PoE Reviews

[ZagorTeNej]

The game is brutally *hard* if your underleveled. It's simplistically easy if your overleveled.

To me that sounds like a game that has a problem with either encounter design, system or both (though I never really experienced brutally hard part but that might be due to my chosen path through the game, in a semi non-linear game with no level scaling personal experience is bound to vary).

If the end boss is hard because he has 150 armor for example and not because he's a high level character that makes smart use of the very same abilities/spells that are potentially available to you then it's not really that interesting of a challenge (to me atleast), same goes for

Spoiler

Dragon of Cheese and his ultra damaging breath/stomp

End fight in BG1 for example was interesting and fun to me because you faced off against enemies that used some of the more powerful tools available to the player (haste, cloudkill, fireball, arrows of detonation, dimension door, invisibility) without having bloated HP and stats (well there's Sarevok magic resistance but that's about it). It also still retains a good challenge even if you reached the level cap and are wearing the best gear while in PoE I roflstomped the end boss because I was level 12 (can't help if I'm a thorough player that likes to explore the gameworld) and his one trick (bloated stats) lost it's edge.

 

[Sensuki]

BG1 can be hard if you're underleveled too. If you go to the wrong areas at the start of BG you'll have a tough time. Have fun going to Peldvale at night at the start of the game and dying to a swarm of Black Talon Elite cold arrows.

Funnily enough the mere presence of roads in BG1 sort of direct you to the right places. I've not once gone south from Candlekeep into the Sirine area because the road points east.

I never found any of the content in BG2 very hard for the level I was at other than a very few encounters (Twisted Rune, Kangaxx, the Mind Flayer/Beholder area in the sewers etc)

 

[ZagorTeNej]

BG1 can be hard if you're underleveled too. If you go to the wrong areas at the start of BG you'll have a tough time. Have fun going to Peldvale at night at the start of the game and dying to a swarm of Black Talon Elite cold arrows.

Sure, there are also a number of special wilderness encounters that are quite dangerous early on (Sendai and her archer buddies for example, Zal the fastest dart thrower in the west lol etc.) but gaining levels doesn't just erase difficulty from hand-placed/set piece encounters (especially party vs party fights) and brings them down to the level of trash fights which is what happens with PoE in my experience.

 

[Sensuki]

Well AC doesn't scale with level in the IE games.

I would argue that characters in the IE games are more gear dependent ?

Once you get a magic weapon, Ankheg Plate/Full Plate and a few magic items, you're pretty much right for the rest of the game in BG1 anyway.

Levels give you much more power in PE - increased Deflection, talents, abilities etc

 

[Athelas]

Well AC doesn't scale with level in the IE games.

I would argue that characters in the IE games are more gear dependent ?

Once you get a magic weapon, Ankheg Plate/Full Plate and a few magic items, you're pretty much right for the rest of the game in BG1 anyway.

Levels give you much more power in PE - increased Deflection, talents, abilities etc

You get more attacks per round when you level up and better Thac0 and saving throws and spells scale with level as well. Though admittedly wizard spells qualify as 'gear' in the IE games.

 

[potatojohn]

Making medium armors worthwhile seems like a struggle that's never been satisfactorily resolved. Whether D&D, Arcanum, DA:O, New Vegas, etc. I always either go light or the heaviest I can find. Sawyer's one in a long line of designers who couldn't answer the question. Oblivion/Skyrim did the obvious and just streamlined it to light and heavy.

It was solved in Cataclysm: DDA. Heavy armors give big movement and combat penalties or require power to function, while light armors can result in quick death from a turret or packs of dogs.

 

[Whisper]

Medium armor is completely adequate for frontliners. Seems like a lot of people around here cannot into striking a *~balance*~ in a system that has tradeoffs.

1. If this "frontliners" are tanks - going for Per, Res and Con -, why would they prefer medium armor over heavy armor? Its not like loss of some dps matters for them, since their dps is already ignorable. If this "frontliners" are DPS - going for Dex and Might - you are greatly lowering their dps, while not giving much survivability for them (Rational).
2. I would like to see how your frontliners like melee-rogues tank in medium armor, how fast they will bleed out (Cruel).
3. You are a fool who has no clue how game system works (Aggressive) (Reputation with AN5RCHID: Slightly Negative).
4. (Lie) I agree with you. Your words make sence and show understanding (Deceptive) (Reputation with AN5RCHID: Slightly Positive).
5. (Perception) Obviously, you did not try to play game on harder difficulty than normal.
6. Keep silent (Stoic).

 

[ArchAngel]

BG1 can be hard if you're underleveled too. If you go to the wrong areas at the start of BG you'll have a tough time. Have fun going to Peldvale at night at the start of the game and dying to a swarm of Black Talon Elite cold arrows.

Funnily enough the mere presence of roads in BG1 sort of direct you to the right places. I've not once gone south from Candlekeep into the Sirine area because the road points east.

Roads also don't have tough encounters on specific maps. I also noticed same design in PoE. If you keep to the road you will miss on tougher enemies in PoE on maps.

 

[Stokowski]

Anyone giving the game a lower score than 7/10 is a moron to be disregarded.

Anyone giving the game a higher score than 9/10 is a fanboy to be disregarded.

 

[AN4RCHID]

Medium armor is completely adequate for frontliners. Seems like a lot of people around here cannot into striking a *~balance*~ in a system that has tradeoffs.

1. If this "frontliners" are tanks - going for Per, Res and Con -, why would they prefer medium armor over heavy armor? Its not like loss of some dps matters for them, since their dps is already ignorable. If this "frontliners" are DPS - going for Dex and Might - you are greatly lowering their dps, while not giving much survivability for them (Rational).
2. I would like to see how your frontliners like melee-rogues tank in medium armor, how fast they will bleed out (Cruel).
3. You are a fool who has no clue how game system works (Aggressive) (Reputation with AN5RCHID: Slightly Negative).
4. (Lie) I agree with you. Your words make sence and show understanding (Deceptive) (Reputation with AN5RCHID: Slightly Positive).
5. (Perception) Obviously, you did not try to play game on harder difficulty than normal.
6. Keep silent (Stoic).

You just don't need heavier armor. It's a waste. Especially at higher levels, fighter's deflection is so high that you're barely getting any benefit out of that DR. Meanwhile you've made your frontline completely harmless. Take Armored Grace, Confident Aim, and some of the weapon specializations, and mid armor fighters have a good damage output while not getting hit frequently enough to outpace their Constant Recovery. They'll take marginally more health damage, but not enough to be a problem.

And don't pump Per for a tank ffs. Mig is a way better use of attribute points.

 

[Whisper]

4. (Lie) I agree with you. Your words make sence and show understanding (Deceptive) (Reputation with AN5RCHID: Slightly Positive).

 

[Hatred]

And don't pump Per for a tank ffs. Mig is a way better use of attribute points.

Each point of deflection is significantly more valuable than the proceeding point. So if you are going to bother going for deflection you may as well max it.
You probably could get through on hard without a tank though. Some people go through PotD without one but I doubt that is something everyone could make work.

 

[AN4RCHID]

And don't pump Per for a tank ffs. Mig is a way better use of attribute points.

Each point of deflection is significantly more valuable than the proceeding point. So if you are going to bother going for deflection you may as well max it.

Not really. You'll get more then enough deflection through perks and gear and a high Res. Per is not worth the attribute points just for that +1.

 

[Athelas]

It is if you're truly min-maxing. A single point of deflection can shift you into 'will always miss/graze' territory of an entire type of enemy.

 

[AN4RCHID]

Well that is the failure of the min/max mindset: thinking that because deflection and DR are important that they have to increase those number as high as possible at the expense of everything else. There is a point where they're high enough to achieve the purposes of a tank, and spending more points and item slots on them becomes suboptimal.

 

[Hatred]

Not really. You'll get more then enough deflection through perks and gear and a high Res. Per is not worth the attribute points just for that +1.

Yes really mate. Its just how the resolution system works. Each point is better than the point before. If the enemy have an 50% chance to hit you 1 deflection lowers their chance to hit you by 2% (1 is 2% of 50). If the enemy have a 20% chance to hit you 1 deflection lowers their chance to hit you by 5% (1 is 5% of 20). Its just how maths works.
You might argue that there is some magical number where you have 'enough deflection' but I would like to know which difficulty you are arguing this for. Considering your tank will be flanked a lot of the time and can also have other debuffs lower his deflection from time to time I feel like its a lot more sensible to stack max deflection.
On PotD you definitely are gimping yourself by not maxing out deflection. Normal and Hard are so mind numbingly easy I would argue that you could get a 6yo to do the fights for you so min maxing isnt required sure. So which difficulty are you talking about?

Edit: I went through the 'what difficulty are you playing on thread'. You replied with normal. So no, on normal you don't have to min max , or even be at your keyboard for the combat. When people are talking about the advantages of min maxing they are not referring to normal.

 

[RK47]

Yeah, if Armor had Might requirement, Tanks might actually need them, but in a min-max mentality, I cannot see why I'd take Might at all.
I took 14-15 points of Might on my tank for 'roleplaying reasons'. I knew he won't do much. I gave him a hatchet and shield ffs.

If you wanna make sure the sex is safe, why settle for 3rd rate condoms. Jeez.

 

[Ellef]

If you make a dedicated tank with the associated feats and equipment, might is just going to be rubbish because you don't have the feats for all the +accuracy and damage multiplier stuff and you're probably using a shield with negative deflection. Obviously we're talking hard and potd.

 

[Shevek]

Making medium armors worthwhile seems like a struggle that's never been satisfactorily resolved. Whether D&D, Arcanum, DA:O, New Vegas, etc. I always either go light or the heaviest I can find. Sawyer's one in a long line of designers who couldn't answer the question. Oblivion/Skyrim did the obvious and just streamlined it to light and heavy.

I disagree. Medium armors are well implemented in this game. I just went medium armor with my monk and my paladin. The paladin got a BP since it has a some added deflection from faith and conviction and it attacks with a reach weapon (so not hit as often) and the monk got scale since he got +8 deflection from that modal and he needs to build up wounds for turning wheel. I left the fighter (using an estoc) with plate since he was tied for the lowest deflection on my frontline and since he had armored grace. Overall, I am really liking the armor balance so far and I as I get more familiar with the system, I am finding that there are significant reasons to go with medium armors. Its a very well done system.

 

[Darth Roxor]

might is very important so you can add 20% bonus damage to your 15 damage basic attacks

 

[ZagorTeNej]

I disagree. Medium armors are well implemented in this game. I just went medium armor with my monk and my paladin. The paladin got a BP since it has a some added deflection from faith and conviction and it attacks with a reach weapon (so not hit as often) and the monk got scale since he got +8 deflection from that modal and he needs to build up wounds for turning wheel. I left the fighter (using an estoc) with plate since he was tied for the lowest deflection on my frontline and since he had armored grace. Overall, I am really liking the armor balance so far and I as I get more familiar with the system, I am finding that there are significant reasons to go with medium armors. Its a very well done system.

Medium armors are garbage.

 

[Whisper]

Medium armors are garbage.

Nod. (Stoic)

 

[Haba]

Yeah, you're clearly more of a heavy armour kinda guy [Clever]

 

[ArchAngel]

I use a medium armor on my monk because I want the monk to still do some damage while I also use him as a secondary tank that goes to engage those that run by Eder. I used Eder's starting medium armor for a long time because of Second life enchant that you cannot make yourself and that one is very sweet. Later when Eder become untouchable, I gave that to Kana and Eder has the best Heavy Armor I could get.

 

[Hatred]

I used Eder's starting medium armor for a long time because of Second life

I'm picturing Eder in an internet cafe playing second life now. >.<