Darkside Balance Mod

[raknefne]

I made a small mod that can be used in existing games with no problem, since nothing is changed in the editor. It helps the early tough fights, balance some skills, creatures and spells. DarkSide is still unbalanced IMO, but it helps. I haven't tried the mod in lategame only until level 22 with a Warrior on impossible. I also added some help if you want to mod further on this mod.
The mod is made for ENGLISH text only.

Download mod: Darkside Balance Mod.zip


Darkside Balance Mod

Installing:
Instead of changing the first maps for an easier start - because it is too hard compared to the rest of the game, there’re only a few files to make this work. The 2 directories with the files have a name that indicates where to extract them. You should probably make a copy of your whole Darkside directory and place it somewhere else - before you extract the files. You will NOT see both the mod and vanilla when you start up. Also, you can use this mod in existing saved games – the mod changes will all appear in your game immediately. I have only changed text for the English text.
The 5 files with English text; eng_items, eng_rewards, eng_skills, eng_units_features and eng_windows all overwrites existing files in darkside\session\darkside\ loc_ses_eng.kfs
The 12 remaining files overwrites in darkside\session\darkside\ses.kfs

NOTE: If you don't overwrites then you have made a mistake and the game will crash, make sure you overwrite existing files, then you'll be fine!
(or else you will end up in KingsBounty Gamer's Hell with only 2 fingers to play and no mouse, no monitor or screen, blindfolded...)


SKILLS:
-Berserker: Was OP (OwerPowered). Now 3-5-7% (was 5-10-15). It is still a strange skill.
-Blood Lust: 4-7-10% all resistances (was 5-10-15). OP imo.
-Anger: 25%-40%-70% and only +1 Rage from level 2 (was 20-40-60% and 1-2-3 Rage). Was OP, you could get rage from just 1 imp that hits many with a fireball (I did the same mistake in the first version of my Hylfire mod, which was too OP).
-Diversion: No traps! Was OP.
-Eye for an Eye: 20% chance of returning 25% damage (was returning only 10%). Also a more clear text.
-Arcmage skill: Was OP with “each skill gives 1 Intellect”. Instead it now gives ZERO intellect, still 1 Mana per skill point, but 2% mana regeneration (was 1%) and 15% Magic Resistance (was 10%). If maxed with 45 skill points this skill will give 35 Mana, 70% Mana Regeneration and 15% Magic Resistance (remember the first 10 skill points in the mage tree doesn’t count, therefore it will give 35 Mana and not 45 Mana etc). You get some Intellect from the companion Lucia, which is the only companion btw that has a boost like Defense/Attack/Intellect etc.


CREATURES:
-Archdemon: Leadership 1.600 (was 1.500, 1.600 in WotN). Initiative lowered by 1.
-Dragonrider: Leadership 4.000 (was 1.500). Initiative lowered by 1. To compare, Black Dragon has 2.500 Leadership. About 5% less dmg on dive. Could be argued to be an even higher Leadership requirement.
-Goblin: 20-25% more damage on talents. Normal throw can shoot 5 in distance (was only 3), and the first adrenalin talent is now 8 in distance(was 5).
-Furious Goblin: Now hits with NO retaliation.
-Skeleton: Run talent gives 3 move (was 2). When defending, +6 Defense (was +2).


MEDALS:
Merciful: Need 5-10-20 (was 25-50-100). Not sure if this will be used, but lowered it a lot.
Sealer of Fate: 3-6-10 Mana & Rage (was 5-10-15 Mana & Rage). I think Mana is thrown in your face too much in Darkside…
Connoisseur of Beaty: 5-10-15% less leadership req. for hiring female troops (was 10-15-20).

SPELLS:
-Call of Nature: Was OP. About half the chance to get level 4 animals and a chance to get all 4 type of spiders too. Price 5000 (was 2500). Summons about 12% less. It is still strong, but haven’t tested it in the endgame yet.
-Plague: Was too weak. Now the duration 3-4-5 (was 2-2-2). Plague 20% (was 10%, chance to spread). Mana and Crystal cheaper. Was worthless before…
-Chaos Missil: In some forums it is mentioned, that the damage is big compared to it’s price, but with the lower Intellect for the Mage, I haven’t touched it. Let me know if needed.
-Creation: Gives only 1 charge (was 1-2-3). Crystals 3-6-10 (was 3-5-7). With 1 Charge I compared to Phantom level 1 spell that costs 20 Mana in this mod - it gives like 20% of the stack. If you phantom Heretiacs you can then ressurect twice with 40% all in all until phantom expires, Creation is better than phantom in this case (for resurrecting). Mana price is the same 8-12-16.
-Phantom: Price 9000 (was 6000). Mana 20-25-30 (was 15-20-25). Crystal 6-12-18 (was 3-6-9)
-Sacrifice: Price 6000 (was 2400)
-Turn Back Time: 40 Mana (was 30). Price 65.000 (was 50.000)


COMPANIONS:
-Lucia: 4-7-10 Mana / 2-4-6 Intellect (was 10-20-30 Mana, 2-4-6 Intellect).
-All other companions have NO stats. They are too OP in my opinion, since the game becomes easier the stronger the hero is in Darkside. I kept Lucia’s Intellect for the Mage, since I have removed the Archmage Skill that gave 1 Intellect for every skill point in the Mage tree (after skill level 10). It could give 35 Intellect when everything is maxed. They therefore looks more like the wives in The Legend, with no stats.


STARTING THE GAME:
-Difficulty is 100% - 140% - 170% - 190%. The text for enemy army strength is adjusted, so everything isn’t “invincible”. Exp develops a little lower just a little. Deathmoney much lower. Normal difficulty doesn’t show hidden chests on minimap.
-All heroes start off with a powerful weapon; “ RakneFne’s Shelter Axe”. It is meant for the early tough fights BEFORE reaching Portland. It has +10 Mana, +10 Defense/Attack, +200 Leadership, +1 Ini/Moral for all orcs, Moral decreases by 2 after each fight. The morale is 10 from the start and the fight for surpressing is way too strong, 70.0000 Black Dragons and 100.000 Dragon Riders... If you don’t need it just destroy it. Also destroy it after morale is 0. It is ONLY meant as a help for the too difficult fights early on.
-Warrior: He starts with only the Haste spell but with 1 Berserker scroll and 7 Magic Axe scrolls to help the 3 tough fights at the Shelter, only 1 Attack (was +1 Defense also). Crystal is 1 (was 0). He has at least 50% more units to start with. He has 20 Snake Eggs and 40 Spider Eggs (to help in the first difficult fights, also you don’t “have to” collect aaaaall the eggs in the first dungeon).
-Paladin: She starts with only the Fire Arrow and 1 Fire Breath scroll, only 1 Defense (was +1 Intellect also. Hypnosis is too strong to start with IMO since the Paladin is so strong anyway). Crystal is 5 (was 2). She has 10 Snake Eggs and 20 Spider Eggs
-Mage: He starts with Poison Scull and Plague (remember the Plague spell is improved now). Also a Slow scroll. He starts with just 1 Intellect (was 2 Intellect). Crystal is 10 (was 4). He has 10 Snake Eggs and 20 Spider Eggs.


MODDING HELP IF YOU WANT TO ADJUST SOME STATS IN THIS MOD:
-In general you change English text in loc_ses_eng.kfs and stats in ses.kfs
-Difficulty/Rage gain/exp development/Mana gain/gold upon death etc: ses.kfs\logic.txt – I added a description on what stats do what regarding to difficulty (although text in the start up menu doesn’t change, you will have to do that in loc_ses_eng.kfs\eng_windows.lng if you change the enemy army size, Rage development etc).
-Companion stats is in items.txt. Also change text accordingly in eng_items.lng
-Spells: spells.txt, text is rarely necessary but also eng_spells.lng
-Medals: skills.txt, change text in eng_rewards.lng

FEEL FREE TO IMPROVE THE BALANCE. IF YOU INTEND TO RELEASE ANYTHING FROM THIS MOD, IT'S NO PROBLEM IF YOU JUST LET ME KNOW AND WRITE IT.
- I'm having a break from Darkside, the quests are a little too complex, riding forward and back... but also interesting.

[raknefne]

This axe all 3 heroes startoff with. You can only use it for 5 fights, and it cannot be suppressed (you will fight 70.000 Black Dragons etc). It is meant as a help for the early fights before reaching Portland:

axe.bmp

[King's Hunty]

Good changes. I very much dislike OP stuff.

[jorko80]

Hi raknefne! Just decided to try Darkside and I found this mod. Thanks for the work. Will try it and see what happens