Installing SCS w/ other mods?

[fncruz]

I have not played BG2 in many years but am feeling the itch!

 

I have read about other mods like IWDification, Ascension, Rogue Rebalancing Mod,  Items Upgrade (which may be part of SCS already?). Can I install SCS and these other mods?

Is there a specific order for installing them?

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SCS has option of:   Treat mages' and priests' High-Level Abilities as innate abilities rather than memorisable spells

Do most people use HLA as innate or memoizable spell?

 

[subtledoctor]

I think HLAs work much better as innates - they feel more like proper 10th-level spells that way. But, the unmodded way if putting them in spell slots means you can spam them, especially if you give yourself more spell slots from this or that mod. So it boils down to whether you want to spam HLAs or you prefer them to be rare. 

[fncruz]

Does SCS include the items upgrades in the Items Upgrade Mod?

 

Or do I need to install that one separately?

[Graion Dilach]

SCS doesn't include item upgrades.

[fncruz]

Awesome! Thanks for the help.

No game will ever get my juices flowing quite like BG2!

 

[polytope]

I don't use HLAs as innates option because it makes encounters with high level enemy mages all much of muchness, i.e. they all have the same HLAs beyond a certain level (lvl 25 in theory but realistically sooner) and is too repetitive for my tastes.

Item Upgrade has a minor incompatibility with an SCS component as things stand, because one upgrade requires a scroll of contingency but SCS optional makes contingencies (and triggers, and sequencers) innates for any mage... I don't use this component either.

More generally, Item Upgrade makes the game easier while SCS's purview is to make the game harder, so it's a somewhat antithetical combination. There are some reasonable item upgrades, but, the upgrades to the Blackblood club, Kitthix figurine, Water's Edge and Soul Reaver are all much too powerful, the first two stand out as being available in the very early stages of SoA and ruining game balance.

Edited December 8, 2022 by polytope

[Fishmalk]

On 12/5/2022 at 6:20 PM, fncruz said:

I have read about other mods like IWDification, Ascension, Rogue Rebalancing Mod,  Items Upgrade (which may be part of SCS already?). Can I install SCS and these other mods?

Is there a specific order for installing them?

 

Install order is very important. As a good guideline I would recommend looking at subtledoctors general load order (scroll down to the Compatibility section). SCS is recommended to be installed after all of those mods you mentioned, and in general should be installed fairly late to ensure its components are able to detect and make changes to stuff added/changed by other mods.

In the case of IWDification, that is actually recommended to be used with (and installed before) SCS at the moment because IWDification has more up to date versions of the IWD arcane and divine spells, and at present the IWDification versions should be used instead of the SCS versions.