Pre-installation

Before installing Improved Anvil, make sure that you have BG2:EE 2.5 installed.

Note 1: You do not need to start the game in multi-player mode anymore in order to create custom NPCs. Enhanced Edition allows you to create custom party members right at the beginning.

Recommended Ease-of-Use components

  • Shut Up "You Must Gather Your Party Before Venturing Forth" (optional)
  • Multiple Strongholds (Recommended)
  • No Drow Avatars On Party In Underdark (optional)

Note 1: use the original "Ease of Use" mod (rather than the BG2 Tweakpack).

Note 2: don't install any other component of Ease-of-Use except the mentioned ones. You can of course choose not to install some or all of the recommended and optional components mentioned above, but do not install any other components which are not in the list.

The summary of pre-installation

  1. BG2EE 2.5
  2. Selected components of Ease of Use (optional)
  3. Any other mods, provided that they are NOT incompatible and provided that they will NOT require you to install them after Improved Anvil.

Now, you are ready to install Improved Anvil.

Note 1: You need to start a new game (even if you were already playing a previous version).

Note 2: If you accidentally install a mod after Improved Anvil, you will need to amend the order of installation. To do this, uninstall Improved Anvil and then install it again. Hitting the RE-install option will not do. You will need to uninstall Improved Anvil completely and install it afresh to make sure that it is installed after all other mods.

Note 3: If any other mod also requires to be installed "after" all other mods, just skip it and do NOT install it with/after/before Improved Anvil.

Note 4: Dungeon-be-gone is compatible with Improved Anvil; however, Improved Anvil's "Item Randomizer" program initiates in the starting area of the game and it takes a few seconds before it can fully initiate. On slower computers it may take about 60 seconds (after the initial auto-save), on faster computers, it can be done faster. The point is that you should not rush to leave the area too quickly. You don't need to do anything special, just stay in the area long enough to see the message "Item Randomizer successfully initiated" and then you can leave the dungeon without any problem.

Note 5: If you're looking for a more modern solution to skip the Irenicus dungeon, I recommend to take a look at the great mod Skip Chateau Irenicus by Argent77. It is fully compatible with Improved Anvil.

Note 6: Even better, avoid any dungeon-skipping mods and play through the whole thing in its entirety. The dungeon has received a few improvements since the release of the 7th version and now features a couple of fun encounters. You might even find useful, previously unseen treasures!

Note 7: The older version of the readme has contained a detailed list of mods that should not be installed together with Improved Anvil. By now, it is seriously outdated and therefore omitted from this document. The safe bet is that you should avoid installing any mods because they will most certainly create a problem of some sort or another. Improved Anvil was never taught to play well with the others and probably never will be. If you do want to try something, however, and not sure if you can, ask in the forum, we'll try to help you.

Upgrading to version 7.0

If you already have a previous version of Improved Anvil, you can easily update the mod to the new version as instructed below:

  1. Uninstall the old version of Improved Anvil.
  2. Uninstall all of the incompatible mods/components if you have any of them installed.
  3. Delete the "ImprovedAnvil" folder from your main BG2 folder.
  4. Unzip the new version of the mod in your BG2 folder. If asked whether you want to replace anything, reply "yes". Now, you should have a new "ImprovedAnvil" folder in your BG2 folder.
  5. Install the new version of the mod.
  6. Starting a new game is mandatory (even if you were already playing a previous version).

Have fun!