A small skill and item rebalance file - Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

This is a very simple mod, just some edited text files. If you find something particularly disagreeable, you can change it or delete one of the files to use default values. You don't have to start a new game to use the new values, but there might be a mess with skills.

I nerfed Stealth because it was plain broken. Having 4 bars of stealth is almost the same as typing "notarget" in console. Third Stealth level was commented out, you can easily restore it if you want. Most daggers require Combat skill now. Most staves still require Combat skill. I'll spoiler the details to make it easier to read just the changes.

Skill changes:

• Critical Hit: skill point cost reduced from 6/8 to 2/2, because 4% crit is less of a DPS boost than +1 damage. This also opens up a different development path, you can ignore Strength and go for Adrenaline instead;
• Endurance: skill point cost reduced from 4/7/10 to 2/5/10. It's now similar to Magic Affinity in cost. This skill was too much of a skill point sink for something that doesn't change gameplay much;
• Poison Resistance: skill point cost reduced from 6 to 2. All it does is reduce damage ticks, poison still lasts until removal or until you reach 5 HP. I've never had less than 15 Antidotes after getting to 20, so I still wouldn't buy it even for 2 points, but here it is;
• Vitality: skill point cost reduced from 12 to 6, because this skill is extremely boring, and there is plenty of healing to be had from other sources. Just try to consume all those Full Health potions and Magic Mushrooms without jumping on a sword at every opportinity;
• Stealth: it went from 2/4/10 to 2/4, because there's no third level anymore. Maximum stealth level is equal to complete invisibility to NPCs, you can sit down in the shadow in the middle of a battle and they will lose you. Most daggers require Combat Skill now;
• Burglar: skill point cost reduced from 8 to 2, because all the loot you get with this skill is probably not worth even 2 points;
• Heal: skill point cost reduced from 3 to 2, because there's plenty of healing to be had from other sources;
• Charm: skill point cost increased from 3 to 7, because this spell is an instakill at worst, and complete chaos with multiple fatalities at best;
• Sanctuary: skill point cost increased from 7 to 12, because this is the single most powerful tool in the game, I'd buy it even for 20;
• Weaken: skill point cost reduced from 10 to 2, has only Telekinesis as prerequisite. This spell is plain worse than Freeze. It only "weakens" melee humanoids: black guards, orcs, vampire knights, and (probably) goblins. Both spells achieve easier fatalities, but Freeze can also be cast on floors for multiple knockdowns;

Item changes:

• Poison Bow: damage increased from 2 to 4, because poison cloud deals pathetic damage and takes too long to recharge(it doesn't actually poison the same way player gets poisoned);
• Bow of Winter's Breath: damage increased from 2 to 6, requirement increased to Archery 3. Damage increase is there to make it competitive with poison bow and Bow of Fiery Rage against orcs, requirement increased because this was essentially a free Freeze spell for 1 less skill point total;
• Naga Silksword: increased damage from 3 to 5;
• Souldrinker: damage increased from 4 to 6, reduced requirements to Strength 2, fixed description to correctly say 10% life leech, rather than 30%. I could make it 30% instead, but 10% is pretty good as it is. Impaling enemies on Hardcore gives about half the health bar back;
• Superior Naga Silksword: damage increased from 6 to 7, it swings faster than other swords by default, so it's a valid option with the cheaper Critical Hit;
• Earthfire Sword: increased requirements to Strength 3;
• Axe: damage increased from 2 to 6, no longer a "simple" weapon, requires Strength 1. There are two Axes in the game, one somewhere in the orc temple and one between the mansion and the boat. You'll need to do something pretty stupid to find the first one and make use of that nice damage in early game. Can't update Axe desciption to show Strength requirement for some reason, but it works;
• Soulreaver Staff: damage increased from 2 to 3;
• Staff of the Dragonbone: requires Strength 1;
• Poison Kriss: damage increased from 2 to 3, requirement reduced to Stealth 2;
• Daggers of Frost: damage increased from 2 to 4, changed requirement to Combat 2;
• Gutting Kriss: requires Critical Hit 1;
• Shadowsteel Daggers: requires Combat 3;
• Daggers of the Dragonfang: requires Strength 1;
• Ring of the Weaponmaster: crit chance increased from 2% to 4%;
• Chainmail Armor: armor increased from 2 to 3, adds 10 max health, because armor rating doesn't matter much on the higher difficulties;
• Plate Armor: armor increased from 3 to 4, adds 10 max health;
• Shadowsteel Armor: armor increased from 4 to 5, adds 20 max health;
• Master Thief's Outfit: reduced requirement to Stealth 2;
• Xana: 2 armor, 75% fire resistance, +100% mana regen, +20 max health, +20 max mana. Max mana and max health bonuses are there to prevent losing mana or health on transformation if you've had armor or robes equipped. Other changes are mostly for flavor, it's not like you don't have a fire resist ring, right?

Installation is self explanatory, unless you have the latest Steam version. The folder in the archive matches a folder in the game directory. See Unlimited Edition mod guide on Steam to find out how to install mods on latest Steam version. I'm not sure if this would even work on it, they messed it up pretty bad for no reason.