A first time mega-run with SCSII

[Angelsfury]

Hello all, long-time lurker and BGII player first-time poster about to try SCSII for the first time in a complete run over the coming holiday weekend.

 

Being as I have never played with tactical upgrades (except for that one time to say: Yes, I beat Improved Illyich... never again - uninstalled Tactics after that) I'd like some suggestions, especially on order of major quests prior to Ch.3.

 

My major gameplay mods (because Weidu log is a tad long): Fixpack, Ascension, Questpack, RR, IU, UB, Tweapack (incl. Multiple Strongholds) and of course SCSII (most ai improvements, no item tweaks, pre-buff option 3, and limited HLA abilities)

 

Characters:

Charname T->M, dualled at 11 or 12, still working on that

F->T, dualled at 9

Viconia

Imoen/Nalia

+2 other NPCs

 

One thing I know from the get-go is that I am probably front-loading the difficulty with the dual-class characters being extremely limited for a while so avoiding mind-numbingly difficult (ie. reload hell) encounters early is important. I am a heavily Thief centric, try to limit resting whenever possible, do most quests available prior to the Underdark, and will be using pre-buff option 3 (no fast cast). Any and all suggestions welcome and you have my thanks for reading this post at all!

 

I also had a couple of questions after going through most of the local forum posts:

 

Has anyone ever tried "Cat and Mouse" (Bohdi hunts you in Spellhold) from Unfinished Business WITH Remove all items in Spellhold? I almost blindly did that (forgetting I had Cat and Mouse installed, but looking at the log later... oooh, that could be BAD...)

 

Was DavidW ever convinced to reduce the "generic" lich level to ~25 as aVENGER suggested many moons ago (circa v.8)

 

Is Kangaxx even worth considering at the end of Ch. 2 with SCSII installed?

 

 

Thank you again for your time.

 

Angelsfury

[Guest!]

I wouldn't play with three thieves in the party since you'll find yourself short on firepower. Personally, I'd recommend including a F/T (multi) for the Detect Illusion ability, which is beyond useful, and high level perks such as Time Traps (since the NPC won't be limited to a sucky 1 apr). Also, Viconia isn't the best choice for a cleric: no Holy Smite, no Holy Word (a lifesaver later on, especially in Spellhold) and inexistent offensive capabilities. Anomen is a better choice in all regards, even though he's not exactly the most enjoyable character, personality-wise. Without enemy prebuffing, you probably won't have any trouble with mages.

Whether you'll be able to take Kangaxx on in Chapter 2 depends on your weapon and potion selection: if you have a few Potions of Magic Protection and Potions of Invulnerability, plus either Carsomyr (and a Paladin who can wield it, of course) or the Mace of Disruption +2, Kangaxx is doable and not too hard. Quest order isn't a big issue, you should be able to do pretty much any quest at any time, possibly with the exception of dragon fights.

I played UB a *long* time ago - what does Cat and Mouse do?

[Wisp]

I'd rate Trademeet and de'Arnise keep as less difficult and Planar Sphere, Planar Prison and Unseeing Eye as more difficult. Improved Temple ruins probably isn't too great for a first major quest outside Athkatla either. At least not if you don't know what to expect and plan accordingly.

 

Has anyone ever tried "Cat and Mouse" (Bohdi hunts you in Spellhold) from Unfinished Business WITH Remove all items in Spellhold? I almost blindly did that (forgetting I had Cat and Mouse installed, but looking at the log later... oooh, that could be BAD...)

I'm pretty sure at least one person has done it in the no-reload challenge, but I don't remember who it was or on what board it was posted.

 

Is Kangaxx even worth considering at the end of Ch. 2 with SCSII installed?

It can be a pretty epic fight. I like to leave it until after Spellhold, so I can enjoy it better.

[DavidW]

Has anyone ever tried "Cat and Mouse" (Bohdi hunts you in Spellhold) from Unfinished Business WITH Remove all items in Spellhold? I almost blindly did that (forgetting I had Cat and Mouse installed, but looking at the log later... oooh, that could be BAD...)

 

I've done it. It's fun, but not easy.

 

Was DavidW ever convinced to reduce the "generic" lich level to ~25 as aVENGER suggested many moons ago (circa v.8)

 

Basically, yes. I think they're about L27 these days - anyway, they get hand-allocated a level rather than relying on the automatic allocation.

[Guest pol]

I don't really recommend prebuff option 3, as you will notice a big leap in difficulty when you get to high level mages who have triggers/CC and get their buffs up super fast anyway.

 

I'm pretty sure at least one person has done it in the no-reload challenge, but I don't remember who it was or on what board it was posted.

I have, and I believe also the poster Lantier on the old bioware forums. You have about 12 hours before the vamp spawns start (on core difficulty) - hopefully enough time to get Dace's hand + the crystal and go to confront Bodhi (which advances the plot and prevents further respawns) the optional spellhold quests can be postponed till after this is done.

 

Also, if your main has more than (I think) 2,000,000 xp you get a lich in the maze, very unpleasant with no magic items.