I've been a fan of Baldur's Gate series for over 10 years, somehow always going back to playing it (still the single best
game ever made, sorry Dragon Age), so I played quite a few mods.
This below can include slight spoilers, not wrapped it tags.
Anyhow, I went through BWS and these are my reccomendations on what to install and not to install.
Note, this is for players who want decent amount of content and minimal bugs/crazy items and enemies etc.
If you want a "real megamod" install whatever you like.
This isn't made to offend anyone - it's my preference/opinion, altough backed up by experience.
My hope is this might help players choose exactly what to install with BWS, without ruining their game
and wasting another 6 hours re-installing from scratch.
BIG BG1 MODS
Skip them all. Broken, outdated, imbalanced in XP gain and equipment which puts ToB artifacts to shame. Storylines
are decent, but the sheer stupidity of AI and the equipment (+6 shields and similar) available makes the whole game
far to easy.
One I'd "somewhat" play is Secret of BoneHill. Even there you'll find level 7 (or higher) scrolls however, so be warned
(I didn't play through it all, so I wouldn't reccomend it).
BG1 QUEST MODS
Here are some first decent options.
Ascalons Questpack - I'd go for it. Nothing epic, but you might try it out.
Mini Quests and Encounters - ok. Nothing much, but I'd play it at least once.
BG1 Unfinished Business - reccomended
Jarls BGT Adventurepack - it's decent. Install if you like.
Lure of Sirene's call - very small, but doesn't break anything. Install.
Grey Clan Episode 1 - exellent. It comes in 2 versions, if you don't want hard tactical content install "lite" version - I haven't played it however (I played only "normal"). Bit hard at times, but you have an exellent Readme/walkthrough available.
One of the best BG1 mods for me.
Stone of Askavar - so so. Not bad I guess, powerful equipment, decent challenge in battles. Install if you like, I met one bug fixable by CLUA (one area wasn't available for travel.)
Vault - I'm divided here. It has a lot of content, some powerful equipment, and for me, is very buggy. If you can get this to work properly, install. If you don't want to bother, skip.
BG1 NPCs
Only 2 here:
Finch
Ascalon's Breagar - this is bugged for me, but easilly fixable. I like him since he speaks German. Uses "f-word".
English translation is horrible, but stays with you for whole BGT. Custom kit (nothing fancy or OP), gets a +6 Axe
eventually. I'd take him at least once.
Most of the other NPC mods I didn't play, so can't comment on their quality.
BG1 NPC-related
BG1 NPC Project & Music - this is so good that it puts 99% of NPC mods to shame. Really, if you haven't played it -
you're missing alot. Highly reccomended, arguably the best NPC mod ever to exist. Makes me wish BG2 EE developers
hired these writers for banters.
BG1 TACTICAL
BGSpawn - skip this. Monsters beaming in from nowhere....(Orc Shaman : "Beam us down on Faerun, Scotty!"
Hard Times - I'd skip.
SCS - use v21 if you want, not v24. Or wait for v25. It can be hard and unforgiving, but I personally can't play
without it. Higly customizable, so you can choose what you want and not. Beware of installing SCS on top of
some mods which add enemies - you might get unexpected results (very high levels + decent AI).
BG1 FIXES AND TWEAKS
BG1 UB - install
BGT Tweaks - I like 2 options - major locations explored upon visit and exotic weapons for Taerom. Skip the others freely, or do as you please.
Hard Times - didn't like it.
BG1 STORES AND ITEMS
kTweaks - this is ok. Nothing overly powerful (altough, available a bit too soon) and a highly convinient Dart of returning
Lost Items - ok
TeamBG Armor/Weapons - skip. OP.
Thalantyr Upgrade - OP, but highly convinient stuff (Bow with no ammo and electric/fire damage, regen belt with
+1 strenght, dagger with poison/slow/extra apr)
Off to BG2:
BIG BG2 MODS
Skip everything.
(easy, eh?)
Yeah, they're bad. They may have been good in 2005 (debatable), but standards are much higher now.
QUEST MODS
Again, several nice things here:
Alternatives - ok. Nice.
Assassinations - nice.
Back to Brynnlaw - nice.
"revised Hell Trials" in Dingo's QP - because vanilla handling of this is silly. I'd skip the rest.
Dungeon Crawl - bit OP robe (on par with Vecna!) but nice little mod.
Eilistrae's Song - ok. Minor Tactical content, a bit broken ability gained in the end. Do as you please. I'd play through it once at least, it's well written.
FFT - never played.
ISNF - ditto above.
Planar Sphere - highly tactical (if not apsurd). Breaks immersion of original game. High-end equipment. I'd skip it.
Innershade - so so. Install, it doesn't break anything, but it didn't do it for me.
Spellhold Gauntlet - skip.
Sylmar - skip. Unfinshed.
Tales of Anegh - I'd skip this. Bit silly.
Tales of the Deep Gardens - decent. Has an "out of this world" feeling but I guess that's the aim anyway. Nice rewards.
Bigg's Questpack - I'd skip.
SellSwords - nice, but quite short. Install.
Tortured Soul - I'd skip it.
White Queen - items gained are decently powerful, and (this could be SCS modifying scripts) you'll get Imprisonment
castings from enemies. It can be annoyingly difficult - again, this may be SCS modifications to enemy.
Not a bad mod, actually I was surprised by the quality of it.
Tower of Deception - for some reason, this mod usually comes as "highly reccomended". I don't like it. Has an item
which allows 2 spells per round, but it never worked for me....I'd skip.
UB for BG2 - I like Xzar's creations, and I'd skip the rest.
Vecna - skip this.
MINI MODS
Wheels of Prophecy is decent, others are not.
BG2 NPCs
Amber - decent. Not for powergamers (level6 fighter - thief dual with spears!?)
Angelo - nice quality, but I never liked him. The portrait, the sounds....honestly, after BG1 I'd kill him on sight.
Not bad, however.
Arath - last time I played with him, he had Bhaal innate abilities. I couldn't digest that so I never actually played him
through the game.
Arienna - she ok, but no ToB content unfortunately.
Auden - unfinished.
Auren Aseph - lesbian romance with Nalia....if it suits your fancy, go ahead.
Aurora - I'd don't play ToB-only NPCs, so.....
Aurora Shoes - it's fine (nice boots!) but you actually get quests installed as well. Why oh why?
Azure - don't install this. Really.
Beyond the Law - I didn't like. Archer has illegal proficiencies (yeah, so has Haer'dalis but he's cool and these 2 are not)
Biddlekolorak(or something similar) - iirc, 18/00 dwarf with a cool portrait. I never played him long. He probably
won't break anything, so I guess you can install him.
Branwen - there are 3 versions available....I don't like her in general, so can't comment on those.
Chiara - unplayed.
Chloe - I played with her once....and found her so annoying I let Kangaxx Imprisonment her. Skip this. Lesbian
cheese-kensai with 25 dex and custom OP-we-grow-in-power-to-+6swords-equipment.
Dace - last time I played with her installed, her sword set her attack to 0(!) apr...if this is fixed (or you know how to fix it) she seems decent. Lovely portrait.
Darian - looking for Aerie, and finished up barely talking to her...I'd skip, but it's a decent mod.
Drizzt - skip. Skip any mod with "Drizzt" in it's name, for that matter.
Fade - has a certain "puberty" appeal in it. No ToB content, otherwise quite explicit sexual content. I'd skip, but I know
many would not. It's decent, if you like PiDs and sexual content in BG2 I guess. I don't, so...
Fornick, Frennedan - skip
Ganesh - didn't play him yet. Could be good - half-orc socerer in Brynnlaw. I'd suggest you try it out.
Gavin - Decent, more adult oriented mod. Has a few powerful items in BG2. For me, he talks way too much and his family affairs are beyond my (very limited) patience. If you like a more "adult" romance option, you might like him. I didn't.
It's of high quality, however, and I like Priests of Lathander. If I could get him to shut up, he might work for me.
Goo - skip.
Haldamir - dual-wielding bastard sword oriented elf.. I never liked LoTR or elf fighters, but if you did you may like him
as well. At least it doesn't break anything, so you might as well try him out.
Horace - skip.
Hubelplot - I tried him, and didn't like it.
Isra - SCS makes the first quest very hard (I had to Ctrl-Y the mage, he summoned some blasted aTweaks modified
Frost Salamander) so be warned. Other than that, it's fine but the portrait used is, well, ugly. Install if you like
paladins.
Iylos - ToB only. I skip.
Kari - gay/bi/lesbo/buggedbeyondbelief Kobold from Hell. Don't use this, it's very, very bad.
Kelsey & Keto - both of these have gotten a LOT of praise during the years. I never found out why - neither of these
two NPC mods really got to me somehow. Could be the portraits, the talks, whatever - but I just
don't like them. I'd still suggest them, since if 100 people praise an NPC it's probably good, at least.
Kiara-Zaiya - skip.
Kido - nice. Evil Jester, really evil. I liked him. Reccomended. Bug-free afaik.
Kim - a wannabe pirate who dares insult Korgan...skip. I had him chop her to pieces and never regretted it.
Kindrek - skip.
Kitanya - I'd skip, but she may be decent.
Kivan and Deheriana - nice. ToB content isn't as good as SoA, however. Reccomended.
Lena - never played.
Longer Road - skip.
Lexley - 2 brothers, a monk and a custom kitted bard...I didn't like them, and never played them for more than an hour.
Install if you wish.
Maltis, Mawgul, Morham - skip.
Nathaniel - gay kensai with abysmal stats. For me, more than enough to never install this.
Neh'taniel - interesting concept, but he teleports to enemies in battle (at least he did when I played this.) I'd skip.
Nephele - seems ok, it doesn't break anything.
Ninde - if her buggy amulet has been fixed since I played this, you might try her out. If not, skip.
Petsy Chattertone - finally, a romance for shorties! And a cool portrait as well. Install if you're playing a shortie and
want some romance.
Quayle - not bad. Can be hard to aquire (may be SCS modifying the enemy script....or not) but decent quality.
Raziel -skip.
Rose - interesting concept, uber stats, and unfinished (sadly). I'd skip until it gets finished (if ever).
Saerileth - oh so noble 14 year paladin of Tyr from outer space romance which destroys "evil" loot, like Soul Reaver.
Needeles to say, I fed her to Mind Flayers. Skip, unless you're 12.
Sarah - a bit meh.
Sheena - skip.
Silver Star -skip.
Skie - didn't play.
Summon Bhaalspawn - skip this.
Swilyf Thicc - ToB only, I don't like that.
Tashia - old, but still an ok mod. Has riddles!
Undying - skip. When she speaks, a horrible sound plagues my ears.
Tiax - exellent. Reccomended.
Touchstone - meh.
Tsujatha - skip.
Tsuki - haven't played.
Tyris Flare - if you are old enough to remember Golden Axe (and owned a 286 PC once) you might like her.
Ok mod, one issue I have with her is her class (fighter-mage) which I hate. Iirc, undroppable set of armor.
Uldar - skip.
Vampire Tales - skip.
Varshoon - I don't know. He IS an Ilithid, you know. Haven't played him for long enough to make up my mind, but
seems interesting. I'll try him out one of these days.
Solaufein - aaah. SolaBola of cheese. Uber-cheese class (f-m), dual wields flail+long sword, high strenght and dex,
uber abilities, MR, and (if you don't know what to expect, but at least it's well documented) quite hard fight.
I'd take him at least once, since he's interesting and has nice banters. And a real classic, as well.
Valen - apsurdly powerful, if not outright broken.
Worgas - Wild mage with a Gauth familiar. Every spell he casts seems to be affected by wild surge....I don't know much
more, but you might want to try him out. Cool, cool portrait.
Xan - reccomended. Nice quests, and few banters which really warmed my heart.
Xulaye - never tried.
Yasraena - another of the dual-wielding drows...sigh. 18/80 or so strenght. I'd skip this, even the content I didn't find
of decent quality.
SMALLER BG2 NPC MODS
BG1 NPCs for SOA
(Skip the rest)
This is actually a very funny mod, so if you like "funny" try it out. Banters are nice, and turning that blasted Trademeet
into Dogtown is epic. If you're in for a more "serious" game I'd be careful with this, especially "Kagain's store with Crazy
amuont of magical items" - btw, they lack descriptions, which is bad. Also, NPCs aren't kitted which I don't like.
NPC RELATED MODS
Ascalons Breagar - install if you installed the NPC, I guess.
Banter Pack - this is nice. Reccomended, if for nothing than Minsc+Liracor banter.
Crossmod banter - nice mod.
IEP Extended Banter - install.
All "Friendship" mods - install
Sarevok Romance - nice, but suffers from same issues as Angelo - he wanted you dead, and now you romance him?
Romantic Encounters - it has it's moments if you like that kind of stuff. I don't however.
Skip the rest completely.
TACTICAL ENCOUNTERS
Ascension - do install this. It actually makes ToB into what is should be.
Big Picture - I'd wait for next release, when it gets sorted out. It somehow resembles a cross between "Tactics" and SCS I usually play SCS, but BP has several nice features (especially if you played old Tactics mod)
Butchery - haven't tried.
CoM encounters - skip.
DSoA -skip.
Quest Pack AI - well, better than vanilla. If you don't like any tactical challenge apart "mostly vanilla" this is what I'd
reccomend you install
DoD, D's odd Quest, Grimaurs, Improved Asylum, Oversight - skip these.
Revised battles - has some really tough (cheesy) battles, and some OP equipment. Not bad per se if you like that kind
of stuff, I don't but I'd reccomed you at least try few components (Master Brain, Wraith Sarevok)
RR (Chosen of Cyric) - both powerful equipment and decent AI, and exellent documentation. Nice, since you can skip
it alltogether via dialogue or make it easy by killing one of them before the real fight.
Reccomended. The loot is extra, so it may make the rest of the game much easier.
SCS - again, use v21. As for options, there is one really hard - improved Abazigal lair - so be sure to read the Readme
file before you install any compnent - you might get some fights which are much tougher than anything in
vanilla game.
Turnabout, Victor's - skip.
Tactics - outdated, but if you never fought Tactics Sahaugin you don't know what you're missing ("Swallowed whole"!)
Ritual part is nice, but the reward is easilly the most broken pair of boots ever made.
Ilych is a classic, but I wouldn't reccomend it (even if today, I find this battle to be very easy)
And Kuroisan, if you never tried this, since it's hilarious.
RULES AND TWEAKS
aTweaks - this is nice, but Elementals are quite OP so be warned about installing this particular part. Otherwise great,
reccomended, and documentation is phenomenal.
Tweakpack - Force dialogues to pause game, More Intrjections, Exotic Items, True GM, Unlimited Stacks, no Avatars
in Underdark, silence "You must gather....", consistent stats of NPCs
Skip the others, and do not, ever, install "faster cut-scenes" on BGT. It's a game-breaker and should be
removed from BWS.
Divine Remix - nice mod, an overhaul of cleric kits. Lacks a proper documentation piece.
Druid Kit Enhacements - ok mod. Shapeshifter is bugged (looses memorized spells) but if you can live with that it's the
most balanced shapshifting fix.
Dungeon-Be-Gone - I use it, but it breaks immersion in BGT.
Full Plate & Packing Steel - broken in BGT.
Igi's mods - convinient, but I'd skip them.
Improved summons - if you use SCS, you might want to try this, but I wouldn't reccomed it.
Randomizer - nice mod if you're bored with vanilla item allocation. Do not install with IR "Revised Stores" component.
Item Revisions - I'd say it's base component "Item Revisions by Demivrgvs" is incompatibe with most big mods (trust
me on this) but other components aren't, and they're quite good. Reccomedned, apart base - this can (and rest assured, will) make some fights in Megamod installs make very difficult. If you use, use with SCS AI.
IWDification- haven't tried.
Jarl's BGTweaks - nice. Install Gamesounds, special NPC items, and General Fixes, skip the rest (or not).
Level 1 NPCs - install just "List party joinable NPCs", and leave the rest for later; saves you trouble in the long run.
Lost Crossroads - this is nice mod. A word of warning - be sure to read Readme before you install this (you should do this with any mod, but this is a really tricky pony - some components can completely break AI scripts ). It will mostly appeal to PnP fans.
Psionics Unleashed - not bad, but Psionics never appealed to me, and I'm not sure how AI handles the new spells.
Rogue Rebalancing - I'd install everything apart Bard Spell Progression (level 6 is all my bards can cast, since the
class is brokenly powerful as it is)
Semi-Multi Clerics - OP. Sorcerers with Creeping Doom and Heal.
Song & Silence - RR is simply much better than this.
Spell Revisions - I'd reccomend this, especially with SCS (and do skip "fixes" part if you install SCS). Don't use with
SCSv24, you'll have CTDs.
Spell50 - apsurd.
Sword&Fist - skip.
TBTweaks - skip. Use ToBEx.
Refinements - I'd install "Revised HLA's" only.
Turambar Tweaks - ok mod. Skip "slow weapon disintegration", others as you wish - ok to install any.
WizardSlayer Rebalancing - ok mod.
Other Tweak mods I reccomend skipping.
BG2 STORES AND ITEMS
Just 1 single mod here worth mentioning (I may have forgotten some but....)
Daulmakan's Item pack. Not all components show up in BWS so after setup is finished run mod setup again to see
the remaining options. Some items are OP, but if I don't use Item Revisions I use Item Pack.
AI MODS
It's per personal liking. Avoid installing different AI mods together.
KITS
So much choice, here. Actually, it's simple.
Blackguard - decent if you like evil fighters
Conductor - even if I don't really like this kit, it's of decent quality wih a custom HLA table.
Divine Remix
NPC Kitpack - Sarevok and Mazzy (but be careful with Mazzy - it's a big change)
Spellshaper
Most of other kits I find UP/OP or just silly.
GRAPHIC
BGT NPC Portraits - this is great stuff.
Worldmap
IA Content - needed for some mods, and if you like BG1 avatars (I do) you might really like this mod.
1PP - lovely. It's in EE, so if you can make your BG look like EE why not.
Widescreen - if you like above 1024-768 resoultions. I don't.
Be sure to biff everything, run setup on Level 1 NPCs and go play.
I remember micbaldur posted a list of his stuff a while back as well - maybe we should compile these posts and create an 'Alternatives to the Recommended BWP install' thread.
when I'm usually around 
. Dynamic difficulty is the way to go (not always but especially for spawn with standards mobs) and BGspawn is the only mod taking account off it.
