Strange effect in BG2EE

Remove all ads!

Ok, so here's the "effect" - every once in awhile, say 1/3 to 1/5 of time in combat, the following happens; A bunch of clouds, like a Cloudkill or Stinking Cloud appears around whomever I am in combat with. This cloud makes the enemies roll saving throws vs. magic, or take piercing damage. In Irenicus' dungeon, this, when it came up, would pretty much take care of goblins or Duegar. [the damage could be as much as 18 or so points if the save was failed] and they have to save EVERY round! And the effect lasts until combat is over...

This happens, when it happens, regardless of whether or not I am attacking with melee wpns, ranged wpns, or spells/wands. The cloud pops up, they all have to make saves and damage [usually] ensues.

An even odder occurrence just happened. Down in the lower levels of the Thieves' Guild, where you witness the archery training, where you lose control of the party while the scene plays out, the clouds appeared in response to the Thief attacking his "targets", but the cloud only effected my party members - since he shoots at three different meat bags, the damage really piled up, Aerie died (!) and the rest of the party where reduced to 50% or fewer HPs!

So any ideas? Anyone heard of this before? I hope I can get it fixed. Thanks.

Below find my Weidu log for the current game.


// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~SETUP-ITEMUPGRADE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Shadows Of Amn Item Upgrades -> Original list version: v40
~SETUP-ITEMUPGRADE.TP2~ #0 #1 // Throne Of Bhaal Item Upgrades -> Original list version: v40
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #3 // True Grand Mastery (extra half-attack, etc.) (Baldurdash)
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #6 // Wear Magical Armor AND Magic Rings (etc.)
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #9 // Un-Nerfed THAC0 Table, Saving Throws, Grand-Mastery, and Arcane, Divine Spell Progression (Blucher)
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #10 // XP Cap Remover
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #12 // Turn Off The Hideous Cloak-of-Mirroring and Spell-Trap Animation
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #13 // Unlimited Bag of Holding (Blucher)
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #15 // Bonus Merchants (Baldurdash)
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #18 // Imoen ToB Dialogue Fix
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #19 // Shapeshifter Rebalancing
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #20 // Female Edwina
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #21 // Romance: Bug Fixes (required for later components).
~SETUP-EASE.TP2~ #0 #22 // Romance: PC can romance one NPC (regardless of race/gender).
~IMOEN_FOREVER/IMOEN_FOREVER.TP2~ #0 #0 // Imoen 4 Ever in BGII: Imoen Returns after Talking to Gaelan in Chapter 2: v10
~IMOEN_FOREVER/IMOEN_FOREVER.TP2~ #0 #1 // Imoen 4 Ever in BGII: Give Imoen Dialogue Content in SoA: v10
~IMOEN_FOREVER/IMOEN_FOREVER.TP2~ #0 #2 // Imoen 4 Ever in BGII: Yoshimo Comes to Brynnlaw: v10
~IMOEN_FOREVER/IMOEN_FOREVER.TP2~ #0 #3 // Imoen 4 Ever in BGII: Give Imoen Protection Spell in Chapters 2 & 3: v10
~IMOEN_FOREVER/IMOEN_FOREVER.TP2~ #0 #9 // Imoen 4 Ever in BGII: Compatibility with Alternatives and Saerileth: v10
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #0 // The Kidnapping of Boo by Cliffette: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #2 // Kalah and What He Was Promised: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #5 // The Pai'Na/Spider's Bane Quest: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #6 // Restored Crooked Crane Inn: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #7 // Restored Encounters: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #9 // Corrected "Xzar's Creations": v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #10 // Restored Hell Minions, by SimDing0: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #12 // Item Restorations: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #15 // NPC Portrait Restorations: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #17 // Corrected Character Names and Biographies: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #18 // Restored Minor Dialogs: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #19 // Restored Bhaalspawn Powers, by David Gaider: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #20 // Extended ToB Item Descriptions: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #21 // Throne of Bhaal Minor Restorations: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #22 // Justifier Kit: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #23 // Feralan Kit: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #24 // Sarevok's Remorse: v28
~UB/SETUP-UB.TP2~ #0 #25 // The Murder of Acton Balthis, by Kulyok: v28
~XAN/XAN.TP2~ #0 #0 // Xan NPC MOD for Baldur's Gate II: v19
~BRANWEN/BRANWEN.TP2~ #0 #0 // Branwen BG2 NPC mod for players and modders: v7
~BANTERPACK/SETUP-BANTERPACK.TP2~ #0 #0 // Pocket Plane Banter Pack for BG2: Shadows of Amn: v18
~BANTERPACK/SETUP-BANTERPACK.TP2~ #0 #2 // Pocket Plane Banter Pack for BG2: Throne of Bhaal: v18
~KETO/SETUP-KETO.TP2~ #0 #0 // Keto-SOA NPC: V6
~SONG_AND_SILENCE/SETUP-SONG_AND_SILENCE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Changes to trueclass bards and thieves, and unmodded game kits (required for other components): v9
~SONG_AND_SILENCE/SETUP-SONG_AND_SILENCE.TP2~ #0 #1 // Add new bardic store and thief items: v9
~SONG_AND_SILENCE/SETUP-SONG_AND_SILENCE.TP2~ #0 #2 // Install Acrobat bard kit: v9
~SONG_AND_SILENCE/SETUP-SONG_AND_SILENCE.TP2~ #0 #4 // Install Dirgesinger bard kit: v9
~SONG_AND_SILENCE/SETUP-SONG_AND_SILENCE.TP2~ #0 #5 // Install Gypsy bard kit: v9
~SONG_AND_SILENCE/SETUP-SONG_AND_SILENCE.TP2~ #0 #6 // Install Adventurer thief kit: v9
~SONG_AND_SILENCE/SETUP-SONG_AND_SILENCE.TP2~ #0 #7 // Install Burglar thief kit: v9
~SONG_AND_SILENCE/SETUP-SONG_AND_SILENCE.TP2~ #0 #8 // Install Soulknife thief kit: v9
~SONG_AND_SILENCE/SETUP-SONG_AND_SILENCE.TP2~ #0 #9 // Install Sharpshooter thief kit: v9
~SONG_AND_SILENCE/SETUP-SONG_AND_SILENCE.TP2~ #0 #10 // Install Shadowdancer thief kit: v9
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #0 // Proper dual-wielding implementation for Thieves and Bards: v4.91
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #1 // Thief kit revisions: v4.91
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #2 // Thief High Level Ability revisions: v4.91
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #3 // Proper racial adjustments for thieving skills: v4.91
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #4 // Bard kit revisions: v4.91
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #5 // Bard High Level Ability revisions: v4.91
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #6 // Proper spell progression for Bards: v4.91
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #7 // Additional equipment for Thieves and Bards: v4.91
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #8 // Upgradeable Equipment: v4.91
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #999 // BG2-style icons for RR content: v4.91
~HAMMERS/SETUP-HAMMERS.TP2~ #0 #0 // Thrown Hammers: v6.1.0
~HAMMERS/SETUP-HAMMERS.TP2~ #0 #15 // Thrown Spiritual Hammers: v6.1.0
~HAMMERS/SETUP-HAMMERS.TP2~ #0 #25 // Normal throwing hammers: v6.1.0
~HAMMERS/SETUP-HAMMERS.TP2~ #0 #35 // +1 throwing weapons: v6.1.0
~HAMMERS/SETUP-HAMMERS.TP2~ #0 #50 // Additional magic items: v6.1.0
// Recently Uninstalled: ~SETUP-BAGBONUS.TP2~ #0 #0 // Bonus Potioncase and Ammobelt to Deidre's store
~SETUP-BAGBONUS.TP2~ #0 #0 // Bonus Potioncase and Ammobelt to Deidre's store

 

Well, no, I can't help much, other than to say that it looks very much like a bug in one of your mods (or perhaps in the interaction between incompatible mods), but I've no idea which mods might be involved. But you probably already realised that it's likely to be a mod problem.

All I can suggest is the brute force method of uninstalling each mod, one at a time, and test each time to see whether the fault is still present. If at some point it stops happening, then search for the possibility of it being an interaction between mods by reinstalling the one which stopped the fault and then resume uninstalling the remaining mods one by one and testing as before, to see if there's another mod which also stops the fault when uninstalled. The you'll know which mod is at fault, or perhaps which combination of mods is incompatible, so then do a clean reinstall of the game and each of the mods except the one (or one of the ones) which causes the fault.

Yes, I know, doing all this will be a very time-consuming process. Unfortunately, I've nothing better to suggest, unless someone else has more knowledge of the problem and can point out the buggy mod without having to do lengthy testing.

 

Yeah, that's the "brute force" solution, indeed! If I go back to EE I will have to find a way to clean up this "piercing damage cloud of doom".

But for now, I'll make do with Classic, which I prefer [still] and even with even more mods than above, it works great and remains stable.

Thanks for you suggestion.

 

This definitely sounds like a mod issue and, as such, it would be almost impossible for someone to tell you why this happens unless they've experienced the exact same issue themselves. If you installed the latest, EE-compatible versions of the mods, then the most likely scenario would be the least popular (and therefore least tested) ones. In other words, I could vouch that the latest RR, UB, and S&S are extremely unlikely to be the issue, but I've never heard of Keto NPC for example, so that would be where I'd start.

 

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I hope that it isn't Keto, since she is one of the most entertaining NPC mods out there, IMO.

I recently uninstalled the game completely and re-installed with just the fixpack, some stuff from ease of use and my three go-to NPCs, Keto, Xan and Branwen. It strikes me as odd that an NPC mod could be responsible before I have even met the NPC, but one never knows what's going on under the hood, so to speak.

But <sigh> same things happening, although now the "fake cloud effect with piercing damage" only happens with ranged weapons. Still, it's a pain to kill all goblins in a group by simply hitting one of them with an arrow.

Back to the drawing board...

 

NPC mods tend to add a bunch of other content as well, which can easily clash with other mods. I couldn't even begin to predict what kind of compatibility issues my largest NPC mod has with other user-made content. As much as I tried to make it play nice with existing game files, unexpected side effects are bound to happen. It's just the nature of mods.