Pathfinder Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition - now with turn-based combat

[Average Manatee]

Buffing is not *that* bad. Most of the game you'll buff once with long time buffs at the start of a dungeon and then once again with short time buffs for the bosses. My first playthrough on both Kingmaker and Wrath were with manual buffing and it was not overly obnoxious on core difficulty. If you're constantly needing to rest and re-apply short term buffs for every fight then that's a sign you should just lower the difficulty level.

Or better yet, maybe up to for example 6 total spell levels (so 3 level 2 spells, 6 level 1, 2 level 3, 1 level 6 - or some kind of mix).

I don't think that would work, the thing with D&D is that a lot of buffs tend to be hard counters to things and your survival is very binary on whether the boss roasts you in one spell or you have fire protection up, or whether half your party is held or you have freedom of movement up.

I think the best option is some combination of either:

1. Most/all buffs become party wide spells
2. Long duration buffs get a UI similar to bubble buffs on the camping screen which has them automatically cast after you rest as a semi-permanent effect until the next rest. Make any spell that lasts more than 20 mins qualify for this, sort of like how the mythic in Wrath works to make spells last all day.

 

[Haplo]

Or better yet, maybe up to for example 6 total spell levels (so 3 level 2 spells, 6 level 1, 2 level 3, 1 level 6 - or some kind of mix).

I don't think that would work, the thing with D&D is that a lot of buffs tend to be hard counters to things and your survival is very binary on whether the boss roasts you in one spell or you have fire protection up, or whether half your party is held or you have freedom of movement up.

Yeah, so you can drop the Concentration on the buffs you have up and conjure the necesary ones.

 

[Ludleth]

Was thinking of picking this up on sale, I really enjoyed Owlcat's other stuff, but have heard there's an extra dose of jank in this one and there's some undercooked stuff- is it worth playing, or should I just do another WotR run?

 

[Max Damage]

WotR is way better.

 

[Yosharian]

Was thinking of picking this up on sale, I really enjoyed Owlcat's other stuff, but have heard there's an extra dose of jank in this one and there's some undercooked stuff- is it worth playing, or should I just do another WotR run?

It's decent but you need mods to make it really worthwhile IMO

 

[Haplo]

Was thinking of picking this up on sale, I really enjoyed Owlcat's other stuff, but have heard there's an extra dose of jank in this one and there's some undercooked stuff- is it worth playing, or should I just do another WotR run?

Well, it has more of an adventure feel then WotR, which is epic from the get go.
In a way its more of a complete product.

However once you've tasted the wider and more robust character building options (like the mounts!) and mythic systems from WotR, personally I find it difficult to go back.

 

[Anonymous Ranger]

Was thinking of picking this up on sale, I really enjoyed Owlcat's other stuff, but have heard there's an extra dose of jank in this one and there's some undercooked stuff- is it worth playing, or should I just do another WotR run?

If you like Owlcat's other games, you'll like Kingmaker. As others have said here, I agree it's lacking gameplay wise from WOTR, but from a writing standpoint, I liked Kingmaker better. The companions are more interesting and the main story feels a lot more grounded than the stuff that happens in WOTR. The events that take place in the game are a lot more traditional rpg than WOTR with you fighting the likes of fey, trolls and kobolds instead of demons. Basically, if you like the idea of a less extreme version of WOTR, then I would say get it.