Baldur's Gate & Baldur's Gate II Mod Thread

[Shadenuat]

Beholders are immune to magic, so I don't understand how Fireballs work on them?

They never were immune to magic, even in PnP they only have resistance to it (~20% depending on size?).

 

[Erebus]

Beholders are immune to magic, so I don't understand how Fireballs work on them?

They never were immune to magic, even in PnP they only have resistance to it (~20% depending on size?).

They're immune to magic in Gold Box games... which makes them a huge pain in the ass.

 

[octavius]

Beholders are immune to magic, so I don't understand how Fireballs work on them?

They never were immune to magic, even in PnP they only have resistance to it (~20% depending on size?).

They're immune to magic in Gold Box games... which makes them a huge pain in the ass.

At close range they are, but if you manage to keep your distance (I think their Slow spells have a range of 8), they are completely harmless.
I have always played BG2 under the assumption that the Beholders were completely immune to magic. I guess sometimes previous experience is a hindrance.

 

[Shadenuat]

Well, you've missed a lot, like Viconia slapping multieyed bastard with a whip and commanding it to get on it's knees (or whatever it has for knees) with Command spell Beholder packs can be handled relatively easy if you bombard them with basic low level control and damage spells.

 

[Cynic]

Bros is there some way to find out what mods I have installed? I want to move a game from one PC to the other and obviously want the same mods installed.

 

[NotTale]

Bros is there some way to find out what mods I have installed? I want to move a game from one PC to the other and obviously want the same mods installed.

Anything preventing you from just moving the files?

 

[Cynic]

Hmm no. But the mods gotta be installed right and in some sort of order...

 

[Wintermute]

You should have a WeiDU.log file that will show your mods by name and in the order you installed them.
You can use it to create a batch file to reinstall all the mods automatically. See http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/3008/newbie-mod-user-guide-to-game-modding for more info on that.

 

[Cynic]

Ah wicked I guess that will just be in the BG directory right?

 

[Shadenuat]

Should be there, and there should be a folder for every mod you installed with mod name, actually
File is .log named WeiDU

 

[Horus]

Well, you've missed a lot, like Viconia slapping multieyed bastard with a whip and commanding it to get on it's knees (or whatever it has for knees) with Command spell Beholder packs can be handled relatively easy if you bombard them with basic low level control and damage spells.

Gaint beholders that constantly throw anti-magic rays and are pretty much immune to low level control spells in my game. They follow the character's that attacked them unless he/she becomes invisible again so i have to use either magic(Stupid elf girl?) or potions.

They fucking assault even my hasted characters with constant barrage of anti-magic and death beams so even my tanks can't hold out until they reach them. Even if they did, they just simply use confuse,held or petrify to make them useless. Fucking beholders, even dragons are weaklings compared to them.

 

[Shadenuat]

Try Web, Confusion, Chaos, Insect Plague (it forces morale check), wands of fireballs and cloudkill etc. Throw them in fog of war, use invisible character as a marker so spells would land near beholders.

There is that problem in BG2 that unless you are playing a wizard or sorcerer yourself and/or take Edwin with you, you'll never have that real magical potential you could, even should have to face tough enemies. Aerie is't bad support caster, but one have to wait for a long time till she will be able to load three Holy Smites in sequencer and stuff. A balanced party should have two good arcane casters, it was't a problem in BG1 (Dyna, Xzar, Xan, Edwin, and you could dual class from low levels), but in BG2 they just throw non-specialized dual and multi classed cripples at you. And there is't a single sorcerer to have.
So... grab Edwin. Or install a bunch of mods, ignore cheap masturbatory fiction. I usually install Xan mod, although after a bunch of playthroughs, his attitude becomes... tiresome.

 

[Horus]

Web rarely holds them, i use fireballs(3 with sequencer) too but they generally see my character even if he was pretty far away. I might have modded the game unknowingly to cause them become resistant to usual tactics.

But it's not a problem anymore, i gave up on their cave so i don't think think i will see much of them anymore.(I did the cult quest too)

 

[moraes]

Web rarely holds them, i use fireballs(3 with sequencer) too but they generally see my character even if he was pretty far away. I might have modded the game unknowingly to cause them become resistant to usual tactics.

Maybe its the SCSII component, "Smarter Beholders":

Smarter Beholders
This component upgrades the AI of the beholders, gauths, elder orbs and hive mothers in SoA and ToB. (It basically tries to do it non-cheesily, but it's hard to define this exactly since beholder powers are almost all scripted). Beholders get to use their eyestalks once per round each, but they will tend to manage to get through more of them in a round; their targeting has also been drastically improved (the new scripts are about 150 times the length of the old ones!)
In accordance with PnP 2nd edition rules, beholders are now immune to most (not all) of their own eyestalks, which makes them more willing to bombard their way through Spell Deflection. I have removed the Disintegrate eyestalk power (I don't like scripting for powers that require you to reload on a failed save) but I have added a Telekinesis eyestalk (more for fun than for increased challenge). And I have borrowed, with thanks, the Quest Pack component which allows beholders to lose their eyestalks when damaged. Beholders are also unable to use eyestalk powers when blinded (although their allies may use anti-magic rays to remove the blindness).
As of version 2, players of a masochistic disposition can turn the disintegration power back on at the console. Just enter CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("DMWWBeholderDisintegrate","GLOBAL",1).
Hive mothers use the same range of powers as in the original game, but use them more efficiently, and use their eyestalks in the gap while they're waiting to cast spells again. Elder orbs were tricky because of the rather inconsistent range of powers they show in the unmodded game, but I have interpreted them as casting spells just as standard mages do, and as knowing 2 spells of each level. Their choice of spell, and of Contingency, Spell Trigger et al, has been optimised more, and they too use eyestalk powers while waiting to cast again (and show a preference for short-casting-time spells, so as to allow more eyestalk use.)
It might be worth noting that, even in the unmodded game, hive mothers can see through invisibility (though elder orbs cannot).
(New as of version 6). Beholder eyestalk rays ought to be able to work their way through Spell Turning spells and the like: a few beholder rays ought to be enough to overwhelm a Spell Turning spell (and for that reason, beholders are scripted to use their rays even on protected characters). However, for whatever reason this doesn't seem to work very well in-game. So instead, beholder rays now have a random chance (thirty percent) of dispelling a spell protection on contact; this should work out, on average, to the same thing. This is optional: you can choose whether or not to let beholder rays "burn through" defences in this way.
Also as of version 6, beholders have an additional trick to use against certain characters; see the spoilers for details.
As of version 16, you can choose at install time to have beholders use an alternative form of their antimagic ray. In pen-and-paper D&D, a beholder's eyestalk blocks all magical effects, beneficial or otherwise, on the target for as long as it's targetted. In BG2, the eye is more powerful: it removes all magical effects, blocks spellcasting for several rounds, but doesn't block enemy magic attacks (including the beholder's other eyestalks). Optionally, the beholder antimagic ray blocks all magical effects, including harmful ones, for one round, and also disables magical activity (spellcasting etc) by the target for one round; this is supposed to simulate the beholder bathing the target with its antimagic ray for one round. This subcomponent obviously requires different scripting, so beholders will use their antimagic ray a bit more cautiously if it's installed.
Also as of version 16, if Spell Revisions is installed then Beholders will use a Spell-Revisions-style disintegrate ray (at 10th level for ordinary beholders, 20th level for Hive Mothers). The default in this case is that they do use Disintegrate; entering CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("DMWWBeholderDisintegrateSR","GLOBAL",1) will disable it.

If so, the Shield of Balduran still makes them a cakewalk.

BUT, if you installed the component:

Remove the Shield of Balduran from the game
I looked fairly extensively for ways of scripting beholders to deal with the Shield of Balduran without resorting to cheese, or for ways of toning down its powers while keeping it recognisable, but I couldn't find one. Ultimately, the character equipped with the Shield of Balduran is invulnerable to beholders, pretty much irrespective of what strategy they use. This component (which, as always, is optional) removes the shield entirely from the game, leaving beholders as a challenge again.

Then

 

[octavius]

Been a long time since I played BG2, but what is the range of their Disintegrate and similar (ie not spells, but their innate abilities) attacks? In the GB games it's very short, which make beholders harmless at a distance.

 

[Infinitron]

http://gibberlings3.net/

G3 Announces IWDification; Beta 1 Available

IWDification is a mod to bring some of the elements of Icewind Dale into the Baldur's Gate series of games. A lot of this project is based upon the work of the IWD-in-BG2 conversion project. The mod adds various elements such as selectable bard songs, two-handed axes, and over 65 new spells into your BG2, Tutu, BGT, or BGEE game. Every component can be installed independently of one another. Download the current beta, learn more from the readme or project page, or join us on the forum.


Baldur's Gate II Tweak Pack v13 Available for Download

The BG2 Tweak Pack is a WeiDU compilation of fixes, cosmetic changes, and tweaks. Some of these were fan requests, others are needed fixes, and others simply make dealing with the more irritating aspects of the game engine easier. Each component can be installed separately so the player can pick and choose only which ones they wish to install. Version 12 introduces the Two-Handed Axes and Sensible Entrance Point tweaks as well as some bug fixes. You can get it from the downloads page, browse the Readme or project page, or join us on the forum.

July 21 Update: v13 now available, with a new French translation, new bug fix, and compatibility updates.

 

[Lilura]

Mind Blank, ftw.

 

[Aeschylus]

Then

I think there's actually another shield that reflects gaze attacks somewhere, though I forget where exactly.

Been a long time since I played BG2, but what is the range of their Disintegrate and similar (ie not spells, but their innate abilities) attacks? In the GB games it's very short, which make beholders harmless at a distance.

I think in BG2 only the elder orbs have insta-death attacks, though the others still fire off enough beams per round to make them annoying. I don't recall being able to cheese them with bows.

 

[thesheeep]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can find some item (a cloak?) in BG2 that just reflects their beams. Pump up your melee fighter, give him that item and watch the slaughter. Totally forgot the name of the item, though.

 

[octavius]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can find some item (a cloak?) in BG2 that just reflects their beams. Pump up your melee fighter, give him that item and watch the slaughter. Totally forgot the name of the item, though.

Baldur...something.
It's only been mentioned a few times.

 

[Aeschylus]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can find some item (a cloak?) in BG2 that just reflects their beams. Pump up your melee fighter, give him that item and watch the slaughter. Totally forgot the name of the item, though.

Baldur...something.
It's only been mentioned a few times.

Nah, he's talking about the cloak of mirroring that you get in the Sahuagin city. I was thinking of an item that was apparently added by some mod.

 

[octavius]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can find some item (a cloak?) in BG2 that just reflects their beams. Pump up your melee fighter, give him that item and watch the slaughter. Totally forgot the name of the item, though.

Baldur...something.
It's only been mentioned a few times.

Nah, he's talking about the cloak of mirroring that you get in the Sahuagin city. I was thinking of an item that was apparently added by some mod.

So much cheese in BG2...can't keep it all straight.

 

[thesheeep]

Yes, quite a lot of cheese :D

 

[Dwemer Puzzle Box]

Isn't the SCS II cloak of mirroring supposed to simply absorb the spells instead of deflecting them?

Oh, and I just re-found my love for this game by playing jester (with rogue rebalancing, but whatever) with Imoen and JaheWonder how the hell I'll beat improved Irenicus.

 

[Aeschylus]

Isn't the SCS II cloak of mirroring supposed to simply absorb the spells instead of deflecting them?

That was changed by ToB, not SCS2. But it has the same basic effect of completely neutralizing beholders.