Baldur's Gate II Valen NPC Mod Westley Weimer \/ Release 45 \/ https://weidu.org/ Table of Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I. About II. Installation III. Component 1: Valen IV. Known Bugs V. Thanks VI. FAQ (Spoilers) VII. Changes Section I. About ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Valen NPC Mod adds the following component to BGII: (01) Valen (of Bodhi's hold) becomes an NPC who can join your party. She's a Chaotic Evil Vampire fighter/thief. She has quite a bit of interjection dialogue in SoA. She won't get along with Aerie, Anomen, Keldorn or Mazzy. Her innate vampiric powers increase with experience. One Valen-specific challenge. Yep, that's right -- no Valen-specific quests. We can't all be Solaufein. This one's just for fun and a change of pace. :-) Didn't you ever want to play an evil monster in an AD&D campaign? Section II. Installation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BGII is required. ToB is currently required. The Valen Mod will install correctly over (or under 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-Valen.exe". First, pick your favorite language. Currently available: American English French translation by Ly Meng, Archange de la Redemption and by Laurent Duvernet, artemidore@caramail.com by Cocobard, bardbards@planetis.com Spanish translation by Clan REO German translation by Sebastian de Waal and Thalantyr and Tanis Eichenblatt and Falk Swoboda Polish translation by Grzesiek Miazga Italian translation by Al17 e Kelvan, http://rtt.altervista.org Russian translation by Aerie.ru, http://aerie.ru Japanese translation by ironthrone Chinese translation by kalabaka and yun395 Then choose which components you would like to install. You may always uninstall them later by re-running "Setup-Valen.exe". The components should install correctly for international players who have both DIALOG.TLK and DIALOGF.TLK. NOTE: You may also want to install the "no drow avatars" component of the Ease-of-Use mod when you install Valen, or a bug in BG2 may cause her to "stutter" (walk, stop, walk, stop) in the Underdark. This bug actually bites anyone who can regenerate. Section III. Valen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Valen will be offered to you as a joinable NPC if you side with Bodhi in Chapter 2. She'll be hanging around the graveyard after you accept Bodhi's offer. Bodhi now allows pure thieves to side with her (originally she did not so that you wouldn't mess up the thief stronghold). Valen will leave the party if Anomen, Aerie, Keldorn or Mazzy are ever in it. Well, non-CN Anomen anyway. What were you expecting? Valen cannot touch most holy objects (e.g., Carsomyr, Mace of Disruption) without being burned. So don't try it. Valen can be Turned by Clerics ... even Clerics in your party ... so watch out. A high-level cleric will blast Valen "right out of the realms". A high-level evil cleric will control Valen and turn her against your party. Repulse Undead will push her away. Valen cannot attack creatures who are Protected From Undead (via the scroll, for example). Valen is undead and she counts as such for anything that cares (e.g., Bolt of Glory, Sunray cast by an enemy, Mace of Disruption, etc.). Valen's special armor allows her to survive in the sun without damage ... but her abilities are sorely reduced. Don't expect her to win any fights for you outside at high noon. She may have to spend as much as sixty seconds out of the sun in order to regain her full abilities. Valen (like all undead) cannot be "resurrected". If she dies, that's it: she's gone forever. Don't get her killed. If you are playing on an easy difficulty level and her health gets too low she will try to turn into mist and regenerate. While in this gaseous form she is immune to almost everything (she will still take some fire damage and magic damage). However, she will not be able to attack or otherwise do anything useful for the duration (which decreases as she gains experience). Valen will continue to advance as a vampire (in addition to her normal fighter and thief classes) as she gains experience. Every 1.5 million XP she gains will improve her undead abilities (e.g., increase her physical prowess, her regeneration rate, her immunity to weapons, or the effects of her claws). She will also get better at charming and instilling fear in her enemies. When Valen reaches 2.5M XP some Vampire Hunters will track her down. Watch out. They won't come while she's in the sun (that would be too evil :-)). You may talk to Valen at any time and give her a few simple orders. (1) You may ask her to stop trying to hide in shadows all the time. This is useful if you want to buff her with spells. You may later ask her to hide again. (2) You may ask her to stop attacking all visible enemies. You'll miss out on the full Valen experience, but some situations call for fine-tuned control. You may ask her later to slaugther everything again. (3) You may ask her to stop trying to control the minds of her enemies (e.g., vampire charm and fear). (4) You may ask her to stop detecting traps. *Despite* what the game says, detecting traps does not cause her to leave the shadows early. But some people still want to make her stop, so there it is. (5) You may ask her to check her claws. This will cause her to remove all of the claws that she is carrying and then reform them based on her experience. Use this if you run into some problem where her claws disappear. Non-Evil priests (aside from some key plot figures like Priestess Demin) will turn against your party if they see Valen in it. They will also uses scrolls to cast spell slike "repulse undead" and "false dawn" against undead used against them (either from the Animate Dead spell or from Valen joining your party). Finally, enemy priest will actually (occasionally) try to Turn (or Command) Undead. There is a second component to the Valen mod that allows you to (optionally) give many creatures protection from level drain and the undead (as per the scroll). This component makes all golems, elementals, demons, slimes, mists, planetars and "objects" (like the Shadow Altar) immune to level drain. In addition, all clerics and paladins (that cannot ever join the party) have a 50% chance of getting a "protection from undead" scroll (just like the ones you can buy -- undead like Valen won't be able to attack them). Most of the opponents in the game are not prepared to deal with level-draining undead like Valen, so installing this component will make things both a bit more realistic and a bit harder. Want to discuss Valen's unlife, her awesome powers, or her romance/redemption/evil potential? Check out: http://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php?board=50.0 Section IV. Known Bugs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Valen's claws are weapons that can be used by a thief with "use any item". You can also "trick" Valen into making too many claws. They don't go away when she dies. I don't care. Don't do that if you're role-playing. The old method where her claws were Valen-only led to too many bugs. Valen can be "killed" by intelligence drain (and some other methods) and she won't "die the final death". Game engine bug. If Valen is imprisoned, she will die the final death. Sorry, it's a game engine bug -- they count imprisonment as death. When Valen kills a troll, sometimes it comes right back, yada yada. Game engine bug. Same thing happens if you (the PC) use a level-draining attack. Section V. Thanks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special thanks to: Ly Meng and Laurent Duvernet and Cocobard for the French Translation [REO]-Arturo, [REO]-Drohen-Trohen, [REO]-Killfax, [REO]-Styx, Thamar, and Artemis_Entreri for the Spanish Translation. See http://clanreo.ionichos.com Sebastian de Waal and Thalantyr for the German Translation Grzesiek Miazga for the Polish Translation Al17 and Kelvan for the Italian Translation Aerie.ru for the Russian Translation Extra big thanks to Homunculus for tireless interest in Valen's development and the scripting, balancing and internal details of her vampiric powers. Excellent job. Section VI. FAQ (Spoilers) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Q: With whom will Valen have interjections (i.e., extra dialogue with another actor that need not involve the PC)? Promenade: Ribald Graveyard: Kamir Bodhi's Lair: Antenos, Chore, Fetch, Food, Cohn, Meredath Trademeet: Logan Coprith, Khellon Druid Grove: Pauden Windspear: Samia, Grancor (Wolf Trap), Firkraag De'Arnise: Lady Delcia, Delson Government: Delon, Amnish Night Guards, Brega Bridge: Rose Umar Hills: Hiding Valygar Temple Ruins: Anath Sewers: Roger Docks: Aran Linvail Spellhold: Imoen, Lonk, Dace, Saemon Underdark: Svirfneblin Patrol, Demon Lord, Simyaz Overland: Drizzt Suldenesselar: Elhan, Demin Hell: Wraith Sarevok Special Note: We did mention that Valen was bloodthirsty, right? You can expect her to push you into some fights. Q: Why is Valen so weak? A: Get her out of the sun. Innately, she's strong enough to solo the game. Of course, so is Keldorn. :-) Q: Why does Valen have too many proficiencies? A: She doesn't -- as her dialogue reveals, she was originally a dual-classed character. In BG2, dual-classed characters end up with gobs of weapon profs. Q: Valen should be immune to "hold", but beholder rays keep paralyzing her. A: In BG2, undead are not immune to the hold from beholder rays (which use the "hold creature type" opcode), presumably because giving them a blanket immunity to it would make them immune to "hold undead" type spells. Valen has the same immunities as other vampires in BG2, so she falls victims to those rays just as they would. Sorry. Q: Valen keeps attacking my enemies even when I have party AI turned off. What gives? A1: She told you in the dialogue (you were reading it, right?) that she had strong instincts. You can keep her from attacking foes if you watch her like a hawk and keep her on a short leash ... but otherwise her bloodlust will come through. Come on, she has to have some disadvantages. A2: Talk to her directly and ask her to stop doing that. Q: The Vampire Hunters are hanging Valen out to dry. How can I save her? A: Apparently Valen (or was that Spike?) is hell on wheels, but it's hard to user her incredible powers in this fight because she cannot target them. My first suggestion would be to dispel their buffs. After that it's pretty standard. Note that as Undead Hunters (Paladins) most of them are immune to level drain. A2: Kish offers this advice: Phase One [ fighting the hunters in the Underdark, Fanskar is the PC ] : As soon as we arrive in the Underdark, Valen starts running toward the Earth Elemental Portal. (Boots of Celeritous Stealth.) Edwin Improved Hastes Korgan. Korgan Enrages. The others wait for our heroes to appear. (I know from the first few tries that any spells Viconia or Fanskar tried to cast would be interrupted.) Korgan attacks Van Helsing as soon as he appears. Imoen attacks Buffy as soon as she appears. (It doesn't matter which one Imoen attacks, as long as it's not Van Helsing, with his Physical Mirror.) Viconia casts Elemental Summoning, Fanskar casts Righteous Magic, Edwin casts two Mordenkainen's Swords. Phase One ends when Valen is at the Earth Elemental Portal (depending on how her mind control is working, she may have recruited an Earth Elemental or a Kuo-Toa along the way), the four vampire hunters are converging on her, and the party is converging on the hunters. The three devas the hunters summon are left behind to play with the Mordenkainen's Swords and Viconia's elementals. Phase Two Korgan and Imoen both attack physically. Korgan picks on Van Helsing while Imoen picks on anyone but Van Helsing. (N.B. The Dispel Magic ability of a level 13 anti-paladin is completely inadequate for this fight, so I quit trying it after a couple times.) Valen occupies herself with the Earth Elementals, since she can't see anyone actually involved in the main fight, until she's pounded into mist form. It doesn't usually take long. Viconia and the main character target Valen's location with Unholy Blights. Edwin does the same, only with Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wiltings. Since an Unholy Blight is enough to send any summon hostile, we use no summons here. Key to this strategy is Valen's moment of vulnerability (she's in humanoid form but still purple-circled) coinciding with the surviving Undead Hunters being out of the fight (Sanctuaried and trying to Heal themselves). Those Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wiltings and Unholy Blights are likely to kill the Sanctuaried hunters before they can Heal themselves. Van Helsing is always the first to go down. Q: I do not have ToB but I really want to install Valen anyway. A: Install Valen and then remove the file override\VALENMST.SPL. The mod should then "work" (although some aspects, like the vampire hunters, will be a little strange). However, this is *not supported* and you should not send me any mail whatsoever about Valen + SoA. Q: Valen (or someone else) was permanently blinded by a priestess in Saradush! A: That's the spell Nature's Beauty. The blindness lasts forever but can be removed with Dispel Magic. Section VII. Changes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Version 1 * Initial release. Version 2 * Fix dialogue typo noted by Jason. Version 3 * Fix dialogue typo noted by Peterond Silverbow. * Fix REAVER.ITM (an Unholy avenger in the game?) so that it has the correct descrition (and opcodes) and can be used by our anti-paladins. * Given Valen a tree-of-life dialogue. * Given Anti-Paladins ToB high-level abilities (including Summon Fallen Deva). Version 4: * Anti-Paladins now have appropriately evil starting equipment in ToB. * More REAVER.ITM fixes. * Valen's equipment now starts off identified. * Fixed a bug where the game would crash if you tried to make a dwarf anti-paladin (charisma problems). Version 5: * Give Unholy Reaver the right name! Version 6: * Include Ly Meng's French Translation Version 7: * Valen will now spawn right next to Bodhi. Hopefully you won't be able to miss her now. Version 8: * Valen will now turn into a Gaseous Form if she is getting pounded in a fight. * Valen will now use both Domination and Fear (50% chance of either). * Fixed a bug where Valen would lose her special script (and thus most of her undead powers) if you took her into ToB. Version 9: * The Radiant Heart and Temple of Lathander will now get mad if you bring Valen inside their borders. They'll also cast some vaguely useful spells in that situation (e.g., Repulse Undead). * Valen is now properly immune to Cure and Heal spells. The reverse damage thing was too hard to implement properly. :-( * Mist Form regeneration speed reduced by 25%. * Mist Form will not occur on the hardest difficulty levels. Version 10: * Mist Form now regenerates at "double current regeneration" speed. * Valen will now be attacked by a group of non-trivial Vampire Hunters. Version 11: * Mist Form now lasts 30 seconds. * Mist Form hide in shadows bug fixed. * Charm and Fear build up as she gains XP. * Anomen party-leaving bug fixed. Version 12: * No mist form if Valen is invisible, some crashes reported. Version 13: * Valen has Charm Person - Dire Charm - Domination progression now. * New French translations from Ly Meng! Thanks again! * New Valen mist spell from Homunculus. * New Valen armor (no icons for things she is immune to) from Homunculus. Version 14: * Fixed a possible dialogue loop with Spellhold-Bodhi. * Homunculus Fix: staged mist form now lasts less time as she levels up * Homunculus Fix: even more staged vampiric charm powers * Homunculus Fix: blighted by the sun does not start combat music * Homunculus Fix: five-stage valen claw progression Version 15-16: * Homunculus Fix: first level up correctly equips claws * Homunculus Fix: claw description fix * German and Spanish translations added! Thanks to Sebastian and Clan REO. * Homunculus Addition: Valen now talks to Salvanas * Reiella Darksythe fix: no vampire hunters in Sahuagain city Version 17: * Bodhi now accepts thieves ... so they can get Valen. Version 18: * Updated German translation from Sebastian. * Added SoA interjection dialogue, loosely doubling the amount Valen has to say. See the FAQ for a list. * Valen now drops equipment when doing her magic powerups to avoid losing her claws. * Added "MISSING" files so that the translators can tell what remains to be done. * BAFs are no longer distributed with the mod. If you want my baf sources, email me or decompile them. Version 19: * Spelling fixes. * Azuredge and Amaunator item upgrades burn Valen. * Kish epilogue added. Thanks! Version 19: * Epilogue "from" fix. * Blessed bracers burn Valen. Fixed a possible "holy equipment" bug in her script while I was there. * Changed Anti-Pal TOB starting equipment to use Soul Reaver +4 instead of Unholy Reaver +5 (which you should get from the Githyanki in the in the Watcher's Keep instead). This also allows you to do the Soul Reaver item upgrade. Version 20: * Unholy Reaver helmet color bug fixed. Thanks, Rune. Version 21: * The Hunters are a bit more resistant to cheese: you shouldn't be able to just attack them with impunity if you can somehow stop the conversation from happening. * Newer WeiDU. Version 22: * Valen's Claws are now normal items that can be passed around. Don't abuse this, I'm not policing you. * You may now talk to Valen and control her behavior: (1) stop/restart hiding in shadows (2) stop/restart attacking all enemies (3) fixup claws * Kicking Valen out now gives the correct dialogue. Version 23: * Aran Linvail dialogue bug fixed. * Valen claw no-backstab bug fixed. Version 24: * French translation updated by Laurent Duvernet, artemidore@caramail.com * Valen no longer dies if she is imprisoned. * MISSING files now automatically generated for translation ease. Version 25: * Last version would not install because I left my tob-banter work-in-progress commented in. :-( Version 26: * Updated Spanish Translation by Artemis Entreri. Version 27: * Jake King bugfix: give the right Soulreaver. * Make the Githyanki Unholy Reaver actually drop when you kill the AP. Version 28: * Added some ToB dialogue. Version 29: * Updated German translations from Thalantyr. Version 30: * Fixed a problem where all interjections were giving an error like: Too Few Parameters to Trigger Global("Valen_IJ3",0) * Fixed a problem where all interjections were giving an error like: Unknown Action: InParty("Valen") Version 31: * Anti-Paladin kit has been moved to the Tactics mod by popular request. * Upgraded to the newest WeiDU. Version 32: * Fixed a bug where Valen would become hostile after threatening Gromnir. Thanks, forum members. Version 33: * Added "no charm" dlg option. Thanks, Tyrus. * Added Cocobard's French translation of Valen's ToB interjections. Thanks! Version 34: * Upgrade to WeiDU 95 so that interjections don't block banter. Version 35: * Include Grzesiek Miazga's Polish translation. Thanks! * Additional Cocobard French translations. Version 36: * Valen can no longer charm things while invisible. Thanks, Alex Geiger. * You may now tell Valen to stop detecting traps. Personally I think this is useless, but somebody wanted it :-). Version 37: * Valen will hopefully attack charmed enemies less often. * No hunts in the Illithid City. Version 38: * Extra single-line German translation. Thanks, Christian Schlumpberger. * Whoopse. Really this time: you can ask her not to detect traps and she will stop. Version 39: * Updated Polish and French translations. * PaddyPitman spelling fixes. * SHOUTIDS.IDS fix, thanks Michael Sedgley. * Fixed some typos. Thanks, Alex Geiger. * Alex Geiger also sent me some Valen dialogue suggestions. Hopefully I'll have time to incorporate them in the next version. Version 40: * Whoops. v39 didn't parse/install. :-( Version 41: * Radiant Heart / Lathander will now only frenzy if Valen actually comes in the building with you. * Valen's vampiric progression has been slowed down a bit. Thanks, Alex Geiger. Version 42: * About a dozen typos and grammar mistakes fixed by paddypitman. Thanks! * Italian translation added. Version 43: * Russian translation by AERIE.ru added. Version 44: * Made many monsters (e.g., golems, elementals, mephit portals) immune to level drain. * Optional: 50% of all priests now get "protection from undead" scrolls. * Enemy Priests will now Turn Undead aginst Party Undead. * Enemy Priests get a few extra scrolls with anti-undead uses (e.g. repel undead, bolt of glory). * Added ironthrone's Japanese translation. Added kalabaka and yun395's Chinese (simplified and traditional) translations. * Updated German translation. Thanks, Falk and Tanis. Version 45: * "priest.baf" error fixed. Thanks, bigg.