semiOverhaul for IWD2 (UPDATE!)

This mod is a compilation of tweaks and fixes for Icewind Dale 2, correcting the numerous power imbalances between classes, between spells, and between items. It also fixes a lot of inaccurate and incomplete descriptions. The mod adds and changes over 300 spells and over 600 items. semiOverhaul doesn't radically upend IWD2 gameplay; sorcerers will still be great bombers and clerics will still be great healers. But they no longer utterly outclass other character builds, and warriors in particular will be much more viable. Components: 1. Class Revisions 2. Looser Alignment Restrictions for Classes 3. Spell Revisions 4. Spell Focus Feats for All Schools 5. Item Revisions 6. Creature Rebalancing 7. Better XP Progression 8. Faster Targos 9. Faster Horde Fortress 10. Faster Ice Temple 11. Faster Wandering Village 12. Faster Black Raven Monastery 13. Faster Underdark 14. Faster Dragon's Eye and Lord Pyros' Domain 15. Faster Severed Hand 16. More Potions for Oswald 17. Mage Scrolls for New Spells 18. Fewer Immunities for Bosses 19. Shapeshifting Sound Fix 20. More Accurate Saving Throws for Enemies --Class Revisions-- [spoiler] 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. 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 4: 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 7: 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 10: 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 13: 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 16: 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. Also, Painbearers of Ilmater do not get Pain Touch or Symbol of Pain. Those spells are replaced by Soothing Touch (2d8 HP healed, cures poison, bleeding wounds, and pain effects) and Mist of Eldath. Inflict Wounds spells are much stronger, while spontaneous casting scales beyond level 4 (you can now cast Healing Circle, Heal, Greater Restoration, and Mass Heal via spontaneous casting). Druids: Druids get new shapeshifting spells, more interesting than the vanilla game but less overpowered than the Tactics mod: Level 5: Werebadger Level 7: Viper Level 9: Hook Horror Level 11: Rhinoceros Beetle Level 13: Shambling Mound Level 15: White Half-Dragon Level 17: Red Half-Dragon Level 19: Blue Half-Dragon Level 21: Black Dragon The druid shapeshifting feats are also changed. They now allow druids to shapeshift into Will o' Wisps, Treants, 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 get higher damage bonuses and higher-level monks will deal triple damage on critical hits instead of double damage. Monks also get Abundant Step at level 10, a teleportation effect (which can break the game if you abuse it!). Fighters: Fighters get +1 to damage every 5 levels, 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 by 1 for every level and will work reliably even in Heart of Fury mode. 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. [/spoiler] --Looser Alignment Restrictions for Classes-- [spoiler] 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 [/spoiler] --Spell Revisions-- [spoiler] This component significantly strengthens many underused 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. Listing all the changes would take too long, but here are a few examples: 1. Spells that have hit dice limits will now work on critters of any level or hit dice. The Sleep spell can now knock out high-level targets (though the effect is weaker and offers a save) and Power Word Kill will instantly slay a single target on a failed save at -4. 2. Spells that give random bonuses are now consistent. Bull's Strength (now Ox's Fortitude), Eagle's Splendor, and Cat's Grace give a +4 bonus without fail; Champion's Strength gives +7. 3. Some spells have been changed to scale with levels. Poison now deals more damage at higher levels, and Tortoise Shell is harder to break down at higher levels. 4. Some spells grant smaller bonuses, but allow them to stack. Shield now grants a shield bonus and stacks with bracers of armor, while Spell Resistance stacks with a creature's innate and item-based resistances. 5. Spells that made each other redundant have now been diversified. Symbol of Hopelessness and Symbol of Stunning now have different uses. 6 Some spells have been changed to be more user-friendly. Vampiric Touch no longer requires an attack roll, and Chant no longer disables spellcasting. 7. Overpowered spells have received reasonable nerfs. Chromatic Orb now stuns for one round instead of paralyzing for many rounds at higher levels, while Skull Trap is now level 4. 8. Underpowered spells like Horror and Power Word Sleep have had their save DCs changed to make them more reliable, while others have been moved to lower levels or been given entirely new effects. Flaying is now a level 5 spell instead of level 8, and Lich Touch now grants some undead-style immunities to the caster. 9. Many spells are available to more classes, but take up higher-level spell slots. Druids can now cast Moon Motes at level 2, clerics can now cast Call Lightning at 5, and mages can now cast Spell Resistance at level 6, among many other changes. 10. Stone to Flesh now actually works. Previously, petrification could mean a completely irreversible death; now Stone to Flesh will always fix a petrified character. Newly available spells include Mental Domination, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, Spook, Dimension Door, Lutzaen's Frequent Jaunt, Translocation Trick, and Protection from Magic Energy. [/spoiler] --Spell Focus Feats for All Schools-- [spoiler] 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 [/spoiler] --Item Revisions-- [spoiler] This component rebalances numerous items in IWD2, including some that only show up in Heart of Fury mode or as random drops. It also updates many incomplete spell descriptions, including save DCs for on-hit effects. [/spoiler] --Creature Rebalancing-- [spoiler] This component empowers mind flayers and Chahopek the Guardian. Mind Blast and Ultrablast have higher save DCs and bypass magic resistance, and mind flayer attacks have a 25% chance of instantly killing the target (Fortitude DC 30), mimicking the instant death effects of BG2-style Intelligence drain. Note that Spell Shield from the Spell Revisions component will block the stun effects from Mind Blast and Ultrablast. Chahopek now has more than twice as much HP and has a much stronger breath weapon, but has lower damage resistance than in the vanilla game. Creature rebalancing also empowers enemy spellcasters by giving Spell Focus feats to clerics, druids, mages, and sorcerers. [/spoiler] --Better XP Progression-- [spoiler] 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. [/spoiler] --Faster Targos-- [spoiler] 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. [/spoiler] --Faster Horde Fortress-- [spoiler] This component simply 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. [/spoiler] --Faster Ice Temple-- [spoiler] Getting through the Ice Temple is one of the slowest parts of IWD2, with lots of disconnected plot triggers and quest items. This component allows you to skip the whole thing 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. [/spoiler] --Faster Wandering Village-- [spoiler] This component 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. [/spoiler] --Faster Black Raven Monastery-- [spoiler] This component allows you to skip the Black Raven Monastery trials without having to kill the monks. The door in the monastery basement can now be forced open. [/spoiler] --Faster Underdark-- [spoiler] 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. [/spoiler] --Faster Dragon's Eye and Lord Pyros' Domain-- [spoiler] 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 allows you to avoid all of that nonsense and proceed directly to the Fields of Slaughter, if you want to. First, it rigs the door at the bottom of Dragon's Eye that leads to Lord Pyros' Domain to be unlockable (normally it can only be opened by fulfilling all other quest requirements and then filling all the basins with wyvern poison). You can therefore spend as much or as little time in Dragon's Eye as you want and then go straight to the exit. Second, it rigs the north exit from Lord Pyros' Domain (not the exit you unlock during the questline, but the exit NORTH of that one) to lead directly to the Fields of Slaughter, instead of back to Dragon's Eye. Once you're in Lord Pyros' Domain, you can skip the Temporal Stasis quest just by going back from where you came. This will also skip Nickademus' favor. [/spoiler] --Faster Severed Hand-- [spoiler] 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. [/spoiler] --More Potions for Oswald-- [spoiler] Healing potions are plentiful in IWD2, but other types of potions are extremely rare despite not being overpowered. This gives 3 copies of every non-healing potion to Oswald, plus a single copy of every permanent stat boost potion in the game. The latter are very expensive, though, and you likely won't be able to afford very many until later in the game. [/spoiler] --Mage Scrolls for New Spells-- [spoiler] This component adds high-level mage scrolls to various spell vendors, including Elytharra, Zack Boosenberry, Suoma, Bered, and Sheemish. A solo mage or a level 1 mage in HoF mode will be able to learn high-end spells and keep pace with a sorcerer. This also adds scrolls of Spook, Translocation Trick, Dimension Door, Lutzaen's Frequent Jaunt, and Protection from Magic Energy to Suoma in the Wandering Village, allowing mages as well as sorcerers to learn these spells. [/spoiler] --Fewer Immunities for Bosses-- [spoiler] Many bosses have immunities to all kinds of disablers, even bosses that don't give plot-critical dialogues upon being defeated (traditionally, immunities are only given to ensure those dialogues trigger properly). This component removes some of the immunities normally available to bosses, giving them a +5 bonus to all saving throws to compensate for the loss. [/spoiler] --Shapeshifting Sound Fix-- [spoiler] Testing found that shapeshifting in a previous version of semiOverhaul could result in a weird sound loop. This component should fix the problem if it comes up, but is not otherwise necessary. [/spoiler] --More Accurate Saving Throws for Enemies-- [spoiler] 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. [/spoiler] --Sudden Death Mode-- [spoiler] This is a simple component designed to speed up the pace of combat. Both enemies and party members get half of their normal HP. Clerics get 1d4 HP per level instead of 1d8, an 18 Constitution only grants +2 HP per level instead of +4, and an enemy with 50 base HP will have 25 HP. The +80 HP from Heart of Fury mode is not affected by this component, so this component will work in the enemy's favor in HoF mode. The game's difficulty should otherwise be identical, since enemies and party members are equally affected, but death will be much closer for both. Install this component if you're looking to make the game faster or more dangerous. [/spoiler] --Better Racial Enemies for Rangers-- [spoiler] 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 Due to how the component works, some mod-introduced items and spells may not work on their intended targets. For example, a hammer that does extra damage to golems will no longer deal extra damage to anything, while a spell that deals extra damage to shapeshifters will now deal extra damage to humans. Vanilla items and spells, however, should work normally; the Kegsplitter will affect kegs properly, and the Goblinslayer dagger will apply its effects to all "goblinoid" enemies, which includes orcs in this component. [/spoiler] This mod is most balanced when installed on top of other mods like Light of Selune, Tweaks for IWD2, and Tactics4IWD2, but it also works on its own. Much of the credit for the inspiration for this mod goes to the makers of those three mods, which provided the groundwork for this mod and the changes it makes. I would also like to thank @Firecrow, who provided indispensable feedback and played an instrumental role in inspiring many of the mod's features, as well as @subtledoctor, @bubb, and @Gwendolyne for providing invaluable technical support during the construction of the mod.