Struggle for the Iliac Bay - Version 2.5 Final Overview news

January, February and now March have seen the release of new versions for Struggle of the Iliac Bay, part of the 2.5 cicle which is concluded with today's update.

While the previous update, "Aedra and Daedra" focused more on the addition of new questlines, these versions were instead focused on the addition of side dungeons to encourage exploration of the map, fighting trough dangerous foes to obtain new equipment and maybe even priceless artifacts.

With this overview I wanted to provide a comprensive overview of the major amongst the new additions:

-Added 14 new dungeons to be explored, varying from small bandit camps to large underground ruins each offering its unique rewards, from powerful weapons and armor to unique artifacts from TES lore such as the Iceblade of the Monarch, Eleidon's Ward and even some cut items such as the Wings of the Queen of Bats;

-Added a couple new quests: including one from the Fighters Guild, the recreation of part I and II of the Former Apprentice quest from Daggerfall and of course the Daedric Quest of Clavicus Vile... as well as an unmarked quest related to the Imperial Legion which will see the arrival of certain guards from Cyrodiil;

-New foreign mercenaries can be found wandering trough the taverns of the Iliac Bay, from the suggested Nibenese and Colovians to the wandering Templars;

-And speaking of taverns, the first 5 companions of the mod have been completed with their custom dialogues, and sometimes, equipment;

-Some new AOR units have also been included: The Gallants of Sentinel, the Firebrand Knights, the Iceblades of Jehanna and the Royal Guard of the prince of Wayrest, Helseth;

-Many of the special items from previous versions have been granted some sort of unique effect, from the boosting of certain stats to the reduction in upkeep of certain units.

-And of course there were many other smaller changes, from minor tweaks, to new items and bugfixes.

Following here is a more complete, if unsorted changelog of what the 3 new versions have added or changed:

-Slight buff to Evermorin Troops;
-New AOR Units: Helseth Royal Guards (Wayrest), Firebrand Knights (Firebrand Keep), Iceblades (Jehanna) and Gallants (Sentinel),
-Added Colovian Mercenaries and related equipment;
-Added Nibenese Mercenaries and related equipment;
-Added Wandering Templars mercenaries and related equipment;
-Equipment from foreign adventurers can now be bought from the Exotic Item Merchant instead of the Rare Item merchant;
-Added Aedric Spears as temple purchasable spells;
-Added Fire Storm to the Mages Guild;
-Made Fireballs stronger but removed greater fireball;
-Lich Robe and Armor of the Divine Crusader now provide upkeep reduction for members of the undead and divines factions respectevly;
-Lich Robe now increases ironflesh and leadership instead of ironflesh and magic power, reduced the increase from 3 to 2;
-Armor of the Divine Crusader also increase wound treatment by 1 instead of just ironflesh;
-New horse for Damned Knights;
-Updated model for Dragonstar Heavy Spearman armor;
-Doubled the amount per food item;
-Split the Orc troop tree in 2, with one side focused on warriors with shields and javelins and the other on 2handers;
-Added many new items from common armors to artifacts.
-Added a dozen of new freeform dungeons for the player to explore, scattered around the world map. Each contains at least a couple chests as well the possibility to gain unique artifacts. The dungeons are;
.The Crypt of Hearts,
.Nordic Barrow,
.Reachmen Redoubt,
.Robber Baron's Keep,
.Blackhollow Keep,
.Direnni Ruins,
.Desert Ruins,
.Bandit Fort,
.Nordic Raider Fortress,
.Haunted Imperial Fort,
.Consacrated Tomb,
.Reavers' Hideout,
.Overgrown Cave,
.Dwemer Ruins
-Added Clavicus Vile quest and shrine,
-Added part I and II of the Former Student Quest to the Mages Guild,
-Added the Champion of the Fighters Guild Quest,
-Updated the dialogue and personality of a couple companions (Credits to Northwind for writing Elenion Caladhris and Kazdor Uvirid Morvayn),
-Added Masser to the night sky,
-Nord Raiders can now spawn around the Dragonstar area,
-Undead parties sometimes are lead by necromancers,
-Some minor tweaks and polish to the world map.
-Diversified the equipment of various lords to make them feel less samey/copy pasted;
-Added the option to change your culture by speaking with your minister;
-Some map fixes;
-Fixed the Siege of Northharbor Castle;
-Added the Druidic Circle allowing the recruitment of various related units as well as poison spells and arrows;
-Added 3 new dungeons: Dwemer Ruins, Consacreted Tomb and Overgrown Cave;
-Following the Temple of Arkay Questline will no longer disable Scourg Barrow, but instead just lock the Hall of Necromancers;
-The Haunted Imperial Fort is now always called Fort Hadfell;
-Some tweaks to the Lichdom quest;
-Improved the Orc faces as well as well as added aged variants to the Nord and Imperial faces for humans;
-Changed model for the Vampire Nightlord armor;
-Various minor fixes and tweaks;
-Fixed script errors that would occur when the player would raid a village;
-Fixed Fighters Guild Bounty Quests;
-Fixed a couple unique items not correctly providing the stated buffs;
-Removed PBOD and the formation mod. As for my other mod, an addon will be published as an optional patch for those wishing to renable these features;

I hope this new version is appreaciated and I wish you all fun adventures in the Iliac Bay!