Version:
Languages: Chinese, Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian,
Spanish
Platforms: Windows, Linux, macOS
Ascension is a collection of changes to Throne of Bhaal, aimed at providing a richer story and more tactically interesting gameplay. Its largest component completely rewrites the finale (chapter 10) of Throne of Bhaal, adding new enemies and new allies; other components enhance the tactical challenge of many of the key battles in Throne of Bhaal, improve plot-central dialogues and player abilities, and more.
Ascension dates back to the dawn of Baldur's Gate modding: the designers were Cuveronious, Quitch, Xyx, Spork, Vulgar Zildrah, and Kensai Ryu, and the project team leader was David Gaider, one of the writers on Throne of Bhaal itself (and later lead writer for the Dragon Age series). It has gone through many updates and many maintainers since then - Westley Weimer (original author of WeiDU); and Miloch; White Agnus and JediMindTrix; AL|EN, and more - with contributions from many other modders.
This version is coded by DavidW (author of Sword Coast Stratagems and Wheels of Prophecy). It is a fairly systematic, ground-up rewrite of Ascension using modern coding techniques and taking advantage of Enhanced Edition functionality (while remaining backward-compatible with non-enhanced versions of Throne of Bhaal). In the rewrite, the component structure of Ascension was modified, breaking the main component into several sub-components (this was not possible in the original Ascension because of the very limited modding methods of the time), a very large number of small bugs were fixed, and some minor changes in implementation were made, reflecting modern coding methods and resources. I have tried to remain extremely faithful to the original Ascension. (Still, purists might want to look at the customisation section for how to get a completely faithful experience.)
This is probably redundant eighteen years after Ascension's release, but I have hidden the name of the final villain of Throne of Bhaal through the main part of this readme; I refer to her by her first initial, A.
Ascension is compatible with both the original and Enhanced-Edition versions of Throne of Bhaal, as well as the Baldur's Gate Trilogy and Enhanced Edition Trilogy. On non-Enhanced versions of the game, it requires the BG2 fixpack, available at Gibberlings Three, to be installed first.
Ascension is probably best installed fairly early in a multi-mod installation order. (Because Ascension has been an iconic mod right through the modding era, many mods are likely to be aware of it and respond to it, but that requires Ascension to be installed first.) However, version 2.0 is much more compatibility- friendly than earlier versions, so it is less crucial to install it first.
These specific mods should be installed before Ascension 2.0:
These specific mods should be installed after Ascension 2.0:
Windows
Ascension is distributed as a self-extracting archive and includes a WeiDU installer. To install,
simply double-click the archive and follow the instructions on screen.
Alternatively, the files can be extracted into your game directory using 7zip or WinRAR. When properly extracted, your game directory will contain setup-ascension.exe and the folder ascension. To install, double-click setup-ascension.exe and follow the instructions on screen.
You can run setup-ascension.exe in your game folder to reinstall, uninstall or otherwise change components.
macOS
Ascension for macOS is distributed as a compressed tarball and includes a WeiDU installer.
First, extract the files from the tarball into your game directory. When properly extracted, your game directory will contain setup-ascension, setup-ascension.command, and the folder ascension. To install, double-click setup-ascension.command and follow the instructions on screen.
You can run setup-ascension.command in your game folder to reinstall, uninstall or otherwise change components.
Linux
Ascension for Linux is distributed as a compressed tarball and does not include a WeiDU installer.
Extract the contents of the mod to the folder of the game you wish to modify.
Download the latest version of WeiDU for Linux from WeiDU.org and copy WeiDU and WeInstall to /usr/bin. Following that, open a terminal, cd to your game installation directory, run tolower and answer Y to both queries. You can avoid running the second option (linux.ini) if you've already ran it once in the same directory. To save time, the archive is already tolowered, so there's no need to run the first option (lowercasing file names) either if you've extracted only this mod since the last time you lowercased file names. If you're unsure, running tolower and choosing both options is the safe bet.
To install, run WeInstall ascension in your game folder. Then run wine BGMain.exe and start playing.
Note for Complete Uninstallation
In addition to the methods above for removing individual components, you can completely uninstall
the mod using setup-ascension --uninstall at the command line to remove all components without
wading through prompts.
This is a fairly spoiler-free, minimal list of contents. In many places I have included a quote from the original Ascension readmes (usually from David Gaider) to explain the contents. Much more detailed (and spoiler-y) descriptions of many parts of Ascension can be found in the additional content notes (see also the specific links below to the additional content notes).
Some people like the ending to Throne of Bhaal well enough, I guess. I liked it well enough (I did a lot of the work on it, after all), but I remember wishing that we had had the time to tinker with it more. At Bioware we never seemed to have enough time to tinker with the Infinity Engine scripting language as much as I might have liked. With better AI and some leisurely time spent considering various options, the ending might have been more fully realized. That's a game designer's fantasy, obviously, especially when you're working within the time-frame of an expansion (which must come out while the game's still on peoples' HARD-drives)...but seeing as a mod like this can be done in one's spare time, it doesn't have to be. Consider this my offering of what might have been. You might not necessarily like it better...heck, you might not even like it at all...but I think it shows off what the Infinity Engine can do when stretched to its limit and offers a bit more bite to Throne of Bhaal's climax for those who think that's not a bad idea.
The whole thing started on Black Isle's BG2 message boards. A friend of mine, Kevin Dorner ... had expressed a bit of disappointment at the fact that he had had no choice but to fight the strongest member of the Five, Balthazar. Balthazar was a Lawful Good monk, after all, and wouldn't a charismatic and heroic Lawful Good character be able to maybe talk some sense into him? He suggested that it would have been better to offer a non-fighting alternative or, hey, how about getting Balthazar to fight with you in the final battle?
Another poster (alas, I forget who exactly) offered another idea that it would have been a great idea if the Five had been resurrected in the final battle...that it would be cool to face them all at once. And I agreed...that was a very interesting idea.
So the Ascension was born. At first it was just a bit of extra dialogue for Balthazar and some work on the final battle, itself...but it's turned into a lot more than was expected.
David Gaider
These components collectively make up the original 'Ascension' mod. They all relate to the core story of the player's conflict with his/her essence and the others who seek it.
Rewritten final chapter
The highlights of the Ascension, itself, are: ...
Irenicus & Bodhi: ... [F]or those of you who wouldn't think of pairing up with a goody two-shoes pansy like Balthazar, there's another opportunity for an ally in the final battle here, as well.
a totally redone final battle: the battle at the Throne of Bhaal has been completely redone, from start to finish. Gone are the Elemental Princes and the multiple battles with A. and her Slayer Shadows. A. has been completely re-done, and the allies she brings to bear against you make this a whole new fight. ...
better AI: a lot of work has gone into the AI of the opponents you'll face. You can often disrupt their spells, but they'll work at preventing you from being able to. They are still immune to stuff that's appropriate, but the stuff they aren't immune to they will try and deal with when you use it on them. They'll target appropriate opponents with the appropriate attacks and generally use their abilities wisely. A. is still a power-house...but she's practically a demigod...the fight against her this time is much more tactical and you've got to figure out how to weaken her before you can take her down.
David Gaider
This component entirely replaces Chapter 10 of Throne of Bhaal, substantially affecting both the story and the tactical gameplay. A detailed walkthrough, with spoilers, is here, so I'll say little about the contents beyond Gaider's comments above. But anyone new to Ascension should know two things. Firstly, it is highly responsive to the difficulty slider (even more so in this version than in previous versions). And secondly, it is much more difficult than the baseline game. If you are used to playing Baldur's Gate on Core difficulty and without difficulty mods, I recommend trying Ascension on the Easy, or at most the Normal, difficulty setting. 'Core' difficulty is probably about equivalent to the lower end of the Sword Coast Stratagems mod. For veterans of Ascension, 'Hard' fairly accurately reproduces the 'Core" experience of previous versions of Ascension; 'Core' is slightly easier than previously.
In the original Readme, Gaider laments that he can't disable the automatic increased/decreased damage on different difficulty settings; modern tools allow this on either the Enhanced Edition or on Windows versions of original Throne of Bhaal, and this version of Ascension implements Gaider's wishes. See under customisation for how to disable this (though in the Enhanced Edition, you can just do so on the Gameplay page).
Redeemable Balthazar
Balthazar has a lot more to discuss with you when you meet him in his stronghold. He's a Lawful Good monk determined to destroy Bhaal and his evil essence forever, even in himself...but, depending on your own nature, you may be able to talk him into forgoing a battle or even fighting A. at your side. This is, however, not an easy thing to do.
David Gaider
This implementation of Balthazar separates the possibility of redeeming him as an ally both from the general rewrite of Chapter 10 and from the 'tougher Balthazar' tactical improvement (now a separate component). This means in particular that you can get Balthazar's help against A. even if you decide to go for the non-Ascension version of chapter 10. (This is code by DavidW, adapted from the Wheels of Prophecy mod.) If you want some hints on how Balthazar can be redeemed, see here.
Version 2.0 also makes Balthazar's powers fully usable by the player (this required some minor tweaks in the powers themselves, and some icons borrowed, with thanks, from the ones CamDawg designed for Kish's Oversight mod). For full details of Balthazar's powers, see here.
You can toggle Balthazar's AI on and off with the 'E' hotkey.
Improved Sarevok-Player interactions
Imoen and Sarevok have some dialogues with the PC in ToB that are fairly important. For Imoen, it involves her growing taint and she gets some Bhaalspawn abilities. For Sarevok, it involves the chance of him changing alignment. In ToB these were completely random...but since their stories come up in the Ascension, I thought it was important that these be seen.
David Gaider
This component ensures that Sarevok's key interactions with the player definitely happen, instead of being random. Sarevok will have these discussions with the player (unless they happen to come up randomly) the first time you rest after (i) he joins; (ii) Gromnir is defeated; (iii) the first of Sendai and Abazigal is defeated.
In addition, this component adds conversation, and a weapon upgrade, if you return to Sarevok his old sword, which you probably picked up in Irenicus's dungeon.
Improved Imoen-Player interactions
This component ensures that the key interactions with Imoen, likewise, actually happen; they trigger (if not before) on resting after: (i) you start Throne of Bhaal; (ii) Yaga-Shura is defeated; (iii) Balthazar is first encountered.
Restored Bhaalspawn Powers
Throne of Bhaal contains unimplemented content granting the player some new Bhaalspawn powers; this component restores them. Powers are awarded after each of the Pocket Plane challenges (except the fourth), with a good or evil flavor according to the attitude you express in your conversations with the Solar.
(This implementation also has code by DavidW restoring your original Bhaalspawn powers (since it doesn't make much sense that you gain new powers but never get those back even once your soul is restored). See under customisation for how to turn it off if you don't want it.
Detailed information on the powers can be found here ; they are also documented in-game, by right-clicking on the power in Enhanced Edition, or as a journal entry in original BG2.
Improved Slayer Transformation
The Slayer form that the player picks up in Spellhold all the way back in BG2 now upgrades. It does so when you exceed 2 million, 4 million and 6 million XP. The upgrades get considerably stronger and deadlier, and one big change you will notice is that occasionally you will lose control over yourself. The Slayer can sometimes go berserk and will attack the nearest target...this can last one round or go on for several...although there will always be a respite in the very last round before you take too much damage. The last upgrade gives the player the option to become the Ravager...the ultimate incarnation of murder...which is incredibly powerful but also the most difficult form to control.
David Gaider
Expanded Epilogues
David Gaider
This component expands and modifies the epilogues (the text played just before the credits) for several of the Bioware NPCs: Aerie, Anomen, Cernd, Haer'Dalis, Imoen, Jaheira, Mazzy, Nalia, Sarevok, Valygar, and Viconia. (There are no changes to Edwin, Jan, Keldorn, Korgan, or Minsc (or to the NPCs added by the Enhanced Edition, i.e. Dorn, Hexxat, Neera, Rasaad, and Wilson). Viconia receives a new epilogue if her alignment changes to non-evil; Sarevok receives a new epilogue if he remains evil.
As of about 2015 (~version 1.6 of Ascension) an alternative set of epilogues written by Shawne was added (including extended epilogues for the Bioware NPCs not extended by original Ascension) and is available as an alternative. It's a matter of taste whose writing style you prefer: Gaider's or Shawne's. (If you want a preview, you can see the raw (English-language) text of Gaider's versions as a text file here, and Shawne's alternatives here.
These components leave the story essentially unchanged, but significantly enhance the difficulty of some of the key fights in Throne of Bhaal. All the battles with powerful Bhaalspawn, except for Sendai, are modified; so is the confrontation with Demogorgon. None of these components respond much to the difficulty slider. All are written by David Gaider (the 'tougher Balthazar' component was part of the original Ascension component and had some input from other members of the Ascension team).
Detailed information on the Bhaalspawn's abilities can be found here.
Tougher Abazigal
Some of the posters [on 2001-vintage discussion forums] were recommending a multiple-dragon battle, so I added in some smaller drakes and a purple dragon into the Abazigal fight. The AI has been tweaked heavily as well, blending in the mobility of Draconis (whom many thought was tougher than his father). It's quite the fight, now...NOT for the faint of heart...but I'm told it's quite fun.
David Gaider
A note about this version: the modding tools available when this component was originally written made it extremely difficult to add new names for creatures, so the drakes added use rather strange names re-used from minor peasants and shopkeepers in the original Baldur's Gate (and are not identified in game as drakes at all). I (DavidW) took the opportunity to give them more evocative and meaningful names: Earth Drake, Fire Drake, Ice Drake, Shadow Drake. (If you prefer the originals, you can disable this; see under customisation.) Technically this is also true for the purple dragon, 'Tamah': she is named for an incredibly minor character in BG1. But Tamah has rather better name recognition, so I've left this alone.
This version also modifies the humanoid-form version Abazigal to include his much more sophisticated script and powers from the Final-Five battle (minus the Spell Trigger and Chain Contingency that he saves to use in dragon form), rather than the very rudimentary script in the original 'tougher enemies', and to use the magical/electrical damage sword he wields in that battle. Again, see under customisation for how to turn these choices off.
Tougher Balthazar
This component enhances Balthazar and his monks when you encounter them late in Chapter 9, and improves their AI. It is extracted from the original 'Ascension' component (it is not the original, ancient 'tougher Balthazar' which Gaider wrote before Ascension).
Tougher Demogorgon
[These changes] have been provided by BioWare Senior Designer David Gaider as a supplement to the Throne Of Bhaal expansion. They increase the difficulty of the Demogorgon battle, as it was originally planned before it was "toned down" for game balance reasons.
From the original component's readme
This implementation of 'Tougher Demogorgon' makes some cosmetic improvements to Demogorgon's Gate spells (the gate animation plays properly before the demons appear, rather than being overlaid on already-summoned demons) and also implements a change made around v1.5 of Ascension, where the 'Summon the Infernal Host' spell is renamed to 'Summon the Abyssal Host' for lore reasons. (As usual you can disable both: see under customisation.)
Tougher Gromnir
It's just a little spruce-up to a fight that I thought was a little boring...it makes Gromnir a bit more formidable and gives both him and the other Bhaalspawn with him some extra abilities and better scripting. I'm told it's of moderate difficulty but quite fun.
David Gaider
This version of 'Tougher Gromnir' reads back to the original Gromnir the standard suite of protections that Throne of Bhaal's Bhaalspawn get in Ascension. It also provides new names for two added creatures: as with the 'Tougher Abazigal' component, additional creatures have re-used names, in this case taken from a Beregost shopkeeper and from one of Sendai's allies. I rename them 'Minotaur Battle-Priest' and 'Il-Khan Medusa'. As usual, see under customisation for how to disable these tweaks.
Tougher Illasera
It is not very high difficulty...as a battle right at the beginning of the game shouldn't be...but it does make Illasera a credible opponent and member of the Five. She's a ranger/archer now, which was her original concept before we were forced to make the battle much, much easier (since people could potentially meet her with a single, newly-created sorcerer...and since the fight was unavoidable, those who couldn't get past it would be quite frustrated).
David Gaider
Despite what Gaider is saying, the Tougher Illasera battle is widely regarded as insanely difficult (although certain tactics, like the shield of reflection, physical mirror or a mordy jail can make it too simple). It's much HARDer than the Yaga-Shura or Gromnir fights.
Westley Weimer
Although I (DavidW) haven't tested it on the original game, at least in Enhanced-Edition BG2 an engine glitch means that Illasera's powerful magical arrows deliver their payload twice per hit, which would certainly enhance the difficulty! This is fixed in this version. (It's obviously a bug, so I haven't offered a way to disable it.)
Tougher Yaga-Shura
This mod makes the last fight with Yaga-Shura a bit more of a tussle... the army spawns have been increased in number and given better AI (as well as had some low-level mages and clerics thrown into the mix). Yaga-Shura himself has been given some better powers and AI, including his lieutenants...and his invulnerability slowly wears off during the course of the battle with him, making this fight a bit trickier.
David Gaider
Note that this version (and indeed the last several releases) fixes a notorious crash bug in this component, present at least up to v1.4 of Ascension. This version also names Yaga-Shura's army clerics in line with the way all other army members are named, i.e. just as 'Yaga-Shura Cleric'. (As with other components, original Ascension could not introduce new strings, and so had to re-use an existing name - in this case, 'Cleric of Talos'. As usual, see under customisation for how to disable this.)
These components were written after the release of the original Ascension, and are not part of the content produced by David Gaider (though one of them is by one of Gaider's co-writers.) The first three were included in Ascension releases around version 1.6; the fourth and fifth are new in version 2.0.
Full-body portrait for Bodhi
This component (whose author I don't know) uses the full-body illustration of Bodhi (used in the game's promotional material, and used by Ascension for Bodhi's epilogue) as her in-game illustration, used in her dialogue. You can see the portrait here
Alternate Balthazar portrait, by Cuv
This component introduces a new portrait for Balthazar, used for his dialogs and for his epilogue if you recruit him. You can see the portrait here. The artist is Lorne Ledger, aka 'Cuv' or 'Cuveronius', who worked on the original Ascension and wrote Balthazar's epilogue (and who also coded parts of the first conversion of Ascension to the Enhanced Edition).
Extended Epilogues for additional Beamdog NPCs by shawne (Enhanced Edition only)
This component extends and modifies the epilogues for all of the new Beamdog NPCs (Dorn, Hexxat, Neera, Rasaad, Wilson); it also adds two new epilogues for Dorn (one applies if he is romancing a player who ascends; the other applies if Dorn loses his blackguard status). You can get a preview of the new epilogues by using a text editor to open ascension/lang/english/shawnesepilogues_eenpc.tra.
Sharpened portraits of Abazigal and Gromnir, by DavidW (Enhanced Edition only)
The portraits for most NPCs in BG2 are upscaled in the Enhanced Edition, but for some reason Abazigal, Balthazar and Gromnir were omitted. The engine automatically scales the portraits, but they end up quite blurry as a result. In the case of Balthazar, Ascension automatically supplies a sharp, higher-resolution image; this component makes some attempt to do the same for Abazigal and Gromnir, using Photoshop's sharpening algorithm. You can see the effect if you compare old and new versions of Gromnir - it's not dramatic, but it's a noticeable improvement.
Slightly improved Bhaalspawncutscenes, by DavidW
This minor component slightly tightens the implementation of the cutscenes just before encountering Yaga-Shura and Gromnir. In the former, the soldiers you run into don't sometimes randomly give the same line three times. In the latter, the party arrive in Gromnir's throne room just after Melissan is taken away, rather than standing around passively and watching while this happens.
As of version 2.0, Ascension permits a significant amount of "fine tuning" over and above your install choices, using the file "ascension.ini", found in the ascension directory. To do this, just edit the file in Notepad or another text editor. Each line consists of a configuration option, then '=', then a value (almost always a number). The only thing you should edit is the value. Note that the .ini file is read during installation of Ascension; changing it after you have finished installing will have no effect.
The current options are listed below, by section. I list the default value in parentheses after the setting.
RegenerationThere was a systematic bug in all pre-2.0 versions of Ascension, which meant that the (many) creatures who were given the ability to regenerate did not actually receive it. Originally I intended just to fix this - but some of the rates are quite fast, and I'm worried about unbalancing the game (after all, Ascension's playtesting was with the bug present). I toyed with setting it up so that regeneration only happened at or above a certain difficulty: 'HARD', by default. But in the end I decided to deactivate it. These settings let you reactivate it, and tweak it.
These variables control tweaks I made to a few of the demons in Chapter 10. (For more details, see the comments in the file 'ascension_demons.tpa', in ascension/ascensionmain.
These make tweaks to the player's Slayer form, including the upgraded versions introduced by Ascension.
These affect the various powers acquired by the player (except the Slayer form).
These affect the Five Bhaalspawn and their minions.
These change other features of the mod.
Don't touch these: they're for testing and internal use.
This list may be incomplete (Ascension has had many maintainers over the years). Contact DavidW at the Gibberlings Three forums for any emendations or additions.
For David Gaider's and Westley Weimer's acknowledgements, see the v1.4 readme.
For JediMindTrix's acknowledgements, see the v1.7 readme.
DavidW's acknowledgements:First and foremost, thanks to David Gaider and his original team. Ascension has stood the test of time as one of the all-time great mods; it's been a privilege to work on it.
Secondly, huge thanks to those heroes - especially WhiteAgnus and JediMindTrix - who did the heavy lifting required to drag Ascension into the modern-coding, Enhanced-Edition era. Ascension 2.0 is built on the bones of their work and couldn't have existed without it.
Thirdly, thanks to those who created the tools that made the modern Infinity Engine modding scene possible: in particular, Westley Weimer, for the original WeiDU; TheBigg and Wisp for developing it into the remarkable tool it now is; CamDawg, for building many of the function libraries on which Ascension is constructed and for leading the 'Fixpack' project which Ascension 2.0 relies on; Ascension64, for finally realising David Gaider's goal of a more finely controllable difficulty setting.
The icons for Balthazar's abilities are borrowed from the Oversight mod; thanks to its creator, Kish, for permission, and to CamDawg for actually creating the icons (at least according to the readme; he doesn't actually remember doing so :) ).
Last but not least, thanks to the original Bioware team for Throne of Bhaal, and to Beamdog - and the many modders and ex-modders who work with them - for reinventing the Infinity Engine.
The original content of Ascension is ©2001, David Gaider.
Ascension is not released under any formal license (they are not really enforceable in the modding world, in any case). Its authors and maintainers have generally worked with the consent of their predecessors, and with a respect for what has been done before. If you borrow code or content from Ascension, please give full credit in your own mod when you do so.
This is split into two parts: a detailed changelog for v2.0 and later, and a more abbreviated description of the major.
2.0.0 - 2 June 2019
2.0.1 - 3 June 2019
2.0.2 - 3 June 2019
2.0.3 - 3 June 2019
2.0.4 - 10 June 2019
2.0.5 - 12 June 2019
2.0.6 - 16 June 2019
2.0.7 - 10 July 2019
2.0.8 - 11 August 2019
2.0.9 - 05 October 2019
2.0.10 - 18 February 2020
2.0.11 - 16 May 2020
2.0.12 - 31 May 2020
2.0.13 - 23 August 2020
2.0.14 - 27 September 2020
2.0.15 - 28 September 2020
2.0.16 - 23 April 2021
2.0.17 - 23 April 2021
2.0.18 - 04 July 2021
2.0.19 - 16 July 2021
2.0.20 - 28 August 2021
2.0.21 - 10 December 2021
(This account is incomplete; I (DavidW) would be interested in more details if anyone knows them.)
Version 1.1 (David Gaider, c.2001)This was quite a large project and I may well have missed some small changes, but these are the main changes: