Not sure if this forum is still being viewed, but I just wanted to give props to the creator of this NPC mod. It's the first NPC mod I've tried, mostly because I liked how it fit into the story and background of BG1 and BG2. I was really impressed with the level of polish and interaction involved, and with this and the BG1NPC mod installed she was very well integrated into the existing characters and stories. I just wanted to give a couple notes but overall I was really glad I tried this one.
COMBAT:
- I used Valerie along with EasyTutu (required), Gibberling's 3 Tweaks, and Sword Coast Stratagems Mods
- As a sorcerer in BG1 you can easily end up being overpowered if you know what spells to take. I felt that her stats struck a great balance between overpowered and limiting.
- Starting out with slings was nice as well, no daggers or close range for this girl.
- If you want to have lots of magic fun, stick the rings of wizardry on her. If you're using the BG1 versions, you'll end up with 12 or 24 first level spells which is great in making magic a much bigger part of the fights. With the SCS mods mage fights are much, much harder and having those extra "remove magic" spells made combat much less frustrating.
- I felt like another point for great balance was that although her offensive capability was great, she could be very easily disabled via spells, arrows, or other effects due to her low constitution and average dexterity. It made you need to put some effort into defensive spells and party positioning.
UTILITY:
- Although the first rule of any sorcerer is to only pick super awesome kill everything spells, picking identify made the annoyance of lugging loot and protection scrolls back and forth to a church nearly disappear. Very very useful especially if you use the rings of wizardry.
- Low constitution makes her fatigued very quickly, but not a huge deal.
DIALOGUE:
- I felt like this was really really good overall.
- Her interjections during the story fit well with the other NPC banters in the BG1NPC mod. Didn't seem like they were taking over the show or just there for the sake of being there.
- Viewpoint of an Amnish citizen during the iron crisis is cool, haven't seen before.
- Friendship dialogue was good, impressed with the scripting of events that occur during resting at inns and such. Character evolved as story progressed.
- Only comment would be that when using your PC to talk with her, the option "is it just me or do you like girls?" followed by her response seemed humorously direct and out of place. I think it could be integrated better into her background, but overall again it was very good.
- Some funny and lighthearted moments with other NPCs and the PC, tone fit well into BG1 though. Felt like there was good back and forth, never seemed like the character was a Mary Sue that delivered sick burns to everyone else.
Overall I thought this NPC was really great, I was very impressed with how it fit in with the original characters and tone of the story. I picked this mod to try first because it was one of the newer ones and also because the background and origin seemed to make the most sense to me out of the other options. Portrait was nice too and fit with the artwork of the original game.
I was kind of disappointed to read that there wasn't going to be a BG2 version. It seemed like reading the other threads that it was pretty well thought out already and would have fit nicely into the story. I really hope that Tempest will come back to this character in the future, but haven't seen anything from them recently.
