What are your recommended mods?

[berelinde]

I forgot Moinesse's Avatars over at G3. That one is limited (all it does is change your avatars), but it's pretty.

[TormentedDragon]

Indeed, they are very pretty. I likes the long-haired avatars, and the non-bearded male human mage.

[Discord]

Weird though it may sound(if you haven't played the mod), I thought the Edwin Romance was remarkably well put together and enjoyable. Going in I thought it was either going to be a really unappealing romance, (for a really unappealing character), or it was just going to abandon Edwin's character completely in the effort of creating an eligible bachelor. But the more I played, the more I liked it. It's utterly hillarious through most of it, and quite sweet at other times, but it still feels like Edwin you're romancing, not just some fake Edwin-esque heartthrob.

[berelinde]

OK. You've got me curious. I'll try it.

Edwin was always one of those blokes I never got around to recruiting, since I usually had a full party by then, and, as I've never played a thief, I've never needed to do that quest.

But Edwin is oddly complelling, if nothing else, as the butt of everyone else's jokes. I'll give it a go.

[Riviera]

So many.

General
- Ascension (Necessary)
- BG2 Fixpacks (Necessary)
- BG2 Tweaks (So great. It's so nice to have so many tweaks in one mod)
- Divine Remix (I really like what they do, and all the kits)
- Dungeon-Be-Gone (Pure love. Jasper is a god.)
- Zyrean's Miscellany (I really like how Zyr worked everything out in it.)
- Unfinished Business (More quests are good.)
- Ding0's Quest Pack (See above.)
- Baldur's Gate Trilogy (Necessary. Always. I haven't played a game without it since the first time I played BG2, and I wouldn't go back.)

NPC-Related
- NPC Kit Pack (Some of these just seem so obvious.)
- NPC Tweak Pack (Again, some of this feels like it should have been in it before.)
- Banter Pack (More talking = good.)
- NPC Flirt Pack (Really brings the romances to life.)
- BG1 NPC Project (I love it so much. I'm such a fangirl of this one.)

NPC Mods
- Kelsey (Obligated. He's well written, well voiced.)
- Keto (Again, very fun and I really like her voicing.)
- Xan (What would I do without my gloomy enchanter? Excellant job. I liked his new voice too!)
- Kivan (Another necessity. His is an amazingly done mod. No question.)
- Tashia (Very well written, plus the riddles were a very nice little bonus.)
- Solaufein (Wish his flirt pack would be released soon!  )
- Nathaniel (He's just adorable.)
- Saerileth (Well written, amazing voice, love the quests and areas..)
- Tsujatha (All-around well done. I'm a fan of Sillara and Nethrin's work.)
- Yasraena (A bit over-powered, but I really liked her nonetheless.)

What can I say, I'm one of those that mods their game so much it's not even funny.

I've been lucky in that I've never had any game-breaking bugs though. Yet. 

[Bursk]

I think I read something a while back about Edwin Romance being incompatible with Sim's Quest Pack.  I don't know if that's still the case.

[Riviera]

I think I read something a while back about Edwin Romance being incompatible with Sim's Quest Pack.  I don't know if that's still the case.

I think the issue is just with the component that gives you an alternate way to deal with the shadow thieves. If you follow the path opened with the component, Edwin ends up dead (without joining your group). At least I think that's how it works out. So.. no romance opportunity. 

[berelinde]

I think I read something a while back about Edwin Romance being incompatible with Sim's Quest Pack.  I don't know if that's still the case.

I think the issue is just with the component that gives you an alternate way to deal with the shadow thieves. If you follow the path opened with the component, Edwin ends up dead (without joining your group). At least I think that's how it works out. So.. no romance opportunity. 

Yeah, I'd call that incompatible. But I generally only run with one modded NPC at a time, unless they're covered by Crossmod Banterpack, and always do a fresh installation every time I run with different NPCs. So if I were running Edwin, I could just skip that component of Quest Pack.

[SimDing0™]

While I don't know the exact nature of the issue, I don't see how Edwin potentially ending up dead (which he is no more likely to with Quest Pack than without, since the betrayal path also allows him to join you) is an incompatibility by any stretch of the imagination. The option to kill him has always been there--you could do so while wiping out Mae'Var's guild in vanilla BG2. If opportunities which render certain NPCs inaccessible qualify as incompatibility then BG2 itself is an absolute disaster.

[berelinde]

Also a valid point.

OK, I've got it sorted. If I want an Edwin romance, I should avoid killing him no matter what's installed.

Probably more flip than it needed to be, but I'm in a weird mood.

[elotrocoso]

Here s a question, i m a BG newbie(but i ve played both the games at least once), and i wanted to play both the games with the maximum number of quests avaliable(without crashes that is), and with some decent items, NPCs, spells, packs, tweaks, etc, but the priority being quest(quality over quantity ofcourse) and game depth(most of the prblem comes from not knowing about compatibility issues, since i would probably install all quests, NPCs, items and packs avaliable if i was sure it wouldn't crash), what would you recommend? i m specially unable to chose between Tutu, BGT or UB(or to leave it as is), since i dont know them all that well. are DSotSC and NSotSC really worth it over Tutu? i ve heard some say they are extremely buggy, but this could have probably been corrected by now. By the way, i was also wondering if there is a patch that will remove the xp cap while balancing the game, or if it can only be done by a hex editor.

Any opinions?

[Riviera]

Here s a question, i m a BG newbie(but i ve played both the games at least once), and i wanted to play both the games with the maximum number of quests avaliable(without crashes that is), and with some decent items, NPCs, spells, packs, tweaks, etc, but the priority being quest(quality over quantity ofcourse) and game depth(most of the prblem comes from not knowing about compatibility issues, since i would probably install all quests, NPCs, items and packs avaliable if i was sure it wouldn't crash), what would you recommend? i m specially unable to chose between Tutu, BGT or UB(or to leave it as is), since i dont know them all that well. are DSotSC and NSotSC really worth it over Tutu? i ve heard some say they are extremely buggy, but this could have probably been corrected by now. By the way, i was also wondering if there is a patch that will remove the xp cap while balancing the game, or if it can only be done by a hex editor.

Any opinions?

It doesn't have to be either/or with BGT/Tutu and UB. If you are talking about the version for BG2, it's worked perfectly fine for my BGT installs. You can do a BP (Big Picture) install with BGT and put both DSotSC and NSotSC in with it, although I've never tried it.

I'm a huge fan of BGT, never tried Tutu myself, but I really like how BGT works. The fact that you can play it all at once in one all-inclusive experience as opposed to playing BG then importing the characters into BG2, works so well for me.

As far as quests go, the two I *always* install are quest pack and UB. I've never touched the mega mods, although I've been tempted to try DSotSC, NSotSC, and Sirine's Call.

There are a lot of good NPC mods. Saerileth adds a lot of new ground to the game, plus a bit extra to the main plot (not much). Xan and Kivan both have mods that add them into BG2, and are my top two as far as mods go. The NPC project for the BG1 gang is also an amazing piece of work. BG2 fixpack and BG2 tweaks are staples. Ascension is a must.

Since you've said you like quests a lot.. give the G3 anniversary mod a shot. It's quite funny. 

There are many more NPCs I could mention, but it all depends on what personalities you like best.

[elotrocoso]

concerning the BGT, isnt the previous BG1 character at the beginning of BG2 a bit too overleveled, or is thi issue addressed as well? and what about xp caps, dont you reach max leves too early?

another thing, whats up with the iron modder's mods, is there a compatibility list somewhere?

[Riviera]

concerning the BGT, isnt the previous BG1 character at the beginning of BG2 a bit too overleveled, or is thi issue addressed as well? and what about xp caps, dont you reach max leves too early?

another thing, whats up with the iron modder's mods, is there a compatibility list somewhere?

I've never run the iron modder's mods, I couldn't say how those work. ^_^;

They used to have an issue with the XP you get in BG1, but I've never had a problem with it. Heck, I remove the XP caps with mods, and I still don't usually have any of my characters higher then 8ish (which, if I remember correctly, is around the starting levels you have if you start a BG2 game fresh off anyway).

It takes a decent amount of time to hit the caps, even if you do things like buy lots of copies of the same scroll and have someone relearn it a lot to boost levels.  If you do try it and find yourself gaining more XP than you would like (or are just the type of person who likes challenges), you can always give a look at the Defjam XP setter. You can put it at a lower percent, than remove it when your party transitions to BG2.

As I said, I've never had a problem with the XP, but everyone is different. 

[arawn]

On Icelus list Baldurdash comes after the patches. With the advent of the BG2fixpack should Baldurdash be discontinued?

[Gorilym]

On Icelus list Baldurdash comes after the patches. With the advent of the BG2fixpack should Baldurdash be discontinued?

In a word, yes.

The list hasn't been changed in almost a year, perhaps it's due for an update?

[Beetle]

There probably won't be anything new on this list (and I hope Riviera forgives me for stealing her categories):

BG1
Tutu (because of the next mods)
BG1 NPC (I can't play regular BG without it anymore)
Finch: who can say no to a wide-eyed librarian?

General BG2
Baldurdash (I need to upgrade to the fixpack)
Dungeon-Be-Gone
NPC Banter Pack
NPC Flirt Pack

NPC Mods
Kelsey: the gold standard for seamlessness, a neat character and a nice story too
Keto: she would be the new gold standard if there was TOB content (that's not a dig - I know you folks are busy)
Saerileth: a nicely done paladin - religious without being a caricature
Imoen Romance: I can't resist Immy, and I can just ignore the evil and "joke" responses
Fade: funny, touching, tons of content and she's still not quite finished - can't wait for TOB
Yasraena: I agree she's a bit overpowered, but that comes in handy when I don't want to play a fighter - my current party has a Cleric/Mage PC, Kelsey and Imoen, and Yasraena is keeping all the baddies off our backs almost by herself (Boo and his sidekick help some, too)

[Antignition]

I would also be interested in seeing if there are any recent mods SimDing0 and Icelus would consider adding to their respective lists.

I usually play Baldur's Gate about once every year (usually the whole saga), and coming back here I don't really know what's worth picking up and what isn't.  I've followed Ding0's list to the letter and been more than happy with the results, so an update would save me a lot of research and trial-and-error.


The only new mod *on* PPG right now that I would look at is Xan, but I'm very sceptical about NPC mods (so far Kelsey is the only one I put on, i'd use Keto but I hate bards and she has no ToB content).  So with the progress of PPG seeming to slow down, I've been looking over at Gibberlings3 (only other modding area that is prominent on mine/Ding0's list) and saw a lot of new stuff that i'd consider. 

Since i'm not even sure Ice or Ding0 are around anymore though, to everyone else:

Anyone have any strong feelings on:

-Divine Remix
-Xan (as said above)
-Kivan and Deheriana Companions for BG2 (only other NPC mod that I will even consider as well)
-NPC Kitpack
-NPC Tweak
-BG1 NPC Project
-Sword Coast Stratagems
-Song and Silence
-Sword and Fist


Even I can tell from the small bit of lurking around I did that the BG2 Fixpack is rendering Baldurdash and G3Tweak obselete, thats pretty much the only thing i'm certain with right now.


EDIT:  I would also like to know from Icelus and Ding0 if they would recommend any mods at all from Spellholdstudios (with the exception of 1PP), Chosen of Mystra, or Blackwyrm Lair, the ones i've gone out of my way to look at aren't as...seamless...as i'd like.

[CamDawg]

G3 Tweaks is obsolete (along with Tutu Tweaks and Ease of Use), but from BG2 Tweaks and not the Fixpack.

[GeN1e]

Bugfixes:
BG2 Fixpack (since it was released recently it's hard to make a list of musthaves right now)

My "must have" list:
Ascension (all)
D0Questpack (all)
D0Tweak (Goodberries; backstabbing)
Tactics (Bodhi; Ritual; Demons; Golems; Twisted Rune; Guarded compound; Copper Coronet; Crypt King)
Battles (Chromatic Demon)
Unfinished Business (Boo; Kalah; Suna Seni; Pai'Na; Xzar's creations; Gorje Hilldark; Sarevok remorse - not with Tortured Souls)

This list is also "must have" but I feel that these mods aren't perfect in terms of balance (thus I've shamelessly corrected them). Still, they are good:
Oversight (Sendai)
Refinements (HLAs; Armors and Shields; Lesser robes)
Tactics (Undead; Mages; Mind flayers; Dragons; Beholders; Vampires; Trolls)

Universal mods:
DEF JAM (or XPmod?)
StorePrices (I know that self promotion is bad and such, but...)

[yarpen]

I can now say that my Paladins of Faerun Kitpack mod is now useable

[Discord]

You know what turned out to be a really good mod that I wasn't expecting to be? The Edwin Romance. Now this might just be my quirky taste, but I found it utterly hillarious while retaining that sweetness that makes a romance emotional. I thought the idea of that irritating, egotistical wizard romancing ANYONE was a terrible idea at first, but once Id actually got into it I really enjoyed it. It didn't even seem to be that out of character for Edwin, either. It didn't feel like, as some mods do, the mod writer was imposing his will on the character, ignoring the game's previous characterization - instead it just felt like you were getting to know aspects of the character not previously explored. But it didn't take itself to seriously - it was extremely funny all the way through.

So yeah, that's my reccomendation. Its worth a shot - see if it suits your taste.

[Bursk]

You know what turned out to be a really good mod that I wasn't expecting to be? The Edwin Romance. Now this might just be my quirky taste, but I found it utterly hillarious while retaining that sweetness that makes a romance emotional. I thought the idea of that irritating, egotistical wizard romancing ANYONE was a terrible idea at first, but once Id actually got into it I really enjoyed it. It didn't even seem to be that out of character for Edwin, either. It didn't feel like, as some mods do, the mod writer was imposing his will on the character, ignoring the game's previous characterization - instead it just felt like you were getting to know aspects of the character not previously explored. But it didn't take itself to seriously - it was extremely funny all the way through.

So yeah, that's my reccomendation. Its worth a shot - see if it suits your taste.

There is apparently a rather difficult encounter in the Edwin Romance mod (link contains teh spoilers!):

http://forums.spellholdstudios.net/index.php?showtopic=21743&st=0

FYI.

[Discord]

You know what turned out to be a really good mod that I wasn't expecting to be? The Edwin Romance. Now this might just be my quirky taste, but I found it utterly hillarious while retaining that sweetness that makes a romance emotional. I thought the idea of that irritating, egotistical wizard romancing ANYONE was a terrible idea at first, but once Id actually got into it I really enjoyed it. It didn't even seem to be that out of character for Edwin, either. It didn't feel like, as some mods do, the mod writer was imposing his will on the character, ignoring the game's previous characterization - instead it just felt like you were getting to know aspects of the character not previously explored. But it didn't take itself to seriously - it was extremely funny all the way through.

So yeah, that's my reccomendation. Its worth a shot - see if it suits your taste.

There is apparently a rather difficult encounter in the Edwin Romance mod (link contains teh spoilers!):

http://forums.spellholdstudios.net/index.php?showtopic=21743&st=0

FYI.

Yeah, that battle was ridiculous. I must admit I used CTRL-Y like a coward...

[Toverkol]

Hmm, reading trough the whole thread i miss one tweak./mod thingy i've enjoyed a lot:
King Dutka's Thief

This small thingy gives you a l and l5 spell of a summoned thief that will diasarm traps for you, I enjoyed it a lot, especially in my solo games, but also any case where you might not have/want a thief in your party. It is properly scripted for the BG2 game, and as it says not for BG1 and ToB, however, i have been trying it in BG1 under the Tutu environment, and even there it disarms a trap every now and then, which might save your game (like in the candlekeep cats), or at least give you less headaches in resting and recasting mirror image for each trap you already died of.

Furthermore my usual install includes Baldurdash and its gametext update, several D0Ttweak and G3 tweaks.