Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity [BETA RELEASED, GO TO THE NEW THREAD]

[hiver]

Thats what playing a fighter mage was always supposed to be.

Its much more then just being a mage that wields swords in a shitty way.
And disregarding some dumbasses whose brains are only capable to think in bethesda - DnD binaries, due to life long exposure to decline deposits that degenerated their brains... a fighter mage is a whole other mess to deal with.

Its not supposed to be about a "dual class" of some sort, but a different kind of specialization, where combinations and mixes of skills create your own personal gestalt tactics and abilities.

 

[Zeriel]

BG1 was harder than BG2. Not sure what they're smoking to make that comparison.

 

[Excidium]

It's probably not gonna matter much on any difficult except Hard or higher.

If the game is shit on normal then it's shit

 

[tuluse]

How very un-Sawyerian

He's said you can make less efficient or more efficient characters.

 

[Excidium]

How very un-Sawyerian

He's said you can make less efficient or more efficient characters.

I doubt that'll be to much effect.

 

[Rostere]

It's about specializations, not restrictions. Do what you want, but others might be better than you.

That's actually more dangerous to the player, since trying to advance a character in a role he's not suited for might end up permanently gimping him. With restrictions, you never face that danger.

This. I think players should be encouraged to actually construct their own PC. Of course diverting skill selections to crazy stuff will risk gimping your character, I don't understand what's the fuss. A wizard wielding a two-handed sword must be lagging behind badly in metamagic skills.

Sadly however on this subject, Obsidian chose to separate combat and non-combat skills, forcing players into certain ways of building their character.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

I skipped page 779 onwards, with the oh noes mage is superman sword is kryptonite aspie tantrums.... Anything worth noting?

 

[Blaine]

Anything worth noting?

You can disregard the entire thread until beta and not miss much of anything.

 

[Sensuki]

BG1 was harder than BG2. Not sure what they're smoking to make that comparison.

Not as a Fighter class. Fighter with optimal stats is rofl easy in BG1, but yeah as a Wizard, it's harder.

 

[Space Satan]

BG1 had some crap like greater basilisks, suddenly spawning near your group, stone blocks with instant killing, 15 minute long charms. Was very harsh on players, compared to BG2, where even wizards had enough hp to deal with early-to-med encounter.

 

[Rake]

Obsidian said they will have classes-Codex goes crazy"WHY??? I want my Arcanum back. I want the ability to create my own char to fit my own playstyle!!! Where is mah choice???"
Obsidian says there will be options to built your character in ways that blur the line between classes to create your own char to fit your own playstyle,-Codex goes crazy"NO!!! I want character restrictions! I want clear pre determined paths for my characters so there in no overlap between them!!!!"
Buisness as usual

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Anything worth noting?

You can disregard the entire thread until beta and not miss much of anything.

Good to know. I hope Infinitron makes a news post when the beta is out. Till then I guess i will ignore this aspie haven.

This is what I meant...

Obsidian said they will have classes-Codex goes crazy"WHY??? I want my Arcanum back. I want the ability to create my own char to fit my own playstyle!!! Where is mah choice???"
Obsidian says there will be options to built your character in ways that blur the line between classes to create your own char to fit your own playstyle,-Codex goes crazy"NO!!! I want character restrictions! I want clear pre determined paths for my characters so there in no overlap between them!!!!"
Buisness as usual

 

[Logic_error]

Obsidian said they will have classes-Codex goes crazy"WHY??? I want my Arcanum back. I want the ability to create my own char to fit my own playstyle!!! Where is mah choice???"
Obsidian says there will be options to built your character in ways that blur the line between classes to create your own char to fit your own playstyle,-Codex goes crazy"NO!!! I want character restrictions! I want clear pre determined paths for my characters so there in no overlap between them!!!!"
Buisness as usual

You do not make a party in Arcanum by yourself. This is an extremely important point. Also, if you 'multiclass' too much in Arcanum and not take osme of the broken spells/skills you surely gimp yourself.

 

[Rake]

That's a game balance problem and not an inherent flaw/advantage of the classless system.
Also you won't be bulding a party by yourself in PE. You will create ONE character. You will have the ability to tinker with your party members, but we don't know to how much extent.

 

[Jim Cojones]

That's a game balance problem and not an inherent flaw/advantage of the classless system.
Also you won't be bulding a party by yourself in PE. You will create ONE character. You will have the ability to tinker with your party members, but we don't know to how much extent.

It's been confirmed that there will be an option to create your own party instead of relying on followers.

 

[Logic_error]

Also, in arcanum you can not take complete complete control of companions.

 

[Infinitron]

That's actually more dangerous to the player, since trying to advance a character in a role he's not suited for might end up permanently gimping him.

How very un-Sawyerian

One word - respec.

It's been confirmed that there will be an option to create your own party instead of relying on followers.

Yes, but it's just that - an option. Balance-wise, the game can't rely on the player using that option. It has to be playable with NPC followers alone. Since there are only eight of them and the party size is six...yeah.

 

[Rake]

^ That. The same as BG 2 was balanced for the party members. If you build your own party, you have an OP party. And since the number of companions will be closer to Torment...
The game won't be balanced around the option to create your own party, the same as it won't be balanced around soloing the game. Yes, you will have that options, but that doesn't mean that they are the default/correct way to play the game.

 

[Logic_error]

SoZ.

 

[Zeriel]

BG1 had some crap like greater basilisks, suddenly spawning near your group, stone blocks with instant killing, 15 minute long charms. Was very harsh on players, compared to BG2, where even wizards had enough hp to deal with early-to-med encounter.

Plus just things like 2nd Edition D&D at low levels being utterly unforgiving and random autodeath without a GM's interference. BG2 was a matter of "welp, if you died, it's your own goddamn fault", whereas BG1 was much more likely to be, "Approach was fine, you died, reload and try again" in a lot of situations.

All things being equal, my opinion is that BG1 was a much more difficult game.

 

[Sensuki]

BG1 had some crap like greater basilisks, suddenly spawning near your group, stone blocks with instant killing, 15 minute long charms. Was very harsh on players, compared to BG2, where even wizards had enough hp to deal with early-to-med encounter.

None of the Basilisks in BG1 were random they were all hand placed. Sure you die the first time you encounter them (or lose a party member, but that's just BG) but on reload you come prepared. Potion of Mirror Eyes, Protection from Petrification etc.

Thief with Stealth/invis pots works well too.

BG1 had some crap like greater basilisks, suddenly spawning near your group, stone blocks with instant killing, 15 minute long charms. Was very harsh on players, compared to BG2, where even wizards had enough hp to deal with early-to-med encounter.

Plus just things like 2nd Edition D&D at low levels being utterly unforgiving and random autodeath without a GM's interference. BG2 was a matter of "welp, if you died, it's your own goddamn fault", whereas BG1 was much more likely to be, "Approach was fine, you died, reload and try again" in a lot of situations.


All things being equal, my opinion is that BG1 was a much more difficult game.

Maybe on the first playthough, but oh god it's so easy after a few. It's quite rare to die/lose a companion.

 

[Space Satan]

Basilisks were just an example, at Dulrag's Tower once you enter some door you end up facing greater basilisk. Thing with Siren, where you initiate dialogue and have 2 options to answer - choose 1 - you die, choose 2 - you die. The idea is to approach with non-main char and then force Siren to resurrect fallen companion, who initiated the dialogue. But you you talk with main - instant game over. I can't remember such situations in BG2

 

[valcik]

Thief with Stealth/invis pots works well too.

There's also the helpful ghoulish gentleman Gorax roaming around. He's completely immune to any petrifying attacks.

 

[Rostere]

Basilisks were just an example, at Dulrag's Tower once you enter some door you end up facing greater basilisk. Thing with Siren, where you initiate dialogue and have 2 options to answer - choose 1 - you die, choose 2 - you die. The idea is to approach with non-main char and then force Siren to resurrect fallen companion, who initiated the dialogue. But you you talk with main - instant game over. I can't remember such situations in BG2

I miss all the fun stuff in older computer games, who would even put such encounters in a game nowadays?

 

[Infinitron]

There's "LOL UR DEAD" difficulty and then there's "You need to know how to best use all of your many spells and abilities to overcome this challenge" difficulty.