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Pillars of Eternity |OT| You must gather your party before venturing forth.

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
I don't think the level cap is too low. Completionists that do everything as soon as it's available and make sure to 100% every single sidequest can not complain about hitting the cap early, imo. :p

I do explore every location, but only engage in the sidequests that are engaging/interesting and, more importantly, make sense for my character. I've finished Act 2 and I'm close to level 8 and fully upgraded the stronghold - most encounters are challenging enough at my difficulty level and the balancing seems absolutely fine.

If you min/max, you reap what you sow. :D

That's not min/maxing though. It's just playing the entire game. Min/maxing would be abusing respawn points (if they existed) to power level early. Just actually playing the available content is vastly different. Not that I have any complaints about the difficulty level or anything, but taking people to task for exploring every available quest of an open RPG is sort of odd. Kind of like being upset that people keep passing the ball in Madden or something.
 

Haunted

Member
It is particularly reminiscent of the old Infinity Engine games for me because I didn't really understand the combat math back then either. :lol Having never had any contact with actual D&D and its dicerolls outside of videogames, I played through these games without knowing what thaco is (higher must be better for armour, right?) or the difference between a "1d10" or a "2d4".

Similarly, if (for example) faced with the choice of two one-handed weapons in PoE, one is "fast" and has 10-15 dmg vs "average" and 13-18 dmg - I don't really fucking know which one actually has more dps and I usually end up deciding based on what the character would prefer for lore reasons. :D

oh, and I just checked the Obsidian forum and apparently I'm not the only one who doesn't know how you make the monk class work
The class seems fairly straightforward to me (though a bitch to micro), but I suppose this is about it being viable at higher levels of difficulty. :p
 

Uthred

Member
I'm sure its exacerbated by party composition and being low level, but not super enthused at the spell system being a return to the "5 minute workday" for most casters
 

Haunted

Member
That's not min/maxing though. It's just playing the entire game. Min/maxing would be abusing respawn points (if they existed) to power level early. Just actually playing the available content is vastly different. Not that I have any complaints about the difficulty level or anything, but taking people to task for exploring every available quest of an open RPG is sort of odd. Kind of like being upset that people keep passing the ball in Madden or something.
I'm not taking them to task, it's a completely valid way to play of course. Still, it's weird to hear the complaints that they can't do everything and still expect to not hit the cap earlier than other players. Can't have your cake and eat it, too.

If you put yourself in the shoes of the game designer, it's clear that a game with this sort of leveling system must be balanced around some sort of median player, not the extremes of the player who only does the main story or the player who does 100%.
 
I'm not taking them to task, it's a completely valid way to play of course. Still, it's weird to hear the complaints that they can't do everything and still expect to not hit the cap earlier than other players. Can't have your cake and eat it, too.

If you put yourself in the shoes of the game designer, it's clear that a game with this sort of leveling system must be balanced around some sort of median player, not the extremes of the player who only does the main story or the player who does 100%.

Not to mention that the system, being similar to D&D, rather than say, most JRPGs, needs actual content for each level up in terms of new spells, abilities, etc. They had to pick a level cap that would be conducive to working as they add higher level spells and such in the expansion(s) and/or sequels.
 

El Topo

Member
I'm sure its exacerbated by party composition and being low level, but not super enthused at the spell system being a return to the "5 minute workday" for most casters

I think on higher difficulty where you can't just rest whenever you want (unless you like taking detours) the system forces you to manage your spells properly, which is nice. That said, even beyond their spells casters are useful, not to mention e.g. wizards have abilities that you can use every encounter. I'm surprised how well the system works actually.
 
1.03 is a savior, my whole party getting knocked out no longer gives me the 'your party is dead' screen anymore. They just get right back up if they're not dead.
 

Uthred

Member
I think on higher difficulty where you can't just rest whenever you want (unless you like taking detours) the system forces you to manage your spells properly. That said, even beyond their spells casters are useful, though obviously not mindblowing.

Playing on hard doesnt seem to do much to dis-incentivise heading back to town/etc. whenever your spellcasters have blown their load, it just feels a bit backwards when theres been so much done in p&p rpg's to overcome the issue to go back to Vancian-esque magic users.
 

cripterion

Member
I keep reading that wizard's spells level 1&2 are free once you're max level, I went back to the game and that is definitely not the case for me even post patch. As a matter of fact I use magic missile lvl1 3 times and I'm spent.
 
I keep reading that wizard's spells level 1&2 are free once you're max level, I went back to the game and that is defnitely not the case for me even post patch.

They're not "free". At level 9, your level 1 spells go from being "per rest" to "per encounter". The same happens with level 2 spells when you hit level 11.

The count will still go down with each use, but it restores when the encounter is over.
 

cripterion

Member
They're not "free". At level 9, your level 1 spells go from being "per rest" to "per encounter". The same happens with level 2 spells when you hit level 11.

The count will still go down with each use, but it restores when the encounter is over.

Haha ok I must have missed it then, and yeah I only went back to check it during the final encounter but what you say makes sense.
 

Durante

Member
Should I Plate-up Eder or leave him with his starting armor? (dat second chance)
If he's your main tank and specced for defense I'd put him in the best armor you have. You don't need a second chance if you're always the last character to go down.
 
Should I Plate-up Eder or leave him with his starting armor? (dat second chance)
There are other ways to get second chance, and I ultimately felt it was better that he never go down in the first place, so I've gone with elaborate platemail. That starting armor is pretty great, though, and you can enchant it to make it even better.
 
Currently in Act 3 and I am assuming approaching the end game. A few questions:

1. How many bounties are there in the game? I wrapped up the first batch and have been assigned another four. Are there any more after that? If I am at max level are they worth it and drop interesting items or should I call it a day?

2. How do you conclude Durance's personal quest? My journal just recommends to keep on talking to him. Is there a specific trigger to wrap it up?

3. In the waterfall area north of Twin Elms
is there a quest tied to the hunter at the base of the waterfall? I found his spirit and the tiger's but nothing came up.

Also, some of the companion quests and their conclusions are pretty depressing, geez:

Eder - Apparently doesn't find out why his brother decided to switch sides
Kana - The wizard he was looking for turns out to be a bit of a nobody and the chant he was looking for doesn't appear to exist
Sagani - Finally find the soul after 5 years, only for it to be a dying deer
Grieving Mother - Was jedi mind tricking a whole village to the point someone ended up dying
Aloth - Is a Leaden Key spy

Damn Obsidian, cold blooded.
 
Currently in Act 3 and I am assuming approaching the end game. A few questions:

1. How many bounties are there in the game? I wrapped up the first batch and have been assigned another four. Are there any more after that? If I am at max level are they worth it and drop interesting items or should I call it a day?

15

Definitely some cool gear.
 

Violet_0

Banned
oh, I thought there were only 4 bounties. I have something to look forward to, then

2. How do you conclude Durance's personal quest? My journal just recommends to keep on talking to him. Is there a specific trigger to wrap it up?

3. In the waterfall area north of Twin Elms
is there a quest tied to the hunter at the base of the waterfall? I found his spirit and the tiger's but nothing came up.

2.
talk with him, at some point after you rest the quest will conclude - you might have to do one of the god quests first

3.
you get the quest in the great hall in the area where you first enter Twin Elms, speak with one of the npcs
 
I don't know why CRPGs keeps chasing strongholds to begin with. I mean, sure, NWN2, DAI, and even DAO: Awakening did interesting stuff with their strongholds, but even then it was lacklustre and completely contrary to the game at large. They're the antithesis of "roving band of adventurers" and are always so meaningless to the overall plot and gameplay that they'd hardly be missed were they cut entirely. Only by designing the entire game around it (like Dragon Age 2 but not hot garbage) could they possibly make it something wonderful.

NWN2's Stronghold is awesome and still the gold standard CRPG stronghold as far as I'm concerned. Though, to be fair, I played BG2 as a Ranger so my "stronghold" was a cabin and not very interesting.
 

EndcatOmega

Unconfirmed Member
That guy has some decent criticism in the rpg codex post, especially with choice and consequences, but I'm not sure I agree with him on the loot thing 100%. I think there's osme Baldur's Gate nostalgia seeping in. As someone pointed out to me Flail of Ages is a +x weapon with a weapon speed increase and extra elemental damage, which, uh, you can easily get in Pillars and the Short Bow of Gesen is basically a bow with Shocking Lash on it. He tries to make a case that crafted loot is better than unique loot but (endgame spoilers)
Adra Dragon Scales are hard enough to get that superb crafted weapons better be damn good, and the example Estoc he's made isn't as clear cut as he thinks it is- the attack speed increase is better on classes that proc per hit, and accuracy can be a -10 miss and a +10 crit rate which I'd honestly prefer more than 25% damage against Kith most of the time considering hitting with CC is much more important than actual damage.

I do want more interesting encounter design though, and he's right that Wasteland 2 for all its other faults blows Pillars out of the water choice and consequence wise; the act 2 end is bad enough on its own but Twin Elm's factions barely seem to matter with one rep check for Twin Elms and the Fangs each and the Ovate rep appearing to exist for absolutely no reason, and no slides for the entire city except baby kidnapping. (that is a pretty pro slide m8 not gonna lie tho

NWN2's Stronghold is awesome and still the gold standard CRPG stronghold as far as I'm concerned. Though, to be fair, I played BG2 as a Ranger so my "stronghold" was a cabin and not very interesting.

In addition to this, CRPGs of this type are still heavily influenced by Dnd, and high level Dnd was all about strongholds before 3rd edition; the balancing point between fighters and wizards at high levels was that wizards might have city-shattering power but fighters had a bloody army. It's also nice to 'own' something in an rpg you can build up and go back to when you sell your loot!
 
Regarding the RPG Codex post the only thing that jumps out at me after 40+ hours is the encounter / enemy design piece. I have gotten into the habit of approaching every single encounter the same way: stealth approach, tank bottle neck, AOE debuff / damage like crazy, rinse repeat.

Not the end of the world but more variety would be nice. With the expansion or sequel I would love to see:
More ambushes or non-traditional approaches from enemies
More enemies with super high resistances to certain damage types forcing you to use less popular weapons or skills
swarms of smaller enemies that can bum rush your tanks
giant enemies that can ignore engagement rules
more enemies that use status effects on your party

Stuff like that
 

Serrato

Member
Question regarding the later half of the game :
Will I be able to return to Defiance Bay at some point? cause some quests that didn't ''fail'' still needs me to get back there.
 

Alavard

Member
Currently in Act 3 and I am assuming approaching the end game. A few questions:

1. How many bounties are there in the game? I wrapped up the first batch and have been assigned another four. Are there any more after that? If I am at max level are they worth it and drop interesting items or should I call it a day?

2. How do you conclude Durance's personal quest? My journal just recommends to keep on talking to him. Is there a specific trigger to wrap it up?

3. In the waterfall area north of Twin Elms
is there a quest tied to the hunter at the base of the waterfall? I found his spirit and the tiger's but nothing came up.

Also, some of the companion quests and their conclusions are pretty depressing, geez:

Eder - Apparently doesn't find out why his brother decided to switch sides
Kana - The wizard he was looking for turns out to be a bit of a nobody and the chant he was looking for doesn't appear to exist
Sagani - Finally find the soul after 5 years, only for it to be a dying deer
Grieving Mother - Was jedi mind tricking a whole village to the point someone ended up dying
Aloth - Is a Leaden Key spy

Damn Obsidian, cold blooded.

I have the same issue with Durance's personal quest. I believe it to be a bug.

As to the bounties:
There are 4 groups. The first 3 groups have 4 bounties each. The last has 3.
You may as well keep doing them as they're pretty quick, easy exp, and there are some nice items (nothing mind-blowing, but nice).

Edit - disregard what I said about the exp, as I didn't notice you were at max level when I first replied. Still fun to do them though,
 
Regarding the RPG Codex post the only thing that jumps out at me after 40+ hours is the encounter / enemy design piece. I have gotten into the habit of approaching every single encounter the same way: stealth approach, tank bottle neck, AOE debuff / damage like crazy, rinse repeat.

Not the end of the world but more variety would be nice. With the expansion or sequel I would love to see:
More ambushes or non-traditional approaches from enemies
More enemies with super high resistances to certain damage types forcing you to use less popular weapons or skills
swarms of smaller enemies that can bum rush your tanks
giant enemies that can ignore engagement rules
more enemies that use status effects on your party

Stuff like that

Agreed. I'm still in act 2, and nearly 50 hours in. I broke down and just edited all my characters to be walking gods and am just not worrying about combat any more. It's what I always did in the IE games, but PoE is a much better-playing game than them, so I started off playing legit and enjoyed it. But there's just so much combat, and by 40 hours in, I felt like I'd seen everything it had to offer.

I think your ideas about things which break the "rules" you've learned early on is a good one, and I'd love to see things like that.

There's only so many times I can open up with the same 6 encounter powers at once and then clean up the mess before it's just boring though.
 

Truant

Member
Raedric's Keep quest(ion)

I missed Orya (?) the crazy dungeon mage lady and encountered her after I killed Raedric. I guess she was some kind of mini-boss. She was friendly when I found her, but is she worth killing? She was kinda being a grade A bitch, anyway. Will it affect the game later on?
 

EndcatOmega

Unconfirmed Member
Durance's quest:
I wrapped it up in the conversation after the start of council of stars. I think if you mess it up then, from what people are saying it's messed up for good.
 

Altazor

Member
Raedric's Keep quest(ion)

I missed Orya (?) the crazy dungeon mage lady and encountered her after I killed Raedric. I guess she was some kind of mini-boss. She was friendly when I found her, but is she worth killing? She was kinda being a grade A bitch, anyway. Will it affect the game later on?

I actually have the same question, hah. I dunno what to do with that.
 

Pilgrimzero

Member
So I accidently join the er, Traditional Knights instead of the Citizen Brigade (I don't recall the names) at Defiance Bay

Is this going to bone me later? Cause RP wise my character is much more Citizens Brigade and I don't want to end up getting an "evil ending" or something.
 

Alavard

Member
So I accidently join the er, Traditional Knights instead of the Citizen Brigade (I don't recall the names) at Defiance Bay

Is this going to bone me later? Cause RP wise my character is much more Citizens Brigade and I don't want to end up getting an "evil ending" or something.

You'll be fine. It only affects
giving you access to an extra quest or two and how the finale to Act 2 starts
.
 

Nohar

Member
So I accidently join the er, Traditional Knights instead of the Citizen Brigade (I don't recall the names) at Defiance Bay

Is this going to bone me later? Cause RP wise my character is much more Citizens Brigade and I don't want to end up getting an "evil ending" or something.

I'm kinda in the same situation, though I don't think I made a final choice yet. Honestly, I think that whatever we choose, we are boned:
- The Dozens are not better than a mob out to kill the first scapegoat they can find (ie. animancers).
- The Knights are playing with things they don't understand, and seems to follow a "the end justifies the means" policy, which I found repulsing.
- The Mafia is, well, the freakin' Mafia.

So, yeah, I kinda don't want to explore those factions any further, because to my eyes they are all assholes.
 

Beloved

Member
So I accidently join the er, Traditional Knights instead of the Citizen Brigade (I don't recall the names) at Defiance Bay

Is this going to bone me later? Cause RP wise my character is much more Citizens Brigade and I don't want to end up getting an "evil ending" or something.

You mean Crucible Knights and the Dozens?

I've been leaning towards CB mainly because
Eder can't stand the Dozens and he's my favorite companion thus far.

Both factions seems to have their pros and cons so I don't really see why that would screw you over in the long run.
 

Pilgrimzero

Member
Good to hear the Brigade is almost/just as bad. Though the Knights are doing "bad" things with Souls which seem to be of limited supply in this world.
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
So how many Dragons end up being in the game, for the achievement?
Are there any more beyond
Sky and Adra
? I wouldn't be surprised to see another show up as a bounty.
 

EndcatOmega

Unconfirmed Member
So how many Dragons end up being in the game, for the achievement?
Are there any more beyond
Sky and Adra
? I wouldn't be surprised to see another show up as a bounty.

Cael the Silent
might count; the model's more of an overgrown drake, but it would explain why people haven't got the achievement after killing the ones you mentioned.
 
I have a ring that gives second chance. So that made me think...

If my priest is engaged in melee for some reason and ends up dying, would the enemy disengage before second chance brings him back? (I'm at work, so I can't test this).
 

Haunted

Member
I'm kinda in the same situation, though I don't think I made a final choice yet. Honestly, I think that whatever we choose, we are boned:
- The Dozens are not better than a mob out to kill the first scapegoat they can find (ie. animancers).
- The Knights are playing with things they don't understand, and seems to follow a "the end justifies the means" policy, which I found repulsing.
- The Mafia is, well, the freakin' Mafia.

So, yeah, I kinda don't want to explore those factions any further, because to my eyes they are all assholes.
The way I saw it and with the way I played my character, they're all just a means to an end and I simply used one of the factions to further my own quest of finding Thaos and finding out more about what happened to me. I didn't feel like my character would truly align herself with any of them.

Well that, and the fact that I have a standing of "Terror" with the mafia ever since I kind of rampaged inside their HQ and killed everyone because I felt that they didn't treat me with enough respect. (My character might have a temper problem, maybe).
 

garath

Member
So I accidently join the er, Traditional Knights instead of the Citizen Brigade (I don't recall the names) at Defiance Bay

Is this going to bone me later? Cause RP wise my character is much more Citizens Brigade and I don't want to end up getting an "evil ending" or something.

I accidentally joined the Dozens. Maybe I'm not reading carefully enough but I do NOT think the game presented this permanent faction decision in the proper way at all. I had no idea I was committing to a faction by accepting a quest. I was pretty unhappy when I learned about it LONG after completing said quest.

I ended up with the Dozens simply because of the order I was completing side quests. Not too happy about it.
 

EndcatOmega

Unconfirmed Member
I accidentally joined the Dozens. Maybe I'm not reading carefully enough but I do NOT think the game presented this permanent faction decision in the proper way at all. I had no idea I was committing to a faction by accepting a quest. I was pretty unhappy when I learned about it LONG after completing said quest.

I ended up with the Dozens simply because of the order I was completing side quests. Not too happy about it.

They actually say in the dialogue that you won't be able to work for the other two factions when you accept the second quest, at least for the House and the Knights. It could be made a little clearer that it's accepting not completing the quest that locks you in though.
 

Beloved

Member
I accidentally joined the Dozens. Maybe I'm not reading carefully enough but I do NOT think the game presented this permanent faction decision in the proper way at all. I had no idea I was committing to a faction by accepting a quest. I was pretty unhappy when I learned about it LONG after completing said quest.

I ended up with the Dozens simply because of the order I was completing side quests. Not too happy about it.

This makes me super paranoid now. Gonna have to look up info when I get home to make sure I don't accidentally join a faction without meaning to.

Edit: Thanks for the clarification Endcat
 

Pancakes

hot, steaming, as melted butter slips into the cracks, drizzled with sticky sweet syrup OH GOD
Good to hear the Brigade is almost/just as bad. Though the Knights are doing "bad" things with Souls which seem to be of limited supply in this world.

Well...not really.

The game mentions that souls can divide from one great soul which explains population growth. But the souls are less then what they were.
 

Nohar

Member
They actually say in the dialogue that you won't be able to work for the other two factions when you accept the second quest, at least for the House and the Knights. It could be made a little clearer that it's accepting not completing the quest that locks you in though.

Oh man. Well, I'm stuck with the Crucible Knights I guess.
 

garath

Member
They actually say in the dialogue that you won't be able to work for the other two factions when you accept the second quest, at least for the House and the Knights. It could be made a little clearer that it's accepting not completing the quest that locks you in though.

Yeah, I don't read everything super carefully so I'm not surprised if I missed a small cue but however it was presented, it probably could have been a little more front and center. I honestly don't remember anything about that in the description. Oh well. It's an RP thing vs game mechanics thing. I would not at all mind a little immersion breaker with a stronger cue that you are doing something like that.
 
Man, playing on hard and I'm loving my monk! He's a bare-fisted, no-armor-wearing, badass m'fer! My tactic generally involves having him hold back until after the battle starts, slap a health regen on him, and unleash him on the squishies (or not - he's just as happy sending armored opponents flying).
 
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