Using EFF files to create race/class specific item

Heh, this is not really a question, more of an observation on my side about some BG2 item features

I noticed that many items use EFF files to create special effects like additional damage vs specific creature types and such. Inspired by this, I tried to create an item which could be used by any class/race combination but would grant some kind of a specific bonus only to a certain race or class.

I decided to try this on the Short Sword of Backstabbing. I wanted it to grant a to hit bonus and a backstab increase to Thieves only, and at the same time remain usable for the other classes, similarly to the way it works in PnP AD&D. For this purpose I created two EFF files, one for the to hit bonus and the other one for the Backstab multiplier increase. I set the duration of the effects to 'while equipped' in the EFF files and then added the additional equipping effects to SW1H10.ITM (#177 'Use EFF file').

This is where I encountered the first problem...I wanted the sword to grant the additional effects to all thieves, so I set the parameters to 5 (CLASS.IDS) and 205 (THIEF_ALL). Unfortunately, this didn't seam to work for some reason, which surprised me as it seamed to work great when I used a RACE.IDS combination (i.e. 2 and 4 for Elves). After some experimenting, I noticed that all of the other THIEF values from CLASS.IDS worked fine (i.e. 4 for THIEF, 9 for FIGHTER_THIEF, 10 for FIGHTER_MAGE_THIEF...etc) so I decided to add the effects for each of those combinations and it finally worked as planned. In case anyone wants to take a look, the modified sword file is available in my latest Rogue ReBalancing mod revision.

Although somewhat complicated, this method of restricting item bonuses can be interesting to use, i.e. for creating Holy Avenger swords usable by anyone but showing their true power to Paladins only or an Axe usable by anyone which grants a special damage bonus to Dwarves. Granted, this method is much more complicated than restriction the item usage by simply limiting it to the target race/class since it can involve using multiple EFFs, but I thought that someone might find it useful nonetheless so I decided to post it here.

I'm glad to see you discovered a use for the parameter boxes with the "use effect file" option since they were listed as undetermined. Will make editing items a bit more fun now.

What are they listed as undetermined in? Both NI and DLTCEP should correctly recognise effects that use IDS targetting.

Likely you need the description update for IEEP. It's in the TeamBG downloads somewhere.

Your right, hlid, my IEEP program isnt updated on par with Item Checker, although I cant find the update, and the lastone I had was ver1.0.