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Pillars of Eternity Beta - Torment: Tides of the Beetles

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I wonder how much D:OS has contributed to this early interest. A number of people at work who I wouldn't have otherwise thought to be into these kind of games got on that hype train and, after I've shown them some stuff from PoE, pre-ordered pretty much instantly. Hopefully the success here feeds back over to whatever Larian is doing next, as well.

We are certainly in a revival period. Torment is up next.
 
Jumping in on the attribute debate, if there's one criticism I have about Eternity's attributes it's that they're extremely conflated. Attributes work better when they're orthogonal so that you can feel the difference between them, not just understand the difference between them. And there's nothing about orthogonal attributes that leads to dump stats.

Really, there's only 2 things you need in your attributes to avoid dump stats:
1. Each attribute has to have equal use across every class.
(e.g. don't make wisdom primarily affect magic if only certain classes use magic, find an equally viable way of having non-magic classes use wisdom)
2. Each point of each attribute has to be equally useful regardless of class or level
(e.g. don't have a scenario where going from 16 to 17 strength is useful, but going from 6 to 7 isn't because 7 is so low that you can't make use of anything the attribute would give you)

So, what's a good mage build would be like ?
 
Any advantage to having a specific class as your MC? In particular thinking about rogues.

Maybe edge cases where there are specific dialogue options for a certain class. I think most or all other checks can be based off of anyone in the party.

Regarding rogue specifically,
it's one of the few classes without a companion. So if you want to play with five companions and want a rogue it'll be your only way to do so.
 
So, what's a good mage build would be like ?
Put lots of points into Might and Intellect, everything else is secondary. Constitution and Perception are effectively worthless.

You could make viable builds that don't do this, but this by far is the most obvious approach for a spellcaster.
 
Any advantage to having a specific class as your MC? In particular thinking about rogues.
The only classes I've seen affect dialogue options so far are Priests and Paladins. And even then you have to worship a certain god/be apart of a certain order to qualify for the dialogue options

(If anyone who has actually played the game can comment on other classes affecting dialogue, please say so I'm curious too)
 
So, what's a good mage build would be like ?

Depends on how you define "good". The prevailing wisdom seems to be to pump MIG (damage) and INT (+duration +aoe radius) for just about any damage dealing class. More of one stat or the other depending on if you want to specialize in AoE or single target damage.
 
Pillars of Eternity has finally knocked off Cities: Skylines and is now 2nd place on the Steam Charts. Rejoice!

Some Jensen Ackles antics are required:

Dean507.gif

It appears that Pillars has made the top spot now.

d0ZPfo1.jpg
 
Well there is no companion rogue, barbarian or monk. So there's that. Plus rogues are the best single target damage dealer.
Maybe edge cases where there are specific dialogue options for a certain class. I think most or all other checks can be based off of anyone in the party.

Regarding rogue specifically,
it's one of the few classes without a companion. So if you want to play with five companions and want a rogue it'll be your only way to do so.
Ah okay, I don't care so much if don't get to have their combat stuff, it's more like... stealth, traps, lockpicking and such, but from what I read here mechanics like that can be learned by anyone?
 
Ah okay, I don't care so much if don't get to have their combat stuff, it's more like... stealth, traps, lockpicking and such, but from what I read here mechanics like that can be learned by anyone?
All Skills that affect those things are class agnostic, Rogues just get the first ranks in it for free. Once you get to level 2 you can easily reach those ranks in any other class that didn't have them.
Bleak Walker Paladin boys
RJVFI6H.gif
Oh cool, this is the first I've heard of someone picking that
what Race & Background are you going for?
 
Ah okay, I don't care so much if don't get to have their combat stuff, it's more like... stealth, traps, lockpicking and such, but from what I read here mechanics like that can be learned by anyone?

Correct. Rogues just have the highest profession bonus.
 
With regards to bugs, do we know if all the QA has been done in-house at Obsidian, or - similar to Skylines - have Paradox been allocating a lot of their own bug-squashing resources into PoE ahead of launch?

Oh, and I noticed several posters asking why the release day embargo on reviews. The reason given was specifically that this is a long and dense game, and that review copies went out pretty late, as close to final release build as possible, and that Paradox did not want reviewers to have to rush/force through this particular game in order to make embargo. That the game has been put out in the open already via streamers/LPers at least indicates Paradox having confidence in it and, I'd argue, gives credence to the reasoning offered above.
 
just preordered, have 0 experience with old skool CRPGs( no money at uni, got a console afterwards, did play Bards Tale back in the day lol ), any tips on how long i should spend creating a character? i normally play mage, any tips there?

Ive played and finished loads of JRPG's, Witcher 1,2, Da:O,2( rubbish ),Inquisition, but i just assumed with a CRPG character creation its more important.
 
Repeating, since I first mentioned it several days ago - the game is still reasonable hard, even on Normal. Hardcore IE players should do whatever they think is best, but for "typical" players, which is the category I put myself, I would recommend Normal.

I don't feel like I'm steamrolling everything, and still I wipe sometimes. But I also make steady progress without anything ever feeling too frustrating. If I ever forget to rest before a big fight or something I frequently need to re-load, because I can't get through tough fights with a half-prepared party.

YMMV. I like RPGs as much as the next guy but you might totally compose a more effective party than me. Maybe I'm just a scrub. But for me, Normal feels correct. :)
 
And some people were wondering if everyone who wanted the game already backed it. No way it doesn't crack 500k lifetime, hell I'll be shocked if it doesn't make 1 million
 
just preordered, have 0 experience with old skool CRPGs( no money at uni, got a console afterwards, did play Bards Tale back in the day lol ), any tips on how long i should spend creating a character? i normally play mage, any tips there?

Ive played and finished loads of JRPG's, Witcher 1,2, Da:O,2( rubbish ),Inquisition, but i just assumed with a CRPG character creation its more important.
Watch Sensuki's YouTubre videos

https://youtu.be/JVhbWTDAbR4
https://youtu.be/GaCeUrG7Bc0
https://youtu.be/EoWw5swpfX0
 
So can monks go unarmed the whole way through or are you expected to get a weapon.
Every couple of levels their unarmed damage scales.
Anyone else going Godlike? I'm always attracted to the unique races/classes so I can't resist picking it. I'm probably gonna be a Moon Cipher.
Curiously I've seen two separate Moon/Ciphers playthroughs
Both Lets players where equally competent at playing the game, but one guy died 3 times to the same encounter 3 times then gave up
while the other guy easily finished the same encounter 1st time round while taking minimal damage
the only difference is the latter
took Antipathetic Field and wrecked with it
How useful is interrupt against ordinary, melee enemies?
Useful, but not as devastating as it is against slow casters. By the looks of it one of the banes/annoyances of this game is going to be
ranged enemies with bows pew pew interrupting you
 
Why did this have to be released a day after Bloodborne? I'm about to finish the download but probably won't touch PoE for another week.
 
I just found out I'm apparently still supposed to do the OT.

I mean, I can, it's just that I thought I told them a while ago that I had second thoughts.
ah shit missed that. Sorry man
sad.gif


Edit: Warning, the Giant Bomb Quick Look is one of the more spoilerific videos I've seen of the game
 
Anyone else going Godlike? I'm always attracted to the unique races/classes so I can't resist picking it. I'm probably gonna be a Moon Cipher.

I'm feeling strongly attracted to a Death Godlike druid. Not sure what form to take though, sad that there's no batform.
 
I've been debating whether to watch the 1.5 hour long primer videos that were posted in the thread earlier since I'm not really familiar with D&D-like systems beyond playing BG1 in highschool at a friend's house, but it's a 1.5 hour long primer video and that seems excessive. How fine would I be with a cursory glance at the manual?
 
I have zero experience with CRPGs but I'm very familiar with MMO's. My current understanding is that similar to MMO skill trees, it's more effective to focus your stat allocation rather than spreading your points but I'm wondering what the limiting threshold to that is.

Like would it be best to focus on just two stats (say Might and Dex) or would a three stat spread be viable?
 
I just found out I'm apparently still supposed to do the OT.

I mean, I can, it's just that I thought I told them a while ago that I had second thoughts.

So at what stage is the OT at the moment? I'm sure plenty of us here will be keen to help if need be.
 
I've been debating whether to watch the 1.5 hour long primer videos that were posted in the thread earlier since I'm not really familiar with D&D-like systems beyond playing BG1 in highschool at a friend's house, but it's a 1.5 hour long primer video and that seems excessive. How fine would I be with a cursory glance at the manual?
Manual is inaccurate and out of date, if you are going to check it out also read the errata
http://eternity.obsidian.net/game/manual-errata

I have zero experience with CRPGs but I'm very familiar with MMO's. My current understanding is that similar to MMO skill trees, it's more effective to focus your stat allocation rather than spreading your points but I'm wondering what the limiting threshold to that is.

Like would it be best to focus on just two stats (say Might and Dex) or would a three stat spread be viable?
Most Stat spreads are meant to be viable, just whatever you do don't dump a stat below 9
The in-game character creation tells you which Stats are 1st & 2nd priority for each class.
 
Can someone give me a quick breakdown of what stats are currently worthwhile? I keep seeing that perception and resolve are complete dump stats but I'm not sure why that's the case.
 
Every couple of levels their unarmed damage scales.

Curiously I've seen two separate Moon/Ciphers playthroughs
Both Lets players where equally competent at playing the game, but one guy died 3 times to the same encounter 3 times then gave up
while the other guy easily finished the same encounter 1st time round while taking minimal damage
the only difference is the latter
took Antipathetic Field and wrecked with it

Useful, but not as devastating as it is against slow casters. By the looks of it one of the banes/annoyances of this game is going to be
ranged enemies with bows pew pew interrupting you
I guess the better question would be does weapons eventually output higher damage versus unarmed.
 
Can someone give me a quick breakdown of what stats are currently worthwhile? I keep seeing that perception and resolve are complete dump stats but I'm not sure why that's the case.
Perception is a Dump stat because its only viable if you are going a Melee/Ranged Interrupt build (Rather than pure DPS)
Resolve is not as much as a dump stat, Deflection & Concentration are very important, especially if you are a caster.
I guess the better question would be does weapons eventually output higher damage versus unarmed.
I'm really not sure. The best person to ask is TrueMenace, monks are a favourite of his.
 
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