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Pillars of Eternity |OT| You must gather your party before venturing forth.
- Thread starter EviLore
- Start date
You can't quite be an evil mastermind (at least not that I've seen so far), but you can be a cruel and manipulative bastard in PoE in quite a few quests, without getting into "HAHAHA I'M SO EVIL" cartoon character territory.
It really depends on what you like in those games. The biggest differences are probably that PoE (i) has a lot more reading, (ii) has a lot more nuance, and (iii) that its combat and mechanical character development is much deeper and more strategic. Of course, how important the latter is largely depends on the difficulty setting.
I fucking despise the Infinite Engine games, pretty much purely because I fucking hate video game translations of d20 tabletop rules, and I haven't been able to put Pillars down. D&D in general has some pretty bad design decisions built into it, and on top of that, 2nd edition AD&D was one of the worst iterations, and on top of that, the IE games were taking the square peg of a tabletop system that is designed first and foremost for a) ease-of-use when all the math is done in your head with a pair of dice and b) semi-freeform roleplaying where not everything has to have a defined system, and not everything that does have a system needs to adhere to it 100% of the time.
None of that stuff is true in Pillars. They're superficially very similar - if you just fundamentally don't like certain things about the style of D&D mechanics, Pillars might not do much better for you - but everything about it was clearly designed from the ground up to be exactly what it is (a video game), and everything sort of just 'makes sense' from a design perspective. I feel like this is pretty much the game that my friends who were into BG/IWD were describing to me, that I could never really get into because of poorly-handled mechanics.
Devouring his soul gives you an ability, I think. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that. Releasing him gives your keep +2 Prestige, and binding him gives your keep +2 Security
19 hours in, the very early part (without a full party) was the most difficult so far, but that's because I tried to take up unreasonable encounters likely not designed for a party which isn't full. Since then, it has been rather smooth sailing on hard.
However, almost every significant encounter needed careful setup, controlling of space, and ability choices, otherwise I'll at the very least use up far more per-rest consumables and health than necessary, and at worst wipe outright. So in short, the challenge seems very well designed and consistent (on hard) so far.
Thanks! Seems like I made a good choice then.
OverturePT
Member
Hard to say. The game is nothing like modern Bioware games, I feel that it's definitely easier to get into it than Baldur's Gate but it is very much in the same vein. I couldn't tell someone to drop 30/40$ if they never enjoyed a cRPG but I almost feel tempted to as this game is surprising me a lot even after expecting it to be a very good game. Still, lot's of reading (in a good way), exploring, dying, pausing combat, if that's your thing, great, give it a try, if it kinda "scares" you, forget it.
What ability? The one that scares people and you can use two per rest? I released him and got that.
ferrasvansen
Member
This game, this damn game is very good. I have a huge backlog of games but I've pushed them aside to focus on this. I played so many old school rpgs that for me in my 40s this is like a return to the best days of adventuring. I suspect even my time in World of Warcraft these next few weeks will be somewhat limited as I read every note,journal and book and explore every corner.
Anoregon
The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I'm totally flying blind when it comes to picking talents at level ups. I usually go for nice looking class ones, because the choices of the generic offense/defense ones are kind of overwhelming.
PoweredBySoy
Banned
When I make a new character, and I choose the region they're from, and the +1 attribute bonus, why does it always seem to take away from the characters Resolve? So if I choose a region with +1 INT, my Resolve goes down by 1 at the same time. And if I choose a region with +1 Resolve, my attributes don't change - they stay the same as when I did the allocation.
Anybody else seeing this?
Anybody else seeing this?
Basileus777
Member
That's great to hear. It's exactly what I had hoped would be the case.
Barack Lesnar
Banned
I'm about to dive in. I've set aside several hours. Any last words? Something that you wish you knew before you played it
Dangoesforth
Member
Must say, Paradox has become one of my favorite publishers of recent years, just consistent.
Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
Oh hey, that may have happened to me too. I remember when I allocated my stats initially, I left Resolve at 10. But after a few hours of playing I noticed Resolve was at 9. I didn't really care, because fuck resolve. I figured maybe I just accidentally clicked it down one, but if this is a thing, that would make more sense.
When casting a spell that shows the area of effect, there is an inner red ring, and an outer yellow ring. The yellow ring simply shows the bonus area of effect provided by high intelligence and that area generally does not affect party members, only enemies.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
i think its because at the start of character generation a culture is already picked.. you can tell which one by the type of clothing and weapon they have. Might be wrong though. ill test it out real quick.
edit: yea.. Aedyr is at top of list and they are +1 Resolve.
Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
Oh, that makes sense.
Playing on normal ('cause my Infinity Engine-ism and my Real-Time-With-Pause-ism ain't so good) and getting there, slowly there. It hasn't been that hard, but the battles I've lost are definitely my fault (bad planning, underestimating the enemy or even purposefully wasting a battle just to see how many enemies swarm you).
Managed to (early Gilded Vale spoilers)
That's what I've been doing recently. Adventuring FTW!
Managed to (early Gilded Vale spoilers)
reach the second basement of the Temple of Eothas, ran into some shades... tougher than Skuldr Whelps, of course, but still managed to beat some of them. Decided I should do something else, so I went above ground and into some of the houses to see if there were some neat sidequests for me. And there were!
-Solved the feud between the miller and the dwarf peacefully, convincing the dwarf that threatening the miller and his family wasn't the best course of action and that maybe he could get help from the other villages. I took the money the miller offered me, though. They can make more during the year
-Finally killed that fucking bear in the cave and discovered the treason there. Went back to the couple in Gilded Vale and found out the deceased was a scummy wife beater. No sympathy from me, so I let them go with the money they saved. Hope they can live a new life elsewhere.
-The smith told me about the missing supply wagon that got lost in the woods, so I headed there to see if I could find it... I ran into some guy who was very intent on killing Raedric to end his reign of terror. Raedric's apparent tenuous grasp on reality reminds me of Leoric's final months (from Diablo lore) - just a corrupted shell of madness and hatred, far from the man he once was. I'm just... not going to kill him yet. I don't think I'm prepared for that.
-Solved the feud between the miller and the dwarf peacefully, convincing the dwarf that threatening the miller and his family wasn't the best course of action and that maybe he could get help from the other villages. I took the money the miller offered me, though. They can make more during the year
-Finally killed that fucking bear in the cave and discovered the treason there. Went back to the couple in Gilded Vale and found out the deceased was a scummy wife beater. No sympathy from me, so I let them go with the money they saved. Hope they can live a new life elsewhere.
-The smith told me about the missing supply wagon that got lost in the woods, so I headed there to see if I could find it... I ran into some guy who was very intent on killing Raedric to end his reign of terror. Raedric's apparent tenuous grasp on reality reminds me of Leoric's final months (from Diablo lore) - just a corrupted shell of madness and hatred, far from the man he once was. I'm just... not going to kill him yet. I don't think I'm prepared for that.
That's what I've been doing recently. Adventuring FTW!
Yeah I think I would have got into WRPGs a lot earlier if it weren't for the D&D mechanics. I remember buying Baldur's Gate and being so excited reading the manual and hearing the reviews of it... Then I just couldn't do it. Tried a few times.
I don't mind reading, so that's not a put off. Really I kind of want to grab this because I know Obsidian's writing in Fallout NV was so much better than Fallout 3, and if Dragon Age origins is my favorite of the DA series, then perhaps I'd love old school WRPGs now.
That and I actually fucking love the isometric look. I blame Diablo 2 for that...
So can anyone explain the combat mechanics in a nutshell? I hear lots o pausing, which could be ok.
Also how are the characters? Well developed?
I messed up. I initially made 2 adventurers to pad out my party, a meat shield barbarian and a rogue. The plan was always to get rid of them as soon as I find more companions (because obviously the companions are the way to go in a game like this for story reasons). I had no qualms stowing away the barbarian never to be seen again, but the rogue is really awesome. I use her to scout everything, and I start every single battle with a crippling shot from her arbalest which does a ridiculous amount of damage (like 70). I think I'd rather kick out Aloth than her.
Goodsprings in New Vegas was a pretty good implementation of Good and Evil quest outcomes. There were a few other instances in the game, but they seemed to burn most of their enthusiasm for supporting an Evil playthrough early on.
I'm several hours into Act II of PoE, and while there is some potential for being "legit" Evil, the game still has the same ol' problem almost every other RPG has where every quest you can do requires you to at least start out by helping someone, and then in the end maybe you can kill them or rob them or something and that's the evil outcome. I'll keep pushing through with my evil Priest and hope there's more to it than that.
Unfortunetely it is
As in it's super easy later on??
Was previously playing the Chanter Orlan I planned before the game came out. Played a couple of hours and got to Caed Nua and was really not feeling it. My concept for the character wasn't that fun to play in practice and Chanters are a bit too passive for my liking as a player. Finally decided to bite the bullet and restart the game on Hard + Expert. Rolled a female Aumaua Cipher, started with a bow. Making up the backstory a bit as I go along to allow for more freedom. So far she's some sort of scientist detective who's looking for a change in direction and some adventure after failing to crack a case in the homeland.
Feeling the game soooo much more now. Being able to combat from range while companions tank, build up focus and cast stuff. Seems way more fun. I pumped a ton of stats into Dexterity and Perception too, so I'm probably looking at a pretty fast character.
Feeling the game soooo much more now. Being able to combat from range while companions tank, build up focus and cast stuff. Seems way more fun. I pumped a ton of stats into Dexterity and Perception too, so I'm probably looking at a pretty fast character.
Normal helmets don't. However, there are enchanted/unique ones which do have mechanical effects.
I see, thanks!
Cosmetic to begin with but then some will appear that have stat gain, also like capes.
*Edit*
Fantastapotamus
Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
So I got a message that "Soandso arrived at Caed Nua, looking for work"
Do I have to find this guy and talk to him? Not quite sure what I need to do here. Also I wish I could manage Caed Nua on the road, having to return there every time seems a bit pointless.
Do I have to find this guy and talk to him? Not quite sure what I need to do here. Also I wish I could manage Caed Nua on the road, having to return there every time seems a bit pointless.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
AD&D is very difficult for people to get into. Huge manuals full of tables ripped from Players Guides and Dungeonmasters Guides dont really do much to explain things. For those mechanics its best to learn in a test play session or three but, as Coxswain mentioned, those rules dont translate to video games well. It also doesnt help that the start of Baldurs Gate is pretty much dogshit where nothing interesting happens and there is a very real possibility that you and an assassin might trade misses with each other for 20-30 seconds
*whoosh**whoosh**whoosh**whoosh**whoosh**whoosh**whoosh**whoosh**whoosh**whoosh**whoosh**whoosh**whoosh* *HIT* "You have died. Game Over!"
Its not so much the reading its the world building. Some games have lost of stuff to say but the foundations they are built on are not well thought out. That this world was designed in a couple years time is a major feat, imo. im not even done with the game and cant wait to see more of the world.
There are a few guides by Sensuki that kind of run through all the major mechanics.
...
ive tried for the last 5 minutes to think of a way to sum up things but am unable to think of a coherent way to do it. Best to see it in action. Its fairly deep.
So far they are great. What you would expect from Obsidian. The most surprising thing is that everything else is so good. When Bioware got free from the shackles of another persons IP they came up with Jade Empire. That was always a fear i had in the back of my mind with Obsidians first wholly conceived fantasy creation (Alpha Protocol is modern times so i dont consider that). Pillars nails pretty much everything.. writing, characters, system design, world building. The story i cant judge yet cause im not done yet but so far its got my attention. Its also can get a lot darker than i had anticipated. That first town lol
I haven't tried it yet, but what the steward told me sounded heavily like a (decent) lore justification for just that mechanic (managing it from everywhere). Are you sure that you can't?
Fantastapotamus
Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
Hmmm...no. Maybe I can? Would be neat, I'm getting DA:I flashbacks right now.
Go upstairs and click on a bed.
the thing with Alpha Protocol and New Vegas, KOTOR 2, is that the writing and gameplay were solid but they were working with publishers that rushed them, didn't give enough time for polish, and cared more about the bottom line than the finished product
Shake Appeal
Member
If I wasn't my party's runaway damage-dealer, I'd probably be annoyed at how
Aloth is set up. His Might is so disappointing. But now I just rush every AoE spell that induces Sneak Attack and go to town. He's the ultimate support.
Dr. Benton Quest
Banned
I'm experiencing a bug where my ranger's animal has completely disappeared? Anyone else have this?
Loving the game otherwise.
Loving the game otherwise.
Anoregon
The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
Thanks! Also, am I not supposed to be able to do the
endless paths
OverturePT
Member
You can give build orders from anywhere, stuff like manually resolving attacks (only one that showed up for me yet) you obviously have to be there, or just auto-resolve it.
Shake Appeal
Member
Just looked at some of the achievements for this game. Holy shit. No Rest for the Pro? Relative Pacifism? Zero Knockouts? And of course Triple Crown SOLO.
I think pets are purely cosmetic, but I don't know for sure.
Yeah, I like him a lot. Also helps that he and my rogue work together beautifully.
I think so too but there was a dialogue choice about finding its master, and not sure if that's a quest or not, but don't want to bring him with me because I like my pig
unless you can keep pets in your stash???
I don't think so. However, it's nice to be able to take it with you and
not really feel too sad whenever you see its name pop up. Because while we haven't gotten that game, we got PoE and all is right with the world now.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
i wasnt referring to polish but systems and world wholly imagined and realized by Obsidian. Jade Empire would be Biowares first attempt.. Pillars of Eternity is Obsidians.
KotOR 2 - mechanics and universe already set
Neverwinter Nights 2 - mechanics and world already set
Alpha Protocol - i dont consider this as games set in modern real world dont have as much world building associated with them. Also the systems design was supposedly influenced by Sega
Fallout: New Vegas - world already set and mechanics set by Bethesda (first person shooting hiking and garbage collecting simulation)
Dungeon Siege 3 - world already set and mechanics (hack and slash loot arpg) already set
South Park - world already set
edit:
i laughed when i saw Sawyer in the achievement art
I cleared it all but 1 room with 3 char on hard by using the doors as a funnel sticking my tanks in front of them so that I would have to fight only 1 enemy at a time.
Obviously shadows and shades kind of laughed in the face of that but I managed somehow by killing the ones that tried to go for the backline quickly.
In the worst of times I just showered my own tanks and all the enemies with Fan of Flames, that was pretty much my last resort, however; a sort of "the fight is unwinnable otherwise, burn it all down" button. Worked wonders (destroyed my tanks each time I did it, however).
The room I didn't clear is the one with a lot of Skuldrs in the second floor, I came back to it when I had 4 dudes and cleared it easily.