Eternity Pillars of Eternity + The White March Expansion Thread

[Bonerbill]

I really like the combat system, even though I am still not a great fan of the way engagement works (especially when your retarded companion pathfinding AI decides to maximize the number of engagement attacks in their face to reach a given location).
However, everything else feels like a letdown. The game is too verbose indeed, and the stronghold feels like a separate minigame. I am terribly disappointed as I liked Crossroad Keep despite its shortcomings (mostly that upgrading it did not change much gameplay wise).
Caed Nua really feels lifeless, with only vendors and a few hirelings idling around. We never get to visit the demesne itself (is there even one, or are we only controlling the stronghold and getting money from tolls? I find it hard to tell).
And having stronghold turns be tied to quest advancement feels really gamey, especially combined with henchmen wages being tied to time.
btw, what are these walls for, given that every raiding party seems to have no trouble getting into the main hall or the courtyard?
Is it worth having hirelings then? Should I just recruit them before attacks? Or look for the best ratio of (prestige+security) /upkeep? Should I wait for all the stronghold to be fully upgraded before ( I should have enough with the early levels of endless paths + sacking Raedric Stronghold)?

Some of the newer stronghold content from patch 3.0 is pretty good. I think it's worth doing for the events, items, and battle of yenwood field. Items like The Helwax Mold are definitely worth getting.

 

[Starwars]

Or just don't be an autist.

 

[ilitarist]

Nailed it, Lacrymas. Sadly it's a list of recommendations that applies to many RPGs with a story.

Icve just started Wasteland 2 and after an hour in I wish for it to not have any dialogues. Also no combat. Also probably the rest of the game.

The heresy of dialogue wheel is only there because the true faith of branching conversation had fallen into decadence.

 

[Colour Spray]

I think my first play-through was a brutal lesson in how arrant left-clicking in combat is a good way to get any character insta-gibbed. So many mis-clicks.

I'm playing through it again at the moment using Lacrymas' method of approaching it like Icewind Dale III instead of BG3 and I'm appreciating it a little more, too. Technically my third play-through but the first time I abandoned the game in gilded vale because i hadn't read the tooltip about gold name-plated npcs yet.

I'm still a little bemused why Sawyer says that mages have tactical nukes at the their finger-tips. I tried killing a single Xaurip with minoletta's minor missles with my 18 might mage and after 3 casts the thing was still alive and kicking. He also said that the game isn't balanced for Path of the Damned, however, so I guess you can't really complain too much. It's a shame, though; I wanted to try something different this time but crowd control is so brutal. Even a max resolve Paladin fails every paralysis save (well, grazes every save, really... same thing) then gets one-shot. So if your wizards are casting damage spells and not crowd control, things are probably gonna go down-hill quickly.

I totally ignored the star in character creation for my Barbarian next to the intellect attribute, too, and used it as a dump-stat. So my barbarian gets to enrage for a grand total of 10 seconds, which barely seems worth it when it takes 2 and a half seconds for her to cast the damn thing. An intelligent barbarian is too much of a flavour stretch for what i was going for, goddammit.

The character was probably a mistake anyway; dies too fast to be a body-blocker, is losing on damage contribution to my watcher who just buffs herself and conjures a staff to whack things with. Seriously those conjured weapons are strong as fuck.

 

[Lacrymas]

I'm still a little bemused why Sawyer says that mages have tactical nukes at the their finger-tips. I tried killing a single Xaurip with minoletta's minor missles with my 18 might mage and after 3 casts the thing was still alive and kicking. He also said that the game isn't balanced for Path of the Damned, however, so I guess you can't really complain too much. It's a shame, though; I wanted to try something different this time but crowd control is so brutal. Even a max resolve Paladin fails every paralysis save (well, grazes every save, really... same thing) then gets one-shot. So if your wizards are casting damage spells and not crowd control, things are probably gonna go down-hill quickly.

Some creatures feel like damage sponges on PotD, that's true. Not a whole lot, but a sizeable minority. Don't treat your wizard like a damage dealer at the start, pick up CCs and other utilities. Exactly like the BGs, actually. That goes for ciphers as well. I'm pretty sure paralysis targets fortitude, so a max resolve paladin won't do anything. Keep your resolve at 10 for tanks, it's a dump stat even for them (constitution, too). There's a barbarian tank build that dumps DEX and CON to 3 and pumps up everything else, but it's very specific.

Dump CON and RES on the barb, max MIG, INT and PER, keep your DEX at a relatively high level. If you find him too squishy and micro-intensive at the beginning, raise CON a bit. The stats in PoE are entirely mechanics-based, don't treat them as character-defining in an RP sense and you won't tear your hair off.

 

[Nerevar]

Is there going to be save transfer from PoE1 to PoE2?

I'm going have to have to make an optimal save then (and find out afterwards that it really doesn't matter like importing games in Mass Effect series).

 

[Roguey]

Is there going to be save transfer from PoE1 to PoE2?

I'm going have to have to make an optimal save then (and find out afterwards that it really doesn't matter like importing games in Mass Effect series).

You'll be able to make any decision you like at the start, no importing necessary.

 

[Beastro]

Is there going to be save transfer from PoE1 to PoE2?

I'm going have to have to make an optimal save then (and find out afterwards that it really doesn't matter like importing games in Mass Effect series).

I'm getting sick of that actually. It can never be done in a meaningful way, I'd rather it stop being put into games than continuing to try to bullshit people into thinking the choices matter if they don't potentially lead to different play throughs (which would then create tons of problems).

 

[Monkeyfinger]

I think until about level 7 the best use of a wizard's level 2 slots is to wait for the enemy to "congeal", then throw a rolling flame at them.

It friendly fires but it's still really really good.

You can add the priest's healing ball, also a level 2 spell, to cancel out the friendly fire damage.

Eventually your other damage classes start to mature and curse of blackened sight starts to be worth casting.

 

[Lacrymas]

Well, yeah, I don't expect the consequences to be anything other than token, this isn't AoD. I expect them to show up in some capacity, like an extra boss fight (I hope), though.

 

[Colour Spray]

Fortitude, really? It makes sense, I guess, like in the case of Xaurips who would use a poison to paralyze.

Let me check my fortitude save. .. Hmm, it's only 5 points lower than the barbarian who has 22 might. I think I might have been trying to do Lle a Rhemen too early, honestly. I mean, the scroll did say go left twice to be tested. Makes sense i was having trouble even with the crystal spiders with my level 4 + one level 5 wizard party, when they are level 8. Two cean gwla and bunch of other spectres is probably beyond my party for the moment.

Sorry i was talking about Xaurips in the other post but that's because i abandoned the spectres in favour of level 2 of Od Nua only to go from one type of paralysis to another. Hmm, maybe litany against infirmity works in that case, if the stun is treated as a poison.

I'm running with 2 wizards and 2 priests so the early levels have been a little more difficult than last time I played, but there's no way this isn't gonna be broken late-game. Although, I regret levelling my paladin and barbarian this many times and not having picked up Hold the Line on either yet. What was i thinking? /facepalm

I thought resolve would be decent to try and max deflection, albeit i was kinda skeptical too. Like, how much deflection do you even need? Does it make a difference? And why would i want so much concentration on a character without spell-casting anyway? What swayed me in the end was I thought keeping control of your character would be a will-based action. It's probably just potd difficulty that ends up making grazes functionally the same as full hits. Otherwise you might be able to out-last having zero defenses in a reduced stun window. In this case, I've had litany of infirmity run out before i killed enough spiders and then my tank got stunned and crit for 72 damage by a crystal spider, which is only a few points shy of her max-endurance. That really should have been the warning sign i was under-leveled

 

[Quillon]

and find out afterwards that it really doesn't matter like importing games in Mass Effect series

Tell me a game series that made save import better than Mass Effect. It's obviously not perfect, but they made a good job with every game practically taking place in the same world space with recurring locations. I played Citadel dlc with all possible ex&current companions dead, it made a huge difference, same goes for main game(ME3). There are many connected story arcs from ME1&2 that paid off in ME3. What percentage of players saw Wrex confrontation in Citadel & hilariously evully murdered him? Bio fucked up the ending and its arguable the games' being good rpgs but save import mattered nonetheless.

Obs' job with it is rather easier with Deadfire taking place in Deadfire Arc. f.i. If your ending causes Dyrwood to be in war with Vailian Republics they don't have to do anything other than acknowledging it in couple of conversations.

 

[Lacrymas]

Fortitude, really? It makes sense, I guess, like in the case of Xaurips who would use a poison to paralyze.

Let me check my fortitude save. .. Hmm, it's only 5 points lower than the barbarian who has 22 might. I think I might have been trying to do Lle a Rhemen too early, honestly. I mean, the scroll did say go left twice to be tested. Makes sense i was having trouble even with the crystal spiders with my level 4 + one level 5 wizard party, when they are level 8. Two cean gwla and bunch of other spectres is probably beyond my party for the moment.

Sorry i was talking about Xaurips in the other post but that's because i abandoned the spectres in favour of level 2 of Od Nua only to go from one type of paralysis to another. Hmm, maybe litany against infirmity works in that case, if the stun is treated as a poison.

Only Suppress Affliction works against that paralysis at that low level, afaik. I don't think it's counted as a poison, that's a separate DoT. Prayer against Imprisonment is the one that stops both of those things and makes caen gwlas a joke, but it's a 6th circle priest spell.

I'm running with 2 wizards and 2 priests so the early levels have been a little more difficult than last time I played, but there's no way this isn't gonna be broken late-game. Although, I regret levelling my paladin and barbarian this many times and not having picked up Hold the Line on either yet. What was i thinking? /facepalm

You don't need more engagement slots at all, the only difference is how many mobs can surround you and not flank you. Only fighters can truly benefit from that because they can get up to 5 engagement slots. Don't expect mobs to be glued to your tank, they can and will break engagement to target your squishies anyway.

Like, how much deflection do you even need? Does it make a difference? And why would i want so much concentration on a character without spell-casting

You need a lot of deflection :p The higher the better.

 

[Delterius]

I'm still a little bemused why Sawyer says that mages have tactical nukes at the their finger-tips. I tried killing a single Xaurip with minoletta's minor missles with my 18 might mage and after 3 casts the thing was still alive and kicking. He also said that the game isn't balanced for Path of the Damned, however, so I guess you can't really complain too much.

Set yourself for criting your enemies. Combine your Wizard's CCs with Arcane Missiles. I really like Chill Fog at the start.

 

[Nerevar]

and find out afterwards that it really doesn't matter like importing games in Mass Effect series

Tell me a game series that made save import better than Mass Effect.

Wizardry 7 to Wizardry 8 had a better import. Mind you I never played ME:3 only 1 and 2.. hearing about the problems going into ME:3 left me with a bad impression of the game I didn't want to degrade my memory of the ME series by seeing all the horrible things Nu-Bioware did.

 

[Colour Spray]

Set yourself for criting your enemies. Combine your Wizard's CCs with Arcane Missiles. I really like Chill Fog at the start.

Yeah, I've been really impressed with chill-fog. I under-estimated it at first but it's been my favourite level 1 spell once i turned on to it. The only downside is, if you don't have a good choke-point setup the ai tries really hard to move out of it, generally putting themselves behind the front-line in the process. I think I need to stop fannying about with this parasitic staff and cast more fetid caress and slicken on my second wizard. At least until, like was earlier mentioned, they get access to higher circles of magic. It does so much damage, though, even without crowd control active the character regularly hits over 50 with merciless gaze cast. Just... a little too much prep time when you can least afford it at the start of a fight.

So with Hold-the-line they need 1 extra attacker to flank? So it protects your deflection score until they get a 3-man surround? Still sounds good to me.

I hadn't been using Slicken because i heard when PoE released it trivialized a lot of encounters, so they ended up nerfing it; so i assumed it wasn't that good anymore. I don't know where i heard that though, so it might just be hearsay.

Also, I liked Mass Effect 2's approach to continuity; it's a suicide mission, so everybody dies at the end. There must have been some crossed signals at Bioware though, because somebody forgot that everybody was supposed to die and so they only ended up making things more complicated for themselves in the end. Having your character bugger off to the other side of the world is an equally creative approach; hopefully they don't fuck it up by having you come back half way through.

 

[Lacrymas]

So with Hold-the-line they need 1 extra attacker to flank? So it protects your deflection score until they get a 3-man surround? Still sounds good to me.

It's 2 without a Defender weapon. It's a waste of a talent, especially for paladins. What Flanked does (apart from the almost negligible -10 Deflection) is open you for sneak attacks, which is a very situational nuisance as far as I've seen up to now. In the fights where it matters (Alpine dragon) you have much more than 2-3 mobs to worry about, so it's still a waste. I recommend having an off-tank, however, 1 isn't nearly enough to block choke points and control the battlefield.

 

[Colour Spray]

Yeah, that's been my major ball-ache so far; without a chanter or a ranger you really have a tough time protecting important spell-casters. Mostly I've been abusing withdraw to keep my priests from being knocked out every fight. Good shit warning me on Hold-the-Line though, I really was gonna waste two feats on that.

The first time I played with Sagani and Kana, and, as fast as Imaatu can die it still buys you valuable seconds and gives you additional damage soak. A lot of RTS principles seem to apply to PoE. Like using your peons as extra meat-shields. I wasn't keen on chanter, however, so I wanted to go something diffierent this time. I didn't like having to wait so long before i could cast a spell, or that i was just casting basically the same spell every fight. I figured Cipher would equally frustrate me, albeit as a melee-hybrid it could work... I'll give it that.

I'm kinda committed to this party now though, so let's see how hard that animat fight half-way through od nua makes me want to rage-quit. Ehe.

On the plus-side wizards can get fairly tanky once you buff them enough. I've been treating my watcher as a third fighter so far; and she always seems to last equally as long as the barbarian.

 

[Roguey]

I'm still a little bemused why Sawyer says that mages have tactical nukes at the their finger-tips. I tried killing a single Xaurip with minoletta's minor missles with my 18 might mage and after 3 casts the thing was still alive and kicking.

Druids are the Massive Damage spellcaster class. Wizards' strengths are crowd control, self-buffs, and debuffs. That's also a first level spell and damage doesn't scale. The advantage of that particular spell is that it's a fast ranged attacked that can be used against creatures with low/no crush or corrode defenses.

 

[Colour Spray]

Yeah, I should really explore the druid class at some point because they always cause chaos when i fight them, that's for sure.

I'm just using a common-sense approach to what sort of defenses each individual enemy would have until the bestiary fills out a little more. Seems like Xaurips are vulnerable to freeze from what has filled out already, so it makes sense that a corrode-based attack would be less effective. I generally find the spell not worth casting, except to snipe low-hp enemies that have moved out of fighter range, but it could be that I'm just not noticing corrode or crush weaknesses i could be exploiting. That's leather-based enemies and skeleton types, I guess? I'll probably just unlearn it. It's not just that, unlike magic missles, the spell doesn't scale either in projectiles or damage; but it also doesn't cause any hit-stun, so it's probably just a liability more than it's helpful. I'm gonna go with fleet-feet instead so moving into range to cast more powerful aoe abilities doesn't take so agonizingly long.

You can't really complain if a level 1 spell becomes obsolete, though, I agree. There's plenty in Baldur's Gate that are powerhouses in the first game but do nothing in the second. Although i kinda like it when a spell is flexible enough to remain relevant, even if it only ends up filling some narrow niche.

 

[Lacrymas]

Chromatic Orb, Magic Missile and Friends stay relevant throughout the BGs. Some PoE spells do, too. From the priest spells, Withdraw, Armor of Faith, Blessing etc.

 

[Grunker]

SLICKEN <3

 

[Colour Spray]

Slicken + fetid caress decimated the Xaurips that gave me trouble before i went to bed last night. I don't know why it only just occured to me that with 2 priests the downside of paralyzing my own fighters with fetid caress is a bit of a non-issue.

 

[Galdred]

What do you think would be the best mix of companions to support a ranged cipher? I use them over adventurers because the level penalty is crippling early on.

 

[Lacrymas]

Eder and/or Pallegina to tank. Anyone else is fine after that.

I use them over adventurers because the level penalty is crippling early on.

It isn't :p