Lilaina

The site won't let me upload the full size debug file but here's the part where it always chokes on "symbol_pain_no_save" debug.txt

I'm getting an error installing ToF for BG1EE (latest version, no other mods aside from DLC merger). Mod worked fine for IWDEE but with BG1EE, the installation fails if I have selected both "Include arcane spells from IWD" and "Include divine spells from IWD." With those two together, the install will fail on "Install all spell tweaks component." WeiDU.log

Fighters should pop hardiness and have items that protect from confusion. Divine spell casters have sanctuary. A dispel from Keldorn, a bard, or a pure cleric should work wonders. After spending the first round on protections I just timestop/improved alacrity cheese and dump a spellbook on them.

Cool thanks! Ras, The Dancing Blade is pretty useless but would maybe make sense as something protecting it's wielder from the brunt of a blow by acting on its own. The Ring of Clumsiness with crit immunity could be an interesting trade-off gameplay wise.

Would it be possible to make the "Update Existing Items" subcomponent seperate from the new items? I like the changes to existing items but generally avoid new items.

Do enemies also benefit from the pips in heavy armor, spellcraft etc?

I recently started my yearly BG playthrough and finished BG1 with the latest version of SCS/insane/no IWD-spells. I came across two issues: 1. The demon knight didn't seem to use teleport although the readme says he should do so now. (Aec'Letec did to great effect) 2. Mendas didn't cast any offensive spells in his human form, just buffs. On later reloads for testing purposes he did so however so dunno what that was about. I would also suggest a new tweak/component to give lycanthropes more HP like fiends, genies etc. in BG2. My party had 2 fighter types and a cleric who absolutely smashed through the doggie hordes with haste and strength potions on maxed out difficulty. I think most players know about silver weapons and hoard their potions for endgame so they could use some extra beefiness to pose some danger. Other than that I had a nice bug free experience so thanks for continuing to support new game versions!

Mages also don't seem to attack with Melf's minute meteors on higher difficulties, at least in BG1 EE, so the bug does make mage encounters easier before they run out of spells as well.

Just use an earlier version of the mod lol... and three months is nothing compared to Beamdog not fixing bugs they caused years ago.

A simple solution is to send the arcane spell caster with spell immunity and other protections ahead and absorb at least the initial remove magic. In general you should spread your party out so that not everyone is hit by AoE effects. You can also stack fire protection items on one fighter type to keep them safe if dispelled. Ranged weapon users can stay in the edges and rebuff with protection from fear and a fire resistance potion if necessary. Also, later in the game and ToB especially single or dual classed clerics will reach such high levels that buffs from them are quite hard to dispel, so you don't necessary need immunity to abjuration at that point.

Cool. On the topic of spell visuals, Physical Mirror has been bugged for a long time now in 2.5 version of EE (not because of SCS but even in an unmodded game). The disk graphic is permanent on the character that cast it, even dying and resurrecting the character won't remove it. Is that something modders can fix or is it up to Beamdog?

Just a couple of ideas that came to me during my last playthrough: 1. Would it be possible to replace some of the arcane spell protection graphics with new visuals from IWD? Antimagic Shell for instance looks very cool and could be used with Spelltrap to help set it apart from other similar spells. Right now I feel that many of the new visual effects are "wasted" on spells that aren't as relevant as spell immunity/deflection/turning/trap, which share the same disk and whirly balls visuals. 2. Epic werewolf form HLA? This has probably been suggested before but I think it's kind of disappointing how the Fire Elemental and Earth Elemental HLAs are better for both damage and tanking compared to the Greater werewolf form. Access to other shapeshifting forms also goes against the class description.

Depends on version/difficulty. I play on "super insane" i.e. only select spell casters in SoA get HLAs and everyone does in ToB, so Irenicus in Spellhold is the 1st such caster in my game. My tips were for early to midgame which is the hardest part of the game imo, since you don't have access to high level spells and other tools yet.

Here's Mivsan outlasting Kangaxx (lvl 35) at the end of SoA, so probably something like 15 level difference: Kensai->Mage is obviously OP but anyone with the spellslots and blanket immunity items can wait out Kangaxx's protections after which the rest of the party can rush him down. Wands of monster summoning provide endless fodder and clerics have plenty of spell slots for skeletons when needed. The opposite actually, I play with iron-man rules and no resting in dungeons. My parties are pretty optimized however. Something like: 1. Specialist mage/Sorcerer/Edwin 2. F->M, F/M, or Blade 3. F/T, F/M/T, F->T or Jan 4. Cleric or Fighter->Cleric Rest can be whatever, as long as they have a decent amount of attacks per round.

Some quick tips for dealing with enemy mages you can't dispel for whatever reason: 1. Send in summons, let them absorb all the most dangerous spells and deal with the mage afterwards. Works well against lone enemies especially in early to mid game. 2. Send in a fully buffed fighter->mage, bard, M/T, or F/M to tank the mage. Even if you can't damage them, just keep spell immunity/spellshield up until the enemy's protection from magic weapons/mantle etc have run out. 3. Throw a cloudkill or two on top of them. It will keep interrupting them and the damage alone will usually kill them pretty quickly. Especially useful against enemy parties and during ambushes. The wands are especially OP for this. 4. Backstabs are sometimes an option; I don't think it's cheating to scout ahead and do so when possible. 5. Insect plague destroys casters without fire shield. Access to lvl 7 spell slots in order to deal with liches is the single biggest roadblock that SCS throws at the player but I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that the party has at least one pure or dual classed mage who will reach the necessary level reasonably fast. Anti-undead weapons and in ToB, Turn Undead, are also options, although admittedly pretty cheesy. Even at 1.5x power the inquisitor dispel is incredibly powerful as long as the target doesn't have Spell immunity: Abjuration. You can kite the demon and detect at the same time, or just tank it with someone else. Not being able to attack or cast anything is a pretty good trade for what the skill does imo. And Jan shouldn't be your only arcane caster anyway Shadowdancers are also especially nice for this since they can do the mini time stop and dispel all illusions immediately and safely.