• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

LordAmused

Member
Anybody here knows a great guide for ultra-beginners like me before I dive into the game?
I've never played party based RPG before.

Thanks!
 

Eusis

Member
I'm a couple hours in. Christ this game is daunting. Anyone have any idea on how to play when you've got a 1 year old?
Have the one year old do it for you. It'll train their brain, like playing classical music around them or whatever.

More seriously... Maybe put it on the back burner until they're a bit more self dependent? Though that raises its own issues.
 
This game is incredibly hard. I really like it, but feel stuck at many quests that I leave mid dungeon to try and complete other quests for xp.
 
Picked this game up on the Steam summer sale, loving it, terrific game. About 66 hours in (trying to do 100% of the quests), I basically only have the final quest and Master Below to complete.

This is my question to those of you who have completed Master Below:
what was the strategy you used to beat the Adra dragon? This is honestly the only fight in the entire game I'm not enjoying. I don't find it challenging hard, it is rather unfortunately "cheap" hard. The dragon simply 1-shots most of my party whenever it feels like, and the addition of the groups of adds is very cheap. I'm sneakng around the dragon and taking out the two caster adds first, and then dealing with the little lizardmen guys when they show up. I see lots of videos online where the people are using 20 second paralyse spells on the dragon to beat her, but my mages spell is only 7 seconds? Any tips?

EDIT: Well it seems I just needed a clear head the next morning and some luck to answer my own question. Here is what I did in case anyone else is having the same trouble:
PREP: Load up your tank with as many healing and regen pots and defensive pots as you can. The most important stat for your tank is constitution and things that boost endurance so he lives the breath attack. All other characters should have power pots. Your mage should have accuracy pots. Make sure your grimoire is loaded with the petrify spell and then as many damage spells as you have that target enemy reflex. Everyone should have 1+ food buffs (I used cheese and dragon meat).

1. If you can, talk to the dragon first. Make the deal to free it from underground.

2. When you meet the dragon hunter, tell the truth. You will get a new ability scale breaker. This is only moderately useful. The real reason for doing this is now you can start the fight a bit more on your own terms.

3. Go back to the dragon. Without the dragon seeing you, sneak around to the east, by the foot of the titan. Go north to the first caster add and kill it. The dragon will start chasing you but is slow.

4. Keep going north following the wall. Take out the second caster add. The dragon is almost here.

5. Send everyone in your party except the tank back to the east. At this time the Xuarips group should be coming to you on the east side. Everyone except the tank needs to take them out ASAP. This is the toughest part because your tank is getting pupled but no one can help him. From this point on the tank should be drinking pots like it's going out of style. Use summons if you have them.

6. Once the Xuarips are dealt with, everyone else should be flanking the dragon. Mage should drink the accuracy pot. Get the dragon prone. Fighter knockdown can do it, as well as mage Call of Slumber spell. The instant the dragon is prone, hit it with Scalebreaker (if you have it) and mage Gaze of the Adragon. Once the dragon is petrified nail it with reflex spells and raw damage. Wounding shots, and Priest Pillar of Holy Fire is particularly good. Keep the dragon petrified! Your mage should cast 1 attack vs reflex spell, then start winding up the next Gaze of Adragon. Everyone else should burn, burn, burn.

Hopefully, victory!

Some comments from my time in the game:

1) For some reason people slag on Rangers, saying they are the worst damage dealers in the game. I did these 66 hours blind, so I never heard that before. I made my PC a ranger simply because I liked the class. I've never had any problems with him and when I check the stats near the end of the game he's my #1 damage dealer by a good margin. Not burst mind you, but good consistent DPS.

2) A lot of people say the game is very hard (as in the combat). I found it difficult but once you learn the mechanics it gets much easier. Basically in a dungeon I have the party waiting in formation tank(s) at the front. Stand around a corner, a door, by a choke point. Send in a ranged stealthed character, pull the group and run back into position with the party. They come charging around the corner, tank picks them up, and the bottleneck keeps most of the mobs at bay. Then, start up the meat grinder.

3) This one may be spolier-y:
I found it really important, more than a lot of other IE and RPG's, to have at least one character be very strong in mechanics. There are a lot of traps and locked chests and doors in every area and unless you are constantly maxing out mechanics on one character you will miss out a lot. Keep perception high as well and always send ahead a scout. You will find tons of hidden treasures, secret doors and of course you will be able to easily control mobs as above.
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I did this thing.

Anyone still playin it?

On the one hand I do want to give it a full second playthrough, but on the other I kind of want to wait for the expansion.
 

Altazor

Member
Welp, we're finally exiled to the graveyard Community. Had to happen eventually :p

Anybody here knows a great guide for ultra-beginners like me before I dive into the game?
I've never played party based RPG before.

Thanks!

I'm still a bit noobish - hell, my first RTWP game was Baldur's Gate 2... and I started playing that last year, so I'm far from an expert in these types of games. In any case, PoE is far more intuitive and "beginner's friendly" than BG2 ever was (especially because its intro dungeon doesn't take hours to finish, hah!). The UI is being finetuned with (mostly) every patch, adding visual cues to help you in the way (like area-of-effect markers, engagement cursors, stealth markers, HP bars, and so on) and you can change the difficulty on the fly if you desire to do so.

Here's a small beginner's guide with some nice hints. If you have the time, check out Sensuki's Beginner's Guide videos, too - they're lengthy but in-depth, covering most of what you need to understand the game (including the engagement system, which is combat-related and something not many of us understood at first).

As for very general tips from myself: don't pick Paladin as a starting class (it's not that they're bad, they're just boring. They're not as good as tanks as Fighters, neither at spellcasting as Wizards, nor at buffing as Priests. They're just... there.); SAVE OFTEN AND KEEP MULTIPLE SAVES; it's Real-Time-With-Pause, emphasis on pause: don't think you can manage combat without pausing. Use it. Do an action, pause, think strategically.

Oh, and use the TAB key to highlight items/characters in every area.

Have fun, it's a great game!
 

Bradach

Member
I got dropped down to level 5 of cran nua (?) and my under levelled group (about lvl 3/4) is having a lot off difficulty getting back up top! I'm about half way through level 3.
I have no camps left and running out of spells.

Is there any way around this? I can't even sneak past enemies. I'm afraid this could prematurely end the game for me.
 

Purkake4

Banned
I got dropped down to level 5 of cran nua (?) and my under levelled group (about lvl 3/4) is having a lot off difficulty getting back up top! I'm about half way through level 3.
I have no camps left and running out of spells.

Is there any way around this? I can't even sneak past enemies. I'm afraid this could prematurely end the game for me.
Come back later?
 

Purkake4

Banned
I'd love to but I can't get out! I dropped down a rope to level 5 and as far as I could see I couldn't go back the way I came. Have I missed something?
Reload an autosave or try to sneak to one of the fast travel exit points? There is one on level 5.

Also, don't jump down bottomless pits without saving first the next time.
 
Is there any mod that removes backers content?

Which content in particular? The NPC's are pretty good, I am assuming you mean the memorials? They don't do anything in the game so I found it was easier just to not click on them, but there is a mod that changes them to be more in the tone of the game:

http://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity/mods/33/?

I've never tried the mod, but it says it can disable them as well.
 

Caronte

Member
Which content in particular? The NPC's are pretty good, I am assuming you mean the memorials? They don't do anything in the game so I found it was easier just to not click on them, but there is a mod that changes them to be more in the tone of the game:

http://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity/mods/33/?

I've never tried the mod, but it says it can disable them as well.

No, the NPCs are not good. They break the immersion and they are annoying. I want to remove them.
 
No, the NPCs are not good. They break the immersion and they are annoying. I want to remove them.

Ah, okay, sorry I don't think there is a mod for that, not that I could find at any rate. I found most of them were decently done, although I must admit I only got up to Defiance Bay before I stopped reading them, as there were so many. Looks like I may have missed some doozies :D

http://www.somethingawful.com/news/pillars-kickstarter-backers/
 

huxley00

Member
I hate to come in on the tail end of these threads. I have a puppy and simply hadn't been able to play up until the last week or so. I am a very very big Baldurs Gate fan, here are my thoughts so far (about 30 hours in)

Playing on the hardest difficulty, whatever that is called

Likes

-Combat, I really enjoy the various spells and actions available in combat. Playing on the toughest difficulty really forces me to consider my next move and to play tactically. I wish the spell effects were a bit cooler but I still really enjoy the combat.

-Look/Feel, they really captured the look and feel of the old Infinity Engine games. Beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds with some really cool areas to explore.

-Dungeons, I like the layout, combat and mystery of the various dungeons, never find myself getting bored.

-Story, while not perfect, I think the story is fairly rich and interesting. It unfolds nicely as time goes on and I definitely feel vested in reaching a conclusion.

Dislikes
-Characters, for the most part, I do not like any of my companions and don't really care about them much.

-Voice Acting, just not very good...or at least not in a style I enjoy. I'd prefer to have no or little voice acting rather than what we have.

-History, I always read all the books in Baldurs Gate, the world was so interesting and full of rich history. Unfortunately, the history of this world is just not drawing me in. I know its not a fair comparison though, D&D has about 30-40 years of backround story to draw from.

-Defiance Bay, I've always had a problem with large towns, I feel overwhelmed and like there is too much to do, thats my own problem though.

-Character action descriptions, for some reason these get on my nerves, I'd prefer to just get the text of what they're saying rather than a large wall of text explaining what they're doing or how their face looks.


Overall, I'm really enjoying the experience and will definitely complete the game. I'm really hoping to find a party member or two that I am intersted in. I know I am wayyyy late to this thread and doubt anyone else is just starting out, just felt like throwing in my two cents.
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I agree that none of the companions are as likable and compelling as most of the BG2 cast, but I found most of them to be at least reasonably interesting characters.

Durance and Grieving Mother the most, but I also thought Eder and Kana Rua were alright too.
 

huxley00

Member
I agree that none of the companions are as likable and compelling as most of the BG2 cast, but I found most of them to be at least reasonably interesting characters.

Durance and Grieving Mother the most, but I also thought Eder and Kana Rua were alright too.

I don't have Grieving Mother yet...Durance, yes, he is ok, probably the only one I am really interested in learning about at all. I just don't feel the same connection to any of them. I will say this though, I don't know if any are as bad as Aerie with all her whining : D
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I romanced Aerie in my first BG2 playthrough back when I was like 14 or whatever. I have no idea what the fuck I was thinking.

Viconia all day every day.
 

huxley00

Member
I romanced Aerie in my first BG2 playthrough back when I was like 14 or whatever. I have no idea what the fuck I was thinking.

Viconia all day every day.

Hah, me too, I think because she is cute and pretty much the first girl you meet. The Vic romance is so awesome, so many layers. Even the Jaheira romance was pretty cool with all the Harper subplot.
 

Farks!

Member
I think the BG and PoE characters are apples and oranges. Bioware tries to make likeable characters, while Obsidian tries to make interesting characters. I quite like the PoE characters myself.
 

Sera O

Banned
I noticed yesterday that suddenly the load times between areas are really, really long. This only became an issue in Defiance Bay act 2. It's worse than pre-patch Bloodborne and is particularly offensive because I'm running between districts like crazy for most of my quests right now.

Have any of you had success fixing this? I have seen mention of it having something to do with mobile objects file saving everything you ever sell to a vendor, and chanter traps persisting. If anyone has advice on how to improve it, I'd be grateful. It's kind of ruining the game for me, and right when I was kind of getting into it...
 

Kieli

Member
So.... uh....

My character is stuck in terrain. No idea how to get it out. Can't go out of map because of this.

Wooooooo.

Tried to knock down stuck character, but other NPC/PCs can't target it.

Tried having stuck character attack someone out of range. No go either.

Any ideas?

Edit: Nvm, figured it out.
 
Have the one year old do it for you. It'll train their brain, like playing classical music around them or whatever.

More seriously... Maybe put it on the back burner until they're a bit more self dependent? Though that raises its own issues.

Sadly, I think that's about the way of it. See you in, oh, 5-7 years.
 
Just starting this now.

Is PoE like Planescape where you should be on the lookout for dialogue/non-combat skills or is it more like BG2 where the builds should still largely be combat focused?
 

Farks!

Member
Just starting this now.

Is PoE like Planescape where you should be on the lookout for dialogue/non-combat skills or is it more like BG2 where the builds should still largely be combat focused?

BG2; you can not play all of PoE's content as a pacifist. There are however plenty of interesting dialogue options that varies depending on your characters skills, background and actions.
 

dude

dude
Just starting this now.

Is PoE like Planescape where you should be on the lookout for dialogue/non-combat skills or is it more like BG2 where the builds should still largely be combat focused?

Most skills are not exclusively combat related (I mean, if we don't count stealth or trap disarming as combat), but there are no strict dialogue-based skills. Many dialogue will feature skill and stat checks though.

It is not like BG2 though, because you don't need to really build your character to be combat focused - It will probably be OK for combat no matter what you do because every stat and skill has some sort of combat use for every class. Just build whatever you want to play, considering all stats and skills come into play during the gamebook sequences and dialogues.
 

Instro

Member
Had this game since release and I'm finally nearing the end I believe. It's only been in the last month or so that I've been able to play the game with any regularity, but it was kind of a bummer to have to put it down for long stretches of time due to various reasons. Regardless I've largely enjoyed my time with the game so far. The characters are hit or miss for me, but for the most part I've found the writing to be pretty enjoyable albeit there's quite a bit of stock standard type material to be found. Not particularly happy with how the puzzles seemed to completely disappear from dungeons after the first couple. I mean you start the game with a dungeon that has a fairly simple floor puzzle, and i assumed that was a sign of things to come, but that never happened. Hopefully that's something they can address in the expansion/future games. Would have liked some more dialogue interaction with skills as well, was expecting more uses for stuff like lore, survival, etc. Overall though, very happy with the experience, looking forward to seeing how it wraps up and what they bring with the expansion.

Just finished killing
the adra dragon
. Really a doozy considering I hadn't really been challenged since the
2nd Raedric battle
.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
I started this game a little under two weeks ago, and I'm about 35 hours in. I never played Baldur's Gate or any of the Infinity Engine games, mostly because I found the D&D aspect of it to be kinda impenetrable. Or at least, I had no interest in it.

Despite that this game is largely the same thing as those, though, I absolutely fucking love Pillars. I cannot believe how good this shit is, and it just keeps getting better the further I get. It's kind of crazy to me that I never really played one of these games until now.
 

Altazor

Member
I started this game a little under two weeks ago, and I'm about 35 hours in. I never played Baldur's Gate or any of the Infinity Engine games, mostly because I found the D&D aspect of it to be kinda impenetrable. Or at least, I had no interest in it.

hah - if you're a D&D noob (like me), then the old IE games are kinda... unintuitive. I still think I got the hang of it (somewhat), at least to the point that I could manage to get to Act 3 in BG2. It's really fucking fun (and, as people have told me, I haven't even reached the best part of the game!).

But yeah, PoE is much more beginner friendly, IMHO, than the old games. The fact that the tutorial dungeon isn't extremely long helps a lot ;)
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
hah - if you're a D&D noob (like me), then the old IE games are kinda... unintuitive. I still think I got the hang of it (somewhat), at least to the point that I could manage to get to Act 3 in BG2. It's really fucking fun (and, as people have told me, I haven't even reached the best part of the game!).

But yeah, PoE is much more beginner friendly, IMHO, than the old games. The fact that the tutorial dungeon isn't extremely long helps a lot ;)

Yeah, I feel like this game makes me want to actually go back and play some of the Infinity Engine stuff like Planescape Torment -- I'd have much more of an appreciation for it now.

But uh... not for a while. This game is consuming every waking hour and I'm gonna need a break afterwards.
 

Alastor3

Member
Help me get back in the game GAF! I did about 7 flours of Caed Nua, did all the quest in Defiance Bay, just got Hiravia and 10 min later get in Dyrford Village and got Grieving Mother.

That was all a few months ago.

Now, I like my setup of character like that and adding two more is going to complicated my style but I can deal with that.

The thing is, im just lost in the main quest, I just don't see any motivation to continue it because I really don't know what it's all about.
 

Irobot82

Member
yeah but the main quest get swallowed by all the other side quests, and it's still not very clear what is the dude with the bear do with me, why does he speak to me, etc

That really begins to make sense towards the end of Act II beginning of Act III. I think, I remember a time where I didn't really understand my motivation and whatnot. But the plot will thicken.
 

Finalow

Member
playing the game on the hardest difficulty, I thought "game is too easy, Chanter + Phantom summon and everything dies" then I tried to do the temple in the first village. rip

I think I'm not supposed to finish this at level 2 with only 3 party members, I managed to complete the first floor by picking enemies off 1 by 1, because fighting 3-4 or more of them was just a 100% game over. the Skudr King two-shotting 2/3 of my party wasn't easy.
on the floor with the shadows however it's more problematic and it also takes more time to go back to rest at the Inn. I guess I'll stop here and come back with a full party or higher levels.

I could get 2 people to fill my party at the inn but I'm assuming that the fixed party members are better? So I think I'm going to wait to get those party members instead of making new ones at the inn and then just dump them later on.
 

Labadal

Member
playing the game on the hardest difficulty, I thought "game is too easy, Chanter + Phantom summon and everything dies" then I tried to do the temple in the first village. rip

I think I'm not supposed to finish this at level 2 with only 3 party members, I managed to complete the first floor by picking enemies off 1 by 1, because fighting 3-4 or more of them was just a 100% game over. the Skudr King two-shotting 2/3 of my party wasn't easy.
on the floor with the shadows however it's more problematic and it also takes more time to go back to rest at the Inn. I guess I'll stop here and come back with a full party or higher levels.

I could get 2 people to fill my party at the inn but I'm assuming that the fixed party members are better? So I think I'm going to wait to get those party members instead of making new ones at the inn and then just dump them later on.

From a combat perspective, story companions aren't that amazing. You can make more effective parties with custom characters.
 

Labadal

Member
oh. any suggestion? Class, race or whatever.

Fighters are great for tanking. If you have Eder and he is not enough, maybe take another tank with you. Early on in the game, you could hire a priest for buffs and healing spells. Ciphers also have some great low level abilities that I used all the way into the late game.
 

Caronte

Member
playing the game on the hardest difficulty, I thought "game is too easy, Chanter + Phantom summon and everything dies" then I tried to do the temple in the first village. rip

I think I'm not supposed to finish this at level 2 with only 3 party members, I managed to complete the first floor by picking enemies off 1 by 1, because fighting 3-4 or more of them was just a 100% game over. the Skudr King two-shotting 2/3 of my party wasn't easy.
on the floor with the shadows however it's more problematic and it also takes more time to go back to rest at the Inn. I guess I'll stop here and come back with a full party or higher levels.

I could get 2 people to fill my party at the inn but I'm assuming that the fixed party members are better? So I think I'm going to wait to get those party members instead of making new ones at the inn and then just dump them later on.

Get Durance and complete a quest or two to get to level 3.
 

Finalow

Member
Get Durance and complete a quest or two to get to level 3.
with just 4 party members and level 3 it's still really hard to win there at Potd difficulty, let alone clearing all the rooms. went back with a party of 5 and all at level 4 and I was able to finish the dungeon.

shadows REALLY like to teleport on Aloth, by the time I realize it and click on him to escape he already got hit 3 times and if he's not dead he's going to be soon. gave up and left him behind at some point. enemy phantoms were fun too, 1 hit 1 stun, ez game over.
now with a party of 6 I can still die to a gang bang of shadows, shades and phantoms, but I can easily pick them off in groups of 2 or 3 if that happens.
 

Caronte

Member
with just 4 party members and level 3 it's still really hard to win there at Potd difficulty, let alone clearing all the rooms. went back with a party of 5 and all at level 4 and I was able to finish the dungeon.

shadows REALLY like to teleport on Aloth, by the time I realize it and click on him to escape he already got hit 3 times and if he's not dead he's going to be soon. gave up and left him behind at some point. enemy phantoms were fun too, 1 hit 1 stun, ez game over.
now with a party of 6 I can still die to a gang bang of shadows, shades and phantoms, but I can easily pick them off in groups of 2 or 3 if that happens.

I did it using a druid and didn't find it that hard. Doing Raedric's quest before going to Caed Nua was worse.

You should never run away from enemies by the way, since they get free hits.
 

Finalow

Member
I did it using a druid and didn't find it that hard. Doing Raedric's quest before going to Caed Nua was worse.

You should never run away from enemies by the way, since they get free hits.
idk, maybe I didn't fight well enough. Raedric's quest is worse, yes, also much more annoying. clearing floors of the same enemies, getting no exp and the place is huge, still haven't found fucking Nedmar after hours of staying there. I think I'll use a map or something when I try again.

and they don't get free hits if I'm faster. >:)
 

Caronte

Member
idk, maybe I didn't fight well enough. Raedric's quest is worse, yes, also much more annoying. clearing floors of the same enemies, getting no exp and the place is huge, still haven't found fucking Nedmar after hours of staying there. I think I'll use a map or something when I try again.

and they don't get free hits if I'm faster. >:)

You don't need to kill a single human in that place, except the final battle and an optional boss.

If you enter through the sewers you'll fight some monsters, there's a human boss there which is optional and I'm not even sure if it changes anything in the game since everyone in the castle will talk as if that person was still alive. When you reach the stairs go up two levels and you'll find some Berath's clothes to dress up your party. In that area you will not be attacked if you wear that (some NPCs will talk to you and ask who are you, I avoided them but I think it doesn't change anything if they see you). Don't use those clothes outside the temple area since they don't do anything.

If you enter through the west climbing the plants you can do the same, maybe you'll need to kill a soldier or two, but that's it. You can explore everything after the quest is finished.
 

Finalow

Member
You don't need to kill a single human in that place, except the final battle and an optional boss.

If you enter through the sewers you'll fight some monsters, there's a human boss there which is optional and I'm not even sure if it changes anything in the game since everyone in the castle will talk as if that person was still alive. When you reach the stairs go up two levels and you'll find some Berath's clothes to dress up your party. In that area you will not be attacked if you wear that (some NPCs will talk to you and ask who are you, I avoided them but I think it doesn't change anything if they see you). Don't use those clothes outside the temple area since they don't do anything.

If you enter through the west climbing the plants you can do the same, maybe you'll need to kill a soldier or two, but that's it. You can explore everything after the quest is finished.
I tried to wear those clothes but now that I butchered a lot of them it doesn't work, lol.
I agreed to help Osrya because fighting her was pretty much impossible there, now I'm not sure if I can still kill Raedric but I'll try. afaik, not killing Raedric gives you a better reward?

also got the stronghold, and I decided to unlock the artifact in the level 13 of the whatever maze. is that thing worth it?
 
Top Bottom