Eternity Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire + DLC Thread - now with turn-based combat!

[Lacrymas]

Incidentally, the best chunk of the game is WM1 due to the great balance of party power/options vs encounter design. Well, there are a few other reasons why WM1 is pretty good.

 

[Sharpedge]

Fast XP really isn't a big deal with level scaling on.

The level scaling doesn't properly solve the problem actually, the tools you get at higher levels are far better at trivializing content for you than the extra stats added to NPCs are at preventing trivialization. I am replaying the game at the moment on PotD with upscaling everywhere as well as some of the challenges and once you gain access to some of the higher level powers it reduces the difficulty of the game significantly. I really do think there is just too much XP handed out. If they wanted to give most of the XP progression through the main quest, then they should have removed almost all the XP from all the other quests and then stuck interesting items (or maybe permanent stat boosts) behind the side quests. The XP bloat in the game just doesn't work.

 

[Haplo]

Spending time at max level is fine.

I've seen some estimates that you still have 30% of content after hitting level 20, which isn't that bad considering that all the DLCs are for max-levelish chars.

Well, Beast of Winter is something like level 15-16. But I agree, playing at max level and still collecting some end game equipment worked fine for me. Particularly the DLCs.

 

[Luckmann]

The high levels themselves are the problem because they trivialize the difficulty by giving you too many options. Both PoE1 and 2 would've been better with a level cap of ~10 and slower leveling.

PoE's base level cap of 12 is fine. Additonally after the xp patch, you're pretty much required to do every sidequest (except bounties and the Od Nua) to hit the cap which you also need to do to have a decent chance against Thaos. The mid-game expansion ruined the balance, but that's inevitable.

I disagree that it's inevitable. It's entirely possible to add non-overpowered content to existing content and adjust experience curves. There's really no need for new options to be wildly more powerful or for new content to have you level completely out of whack with the rest of a game.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

In both games you can just skip the bounties to bring the xp down to more manageable level. XP rewards are massive. In Deadfire you can still kill the bosses for loot too, since they spawn on the world map regardless if you have the quest or not.

 

[Luckmann]

Apparently, the game has a +35% modifier to the experience it awards. If I set the experience multiplier to 1, completing a certain quest awards 18000. If I use 1.15 (of the mod) it becomes 20694. If I turn the mod off completely, it awards 24300.

It just begs the question why the fuck they don't just award 24300 to begin with as the baseline.

Still, very happy with this option. Using this and a mod (that I in turn tweaked and merged with another mod) to increase the level cap to 33 (which will realistically never be reached even without the experience nerf, you apparently only end up in the vicinity of lvl 27; I tweaked power levels and progression downward further) I think I'm approaching a compromise I can live with.

In both games you can just skip the bounties to bring the xp down to more manageable level. XP rewards are massive.

I mean, yeah, you could. You could also just not play the game.

 

[FreeKaner]

 

[Suicidal]

I started this game for the first time and so far it seems really fun and better than Pillars 1 in every conceivable way except story/writing. I'm digging the fantasy Pirates of the Caribbean feel, the character building due to all the subclassing/multiclassing and the fact that every level you get to choose from several abilities most of which seem useful and the open world exploration.

What surprised me the most is how good the combat is. Seriously, this is the first time I play an Obsidian game where I'm enjoying the fighting and dungeon crawling more than the story and talking bits. I don't know whether it is the turn based mode or that they tidied up and improved the system overall but this is a huge improvement over the combat in Pillars 1, which felt like discounted Baldur's Gate combat.

Fights are tactical (so far at least) and require you to use your abilities in effective ways to win. Every ability seems unique and situational, like Xoti's Reap, which deals more damage the less HP the target has, so ideally you want to use it on high priority targets after you smacked them around a bit or my cipher's acid beam, which requires very specific positioning to be effective. I also like how in turn based mode some abilities are not cast instantly, and you can use that against the enemies - in one fight an enemy mage started casting fire ray on my summoned unit and my summon got a turn before the mage finished casting so I made the mage hit a lot of his own units.

I don't know if this will hold up throughout the game but I'm enjoying the early game combat more than I did in Pathfinder, where most early game fights involved casting grease and/or web on a group of enemies and then waiting while my party kills them with bows.

The story stuff is not really grabbing me. It's not bad, but nothing special or memorable so far. But it's OK because the more RPGs I play the less I seem to care about the story and writing. Pathfinder also didn't grab me with its story and writing but that didn't stop me from enjoying the game.

 

[thesheeep]

I don't know if this will hold up throughout the game

It won't.

The problem is all the trash fights, of which you will see more and more.
Even on the hardest difficulty, there are many fights that are just not challenging at all. In RTwP, this isn't that much of a problem as at least they're done with quick enough.
But in TB mode, even trash encounters take a long time (and that is with highest animation speed).

You can have both TB and RTwP in the same game, enough games have proven that by now.
But encounter design will always be specific to one of them, making the other one suffer.

 

[Monkeyfinger]

DLC 50% off. What exactly do they add?

 

[NJClaw]

DLC 50% off. What exactly do they add?

- Seeker, Slayer, Survivor: a lot of combat encounters, with a negligible subplot centered around the cult of Galawain; the most combat-focused of the three.
- Beast of Winter: an interesting story that explores more in depth some of the themes already covered in PoE 1 and 2; the most plot-focused of the three, but there are some tough fights.
- The Forgotten Sanctum: a giant dungeon, you can think of this as the Durlag's Tower/Watcher's Keep of Deadfire; there is a bit of everything: tough fights, interesting lore implications, and interactions with important NPCs.

If you even remotely enjoyed Deadfire, you should absolutely get Beast of Winter and The Forgotten Sanctum, they probably include the best content that the game has to offer. If you are invested in the setting, they do a lot to characterize certain Gods. You should get Seeker, Slayer, Survivor only if you really enjoyed combat in Deadfire and find yourself wanting more of it (then, again, if 5 € is nothing to you, just go for it).

 

[Yosharian]

DLC 50% off. What exactly do they add?

- Seeker, Slayer, Survivor: a lot of combat encounters, with a negligible subplot centered around the cult of Galawain; the more combat-focused of the three.
- Beast of Winter: an interesting story that explores more in depth some of the themes already covered in PoE 1 and 2; the more plot-focused of the three, but there are some tough fights.
- The Forgotten Sanctum: a giant dungeon, you can think of this as the Durlag's Tower/Watcher's Keep of Deadfire; there is a bit of everything: tough fights, interesting lore implications, and interactions with important NPCs.

If you even remotely enjoyed Deadfire, you should absolutely get Beast of Winter and The Forgotten Sanctum, they probably include the best content that the game has to offer. If you are invested in the setting, they do a lot to characterize certain Gods. You should get Seeker, Slayer, Survivor only if you really enjoyed combat in Deadfire and find yourself wanting more of it (then, again, if 5 € is nothing to you, just go for it).

what level ranges do these DLCs cover?

 

[Prime Junta]

what level ranges do these DLCs cover?

About 15-20 or thereabouts.

 

[Haplo]

DLC 50% off. What exactly do they add?

- Seeker, Slayer, Survivor: a lot of combat encounters, with a negligible subplot centered around the cult of Galawain; the more combat-focused of the three.
- Beast of Winter: an interesting story that explores more in depth some of the themes already covered in PoE 1 and 2; the more plot-focused of the three, but there are some tough fights.
- The Forgotten Sanctum: a giant dungeon, you can think of this as the Durlag's Tower/Watcher's Keep of Deadfire; there is a bit of everything: tough fights, interesting lore implications, and interactions with important NPCs.

If you even remotely enjoyed Deadfire, you should absolutely get Beast of Winter and The Forgotten Sanctum, they probably include the best content that the game has to offer. If you are invested in the setting, they do a lot to characterize certain Gods. You should get Seeker, Slayer, Survivor only if you really enjoyed combat in Deadfire and find yourself wanting more of it (then, again, if 5 € is nothing to you, just go for it).

Apart from good challenge, one reason to get SSS is some equipment it offers. Mainly a crazy good rapier for ciphers which deals huge DOTs - even Focus scaled mini-Disintegrates on crit (Seeker's Fang), an interesting axe for some melees that upgrades the Might inspiration - allows reaching Tier 3 - and Interrupt on crit (Slayer's Claw) and a coil belt for some casters who like to use Empower certain spells/abilities (as now they can gain high level inspirations in the process).

 

[Yosharian]

DLC 50% off. What exactly do they add?

- Seeker, Slayer, Survivor: a lot of combat encounters, with a negligible subplot centered around the cult of Galawain; the more combat-focused of the three.
- Beast of Winter: an interesting story that explores more in depth some of the themes already covered in PoE 1 and 2; the more plot-focused of the three, but there are some tough fights.
- The Forgotten Sanctum: a giant dungeon, you can think of this as the Durlag's Tower/Watcher's Keep of Deadfire; there is a bit of everything: tough fights, interesting lore implications, and interactions with important NPCs.

If you even remotely enjoyed Deadfire, you should absolutely get Beast of Winter and The Forgotten Sanctum, they probably include the best content that the game has to offer. If you are invested in the setting, they do a lot to characterize certain Gods. You should get Seeker, Slayer, Survivor only if you really enjoyed combat in Deadfire and find yourself wanting more of it (then, again, if 5 € is nothing to you, just go for it).

Apart from good challenge, one reason to get SSS is some equipment it offers. Mainly a crazy good rapier for ciphers which deals huge DOTs - even Focus scaled mini-Disintegrates on crit (Seeker's Fang), an interesting axe for some melees that upgrades the Might inspiration - allows reaching Tier 3 - and Interrupt on crit (Slayer's Claw) and a coil belt for some casters who like to use Empower certain spells/abilities (as now they can gain high level inspirations in the process).

Can you help me pick some weapons for my Beguiler/Tactician? I went for Whispers but I'm a bit underwhelmed with the damage and I only have room for one weapon, so I can't rely on being able to switch between Whispers and a single target weapon on the fly. Unless Whispers is really the best choice since I'll be spamming Mule Kick and Clear Out as my main physical damage strategy, but it didn't seem all that impactful and I think I just want to go with a higher damage weapon or pair of weapons.

I can go with a passive skill-boost weapon like Chromo staff if it's necessary

 

[FreeKaner]

DLC 50% off. What exactly do they add?

- Seeker, Slayer, Survivor: a lot of combat encounters, with a negligible subplot centered around the cult of Galawain; the more combat-focused of the three.
- Beast of Winter: an interesting story that explores more in depth some of the themes already covered in PoE 1 and 2; the more plot-focused of the three, but there are some tough fights.
- The Forgotten Sanctum: a giant dungeon, you can think of this as the Durlag's Tower/Watcher's Keep of Deadfire; there is a bit of everything: tough fights, interesting lore implications, and interactions with important NPCs.

If you even remotely enjoyed Deadfire, you should absolutely get Beast of Winter and The Forgotten Sanctum, they probably include the best content that the game has to offer. If you are invested in the setting, they do a lot to characterize certain Gods. You should get Seeker, Slayer, Survivor only if you really enjoyed combat in Deadfire and find yourself wanting more of it (then, again, if 5 € is nothing to you, just go for it).

Apart from good challenge, one reason to get SSS is some equipment it offers. Mainly a crazy good rapier for ciphers which deals huge DOTs - even Focus scaled mini-Disintegrates on crit (Seeker's Fang), an interesting axe for some melees that upgrades the Might inspiration - allows reaching Tier 3 - and Interrupt on crit (Slayer's Claw) and a coil belt for some casters who like to use Empower certain spells/abilities (as now they can gain high level inspirations in the process).

Can you help me pick some weapons for my Beguiler/Tactician? I went for Whispers but I'm a bit underwhelmed with the damage and I only have room for one weapon, so I can't rely on being able to switch between Whispers and a single target weapon on the fly. Unless Whispers is really the best choice since I'll be spamming Mule Kick and Clear Out as my main physical damage strategy, but it didn't seem all that impactful and I think I just want to go with a higher damage weapon or pair of weapons.

I can go with a passive skill-boost weapon like Chromo staff if it's necessary

Clear out and whispers deals most damage a fighter can deal I think, use a wizard/scroll for pull of eora to set it up, use the flank debuff and one of the -deflection debuffs from druid/wizard/priest. You can do some absurd damage that way.

 

[Yosharian]

I switched around some items now so I can wield Whispers plus another weapon so it's all good

 

[Haplo]

DLC 50% off. What exactly do they add?

- Seeker, Slayer, Survivor: a lot of combat encounters, with a negligible subplot centered around the cult of Galawain; the more combat-focused of the three.
- Beast of Winter: an interesting story that explores more in depth some of the themes already covered in PoE 1 and 2; the more plot-focused of the three, but there are some tough fights.
- The Forgotten Sanctum: a giant dungeon, you can think of this as the Durlag's Tower/Watcher's Keep of Deadfire; there is a bit of everything: tough fights, interesting lore implications, and interactions with important NPCs.

If you even remotely enjoyed Deadfire, you should absolutely get Beast of Winter and The Forgotten Sanctum, they probably include the best content that the game has to offer. If you are invested in the setting, they do a lot to characterize certain Gods. You should get Seeker, Slayer, Survivor only if you really enjoyed combat in Deadfire and find yourself wanting more of it (then, again, if 5 € is nothing to you, just go for it).

Apart from good challenge, one reason to get SSS is some equipment it offers. Mainly a crazy good rapier for ciphers which deals huge DOTs - even Focus scaled mini-Disintegrates on crit (Seeker's Fang), an interesting axe for some melees that upgrades the Might inspiration - allows reaching Tier 3 - and Interrupt on crit (Slayer's Claw) and a coil belt for some casters who like to use Empower certain spells/abilities (as now they can gain high level inspirations in the process).

Can you help me pick some weapons for my Beguiler/Tactician? I went for Whispers but I'm a bit underwhelmed with the damage and I only have room for one weapon, so I can't rely on being able to switch between Whispers and a single target weapon on the fly. Unless Whispers is really the best choice since I'll be spamming Mule Kick and Clear Out as my main physical damage strategy, but it didn't seem all that impactful and I think I just want to go with a higher damage weapon or pair of weapons.

I can go with a passive skill-boost weapon like Chromo staff if it's necessary

Clear out and whispers deals most damage a fighter can deal I think, use a wizard/scroll for pull of eora to set it up, use the flank debuff and one of the -deflection debuffs from druid/wizard/priest. You can do some absurd damage that way.

You're nearing end game by the time you get Clear Out on a multiclass.
In general a Beguiler/fighter isn't a high martial damage combo. Seeker's Fang should be great when you get it, but again, it's late game. Other then that I can recommend morningstars (with modal active) for way more crits. Saru-Sihr early for poison DOT and later Willbreaker will fit even better thematically for a cipher. I believe both Mule Kick and Clear Out are Fortitude based, so a - 25 Fort debuff will go a long way towards hitting (and critting) with them.

Squids Grasp rapier can be helpful on a Tactician due to Flanking Immunity.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Does the game even acknowledge your caste if you play Island Aumaua + Deadfire & Aristocrat background? I recall that it does for Coastal Aumaua aristocrats from Rauatai.

 

[aweigh]

Now that the dust has settled, are there any mods or rebalances that are worth using? Or is vanilla PoE 2 in Turn-Based mode pretty much the definitive version of the game, with no real need for anything else?

 

[Haplo]

Well, I do consider the Community Mod a worthy addition.
https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/335

Depending on taste, the Deadfire Balance Polishing Mod maybe also.
https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/438

 

[Lacrymas]

Close to board dealing no damage is a must.
A mod that reduces XP gain - https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/43?tab=files
Maybe the enhanced UI mod too - https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/32

Beware that the community patch is 99% buffs to classes.https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/32

 

[Haplo]

Very reasonable and slight buffs, though. Certainly not buffs that break/upset "balance" in any way. More like making some previously underpowered things potentially worth using or fixing illogical design decisions.

 

[Lacrymas]

I am very skeptical of buffs that aren't accompanied by any nerfs or buffs to the mobs. And most of these buffs are of abilities that were worth using even in un-nerfed form. Exalted Focus, Divine Mark, Repulsing Seal, Spiritual Weapons, Backstab (lol), Uncanny Luck. And that's only the basic patch. Sabre modal getting -10 Deflection instead of -50% recovery in the extra patch makes it the best weapon type in the game bar none. It now has the baseline Pen of a stiletto (there's little reason not to have the modal on all the time) but doing twice as much damage.

 

[Haplo]

To address your points:
Exalted Focus: Kinda nice, but doesn't stack with other sources of generic bonus Accuracy (like Devotions of the Faithful - if I have a cleric I will generally always open with that). The only part that isn't overwritten on a regular basis is the small crit conversion bonus. Does 5% feel satisfactory to you? You must really enjoy small things in life?

Divine Mark and Repulsing Seal: 1,5 second reduced cast time (4,5->3 seconds). Really, you have a problem with that?

Spiritual Weapons: 1,5 second reduced cast time (3->1,5 seconds): And I'd still almost never use them. They may be okay from raw damage point of view, but have the opportunity cost of wasting combat time to summon them AND lack any interesting or unique properties.

Backstab: Not sure what's so funny here? Its a very rarely used skill, useful only to a handful of autistic builds, highly determined to make it somewhat work. Pure rogue (mainly Assassin) comes to mind, but it's extremely weak prior to Vanishing Strikes capstone. Community Patch is a lifesaver for the enthusiasts of such stealth playstyle, as now at least they aren't forced to backstab with two-handers and arquebusses - which were the only reasonable weapon picks for "backstabbing" without it (as the number of uses per fight was extremely limited and the damage bonus was scaling from weapon damage per attack, no dual attack backstab possible). Community Patch at least made Backstab a flat damage addition, so it can work with daggers and such.

Uncanny Luck: You really do love your 5% bonuses, don't you? Well, I don't, so I certainly wouldn't pick unpatched Uncanny Luck.