SCS balance discussion

[Guest Krazy]

I'm going to preface this critique of SCS by saying I enjoy using Weimer's tactics mods for BG2, so I enjoy the tactics of facing difficult fights, but I got to say SCS has been one huge disappointment, via it's 'cheating' and it's insane method of making fights harder.

 

The reason I say insane is that in BG2, at level 7+ you have options open to you to deal with the spells thrown at you, but in BG1, you have less hit points, worse saves, less immunity items, less options, less everything basically which means that the method chosen by SCS to prebuff enemies makes them unbeatable short of using the worst sort of cheese. This to me means SCS is a failure. Tactics is all out honest, it cheeses and expects the player to do the same. SCS, is deceitful, it claims honesty, but it cheats far more than tactics ever did.

 

Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the decisions made here, I just think they are unbalance for the levels at which you are supposed to deal with them. I've no doubt that some would claim sour grapes on my part, but quite frankly I'm at a loss to come up with a consistent strategy that works. I can certainly deal with anything that tactics threw at me, because I had means to deal with any tactic that was used against me. In SCS, my options are too limited to devise 'Stratagems' that work on a consistent basis, meaning that combat is now a toss of the coin. If I wanted to gamble I'd play poker.

 

I'll try and back my claims with a few examples.

 

I've generally installed all items for SCS, smarter AI, tougher bosses etc.

 

Mages

 

Apart form turning them all into clones of each other (boring!), did you even care what spells these guys had before? Nope. Now they all have Globe of Invulnerability, Improved Invis, Stoneskin, Mirror Image, Protection from Missiles, and chuck out things like Confusion like confetti.

 

Since they now have a few extra levels, just what exactly are you supposed to use to remove their protections? Breach? Oh wait, I don't have level 5 spells. Hmm, dispel magic perhaps, um no, they are higher caster level, and I can barely remove them. Doesn't really leave a lot else, does it? Secret Word, no scroll, not that I can target them anyway.

 

Basically, unkillable, and all I can do is keeping spamming the wand of summons at them until their spells wear off and they have to resort to whacking things with their staves.

 

Oh, and the charm they use, never made a save yet (instant success EVERY time), yet when I try it, they seem to make their save more often than not. Of course that's not quite as bad as the Stoneskins they get in a minor sequencer. I thought that was level 1-2 spells only, and scripting their sequencers on the fly, that is just pure cheese.

 

Clerics

 

Um, yeah Basilus, bad joke on your part? Unholy blight from a 12th level cleric? Fun, except when it destroys half you characters outright. Oh wait, toss in a couple of Heals and what do you have? Basically 1 in 1000 chance of beating the guy.

 

Heck even Neira is bad enough let along a cleric a full 7(! BG1 REMEMBER). Hold person spam abuse, plus 5 skeletons. Puts a downer on everyone's day.

 

Druids

 

Oh my favourite. I've got Shapeshifter rebalancing, that's supposed to summon Bearweres if you use the 6th level spell Conjure animals. Odd how Animal Summoning II (5th level), max 6 creatures of 8HD or less is summoning up to 4 20HD Greater Bearweres. Um yeah. To quote Khalid, "Better part of valour!" It's downright suicidal to fight things that can take out a group of Adamantium golems without breaking sweat let along a level 6/7 party.

Of course I was delighted to be hit by insect plagues and one druid summoning a fire elemental. Just how many +3 weapons should I have facing the shadow druids? Oh wait, NONE. That's why I think SCS is totally bonkers, and no thought has been put into the level of characters facing the challenge.

 

Giant Spiders

 

Since when is multiple web abuse, when you have basically no protection from it supposed to be fair? 1 of those things, let alone 3 can kill a party. Chuck in that 5 poison damage from a phase spider and why bother? It's not like you can down an antidote when held fast by 4-6 webs. The sword that provides protection, um yeah, where is it now, oh yes, protected by the mobs you need the sword for. Great stuff. Sneak in? Yeah, works until you're seen. Dead thief.

 

Seriously, more insanity here.

 

I could go on, but if there's one thing I'm sure of, I won't be installing SCS II when I eventually make it to BG2. I'll stick to tactics, at least it's honest in the way it handles things.

[DavidW]

Thanks for this (seriously! - I'd rather hear criticism than have it unvoiced.)

 

Let me respond point-by-point.

 

SCS, is deceitful, it claims honesty, but it cheats far more than tactics ever did.

You're not really giving examples of what you mean by cheating. If you mean "break the in-game rules", I think you're mistaken, and your examples below don't seem accurate.

 

In SCS, my options are too limited to devise 'Stratagems' that work on a consistent basis, meaning that combat is now a toss of the coin. If I wanted to gamble I'd play poker.

This doesn't seem to be the general consensus, for what it 's worth.

 

I've generally installed all items for SCS, smarter AI, tougher bosses etc.

I'm slightly puzzled as to why, if you're finding it too hard. A lot of the point of having a very customizable mod - and, in particular, of having a split between "pure AI" and "tactical-enhancement" components - is to allow people to choose a difficulty level that suits them. (Of course, if the highest level of difficulty was too hard for everyone, it would be silly. But demonstrably it's not: plenty of people other than me have reported successful playthroughs on high difficulty settings.)

 

Apart form turning them all into clones of each other (boring!), did you even care what spells these guys had before? Nope.

Quite right: I randomly determine their spells from scratch, ignoring the existing ones. That's basically because the existing spell choices in BG1 are (a) very bad and (b) very unimaginative: there are only about a dozen different spell mixes used by mages (of any level) in BG1. The range in SCS is about as wide as I can make it short of memorising actively silly spells; I think you may be remembering the vanilla game wrongly.

 

Now they all have Globe of Invulnerability, Improved Invis, Stoneskin, Mirror Image, Protection from Missiles, and chuck out things like Confusion like confetti.

Some do; "all" is an exaggeration, since SCS doesn't break the rules on spell memorisation limits.

 

Since they now have a few extra levels

Again, don't install this bit if you don't want it.

, just what exactly are you supposed to use to remove their protections? Breach? Oh wait, I don't have level 5 spells. Hmm, dispel magic perhaps, um no, they are higher caster level, and I can barely remove them. Doesn't really leave a lot else, does it? Secret Word, no scroll, not that I can target them anyway.

Since none of their protection makes them immune to melee weapons, I suggest you try hitting them.

 

Basically, unkillable, and all I can do is keeping spamming the wand of summons at them until their spells wear off and they have to resort to whacking things with their staves.

That strategy probably works, but it's not the only one, and certainly not the one I use. If you prefer something a bit easier, though, you could install the BG1 set of spell choices, since access to Stoneskin makes a material difference.

 

Oh, and the charm they use, never made a save yet (instant success EVERY time), yet when I try it, they seem to make their save more often than not.

That's your bad luck: they're using the same version you get.

 

Of course that's not quite as bad as the Stoneskins they get in a minor sequencer.

It's not in a sequencer: they have it cast in advance. (Consensus from players seems to be that it's better for stoneskin not to be visible on enemies till they actually attack, because it looks odd; if you disagree, iirc then entering CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("DMWWNeutralPrebuff","GLOBAL",1) at the console will re-enable it (check the readme, I may be misremembering).

 

I thought that was level 1-2 spells only, and scripting their sequencers on the fly, that is just pure cheese.

They're not scripted on the fly. It's decided at install time whether they get an offensive or a defensive sequencer; which one is then decided at random when the mage is first created. (So it varies from battle to battle, but that doesn't mean it's being chosen to fit the situation: it's random.)

 

 

Clerics

 

Um, yeah Basilus, bad joke on your part? Unholy blight from a 12th level cleric? Fun, except when it destroys half you characters outright. Oh wait, toss in a couple of Heals and what do you have? Basically 1 in 1000 chance of beating the guy.

I'm a little confused as to why you installed a component whose only function is to raise Bassilus to 12th level, which advertises itself clearly as so doing, and then object to him using perfectly-legal 12th-level cleric resources. (If you do want to fight him, I advise (a) scattering more to avoid area effect, and (b) trying harder to disrupt his spells.)

 

Heck even Neira is bad enough let along a cleric a full 7(! BG1 REMEMBER). Hold person spam abuse, plus 5 skeletons. Puts a downer on everyone's day.

If she's 7th level, this is due to some other mod you're using (DSOTSC?) - she's 5th in vanilla BG1 and SCS doesn't raise this. I'm not sure what "hold person spam abuse" is - do you just mean "she casts hold person", and if so, what is wrong with this?

 

Druids

 

Oh my favourite. I've got Shapeshifter rebalancing, that's supposed to summon Bearweres if you use the 6th level spell Conjure animals. Odd how Animal Summoning II (5th level), max 6 creatures of 8HD or less is summoning up to 4 20HD Greater Bearweres. Um yeah. To quote Khalid, "Better part of valour!" It's downright suicidal to fight things that can take out a group of Adamantium golems without breaking sweat let along a level 6/7 party.

Since there are no Greater Bearweres anywhere in SCS, blame Shapeshifter Rebalancing, not me.

 

Of course I was delighted to be hit by insect plagues and one druid summoning a fire elemental. Just how many +3 weapons should I have facing the shadow druids? Oh wait, NONE.

Again, I'm really unsure why you installed some very clearly labelled components if you didn't want this kind of thing. And +2 suffices to hurt fire elementals (though, to be fair, the way BGTUTU treats +2 and +3 weapons can be a bit glitchy - probably something I should look into).

 

That's why I think SCS is totally bonkers, and no thought has been put into the level of characters facing the challenge.

Well, plenty of thought was put into it, but that doesn't mean the thought was correct. However, for what it's worth, the SCS design cycle went something like this: I wrote the best AI I could for the in-game creatures; then, when some battle was still too easy for me , I made it a bit harder, and re-tried. The ideal was that I should be able to win most battles without reloading or metagaming, but with challenge. Players have very varying levels of tactical skill (and patience), so all the extra-difficulty components are optional.

 

Giant Spiders

Since when is multiple web abuse, when you have basically no protection from it supposed to be fair?

1 of those things, let alone 3 can kill a party. Chuck in that 5 poison damage from a phase spider and why bother? It's not like you can down an antidote when held fast by 4-6 webs. The sword that provides protection, um yeah, where is it now, oh yes, protected by the mobs you need the sword for. Great stuff.

I could give tactical advice (plenty of people other than me have managed it); but certainly, lots of people don't like this component, which is why it's optional. (By the way, I think you're forgetting freedom potions.)

 

Sneak in? Yeah, works until you're seen. Dead thief.

Get a better HS score, or use invisibility spells or potions.

 

I could go on, but if there's one thing I'm sure of, I won't be installing SCS II when I eventually make it to BG2. I'll stick to tactics, at least it's honest in the way it handles things.

 

If you still think there's actual dishonesty (i.e., the readme lying, or enemy spellcasters cheating), post again. I don't think there is but I may be missing something.

[Guest Dirty Uncle Bertie]

I take it these 'orrible spiders are because of the "Harder Spiders" component? I appreciate the "distinction between this section and the next ("tactical challenges") is a bit arbitrary" but maybe they should be moved to the "Tactical Challenges" section.

 

Rather than create a new thread, can I just ask whether:

 

1. There are some challenges/fights in the game that are so easy the Tactical Challenge for it should really be installed?

2. Along similar lines, are there any Tactical Challenges component that are on par with AI Modifications components when it comes to difficulty?

 

Perhaps point 2 is more or less the same as point 1, but I thought it worth being as clear as possible as to what I'd like to know. I'm basically just looking for smarter (i.e. not stupid) enemies at this point, but am prepared to install one or more Tactial Challenges if an encounter is simply too easy otherwise.

[DavidW]

I take it these 'orrible spiders are because of the "Harder Spiders" component? I appreciate the "distinction between this section and the next ("tactical challenges") is a bit arbitrary" but maybe they should be moved to the "Tactical Challenges" section.

Not a bad idea.

 

Rather than create a new thread, can I just ask whether:

 

1. There are some challenges/fights in the game that are so easy the Tactical Challenge for it should really be installed?

2. Along similar lines, are there any Tactical Challenges component that are on par with AI Modifications components when it comes to difficulty?

 

Perhaps point 2 is more or less the same as point 1, but I thought it worth being as clear as possible as to what I'd like to know. I'm basically just looking for smarter (i.e. not stupid) enemies at this point, but am prepared to install one or more Tactial Challenges if an encounter is simply too easy otherwise.

 

I'll try commenting (though the OP's post rather makes the point that this is in the eye of the beholder!) I should also say that most of my own detailed playthrough experience was from before I introduced the BG2 spells option, so probably applies to the BG1 spells only.

 

 

Anyway, all that being said:

 

- unimproved doppelgangers are very weak, and the improved component isn't terribly difficult

- tougher Black Talons/Iron Throne is quite low-key, and improves some really weak opponents in the Iron Throne areas

- Dark-Side-based kobolds is generally reckoned to be pretty difficult, though it's very dependent on when you go to the Nashkel mines (I usually go at level 2-3, and haven't had too much trouble)

- Relocated Bounty Hunters just moves an encounter, rather than changing it - but the encounter it moves can be very hard

- Improved Ulcaster is reasonably tame

- Improved Balduran's Isle is kind of middling (wolfweres are hard but I don't make them harder) and has some hopefully-nice dialogue options with Kaishas

- Improved Durlag's Tower and Improved Demon Cultists are pretty hardcore

- Improved Bassilus and Improved Druids: I found the unimproved versions rather pathetically easy even with SCS2 AI, though it's possible BG2 spells help this. On the other hand, the OP is pretty vocal about how hard the improved ones are - though I haven't heard this from others.

- Improved Drasus, Red Wizards, and Undercity party probably aren't necessary if you just want "smarter", especially if you use BG2 spells

- Improved miscellaneous encounters is obviously a bit of a mixed bag, but I don't think any of it is too horrific

- of the improved end-of-chapter battles, the improvements to chapters 2-4 are probably necessary if you want a respectable challenge; the improvements to 7 are very difficult indeed. 5 and 6 are somewhere in the middle (in the case of 5, the improvements don't make the battle that much harder but it's already pretty hard, esp. if you use BG2 spells.)

[Guest Dirty Uncle Bertie]

Thanks for the detailed answers! I do plan to use BG2 spells, as well as using D0Tweak to cut creature XP to 50%, but I'll also be playing on Normal difficulty. I'll certainly give much thought as to what components to use.

[coaster]

I think the key in SCS/BG1 is to buff via potions. Yes, as the OP says you have worse saves/HP etc and you don't really have the spells to improve them much. But (unless you have Hard Times installed) you also end up with a boatload of cash which you can now put to good use by buying potions. In particular, these are all really useful:

 

Strength/heroism potions - improve THACO/damage

Defence potions - lower AC

Oil of speed - hastes, and lasts longer too

Magic shielding - saving throws made automatically (these are superb, treasure every one!)

Freedom - does what it says on the tin

Invisibility - ditto

 

Also as David says, spell interruption is also vital. Clerics are easy since they don't have mirror image - a simple larloch's minor drain, a first level spell, will interrupt cleric (and druid) spell casting with 100% success. Mages are tougher due to mirror image, so might need a few magic missiles to take out the images first - or immobilise them. The various wands of paralysing are incredibly good for this, most BG1 enemies will fail their save against these wands, even more so if malisoned or doomed first.

[Guest Roboghost]

Eeeeek...this post almost scared me off from using SCS with my Easytutu, but...

 

I simply plan to bump up the NPC's stats a bit and sprinkle my own custom items around to balance SCS myself, so no worries after all. I figured that since SCS gives a boost to the bad guys, then it's only fair my NPC's get a (bit and reasonable) boost as well. Back to modding...thanks in advance for the mod -- I was going to just mod the stats of all the competition myself until I found SCS

[DavidW]

Eeeeek...this post almost scared me off from using SCS with my Easytutu, but...

 

I simply plan to bump up the NPC's stats a bit and sprinkle my own custom items around to balance SCS myself, so no worries after all. I figured that since SCS gives a boost to the bad guys, then it's only fair my NPC's get a (bit and reasonable) boost as well. Back to modding...thanks in advance for the mod -- I was going to just mod the stats of all the competition myself until I found SCS

 

For what it's worth, while the OP is perfectly entitled to his/her opinion, I think it's a minority opinion.

[Guest Krazy]

David, thanks for the reply, I think I need to clarify a few of those points.

 

It's fine telling me not to install components, if I don't like them, but I don't know if I'll like them until I try them.

 

Your 'readme' and I didn't check the spoilers says it usually increases opponents' levels by 1 or 2. Basilus went from 7 to 12. 5 full levels. Um yeah. Let's say I didn't expect you to do that.

 

As for their tactics, it requires huge metagaming if you try the game as your are supposed to. Like meeting Neira early on. Someone said buy potions and stuff, except at that point in the game it's not like you have much money, nor have the means to actually even have a 'good' chance against her. (My point earlier was, Neira is bad enough, let alone a cleric 7 levels higher).

 

As for your mages suggestion, hit them? Please, that's basically an admission that you know you made mages untouchable by spells. I'm sorry I think that's quite frankly 'cheating'. Now, I have no problem you doing this, provided you also provide a means to remove mage buffs. But you don't other than your little adaptation of secret word. Um yeah, how long before you get 4th and 5th level spells? The majority of mages will be dead long before you get them.

So, what are we supposed to hit them with, since they have mirror image, improved invis, protection from missiles and a stoneskin? Sit and plonk arrows at them hoping to disrupt their casting whilst they chuck confusions and the like at you?

That's your strategy? Sounds more like a gamble to me. As I said this is supposed to be stratagems, not hope for the best.

 

Let me say, things like the Improved Bandit Fight, now that was awesome, I certainly enjoy dealing with lots of multiple enemies, but what made that doable is you're not swamped by too many spellcasters. Spellcasters have been made slightly too powerful imo. It would be nice if there was a bit more variation in their spells and choices (even if they had boring uninspired choices), it doesn't really make much sense either that every mage has 'optimum' choices either.

 

I think I read you view party casualties as a reasonable outcome when using this mod. I don't - perhaps that's where our perceived differences in the difficulty comes from. My point of view is that if a fight can't be win consistently with minimal party casualties (and preferably none) then I'm not using a stratagem to win, it's a gamble.

Sure I could probably waltz through SCS without too much hassle if I took the view that it's 'ok' to keep going round resurrecting the party after every fight. If I lose half the party, that's a failure (or perhaps extreme bad luck) on my part.

 

Still, on the plus, it's certainly nice to have more things added to the tactical side of BG1.

Sure your enemies use spells appropriate to their level, but come on there's such a thing as improving and totally overpowering for the environment.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Yes, the mages prebuff way too much in scs1... and plainly disreguard the rules in this department. Like say Borda having at most 6 spell slots in the original game as a level 5 mage does, and throwing 5 protection spells on him at one go in version 6. It's not that bad, it's just worse as he has 100% magic resistance.

 

But in the end he fell on the "run, shoot arrow, run" tactic, him being neutral and all.

[DavidW]

David, thanks for the reply, I think I need to clarify a few of those points.

 

It's fine telling me not to install components, if I don't like them, but I don't know if I'll like them until I try them.

 

Your 'readme' and I didn't check the spoilers says it usually increases opponents' levels by 1 or 2. Basilus went from 7 to 12. 5 full levels. Um yeah. Let's say I didn't expect you to do that.

That's a fair point. Especially now BG2 spells are available, 5 is probably overkill; in any case, the readme's "slightly increase" is obviously misleading. I'll change it in the next release.

 

As for their tactics, it requires huge metagaming if you try the game as your are supposed to. Like meeting Neira early on. Someone said buy potions and stuff, except at that point in the game it's not like you have much money, nor have the means to actually even have a 'good' chance against her. (My point earlier was, Neira is bad enough, let alone a cleric 7 levels higher).

Oh, okay: I misunderstood what you wrote. As for Neira's intrinsic difficulty, I've generally found her tough but doable at that level. She's not heavily protected from damage and doesn't have all that many hit points, and even in an inn, there's room to spread out so you can't all be caught by Hold Person.

 

As for your mages suggestion, hit them? Please, that's basically an admission that you know you made mages untouchable by spells. I'm sorry I think that's quite frankly 'cheating'.

 

We're using "cheating" in a different way. When I say "SCS doesn't cheat", I mean, "SCS keeps to the rules inside the game". The combination of minor globe and improved invisibility does indeed make mages extremely hard to affect with spells, but it does so perfectly legally: nothing stops PCs of the same level doing the same thing.

 

Now, I have no problem you doing this, provided you also provide a means to remove mage buffs. But you don't other than your little adaptation of secret word. Um yeah, how long before you get 4th and 5th level spells? The majority of mages will be dead long before you get them.

So, what are we supposed to hit them with, since they have mirror image, improved invis, protection from missiles and a stoneskin? Sit and plonk arrows at them hoping to disrupt their casting whilst they chuck confusions and the like at you?

Melee works better than arrows.

 

That's your strategy? Sounds more like a gamble to me. As I said this is supposed to be stratagems, not hope for the best.

It's one strategy, at any rate. If any strategy which allows for the possibility of someone failing a saving throw is a "gamble", then pretty much any combat in this system is a gamble.

 

Let me say, things like the Improved Bandit Fight, now that was awesome, I certainly enjoy dealing with lots of multiple enemies, but what made that doable is you're not swamped by too many spellcasters.

 

Spellcasters have been made slightly too powerful imo.

To a large extent, blame the in-game spell system. I'm using it to best effect, but I'm not actually breaking its rules. I do think it's fair to say that the BG2 spellsystem is balanced best for mid- to high-level parties, and so can be pretty challenging to go up against in TUTU: I'll repeat my suggestion of installing the BG1 version if the BG2 one is too much.

 

It would be nice if there was a bit more variation in their spells and choices (even if they had boring uninspired choices), it doesn't really make much sense either that every mage has 'optimum' choices either.

I maintain that there's more variation than in the original game. (If you're interested, the algorithm goes something like this: give each mage a speciality (evoker, enchanter, conjuror, necromancer) at random; give him some defensive spells; then fill his remaining spell-slots with a random collection of attack spells taken predominantly from his speciality school.)

 

I don't agree that wizards should have suboptimal choices, though: in fact, I think it's unrealistic. These guys have high Intelligence scores and years of practice. Do you memorise suboptimal spells with your wizards?

 

I think I read you view party casualties as a reasonable outcome when using this mod. I don't - perhaps that's where our perceived differences in the difficulty comes from.

That's probably quite likely. Completing SCS - even no-reload SCS - is perfectly doable. No-casualty SCS strikes me as almost impossible.

 

My point of view is that if a fight can't be win consistently with minimal party casualties (and preferably none) then I'm not using a stratagem to win, it's a gamble.

That doesn't follow. A strategy which reliably wins and reliably leaves four party members dead isn't a gamble. It's just not to your tastes.

 

Sure I could probably waltz through SCS without too much hassle if I took the view that it's 'ok' to keep going round resurrecting the party after every fight. If I lose half the party, that's a failure (or perhaps extreme bad luck) on my part.

Well, "after every fight" is an exaggeration, but certainly I didn't balance SCS on the assumption that all party deaths were avoidable. (After all, resurrection is cheap, especially at low levels, and readily available). Of course, it's fine to prefer not having to accept party deaths, but I don't think that's a balance problem, just a mismatch of the mod to what you're after.

 

Still, on the plus, it's certainly nice to have more things added to the tactical side of BG1.

Sure your enemies use spells appropriate to their level, but come on there's such a thing as improving and totally overpowering for the environment.

The thing is, I don't want to radically rewrite the magic system (that's not the mod's philosophy) and I certainly don't want spellcasters to use their skills in suboptimal ways (that breaks realism and immersion, at least for me).

 

If you're still persevering with SCS, I recommend some or all of the following moves:

 

(i) uninstall those components which increase enemy levels (or at least, the ones which affect spellcasters)

(ii) turn off mage prebuffing, which sounds like a major source of your problems

(iii) consider going from BG2 to BG1 spells.

 

You can do all these things in mid-game (though they won't fully affect creatures in areas you've already been to).

 

As advance warning in case you do try SCS2 after all, its spellcasters (mages in particular) are generally reckoned to be the hardest part of the mod, so you might want not to use them, or at any rate to uninstall prebuffing for them, if you want to avoid irritating (to you) mage combat.

[DavidW]

Yes, the mages prebuff way too much in scs1... and plainly disreguard the rules in this department. Like say Borda having at most 6 spell slots in the original game as a level 5 mage does, and throwing 5 protection spells on him at one go in version 6. It's not that bad, it's just worse as he has 100% magic resistance.

 

I don't think he's disregarding any rules, but here's the logic behind this:

 

Borda is a 9th level mage even in the original game (though he gets far too few spells). SCS treats him as single-class (he's a mage/thief in the original game, but I'm afraid I didn't have the patience to write mage-thief-specific scripts, especially as his original script is a generic mage script). SCS gives him a kit at random (it's conjuror on my current install), and then gives him spells appropriate to his level: 5/4/4/3/2. Exactly which protective spells he gets depends on the random spell allocation: on my current install he gets

 

Shield, Mirror Image, Ghost Armour, Improved Invisibility, Minor Globe of Invulnerability.

 

The 100% magic resistance is a vanilla-game feature that I don't touch.

 

What's the problem?

 

(That's not a rhetorical question: as I hope is clear in this thread, I'm quite happy to explain the arguments behind SCS and to make changes if I think they're justified.)

[Jarno Mikkola]

Borda is a 9th level mage even in the original game

Well, according to the Original Saga, he is level 5 Thief and level 6 Mage which give him exactly the 8 spells slots(4/2/2).

Yes according to the BG he is indeed level 8 Thief and level 9 Conjurer, but he only has 10984 experience points, which would make him level 4 conjurer and have 7 spell slots(4/3). And he only has the 6 spell slots (4/2)...

Now, what comes to the AI, well it's might seem to be a general 3rd and 4th level mage script, but as he can only cast those 3 kinds of spells the script says to use... which other should he have?

[DavidW]

Borda is a 9th level mage even in the original game

Well, according to the Original Saga, he is level 5 Thief and level 6 Mage which give him exactly the 8 spells slots(4/2/2).

Yes according to the BG he is indeed level 8 Thief and level 9 Conjurer, but he only has 10984 experience points, which would make him level 4 conjurer and have 7 spell slots(4/3).

 

...so as often happens, it becomes a question of what to trust - spells memorised, or level. (I think XP is a very poor third: it's totally irrelevant except for joinables, and it's hopelessly wrong for most creatures.)

 

Bottom line is that I think your "totally disregard the rules" comment is unfair. But I'd welcome comment if you disagree. (If you run vanilla TUTU or BGT on an original saga base and then install SCS, by the way, it'll treat Borda as 6th level - ultimately SCS works with the materials it's given!)

[Ardanis]

(ii) turn off mage prebuffing, which sounds like a major source of your problems

You know, that's probably the main problem. I haven't played SCS1 (as I haven't played BG1 for 3 years already), but taking into account my experience with SCS2 I can say that prebuffing might be needing the mid difficulty. Currently, with it being on they buff like there's no tomorrow (well, that's true of course... but not my point) and the only optimal tactic not involving raising half of the party is to run circles, waiting for defenses to expire. With it being off I only have to focus fire onto a wizard and they can't even cast a single spell due to constant interruption.

So, if I were you, I'd consider making the mid level of prebuffing, when they won't throw GoI+SS+MI+II, but instead will cast, say, GoI+MI. Enough to cause trouble, but not enough to become a Schwartz.