fluent

Thanks for the responses by the way. @Roxanne, do you think 35% XP and NO MAX HP ON LEVEL UP is feasible for my first run? I just finished BG and it was rough at times, especially the last fight, but I did manage it w/ 50% XP. Just wondering if 35% would be better to get through SoD and then BG2 later. Thanks again! Edit - How about 200k XP cap for Siege of Dragonspear at least? Yes/no? Looking for a mostly tactical, pretty challenging affair. Kind of a BG newb but still managed BG:EE + SCS w/ the advanced tactical options turned on + Hard difficulty, so wondering what the best challenge would be going forward.

Hey there. So I'm about finish BG:EE in my EET run. First off, a few of my characters are at the cap I imposed for BG:EE (89,000), and they reached it while also using the "XP halved" function of EET Tweaks. My question is, do you think for the best and most challenging mode I should keep the cap of 89,00 for the entirety of Siege of Dragonspear? I ask because obviously BG2:EE's starting XP level is 89,000. I wouldn't want to go into BG2:EE at some absurd 200k+ XP level, but I'm also thinking that maybe if I slow down the XP gain even more, entering BG2:EE at slightly above 89,000 wouldn't be all that bad. It would still give me some small room for leveling up and XP increase in Siege of Dragonspear, and only make the first bits of BG2:EE a bit too easy. Am I thinking correctly on this? To try and make what I'm saying clearer, I want BG2:EE to be as challenging and not having any of my party over-leveled for it at the start. Yet I'd also like some wiggle room in Siege of Dragonspear since my current characters are close or have hit BG:EE's level cap of 89,000. Maybe slowing XP gain to 25% or even lower and raising the cap in SoD would be alright? Of course I'd be slightly overleveled for BG2:EE, but not terribly so (does it make a huge difference? I've never played SoD or ran through EET before.) Thanks for any help in advance!

Ended up winning, was a rough one, though. Had to head to the Ankheg area and clear that part, which leveled up Finch and got us some nice equipment and money, too. Equipped Isra (Human Cavalier) with the Claw of Kazaroth and Traveler's Cloak. Took a few tries and super tactical thinking (had to really micromanage, throw a lot of fireballs from wands and items and also get a bit lucky) but it worked great. When it was all done I thought, "Huh, it wasn't as hard as I expected!" Still a tough bugger, though. Not impossible like the Sirine battle, though (that one I needed Purge Invisibility and/or Potions of Explosion to have a chance.) Cheerio.

That might be kinda hard with SCS as the whole camp is on top of you... as the indication is that the party had already left the area... Yep. I went back in with one character invisible and the stuff was there but so were the enemies. I *could* have possibly picked the stuff up since the enemies were in a different area. Hmm. Might have to try that. Not that it matters but curious if invisibility stays when you pick up items? Probably not but I still might be able to do it. The fight is bananas hard. Sheesh! Edit - Nope, invisibility is gone when you pick up an item. They are around the items anyway. Ah well, I ended up going to Ankheg land and trying to level up and get better gear. Should be easier next time around.

Yes! I like your examples. I would *love* to see more of that in RPGs in general. It's a very underused idea. I'd like to see the game adapt to those examples when you have a stronger character, too. Not level-scaling, but maybe checking the average party level and spawning accordingly (according to the area and lore, too, though. Maybe instead of 3 Giant Spiders you get 2 Giant Spiders and 1 Sword Spider or what have you.) So that would mean that even if you have a higher level character or two the game would stay challenging. And you can have a lower level character too according to their story and lore as well. I'm doing that kinda now with Valerie and Finch (yet Valerie's lore is that she's a Cowled Wizard, yet her stat sheet is a level 1 Sorcerer.) So yeah, would like to see a lot more of this in the future. Quick brainstorming, but for a game more like Temple of Elemental Evil or Icewind Dale, maybe even a feature could be added that your character doesn't need to start at level 1, even. In ToEE, for example, the "story" is that you're a group of adventurers seeking fame and fortune. So maybe you could start at level 3 or 4 and the game could adapt to that as well. You could roll your first few levels as typical D&D does, yet it changes the game based on that according to the story and lore. In BG the character is mostly fresh and young (although you could write your biography, which is interesting but just for RP purposes) so it wouldn't be as important a feature. But for IWD, ToEE or games like that where you could roleplay a more veteran or at least not fresh and new adventuring party, it could be neat

Hello. How long until loot disappears off the ground? Fighting at the bandit camp, 4 members died but I took 85% of the enemies with me, escaped with my other 2 characters. I want to at the very least rest one time and head back in, I think we can beat the remaining 15% of enemies with the 2 of us. But I'm worried that my party member's equipment AND the equipment of the good enemies I killed will be gone. How much in-game time has to pass before items disappear off the ground? And is there a mod to extend it? Just an extra 24 hours would be very helpful, giving you time to at least resurrect your party, sleep once and head back in... Thank ye again.

Hello! I was just curious if a mod existed or potentially be made that lets you customize the tab-highlighting in the game? I think an option to disable the name text over your party members' heads would be a great addition. I personally like the highlighting on for seeing other things in the environment but walking around with large names over the characters' heads is kind of pointless IMO. Now other characters you meet or in the world, it's good. It's just your own party that I would like to turn the highlight text off for. Any ideas on that? Thank ye kindly in advance.

The djinni adds only indoor areas so no problem with worldmap. It is a complex mod, so I cannot answer that in full - the author Argent77 is very active round here, so best ask him directly. Cheers!

I'm just wondering how it would affect the balance. In the example of Final Fantasy Tactics, when you recruited said character, the battles become tougher after that point, obviously accounting for the fact you had a higher level character with you. I'm not sure how the scaling or encounter stuff works with BG, but I do remember hearing that the higher level your characters are, the possibility that encounters spawn tougher creatures, right? At least, I heard that about BG2, not sure about BG1. It was just a thought I've had for awhile now. In RPGs these types of characters often join your party and they have to be written away to explain why their powers have been sapped. Or some character that has a back story of being some powerful mage but is a level 2 wizard on the character sheet. I'd like to encounter some evil necromancer who actually *was* powerful, that type of thing is too rare in RPGs. But the game balance would have to be balanced still. Just my 2 cents on that specific thing I mentioned. I have no problem with characters not auto-leveling now. I actually see it has merits and makes the game more interesting (for me, that's why we have mods so people can alter it for their own tastes.) Ciao.

If a modder wants his NPC to behave like this, there is sufficient code to do that. Either you evaluate the PC xp or level and create a version of the NPC to match. - or you add the respective amount of xp to the NPC so that the player can control the level up process. There are enough NPC mods that do it one way or other - but there are also mods that do not use this on purpose. *Bring them all in line* is one way to mod an NPC but not everyone's intention. I have a specifically created a number of NPCs who can be recruited in late parts of the game when the PC and maybe some old companions are high level while the young newcomers are kind of apprentices. Instead of making the game harder and harder, here the way to add difficulty is that the stronger part of the party takes care of the weaker ones and let them gain their merits. From a plot/story point of view it would break the mod if the young sorcerer just boosts to level 25 because the protagonist fighter/thief is? Why? How did he suddenly learn all these spells and abilities? Is there any justification for this? All I say is, let the NPC modders decide how they want their NPCs to appear - leave them out of your party if you do not like it. I agree! I actually like how characters can have differences in level. It makes it feel more "non-formulaic" and interesting. I actually wish there was the occasional higher level character you could find. Maybe Baeloth is (I think he was a level or 2 higher than my party when found.) I always liked in RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics how you could stumble upon a significantly more powerful character or two throughout the game, yet the game didn't get easy because the game was still balanced around having said powerful character. It was just that the character stood out a bit as being strong. Good stuff.

Unless it is my error, this is only for some specific individual NPCs that can have problems with each other. In this case those are scripted events for them but I never saw a general good companions fight evil ones. I normally play with a very mixed group, e.g. the evil githyanki thief side by side with the paladin of Helm. They exchange *pleasantries* but do not kill each other. Hmm, it must have been scripted then. I only played 50 hours of BG2 ever (started a playthrough a few years back but never finished), and I remember a fight or two breaking out. Can't recall if it was romantically charged, but they fought to the death after an argument. At the time I thought that was a feature of BG2. I play a mixed group too and was hoping it *was* a real thing, haha. I like dropping characters in/out a lot in a roleplaying type way, and I thought it would be cool if a real fight could break out and force my hand. Or characters could leave based on your own alignment choices, like in Tactics Ogre (another great RPG) where certain characters would leave based on your choices or alignment shifts, yet it would open up others to join. Thanks again Roxanne. By the way, I noticed your avatar picture as a portrait option in the Ice Blink engine game, Hearkenworld, on Android. Is that a famous character from BG or something?

Valerie and Finch are mod added NPCs, i.e. they behave as the respective modder has designed them to work. Many mods (my own included9 set the level of their NPCs to what is justified by their background story and not by what level your protagonist has gained. About Rasaad I am not sure how the new EE NPCs behave, it may be they re not captured by the level up function. Question 2 - this is totally up to you. Just from my (highly modded game), my protagonist single class fighter is at level 9 by BG1 end/SoD transition. I expect her to gain another level or maybe 2 during SoD. For me this feels fine for SoA entry with SCS + core level difficulty. But choices are different. For info: I use no level cap at all but a 50% reduction in all EET-Tweak settings. Thanks Roxanne, that all makes sense and is useful information. I was curious, is there any mod out there that adds the BG2 "party members can fight each other" aspect to BG1? It would be a cool addition to my current game if it exists, but it might also not be able to be added now, either. By the way, I did add the rest of the modded NPCs, including yours (I think Chloe was yours?) The hardest part of the game is picking the right companions to travel with. So many choices! "party members can fight each other" ? Not sure what you mean. There are mods that contain something like Romance Conflicts that may end in fight. There is also a mod component that does the opposite "party members never fight each other". Otherwise I jave no idea. Chloe is an *adopted mod*, I only made it compatible with EE, made her BG2 quest more open, improved her weapon handling and kit to new standard - and I wrote and added the ToB content. The original concept and large parts of BG2 contents are done by the original author. She has also reviewed my additional stuff and helped me improve it. Huh. Maybe I'm mis-remembering, but I thought in BG2 that evil vs. good companion fights could happen in the group. Did I just dream that?!

Right, I just realized that and came back here to report it, lol. I checked a new spawn area and it worked perfectly! Good stuff. Thanks again for the help. Now I might have to try and figure out which small NPC mods weren't added with the Recommended package, and then add those in too, now that I know how to edit the install a bit. If you want to add NPCs you can only add those from the part 2 of the mod list, i.e. those that are installed after EET and do not require patching. And you need to do the EET_end uninstall/reinstall for them. Thanks! I may add a few if I can figure out which ones weren't already installed... Really wish I could have added more area/big/quest mods before starting. Didn't think about it enough at the time, I could have added more and just either turned down XP gain or set caps to compensate. Blahhh... Wish there would be a way to add that stuff after starting a game... Quick question. Since some of the NPC mods in part 2, Roxanne, add new areas/quests, like the Foundlings NPC or Longer Road EET, does that exclude those from being able to be added to a current save game? You can add mods with areas but not those that add areas to the worldmap, because they will not appear on the saved worldmap but only on a map in a newly started game. Longer Road adds one map but it is internal to Warchers Keep, so there is no problem here. Foundling I do not know. Ah, cool. What about the djinni companion mod, do you know that one off the top? It also adds quests, though, so wouldn't that possibly screw my save game up?

Valerie and Finch are mod added NPCs, i.e. they behave as the respective modder has designed them to work. Many mods (my own included9 set the level of their NPCs to what is justified by their background story and not by what level your protagonist has gained. About Rasaad I am not sure how the new EE NPCs behave, it may be they re not captured by the level up function. Question 2 - this is totally up to you. Just from my (highly modded game), my protagonist single class fighter is at level 9 by BG1 end/SoD transition. I expect her to gain another level or maybe 2 during SoD. For me this feels fine for SoA entry with SCS + core level difficulty. But choices are different. For info: I use no level cap at all but a 50% reduction in all EET-Tweak settings. Thanks Roxanne, that all makes sense and is useful information. I was curious, is there any mod out there that adds the BG2 "party members can fight each other" aspect to BG1? It would be a cool addition to my current game if it exists, but it might also not be able to be added now, either. By the way, I did add the rest of the modded NPCs, including yours (I think Chloe was yours?) The hardest part of the game is picking the right companions to travel with. So many choices!

Right, I just realized that and came back here to report it, lol. I checked a new spawn area and it worked perfectly! Good stuff. Thanks again for the help. Now I might have to try and figure out which small NPC mods weren't added with the Recommended package, and then add those in too, now that I know how to edit the install a bit. If you want to add NPCs you can only add those from the part 2 of the mod list, i.e. those that are installed after EET and do not require patching. And you need to do the EET_end uninstall/reinstall for them. Thanks! I may add a few if I can figure out which ones weren't already installed... Really wish I could have added more area/big/quest mods before starting. Didn't think about it enough at the time, I could have added more and just either turned down XP gain or set caps to compensate. Blahhh... Wish there would be a way to add that stuff after starting a game... Quick question. Since some of the NPC mods in part 2, Roxanne, add new areas/quests, like the Foundlings NPC or Longer Road EET, does that exclude those from being able to be added to a current save game?

Hello! Not sure if I accidentally messed up a setting in EET Tweaks or what, but I noticed that the last 3 characters I added to my party - Finch (mod), Valerie and Rasaad, did not auto-level to the character's level like the characters before them did. Xan, automatically leveled up to level 3 or 4 when I recruited him, these characters did not. Is that a bug, a feature, or something I'm missing? Question 2 - Is it okay to add a hard cap of 89,000 for BG1 + SoD, and then the unlimited cap for BG2, while also halving XP gain from monsters and quests by 50%? I'm a little finicky when it comes to not wanting to be overleveled for any content at the start of BG2:EE. Thanks!

Right, I just realized that and came back here to report it, lol. I checked a new spawn area and it worked perfectly! Good stuff. Thanks again for the help. Now I might have to try and figure out which small NPC mods weren't added with the Recommended package, and then add those in too, now that I know how to edit the install a bit.

Got it, thanks. Not sure it's working, though. I loaded my game and a flesh golem still gives me 2000xp even with the 50% monster xp I just installed. Any reason you can think of why it's not working?

Counter question, do you save a lot ? And then move around going back to the same spots... or save a lot, and then encounter the many monsters as a hoard. Yeah, that happens in BGT too... it's not purely by design, but by lack of a BG1->to->BG2 engine feature, as the respawn field doesn't find if it's filled/occupied before it (re-)spawns... but it checks if the player is there to prevents the spawn. Hmm, I see. I'm installing EET Tweaks now and I'm wondering if I should add the No Respawns component then. Is that recommended?

Yep.Well, to be specific, the creature XP won't lower the XP gained from creatures that have populated the maps you have been already... so killing a Greater Basilisk after ALREADY visiting the area, will net you the 7000xp, but if you have not or rest in there and new one materialises, then you should get 3500xp. Awesome! Question though. I never remembered BG having so many random encounters and respawns. That's working by design, right? And I'm noticing Xvarts and Gnolls, etc., seem to be getting a bit stronger, even the base "regular" ones. But maybe that's my imagination. Going to alter the XP tweaks now. You guys rock!

If you want to change the existing install you CANNOT use BWS for it, the tool only works on clean games and for a complete install. Modifications after BWS install need to be done manually. For EET_Tweaks - it should be working like you described. Even, I would not recommend to use XP cap but rather ~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2002 // Total XP CAP -> Disabled: ~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2040 // XP for Traps, Spells and Lockpicking -> BG1 values (default): ~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2052 // XP for killing creatures -> Decrease to 50%: ~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2062 // XP for quests -> Decrease to 50%: Reason is that it is really disappointing to stop XPs after you reach the limit and be stuck there without further rewards until the next game part. Rather reduce the gains throughout and just progress slower. At least this is my personal experiences after years of playing old BGT and now EET. But of course this is a matter of taste. Thanks! Very vital information. So, if I manually tweak those 2 non-default settings of EET Tweaks, they will start working in my current save game? I'm level 4 or so, 20 hours in. Hoping to slow it down a bit, especially for late game.

- Anything that installs prior EET in the BG1 part of EET cannot be added afterwards, you need a clean new install for that (everything that is part1 of the compatibility list). The only things that can be installed in a limited way with the method I hinted at are smaller NPC mods from part 2 of the list. - I would recommend to use EET_Tweaks in order to reduce the XP gain, it takes all the big mods and also additional spawns added by various mods into account, as well as the extra XP you get by having SoD in the game. De-select *max HP on level up* from the game options menu. Use SCS. Play at least Core rules. I have made good experience with such settings to have a balanced game - and I play with all the mods that are feasible. You will still enter SoA at a level or two above normal, but the settings I listed above take care that you are still not overpowered in early BG2. Ok, so avoid all in part 1 of that link you gave, awesome, thanks! It is always difficult to add big things to an existing install, especially older big mods as often install sequence needs to be correct here. Also, if you have SCS or other tweaks, you want them after those mods, so they can capture those files a s well. To change any install afterwards requires some knowledge about mod contents and dependencies. It is possible but you need to do it right. What is *right* is slightly different for various mods, so this is why it is hard to give some global advice here. Got it. I only used BWS, so I'm not sure about install order. Is there any way to have BWS "edit" my original installation to add more things in my current game? Also, will the XP still be "right" if I'm just using the Recommended package? I'm hoping it will provide a balanced, challenging game up to the end of BG2. I haven't installed EET Tweaks, but I did add all the challenge options of SCS and the like (didn't deactivate any Recommended mods, only activated additional challenge ones on top of that.) Hmm...what if I uninstall EET_end, add the EET Tweaks (XP caps for BG/SoD/BG2, specifically) and then reinstall EET_end? Will that work?

Anything in BWS that is not red and does not give you an error witth another mod can be safely installed. To add NPCs, you need to uninstall EET_end first. It then depends which NPC mod you want to add, some can be added safely, some have additional requirements. Thanks Roxanne. I have a few more questions if you don't mind. As I said, I installed the Recommended package with a few extra things (mostly green items, but also things like SCS "better encounter" type encounters and the like. And a few Friendships, nothing major.) I'm wondering if I can add, say, The Drizzt Saga, or some of the bigger quest mods without spoiling the XP and progression in the game. My biggest fear and main reason I didn't install any of those beyond the Recommended ones was because I thought that the XP could end up broken and I didn't want to outlevel the later content, you know? Are there precautions in place that fix that or something else I'd have to add? Otherwise I'd love to install some of those, too. Are those mods also able to be installed if I uninstall EET_end and then add them? - Anything that installs prior EET in the BG1 part of EET cannot be added afterwards, you need a clean new install for that (everything that is part1 of the compatibility list). The only things that can be installed in a limited way with the method I hinted at are smaller NPC mods from part 2 of the list. - I would recommend to use EET_Tweaks in order to reduce the XP gain, it takes all the big mods and also additional spawns added by various mods into account, as well as the extra XP you get by having SoD in the game. De-select *max HP on level up* from the game options menu. Use SCS. Play at least Core rules. I have made good experience with such settings to have a balanced game - and I play with all the mods that are feasible. You will still enter SoA at a level or two above normal, but the settings I listed above take care that you are still not overpowered in early BG2. Ok, so avoid all in part 1 of that link you gave, awesome, thanks! So the XP tweaks, etc., can't be made now that I'm in a current game, right? The only thing that can be installed mid-game (possibly) are minor NPC mods?

Anything in BWS that is not red and does not give you an error witth another mod can be safely installed. To add NPCs, you need to uninstall EET_end first. It then depends which NPC mod you want to add, some can be added safely, some have additional requirements. Thanks Roxanne. I have a few more questions if you don't mind. As I said, I installed the Recommended package with a few extra things (mostly green items, but also things like SCS "better encounter" type encounters and the like. And a few Friendships, nothing major.) I'm wondering if I can add, say, The Drizzt Saga, or some of the bigger quest mods without spoiling the XP and progression in the game. My biggest fear and main reason I didn't install any of those beyond the Recommended ones was because I thought that the XP could end up broken and I didn't want to outlevel the later content, you know? Are there precautions in place that fix that or something else I'd have to add? Otherwise I'd love to install some of those, too. Are those mods also able to be installed if I uninstall EET_end and then add them?

Hey. Recently installed the "Recommended" package and a few additional "green" highlighted and tactical options. Reading the list of mods that Roxanne posted and I don't recall seeing them in Big World Setup. Either that, or they weren't "green" so I figured they weren't good to install (not recommended, buggy, etc..) Any ideas on that? And is it possible in general to add some NPC companions or maybe even a quest mod that I didn't install at first to a current EET game I started? I'm 10 hours or so in and now wish I had installed some other NPC companions. Any way to do that?