Brandon Adler talks Beast of Winter at MMORPG.com and GameSpace
Brandon Adler talks Beast of Winter at MMORPG.com and GameSpace
Interview - posted by Infinitron on Wed 25 July 2018, 23:56:55
Tags: Brandon Adler; Obsidian Entertainment; Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire; Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - Beast of WinterLast week's Pillars of Eternity II Fig update had some pretty screenshots of the upcoming Beast of Winter expansion DLC, but not much in the way of hard detail. In a new interview, oddly split between MMORPG.com and GameSpace, game director Brandon Adler provides some clarity about the DLC and the accompanying Patch 2.0. Here's an excerpt:
MMORPG: What is the story in Beast of Winter about?
Brandon Adler: The high-level, mostly spoiler-free version is the player is contacted by a Rymrgand-worshipping doomsday cult stationed on a quickly growing iceberg in the southern Deadfire. Quickly growing is underselling it a bit as the iceberg has started to expand rapidly recently and is threatening to swallow the world in frost in short (relatively speaking) order.
The cult is convinced that the player is the Duskspeaker, a herald of the end times, and has invited them to Harbingers' Watch to celebrate the end of the world. The player will learn about the cult, their leader Vatnir, why the iceberg is spreading, and how to deal with the problem. Dealing with the iceberg sends the party into Rymrgand’s realm in the Beyond, where players will see some fantastic areas and learn about the inner workings of The Beyond and the White Void.
MMORPG: What kind of content can players expect (i.e. how many new quests)? Will there be any new followers and / or crew to find?
Brandon Adler: Beast of Winter adds all of the things you would expect from an Obsidian game – new areas and dungeons to explore, dozens of new items and creatures, and fun, engaging quests. We have also added Vatnir, an Endings godlike the player can convince to follow them into the depths of the White Void.
Due to the nature of the DLC, some of the game’s previous companions will also have quite a bit to say. For example, Ydwin, as a pale elf animancer, has a lot to talk about as it relates to the people of the cult, Rymrgand, and the nature of souls.
MMORPG: Are there any completely new features being added in this DLC or in the other two coming later this year?
Brandon Adler: There is a new item type being added to Beast of Winter – the Trinket. Trinkets are items that allows characters to cast powerful, once per rest abilities that can turn the tide of a battle.
We also have many other new features planned for future DLCs and patches, but we will talk about those later.
MMORPG: What if a player has “finished” the game prior to the DLC? How do they access it?
Brandon Adler: The DLC is accessed by heading directly to the iceberg in the southern portion of the Deadfire. While players can access the DLC content at any time after they have their ship, it is specially crafted for parties of levels 14 – 15. For players not in that level range, level scaling will work with the DLC content.
If a player has finished the story from the base game, they can access the “point of no return” save and start their Beast of Winter adventure.
MMORPG: Do the events in the DLC have any impact on the end of the game?
Brandon Adler: The adventure for Beast of Winter is a mostly self-contained experience that is resolved separately from the main story in Deadfire. That said, there is some reactivity in Deadfire based on things that happen in the DLC, and the game boasts additional end slides for the Beast of Winter content.
GameSpace: What about the free update for all players. What can everyone expect to find with the update that launches alongside Beast of Winter?
Brandon Adler: Along with Beast of Winter, we are also releasing The Deck of Many Things DLC for all players. It’s a free DLC which introduces a new ship to the world map, The Deck of Many Things. This ship, ancient Engwithan in origin, has some of the most unique items and crew in all of the Deadfire. And for those that want to try to take the ship on in naval combat, it’s the hardest ship fight in the game.
We are also adding Magran’s Fires, which are special challenges that allow players to go through the game with additional limitations. For example, a player doing Berath’s Challenge is unable to flee from combats and their party members are permanently killed if not revived within six seconds of being knocked out. One of the stranger challenges is Galawain’s Challenge, which gives all Beast type creatures additional random abilities in combat.
These challenges are all played on Path of the Damned and have a special version of level scaling enabled which only allows for upward scaling.
If you'd like to know even more, Brandon will be answering questions about the new patch on Obsidian's Twitch channel tomorrow.Brandon Adler: The high-level, mostly spoiler-free version is the player is contacted by a Rymrgand-worshipping doomsday cult stationed on a quickly growing iceberg in the southern Deadfire. Quickly growing is underselling it a bit as the iceberg has started to expand rapidly recently and is threatening to swallow the world in frost in short (relatively speaking) order.
The cult is convinced that the player is the Duskspeaker, a herald of the end times, and has invited them to Harbingers' Watch to celebrate the end of the world. The player will learn about the cult, their leader Vatnir, why the iceberg is spreading, and how to deal with the problem. Dealing with the iceberg sends the party into Rymrgand’s realm in the Beyond, where players will see some fantastic areas and learn about the inner workings of The Beyond and the White Void.
MMORPG: What kind of content can players expect (i.e. how many new quests)? Will there be any new followers and / or crew to find?
Brandon Adler: Beast of Winter adds all of the things you would expect from an Obsidian game – new areas and dungeons to explore, dozens of new items and creatures, and fun, engaging quests. We have also added Vatnir, an Endings godlike the player can convince to follow them into the depths of the White Void.
Due to the nature of the DLC, some of the game’s previous companions will also have quite a bit to say. For example, Ydwin, as a pale elf animancer, has a lot to talk about as it relates to the people of the cult, Rymrgand, and the nature of souls.
MMORPG: Are there any completely new features being added in this DLC or in the other two coming later this year?
Brandon Adler: There is a new item type being added to Beast of Winter – the Trinket. Trinkets are items that allows characters to cast powerful, once per rest abilities that can turn the tide of a battle.
We also have many other new features planned for future DLCs and patches, but we will talk about those later.
MMORPG: What if a player has “finished” the game prior to the DLC? How do they access it?
Brandon Adler: The DLC is accessed by heading directly to the iceberg in the southern portion of the Deadfire. While players can access the DLC content at any time after they have their ship, it is specially crafted for parties of levels 14 – 15. For players not in that level range, level scaling will work with the DLC content.
If a player has finished the story from the base game, they can access the “point of no return” save and start their Beast of Winter adventure.
MMORPG: Do the events in the DLC have any impact on the end of the game?
Brandon Adler: The adventure for Beast of Winter is a mostly self-contained experience that is resolved separately from the main story in Deadfire. That said, there is some reactivity in Deadfire based on things that happen in the DLC, and the game boasts additional end slides for the Beast of Winter content.
GameSpace: What about the free update for all players. What can everyone expect to find with the update that launches alongside Beast of Winter?
Brandon Adler: Along with Beast of Winter, we are also releasing The Deck of Many Things DLC for all players. It’s a free DLC which introduces a new ship to the world map, The Deck of Many Things. This ship, ancient Engwithan in origin, has some of the most unique items and crew in all of the Deadfire. And for those that want to try to take the ship on in naval combat, it’s the hardest ship fight in the game.
We are also adding Magran’s Fires, which are special challenges that allow players to go through the game with additional limitations. For example, a player doing Berath’s Challenge is unable to flee from combats and their party members are permanently killed if not revived within six seconds of being knocked out. One of the stranger challenges is Galawain’s Challenge, which gives all Beast type creatures additional random abilities in combat.
These challenges are all played on Path of the Damned and have a special version of level scaling enabled which only allows for upward scaling.
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