Ok Defiance Bay sidequest question - how in the name of god do you
win the fight at the top of the lighthouse? I know fire hurts the shadows/shades/whatever but my wizard lasts about 4 seconds before just getting destroyed. Nobody else is able to do any decent damage against them. I'm about level 6... just come back later?
Ok Defiance Bay sidequest question - how in the name of god do you
win the fight at the top of the lighthouse? I know fire hurts the shadows/shades/whatever but my wizard lasts about 4 seconds before just getting destroyed. Nobody else is able to do any decent damage against them. I'm about level 6... just come back later?
Ok Defiance Bay sidequest question - how in the name of god do you
win the fight at the top of the lighthouse? I know fire hurts the shadows/shades/whatever but my wizard lasts about 4 seconds before just getting destroyed. Nobody else is able to do any decent damage against them. I'm about level 6... just come back later?
I was thinking about Eternity's encounter design and the engagement system. Part of the problem, as others have pointed out, may be that even if you (or the enemy) wanted to absorb disengagement attacks and keep pushing toward the enemy's back line, engagements are so "sticky" that you're likely to have to micro your way through several layers of engagements. Players can manage this, but even a more aggressive AI would struggle.
So what if Obsidian added an "overrun" ability that allowed a character to ignore all engagements from point A to point B at the cost of an enormous DR penalty? Essentially you would trade the stickiness of engagements for extra vulnerability. I imagine it introducing a couple of tactical wrinkles: (1) an enemy overrunner is definitely going to make it past your tanks, so you have a choice to train your back line's fire on him/her while he/she is vulnerable or stick with Plan A and absorb more punishment later; (2) on the offensive side, you could have your melee units bee-line for the opponent's spellcaster while your caster lays down an AoE spell to cover the gap in your lines (this would work best if the wall spells were buffed a bit); (3) an overrunner's vulnerability would be a good reason to bust out potions. I feel like this would be a (relatively) straightforward way to build on the engagement system and spice up battles, but maybe I'm missing some obvious problems.
If you've been doing 75% of the sidequests you come across, by the time you reach that fight there are likely to be very, very few enemies in the game that require any thought.
I... honestly did not expect that (major spoilers):
Magran allied with Woedica in order to kill Eothas. It wasn't Durance who was wrong and who disrespected (or didn't understand) his goddess: it's his goddess who betrayed him and all the gods, using him (and the original Dozens) as a pawn to kill Eothas. And it seems she planned for him to die too, in order to keep her involvment secret. It is only thanks to the nature of his damaged soul that Durance managed to survive, Magran unable to recognize him, and thus assuming he died with the rest (on that note, did the others Dozens just "died", or did their souls get destroyed altogether? Can't remember how exactly they met their end).
Long story short: Durance was not that far from the truth when he called her a whore.
It's a really good feeling when you encounter a mass of enemies that destroy your whole party in moments, but then you reload and you find a way to kill them with hardly anyone taking any damage.
I started up games with the 3 chars that don't have companion options, and I'm really surprised by how much I liked rogue. Still not sure which one I want to actually continue with for a full playthrough though. Barb didn't feel that strong but I'm pretty sure gets very beefy later, and monk is kind of the opposite (very strong out the gate but I hear mediocre later.)
I'm at the first underground temple in the first town. I hired an adventurer and made her a paladin and I met the mage elf. Every encounter that I face is like a boss fight. I rolled ranger for my main character, and he's using a crossbow which takes like a minute to shoot and reload, and half the time he misses. My mage does the most damage, but the moment anything touches him he dies, and my tank paladin that I made has no provoke, and she sits there missing most of the time. I feel like every fight is incredibly difficult, and it almost feels as though I'm missing out on some grinding/another companion etc.. Those shadows that you fight in the lower level just teleport to your back line, and completely wreck shop. Is this normal? I've played these games before and I don't remember feeling quite so hopeless. I'm not going to give up, but I'm just wondering if it's something I'm doing wrong. I find myself saving after every fight because they're that hard. Not to mention gold is really hard to come by so I have to walk all the way back to town to sleep and come back to the dungeon.
I used the two main doors, set up both my tanks in the doorway and made sure to set up traps collected from the dungeon along the stairs and so on.
Basically the traps wore down his group and I used one of my tanks to trigger the fight before running him back to block off the other half of the door way, this way both of my tanks could still fight since you can fit two there, and then I just had my priest placing a knockdown seal right infront of the tanks once the enemies run up against you and at that point it's just a matter of using range spells to pick off the mages and keep the Tanks reletively healthy throughout. Chanter skeletons can be real useful if you summon them behind the enemy as well to pick off squishier characters.
I also had a lot of success with the
Horn figurine from the blacksmith that summons an animat, it's a pretty nice general tank and damage dealer.
I came out pretty much unscathed, but this was just on hard.
I'm at the first underground temple in the first town. I hired an adventurer and made her a paladin and I met the mage elf. Every encounter that I face is like a boss fight. I rolled ranger for my main character, and he's using a crossbow which takes like a minute to shoot and reload, and half the time he misses. My mage does the most damage, but the moment anything touches him he dies, and my tank paladin that I made has no provoke, and she sits there missing most of the time. I feel like every fight is incredibly difficult, and it almost feels as though I'm missing out on some grinding/another companion etc.. Those shadows that you fight in the lower level just teleport to your back line, and completely wreck shop. Is this normal? I've played these games before and I don't remember feeling quite so hopeless.
to boost your party. Explore a bit, do other sidequests, level up and then tackle the temple. It's not necessary to do it the moment you reach Gilded Vale
I'm at the first underground temple in the first town. I hired an adventurer and made her a paladin and I met the mage elf. Every encounter that I face is like a boss fight. I rolled ranger for my main character, and he's using a crossbow which takes like a minute to shoot and reload, and half the time he misses. My mage does the most damage, but the moment anything touches him he dies, and my tank paladin that I made has no provoke, and she sits there missing most of the time. I feel like every fight is incredibly difficult, and it almost feels as though I'm missing out on some grinding/another companion etc.. Those shadows that you fight in the lower level just teleport to your back line, and completely wreck shop. Is this normal? I've played these games before and I don't remember feeling quite so hopeless. I'm not going to give up, but I'm just wondering if it's something I'm doing wrong. I find myself saving after every fight because they're that hard. Not to mention gold is really hard to come by so I have to walk all the way back to town to sleep and come back to the dungeon.
yeah, difficulty can be a shock in the beginning, game certainly doesn't hold your hand at all; POE is very old school, since you've played this kind of games before this shouldn't be nothing new. Take every encounter like a grid-based strategy game where every single command must count, and a single wrong one can wipe your party; position your men and plan your actions at every Spacebar hit, which should be done as much as possible; you will be doing great in no time, guaranteed; and as Alcazor said, try to have at least a party of five before venturing forth
to boost your party. Explore a bit, do other sidequests, level up and then tackle the temple. It's not necessary to do it the moment you reach Gilded Vale
So I finished the game in 59 hours, completing most of the content available. Here are some thoughts without any spoilers :
When you compare this game to Shadows of Amn..
-The game is great to look at and the battle mechanics are more modern and flexible. I like specific restrictions, how resting works for example.
-The game was not challenging enough. I played on HARD and the last third was a breeze besides specific optional battles. I micro managed my party and used a Paladin as a tank. I never felt like I was outmatched by mobs. There was also a lack of variety in enemy spell casters. Baldurs Gate was better in this regard, I needed a proper challenge. Enemies with overpowered spells like the lich in Baldurs Gate.
-The main story was a bit short. I am not going to talk about the plot but when you create a new fantasy world and have all this lore (stories, Gods and what have you), the main plot should reflect that.
Biggest complaint :
-The quality of the NPC party members fell short of my expectations. I mean this is not even a contest to other great RPG's. These characters were supposed to be multidimensional.
Quite frankly it feels like an evil play through with these party members is nearly impossible. I would only pick Hiravias and use hirelings. It was fine for a neutral-lawful paladin who just vanquished enemies without mercy.
I am definitely going to pick the expansion and Pillars of Eternity is definitely worth a purchase. Perhaps the best RPG in some time but the power of Bhaal is still too strong.
So I finished the game in 59 hours, completing most of the content available. Here are some thoughts without any spoilers :
When you compare this game to Shadows of Amn..
-The game is great to look at and the battle mechanics are more modern and flexible. I like specific restrictions, how resting works for example.
-The game was not challenging enough. I played on HARD and the last third was a breeze besides specific optional battles. I micro managed my party and used a Paladin as a tank. I never felt like I was outmatched by mobs. There was also a lack of variety in enemy spell casters. Baldurs Gate was better in this regard, I needed a proper challenge. Enemies with overpowered spells like the lich in Baldurs Gate.
The main story was a bit short. I am not going to talk about the plot but when you create a new fantasy world and have all this lore (stories, Gods and what have you), the main plot should reflect that.
Biggest complaint :
-The quality of the NPC party members fell short of my expectations. I mean this is not even a contest to other great RPG's. These characters were supposed to be multidimensional.
Quite frankly it feels like an evil play through with these party members is nearly impossible. I would only pick Hiravias and use hirelings. It was fine for a neutral-lawful paladin who just vanquished enemies without mercy.
I am definitely going to pick the expansion and Pillars of Eternity is definitely worth a purchase. Perhaps the best RPG in some time but the power of Bhaal is still too strong.
I know it's pretty much a moot point now but there are
three ways of getting into the keep: 1) left side of the map, scripted storyline point that checks on athletics (climbing up a vine to the top) that leads you to a couple of fights but a stealthy entrance to the second floor; 2) kicking ass through the normal entrance, and 3) right side of the map, there's a hidden-ish path in the moat that leads to the sewers/dungeons directly
I found the thugs and killed them all. No fucking mercy for child murderers. My character's a paladin with benevolent disposition but fuck that, I wasn't going to let them go.
so I can't complete the first round of bounties on my second playthrough either (head from the bandit disappeared, last time I took him prisoner which makes the quest impossible to finish, fantastic game design)
just making my way to the boss now, not sure if I can even hit lvl 12 now anymore :-/
I found the thugs and killed them all. No fucking mercy for child murderers. My character's a paladin with benevolent disposition but fuck that, I wasn't going to let them go.
I... honestly did not expect that (major spoilers):
Magran allied with Woedica in order to kill Eothas. It wasn't Durance who was wrong and who disrespected (or didn't understand) his goddess: it's his goddess who betrayed him and all the gods, using him (and the original Dozens) as a pawn to kill Eothas. And it seems she planned for him to die too, in order to keep her involvment secret. It is only thanks to the nature of his damaged soul that Durance managed to survive, Magran unable to recognize him, and thus assuming he died with the rest (on that note, did the others Dozens just "died", or did their souls get destroyed altogether? Can't remember how exactly they met their end).
Long story short: Durance was not that far from the truth when he called her a whore.
Interesting, it's the only quest I didn't finish during my playthrough.
Regarding the Derrin quest, the worst part is that you leave his body right where it lays. The game does not give you the option to take it to his mother or do something else, i.e. bury it in a forest somewhere. Even if you go back in the map later, you can still see the textures are the same, resembling a body.
Welp, just found a bug with the main questline in regards to the Defiance Bay Sanitarium, in which I left instead of going downstairs immediately after talking to the head warden, and now I can't get into the north ward of the basement at all.
Apparently it's a known bug, I just wish I'd have known about it
-The game was not challenging enough. I played on HARD and the last third was a breeze besides specific optional battles. I micro managed my party and used a Paladin as a tank. I never felt like I was outmatched by mobs. There was also a lack of variety in enemy spell casters. Baldurs Gate was better in this regard, I needed a proper challenge. Enemies with overpowered spells like the lich in Baldurs Gate.
I felt like the game was becoming a freeze on hard/expert once I got to Defiance. You should check out PotD. I'm not going to say it's the perfect difficulty option since it feels incredibly cheap early on (with waves of enemies that confuse/daze/dominate). Now that I have a full group and a few levels the battles are becoming more manageable even when the odds seem ridiculous.
Don't really get BG2 being brought into the difficulty discussion. Yeah, Vampires and lich are scary at first... but they can also be destroyed in a single hit by certain weapons with 0 proficiencies. Not to mention how bonkers OP every single class becomes during the later portions of the game. BG on the other hand... yeah, that game had way better encounters were you definitely needed to use everything in your toolbox.
EDIT: PotD is also the difficulty were the decision not to have combat EXP really makes the most sense. In lots of areas it's much more advantages just to scout ahead and avoid encounters that look brutal until you are higher level and better equipped.
I'm at the first underground temple in the first town. I hired an adventurer and made her a paladin and I met the mage elf. Every encounter that I face is like a boss fight. I rolled ranger for my main character, and he's using a crossbow which takes like a minute to shoot and reload, and half the time he misses. My mage does the most damage, but the moment anything touches him he dies, and my tank paladin that I made has no provoke, and she sits there missing most of the time. I feel like every fight is incredibly difficult, and it almost feels as though I'm missing out on some grinding/another companion etc.. Those shadows that you fight in the lower level just teleport to your back line, and completely wreck shop. Is this normal? I've played these games before and I don't remember feeling quite so hopeless. I'm not going to give up, but I'm just wondering if it's something I'm doing wrong. I find myself saving after every fight because they're that hard. Not to mention gold is really hard to come by so I have to walk all the way back to town to sleep and come back to the dungeon.
I felt like the game was becoming a breeze on hard/expert once I got to Defiance. You should check out PotD. I'm not going to say it's the perfect difficulty option since it feels incredibly cheap early on (with waves of enemies that confuse/daze/dominate). Now that I have a full group and a few levels the battles are becoming more manageable even when the odds seem ridiculous.
Don't really get BG2 being brought into the difficulty discussion. Yeah, Vampires and lich are scary at first... but they can also be destroyed in a single hit by certain weapons with 0 proficiencies. Not to mention how bonkers OP every single class becomes during the later portions of the game. BG on the other hand... yeah, that game had way better encounters were you definitely needed to use everything in your toolbox.
I'm really happy that I went with Path of the Damned for my first run. I think I'm close to the third act and the game still feels challenging. From the sounds of it I wouldn't be as interested in tweaking my party as I am now if I played on a lower difficulty.
Some areas do get tiresome with large mobs around every corner... where a few mistakes can deplete a lot of health and spells. But it's worth it as it makes you pay close attention to pretty much every decision. In BG2, you only had to manage your casters while everyone else just chopped through everything, enemy casters were the only real threat apart from special encounters. Pillars feels much better in that regard, and not having to slaughter everything for experience makes it even better.
That said if you got through BG2 without turning the difficulty slider down, you should probably pick PotD for PoE. The cheap deaths early on aren't bad compared to BG 1 & 2 if you went in blind. PotD is comparable to BG2 with the Tactics mod in terms of challenge, though PoE doesn't feel as cheap.
the worst part is that you leave his body right where it lays. The game does not give you the option to take it to his mother or do something else, i.e. bury it in a forest somewhere. Even if you go back in the map later, you can still see the textures are the same, resembling a body.
the kid went out defending someone else. But still... I don't know if that makes it worse or not. He could've died a senseless death, murdered just because. That would've been a complete waste
In a related note, I found out Derrin's dad in the Salty Mast after I told his mother and completed the quest. Should I have talked to the father earlier, or does he spawn just after the quest is ended?
the kid went out defending someone else. But still... I don't know if that makes it worse or not. He could've died a senseless death, murdered just because. That would've been a complete waste
In a related note, I found out Derrin's dad in the Salty Mast after I told his mother and completed the quest. Should I have talked to the father earlier, or does he spawn just after the quest is ended?
I think he only spawns afterwards, he wasn't there earlier. You can rough him up, shame him, or simply leave him be. He either stays there and keeps on drinking, or just leaves and you don't see him again.
I think he only spawns afterwards, he wasn't there earlier. You can rough him up, shame him, or simply leave him be. He either stays there and keeps on drinking, or just leaves and you don't see him again.
Heeellp! I stopped playing for a week because of school and now that im back in the game, I feel so lost with all the lore. im at the GAF inn and everyone keep talkingof différent clans and gods since I arrived at defiance bay and im Just lost with all the names and conflicts
Heeellp! I stopped playing for a week because of school and now that im back in the game, I feel so lost with all the lore. im at the GAF inn and everyone keep talkingof différent clans and gods since I arrived at defiance bay and im Just lost with all the names and conflicts
They're all in the cyclopedia in your journal, which is a big help. I don't think I started remembering the names of gods consistently until near the end of Act III.
So, finished the game half an hour ago. It was a fun ride, though the game could use some balance tweaking for some classes and abilities (not to mention some more bugs squashing). That being said, I may sing a different tune after trying Hard mode and/or Path of the Damned.
Also, finishing the game will spoil one's character background pretty hard if you happened to not have done said character's sidequest:
Aloth, whom sidequest I didn't complete, was a disciple of Thaos, and will resume his former master's quest. It left me a little befuddled.
Act I was hard but interesting, Act II was great, Act III was considerably shorter than Act II, and Act IV was a very nice finale (regarding the last Act and one character we meet in the final dungeon,
I think that Deionarra's Theme would fit Iovara quite well. The two characters share a similar fate worse than death, though Iovara is one hell of a woman, since she pretty much decided to suffer it willingly and won't change her mind. That requires one hell of a strong will, and she has my deepest respect. I'm kinda sad that ultimately we can't help her move on one way or another: she shaped her own prison with her belief
). Now that the lore has been established, I really hope Obsidian will develop this universe. Regarding the expansions,
it seems that our companions' fates are sealed, so I guess an expansion would probably introduce new characters altogether, assuming said expansion introduce a new main quest and a new region to explore, and not just new sidequests like Tales of the Sword Coast... Though I fear this is the direction they are going to follow. Meh
They're all in the cyclopedia in your journal, which is a big help. I don't think I started remembering the names of gods consistently until near the end of Act III.
the last boss was very annoying on PotD. Super high reflection, it was already tough without a mage or cypher and with the wrong party it might be nearly impossible
I got a nice surprise at the end that didn't happen on my last playthrough
Skaen showed up and tried to convince me to give the souls to Woedica. Now I wonder if Wael only appears when you do his act 2 sidequest in the 'correct' way
oh, and regarding Sagani's ending
is there another way to finish her quest that leads to a happier ending?
I'm currently in sewers of raederic's and can't open a door on the east side of the map, I went up the ladder and killed the guards but couldn't pass through there either. I checked online and some people keep referring priest Osyra but she's not in the room she's supposed to be in (the one with all the tombs that was guarded by a bunch of enemies). Did I miss something or will I have to brute force my way in?
