Class Revisions
This component dramatically rebalances the game to make warriors and rogues much more viable, while slightly nerfing some aspects of the typical powergaming classes (clerics, sorcerers, and druids). This component is most balanced when combined with the Spell Revisions component.
Barbarians: Barbarian rage now grants immunity to fear, hopelessness, stun, paralysis, sleep, and unconsciousness. Also, Barbarians get an additional 1- physical damage resistance for every 1 level after level 20, instead of every 3 levels. Barbarian Rage now keeps improving after level 20.
Bards: The Lingering Song exploit is now closed, but bard songs are now more convenient, and all of them have practical uses (even the Song of Kaudies). They're also spread out over more levels and scale with levels so bards no longer reach their peak at level 11. All songs do not stack unless otherwise specified:
Level 1: The Tale of Currant Strongheart: +1 to hit and damage and immunity to fear. Increases to +2 to hit and damage and grants immunity to hopelessness at level 19.
Level 5: Tymora's Melody: +1 luck, +2 to saving throws and rogue skills. Increases to +2 to luck and +4 to saving throws and rogue skills at level 22.
Level 10: The Siren's Yearning: All enemies must make a Will save or be stunned for 1 round or until they take damage. The save DC is equal to the bard's level. This song also imposes a cumulative -1 penalty to Will saves for 10 rounds, every round. Allies have a 25% chance of being affected by this spell.
Level 15: The Song of Kaudies: All allies are affected by the Blink spell for 1 round (enemies have a 50% miss chance on party members, while the party has a 20% miss chance and 20% spell failure).
Level 20: The War Chant of Sith: +2 generic armor bonus, physical damage resistance of 3/-, and 3 HP healed every round. Increases to +4 AC, 6/- damage resistance, and 6 HP healed every round at level 25.
Level 25: The Ballad of Three Heroes: +5 spell resistance, 5/- resistance to all forms of magical damage, and the effects of the Tale of Curran Strongheart, Tymora's Melody, and the War Chant of Sith. Increases to +10 spell resistance and 10/- resistance to magical damage at level 28.
Clerics: Clerics, druid, and mages all use the same spell tables; they gain spell slots at the same rate. Spontaneous casting scales beyond level 4 (you can now cast Healing Circle, Heal, Greater Restoration, and Mass Heal via spontaneous casting).
Druids: Druids get a new set of shapeshifting forms. The abilities of each form scale with the druid's level.
Level 5: Winter Wolf Level 7: Polar Bear Level 9: Giant Viper Level 11: Salamander or Frost Salamander Level 13: Shambling Mound Level 15: Fire, Water, Earth or Air Elemental Level 30: Black Dragon (Dragon Shape)
The druid shapeshifting feats are also changed. They now allow druids to shapeshift into Blink Dogs, Rhinocerous Beetles, and a swarm of insects as in the Creeping Doom spell.
Rogues: Rogues get +1 luck every 5 levels. They won't have the sustained damage output a warrior has, but they'll be able to land some very wicked sneak attacks (luck in IWD2 increases the chance of a critical hit).
Monks: Monks now get much faster and more accurate unarmed attacks, and their attack damage progresses more logically. Their base damage caps at 1d8, but they gain more attacks per round than other classes, eventually becoming able to attack more than five times per round. Monks also get Abundant Step at level 10, a teleportation effect.
Fighters: Fighters get +1 to damage every 5 levels (increasing to every 2 levels after level 20), and now the fighter-exclusive Weapon Specialization feats give +5 to hit and damage. All warriors get better saving throws and stronger attacks.
Rangers: Rangers get more spell slots, and they get them at lower levels. They are also able to use Set Natural Snare every 6 levels, which snares enemies for 5 rounds on a failed Reflex save. Set Natural Snare is much more effective than in the original game; the save DC now improves based on the character's Wilderness Lore skill.
Paladins: Paladins get more spell slots, and they get them at lower levels. Paladins get an additional casting of Lay on Hands every 5 levels.
Sorcerers: Sorcerers get slightly slower spell growth and slightly slower access to new spell picks. They will no longer hit their peak at level 20 and then experience near-zero growth.
Looser Alignment Restrictions for Classes
Even IWD2's very broad class system can be restrictive in some ways, mostly in the lawful/chaotic axis. This component loosens a few of the restrictions, allowing certain classes to be compatible with more alignments:
Bards can be any alignment besides Lawful Neutral (previously could not be any lawful alignment). Monks of the Old Order can be any non-chaotic alignment. Monks of the Broken Ones can be Neutral Good. Monks of the Dark Moon can be Lawful Neutral, True Neutral, and Neutral Evil. Paladins of Ilmater and Mystra can be Neutral Good. Paladins of Helm can be Lawful Neutral. Rogues can be Lawful Good.
Spell Revisions
This component significantly strengthens many underpowered spells while slightly weakening the most powerful options. It also switches some spells to lower or higher levels and grants some spells to classes that previously could not cast them. Here are the main changes:
1. Over 30 new spells are added to the game. These include unused spells like Dimension Door, spells from other games like Mantle and True Strike, as well as unusual ones like Identify Creature (a divination spell that tells you the stats of the target creature) and Auril's Blessing (which increases the power of your cold spells).
2. Cleric domains have better spell choices. If a spell is in-theme with the kit (e.g. Moonblade and Wall of Moonlight for priests of Selune), they can cast it at a particularly low level as a domain spell.
3. Certain spells are available to more classes. Rangers and Paladins have much better spell choices. Spells that create magical weapons or give combat bonuses can be cast as lower-level spells by Rangers or Paladins than by Druids or Clerics (e.g. Rangers can cast Fire Seeds as a 4th-level spell, and Paladins can cast Spiritual Weapon as a 1st-level spell and Holy Power as a 3rd-level spell).
4. Magical weapons like Flame Blade and Decastave have been improved. Most of them gain bonuses from Strength and proficiency (even ones that deal non-physical damage). Saving throws on magical weapons and touch attacks (e.g. Snakebite poison, Slay Living instant death) now have DCs that scale with the character's spellcasting ability and Spell Focus bonuses. Touch attacks that are one-use (e.g. Inflict Light Wounds, Harm) are not used up until they hit a creature.
5. Spells that weaken a creature rather than disabling it have a higher DC or no save at all (e.g. Deafness has no save since it simply gives 20% spell failure).
Spell Focus Feats for All Schools
In the unmodded game, spellcasters could only choose Spell Focus to empower Evocation, Necromancy, Transmutation, and Enchantment spells. This component expands those four feats to apply to the other four spell schools as well. The new feats are:
Spell Focus: Evocation/Conjuration
Spell Focus: Enchantment/Illusion
Spell Focus: Necromancy/Divination
Spell Focus: Transmutation/Abjuration
Item Revisions
Normally, Icewind Dale 2's items are balanced terribly. There are a handful of ridiculously overpowered magic items (e.g. Winged Blight, Massive Halberd of Hate) towering over hundreds of almost useless magic items (e.g. items that just provide +1 Hide skill or 1/- Spell Resistance). It's not even a low-magic game: one gets tons of magic items, but most of them are forgettable.
Item Revisions enhances most of the magical items in Icewind Dale 2, giving them a much larger variety of useful abilities. The purpose is primarily to empower weak items rather than to weaken strong items. Overall, the total number of magical items you obtain as loot in the game won't change much, but those items are more likely to be useful.
Item Revisions also adds many new items to the random loot tables, including powerful armor, shields, rings, amulets, and ammunition.
Creature Revisions
This component enhances creatures and encounters throughout the game. Here are the main changes:
1. Spellcasters are given better AI and new spell selections, including some of the new spells from Spell Revisions. They start combat with buffs on. They shouldn't be quite as tough as Sword Coast Stratagems spellcasters, though.
2. Enemy clerics now use domain spells. Even clerics of enemy-only deities cast domain spells (e.g. priests of Auril have spells like Ice Storm, while priests of Xvim have acid spells).
3. Enemies use more sensible items and attacks. Aurilite rangers shoot frost arrows, mind flayers drain Intelligence on hit, and large creatures have longer reach on their attacks.
4. On Heart of Fury Mode, enemies are stronger in a variety of ways. Monsters' innate abilities have higher save DCs and/or deal more damage. Spellcasters cast higher-level spells than they do on normal difficulty settings.
Fixes:
1. Harpies in Chapter 1 use their wail.
2. Yuan-ti Half-breed Sorceresses in the battle for Kuldahar now cast spells.
3. On Heart of Fury Mode, enemy monks have higher-level monk fists to reflect the fact that they are higher-level.
4. On Heart of Fury Mode, creatures summoned by enemies now gain Heart of Fury Mode bonuses.
Better XP Progression
In most RPGs, you gain levels at a roughly constant level over the course of the game. In IWD2, though, you gain XP and levels slower and slower as you progress in the game, which is the biggest reason why the late game is so much less fun than the early game. This is because many enemies are rigged to be a lower challenge rating than their actual level. By the time you're in the Severed Hand, you might be fighting critters that are level 17 but have a challenge rating of 9!
This component fixes that. There are two install options. The first option sets all creatures' challenge rating equal to their level, which results in extremely fast leveling as the game progresses. The second option, which is the recommended version, sets CR to slightly below their level after level 9. Neither option will affect early game enemies much, but midgame and endgame enemies will now grant XP appropriate to the challenge they pose.
Faster Targos
This component allows the player to skip most of the Targos questline. The first time you speak with Shawford Crale, you can trigger the goblin invasion with Vghotan, Ghotrag, and Caballus by saying "Did you hear that?" midway through the dialogue.
Faster Horde Fortress
This component rigs the front gate of the Horde Fortress so that you can force it open and attack the fortress head on rather than sneaking through the tunnels. It also adds additional ways to get inside Guthma's cabin.
Faster Ice Temple
Getting through the Ice Temple is one of the slowest parts of IWD2, with lots of disconnected plot triggers and quest items. This component makes it so some of the locked doors in the temple that normally require keys or the lightning machine to open are now either open by default or pickable. This component also allows you to skip the whole area by tearing down the wall through brute force. If you deal enough damage to the Ice Wall Fault in the northwest corner of the exterior map (the one with Sherincal and the Remorhazes), the wall will collapse and you can proceed to the next area. Destroying the wall is extremely difficult, however, as the wall has tremendous damage resistances, lots of HP, and deals cold damage whenever it is struck.
Faster Wandering Village
This component lets you delve all the way through the Fell Wood and fight the Will o' Wisps the first time you go there, rather than having to go through it three times for the three quests.
The component also allows you to skip all of the Wandering Village questlines and the Fell Wood Maze by going straight to the exit. Enter the Fell Wood where the spirit greets you, choose the east exit to the treant area, and the exit to the next area will already be open.
It is still possible to complete all of the Wandering Village quests with this component installed.
Faster Black Raven Monastery
This component allows you to skip the Black Raven Monastery trials without having to kill the monks. The locked door in the monastery basement can now be picked.
Faster Underdark
This component lets you skip the Viciscamera questline. You should be able to force open the doors to the mind flayer city and proceed without doing any chores for Malavon.
Faster Dragon's Eye
Dragon's Eye and the time paradox questline in Lord Pyros' Domain have long been the low point of IWD2, with massive amounts of backtracking, numerous plot triggers with few clues to indicate where you're supposed to go, and very little reward for the immense amount of time you have to invest in the game just to get through it. This component makes two of the mandatory side quests in Dragon's Eye optional.
Opening the door in the third floor of Dragon's Eye no longer requires you to put poison in the four pools in the area; you just have to kill Thorasskus. In addition, you can pass under the Eye of Sseth without being a histachii.
Faster Severed Hand
The Severed Hand can also take a fair amount of time, and while it's not nearly as monotonous as Dragon's Eye or the Ice Temple, some parts of it can still be very slow. This component adds Ruinlord Argos Val to Isair and Madae's throne room. If you have a very high Bluff score, you can convince him to introduce you to Isair and Madae without having to do any of the other quests in the Severed Hand.
This component also makes it so you do not need to defeat Iyachtu Xvim before going to the final boss (though in this case you'll have to fight the glabrezus in the final battle).
Alternative Dragon's Eye
This component simplifies the final area of Dragon's Eye. Rather than having to go through a long time travel quest, you just fight one battle to prevent Izbelah from casting Temporal Stasis. The component changes some dialogs in Chapter 5 to make it clear why you're fighting Izbelah.
Add more scrolls to the game
This component adds relatively high-level mage scrolls to various spell vendors, including Elytharra, Zack Boosenberry, Suoma, Bered, and Sheemish. A solo wizard or a wizard in HoF mode will be able to learn high-end spells and keep pace with a sorcerer. This isn't too extreme: early-game vendors might have a couple of scrolls at 5th-7th level, but they won't have tons of 9th-level scrolls.
Revised Creature Resistances and Immunities
This component revises the resistances of some creatures to be more reasonable. For example, slimes in Dragon's Eye aren't completely immune to physical damage, and iron golems and will o' wisps aren't completely immune to magic (they still have high spell resistance, though).
Elementals now have regular elemental immunities rather than undead immunities. Fiends now have regular fiendish immunities (e.g. immunity to poison) rather than undead immunities.
Trolls no longer fall down and have to be finished off by fire or acid; instead they regenerate faster and have more HP but take significantly more damage from fire and acid.
More Accurate Saving Throws for Enemies
This component adjusts all enemy saving throws in the game, making them roughly equal to the player's saving throws at the same level. Thus, a level 10 enemy fighter will have similar saving throws to a level 10 fighter in the party.
Revise Critical Hit Immunity
The vanilla game gives out immunity to critical hits to enemies that shouldn't have it, including fiends and certain random enemies. This component has two options: either you can give critical hit immunity to all undead, constructs, objects, elementals and oozes and remove it for all other creatures, or you can make all creatures vulnerable to critical hits.
Better Racial Enemies for Rangers
In the vanilla game, there were a lot of racial enemy choices that simply weren't very useful. Getting bonuses against yuan-ti and undead was simply better than getting bonuses against bugbears and hook horrors. This component gives the player the ability to choose from a new set of racial enemies:
Giant Insects
Giant Arachnids
Demons
Goblinoids
Giants
Amorphous Beings
Constructs
Humans
Animals
Undead
Aberrations
Underdark
Aberrations
Yuan-ti
Elementals
Trolls
Dragons
Cosmetic Tweaks
Currently, this component lets any race choose any of the available colors on character creation.
More Persuasion Options
These components add more opportunities in the game to use Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate, usually to skip a battle.
NPC Core
This component allows several existing NPCs to join the party: the fighter Reig, the rogue Black Geoffrey, the diviner Veira, the cleric Emma Moonblade, the troll Vrek Vileclaw, the goblin Vunarg, the rogue/illusionist Zack Boosenburry, the abishai Xhaan, the sorcerer Pairi, and the monk Sersa.
NPCs gain experience upon joining to match the party's experience
This component lets NPCs from the NPC Core component start with experience to match the party. There are two subcomponents. The first one makes NPCs start with the average experience of the rest of the party members. The second one makes them start with a fifth of the total experience of the party (this way, a small, high level party won't recruit high level NPCs).
Cosmetic improvements to the GUI and New loading screens
This component currently adds a new main menu screen and new chapter screens. There are no new buttons, but the GUI should look better.
Looping Main Theme
Normally IWD2's main theme does not loop. After 1 minute, it ends and you spend the rest of character creation with no music playing. This component edits the main theme to play repeatedly.
Revised Battle Square
To get all the rewards for the Battle Square, one normally has to fight 25 battles per rank, to a total of 250 battles. Even if the party members are powerful enough to win all the battles, this is still very tedious.
This component makes it so one only has to beat a rank once (with 3 or more squares) to get the main reward for the rank. To get all the rewards, it will only take 30 battles rather than 250.
Minor Damage Resistance for Armor and Shields
Inspired by Weimer's similar component from IWD2-Ease, this component patches every armor and shield in the game so they give physical damage resistance equal to half their Armor Class bonus, rounded down.
Race Revisions
Race Revisions gives some new abilities to certain races, to make them fit their archetypes better. For example, lightfoot halflings gain their Dexterity modifier (if higher than their Strength modifier) to the damage of slings and other throwing weapons. Rock gnomes gain a bonus to Intelligence rather than Constitution.
Enemies give the same amount of experience regardless of the party's level
This component makes killing enemies give the same amount of experience no matter the party's level. This way, leveling up doesn't come with the dissatifaction of enemies giving less experience, and there's no incentive to delay leveling up to increase experience gain. There are two options: either you can have enemies give experience equal to 25 * their challenge rating (a six-character party will reach about level 15 by the end of the game), or it can be 35 * their challenge rating (a six-character party will reach about level 18 by the end of the game).
Adjust encounter level-scaling
Icewind Dale 2 encounters often have additional enemies for a higher-level party. This component has two options: you can make it so you always fight at least the version of the encounter meant for a medium-level party, or you can make it so you always fight the version meant for a high-level party. The higher-level versions of encounters usually just have a couple more enemies or in some cases have tougher versions of enemies; they aren't impossible for a lower-level party to complete.
Reduce the HP bonuses of creatures in Heart of Fury Mode
Enemies in Heart of Fury Mode normally have absolutely ridiculous HP: goblins in the prologue have 157 HP, and the frost spiders in Chapter 2 have 452 HP! This component drastically reduces the HP on creatures in Heart of Fury Mode: goblins in the prologue have 13 HP, and the frost spiders have 232 HP. This will make Heart of Fury Mode easier, but also much less tedious (and Creature Revisions makes Heart of Fury Mode more challenging to make up for it).
Reduce the attack bonuses of creatures in Heart of Fury Mode
Enemies in Heart of Fury Mode have such high attack bonuses that it's near impossible for them to miss except on a 1. This component gives creatures outside the party a -9 attack penalty on Heart of Fury Mode. They will still have higher attack bonuses than they do on the next-hardest difficulty, but it won't be quite as extreme.
Reduce the Saving Throw bonuses of creatures in Heart of Fury Mode
Early on in Heart of Fury Mode, it can be very difficult to get enemies to fail saving throws if you're starting as a low-level party. This component gives a small saving throw penalty to creatures outside the party on Heart of Fury Mode.
Remove ability score bonuses of allied summoned creatures in Heart of Fury Mode
In Heart of Fury Mode, allied summoned creatures also get HoF bonuses, and since you reach high level more quickly, summoned creatures can be quite overpowered. This component makes it so summoned creatures don't gain the normal +10 to all ability scores that creatures on Heart of Fury Mode get, unless they are summoned by an enemy.
Have the party start with more experience on Heart of Fury Mode
The beginning of Heart of Fury Mode is absolutely brutal if you start at level 1 - even with some of those components installed that weaken HoF creatures. This component gives the party some experience at the start of the game. The experience is divided among party members, so a smaller party will start at a higher level. You have choices of how much experience to start with.
Remove the delay after a sneak attack before the creature can be sneak attacked again
Normally once a rogue sneak attacks a creature, that creature becomes immune to sneak attacks for about 3 rounds. This component removes that immunity, allowing the creature to be sneak attacked again.
Increase the level cap
This component increases the level cap to 40 or to 50 (your choice). You'll only reach such high levels if you're soloing or playing Heart of Fury Mode.
