Varscona

Varscona is a well-known sword to players of the original Baldur's Gate. Despite being one of the best weapons in the game, she can be acquired extremely early in the campaign, and can carry a player all the way to the end.

This mod adds the sword to the game as a Legendary weapon, with specs befitting her original impact.

Stats

Varscona received some tweaks to her stats to replicate just how powerful the sword could be at the stage you received her.

As the only +2 Longsword in the original game, Varscona had a higher THAC0 and damage bonus than most other weapons you can obtain without the expansions or Enhanced Edition. This made her an invaluable pickup, especially considering she can easily be found up so early in the game.

The stats are as follows:

• Enhancement Bonus +3

• Cold Damage 1d6

• Chance of Chill on hit (DC17)

• Improved Critical (18)

• Finesse

This puts the sword well within the Legendary tier, without being too overpowered by adding spells and other Boosts.

Acquiring Varscona

Varscona can be found in the Gauntlet of Shar, which I felt appropriate given the sword's lore. As for where, that's a mystery known only to the rats...

Troubleshooting

Varscona should be compatible with existing games so you shouldn't need to start a new one. However, if you experience issues with the sword not appearing:

• Try an earlier save. If you load a save after the container spawns then the sword may not load. For best results I would suggest using one from before entering the Gauntlet if possible. If I can narrow down a more certain "point of no return" I'll make sure to update this.
• Make sure you're checking the right container. Highlight for the location: Varscona will be found in the Sharran Provisions in the room with the Mirror of Loss. Beware that there are two hidden containers in close proximity; one on the wall, and one on the floor. The correct container is the one on the wall. Talk to the rat that spawns by the ritual circle at the feet of the statue of Shar, and accept his bribe to leave him alone. This will mark the Provisions on the map, and highlight the container. Although it's possible to brute-force the Perception check to find it, you'll only receive the gold if you do so. You must follow this through to get the sword and the alchemical ingredients to spawn.
• If you have any other mods that modify the Weapon.txt file or Gauntlet of Shar level, I suggest you make sure those are first in the load order so Varscona doesn't get overridden.