Instantaneous
Casting Time: 5
Area of Effect: 30 feet radius
Saving Throw: Special

The Bard magically amplifies the capabilities of a musical instrument in order to fill his surroundings with high pitched stone-shattering sound waves. Creatures in the nearby area take 15d6 points of sonic damage and are also deafened for five rounds. Deafened creatures suffer a 50% chance of spellcasting failure. A successful save vs. breath halves the damage and negates the deafness.

Being non-magical in nature, this ability completely ignores any magic resistance of the targets. However, resistance to energy damage can reduce the amount of damage dealt.


Lingering Song (new ability)

Once a Bard's musical talents have reached a significant level, his music can stay with the listeners long after the last note has died away. After the Bard stops playing, the effects of his or her song last an additional 2 rounds.
Requires: Enhanced Bard Song


Magic Flute (revised ability)

This ability creates an enchanted flute made of pure magical energy which remains in existence for 8 hours. When played by a bard of exceptional talent the flute can be used to break enchantments, which effectively nullifies the effects of all spells and spell-like abilities (but not Psionics) that belong to the Enchantment school, whether they are beneficial or not (three charges). Furthermore, the flute can be used to mimic the effects of any arcane spell from the Enchantment school (two charges). Finally, the flute can summon forth a Spirit Warrior (one charge).

Spirit Warriors are spectral echoes of past heroes whose souls now rest in the halls of Valhalla. If a bard agrees to spread stories and songs of their legendary deeds in order to prevent them from being forgotten, a spirit of one of these valiant fighters will materialize and join the bard's cause for a short while (10 rounds). The mere presence of this fabled warrior instills courage in all nearby allies raising their morale to its highest.

Note: The Spirit Warrior is actually a spectral undead creature and thus receives the proper PnP spectral undead traits (vulnerability to any spells or items which specifically target undead creatures such as Hold Undead, Repulse Undead, Control Undead, False Dawn and Sunray; immunity to curative magic, sleep, charm, hold, poison, paralyzation, cold-based spells and non-magical weapons). For convenience reasons, the Spirit Warrior cannot be turned, rebuked or controlled by PC clerics. In terms of power, the Spirit Warrior should be somewhere in-between an Elemental Prince and a Deva. However, Spirit Warriors summoned by Skalds are slightly more powerful than those summoned by other Bards. Although the Spirit Warrior cannot be controlled directly by the player, he is treated as an ally, and the party will receive experience for every kill he makes.


Resonating Weapon (replaces Evasion)

Bards eventually achieve a high degree of control over sound which enables them to imbue any weapon with concentrated sound energy for a short while. A weapon imbued in this fashion resonates with a sharp tone and deals an extra 2d4 points of sonic damage to its target on each hit. Furthermore, anyone struck by the resonating weapon must save vs. breath or become temporarily deafened. After 2 rounds have passed, the weapon ceases to resonate and the deafness subsides.


Sound Barrier (replaces Greater Evasion)

The most skilled of all Bards are able to fully control the intensity, speed, and direction of the very waves which compose sound, which allows them to shape and bend it as they see fit. By utilizing this ability, the Bard encases himself within a sphere of swirling sound waves thereby forming a barrier which protects him from all sound-based spells and attacks (Silence, Deafness, Command/Greater Command, Power Word (any), Holy/Unholy Word, Wail of the Banshee and Demilich Howl). Anyone who attempts to break through the barrier and strike the Bard in melee takes 2d8 points of sonic damage. Furthermore, the attacker may become deafened (75% chance) or stunned (25% chance) during the following round unless a save vs. breath is made. The sound barrier dissipates after 5 rounds.

Requires: Resonating Weapon


to make the existing NPCs more likely to be played they need some items
viconia needs more hp or better constitution and perhaps an extra spell for evil clerics. the inflict wound spells without the need to attack can be good or give her better skeleton warriors as summons.
shar priests are about using mirror images or shadown effects.

dorn has a good blade, but his stats suck a little, he need more hp or lets say damage reduction or give him immunity against power word death via his helmet.

edwin has enough spells, but how about enhancing his summoning or his conjuration spells in general, adding an extra dice to every damage spells or makes saving throws even harder

that are mz few thoughts on enhancing this wink.gif thx for reading





SparrowJacek
Hey! Thanks for that long message with many good ideas!

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the assasin should do high single strike damage
Believe me, he will :> with my current implementation of Assassins, they become the hardest hitters of all classes at some point, but they're still vulnerable, so you have to play carefully.

QUOTE
or at least doing a very crippling strike.perhaps decreasing speed factor or movement speed to half or slowing. Or reducing strenght or makes the enemy bleed or poison. at least they should have the poisen like the black guards. or there damage should last as for example piercing damage for a few rounds.

That's another idea worth exploring, if players decide that Assassins are still too weak. And regarding Blackguard poison - I actually think that Assassin Poison Weapon is comparable. There's no saving throw for 1/2 of the damage and if you can poison a caster, he's useless for some time despite making that saving throw. I hope that people will respect that ability more, when a few Rune Assassins will hit you! And they will hit more often and harder due to improved Single Weapon Style wink.gif

QUOTE
the bounty hunter should do more damage with "spells" with his traps. or lets say throwing grenades. a grenade that makes blind like glitterdust or a acid/fire grenade which can hurt even undead or soften their AC or slowing even golems.
perhaps he develops anti magic grenades who can dispell magic or reduce magic resistance ir elemental resistance. that opens up a few more tactical ways to start fights. or a haste grenade.

the shadow dancer is a reallz hard topic, but i can imagine that he should onlz be able to hide in shadows and gain a special ability that he can stay invisble even after attacking just for around or two.
Apart from the general rework of the number of Thieving Ability points available, Shadow Dancers and Bounty Hunters will not be touched in the upcoming release, sorry for that. But I already have some ideas for the future and what you say about Bounty Hunters at least partially overlaps with what I have in mind. As for Shadow Dancers... If I manage to implement things and balance them, this should be the most unique kit with high versatility. Shadow Dancers won't be able to backstab, but they will utilize their high affinity with the Shadow Realm for other purposes.

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for bards

Bards will be the last class to rebalance, right now they'll only get a slight boost from reworked Pick Pockets ability. Sadly both debuffs (Jesters) and too many immunities (Skalds) aren't very welcome in IA right now and might be hard to incorporate and balance properly.

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i have a little inspiration from rogue rebalancing
Yes, they definitely sound like stuff I already read somewhere smile.gif All of those are very good additions and fit Bards perfectly, I wouldn't want to take the ideas from another mod, but a few inspirations here and there can enhance Bard class significantly.

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viconia needs more hp or better constitution and perhaps an extra spell for evil clerics. the inflict wound spells without the need to attack can be good or give her better skeleton warriors as summons.
shar priests are about using mirror images or shadown effects.

I think for now I'll add a component that will allow players to change her kit to Cleric of Talos, I know some dialogues won't make sense any more then, but hey, IATweaks can turn Imoen into a Riskbreaker smile.gif

QUOTE
dorn has a good blade, but his stats suck a little, he need more hp or lets say damage reduction or give him immunity against power word death via his helmet.
Hmm, I never played with Dorn, I'll take a look at his stats.

QUOTE
edwin has enough spells, but how about enhancing his summoning or his conjuration spells in general, adding an extra dice to every damage spells or makes saving throws even harder

cool.gif
lappen
I got so many more ideas☺️ but no idea how to implement it in the Game, but my goal for next year is to learn how to do it. And idea where to Look and how to learn it ?

One or two last ideas for clerics. To make them more Viable in combat, They could use that Hammer Spell to Hit from a Little distance or make the Hammer hurt Undead More or let them Creat holy water which can blow up like a fireball but only hurts undead .
For the bounty Hunter… perhaps its easyer to make him a ranged shooting Expert, with Special amunition Like Jan Janson.

Itemwise the Cross bows could be used to make Piercing or Crushing damage in his hands.
Or for my grenade idea u Can use the ability from them imps who are throwing These Little Balls ☺️

My last question is,
U mentioned a Programm which Shows the Stats and data from Enemy. Where did u get it ?

kilorew
@SparrowJacek

Was there a rough timeline you had in mind for the update coming to IATweaks with the new changes? Getting that itch to start another run.
SparrowJacek
QUOTE
And idea where to Look and how to learn it ?
If you have some programming knowledge, then you'll have a much easier time with starting to mod BG.
Three most important links are:
https://weidu.org/~thebigg/README-WeiDU.html
https://gibberlings3.github.io/Documentatio...eiducourse.html
https://gibberlings3.github.io/iesdp/

I won't write more, as this is not a good place for such discussions. There are more appropriate threads of BWL that you can explore smile.gif

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One or two last ideas for clerics. To make them more Viable in combat, They could use that Hammer Spell to Hit from a Little distance

That's a shame, but weapon range is hardcoded into the file, no spells can change that. But most Cleric kits have some improvements to their fighting capabilities and all Clerics get Heavenly Shield spell if you're familiar with v6.6_BETA.

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For the bounty Hunter… perhaps its easyer to make him a ranged shooting Expert
That's what I'd like to achieve actually.
Swashbucklers - competent melee fighters with good defences and AC
Assassins - more of a glass cannon melee fighters, with outstanding damage, but worse survivability
Bounty Hunters - masters of ranged combat with both traps and bows
Shadow Dancers - very specific, more ranged oriented
Thieves - utility class for the most part, good at pickpocketing, disarming traps and opening locks

QUOTE
U mentioned a Programm which Shows the Stats and data from Enemy. Where did u get it ?

It's an external program called BG2 Radar Overlay, you can read more about it here https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/84149...verlay-released, it shows stuff that players shouldn't have access to, so I don't advise using it if you want to have fun playing and figuring strategies out by yourself.

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Was there a rough timeline you had in mind for the update coming to IATweaks with the new changes? Getting that itch to start another run.

As usual with such projects, it's very hard to predict anything. I had much more time for modding recently and sped up significantly, but I'm still pre-Spellhold in my playthrough. I'll make some small updates here when I'll have something more to say and will progress further with the playthrough, so stay tuned.
critto
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but no idea how to implement it in the Game, but my goal for next year is to learn how to do it. And idea where to Look and how to learn it ?

Depends on where you want to start. I'd say the best starting point is to learn how various resources in game are structured (items, spells, effects, creatures, etc.) The best way to do it is to grab the latest of version of Near Infinity (https://github.com/NearInfinityBrowser/NearInfinity/discussions/191) and start messing around. The go-to place for actual knowledge is IESDP (https://gibberlings3.github.io/iesdp/) which is a sort-of official documentation on Infinity Engine file formats, maintained by the community. Simply browsing through technical documentation might be daunting, especially if you have never had any experience programming or doing some other modding activities, but there isn't really any way around it. The modding tutorial forum at G3 has some useful guides that are more concise and structured around a particular topic (how to make an NPC, etc.), you might find them useful as well.

At some point you will also have to learn how weidu does stuff in order to install the mod. The best way here is study the existing code, as well as those guides. The official documentation (https://weidu.org/~thebigg/README-WeiDU.html) will be needed at some point as well. You might also decide to learn how scripts work, here's a good starting point for that: https://www.pocketplane.net/tutorials/simscript.html.

The best course of action is to take on some project that does not feel too daunting (modifying the skald's song to provide those bonuses is a good example) and make it happen: prepare all modifications and pack them into a separate mod, installed by weidu on top of IA.

Feel free to ask more specific questions if you have them.
lappen
Thank u guys.
I will try it out. I have found some more modding Forums with really good and developed Kits. If u guys dont mind i will post a playthrew with them. I will try out a warlock Bard 😇
critto
Go ahead, just be advised that things might behave in a very strange fashion depending on the complexity of those kits and whether they modify the same stuff as IA or not.
Alva
Hi,

I've just wanted to report that the fist of nature of the auramaster is inefective against base rakshasa in the game (whereas the improved call lightning explode them in million of pieces).

Another bug I've found, is when a character is beeing imprisoned and I use the freedom spell, I cannot interact with it. I don't know if it is a IA bug or a base game one
pekkae
A few suggestions;

Imoen the riskbreaker/kensai can't use pendant of recovered light now. she definitely should (even though the extra spells per level are wasted). So Imoen the RB/Kensai is actually now worse off with 7.0 than with 6.5 smile.gif.

Aerie should have the option of tweaking into a shaman. All things considered, her personal item(s) should follow. If turned into a shaman I'd say stats are fine, give her an armour with +2 spells per level with a nice AC and nice protection from magic damage + acid and +20 hp. Or so. I'd say give her a nice weapon, perhaps something a little bit unique like a spear or a dart. Then she should be able to contribute!

Valygar should have the option of tweaking into a wizard slayer. It's a perfect personality fit, I think smile.gif. I've had a look and the Wizard Slayer is incredibly powerful with the appropriate build. But then a change with the personal equipment is needed, as the protector-equipment just doesn't work. Maybe turn the items into a corthala family helm with a few specific helpers for a WS?

And since we're on Valygar, the Vagrant version needs a touch as well. I'd say 19 con + turn the corthala family blade into a corthala family axe, with similar bonuses as the corthala family true blade. As for the armour, maybe the AC is fine, but the bonuses could be spread around a little bit - that would give the player a different kind of Vagrant to play, but one that is quite powerful as well.

Keldorn is quite underpowered as it is. Not a single version of him is powerful enough to take along. It's much better to fix a custom made inquisitor / undead hunter if one wants such a character along.

Dorn needs imrpoved stats to function properly. Maybe a personal belt could fix that? So Il-Khan Ironheart girdle: +20HP +2CON +1DEX +"Aura of despair", which gives all enemies within a certain range -2 (or so) to their saving throws vs emotion, horror and such spells?

An additional belt or two would be fantastic! I've proposed before, nothing overly powerful but a "blessed belt" would be nice, gives permanen bless + permanent protection from evil plus a belt that gives out say +10% magic resistance +5 LUCK would be great.

Consider tweaking the sensate amulet to paladins + maybe good aligned fighters as well?

I think the spellcasting tables have been revised for 7.0? Now Sorceror gets -1 spells from level 1-7 compared to a Necro. I'd propose to bring them in line smile.gif. Also, in 6.5 it was nice that arcane casters could be developed until the very end, which seems to omitted now from the 7.0 version.
SparrowJacek
QUOTE
Imoen the riskbreaker/kensai can't use pendant of recovered light now.
Are you sure that it's an issue of her being a Kensai/RB? Opcode 319 which is used has some weirdness to it, but her class/kit shouldn't change anything.

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Valygar should have the option of tweaking into a wizard slayer. It's a perfect personality fit, I think smile.gif. I've had a look and the Wizard Slayer is incredibly powerful with the appropriate build. But then a change with the personal equipment is needed, as the protector-equipment just doesn't work. Maybe turn the items into a corthala family helm with a few specific helpers for a WS?

You're right, he's the perfect WS character-wise! WS are more of a 2h wielders, so I understand that his blade is not the best choice here, but I think his armor is quite nice even for a WS, no?

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And since we're on Valygar, the Vagrant version needs a touch as well. I'd say 19 con
Will add it.

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As for the armour, maybe the AC is fine, but the bonuses could be spread around a little bit - that would give the player a different kind of Vagrant to play, but one that is quite powerful as well.

Hmm, can you tell us more?

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Keldorn is quite underpowered as it is. Not a single version of him is powerful enough to take along. It's much better to fix a custom made inquisitor / undead hunter if one wants such a character along.
Is that so? I thought that his armor is quite powerful. What other aspects could be addressed?

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An additional belt or two would be fantastic! I've proposed before, nothing overly powerful but a "blessed belt" would be nice, gives permanen bless + permanent protection from evil plus a belt that gives out say +10% magic resistance +5 LUCK would be great.

+5 luck is VERY powerful even +1 gives you 100% chance that the enemy will hit all mirror images before hitting the real body and +5 turns ADHW into a rather harmless spell smile.gif And yes, there will be a few new items in the upcoming version of IATweaks.

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Consider tweaking the sensate amulet to paladins + maybe good aligned fighters as well?

Sensates were a group of priests, so it makes sense that only Clerics can use the amulet, but it makes it quite underwhelming... Paladins are almost like Clerics, so I think it should be OK to allow them to wear the amulet.

critto
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Imoen the riskbreaker/kensai can't use pendant of recovered light now
As things stand now, it should work unless you somehow gotten the amulet before Spellhold (which shouldn't be possible considering that the crafting depends on post-Spellhold ingredients). I see nothing wrong with the item. I'll try to test in game and see what's what.

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Aerie should have the option of tweaking into a shaman. All things considered, her personal item(s) should follow. If turned into a shaman I'd say stats are fine, give her an armour with +2 spells per level with a nice AC and nice protection from magic damage + acid and +20 hp. Or so. I'd say give her a nice weapon, perhaps something a little bit unique like a spear or a dart. Then she should be able to contribute!

Conversion is not a problem, I'll add a component to IA Tweaks. Items are a bit more involved, since it requires coming up with lore, graphics and ingredients (if it's craftable stuff), so no promises there :-)

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Valygar should have the option of tweaking into a wizard slayer. It's a perfect personality fit, I think smile.gif. I've had a look and the Wizard Slayer is incredibly powerful with the appropriate build. But then a change with the personal equipment is needed, as the protector-equipment just doesn't work. Maybe turn the items into a corthala family helm with a few specific helpers for a WS?
I'll add the component here too. And I agree with Jacek about the armor. As for the sword, maybe the stupidest and simplest thing here is to convert his katana into a 2-H sword, but I think he'd be better off using other improved gear.

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And since we're on Valygar, the Vagrant version needs a touch as well.

Tweaking this is already on my todo list, there were reports about it in the past. I am a bit reserved about the axe part (I'd prefer the sword to stay the sword), but it is a simple enough tweak to do by hand in NI, if someone wishes to do it.

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Dorn needs imrpoved stats to function properly. Maybe a personal belt could fix that? So Il-Khan Ironheart girdle: +20HP +2CON +1DEX +"Aura of despair", which gives all enemies within a certain range -2 (or so) to their saving throws vs emotion, horror and such spells?
Honestly, it's much easier to simply adjust his stats. He is a half-orc after all.

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Consider tweaking the sensate amulet to paladins + maybe good aligned fighters as well?

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Sensates were a group of priests, so it makes sense that only Clerics can use the amulet, but it makes it quite underwhelming... Paladins are almost like Clerics, so I think it should be OK to allow them to wear the amulet.
Well, this is a bit of a weird item. I am not sure why it is restricted to the clerics. If I remember my planescape lore correctly, the sensates were never restricted to the priesthood. Even so, the item is kind of meh, really, so I wonder if we should bother at all.

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I think the spellcasting tables have been revised for 7.0?

No, I don't remember anything like that. On paper, it's quite the opposite: a 40th level sorcerer will have more spell casts per level than a mage (check resources/2da/mxsplsrc.2da and resources/2da/mxsplwiz.2da for comparsion). But Necro is a specialist mage, so having +1 spell per level is expected. I am not sure that this is even customisable, the engine handles it.
pekkae
QUOTE
Are you sure that it's an issue of her being a Kensai/RB? Opcode 319 which is used has some weirdness to it, but her class/kit shouldn't change anything.
I was mistaken. I tried this in chapter 0 and testing with a later save confirms that this works as intended. My mistake - didn't know this was possible smile.gif.

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You're right, he's the perfect WS character-wise! WS are more of a 2h wielders, so I understand that his blade is not the best choice here, but I think his armor is quite nice even for a WS, no?


Well ... In most cases I'd assume the "competition" is between huskar lord's armour / great wyrm scale / ultimate plate, which all are far superior to current corthala family armour. Considering WS's quite limited options on lowering AC the armour is critical. And even if the base isn't that far off the bonuses make those plates far more powerful. Imho, ofc.

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Will add it.
It's also in line with Valygar's current stats - as protector gets minuses while vagrant get bonuses.

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Hmm, can you tell us more?


Sure. So afaik players tend to play Vagrant as the protagonist (or towards it), where it's power lies in having extraordinary DR (up-tp-75%), innate elemental resitances and the summons. There's a few problems there, first being that it can't tank until the latter parts of the game and ofc. if it's not the protagonist, it will have a hard time coming up with that DR. I always throught that Valygar version plays differently, I scrap the DR part and focus on the AC, this is where CFA comes in handy as it has better base than Red Coral Armour. Valygar the Vagrant reaches quite competitive AC levels, as you can drop to -24 (or so) quite soon after you get the supreme shelter, and of you have Elowen, a little bit later while dual wielding - meaning non dispellable -24AC, 8-9APR, 75% magic damage resistance, 100%+ fire resistance with really good other resistances as well and if needed, 50% DR. My initial idea was that I'd spread the bonuses vs fire/cold/electricity to 25% and leave acid & magic damage resistance as well.

Or something like that. But it's not thought out thoroughly.

QUOTE
Is that so? I thought that his armor is quite powerful. What other aspects could be addressed?
Sure, it is. But if Keldorn doesn't get judgement day, he's kind of drag to play - as you need to babysit him until the very end. And the armour uses BoIB, so you'll lose utility (EDIT: or was this changed?).

He's of course quite powerful as a 2H specialist, reducing the babysitting to an extent, but then it's assumming you don't have other 2H specialists, as those probably provide more utility (wizard slayer, barbarian and in some cases Kensai). I think 2H specialist Keldorn plays throughout the game like a custom 2H specialist Kensai, but just with worse damage & ability to hit. That is until Damascus Steel Blade, which for some reason isn't usable by Kensai (?).And the inquisitor-version used to be quite powerful but now there's the wizard slayer, which does what the inquisitor does, but just far better. Judgement Day used to redeem Keldorn very effectively, but now if you get the quest you'll most likely want to use JD on your PC. And it's a nerfed quite a lot even if you get it.

As for a suggestion, I'd say the armour could be:

* AC -2 Base, with -6 slashing, -5 piercing
* slight regen (2-3 hp/ rd)
* no bonuses to magic damage resistance
* +50% fire resistance (or even absolute immunity to fire?)
* 10% DR
* 10% bonus to damage caused with slashing weapons
* +2 to saves(?)

=> Keldorn is most likely going to be hit so this would protect him a little bit better. And it has a nice boost vs slashing weapons while providing a boost to damage with Swords etc.. Especially Damascus Steel Blade wielding Keldorn would be very good with this. Imho.

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+5 luck is VERY powerful even +1 gives you 100% chance that the enemy will hit all mirror images before hitting the real body and +5 turns ADHW into a rather harmless spell smile.gif And yes, there will be a few new items in the upcoming version of IATweaks.


Right smile.gif. Well, no +5 to luck then. I'm rather clueless about luck rolls, as you can probably tell by that proposal. Hmh. But if it works like that, then luck is actually a useful spell ...? This gives me ideas biggrin.gif.

QUOTE
Sensates were a group of priests, so it makes sense that only Clerics can use the amulet, but it makes it quite underwhelming... Paladins are almost like Clerics, so I think it should be OK to allow them to wear the amulet.


Why I'm proposing this is that it gives a little bit of flexibility and alternate choices, as there's not that many good amulets to go around. With some groups I have been wearing the wooden horse necklace + amulet of protection +1 in Tob and it would be nice to have a few alternate options. I think the sensate amulet is nice and it definitely is not OP and then it could be made into a "true sensate amulet" or something later on, to give it a little bit of a boost.
pekkae
QUOTE
As things stand now, it should work unless you somehow gotten the amulet before Spellhold (which shouldn't be possible considering that the crafting depends on post-Spellhold ingredients). I see nothing wrong with the item. I'll try to test in game and see what's what.
nope, "my bad" - works as inteded!

QUOTE
Conversion is not a problem, I'll add a component to IA Tweaks. Items are a bit more involved, since it requires coming up with lore, graphics and ingredients (if it's craftable stuff), so no promises there :-)


I used the graphics from "studded leather of thorns". You get it so late no-one uses it. I think chatgpt knows bg2 & ad&d quite well, so lore part should be quite easy. For graphics in general:

1) I think there are a few other options already in existing in the game, that are not used (so gauntlets, rings, armours, weapons etc...), that could be just re-used(?)
2) And those AI image generators these days probably can do a pretty good job with helping with images(?)
3) There's items in existing item packs where some graphics could be re-used / recycled a little bit(?)


QUOTE
I'll add the component here too. And I agree with Jacek about the armor. As for the sword, maybe the stupidest and simplest thing here is to convert his katana into a 2-H sword, but I think he'd be better off using other improved gear.
Yup, the 2H version probably loses to existing weapons already. An axe would be nice, though then it's "competing" with Axe of Gleaming Lava of you have Elowen, which is stupendously good.

QUOTE
Tweaking this is already on my todo list, there were reports about it in the past. I am a bit reserved about the axe part (I'd prefer the sword to stay the sword), but it is a simple enough tweak to do by hand in NI, if someone wishes to do it.


Well, there's nice axes already in the game, so it isn't that big of a thing.

QUOTE
Honestly, it's much easier to simply adjust his stats. He is a half-orc after all.
Yup.

QUOTE
]Well, this is a bit of a weird item. I am not sure why it is restricted to the clerics. If I remember my planescape lore correctly, the sensates were never restricted to the priesthood. Even so, the item is kind of meh, really, so I wonder if we should bother at all.


Well, it is definitely not OP item smile.gif, but gives another choice for some parties.

QUOTE
No, I don't remember anything like that. On paper, it's quite the opposite: a 40th level sorcerer will have more spell casts per level than a mage (check resources/2da/mxsplsrc.2da and resources/2da/mxsplwiz.2da for comparsion). But Necro is a specialist mage, so having +1 spell per level is expected. I am not sure that this is even customisable, the engine handles it.


Allright. Hmh. Maybe I'm mistaken then. I'll have a look at some point!
critto
QUOTE
I was mistaken. I tried this in chapter 0 and testing with a later save confirms that this works as intended.
Imoen in CH1 and in CH4 are two different creature files (with different name variables). The item is restricted to the latter.

QUOTE
For graphics in general

Well, graphics isn't really my forte (unless it's a reused image from an IE game), I'd have to rely on Jacek and his skills here. But I imagine he has his plate full right now with the rebalance.
SparrowJacek
QUOTE
It's also in line with Valygar's current stats - as protector gets minuses while vagrant get bonuses.
Perfect explanation smile.gif

QUOTE
And the armour uses BoIB, so you'll lose utility (EDIT: or was this changed?).

Yes, it was changed in 6.5, there are too few good belts and BoIB works best when it can be switched between characters, that's why we changed the ingredients.

QUOTE
As for a suggestion, I'd say the armour could be:

* AC -2 Base, with -6 slashing, -5 piercing
* slight regen (2-3 hp/ rd)
* no bonuses to magic damage resistance
* +50% fire resistance (or even absolute immunity to fire?)
* 10% DR
* 10% bonus to damage caused with slashing weapons
* +2 to saves(?)
You know that his current armor is a full plate +4? So he has -3 base, -7 slashing, -6 piercing and missile? smile.gif
Just took a look at his stats and I understand why a custom Inquisitor is much better, especially since gloves +dex share the same item slot with Paladin gloves.

QUOTE
Well, no +5 to luck then. I'm rather clueless about luck rolls, as you can probably tell by that proposal. Hmh. But if it works like that, then luck is actually a useful spell ...? This gives me ideas

Luck is very powerful, you can read about how it's implemented on BG wiki. As for the 2nd level arcane spell, I extended its duration to 2 turns. At first I wanted to make it into a short-lasting stacking buff, but it turned out that there are too many problems with how bonuses to Thieving Skills are implemented. But now you can at least make some use of it and there are some enemy Mages that have it + MI as their prebuff.

QUOTE
Well, this is a bit of a weird item. I am not sure why it is restricted to the clerics. If I remember my planescape lore correctly, the sensates were never restricted to the priesthood. Even so, the item is kind of meh, really, so I wonder if we should bother at all.
If so, then we can just loosen the restrictions. It's not a good item, but maybe someone will decide to use it and (as per pekkae's suggestion) we might use it to make a new recipe at some point.

QUOTE
2) And those AI image generators these days probably can do a pretty good job with helping with images(?)

I highly doubt that any of those models are trained to make 30x30 pixel fantasy item images smile.gif but if you find some, it'll make my job much easier!

QUOTE
1) I think there are a few other options already in existing in the game, that are not used (so gauntlets, rings, armours, weapons etc...), that could be just re-used(?)
3) There's items in existing item packs where some graphics could be re-used / recycled a little bit(?)

Other Infinity Engine games have their own unique graphics and some items fit quite well with BG aesthetics, so we can look through those resources.
pekkae
QUOTE
Yes, it was changed in 6.5, there are too few good belts and BoIB works best when it can be switched between characters, that's why we changed the ingredients.
Ok, great! Yes, there are too few useful belts smile.gif.

QUOTE
AYou know that his current armor is a full plate +4? So he has -3 base, -7 slashing, -6 piercing and missile? smile.gif
Just took a look at his stats and I understand why a custom Inquisitor is much better, especially since gloves +dex share the same item slot with Paladin gloves.


I know. My proposal was lower on purpose, as with Keldorn AC doesn't play a big role. Vs. Almost any of the tougher opponents, it doesn't matter if your AC is -12 or if it's -13 -> everything hits, except a critical miss. So my proposal was to take it to DR route, as with +10% armour, +10% AoF, +10% Sword +40% hardiness you are pretty well off. But ofviously not completely safe, as a single dispel / breach means you are very vulnerable.

QUOTE
Luck is very powerful, you can read about how it's implemented on BG wiki. As for the 2nd level arcane spell, I extended its duration to 2 turns. At first I wanted to make it into a short-lasting stacking buff, but it turned out that there are too many problems with how bonuses to Thieving Skills are implemented. But now you can at least make some use of it and there are some enemy Mages that have it + MI as their prebuff.
Allright! This sounds interesting! biggrin.gif

QUOTE
If so, then we can just loosen the restrictions. It's not a good item, but maybe someone will decide to use it and (as per pekkae's suggestion) we might use it to make a new recipe at some point.


Yes, I think this would be good! The +2CHA is quite a lot though. How about replacing it with permanent luck as per the 2nd level spell. And probably the price need an adjustment. Or just loosen the restrictions.

QUOTE
I highly doubt that any of those models are trained to make 30x30 pixel fantasy item images smile.gif but if you find some, it'll make my job much easier!
I obviously don't know, but I made a helmet with OpenAI here:

https://openart.ai/share/bWF6S1BXenBpOVYyWW...MzFfNTEyLndlYnA

" let's say a helmet with horns for a evil blackguard paladin?" and then converted the image to a 30x30 pixel image with gimp. See attachment. I have no idea if this is good enough, what problems there might be or anything else.

QUOTE

Other Infinity Engine games have their own unique graphics and some items fit quite well with BG aesthetics, so we can look through those resources.


That's right, I forgot about that! Obviously those include then an enormous amount of possibilities, if they are easily recycleable.
critto
QUOTE
Yes, I think this would be good! The +2CHA is quite a lot though. How about replacing it with permanent luck as per the 2nd level spell. And probably the price need an adjustment. Or just loosen the restrictions.
+2 CHA is a pretty useless bonus, charisma does not affect anything combat-relevant.

QUOTE
" let's say a helmet with horns for a evil blackguard paladin?" and then converted the image to a 30x30 pixel image with gimp. See attachment. I have no idea if this is good enough, what problems there might be or anything else.

It's a nice enough image, but doesn't fit really well with Baldur's Gate aesthetics. We already have some experience with adjusting foreign images, e.g. the Paws gloves. Jacek did a superb job with that, but you can still see it's not native.
lappen
in my opinion should luck be an exclusive bonus for bards only. luck is the best stat u can get!
pekkae
QUOTE
in my opinion should luck be an exclusive bonus for bards only. luck is the best stat u can get!
This is a good point!

QUOTE
+2 CHA is a pretty useless bonus, charisma does not affect anything combat-relevant.
Yup. Why I proposed that is that other CHA altering items are quit expensive, like the nymph cloak. Or rare.

QUOTE
It's a nice enough image, but doesn't fit really well with Baldur's Gate aesthetics. We already have some experience with adjusting foreign images, e.g. the Paws gloves. Jacek did a superb job with that, but you can still see it's not native.


Yup, that's for certain. Then again, it was a first time try by a complete amateur and took 60 seconds, or so.

I'd "guestimate" an AI can soon (maybe already) do an ok job, but needs a for example more information about the style & aesthetics etc.

I had a few more tries with piclumen. More in the style of bg2 this time? This took 5 minutes or so to find the right settings.
SparrowJacek
QUOTE
in my opinion should luck be an exclusive bonus for bards only. luck is the best stat u can get!
That's an idea worth exploring, however we already have Luck spell and Chant, which also adds +1 luck. I think it's a good idea to add some item that would also increase luck of its wearer, something related to Tymora.

QUOTE
I had a few more tries with piclumen. More in the style of bg2 this time? This took 5 minutes or so to find the right settings.

Well, this looks like something that Sarevok would fancy smile.gif so you can make both eq graphics and description image of the same helmet? The largest problem with importing items from IWD games is the fact that they don't have description images and we have to either reuse some existing ones from BG or improvise with some graphics tools.
pekkae
QUOTE(SparrowJacek @ Jan 5 2025, 04:19 PM) *
QUOTE
I had a few more tries with piclumen. More in the style of bg2 this time? This took 5 minutes or so to find the right settings.

Well, this looks like something that Sarevok would fancy smile.gif so you can make both eq graphics and description image of the same helmet? The largest problem with importing items from IWD games is the fact that they don't have description images and we have to either reuse some existing ones from BG or improvise with some graphics tools.


I don't know what these words mean biggrin.gif

"eq graphics"
"description image"

But I guess the description image is like the one I posted (so when you right click at an item in the inventory)? And the eq graphics is the "tumbnail"? The description image looks like it's the easier part btw.

It's possible, but it takes some time, because it doesn't work that well (yet). Here's an example of a thumbnail generated from the helm I posted. I used the previous helmet as a base, generated a new image that suits the thumbnail format and turned it into 30x30 pixels with gimp.

I have no idea if this is good enough / helpful, but here you go!
pekkae
We could try crafting a description image for an example item, if you would have one in mind?

In the meantime here's a half-orc blackguard version of Minsc, with Boo.
SparrowJacek
Eq graphics is the one you see when you open your equipment, the general "realistic" one smile.gif And description image is the "sketch" version you see when you enter the item's description page, so you understood it correctly. The description image you posted looks really good, but since it can be larger it's easier to generate it (those images are like 200x200 pixels). I'll take a look at piclumen, didn't have good results with some other AI a year ago and dropped the idea of using it altoghether, thanks!

QUOTE
In the meantime here's a half-orc blackguard version of Minsc, with Boo.

lol that heavy armor Boo is amazing xD
pekkae
QUOTE

Eq graphics is the one you see when you open your equipment, the general "realistic" one smile.gif And description image is the "sketch" version you see when you enter the item's description page, so you understood it correctly. The description image you posted looks really good, but since it can be larger it's easier to generate it (those images are like 200x200 pixels). I'll take a look at piclumen, didn't have good results with some other AI a year ago and dropped the idea of using it altoghether, thanks!
Alright! Great! I think that part looks like it's the one that's doable easier. I used the version of piclumen that let's me import a base image, that the base image can be used as a reference / starting point.

QUOTE

lol that heavy armor Boo is amazing xD


Haha. I thought so as well!

(Edit: Here's one more example of a wizard slayer, based on Minsc. I think it's starting be close enough to the original style. I'll probably use this at some point in my game biggrin.gif )
pekkae
I think these are starting to be quite good.

I toyed around a bit more.

Here's Aerie (based on Minsc). Gonna stop flooding the board now.

Enjoy!
SparrowJacek
Okay, I forged some stuff for my Assassin right before Spellhold and tested her damage:

Believe me, this isn't even her final form yet and she only had 21 strength. She required some babysitting and she still is quite vulnerable, but I hope that from now on she'll be much more useful in combat.
pekkae
QUOTE(SparrowJacek @ Jan 6 2025, 04:27 AM) *
Okay, I forged some stuff for my Assassin right before Spellhold and tested her damage:

Believe me, this isn't even her final form yet and she only had 21 strength. She required some babysitting and she still is quite vulnerable, but I hope that from now on she'll be much more useful in combat.


Base damage 55?

So with 7x multiplier that would be 385 pts of damage per hit? But I'm guessing you don't get many of those types of attacks per round? biggrin.gif
SparrowJacek
Well it's not that crazy, the messages state that I got both critical hit and a 2x bonus from backstab. Backstab damage won't go higher than X2 even for Assassins but that's a good thing, as they will be effective against enemies immune to backstabs. The damage increase will come mostly from Thieving Skills. And don't worry, the damage will be competitive smile.gif

Btw backstabs don't take strength bonuses into calculation, all other bonuses are multiplied, that's hardcded into the game.
pekkae
QUOTE(SparrowJacek @ Jan 7 2025, 12:51 PM) *
Well it's not that crazy, the messages state that I got both critical hit and a 2x bonus from backstab. Backstab damage won't go higher than X2 even for Assassins but that's a good thing, as they will be effective against enemies immune to backstabs. The damage increase will come mostly from Thieving Skills. And don't worry, the damage will be competitive smile.gif

Btw backstabs don't take strength bonuses into calculation, all other bonuses are multiplied, that's hardcded into the game.


Well ...

Kensai used to able to do full 10 APR. And 40-50+pts of damage per hit. That's about 400-500pts of damage/round. And Kensai pretty much hits with every attack, in most of the cases.

And if it's critical's, it doubles the damage? So 1000pts (I think.)

So that 385 pts (if per round) would still leave some room to grow when comparing say damage per round outputs biggrin.gif
SparrowJacek
QUOTE
Kensai used to able to do full 10 APR. And 40-50+pts of damage per hit. That's about 400-500pts of damage/round. And Kensai pretty much hits with every attack, in most of the cases.

And if it's critical's, it's sometimes double? So 1000pts (I think.)
That's the main reason why Sikret prevented Kensai from using Damascus Steel Blade smile.gif Kensai is just too much of a beast and Kai becomes exceptionally powerful when used with DSB.

QUOTE
So that 385 pts (if per round) would still leave some room to grow when comparing say damage per round outputs

True, I think that Assassins will reach that value and even more, just not with 1 hit! And if players will still think that the kit is underwhelming, there's always room for improvements in many aspects.
pekkae
QUOTE
That's the main reason why Sikret prevented Kensai from using Damascus Steel Blade smile.gif Kensai is just too much of a beast and Kai becomes exceptionally powerful when used with DSB.
Makes sort of sense. Then again, that offsets quite a lot of power from the Kensai as it is now much more in line with i.e. a paladin damage per round wise.

QUOTE

True, I think that Assassins will reach that value and even more, just not with 1 hit! And if players will still think that the kit is underwhelming, there's always room for improvements in many aspects.


Well, it's not really fair to compare to the Kensai with this metric, as it's the most devastating Kit in almost all versions of the game. biggrin.gif
pekkae
I have a suggestion as well, btw.

It's for Viccy. I think if/when cleric kits get an upgrade she should have a kit, possibly of her own.

Other than that, it would be great if IATweaks provided an oppostunity to turn her into a fighter/mage multiclass. So same base stats, but upgrade het INT + WIS to 17 (I'm not sure where they are atm.) That would make her quite fragile, as her CON is terrible. But with proper magic resistance (65%) she should be quite unique character to play as well and I guess she should be able to dominate some encounters, while being somewhat of a liability in others.

I'd say give her a personal armour, that enhances her already powerful abilities. So.

Incarnated Elven Chain, works if she's a kitted Cleric (most likely, depending on the actual stats and abilities) as well as the Fighter/Mage multiclass version. It's a chracter fit even for the cleric version as she doesn't have the strength to wear a full plate.

Stats:
Elven chain +6 (spellcasting not disabled).
AC -1, -3 vs slashing, -3 vs crushing
+ 1 CON
+ 25 HP
+ one extra 4th level and 7th level spell (both arcane & divine)
+ 10% MR
+ 45% Fire resistance
+ doesn't get fatigued

Special ability:Field of darkness - 10%(?) chance to doom the target, cumulative, bypasses MR, lasts for 1 round(?), inflicts everyone who hits Viconia. So in addition to her being, if developed properly, quite difficult to hit every hit would have the chance to make the hitter less likely to hit her again. Making her even more difficult to hit. That structure with the AC also means she should reach really low AC and both arcane and divine caster would even have possible buffs on top.

Cost:
Elven chain +1 (or which ones you get from the drow surface party?)
Girdle of Bluntness
Red Dragon Scales
Adamantite Dust
Manual of Elaboration
Scroll of Memory Boosting
150.000 GP
Sikret
QUOTE(Alva @ Dec 30 2024, 10:01 PM) *
I've just wanted to report that the fist of nature of the auramaster is inefective against base rakshasa in the game (whereas the improved call lightning explode them in million of pieces).

Fist of Nature has been there in the mod for a long time and I don't think that it is bugged. We increased its damage in v7 though.
Can someone test and confirm that the spell is not bugged?
SparrowJacek
Okay, it took me quite a long time, but for those of you, who will decide to install "controversial changes" component, the fights against (Greater) Elemental Golems will hopefully be more fun and less repetitive, I won't say much more apart from the fact that since it's an Elemental Golem, elements will play a bigger role in those encounters.

I'm finishing 2nd level of Spellhold in my playthrough now, so the run is steadily going forward and I've even forged a new item for my Assassin.
critto
QUOTE(Sikret @ Jan 11 2025, 07:31 PM) *
QUOTE(Alva @ Dec 30 2024, 10:01 PM) *
I've just wanted to report that the fist of nature of the auramaster is inefective against base rakshasa in the game (whereas the improved call lightning explode them in million of pieces).

Fist of Nature has been there in the mod for a long time and I don't think that it is bugged. We increased its damage in v7 though.
Can someone test and confirm that the spell is not bugged?

I ran the test, looks OK to me.

[attachment=4661:test.jpg]
SparrowJacek
I'm currently in the Underdark in my "playthrough". There will be quite a few surprises for players there smile.gif

The work on my new version of IATweaks is going well. It's a bit slow, but that's mostly because many enemies and even whole enemy types get some (sometimes very slight) changes to their stats, abilities and AI. Some enemies even get various kits assigned and try to use the abilities of those kits to their advantage.
kilorew
QUOTE(SparrowJacek @ Jan 29 2025, 05:12 PM) *
I'm currently in the Underdark in my "playthrough". There will be quite a few surprises for players there smile.gif

The work on my new version of IATweaks is going well. It's a bit slow, but that's mostly because many enemies and even whole enemy types get some (sometimes very slight) changes to their stats, abilities and AI. Some enemies even get various kits assigned and try to use the abilities of those kits to their advantage.


Looking forward to the new changes !
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