Baldur's Gate II Tactics Modification Pack Westley Weimer \/ Release 25 \/ https://weidu.org/ Table of Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I. About II. Installation III. Components IV. Known Bugs V. Thanks VI. FAQs, Hints and Spoilers VII. Changes Section I. About ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Tactics Mod Pack adds quite a few optional components to BGII. They all aim to make the game more challenging and rewarding by increasing the difficult (and thus the thought required) of encounters. Many of these components have been drawn from different mod authors; I did not write everything here. In particular, Gebhard Blucher, Kensai Ryu, Xyx and Ishan have made contributions. For a list of components, see Section III. For spoily hints about a particular component Foo, read the file HINTS-Foo.txt in the tactics folder once you've installed the mod. Section II. Installation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BGII is required. ToB is optional. Some components require ToB. The Tactics Mod will install correctly over (or without) the Ascension Mod. It should work fine with any WeiDU mod. See the webpage for details. Unzip the main ZIP file into your BGII main directory. This is normally: C:\Program Files\Black Isle\BGII - SoA\ Run (click on) "Setup-Tactics.exe". First, pick your favorite language. Currently available: American English Italiano Linguaggio (tradotto da Luciana Stella Boscaratto) Deutsche Sprache (Übersetzung durch Falk Swoboda & Max Winkelmann) Francais (traduction de Ly Meng et Laurent Duvernet et Cocobard) Traducción al Espańol (hecha por Clan REO) Polish Translation (by Damian Staniszewski) Chinese Translation (by kalabaka, KillMercy) Russian Translation (by Serdrick & Alina, AERIE.ru) Then choose which components you would like to install. They are *all optional*. You may always uninstall any or all of them later by re-running "Setup-Tactics.exe". You do *not* need to start a new game to take advantage of anything you installed (except Improved Ilyich, surprise). The components should install correctly for international players who have both DIALOG.TLK and DIALOGF.TLK. Section III. Components ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These components include contributions from: Gebhard Blucher Kensai Ryu Xyx Ishan Beige Tangerine Sarkyn Spork SimDing0 Mike Barnes Jonathan Ellis Special thanks to these wonderful IE modders for making the fruits of their labors available. /------ | For detailed hints and spoilers on any particular, see the file | HINTS-Foo.txt on the tactics folder on your harddrive, where Foo is the | name of the thing giving you trouble. For example, HINTS-Bodhi.txt talks | about how to deal with Improved Bodhi. | | In addition, many of the components have their own README files in their | own subdirectories (e.g., tactics\flayers\Readme.txt). Such files are | often out-of-date and are provided for your convenience only. Where they | and the HINTS files disagree, assume the HINTS files are correct. \------ /------ | Improved Ilyich (requires ToB) \------ The Improved Ilyich component makes the first dungeon much more difficult. It was written by Lesley Reimer. The classic introduction is as follows: As I played through the Irenicus dungeon for the nth plus one time, I remarked for the nth plus one time that Irenicus has some singularly bad help down there. And while Bioware wanted players to be able to get comfortable with the game, I have no such compunction. Irenicus is, by all accounts, a master planner and a mage among mages, with resources enough to build a vast underground empire, with a pocket Plane of Air, all undetected by the Cowled Wizards. I find the notion that he hires incompetents offensive. What galled me most was the fact that Ilyich is guarding nymph acorns, which are essentially an artifact-level treasure. It seemed implausible that he would not take greater precautions to protect them. So I have added a few extra guardians and improved his own combat abilities modestly, to befit the trusted servant of an archmage and one who would wish to keep his aforementioned artifact. It should be a manageable challenge to an experienced BG2 player. It is important to note that the Ilyich mod is a PARODY that is amazingly difficult. Check out HINTS-Ilyich.txt for more information and make sure you are up to the challenge before installing. Really, some elements of the mod may not make sense to you (e.g., why Ilyich thinks the arcons are hot stuff) unless you read up on the background. /------ | The Ritual (requires ToB) \------ The Ritual component adds a new tactical quest. There is not as much dialogue as I might like, but the action is all there and it is quite playable. You can start the quest by speaking to a yell-wrobed fellow outside the Watcher's Keep. It involves some outdoor combat and obscure symbolism against a very pretty backdrop. It should remind you a bit of some parts of BGI or the Druid Grove quest in BG2 -- you basically have to talk to some guy, clear an entire outdoor map, then go back and talk again. At least, that's what it looks like at first blush. It is too hard for a party coming right out of Chateau Irenicus (probably, but hey, prove me wrong!) and too easy for a party in ToB. If you are a strong tactical player, try it with a level 11 or 12 party. Otherwise, wait until everyone has around 2,000,000 XP. /------ | Improved TorGal and De'Arnisse Keep \------ TorGal and the De'Arnisse keep are made a bit more difficult. The Trolls are better (Spirit Trolls instead of Giant Trolls) and they will not be automatically slain by Cloudkill. There are more umberhulks for you to contend with. TorGal himself has better guards (e.g., Yuan-Ti mages) and is a stronger melee fighter. He also has a bit more treasure (including the Flail Head of Cold -- you must kill him to fully forge Ages). /------ | Improved Sahuagin City \------ In "classic" AD&D, Sahuagin were 2-hitdice monsters, clearly way below the level of a BGII opponent. This improvement assumes that you are facing the cream of the crop of the Sahuagin: 12-20 hit dice (from standard warriors up to the kings and princes). They now behave like Archers, using crossbows and their special Sahuagin Paralytic Bolts to good effect. At close range they use spears. Beware: Called Shot + Paralytic Bolt is a combo (watch your saves). The Priestesses are now 14/14 Cleric/Mages and make better use of their innate powers (the original game gives them a fun "Anti-Magic Zone" effect, but I bet you've never even seen it ...). The old tactic of "cloudkilling from offscreen" should be harder to use. Sahuagin now rise again as undead when slain and concentrate on summoning the Eel Thingies while living. The Priestess that holds the Cloak of Cheese (which is completely optional) can now summon a Minor Avatar of Sekolah: watch out, it can swallow you whole or cause massive bleeding. Finally, we unify Sahuagin XP (which used to vary between 175 and 3000) based on hit dice. The Sahauagin City may actually be too difficult for some out-of-Spellhold parties now. That's fine, it is optional. :-) /------ | Improved Bodhi \------ This component tries to make Bodhi a worthy opponent. Vampires are supposed to be scary. In BG2 they're only good for a laugh. Protection from Undead scrolls, Sunray (Daystar) and False Dawn make short work of them. A solo character with a Pro-Undead scroll can take out all of the Vampire covens in the game. Sigh. Bodhi is worth 91K XP -- more than almost anything else in the game. And yet she is a mere brute-force melee fighter who doesn't even drink healing potions. We make her more intelligent (e.g., she'll go after people who aren't carrying maces of disruption) and give her some impressive pseudo-magical powers associated with vampires of myth and legend. Bodhi gains dominion over bats, the cold, the ground and the grave. She also gains stats befitting her 25th level fighter/vampire status. You can face the Improved Bodhi in Chapter 3 if you side with Aran, and in Chapter 6 as you strive for the Lanthorn. In either case, the difficulty slider will effect the fight (the EASY and NORMAL levels negate some of her powers, etc.). /------ | Improved Irenicus \------ Makes Joneleth "The Shattered One" Irenicus a bit more of a challenge when you finally face him in Hell at the end of SoA. Rather than summoning generic demons and immediately losing to you, he sunders himself into fragments, one for each Tear of Bhaal Test in Hell. Each fragment has different strengths and weaknesses. We also add a paltry amount of dialogue. In my personal opinion the fight is now relatively (i.e., accounting for party powers) harder than the normal end of ToB but easier than the end of Ascension. It may be easier or harder than Imp Bodhi + Undead Solaufein, depending on your opinion. /------ | Improved Guarded Compound in the Temple District \------ This component makes the guardians of Celestial Fury more "realistically" difficult. They have appropriate spell picks for their levels (Sion is an 18th level conjurer, for example, so he can cast 9th level spells) and a number of abuses are prevented (you can no longer run to the lower floor). They also throw up a large number of protections early: they do know you are coming, after all. Despite their high levels, they use only SoA abilities (no ToB feats or ToB spells). /------ | Improved Twisted Rune \------ This component makes the guardians of the Staff of the Magi actually believable. An 18th level conjurer, an 18th level fighter, a 26th level Lich, plus they've got the Staff, and they're still routinely defeated by solo characters still in Chapter 2. This component fixed some bugs (their saving throws and spell memorization numbers) and makes more intelligent spell choices (e.g., no gating in demons that will kill you). It also prevents some previous cheesy tactics (traps, cloudkill, etc.). Finally, Layene actually uses the Staff of the Magi the way a PC would (invisibility and spell trap). Before she just sat on it. :-) Did you even notice that their fighter, Revanek, appears completely naked? These guys have money to burn and they can't buy him a long sword and some armor? I think not! Despite their high levels, they use only SoA abilities (no ToB feats or ToB spells). /------ | "Kuroisan", the Acid Kensai \------ Kuroisan, a Kensai / Wu Jen from Kara-Tur will eventually approach you if you are carrying (and wielding) Celestial Fury or Malakar. He is obsessed with Katanas and will try to take yours. /------ | "Red Badge" Poison-Based Encounter (requires ToB) \------ This challenge is triggered if you are standing outside the Watcher's Keep. You must have more than 3 million XP, and you must either have killed Gromnir or be in SoA. /------ | Gebhard Blucher's Improved Mae'Var \------ Mae'Var is no longer crippled (he was originally a powerful thief/mage, but he was wearing the armor so he could never cast spells, etc.) and makes for a much more creditable Thief Stronghold boss. /------ | Gebhard Blucher's Lich in the Docks \------ A new lich can be found in the Docks district: enter the door to the north of the main Shadow Thief guildhouse entrance (position: x=1700, y=500). /------ | Gebhard Blucher's Improved Demon Knights \------ This makes the Demon Knights (notably, those at the Demogorgon altar in the Underdark) better opponents. They have more powerful spells and are more resistant to cheese. /------ | Kensai Ryu's Tougher Kangaxx and Guardians \------ If you visit the tomb of Kangaxx you will find a new guardian in the room above, the Archlich. He's a level 34/21 Cleric/Mage, and he has another lich with him and some guards he's brought. Their purpose is to kill Kangaxx and get his ring. If you already have the ring they do not know this, they think Kangaxx is still alive and has it. They will kill anyone whom they find snooping around his tomb. It's a pretty tough fight so be prepared. Kensai Ryu added a bunch of spells to Kangaxx and gave him the option to work around some common used tactics that kill him. Try it out! Since he's a Demilich he should cast some interesting spells. This version includes quite a few bugfixes by Rassadihn and Weimer. /------ | Kensai Ryu's Gnome Fighter/Illusionst in the Docks \------ A gnome fighter/illusionist is looking for Valygar inside a building in the docks and he will kill anyone in his way. Warning: The fight can be difficult. Don't try him unless you're looking for a rumble. This version features massive bugfixes by Rassadihn. /------ | Kensai Ryu's Improved Crypt King \------ You remember the Cyrpt King in the Graveyard, don't you? Of course you do, he's very easy to beat and he has some cool loot (good sword). This version fixes his script that was broken in the game and also gives him a couple of skeleton minions. After all, he is a king, right? He also calls for more backup every now and then. /------ | Ishan's "Always Toughest Random Spawns in Dungeons" \------ This ensures that you will always get the most difficult random dungeon spawns regardless of the number of people in your party and your experience level. For example, you will always get all of the Statues in the Watcher's Keep and you will always get the toughest kind of randomly-appearing trolls. Includes Jonathan Ellis bugfixes to have some chapter six encounters spawn at any point in the game. /------ | Gebhard Blucher's Random City Encounters \------ Occurs only in the city maps. The first few encounters are unchanged from the game's standard encounters (Suna Seni, Renfield, Orogs & Slavers, Ch. 6 Rakshasas). Once all of the valid encounters above have been triggered, the script checks for various things trying to find a match. If the player has the fighter stronghold, and Lord Roenall isn't dead, then you may encounters some Roenall Goons. If the player has the thief stronghold, he may encounter some Night Knaves bent on revenge. Mage, Lord Agrim. Ch. 6 + Silver Sword, Githyanki. Human Skin Armor or Staff of the Magi, Twisted Runies. And so on and so on. If the script can't find a valid encounter from the above then it will default to either the old 'bandits' or one of three groups of evil adventurers; as the party becomes more experienced the chances of encountering a tougher group will increase. **Traps**: These are little 'hot spots' on a map. They trigger just like traps. Depending on the trap, they check the range of a PC, the visibility of the PC and other factors in the game. In the un-modded game, the in-city Vampire & Shadow Thief encounters and the encounters with the Amnish Centurions, when you have a very low reputation, are examples of these 'traps'. So far all of this is my stuff. I've retained all of the original encounters (Vamps & STs and the low-rep encounter) and have added more. There are three traps: _Reputation Trap: If you have a very low reputation you will encounter Amnish Centurians (unlimited) or members of the Most Holy Order paladins (once only). This is unchanged. If you've ignored Garen Windspear you will encounter a duplicate group of Most Holy Order paladins (once only). This is also unchanged. My addition here is for parties with a _high_ reputation. Instead of encountering Amnish Soldiers and Cowled Enforcers, you'll encounter a group of Cyric Cultists (Assassins x4, a Priest of Cyric and a Mage). Vamp & Shadow Thief Trap: the first (5, 6, 7?) encounters here are unchanged. They should be recognizable to anyone who has already played the game. I've added two extra encounters here. The first is a group of hostile vampires. As long as Bodhi is not dead, and it's chapter 6 or less, the vamps will plague the party if they've sided with Aran in chapter 2. The second is a group of hostile Shadow Thieves (with a Priest of Mask and a Mage). Again, as long as Bodhi is not dead and it's chapter 6 or less, this group will plague the party if they've sided with Bodhi back in chapter 2. _Bodhi Trap: this trap is unused by the un-modded game, the script is totally blank/missing. It was probably cut at some point in the development of the game and/or replaced. The 'hot spots' for the traps are still present in many of the city maps, however. Right now, they are set to spawn evil adventurers. At first you'll get groups of 'bandits' (somewhat tougher versions of the old 'bandits'). Next you'll get a group of adventurers with names like Assassin, Fighter/Mage, etc. Lastly, you'll get a group of adventurers with names like Bounty Hunter, Conjurer, Shadow Druid, etc. Which group depends on party xp. /------ | Kensai Ryu's Random Wilderness Encounters \------ These are the areas you sometimes find yourself in when you travel between maps. You hear the ominous, "you have been waylaid and must defend yourself," voice. Kensai Ryu's encounters generally follow some kind of theme, and in any event you'll rarely encounter more than two or three monster types. However, those monsters can be difficult: it is not unheard of for a party to encounter a random dragon in the wilderness. /------ | Improved Undead \------ This gives "throw-away" undead some additional powers to make them more interesting. Shadows can cast Spook, Mummies can cast Malison, that kind of thing. Just trying to make the undead scary again. Vampires and Liches do not gain new powers. /------ | Improved Golems \------ Inspired by Kensai Ryu's "Smarter Golems", this component allows Stone, Iron and Adamantium golems to throw rocks at you if they can't get to you. Watch out! No more sitting around for five minutes while they get stuck in a door and someone takes them all out with the Rifthome Axe or Tansheron's Bow. /------ | Gebhard Blucher's Improved Mind Flayers \------ The Improved Mind Flayers strive to make the Iliithid the fear-inspiring opponents that they should be. It improves their tactics and widens the range of psionics they can use (bringing them more in line with Pnp AD&D). /------ | Smarter Dragons \------ The Smarter Dragons of SoA (there are five) component just make the dragons user better tactics. In particular, it does not grant them any new powers, so they will still fall to a high-level party with half-decent tactics. However, do not expect a ninth-level party right out of Chateau Irenicus to defeat Firkraag and take Carsomyr. /------ | Smarter Beholders \------ This changes Beholder targeting so that they don't try to charm people who are immune to charm and don't always kill themselves on the Shield of Balduran. In addition, Elder Orbs and other advanced beholders are slightly color-coded so that you can tell them apart from normal beholders. Finally, the beholder hive in the underdark is made a bit more difficult. The Smarter Beholders were originally written by Xyx but have since changed. Please assume that all good things in this component are due to Xyx and that all facets of it that you don't like are due to mysterious devolution along the way. /------ | Kensai Ryu's Smarter Vampires \------ The Smarter Vampires were written by Kensai Ryu. They make smarter targeting choices (e.g., they avoid charming people who are wearing helms of charm protection, that kind of thing). /------ | Slightly Smarter Mages and Liches \------ The "slightly" smarter mages component changes the behavior of Yuan-Ti Mages and Liches (and some other random people, like Sorcerous Amon), the most common "generic" magic-using enemies in the game. Mages now pay much more attention to Stoneskin and Protection From Magic Weapons. Better spell choices: Wilting instead of Maze, Mordy instead of Efreeti, Time Stop instead of Gate. Better spell ordering: protect yourself first, dispel their protections, then attack them. Better spell targeting (code adapted from the smarter beholders): don't bother charming Inquisitors or casting magic missile on someone with the Cloak of Cheese. Better tactics in general: cast-and-attack with Melf, prep with Stoneskin and other long-lasting spells (e.g., Pro-Magic-Energy), don't wander around alone (e.g., bring a long-lasting summon). Mages will also notice you casting spells on them while they are neutral: don't do it! Finally, Liches will "notice" if they mysteriously start taking damage (e.g., because you have sent in one guy with a pro-undead scroll to take out a lich) and will react as best they can (e.g., casting Remove Magic to dispel your pro-undead status!]). The component is somewhat suboptimal in order to add variety to the game. There is a preferred order for spellcasting (assuming the enemy has that spell memorized) but there is a chance of skipping any given non-essential step. Hopefully this is a plus, since it eliminates the old "oh, it's a Yuan-Ti mage, look out for Chaos followed by True Sight" feeling. One of the most notable changes is that Liches can now call the party back to them if you try to run away. Taking on a lich is a serious endeavor and not for the ill-prepared. If you are used to taking down liches with a solo character and a pro-undead scroll, think again. /------ | Fighter-Class Archer Kit \------ Basically, it's just like the Ranger-Archer except that: (1) you can specialize in melee weapons (2) it is a fighter kit (3) so any race and alignment are OK (4) and humans can dual-class later to thief/mage/cleric GENERIC ARCHER: The generic archer is the epitome of skill with the bow. He is the ultimate marksman, able to make almost any shot, no matter how difficult. To become so skilled with the bow, the archer has had to sacrifice some of his proficiency with melee weapons and armor. Traditional missile weapons are slings, short bows, long bows, darts and crossbows. Advantages: - +1 to hit, and +1 to damage with any missile weapon for every 3 levels of experience. - Every 4 levels he gains the ability to make a called shot once per day. When he activates this ability, any shot made within the next 10 seconds is augmented in the following manner (according to the level of the archer): 4th level: -1 to THACO of target 8th level: -1 to save vs magic of target 12th level: -1 to strength of target 16th level: +2 bonus to damage Disadvantages: - An archer can only specialize in melee weapons; he may never obtain mastery. - An archer cannot wear any metal armor. Note: This kit should be installed AFTER "Ashes of Embers - Universal Weapons Component" and AFTER "Rogue Rebalancing - Dual Wielding Fix Component". /------ | Anti-Paladin Kit \------ If you install this component you will have a new fighter kit available for all races: the Anti-Paladin. This is mostly for fun, and for people who want to play evil. This variant is basically an Anti-Inquisitor. Kit description: ANTI-PALADIN: The Anti-Paladin has dedicated his life to finding and eliminating practicioners of good magic and defeating the forces of light, and his dark god has provided him with special abilities toward that end. Anti-Paladins take a special joy in inflicting pain and suffering. Advantages: - May use 'Dispel Magic' ability once per day per 4 levels (starts at 1st level with one use): ability is used at speed factor 1 and acts at twice his actual level. - May cast 'True Sight' once per day per 4 levels (starts at 1st level with one use) - Immune to Hold and Charm spells - 'Dispel Magic' on every melee hit Disadvantages: - Basically none compared to a normal fighter. - May not use standard paladin weapons like Holy Avengers - May not Turn Undead - May not cast Clerical spells - Must be Evil You may dual-class a human anti-paladin (but you need exceptional scores to do so). Note: This kit should be installed AFTER "Ashes of Embers - Universal Weapons Component" and AFTER "Rogue Rebalancing - Dual Wielding Fix Component". /------ | Göran Rimén's Improved Nymphs \------ This script replaces the AI for the Nymphs summoned by Call Woodland Beings. Notably, they apparently no longer cheat (the old script would cast more spells than the nymphs really had) and they are much more intelligent. Favorite feature: before being unsummoned they will automatically cast their mass healing spell on the most damaged party member. /------ | Kensai Ryu's Improved Copper Coronet \------ This component creates more Guards in the Copper Coronet when the guards go hostile. This will only work on games in which you have not yet started the Copper Coronet quest. Includes GB's "Gorf the Squisher" script fix. /------ | SimDing0's Improved Oasis (ToB Required) \------ This "spices up" the battle in the Oasis (AR6300). You know, the practice area. The author (or instigator) felt that it didn't make much sense that they sent a weak and pitiful army after you. /------ | Mike Barnes' Improved Small Teeth Pass (requires ToB) \------ This makes the Small Teeth Pass (AR1700, optional in Chapter 6 after Elhan) much tougher by replacing the three Ankhegs by three Dragons. Should you survive you get some extra gold and an extra set of red dragon scales (which may help if you are trying to assemble things in the item upgrade mod). WARNING: Reported to be *incompatible* with TDD. /------ | Mike Barnes' Improved North Forest \------ This mod improves the 2nd most ignored area of the Game, the North Forest. (Small Teeth Pass AR1700 is Number 1). I always wondered why an Altar was set in the middle of a forest near a mid level party led by a Priest of Cyric. Perhaps the evil god's minions were gathering together their greatest champions and rarest magic items to oppose the Bhaalspawn. After all, why would Cyric stand pat and give up the Sword Coast without a fight? [ ... ] I kept the night time guards the same (two high level vampires). The day time guards (an Efreeti and a Djinni) were replaced with a Noble Efreeti and a Noble Djinni. The altar's treasure vault cannot be opened without a key. Unfortunately, none of the guards have the key. The mid level party of Cyric was tweaked a bit. I raised certain members a few levels to put everyone in the 13-16th range. [ ... ] Remember, these are Cyric's champions, not his average followers! I made a few changes to the creatures that spawn in should you explore the map. I nearly forgot, the useless Mist Mephit was replaced with a Drake. (This fun monster is courtesy of David Graider's Improved Abazigail mod). [ ... ] Finally, like all mods, there is a question of balance. If you did the bare minimum to meet Elhan, you're in for a tough fight. If you did most of the optional SOA quests and then met Elhan, you'll do fine. If you did every SOA quest, finished Watcher's Keep to get TOB high level abilities and then met Elhan, you'll breeze right through it. [ For full details, see the README in the nforest subfolder. ] /------ | Mike Barnes' Marching Mountains \------ A very minor mod that replaces the animal kingdom in the Marching Mountains with the skeletal thief, cleric, mage and fighter from Nyalee's temple area. /------ | Slightly Tougher Demons \------ This component increases the rate at which some demons use their spell-like abilities (which are typically related to fear, paralyzing foes, stunning foes or creating fireballs). Aside from the Pit Fiend, it does not give any demon any new power, it just increases the rate at which each demon may use its powers. Currently Pit Fiends, Baalors, Nabassu, Glabrezu and generic Tanar'ri are affected, unique demons (like those in the Watcher's Keep) typically are not. Pit Fiends (summoned by the never-used 9th level Wizard spell "Gate" and rarely occuring "naturally" in places like the Watcher's Keep) get a number of stat and attack bugfixes based on the monster manual. Notably they regain their 50% cold resistance, their "genius-level" intelligence, their lethal-poison and disease bite, improved invisibility, their six attacks per round, and their ability to gate in other pit fiends (which we restrict to once per 600 time units and only when seriously wounded, rather than once per round when you feel like it!). Their gripping tail attack and wing buffets (!) remain unimplemented. Pit fiends will no longer attack each other. They are no longer classed as "tanar'ri" (which could cause some weirdness if you cast Gate in the Watcher's Keep) -- pit fiends are "baatezu", the enemies of the tanar'ri. Am I the only one who finds AD&D cosmology inane? Their alignment is corrected to lawful evil instead of chaotic evil. You might actually be tempted to cast Gate offensively, provided that you have Pro-Evil ready. Many Liches will now use pit fiends as escorts (if you have the "slightly smarter mages" installed, the pit fiend escort will replace the standard elemental/skeleton escort). /------ | Tougher Druid Grove \------ This component makes the Druid Grove quest (from Trademeet) just a bit more difficult (to the point where the poison or trying to walk around Kyland Lind actually almost become attractive). The swamp outside the grove is now replete with flavorful (but not actually difficult) druidic creatures (e.g., giant mushrooms, shambling mounds, wyverns, more trolls, earth elementals). The generic Shadow Druids are now half-decent tenth-level totemists who might actually scare you with an insect plague. The big change is Faldorn herself -- now she's truly "stronger than ever with the aid of this grove". Expect to be on the business end of some 7th level druid spells (e.g., creeping doom, nature's beauty, fire storm). Faldorn's claws strike like the Staff of Thunder and Lightning. [ This has the side effect of fixing that bug in Ease Multi-Stronghold that causes Faldorn to do nothing if you challenge her with a non-druid, but not the Ease Multi-Stronghold "feature" that prevents you from having Cernd do the fight for you. ] /------ | Tougher Fire Giants (requires ToB) \------ Yaga Shura's gigantic troops (and some random jokers in the Watcher's Keep) become a bit more daunting with this component. Fire Giants (normally coded as berserkers) gain the benefits of Enrage and Fireshield: Red, as well a bit of regeneration and some faster movement. Most notably, however, their weapons no longer do +1d6 fire damage but instead have a chance of casting Fireball (like the Harbinger sword), summoning a Fire Elemental or casting Fire Storm. They also lower fire resistance (a la Firkraag). A single giant may well be a challenge for a ToB level party -- an average 17th-level that someone sent to me consistently loses to one giant unless the party buffs. This also fixes a few bugs (giant hammers no longer do slashing damage, giants no longer have 0 prof points in the weapons they use). To some degree, the goal here is to make you feel like you really shouldn't be rushing in to a melee with something many times your size. Alternative strategies may serve you better. Berenn and Yaga Shura, the two unique fire giants, are unaffected. /------ | Streamlined Trolls \------ This component changes the way the game handles trolls, substituting one arbitrary hack job for another. In the unmodded game trolls carry a special item that makes their minimum hit point value 1 (so they cannot be killed). Their AI script constantly looks to see if their actual hit points are below some value (usually 12). If they are, the troll is replaced by a special alternate troll creature (the "lying down" one) that has one hit point and lacks the special minhp item but is immune to most types damage. Unfortunately, any number of situations can cause the game to fail to check that script condition (e.g., the troll is held, or many party members are beating on it at once), resulting in an "unkillable" troll that sits arond soaking up blows until (e.g.) your party walks away to give it time to "breathe and fall over". This component changes that. Trolls lose their "minimum hit points = 1" item, so they can be killed outright. As a result you will never end up with an "immortal" troll. To compensate, trolls gain 66% physical resistances to non-fire, non-acid, non-poison sources. This component doesn't particularly make the game harder or easier, but it does mean that troll group fights require less "constant vigilance" (to make sure that your party isn't "wasting time" attacking a troll that isn't going down). Section IV. Known Bugs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** The Smarter Mages sometimes make Elhan hostile. This has not been reported in quite a while. Cause: I have no idea. Solution: CLUAConsole:CreateCreature("c6elhan") will make a new, unhostile Elhan. ** Improved Ilyich crashes the game. "As soon as I move to the left of that Genie in the intro level, the game crashes." Cause: You have the Baldurdash REMIX installed. This is a REMIX problem, not a Tactics problem. Solution: Remove the Baldurdash REMIX and use the normal version of Baldurdash. Please report any bugs you encounter to weimer@cs.berkeley.edu. Section V. Thanks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Tactics Mod was written primarily using a single excellent utility: Near Infinity I recommend it. You can get it from: http://www.idi.ntnu.no/~joh/ni/ I also recommend WeiDU, but that's old news. And to my lovely foreign language support team: Falk Swoboda: Double-Duty German Translation Max Winkelmann: German Translation Luciana Boscaratto and Stoneangel: Italian Translation Ly Meng, Archange de la Redemption: French Translation Laurent Duvernet, Artemidore: French Translation Clan REO: Spanish Translation Jean Pierre Bard: Additional French Translations Damian Staniszewski: Polish Translation kalabaka: Chinese Translation And to those who provided tactical modifications: Gebhard Blucher Kensai Ryu Rassadihn Xyx Ishan Beige Tangerine Sarkyn Spork Johnathan Ellis My fearless lead novelists: Trent Goulding Rassadihn And a special thanks to those friends who frequent my forums. Section VI. Changes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Release 1: * First release of the New, Improved, Super Spiffy Tactics Mod! * Ilyich: You will not be ambushed by the Shadow Thieves for "taking too long" (i.e., resting) within the first seven hours. If you are ambushed, it will be by 1 thief on normal/easy and 2 thieves on core+. * Ilyich: Spellcasters now start with memorized spells. This is mostly useful for Sorcerers -- newly created mages will have spells in their spellbooks but will not have spells "selected", so the free rest won't help them. * Ilyich: Otyugh will no longer cast spells while helpless/asleep/stunned. * Ilyich: The Neophyte Glabrezu should fit through doors now. * Golems: Now Golems throw rocks instead of trying (and failing) to run away when you trap them in doorways. * Red Badge: You are now teleported to and from *The Watcher's Keep* for this fight, not your pocket plane. This (1) fixes bugs where you could get "stuck" in the Pocket Plane and (2) makes just a teensy bit more sense thematically. Release 2: * Mages: Sanik is no longer a "smarter mage", so you won't have to sit around waiting for that assassin to kill him. Thanks to Althernai for championing this bug. * Ilyich: Fixed a bug that was reportedly causing crashes in multi-player games when you started and got the free rest. Thanks to Michael Helling. * Sahuagin: Added John Howland info. * German translation update by Falk Swoboda. Thanks! Release 3: * Irenicus: Fixed II6 DLG error. Thanks, Michael Helling! * Sahuagin: Fixed a bug where attacking Prince Vilynaty would not cause his Rebel guards to go hostile. Thanks, John Howland! * Minor typo fixed, thanks forum members. * Bodhi: Added Rassadihn's walkthrough. Release 4: * Kuroisan: will now behave correctly if you drop your katanas right as he appears. Fixed a possible bug where he would not be hostile if he got tired of you, left, and came back. Thanks to Domi for pointing out this bug. * KR Kangaxx: will no longer try (and fail) to cast Mordy. Turns out that Demiliches really can't use summons (gate, mordy, etc., all fail because of his spell immunity). Beefed up his defenses: teleport field, physical mirror, that kind of thing. * Ilyich: thieves should only ambush you in Chapter 1. Fewer thieves per ambush. Really, you shouldn't be resting in the Irenicus Dungeon. * Irenicus: Final Irenicus can now see invisible. No hiding in the final battle. * KR Wilderness: Silver dragon encouters now require a Reputation of 6 or less. No more "Silver Dragon vs. Paladin" battles. :-) * Beholders: Upgraded to the newest Smarter Beholders patch (includes better ToB support). Thanks to Lee Watts for informing me. * Nymphs: Added Göran Rimén's Improved Nymphs scripts. * Gnome Fighter/Illusionist: Massive Rassadihn fixes: * Now uses Chain Lightning instead of Skull Trap, and a Ruby Ray/Power Word Silence instead of a Spellstrike/Abi-Dalzim combo in a Chain Contingency. * Several bugs with random numbers were fixed that caused Contingencies and Spell Triggers to be delayed * The simulacrum bug from the Kangaxx Guardians was present here as well, and fixed in nearly the same way. * No casting Spell Trap if you're already protected. No instant rescue spells for a dead illusionist. * And finally, a rather humorous oversight whereby his/her gender was female but his/her sound clips were male has been fixed. I'm guessing the intent was to make him male, and he has been so... `engendered'. * Kangaxx Guardians: Massive Rassadihn fixes. Fixes simulacrum/image problems, generally makes the world a better place. * Irenicus: Possibly French translation bug fixed. Thanks, Moonfruit. Release 5: * Kuroisan: Fixed a 2 seconds (1/3rd of a round) interval in which you could kill Kuroisan such that he would respawn again later, thus getting you two Sanchus. Thanks, Charles. * Copper Coronet: Added Kensai Ryu's Improved Copper Coronet component. Thanks to Lee Watts for the suggestion. * Red Badge: New French translation by Cocobard. * Irenicus: Added Henry Lockwood walkthrough. * Mages: Will no longer use Incendiary Cloud in a Chain Contingency lest they take out friends. Thanks to Mike B. for pointing out this bug. Added a new high-level chain contingency selection while I was there. Release 6: * Bad version of WeiDU made the last version uninstallable. Release 7: * Dragons: Shadow dragon now "Feasts" less often. * Ritual: Previously-missing spell now included. * Copper: Restructured as a WeiDU-friendly EXTEND_TOP so that it no longer conflicts with other Coronet changes (like the bonus merchants). * Walkthroughs: Added Tom York Ritual and Red Badge descriptions. * KR Gnome: Now has pausing dialogue. * GB City: Bandit gold cut down by a factor of ten. Thanks: Leonardo Nogueira. Release 8: * Ilyich: New Davide Carta walkthrough. * Rune: Should no longer crash on SoA-only players. Thanks, Oopsilon. * Copper: Now includes GB's Gorf fix. * Ilyich: Thieves will not used wands when paralyzed. Thanks, sqweek. * Oasis: Thanks to Michel van Meerten for suggesting that I add the Improved Oasis component. * GB Random: Updated the bounter hunter so that he uses hold person instead of maze traps (nicer on solo players). Thanks, GB. Release 9: * Bodhi: Increased Bodhi's reach so that she will not be hemmed in by grimwarders. Thanks, Alex Geiger. * Added Mike Barnes' Improved Small Teeth Pass. * Sahuagin: Fixed a bug where the Prince was always hostile. Thanks: Kannisto, Alex Geiger, Sqweek. * Additional French translations by Cocobard. Release 10: * Mages: Nalia/Immy and the Spellhold boys no longer buff or use the imp mages scripts. This means that Nalia won't cast spells not in her book and that the mages won't kill each other with Incendiary Cloud. Thanks, Caedwyr and Bird. * Mages: No Lich teleporting the party in AR1401, the Shade Lord Temple. Thanks, Bird. * Torgal: you can no longer close the doors in Torgal's dungeon (and if you somehow manage to close them, they re-open). This should make it a little harder to cheese him. * Dragons: Now they feel threatened by any good summons they can see. Watch out! Thanks, Bird. * Beholders: Now they have a bigger poisonous bite. If they figure out that you have the Shield (or whatever) they will eventually just chomp on you. Note that despite the fact that the script explicitly says "do not attack if I, the beholder, am charmed" they sometimes do anyway. Thanks, Bird. Release 11: * Irenicus: Added descriptions from Daan and Rataxes. * Ilyich: Added descriptions from Rataxes, Cedric, Rhapsody. * Kuroisan: Added Sever and Imrahil descriptions. * Ilyich: If you sleep and wake up before you have spent 12 total hours in the dungeon, you will not be ambushed. Stephen Mackey. * Ritual: Fixed a problem in ritkm1.baf/ritkm1.bcs. Thanks to sqweek and Stephen Mackey. * MaeVar: Added HINTS-MaeVar.txt and Rataxes' description. * Ilyich: Ilyich and his goons now *patrol* the upper-right corner of the dungeon in a scattered formation. If you try to snipe one, it should call to the others. Please let me know if this makes things easier or harder. Release 12: * North Forest: Added Mike B's improved north forest component. * Animal Kingdom: Added Mike B's animal kingdom modlet. * Poison: fixed a bug where the enemies could flee the area and leave you trapped there. Thanks, Cerek. * Sahuagin: Some rebels now have scrolls of Oracle. If they smell you they will try to use them. The priestess can now cast Death Spell. More Anguillians appear (since they are very slow and easily lose to ranged attacks). Thanks, Charles. * Sahuagin: Minor flavor text change for the Shark-Father. * Ilyich: Golem should no longer walk through walls. * Kuroisan: Hopefully Double Kuroisan is now a thing of the past. * Anti-Pal: If you already have an Unholy Reaver the Githyanki Anti-Paladins will just have +2 Greatswords. * The tactics mod now compiles all of its scripts as you install them. The resource directory name has changed from "tactics" to "tactict2". * Ilyich: Zhivago now casts the Deva on himself, preventing some trickery. * Ilyich: Fixed some patrol bugs -- there should be no more of that "we'll just hang around in this corner for a long time" jibberish. However, you'll have to start a new game in order to see the benefits. Release 13: * SPELL.IDS problem fixed? Release 14: * Fixed a problem with the smarter mages -- they would only attack with MMM during timestops. * Sanchu backlash timing bugfix and Sanchu regeneration weakened. * Vamps: now compile correctly. Thanks, Sim. Release 15: * Ritual: Yellow Dragon breath spell was not being copied. Thanks, TGM. * Red Badge: Bloodbane's poison damage now happens "up front" rather than being spread over time. Alson suggests that this may remove some cheese associated with "stunlocking" opponents. Thanks, Alson. Release 16: * Added Polish translation by Damian Staniszewski * Added Chinese translation by kalabaka. Thanks! Release 17: * No lich teleporting in Spellhold. Thanks, bigg. * Added wally p's solo Ilyich walkthrough. * Added Ras's Imp Iren walkthrough. * Added Ras's "Unfinished Business" compatibility fix. Tactics and UB should now work together without mystery appearances by Suna Seni. * The SixOfSpades Review inspires many changes. See README-SixOfSpades.txt for commentary. * Fallen Deva script rework. Notably the script no longer heals players who are enemies. * Ilyich "Shadow Thieves" replaced with Duergar Parties of 89K XP warriors and wizards (party size is at most 2) using standard spell memorization. No tricky hiding or psycho wands, but the wizards may cast (normally) spells like Confusion, Spook, Hold Person and Polymorph Other. * Greater Otyugh now alternates between DD and CS with an 18 (not 9) second interval. * Ilyich gets a unique +2 Cold Hammer (paying homage to Pushkin and SoS). * Doors on CI Level 1 stick open once opened. * Ritual Skull PF Level Drain is now temporary. * Li Kao is now LN with Neutral Robes. * Yuan Ti Mage in Nalia's Keep doesn't talk: fixed. * Lavok doesn't talk: fixed. * Golems in Nalia's Keep don't go hostile: fixed. * Sahu Priestess summons more, casts death spell less. * Tanova doesn't cast spells: fixed. * C6 Bodhi gains Vamp/Mages instead of Grimwarders. * C3 Bodhi skips Chill of the Grave and Buried Alive. * TorGal healing potion supply determined by diff slider. * Imp Bodhi can charm undead, no save. * "Curse you, ! I shall not ..." is back. * ToL Johnny gets a few Shatter Magics. * Orb of Fear gets SI:Abj. * ImpGC Guys all get extra healing potions and know how to use them. * Kuroisan Fireshield animation added. * Undead: Feeblmind, Unholy Word, etc., go out, your suggestions go in. * Golems: now alternate between rocks and melee if you are far away. * Dragons: Immune to Wing Buffet, max 3 / round. * Dragons: Rapid "Stoneskin & Haste" bender fixed. * Ritual "45 stars in Slings" bug fixed. * Ritual: You may now ask for more time to get 15 hours instead of 7. Release 18: * "Always Toughest Random Spawns" -- Jonathan Ellis bugfixes. Many encounters (like beholders in the temple sewers) that only happened in chapter 6 now correctly (for this component) happen all the time. Also notable: you'll always get the bone golem in the tanner basement. In addition, all "AI changes" (which were actually very minor, and were all checks to NumInPartyLT and DifficultyLT, etc.) have been removed. * Lich In The Docks, Kangaxx Guardians: Now use "smarter mages"-style dispelling to get around pro-undead scrolls. Before it was way too easy to buy a 1000 GP scroll from Ribald and use it to obtain the Cloak of Balduran. * Added "Slightly Tougher Demons" component. * Added "Tougher Druid Grove" component. Release 19: * Smarter Mages: covers more ToB mages (Il-Khan battlemage, etc.) * Added "Tougher Fire Giants" component. * Demons: Bugfix about pit fiends attacking their lich summoners. Sigh. * Undead: "finger of death on self" bug fixed. * Ilyich: The table near the jailkeep golem now has one of pretty much every time of weapon. Before it was difficult to be an archer because there weren't really enough bows or slings or whatnot early on. * Ilyich: The proles and party members now travel in groups, as was originally intended. The war dogs are back (sometimes). * KR Gnome: Fixed a "looping familiar contingency" bug. Thanks, bigg. Release 20: * Added Serdrick's Russain translation. Thanks! * Ilyich: Duergar will no longer find you when you are sleeping in Amn. Release 21: * Updated Russian translation (Alina, AERIE.ru). * Updated Chinese translation (KillMercy). Release 22: * Imp Bodhi: Will no longer permacharm undead Party Members (e.g., Valen). Thanks, kul1ng. * Demons, Undead: ReallyForceSpell -> ForceSpell, hopefully no more funny stuff during time stops. * Beholders: will now compile on SoA machines (hope!) * GB Rand Encounters: Fixed a "no encounters" bug. Thanks, Oralloy. * Russian Translation: Serdrick, Alina, Aerie.ru. Release 23: * Ilyich goons in AR0602, AR0603 only (hope!) * Imp Faldorn: weaker (no firestorms, no extra spells, no magic res, no immunity to normal weapons, fewer attacks, no regen) * GB Rand Encounters: the "low level, low rep" thing (some amnish soldiers and cowled enforcers) is now a bit tougher -- no longer a source of reliable free gold for someone with pro-normal-weapons or invis+cloudkill, etc. Previously going on a killing rampage as your first evil move was usually optimal. * Ritual Amulet wasn't giving 50% cold resistance: fixed * Mask priests now longer shout "for the Black Sun!" (= Cyric). Thanks, Deathsangel. * Updated German translation. Thanks, Tanis Eichenblatt and Falk Swoboda. * As per Xyx's request, the Smarter Beholders are no longer associated with Xyx. Release 24: * Updated French translation Release 25: * Updated Italian translation by Stoneangel todo: -- add "Skip to the end" dialogue options for Bodhi and Irenicus