About this mod
This mod places 12 new weapons, and one set of Heavy & Light armor into Francesco\'s leveled list. Their power is carefully balanced to match level-30 items. Good luck!
- Permissions and credits
Unofficial Level 30 Item Mod for Francesco's Leveled Item
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Version: 1.0
by: Maltz ([email protected])
Discussion Thread:
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=811260
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What this mod does
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This mod places 12 new weapons, and 1 set of Heavy & Light armor into Francesco's leveled list. Their power is carefully balanced to match level-30 items.
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Requirement
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- Francesco's Leveled Items & creatures ver. 4.5b (SI version not required).
- Lv 25+ character (to get a chance to see these new items)
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Install
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1. Just like any other mod. Open the ./Data folder, and copy the Fran_Lv30items_Maltz.esp, ./Meshes, ./Textures, and ./Sound folder (essentially everything) into your own Oblivion ./Data folder. Answer YES to everything - nothing will be overwritten.
2. Load "Fran_Lv30items_Maltz.esp" just like any other mod. Load order should not matter, but to be safe, load it after all other Fran's add-ons and optional files.
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Uninstall
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Simply delete Fran_Lv30items_Maltz.esp. You can also remove any folder (and sub-folder under it) that is called ./30fran, which totals 106MB of disk space. (wow)
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Mod Conflict
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None.
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Known Issue and Bug
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None.
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Why did I make this mod
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It is not uncommon to have characters reaching level 30+, even 40+ or higher. Unfortunately, Francesco's leveled item peaks out at level 25+, not reaching further up. This mod is a simple personal attempt to include a set of carefully and accurately balanced level-30 items to Francesco's leveled item list. The models are mostly taken from very popular weapon and armor mods, all re-textured to properly reflect their top-of-the-list status.
Creating a level-30 leveled list is too much trouble. Therefore, these level-30 items are placed into the current rarest category, along with Fran's original level-25 items. They are even rarer than the level-25 items simply because there is only one variety of each, while the level-25 items generally have 2 or more kinds. If you really don't want to receive Lv 30+ items before Lv 30, just don't load this mod until you become Lv 30+.
Good luck and enjoy!
maltz
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Weapon & Armor Balance
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New items are carefully balanced based on Fran's style. The power difference between lv30 and lv25 is very similar to that of lv25 and lv20 - a 12% increase of damage per second to be exact. With a few exceptions, level-30 weapons and armors are heavier and more durable than level-25 ones. Weapon's Reach usually remains untouched, while speed is slightly adjusted for balancing issue.
You can find the new items' detail stats in the 30fran_Spreadsheet.xls spreadsheet. Weight and 2-handedness also plays a tiny role in balancing, which is explained there as well. The tuning closely mimics Fran's style, to one decimal place accuracy.
Note that the damage per second (DPS) formula which was used to balance power in Fran's mod is revamped, because the old formulat totally ignores reach, therefore giving longer weapons a distincitve, unfair advantage.
Old DPS = Damage x Speed
New DPS* = Damage x Speed x (Reach^0.5)
Therefore, you can expect a larger boost for weapon categories that formally has very short reach (1-H Dagger, 1-H Axe, 1-H Mace, etc.). This ^0.5 is assigned arbitrarily, as Reach isn't as critical as Damage and Speed. It cannot be ignored, thoguh. I have lost count how many times the bloody hammer missed an enemy standing right in front of me, just out of reach.
For bows I use a revamped DPS forumula as well:
OLD DPS for Bows = Damage x Speed
New DPS* for Bows = Damage x (Speed^0.5)
We rarely fire a bow non-stop, so Speed does not matter that much as in melee weapons. The new formula correctly gives faster bows a more fair damage rating.
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Level 30 Weapons
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There are Currently 12 Level-30 Weapons, listed below.
Dagger of the Galaxy (1-H Blade)
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Promoted from: Dagger of the Stars, originally by Homonkulos
Picked my favorite daggerto promote it to level 30. Did some re-texturing on the blade so there are real stars (gems) on the blade, and reasonably reduced its glow. Very fast, very short.
The Bow of Bones (2-H Ranged)
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Imported from: "The Bow of Bones" by Nicoroshi
A bow purely made of human skulls and bones is simply too cool to miss. Nicoroshi, who is also the creator of Doomshard as well as many other Fran's additional weapons of choice. Very fast, but quite fragile due to the lack of ligament on the joints. The default texture isn't very satisfactory (small texture extended to cover a large area), but re-UV-mapping it is beyond my ability.
The Frozen Slaughterfish (1-H Blunt)
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Imported from: "A Very Silly Slaughterfish Mod" by Bloke + "Slaughterfish Retexture" by Koldorn.
Frozen solid, hard-hitting, bio-degradable and doesn't smell! Performed some model clean-up and texture alteration to give the frozen look. Its Reach and Speed is similar to a mace. Since 70% of the fish is frozen water, this weapon is significantly lighter than metalic maces. For adventurers with a sense of humor and conservation, or a funny looking companion like Mr. Bean!
The Giant Bow of Khan (2-H Ranged)
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Promoted from: The Bow of Hunter, originally by Nicoroshi
This cool-looking, destructive barbaric bow is enlarged, re-textured, and seriously promoted from its lowly status on the original list (an "F"!). Ultimate ranged brutality brought you by the heaviest weight, but slowest speed among bows.
The Black Executioner (1-H Blunt)
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Promoted from: The Black Axe, originally by TemplarGFX
This stylish, light and swift executioner was sadly outshined by the bloody hammer on the original list due to the lack of compensation of its very short reach. It also had deceivingly low Damage due to its very high speed. Re-textured to upgrade its status, the Black Executioner has 25% more weight, but 15% less speed than the Black Axe - with appropriate Damage rating to let it stand shoulder to shoulder with the bloody hammer, if it manages to reach its target. Recommended to body-contact melee lovers.
Luciendar (1-H Blade)
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Imported from: "Myths and Legends : Weapons 2" by TemplarGFX
This great looking sword was featured in the highly acclaimed "Myths and Legend: Weapon 2" mod, which provides the model for many Fran's additional weapons such as Valermos Sword, Alluvium Anvil, The Black Axe and Orne's Bow. Completely re-textured to raise its value, and engraved a popular oriental rune on its blank blade. Your standard "most powerful longsword".
Masamune (1-H Blade)
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Imported from: Black Luster Longblade from "Black Luster Weapons and Armors" by hide0128
A very elegant Katana, reaches far, swings fast, and has the instantly-recognizable generic name for the most powerful katana! If anybody knows how to receive the second, useless shealth please let me know.
Excalibur (2-H Blade)
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Imported from: Black Luster Claymore from "Black Luster Weapons and Armors" by hide0128
This extravagant claymore is an instant classic of model design, adequately given the widely-approved generic name for the most powerful 2-H holy blade. Re-textured for its holiness!
The Black Exterminator (2-H Blunt)
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Promoted from: Black Legion Battleaxe by TemplarGFX
This gigantic 2-H axe (rescaled to restore its original size, or further) was clearly an underdog on the original list because the insane damage rating of the warhammers. Its lack of exposure is now compensated! Completely re-textured to fit its status. Fast and with a decent reach.
Green Dragon Crescent (2-H Blade)
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Re-textured from: Ebony Glaive, originally by: Jounk33
Polearms are under-represented on the original list. The Green Dragon Crescent is a custom textured, and re-scaled glaive based on the classic oriental Gaun Dao (Green Dragon Crescent Blade), even accurate to its reported weight. Very heavy and often cleaves opponent by half in one swing! Only recommended for high-strength characters. Tip:better start swinging when you are running towards the target, and keep your distance - it is the longest, slowest, and deadliest weapon among all!
Bloomstick (2-H Staff)
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Imported from: "Soul Gun" mod by Hardcoreben
Yes, a gun, and it fires like a gun! Re-textured, re-balanced from the original Boomstick, this staff is no longer a one-shot kill weapon. Comes with a handy Soul Trap enchantment and 77 points of irresistable damage (ignores Magical Resistance if I did it right). Perfect for adventurers with a advanced mind.
Vesper's Requiem (2-H Staff)
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Imported from: "Myths and Legends : Weapons 2" mod by TemplarGFX
Yet another spectacular weapon by TemplarGFX. Re-textured and re-balanced from the original, this staff is enchanted just like your own work: Soul Trap, 33 Fire Damage , 33 Frost Damage, 33 Shock Damage and 33% Weakness to Magic! It is very, very slow, though.
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Lv 30 Armors
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The power difference between lv30 and lv25 items are similar to the difference between lv25 and lv20 (1~2 points increase in Armor Rating).
There is one set of Heavy armor and Light armor. Plus one extra pre-enchanted helmet and shield, equivalent to the best quest helmet and shield in the vanilla game and official plug-ins. They are placed in the same list of the unenchanted items, so you actually get a (tiny) chance to see them.
Twilight Armor Set (Heavy Armor)
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Original Model by: X-files / Jerros
Re-textured Heaven's Fury Armor Set (one of the best-looking armor out there IMO) with a twilight theme.
Extra:
Twilight Escutcheon of Chorrol
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Pre-enchanted just like the Lv 25+ version Escutcheon of Chorrol.
Twilight Helmet of Bladeturn
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Pre-enchanted just like the Lv 20+ Bladeturn Hood from the Unearthing Mehrunes Razor plug-in.
Mirage Armor Set (Light Armor)
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Imported from: "Black Luster Weapons and Armors" by hide0128, and "Dark Illusion Armor" by Skeletonk.
Hand-picked from the following mods and re-textured to make the set. The following is used:
- Shield: Black Luster
- Cuirass: Black Luster
- Greaves: Black Luster
- Helmet: Pegasus Light Helmet (original model by EventineShangea)
- Gauntlets: Black Luster
- Boots:Dark Illusion
- Mask: Dark Illusion
- Extra 1: The mask replaces the armored circlet slot of Fran's mod (which hides the Tail). I gave it a helmet-like Armor Rating so you are justied to replace a helmet - so you can still see hair!
Mirage Escutcheon of Chorrol
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Pre-enchanted just like the Lv 25+ version Escutcheon of Chorrol.
Mirage Mask of Bladeturn
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Pre-enchanted just like the Lv 20+ Bladeturn Hood from the Unearthing Mehrunes Razor plug-in.
Since meshing is beyond my ability, I cannot create a male version of Mirage armor (the original models only support female characters).
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Other Notes
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I did not make any generic enchantment for the level-30 weapons and armors. They are way too rare, and even if you find them, the default enchantments are not powerful enough for you to use it.
If you can't wait to use the new items, you can find the FormID for each item in 30fran_Spreadsheet.xls. The xx at the beginning of each ID depends on your mod load order. For example, if it is the 10th mod to be loaded, xx = 0A, 32th mod, xx = 1F, 40th mod = 27. Trial and error works well if you aren't sure.
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Final Words
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Thanks for using this mod! I made it mainly for myself, but hope you like it as well. Suggestions and Comments please address to [email protected].