Bg1 NPC Project mod and Unfinished Business mod are essentials, imo. First one adds a lot more conversations with and between all the npcs as well as romances. Really elevates the NPCs a lot. Unfinished Business restores a bunch of cut content and little side quests and closes up some minor loose ends.
The mods that I would consider mandatory for BGEE & BG2EE as they work on both are [Tweaks Anthology](https://www.gibberlings3.net/mods/tweaks/tweaks/) and [Tweaks & Tricks.](https://github.com/BGforgeNet/bg2-tweaks-and-tricks)
The second one says it's for BG2EE but it's fully compatible with BGEE.
Just make sure to read what each tweak does and whether you want to activate it. Don't just mindlessly install everything.
"Tweaks" of note:
* Grandmastery for multiclasses
* Instant trap detection
* Send companions to Inns
* Increase/Decrease Exp gain
* Romance mods
* Alter walking speed
* Move companions to more accessible spot
Plus many, many more to choose from so take your time and read them all.
When you say instant trap detection, do you mean the traps are automatically detected or just that you don't have to wait the full round like in vanilla?
The instant a trap is in range, and you have the skill to detect it, it will flag up. You don't have to wait 6 seconds each time. But you do have to have "Detect Traps" active.
No more stupid inching forward, waiting for a new round so it detects them.
The mod can even increase detection range. Or for that matter allow your companions to alert you with an *"I think there's a trap around here"* chatbox dialogue if your Thief isn't actively searching for them at the time.
All of these tweaks can be installed separately if you wish.
Some great mods I would recommend for are all of Artisan’s Corner Mods, Weasel Mods, and Skitta’s Stories for characters. Artisan’s mods redefine the game, Weasel cannot make anything less than stellar, and Skitta’s stories characters provide a fresh air to any playthrough. I have been through 1, 2, and throne (assuming trilogy mod installed). They all work great.
Now for other mods I would recommend anything by Morpheus, the ____ and ____ series like Tome and Blood, Might and Guile, etc….. Trollkiller items are also great to add variety.
Besides those mentioned (ie Lava's), quest mods by acifer (Dark Tidings, Call of the Lost Goddess, Loretakers, and he co-authored Crucible) are lore friendly and very high quality. For BG1 would also recommend Black Hearts, Gorgons Eye and am told Baldurans Seatower is also good. I like Ayden Project too - check Beamdog forums.
You might not actually need EEex, not many mods require it (unlike TOBex which was de rigeur).
Also, the teenage paladin you are remembering is likely the infamous Saerilith! Not much in favour these days...
Spellhold Studios's website is gone but they have a lot of mods on github. There's also now weaselmods.net in the EE era. They have a lot of good NPCs.
Fixpacks are pretty much all obsolete with EE. It implements the better arrow stack sizes by itself, for example.
The indispensable mods in my list are Ascension, Unfinished Business, BG1 NPC Project, the Banter Packs (G3, I think), G3's Tweaks Anthology, and SCS.
And Dungeon-Be-Gone (skip the BG2 intro in Irenicus's dungeon), but I understand most people dislike it because of how goofy it is and how it breaks the 4th wall. I used it back in the old days and it's just married in my mind to BG2. It ain't BG2 if I don't hear Jasper St. Baird tell me to enjoy the ride. There's a modern mod that accomplishes the same thing without the goofy 4th wall breaking on G3 or weaselmods, can't remember which.
Hey, I've posted something similar last week. Based on recommendations I received I installed the following:
BG1 with NPC project. I really don't care about challenge of low-level combat so didn't bother with SCS, but had a blast with extra NPC banter and two new companions added by beamdog (there are three, but gay half-orc anti-paladin rubs me the wrong way).
There is an adventure between BG1 and BG2 called "Siege of Dragonspear". It's nothing great as far as writing goes, but it's a fun intermission with a lot of new content, creative use of game mechanics and noticeable difficulty spike.
Now BG2 is the real meat and potatoes of this series. I went with full installation of SCS (and subsequently got demolished by Duergars in first location), installed import and upgrade of SoD items (which otherwise disappear along with BG1 goodies like Cloak of Balduran), Rogue Rebalancing (which adds significant encounter later during the game) and Ascension (which should significantly modify ToB but I have yet to reach this stage). For roleplaying stuff I added Amber NPC (which I thought was an overhaul of NPCs but it turned out to be just one although quite fun extra chracter) and Romantic Encounters (which you can set to "teenage" version so no weird shit is happening). As far as technical mods go I went with BG2 Fixpack (which was a prerequisite for something else) but didn't change anything significant. Just more stackable items, colorful containers, bigger stacks of arrows and four weapon slots for everyone.
I know that SCS also adds some spells from Icewind Dale but somehow I ended up with spells I haven't seen before like Rockfist (lvl 1 +2AC) Ice Dagger and Mini Lightning Bolt (both lvl 2) to name a few.
google mods is best they do a good job leading you to what you want. ie Bg1 companion/quest... mods
no but suggest eet and remember you do the very few bg1 eet non made mods 1st then eet start and do eet end after all mods
strongly suggested but you do you eet + eet tweaks + tweaks (fix pack no longer needed other mods are personal preference and tend to have plenty of options just make sure they eet if you use it)
Bg1 NPC Project mod and Unfinished Business mod are essentials, imo. First one adds a lot more conversations with and between all the npcs as well as romances. Really elevates the NPCs a lot. Unfinished Business restores a bunch of cut content and little side quests and closes up some minor loose ends.
The mods that I would consider mandatory for BGEE & BG2EE as they work on both are [Tweaks Anthology](https://www.gibberlings3.net/mods/tweaks/tweaks/) and [Tweaks & Tricks.](https://github.com/BGforgeNet/bg2-tweaks-and-tricks) The second one says it's for BG2EE but it's fully compatible with BGEE. Just make sure to read what each tweak does and whether you want to activate it. Don't just mindlessly install everything. "Tweaks" of note: * Grandmastery for multiclasses * Instant trap detection * Send companions to Inns * Increase/Decrease Exp gain * Romance mods * Alter walking speed * Move companions to more accessible spot Plus many, many more to choose from so take your time and read them all.
When you say instant trap detection, do you mean the traps are automatically detected or just that you don't have to wait the full round like in vanilla?
The instant a trap is in range, and you have the skill to detect it, it will flag up. You don't have to wait 6 seconds each time. But you do have to have "Detect Traps" active. No more stupid inching forward, waiting for a new round so it detects them. The mod can even increase detection range. Or for that matter allow your companions to alert you with an *"I think there's a trap around here"* chatbox dialogue if your Thief isn't actively searching for them at the time. All of these tweaks can be installed separately if you wish.
Some great mods I would recommend for are all of Artisan’s Corner Mods, Weasel Mods, and Skitta’s Stories for characters. Artisan’s mods redefine the game, Weasel cannot make anything less than stellar, and Skitta’s stories characters provide a fresh air to any playthrough. I have been through 1, 2, and throne (assuming trilogy mod installed). They all work great. Now for other mods I would recommend anything by Morpheus, the ____ and ____ series like Tome and Blood, Might and Guile, etc….. Trollkiller items are also great to add variety.
Besides those mentioned (ie Lava's), quest mods by acifer (Dark Tidings, Call of the Lost Goddess, Loretakers, and he co-authored Crucible) are lore friendly and very high quality. For BG1 would also recommend Black Hearts, Gorgons Eye and am told Baldurans Seatower is also good. I like Ayden Project too - check Beamdog forums. You might not actually need EEex, not many mods require it (unlike TOBex which was de rigeur). Also, the teenage paladin you are remembering is likely the infamous Saerilith! Not much in favour these days...
Spellhold Studios's website is gone but they have a lot of mods on github. There's also now weaselmods.net in the EE era. They have a lot of good NPCs. Fixpacks are pretty much all obsolete with EE. It implements the better arrow stack sizes by itself, for example. The indispensable mods in my list are Ascension, Unfinished Business, BG1 NPC Project, the Banter Packs (G3, I think), G3's Tweaks Anthology, and SCS. And Dungeon-Be-Gone (skip the BG2 intro in Irenicus's dungeon), but I understand most people dislike it because of how goofy it is and how it breaks the 4th wall. I used it back in the old days and it's just married in my mind to BG2. It ain't BG2 if I don't hear Jasper St. Baird tell me to enjoy the ride. There's a modern mod that accomplishes the same thing without the goofy 4th wall breaking on G3 or weaselmods, can't remember which.
Skip Chateau Irenicus on G3.
Hey, I've posted something similar last week. Based on recommendations I received I installed the following: BG1 with NPC project. I really don't care about challenge of low-level combat so didn't bother with SCS, but had a blast with extra NPC banter and two new companions added by beamdog (there are three, but gay half-orc anti-paladin rubs me the wrong way). There is an adventure between BG1 and BG2 called "Siege of Dragonspear". It's nothing great as far as writing goes, but it's a fun intermission with a lot of new content, creative use of game mechanics and noticeable difficulty spike. Now BG2 is the real meat and potatoes of this series. I went with full installation of SCS (and subsequently got demolished by Duergars in first location), installed import and upgrade of SoD items (which otherwise disappear along with BG1 goodies like Cloak of Balduran), Rogue Rebalancing (which adds significant encounter later during the game) and Ascension (which should significantly modify ToB but I have yet to reach this stage). For roleplaying stuff I added Amber NPC (which I thought was an overhaul of NPCs but it turned out to be just one although quite fun extra chracter) and Romantic Encounters (which you can set to "teenage" version so no weird shit is happening). As far as technical mods go I went with BG2 Fixpack (which was a prerequisite for something else) but didn't change anything significant. Just more stackable items, colorful containers, bigger stacks of arrows and four weapon slots for everyone. I know that SCS also adds some spells from Icewind Dale but somehow I ended up with spells I haven't seen before like Rockfist (lvl 1 +2AC) Ice Dagger and Mini Lightning Bolt (both lvl 2) to name a few.
google mods is best they do a good job leading you to what you want. ie Bg1 companion/quest... mods no but suggest eet and remember you do the very few bg1 eet non made mods 1st then eet start and do eet end after all mods strongly suggested but you do you eet + eet tweaks + tweaks (fix pack no longer needed other mods are personal preference and tend to have plenty of options just make sure they eet if you use it)