Eternity Pillars of Eternity + The White March Expansion Thread

[Decado]

Not sure about a dedicated gun user, but re: rogues, I've played glass cannon rogues on POTD and their "shitness" is overstated unless you're just terrible at using them

This could very well be my problem. It could be that as melee characters, they need way more micromanaging than I was giving them credit for.

And these are nice, but they don't solve the fundamental problem of allowing you stay in the fight while continuing to dish out melee.

Have you tried equipping heavier armor?

Not particularly, no. I think my last melee Rogue (this was years ago) used the Jack of Wide Waters. I thought that was a good balance between DR and recovery which, as a two weapon fighter, I wanted to keep a low as possible. After that, upgrades went to things like Seven Skuldr's Worth or Scales of the Raven.

 

[Ninjerk]

I can't believe I'm playing this game again. I'm slowly turning into Skyway.

 

[NJClaw]

I can't believe I'm playing this game again. I'm slowly turning into Skyway.

Lyric Suite singlehandedly saved this franchise, jump-starting countless playthroughs throughout the Codex.

Are you seeing this, J.E. Sawyer?

 

[Lyric Suite]

When I played PoE at release, I also tentatively enjoyed it for some reason. It might've been excitement about a new "isometric" RPG from Obsidian, or maybe I was waiting for the old Obsidian writers to shatter all my illusions about fantasy RPGs like Chris did with Star Wars, or maybe a lot of things, but I enjoyed it. When it was all over, however, and I turned back to think about the whole experience it dawned on me that almost nothing made any kind of impression and I was hyping myself up during it. Kinda like my first girlfriend. Lyric Suite, did you get past Mearwald yet?

I'm still clearing the temple in Gilded Vale lmao. Got limited time to play, and the game is forcing me to reload many times. I'm on the second level and i can only survive those spirits if they don't teleport and kill Eloth, which is completely random. If they stay put i can block them with Eder at the door and grind them down slowly. I'm wondering if i should do some of the quests in the surrounding forests (there's one for the pregnant woman and one for the blacksmith) and come back once i got at least an extra level.

Anyway, as far as enjoying the game is concerned, it's probably a mix of the game not being as terrible as some of the stuff that's out there and the fact i haven't played a new game of this type for a long time. We'll see how long this lasts though.

 

[Grunker]

no shame in returning to the lower levels of the temple later. shades are the first actual gitgud-test of poe. at least if you're playing on potd

 

[Lacrymas]

Anyway, as far as enjoying the game is concerned, it's probably a mix of the game not being as terrible as some of the stuff that's out there and the fact i haven't played a new game of this type for a long time. We'll see how long this lasts though.

I was specifically asking about Maerwald because the game is unironically enjoyable before him and wanted to know whether you still find it enjoyable after him. Wait until you get to Defiance Bay ;d

 

[Lyric Suite]

There's no timed quests in this game, right? I'm being told the lord of the village is going march into town soon, not sure if that means nothing or if he's actually gonna show up if i waste too much time dicking around the forests.

 

[NJClaw]

I'm still clearing the temple in Gilded Vale lmao. Got limited time to play, and the game is forcing me to reload many times. [...] I'm wondering if i should do some of the quests in the surrounding forests and come back once i got at least an extra level.

Clearing the temple only with Eder and Aloth on PotD is borderline masochistic. Recruiting the next two companions (that you can find in 10 minutes simply following the main quest) makes it much easier.

There's no timed quests in this game, right? I'm being told the lord of the village is going march into town soon, not sure if that means nothing or if he's actually gonna show up if i waste too much time dicking around the forests.

No time limits on quests. Stronghold events are time sensitive, though.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I see. I'm the type of guy who likes to do everything in a map before moving to the next area. But i guess i can come back later.

 

[Ninjerk]

I'm still clearing the temple in Gilded Vale lmao. Got limited time to play, and the game is forcing me to reload many times. I'm on the second level and i can only survive those spirits if they don't teleport and kill Eloth, which is completely random. If they stay put i can block them with Eder at the door and grind them down slowly. I'm wondering if i should do some of the quests in the surrounding forests (there's one for the pregnant woman and one for the blacksmith) and come back once i got at least an extra level.

Anyway, as far as enjoying the game is concerned, it's probably a mix of the game not being as terrible as some of the stuff that's out there and the fact i haven't played a new game of this type for a long time. We'll see how long this lasts though.

If they didn't change the AI, IIRC you can put Aloth back as far as you like and when the ghosts decide to do their teleport they'll single-mindedly go after him (even if they haven't seen him at all) and you can get multiple engagement attacks on them if you have a character to chase them.

 

[Lacrymas]

There is one time-sensitive quest iirc, but I don't remember which one it is. Everything about the stronghold is also timed. You can't complete Aloth's quest after the animancy hearings, if you count that as timed.

 

[Lacrymas]

Oh, also the burning house in Stalwart must be done before you rest, iirc.

 

[Decado]

You should have at least 4 people in your party for the temple under Gilded Vale. Aloth and Eder are unmissable and there is a priest waiting for you at Magran's Fork, who you should go get right away.

The dungeon is eminently doable with four.

 

[Ninjerk]

If you're lucky enough to get Rymrgand's Mantle in one of the seeded chests, it is absolutely broken for fighting shades.

 

[Lacrymas]

If you're lucky enough to get Rymrgand's Mantle in one of the seeded chests, it is absolutely broken for fighting shades.

There is a way to manipulate the chests to give you the item you want, it's connected to the starting in-game date.

 

[Ninjerk]

If you're lucky enough to get Rymrgand's Mantle in one of the seeded chests, it is absolutely broken for fighting shades.

There is a way to manipulate the chests to give you the item you want, it's connected to the starting in-game date.

I used to do it just by brute force game restarting because I couldn't find precise information at that time about how the date affected the seed, only the possible contents of the chests. Maybe that information is available now.

 

[Lacrymas]

I used to do it just by brute force game restarting because I couldn't find precise information at that time about how the date affected the seed, only the possible contents of the chests. Maybe that information is available now.

I think that info can be found on the wiki, but it's this ridiculous excel-like spreadsheet that I can't make sense of.

 

[Sharpedge]

I used to do it just by brute force game restarting because I couldn't find precise information at that time about how the date affected the seed, only the possible contents of the chests. Maybe that information is available now.

I think that info can be found on the wiki, but it's this ridiculous excel-like spreadsheet that I can't make sense of.

Basically, there are 2 sets of tables, the first set is used as a reference to look up which of the tables in the second set contains the information you need and the Index column in the second set tells you what day of the month the item will appear on. If for example you are looking for Rymrgand's Mantle, you look in the first table and see this.

This tells you that you need to look in the Valewood column in the Wilderness table and the Gilded Vale table. After looking at both of those, you can determine that it will be generated in the relevant stash in Valewood on the 9th day of the month, in the Black Hound on the 20th day of the month, in the Temple of Eothas Upper Floor on the 7th day of the month and in the Temple of Eothas Lower Floor on the 11th day of the month. I agree though that the way it is setup is clunky to use and it could absolutely be done much better.

 

[Parabalus]

Just console in it if you want it that badly.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I tried to game the random loot in IWD once and didn't enjoy it.

I'll take my chances with the random loot. Unlike IWD, you can respect your characters here so you can always change your build according to the loot you find.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Lmao, is Durance autobiographical?

All that talk about whores and shit.

 

[TedNugent]

So there are skills that allow me to utilize multiple firearms in a smart way, most importantly Arms Bearer and Quick Switch. The idea behind this multiple gun-toting terror was to have 3-4 pistols all equipped. Fire one, switch, fire another, switch, etc. Combined with a high dex, Quick switch would actually allow me to use a second, third, fourth gun faster than waiting for the first one to reload. The downside, of course, is that after gun #4 I have to reload everything. So the temptation is to stack three guns, and keep a melee weapon in slot 4, but the problem here is the problem of rogues in general -- they are absolutely shit at staying alive.

Honestly, your problem here is going to be finding 3 or 4 equivalent guns to fill all those slots. That's why you're fundamentally better off just picking one with the best itemization and going from there.

 

[Lacrymas]

Having 3 arquebuses for alpha strikes and a melee set is a very popular strategy, there are enough guns in the game for that.

 

[Gradenmayer]

I think the setting is a big reason why the game flopped compared to I with more traditional fantasy.

Put this on the big pile of "things the codex refuses to accept but are actually very true"

The game failed because of the bad combat, and because actually, people were turned off by PoE and didn't come back for seconds. Neither hardcore enough for grognards, nor transparent enough for mouthbreathers.

It failed because it was a direct sequel to a way worse game, that no one wanted to play through.

 

[Haplo]

I'm curious about the financial success of Wrath of the Righteous. I wonder what the general audience finds attractive or not in these RPGs "in the old style". It could very easily be theorized why PoE1 failed to create fans of this franchise, but it's always going to be a guesstimation at best. Can anyone even here say they are fans of PoE? Like pomenitul said, this thread keeps delivering after almost 7 years, but I personally find it more intellectually engaging and satisfying to talk about its admittedly interesting failings than the game as-is.

The 3 most rabid fans I can think of are Infinitron (still here), Shevek (disappeared), and PrimeJunta (self-ejected for reasons of insanity). I've gotten the impression that Grunker is a fan, but with some digging it seems that maybe that's only after years of patches and WM.

I think I can call myself a fan. Loved PoE (and adored WM) and only considered its pacing a real issue. And maybe a little the messy combat - which I still found fun.
Although after Deadfire I'd find it difficult to go back to the first game (not that I think Deadfire is perfect or that all changes were positive).