Is Pillars of Eternity worth playing?

[Haplo]

Well, it helps a lot if you go to White March as soon as you hit Defiance Bay (well, and maybe reach level 6-7). Raedric is pretty awesome before that. Caed Nua not bad. Only have to tolerate a little of Defiance Bay that way and it's the part where the game slows down the most.

 

[Anomander Rake]

This game drowns you on useless lore and useless facts from the very first moment.

And not only that, you also face a rule system that seems to be senseless, coupled with you making a character which stats aren't important.

How is this game so loved in this place?

 

[AwesomeButton]

No, you see, they are important, but it only seems like they aren't.

They make meaningful linear changes to your derived stats, but the difficulty gives you so much room for making mistakes, that you can only feel the effects of your base stats choices if you adhere to a specific, deliberately unoptimized playing style.

 

[Haplo]

And not only that, you also face a rule system that seems to be senseless, coupled with you making a character which stats aren't important.

That is blatantly false.

The system is opaque and sometimes over-engineered, particularly the attack speed modifications and status ailments, but certainly not senseless.
The second statement is just

 

[Anomander Rake]

Awesome button understood, thank you. I've tried the game too many times but I abhor the writing more than tides of numenera

Haplo When I go in a game, I need a system that actually makes me realize what I'm doing within the system itself. For example, in baldur's gate the AC being negative to be good is counter intuitive, as is the Thaco, but nothing too weird. I tried Pillars and I didn't even know what the fuck I was supposed to do or why I would be hitting something. Also, if I remember well, you are forced to sleep in front of the fire or something of this sort to I don't remember which reason? I want to play the game, not against the rules of it

 

[Haplo]

AC negative or THAC0 declining from 20 to hit an arbitrary AC number is not too weird? Well, if you're an old AD&D nerd, then it's not weird I suppose.

Hitting in PoE is actually resolved in a more transparent (although more number inflated) way: Your attack score + d100 vs enemy Deflection score + d100.
Barely missing (within 20 points from enemy deflection) results in a graze (half-hit), while exceeding enemy Deflection by over 20 results in a crit (x1,5 damage and effect duration + crit modifiers/effects).

Accuracy is also affected by your Perception score, so if you want to hit, crit and interrupt more, you should pump that.

And no, you don't have restricted resting spots, you can rest anywhere. But you do need a resource for that called camping supplies that you buy at taverns. How many you can carry on you depends on your chosen difficulty, between 6 and 2. For me 2 was plenty, particularly that you find additional supplies in the wilderness/dungeons.

 

[moleman]

Currently playing White March and I'm 80 hours in. And I still can't recall what all the different afflictions do.

I have to look up constantly what
"hobbled, stuck, stunned, paralysed, petrified, charmed, dominated"
means or what the differences are exactly.

 

[AwesomeButton]

When I first played BG, I had already read the Blood Sword CYOA books, somewhere in the mid 90s. They were using a very light ripoff of D&D's combat system, so I was used to AC being negative and to to-hit rolls since adolescence.

IMO one of the big issues with PoE's system is the inflation of all stats. Why should 1st level characters start with 30+class modifier's worth of HP? Why should the weakest base damage of weapons start from 9-13? Why is the to-hit roll size 100 and not 20 or 60?

The afflictions would have been better, and easier to identify and remember, if they did more than modify your base and derived stats. They are fixing this for Deadfire, afflictions will have noticeable effects on the battlefield besides being buffs/debuffs.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Your attack score + d100 vs enemy Deflection score + d100.

No, there is only one roll! And then there are shifting tresholds of probability, with crits or misses becoming impossible to score when the difference is large enough, on the negative or on the positive side respectively. https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Attack_Resolution

I still maintain that AD&D's attack resolution is easier to grasp, even with "lower is better" THAC0 and AC.

 

[CptMace]

There was an unreasonable amount of afflictions in the first game that would inflict -10 Accuracy. Usually coupled with some extra stuff to differenciate them.
Also the new affliction/buff system is much better, I suspect that it still won't change how combat feels. Ie: we'll still have the feeling that afflictions are more about flavouring your way of killing stuff than actually reacting to the enemy's strengths and weaknesses.
Yet there are some occurences in the first game (3.0) that do the trick. The ogre level in caed nua, because of the layout, makes charm and domination (albeit, you shouldn't have domination so early) super effective.
Paralyzing the sahuagins in the xpac is also just way more interesting than any other affliction.

In a word, I hope they supported this new system by making an effort on enemy/monster design, with an emphasis on characterizing their abilities in combat. First game really suffers from a "archetype pattern". Fighting a big dude with high fort and low will, whether he's a troll, a stalker or an animat, from beginning to end was p.boring.

 

[AwesomeButton]

This time around there are ways to give yourself, or for there enemy to have, immunity to whole groups of afflictions, which will play some part in preparing for an encounter with the right spells.

I wonder if we'll have cases where the same enemy is immune to afflictions that come from attacks which target his weaker defences. This would put the player to the choice whether to attack his weak defence without scoring afflictions but with better chance to damage, or try to target the higher defences with lower chance to succeed but with a slim chance to get an affliction in. When you put in different armor ratings for different damage types, it becomes quite the mindfuck.

 

[CptMace]

it becomes quite the mindfuck

On the other hand, it could give way for some glorious exploration of the metagame.
But it'd only be relevant if the game is fun enough to warrant toying with it, obviously.

 

[Haplo]

Your attack score + d100 vs enemy Deflection score + d100.

No, there is only one roll! And then there are shifting tresholds of probability, with crits or misses becoming impossible to score when the difference is large enough, on the negative or on the positive side respectively. https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Attack_Resolution

Thank you, I stand corrected. Of course, 2 rolls would make it even more complicated.