Risen 2 is moddable , the same as risen 1

with a few differences though

steps needed to make it happen are as follow:

To get access to the folder structure of for example templates.pak

You need an extract tool to do this:

Link

Steps:

1: make a new folder on desktop , name it templateextract
2: extract risenaut.7z into this folder
3: copy templates.pak from ( in my case c:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\risen 2\data\common) into
templateextract folder.
4: run risenaut, open templates.pak, click extract all
it will make a folder named templates
inside the templateextract folder
5: You will see a bunch of folders inside templates folder
6: In my case i wanted to alter the starters weapon
the hero picks up when in his room at the start of a new
game. In risen 1 there is a nifty program that lets you
edit the so called .TPLE files , called tpledit
At the moment this program does not work yet for risen 2
7: So we need to fall back to Hexediting the .TPLE file itself
8: We need a Freeware Hexeditor for that, I choosed

Link

but feel free to use any Freeware Hexeditor you prefer.
9: Now to the weapon mentioned in step 5 above.
(for the sake of this mod guide i used HxD)
Run HxD , file , open C:\Users\user name\Desktop
\templateextract\templates\Items\Weapon_Pierce
\It_Pie_Officer.tple
10: Locate in HxD view window GEC0EÊL (this is the "header"
where the weapon damage stats are)
11: Locate a bit down CD 93 3C B2 04 88 96 AD 04 00 00 00 00 14
14 hex = 20 decimal which is the min damage the weapon does
change 14 in to FF , and min damage will be 255 in game
If you want to do 65535 damage change :
CD 93 3C B2 04 88 96 AD 04 00 00 00 00 14 into:
CD 93 3C B2 04 88 96 AD 04 00 00 00 FF FF
12: Locate CD 93 3C B2 0A 0E 6D 18 04 00 00 00 00 28
28 hex= 40 decimal which is the max damage the weapon does
change 28 in to FF , and max damage will be 255 in game
If you want to do 65535 damage change :
CD 93 3C B2 0A 0E 6D 18 04 00 00 00 00 28 into:
CD 93 3C B2 0A 0E 6D 18 04 00 00 00 FF FF
13: In HxD after you made your edits, File Save, and close HxD

14: Now to the part to make the game "make use" of our mod
We need to locate the next folder ( in case of windows 7)
C:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\Risen2\Config
Make a folder named data
so it will look like this :
C:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\Risen2\Config\data
NOTE: IF appdata folder does not show ( its standard hidden
in windows 7, do Tools, folder options, view , checkmark
show hidden folders etc,
15: Copy templates folder from templateextract folder to
C:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\Risen2\Config\data
It will look like this: C:\Users\user name\AppData\Local
\Risen2\Config\data\templates
16: Run Game.........oh noes!!!!
what the heck the modded weapon still shows old damages
( took me a while to find this one out ^^)

17: Locate Game folder in my case:
c:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\risen
2\data\ini
18: Make a copy of mountlist_packed.ini, put it somewhere save
Open mountlist_packed.ini in notepad.
change NoPhysical=true into:
NoPhysical=false
Save file.

19: Now if you did everything correct,
when you start game or load a game your (starters weapon)
will show or 255 damage or 65535 damage

PS credits go to nico for his risenaut program

happy modding and gaming