JoeDirt
Scholar
First off, and the most important one, is Tony K's revamped henchmen and monster A.I., currently at version 1.1. This is, in my opinion, the one and only indispensable mod for NWN2 since it makes monsters do what they should do in the first place, i.e. use their abilities, their combat modes, their (!) items, and most notably, the full range of their spells. Not only does it do all that, but you can (optionally) set a global variable that makes monsters wander the dungeons they populate, actively seek out intruders (you) and open/bash doors you may be hiding behind.
Second is even's "No Dangerous Resting". Basically, this disables resting in areas that have hostile NPC's. So far no one has made a mod that makes resting close to how it is in P&P, so this is the next best thing. This tiny, tiny little mod completely changes how you play the campaign. Now you need to stock up on potions, aid kits and other assorted items, since you can't replenish your health mid-dungeon at the drop of a hat. Also, no longer can your spellcasters sling spells like there's no tomorrow, spamming fireballs everywhere and basically making every combat a zinch. You'll have to control your casters and watch their spells, like any player would in a traditional tabletop session. After Tony K's improved A.I., this is probably the second most important modification.
Thirdly, the most popular (and best) UI available for NWN2: XiDragon's xUI. A million times better than the default interface options, and extremely flexible. Not something essential to have, of course, but very nice anyway. Also, I like to use Micha's "Chat GUI patch", which basically relocates the information box to where it was back in NWN1. It's beyond me why the moved it this time around. A minor cosmetic fix, but I wouldn't play without it!
Now, these next two mods are mostly important for people whose framerate chugs during large battles. The majority of the time these kind of FPS dips are due to all the spell FX going on during combat, with not only your casters launching nukes but the foe as well. This, and this, change most of the spell FX in order to tone down the "shiny" and make the effects more subtle and less obtrusive. Although certainly not what you would call "essential", once you enter that big fight with a bunch of enemy casters and find that your FPS isn't taking a nosedive into the unplayable, you'll learn to love these two modifications.
Finally, and I don't know why I left these hotfixes for the end, here are player1's hotfixes for outstanding bugs/errors still in the game as of 1.06. His spell script fixes alone are a must-download for anyone!
I restarted the game a while ago and I'm having fun going through it with these modifications. The "No Dangerous Resting" alone has considerably changed my dungeon crawling experience, as now the game is actually... difficult, and I have to strategize and prepare before going down the rabbit hole. Imagine that!
Second is even's "No Dangerous Resting". Basically, this disables resting in areas that have hostile NPC's. So far no one has made a mod that makes resting close to how it is in P&P, so this is the next best thing. This tiny, tiny little mod completely changes how you play the campaign. Now you need to stock up on potions, aid kits and other assorted items, since you can't replenish your health mid-dungeon at the drop of a hat. Also, no longer can your spellcasters sling spells like there's no tomorrow, spamming fireballs everywhere and basically making every combat a zinch. You'll have to control your casters and watch their spells, like any player would in a traditional tabletop session. After Tony K's improved A.I., this is probably the second most important modification.
Thirdly, the most popular (and best) UI available for NWN2: XiDragon's xUI. A million times better than the default interface options, and extremely flexible. Not something essential to have, of course, but very nice anyway. Also, I like to use Micha's "Chat GUI patch", which basically relocates the information box to where it was back in NWN1. It's beyond me why the moved it this time around. A minor cosmetic fix, but I wouldn't play without it!
Now, these next two mods are mostly important for people whose framerate chugs during large battles. The majority of the time these kind of FPS dips are due to all the spell FX going on during combat, with not only your casters launching nukes but the foe as well. This, and this, change most of the spell FX in order to tone down the "shiny" and make the effects more subtle and less obtrusive. Although certainly not what you would call "essential", once you enter that big fight with a bunch of enemy casters and find that your FPS isn't taking a nosedive into the unplayable, you'll learn to love these two modifications.
Finally, and I don't know why I left these hotfixes for the end, here are player1's hotfixes for outstanding bugs/errors still in the game as of 1.06. His spell script fixes alone are a must-download for anyone!
I restarted the game a while ago and I'm having fun going through it with these modifications. The "No Dangerous Resting" alone has considerably changed my dungeon crawling experience, as now the game is actually... difficult, and I have to strategize and prepare before going down the rabbit hole. Imagine that!
