czacki

There's one more thing I remembered: I did EEKeep Imoen because she for some reason started with 220 000 exp in Mage class. And I read that she's supposed to start with a total of 1,250,000 exp if your party is high enough. And mine certainly was (2,500,000 exp at that point). So maybe some of those bugs are a byproduct of EEkeeping the chars, maybe it messes up something. At least the XP reduction may be tied to this. Plus, the Imoen Romance mod may alter/conflict Imoen in particular. I can't recall doing anything for Jansen through EEkeeper. He's also not modded otherwise. I'll record a short demo of what happens "in my game" but it will obviously not solve anything. There are other weird bugs I'm having, anyway. Chars which changed class (by SCS component) cannot die. They don't go below 1 HP.

here you go. if you need some additional proof, I could also upload a video or something, but it will obviously not show any mechanics, just numbers shifting around. IMOEN2.bcs

One last thing you can test is whether it will remain the same after: 1. you've changed the class/kit through the SCS component 2. you've used eekeeper to change something? Unless it's neither of those. In that case I guess I should eventually re-install and check whether this issue persists. Probably after I'm done with my current playthrough, though.

There's also the case of Jan getting abnormal amount of exp - way beyond charname's XP.

Improved NPC customisation and managementv32.5 " seems bugged and produces abnormal levelup behavior. More in here:

Hexxat.bcs included below. The list of mods is as follows: Mods affecting HEXXAT.BCS: 00000: /* created or unbiffed */ ~EET/EET.TP2~ 0 0 // EET core (resource importation)1.0 RC12 00001: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ 0 4100 // Improved NPC customisation and managementv32.5 I guess this means SCS is responsible. HEXXAT.bcs

here you go: I believe I uninstalled NPC project since I half-expected it to conflict with Imoen mod eventually.

Okay, here's some test subjects for you @K4thos. https://ufile.io/ib86pbzs I couldn't find a proper savegame with Mazzy so I picked more interesting (I guess?) examples: 1. Jan. Gets overleveled instantly above my party. Keeps leveling up for no reason. 2. Imoen. If you try to level her up, she will get a levelup & a nuke to 220 000 exp. 3. Hexxat. She levels just like Mazzy (ignoring limits) but also seems to NOT get profficiencies at level 0. This is most likely SCS bug because the component to customize NPC profficiencies and stuff is from SCS, but I'm including it either way. Even if you don't care for SCS bugs, you'll still see Hexxat leveling up till 4,000,000 exp or something while the cap should prevent her that. CRE files included for the above NPCs. All of them, since I didn't know which one to pick. Mods used: SCS Unfinished business 1&2 NPC project Imoen Romance ATweaks SOME ascension files (couldn't install all since they clash with Imoen Romance) EETweaks Banterpack Note: I did install Imoen Romance despite warnings (lol, love that mod) that it would potentially bug up. I guessed that it would relate to new (EE) chars so I didn't advance the plot with them in party. I would normally use Neera so I modded Aerie to replace her by kit/stats. So far, so good. No bugs to be seen.

also: wasn't he supposed to be protected from "slay"? that was anticlimatic - took 1 blow (mace of disruption), died instantly.

Special offer from Ribald (after you return from Underdark) includes a Freedom scroll. It's limitless and for a bit of gold you can get 9000 exp just by re-learning it ad infinitum. I'd suggest to limit this similarly to how other Freedom scroll supplies are limited from other sources because this invites the player to trade some (mostly useless at this point) gold for ridiculous amounts of experience.

I will, do you need a list of all mods installed, just in case?

Further playthrough reveals the following: - returning (or recruited) NPCs will have uncapped growth, past even the ToB 2,500,000 experience. This happens in SoA. BG1 and SoD seem to have proper cap implementation. I got Mazzy to HLAs upon recruitment, so I had to reload and EE-keep her back to the intended 1,250,000... - Imoen is bugged until she hits 2 mil exp; I got her with just 220 000 exp in mage class and whenever I leveled her up, she'd go back to 220 000 exp in mage class instantly, forcing me to EE-keep her experience back. Once she hit 2,000,000, this ceased to happen.

this happens to my Aerie for some reason. Though I did change her class/kit with eekeeprer so something may be interfering.

Very helpful, thank you. This effectively means that in SCS environment, the spell will NOT work on the more dangerous foes (Mind Flayers, Undead, Drow, Demons) because it does NOT bypass magic resistance, and will NOT work on many casters on "Insane" difficulty because they precast (minor) globe of invulnerability. Not that great. I expected a lot more, TBH. This means Dorn isn't really that great as a party member. His abilities will not work on the hardest foes. Beats Minsc (but what doesn't?), but loses to casters and to Keldorn. Even if you're using dispel magic nerf (from the optional component), you'll still enjoy a 0-cast time True Sight very much.

Makes sense - the very idea behind the original demilich was to make it a semi-invulnerable one trick pony. Which I always found lame. @NiziNizi what about the Blackguard's "Aura of Fear" ? does the fear effect work as intended (it's a bit hard because the descriptions in wiki and ingame are conflicted; is it really like this: - fear with no save for 1 turn, works on HD8 creatures or less (level 15 char) - fear with no save for 1 turn, works on HD18 creatures or less (level 20 char) ? It takes 3,600,000 exp to reach level 20 for a Blackguard but HD18 means basically (almost) everything. Is this fear stopped by magic resistance though? what spell level is this? It would be a great counter for Drow and Mind Flayers if it did. Sadly, with the exp requirement you can only get the level 15 variant by Underdark with a typical 6-man team.

Thank you for checking this. Yes, I meant Absorb health! My bad. Forgot the name. If it's a level 1 spell, not level 0, it's nowhere as good as it could be, obviously. Does it at least bypass Magic Resistance (not Magic Damage Resistance)? I think SoD AI is ok - not as good as SCS but it's acceptable. The final fight isn't Insane Sarevok tier, I'd say it's easier than the Ulgoth's Beard final fight in SCS as well, but only slightly - it's not trivial, especially because the final boss is immune to +2 weapons and lower, teleports around and is fully magic immune with a spam of lesser demons coming from all sides constantly. On the "L9 spells as HLA" - this is interesting because Kangaxx IIRC wears a ring that gives him full protection to level 1-9 spells; this has been changed in EE; I recall being able to kill him with Dragon's Breath in regular Baldur's Gate.

DawidW, thanks for the reply. What Angelo/Semaj would do was this: they would cast a spell (let's say confusion) and as the round ends they disappear without casting another spell (1 per round limit...), using a potion (no *gulp*, no feedback given) or a sequencer/contingency with invisibility spell. It does look like they are under "Mislead" effect that they cast off-screen before teleporting. It's something that makes them invisible whenever you i.e do this: 1. remove their invisibility ("detect invisibility") while remaining out of combat, i.e. by activating them with an invisible character like I did in the video and backing off. 2. save 3. reload when the game loads they are invisible again. So it's either mislead, or they are force-scripted to turn invisible each round (?). Also, would be great on the IP.

It would certainly make thegame more annoying... but harder? not really. Mages have some reaction time (tied with the time it takes for a blue circle to turn red, plus some extra seconds sometimes), and are not wearing robe of Vecna like your caster does so they have higher casting times. You should cast faster than them most of the time and in SoA, a simple Chaos spell will mostly screw up mages instantly (you can be an ass and cast malison into sequencer with triple chaos if you really want, lol). Yes, there's always some abuse + even if we got rid of EVERY exploit, there are still powergaming options that are clearly better than others. Like Inquisitors in Baldur's Gate 1, for instance. We'd have to start nerfing things until the game is bland and boring. This is a path many modders take and in my experience it NEVER ends in a fun game. It just takes all the fun of optimization away since everything is equally bland. There are spells that are broken, but SCS took care of most of them, even overnerfed some like Insect Plague (four different nerfs... umm) After some thought, I decided that my further playthroughs will NOT be on 100% Insane anymore. Reasoning is simple: it shoehorns you into specific playing style too much. For instance, Insane precasts means that wizards will basically spam every and each spell there is under the sun to fight you. Logic aside (who would cast things 1 round/lvl spells to prebuff unless it's right before combat? Tactical makes sense here), it forces you to spam Malison+AOE (either direct damage, or my favorite - chaos spell) every fight unless you want to deal with getting dispelled and chaos'ed/horror'ed/skull trap'ed each fight, which is quite maddening and absolutely not fun at all. I think enemies removing your buffs is frustrating because I have to rest + waste time recasting them again, which after 200th attempt is annoying. Games should be fun, not annoying. So settings like those have to go. The bit of extra challenge is not worth it IMHO. This is also why I'm not a fan of Kensage in SCS. Too weak to dispel, and casting SP:A every fight is just frustrating. It can get removed anyway and next thing you see is "protections removed". OUCH. Dwarven Defender forever. ah, nice catch. Can you still one shot him with a level 25 Dorn? I recall drain life ignores all protections, is level 0, and will deal exactly 50 damage to Kangaxx on level 25 (CLVL*2), killing him outright. Or you can cheese up with Vhailor and make your simulacrum cast this as well, lowering instakill level to 13. Maybe even lower with Ring of Victor and Ring of Ram. There's always "the next abuse in the list" until you're basically forced to pick a character with maximum save vs. spells possible (shorty, though Jaheira's quest pin gives her a shot too),get him/her to -10 save vs. spells, ensure the "Imprisonment on protagonist" is off, send all team members away and equip cloak of mirroring. IIRC this will make a character effectively immune to every and each spell effect, including trap the soul (SCS nerfed it) bar Maze which will just waste some time if you're in a team (unlike solo where it instantly kills you and ends the game), which means you just need to wait till his protections are gone and chip 2 HP per hit away till he dies. killing the occasional summon in between. Fun? hardly... I believe a save vs. Spell at -8 will effectively make you immune to Trap the Soul after a greater malison, and everything else like Symbol: Stun as well, without any (dispellable) protections on you. IIRC the enemies, even in SCS, will not target the GROUND to avoid cloak of mirroring absorbing all spell damage, they will still target the character.

Upon further testing, I noticed it's not completely bugged. For instance, Valygar joins and gets properly scaled to 1,125,000 exp, which is the final level he can get before the 1,250,000 exp cap. So it does work sometimes... and sometimes it doesn't. The most common culprit is Jan Jansen which, if removed and invited to the party again, will immediately get scaled up to improper amounts of exp (my main character's exp plus about 250,000). Perhaps it's tied to multiclassed party members. Unfortunately I don't have anyone multiclassed available for testing (Jaheira is during her quest, and will permanently leave if kicked out at this point) and I changed Aerie's class/stats to "replace" a party member I dislike.

I actually used to think the same for years, but reaching certain spells and abilities completely changes the game. Playing ANY wizard is a race to HLAs, once you get them it's like a whole different game. To lesser extent this is true for other classes. A simple example would be Kangaxx (SCS Kangaxx) which, unless you cheese him of course with 1 million anti-Kangaxx cheese strategies, provides some challenge to a pre-HLA team.. and zero to HLA team. I don't know if EE/ modern SCS changed this, but last time I played SCS years ago, he ate a Dragon's Breath and died right away. That's because you're not exactly "expected" to have HLAs here. Demilich immunity doesn't include level 0 spells which HLAs are. If there is no cap, nothing stops you from XP farming till you HLA. Hell, with EE allowing party members to level up after you, you may as well farm XP till you hit 3 mil solo and recruit your party which will be scaled to your level (should be up to 1,250,000 in SoA 2,500,000 exp in ToB but it seems bugged and party members start going over the intended limit in SoA already). It's not even an exploit since the game naturally features respawning enemies. I like to "powergame", but I like a set of rules to keep me in check. it's only fun to optimize your playthrough if you don't break the game with your optimization, I'd say. Hitting HLAs by early BG2 breaks it, SCS or not. In the end, since EET caps are non-functional anyway, I just play a 6-man party that does not farm encounters, ever. This way I usually stay within reasonable bounds. For instance, I did ALL quests in BG1:EE and ended up with "only" ~280 000 exp on main char, which is obviously more than the intended 187,000, but it's usually not even enough to warrant an extra level. SoD is the only offender with those huge, diablo-like spawns of random trash.

I see. But shouldn't it stop at the cap? It for some reason worked in siege of dragonspear part of the game: the team mates would be scaled to 250,000, not more. Glint is a Cleric/Thief, so he should face the same bugs as Jansen does; he did not. (my PC reached 500,000 exp fairly quickly in SoD - unlocked Berserker). Wikipedia suggests that those are the caps: The highest XP they can have at the time of joining is 32,000 250,000 1,250,000 and 2,500,000 my next playthrough will include my character as Dwarven Defender, we'll see if this is caused by Dual Classing.

He's a dual class actually. Good ol' Berserker to Mage, dualed at 9th, currently at 13th. The problem seems to be most frequently happening with Multiclassed team members. Jan Jansen in particular.

Ah, so the massive spawns are actually vanilla? hmm. It's obviously not something that's overly difficult. Quite the contrary, since it pumps the characters with tons and tons of experience. I'd even argue that throwing legions of enemies at the player actually lowers the intended difficulty because it gives you a level advantage. SoD, even if you play without EET (hence keeping the caps) is capped in way that makes it possible for your typical friendly Kensai-Berserker dualed to Mage at 9 regain his levels precisely at the cap (500,000), and obviously the faster that happens, the better for the player I'd make the same argument for respawning, easy enemies in BG1 (Carrion Crawlers in "Flesh golem cave" - 100% chance to spawn on rest, 975 exp). EET doesn't come with a fully functional cap (even if you add it, blocking exp gain after the threshold, you'll gain the experience acquired above the cap in the "next game" - so, finishing SoD pushed me from 500,000 to 760,000 xp instantly), making things a bit worse.

The one from Tactics? I did beat her years ago in my original playthrough of SCS, but I turned improved vampires OFF entirely, as (like many people) I consider this component to be overly annoying and frustrating without any real difficulty increase (it merely adds some micromanagement AKA "send dudes with Mace of Disruption/Amulet of Power forward, make the rest hug the corner). I recall it being quite crazy, I think I wildmage-cheesed it though back them (when Chaos Shields stacked when used in a Sequencer) by repeatedly emptying my spellbook including HLAs. The level limit was off due to me playing Baldur Gate's Trilogy. it was over a decade ago! crazy to think about it...

There's something seriously wrong with this. At least a couple times, my returning NPC leveled up substantially (so much that I had to edit the savegame with shadowkeeper to remove the excess XP). Last example: after finishing Jansen's quest and having him rejoin, he immediately leveled up to almost two million XP total whereas my team was at around 1,500,000 XP at this point. The XP cap for joining/returning NPCs is supposed to be 32,000 for BG1, 125,000 for Siege of Dragonspear (IIRC, not sure on this one), 1,250,000 for Shadows of Amn, 2,500,000 for ToB. This is respected in BG1 and SoD, but NOT in SoA. Joiners often outscale my "regular party members" instantly, above the 1,250,000 XP threshold. I do have the more customization for NPCs component installed (the one that lets you choose their class on joinup, so you can modify their base proficiencies for instance).