Eternity Pillars of Eternity + The White March Expansion Thread

[rusty_shackleford]

Have you ever been tested for autism?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I always play Paladins.

Ok that's fair.

Have you ever been tested for autism?

He already has a codex account.

 

[MajorMace]

But beyond that, i actually wany to try the conversation mechanic of the Paladin in this game. That's one of the few things i actually found interesting and seems like an improvement over the reputation mechanic used in D&D.

That's pretty much the only game mechanic which makes flavour dialog somewhat meaningful but even then you will :
- lose your mind over what's considered [benevolent] [cruel] [stoic] etc OR mindlessly click the tags if you display them to begin with
- get disheartened by the fact it's nothing more than a behaviour count which fills your buff/debuff bars.

Mind you I guess you can take it as a mini game of its own if you don't display tags : try and find the lines that fit your creed but it's not a very compelling one to say the least.

 

[Lacrymas]

There's no such thing as a conversationalist in this game. The stat checks are mostly (99% of cases) cosmetic and trying to build a character around 3 things, 2 of which the Paladin isn't the best choice at, to accommodate those stat checks is at best pointless, at worst gimping your already gimped character. You will not lose out on reputation for your order in any case. Also, Paladins are not subpar damage dealers, quite the contrary, dual-wielding sabres makes for quite a beast.

 

[MajorMace]

Also, Paladins are not subpar damage dealers, quite the contrary, dual-wielding sabres makes for quite a beast.

I think the aforementioned issue is the lack of versatility of the paladin which is either specialised in damage dealing or tanking, and the fact that the fighter doesn't really have to chose here, which is true.
Also Fighters can't instant support other characters and I guess that's why the paladin is less of a pure frontliner than them (or barbarians).

 

[Faarbaute]

Gradually, I began to hate Josh Sawyer

 

[NJClaw]

But it has nothing to do with the setting though. It's a matter of the mechanics. I can't make a copy of Keldorn wielding Casomyr because you are better off dual wielding a sabre and a stiletto and pretend you are D'Artagnan with full plate armor.

I don't see anything in the "lore" of the game that explains why using traditional knightly weapons is a sub-par choice for this class (but isn't for a Barbarian or a Rogue).

I think you're making it unnecessarily hard on yourself by obsessing over this shit.

I've used Pallegina both with two-handed weapons and with a weapon and shield, and she worked fine either way, so I don't see why it should be different with a more optimized custom character.

You aren't judging the game right now, but the build guides available on the internet. Stop it, it's insane.

 

[Lacrymas]

Also, Paladins are not subpar damage dealers, quite the contrary, dual-wielding sabres makes for quite a beast.

I think the aforementioned issue is the lack of versatility of the paladin which is either specialised in damage dealing or tanking, and the fact that the fighter doesn't really have to chose here, which is true.
Also Fighters can't instant support other characters and I guess that's why the paladin is less of a pure frontliner than them (or barbarians).

You can go Sanguine Plate and dual wield, that makes you a very good damage dealer and an ok "off-tank". I wouldn't say Paladins lack versatility, they just offer it in a different direction that isn't main tank and two-hander. But like it was mentioned multiple times, you can finish the game on PotD with whatever build and playstyle you want, so live that main tank + two-hander + "charismatic talker" dream.

 

[MajorMace]

Well that would take dozens of hours of playtime. With such experience, even the battlemage is a good frontliner. I remember building a Citzal specialised spellcaster that could do ok on the frontline but I also remember it being viable only by level 9 or something. It also wasn't nearly as good as the actual tanks. At lower levels, you really have nothing but a fighter to properly tank, it is indeed true and it is indeed a little annoying.

 

[Lacrymas]

But you don't really need a tank either way. When I played the Skaen Priest, I didn't even talk to any of the companions and made my own with no fighter in the party. Good luck tanking the shades in the Eothas temple for example.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

Looks like a severe case of analysis paralysis. Combat isn't great and finetuning a character not required. The distribution is pretty flat unless you compare builds at the opposite ends. Its been balanced to death by design so unless you go for a completely retarded distribution it will work. Many builds are centered on specific item combinations and require meta-gaming to execute. So unless you want to mega-game on your first playthrough you should skip the power house builds anyways and just roll your own character.

 

[Nano]

Min/maxing isn't required. Calm down and play the character you want to play.

 

[mediocrepoet]

So once you defeat a game with theorycraft, do you still have to play it, or do you just move on to modeling the next one in Excel?

 

[Bigg Boss]

You just go straight to saying it sucks.

 

[Lacrymas]

Looks like a severe case of analysis paralysis. Combat isn't great and finetuning a character not required. The distribution is pretty flat unless you compare builds at the opposite ends. Its been balanced to death by design so unless you go for a completely retarded distribution it will work. Many builds are centered on specific item combinations and require meta-gaming to execute. So unless you want to mega-game on your first playthrough you should skip the power house builds anyways and just roll your own character.

It's balanced in the sense every stat distribution will work, but not every playstyle will work for any stat distribution.

 

[Lacrymas]

Just roll barbarian ffs

My next PoE playthrough is going to be with a Barbarian. An elf barbarian.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Looks like a severe case of analysis paralysis. Combat isn't great and finetuning a character not required. The distribution is pretty flat unless you compare builds at the opposite ends. Its been balanced to death by design so unless you go for a completely retarded distribution it will work. Many builds are centered on specific item combinations and require meta-gaming to execute. So unless you want to mega-game on your first playthrough you should skip the power house builds anyways and just roll your own character.

Well, part of the reason is that something came up and i had to post pone my run for a couple days so i've been theorycrafting to pass time lmao.

BTW, what is this lul:

Noticed the original artist did some extra portraits. I found the following on Nexus Mod:

But it seems there's still a couple more out there:

 

[Lacrymas]

You'll have a field day with this dude, let me tell you ;d -

 

[deem]

That's my paladin dwarf. Do not steal.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

Looks like a severe case of analysis paralysis. Combat isn't great and finetuning a character not required. The distribution is pretty flat unless you compare builds at the opposite ends. Its been balanced to death by design so unless you go for a completely retarded distribution it will work. Many builds are centered on specific item combinations and require meta-gaming to execute. So unless you want to mega-game on your first playthrough you should skip the power house builds anyways and just roll your own character.

Well, part of the reason is that something came up and i had to post pone my run for a couple days so i've been theorycrafting to pass time lmao.
...

Its indeed a system that stimulates theorycrafting. I remember myself spending quite some time on character creation when I played Pillars for the first time, at a time when there weren't guides out yet and the detailed mechanics still unclear. It seemed like a deep and complex character system on a first glance where every attribute matters allowing many unconventional builds. But as I played it, it turned out to be bland. Many things have just a miniscule effect and you have to stack tons of effects to obtain something noticeable. Perhaps your experience will be better, now that you know what to expect.

 

[Lacrymas]

The problem of PoE1's system is that it's very limited. You very quickly run headlong into a pattern of choosing the least shit option at level up. This means most classes feel very samey and you have to try real hard to differentiate one melee class from the next. The way the system is designed also funnels you towards using the same items in each build. Are you some kind of melee combatant? Sanguine Plate, Bittercut (or any sabre, really), Shod-in-Faith, Maegfolc Skull, Gauntlets of Accuracy or Swift Action. You'll find the same few items in each build with very little variation.

 

[almondblight]

I'm halfway through my second playthrough now with a 2-hand wielding damage/tank/healing paladin on PotD, and it does well. Overall, the game doesn't seem noticeably harder than I remember my first (aborted towards the end of Twin Elms) playthrough, which was a wizard on PotD. I'm sure I didn't build or play either optimally, but they were both good enough.

 

[Roguey]

BTW, what is this lul:

A Blaine commission. Sawyer liked it enough that he commissioned the artist to do some work for Deadfire.

 

[Grunker]

Paladin is fantastic both as a tank, a damage dealer and a hybrid, Lyric Suite. I’ve played the game with all three builds on PotD. Most fun I had was with Moon Godlike tankadin, but dual-wielder was also great. If what you’d like is to play a two-hander it’s still going to be great though, because paladins are just that good. So I certainly wouldn’t approach the game with the mindset that such a build is a unviable or even bad, really.

Also I wouldn’t sweat the builds too much. You can respec if PotD gives you trouble because you built poorly.

It’s untrue that the AI doesn’t care about engagement. It will go to fairly great lengths to avoid breaking it.

 

[Lacrymas]

It's true that the AI will sometimes glue themselves to you because of engagement, but Paladins don't get many engagement slots ;d Even if they do break it, however, you'll have such wimpy attacks due to sword and board that it doesn't matter much.