The Dark Eye Blackguards - turn-based tactical RPG set in The Dark Eye world

[Agesilaus]

It is a pretty "boring this shit" sort of game, though. Shame, really; blackguards is just one more turd on the shitheap of decline.

 

[twincast]

It is a pretty "boring this shit" sort of game, though. Shame, really; blackguards is just one more turd on the shitheap of decline.

Depending on what exactly he means with his less important complaints, he does have a point, but one would expect a different sort of reply here to someone saying "No More Turn-Based!"

Also, the game is no masterpiece, but it's nice enough for what it set out to be.

 

[made]

Played until chapter 2 over the weekend. Decent game but a missed opportunity.

Reminds me of FFT in its structure but worse in every respect. Lame writing, banal story, fewer tactical options during battles and in party/character building...

Could have been great if they fleshed it out more.

 

[Severian Silk]

Blackguards is the game I enjoyed the most in recent years. And I played Baldur's Gate, Expeditions: Conquistadors and Planescape Torment this year. (I also started SRR but have not gotten very far yet.)

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Character progression is pretty deep. It could be argued though that by making more skills and abilities more viable the progressions would be improved.

The other main issue with character progression is that it is rather opaque unless you have already played long enough to unravel the systems or have done a lot of research before beginning. This game badly needed a detailed manual but never got one.

 

[Bubbles]

People who think that character progression is shallow don't understand it. Even at the very end game and with the most simple builds you still have a meaningful tradeoff between getting more hp and more magic resistance.

Ranged weapons are also useful for any class, and multiple melee set-ups (s&b for harder fights, dual wield or two-handed for "kill all x in y turns" fights, etc.) pay off as well.

 

[made]

The other main issue with character progression is that it is rather opaque unless you have already played long enough to unravel the systems or have done a lot of research before beginning. This game badly needed a detailed manual but never got one.

Dunno, I think anyone who played DSA or a computer adaptation of the current ruleset should feel right at home. The UI and ingame help are pretty good, although it could do with some extra info, like which spells/skills depend on which attributes (Drakensang did that IIRC) and a better overview of armor bonuses.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

The other main issue with character progression is that it is rather opaque unless you have already played long enough to unravel the systems or have done a lot of research before beginning. This game badly needed a detailed manual but never got one.

Dunno, I think anyone who played DSA or a computer adaptation of the current ruleset should feel right at home. The UI and ingame help are pretty good, although it could do with some extra info, like which spells/skills depend on which attributes (Drakensang did that IIRC) and a better overview of armor bonuses.

It's not so bad for someone coming in new now, but it took some months after release for the info that exists to surface. Those who played out fo the gate were far less informed unless they had system experience prior to playing. Also, there are a number of departures from the P&P rules or so I have heard. I haven't played DE P&P.

 

[Jaesun]

I also started SRR but have not gotten very far yet.

Just play Dragonfall instead. It is FAR better than the Original Campaign SRR game.

 

[made]

The other main issue with character progression is that it is rather opaque unless you have already played long enough to unravel the systems or have done a lot of research before beginning. This game badly needed a detailed manual but never got one.

Dunno, I think anyone who played DSA or a computer adaptation of the current ruleset should feel right at home. The UI and ingame help are pretty good, although it could do with some extra info, like which spells/skills depend on which attributes (Drakensang did that IIRC) and a better overview of armor bonuses.

It's not so bad for someone coming in new now, but it took some months after release for the info that exists to surface. Those who played out fo the gate were far less informed unless they had system experience prior to playing. Also, there are a number of departures from the P&P rules or so I have heard. I haven't played DE P&P.

Me neither, but it still feels familiar from Drakensang. I was wrong about the UI btw, the stat dependencies are all listed (just not during combat).

Now the 3*3 encounters in the arena are actually really good. The traps add another tactical layer without feeling gimmicky and coupled with no resting in between make for some tough nuts to crack. That's exactly the mix of player and character skill I enjoy.

 

[Telengard]

People who think that character progression is shallow don't understand it. Even at the very end game and with the most simple builds you still have a meaningful tradeoff between getting more hp and more magic resistance.

Ranged weapons are also useful for any class, and multiple melee set-ups (s&b for harder fights, dual wield or two-handed for "kill all x in y turns" fights, etc.) pay off as well.

The reason the system gets accused of shallowness is a manifold issue. Please keep in mind, it is all of these issues put together, not any one individually, that makes it shallow. Also note, this does not make it a bad game, just shallow.

1. There isn't a lot to the character. The character sheet exists on multiple pages and has an appearance of being very robust, but this is a trick of the eye caused by the large icons used and the lack of hidden charts (no race hidden charts, no class hidden charts, etc etc). If the character sheet were put into list form, it could all be put onto one page (including spells) with no squeezing, because there's not that many options here. As an added benefit of doing so, while new sheet wouldn't have all the nifty icons, it would make it a lot easier to conceive the whole of one's character.
2. While the armor system is highly detailed, one never really makes use of it. There's no point to having multiple armor locations if one never needs to weigh putting different bits of armor in those locations. Suits are always found whole, and there's a benefit to wearing the entirety at once. So, the only actual game result of having increased armor locations is increased busywork when equipping armor.
3. While there are lots of weapons with multiple stats, there is very little variety of effect. Weapons instead come in tiers, with some mundane weapons being more powerful in all respects than others. The only real meaningful choice is bow v crossbow for its range v damage differences.
   
4. The feats system is shown in feat tree form, but there's no reason for that except aesthetics, as there are very few branches. It's mostly straight trunk work.
   
5. The feat trunks are only three deep, one of which is often given to you to start with. So, only two pips to the end.
   
6. Most of the feat choices are variants of Do More Damage. Meaning one's choice of feats doesn't usually open up tactics on the ground, but instead simply causes you do more damage. Quite often being literally variants of Power Attack.
   
7. Multiple feat trunks lead to 3x Damage Power Attack. So, even less variety than first appears, once one reads results.
8. 3x Damage Power Attack can be had after only 2-3 pips purchased on the feat trunks. Which essentially hands you the ability to do 3x damage at will and pretty early on. The only thing preventing you from getting and using these abilities really early on is they're locked behind specific trainers that you have to find. But once you get them, there's no reason to do anything else during combat.
   
9. The list of spells is short. There is some extra variety locked away in the 4-tier spell system, but not much extra. Also, many spells are variants of Do AOE Damage, but some have larger AOE and do more damage at similar or even less mana cost, making the useful spell list even smaller still. If there were different types of spellcasters, and some were required to use the weaker spells, okay. But as it stands, anyone can do anything, and the weak spells just get chucked out the window, making a small list even smaller.
   
10. The enemy doesn't get access to all of the spells and combat abilities that the party does. Not because they're not supposed to under the rpg system, but because if the designers ever gave the enemy full access, it would result in instant party TPK. Which means the enemy have to constantly be dumbed down in order to make the system "work".
    
11. Very few fights demand that one makes deep choices in spells and combat abilities. The enemy AI isn't particularly robust. Battles with non-mooks are few and far between. The number of enemies faced doesn't vary very often. And during those rare events with enemies with special powers or enemy spellcasters, the enemy doesn't make direct, aggressive use of its powers. So, the same old tactics tend to work with every fight you face.
    
12. Several abilities are wickedly broken overpowered, such as the aforementioned 3x Damage Power Attack, but also haste (as usual). Which, when paired, leads to almost all fights being solvable by the simple expedient of:

ROUND 1

• haste
• haste
• haste
• 3x Damage Power Attack, 3x Damage Power Attack
• 3x Damage Power Attack, 3x Damage Power Attack

ROUND 2

• 3x Damage Power Attack, 3x Damage Power Attack
• 3x Damage Power Attack, 3x Damage Power Attack
• 3x Damage Power Attack, 3x Damage Power Attack

For stiffer resistance, repeat round 2 until dead.

And for those rare fights against lots of enemies, add in choice of heal or elemental knockdown for the two pure spellcasters, and continue repeating. One can use other tactics, but it's only ever for funsies, since the above solves just about every single situation encountered.

 

[made]

Well, thanks for the heads-up. I trained Axxeleratus only on the elf but she was taken from me before I could I really make use of it - hate when RPGs do that btw. just let me build a party and stick with it from start to finish why don't you? If you need to kill off someone for story reasons do it with an NPC. Guess I'll stay away from the spell to preserve some challenge. If Drakensang is anything to go by the game will become trivial before long anyway.

 

[Agesilaus]

Blackguards is the game I enjoyed the most in recent years. And I played Baldur's Gate, Expeditions: Conquistadors and Planescape Torment this year. (I also started SRR but have not gotten very far yet.)

So you played one good game this year? damn

 

[Severian Silk]

Pretty much.

 

[made]

What's the deal with Fornonfur's dragon eggs? I chose to keep them but they don't appear in the inventory. Any consequences to destroying/eating them or is just a cosmetic choice?

 

[abnaxus]

I don't recall any dragon eggs.

 

[Bubbles]

Yes, you must be mistaken. There are no dragon eggs in this game. There have never been any dragon eggs.

 

[Infinitron]

I don't recall any dragon eggs.

They're in a DLC mission

 

[made]

I don't recall any dragon eggs.

They're in a DLC mission

Guess that explains why there's nothing about it any of the walkthroughs.

So, question still stands.

 

[Infinitron]

Guess that explains why there's nothing about it any of the walkthroughs.

So, question still stands.

I think they might have something to do with the amount of money you get at the end of the battle, but not sure.

 

[Shannow]

I ate them. Didn't find a walkthrough, that gives a lot of information. Consensus of what I found online was that it makes no difference whatever you do with the eggs. :/

 

[made]

Figures. There's quite a few of these fake choices in the game that amount to nothing.

 

[Infinitron]

Hey kebabros: http://steamcommunity.com/games/blackguards/announcements/detail/268282865157404947

Localization update & patch release
21 AUGUST - STEF.DAEDALIC


We’re happy to announce that our Blackguards are now ready to enter your PC & Mac in Turkish, too! Additionally, there have been some small technical corrections in the game that will fix the following issues:

Patch 1.5 changelog

- Fixed the loot in the last fight of the "Charyb'Yzz" Questline.
- Fixed crash when entering Lorfas.
- Fixed blackscreen in Cilliego's Questline.
- Fixed the Spell casting freeze
- Added Turkish localization.

Best,
Your Team Daedalic

 

[abnaxus]

Considering the number of Turks in Germany, this is a smart move.

Now they should only add a Persian localization.

 

[Bubbles]

Considering the number of Turks in Germany, this is a smart move.

Unfortunately the Turkish have a long cultural history of piracy.