Eternity Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire + DLC Thread - now with turn-based combat!

[Quillon]

Proper Gods should be creators, not created, and definitely shouldn't have their divine power dependent on the trite mumbo-jumbo of meatbags.

They weren't meant to be "proper gods"

 

[Grunker]

I still think I prefer PoE1 overall and certainly White March, and difficulty has a lot to do with it. There's more varied content in Deadfire and not a single slog a la Twin Elms or Od Nua, but the vast majority of it is much easier than WM. A notable exception is megabosses, some of which gave me a really hard time, and some of which I won't be beating until my second playthrough if at all.

Did you per-chance record any of your FS fights?

I just can't wrap my head around WM being harder.

Perhaps this is due to him mostly having a passive focused party that can't be interrupted? I had to reload a couple of times during the oracle fight due to the rays and hounds perpetually interrupting my mages with their rays and "blink strikes". I only really used my mages for damage so that happening really put a wrench into things.

I think I reloaded on the Frightened Child side fight more than on the entire WM.

Crazy-good fight, but again: it's Forgotten Sanctum. If such fights were par for the course for the rest of the game I'd be a very happy man. WM is much larger than FS after all, which is very short. And I definetely reloaded less than I did in the fuckhueg Vithrack fight in WM with all the jumpy-jumpy barbs. Which is a very similar fight.

Is there a Chanter sidekick?

Konstanten. He’s a hoot.

Nice

I might be doing that then, though maybe two chanters will make the game a complete walkover even if I mod in more difficulty.

 

[Parabalus]

I still think I prefer PoE1 overall and certainly White March, and difficulty has a lot to do with it. There's more varied content in Deadfire and not a single slog a la Twin Elms or Od Nua, but the vast majority of it is much easier than WM. A notable exception is megabosses, some of which gave me a really hard time, and some of which I won't be beating until my second playthrough if at all.

Did you per-chance record any of your FS fights?

I just can't wrap my head around WM being harder.

Perhaps this is due to him mostly having a passive focused party that can't be interrupted? I had to reload a couple of times during the oracle fight due to the rays and hounds perpetually interrupting my mages with their rays and "blink strikes". I only really used my mages for damage so that happening really put a wrench into things.

I think I reloaded on the Frightened Child side fight more than on the entire WM.

Crazy-good fight, but again: it's Forgotten Sanctum. If such fights were par for the course for the rest of the game I'd be a very happy man. WM is much larger than FS after all, which is very short. And I definetely reloaded less than I did in the fuckhueg Vithrack fight in WM with all the jumpy-jumpy barbs. Which is a very similar fight.

Is there a Chanter sidekick?

Konstanten. He’s a hoot.

Nice

I might be doing that then, though maybe two chanters will make the game a complete walkover even if I mod in more difficulty.

Do you mean the luminous spore fight or the largest vithrack pack the west end of the map? They were nasty.

What are your PCs unbuffed defensive stats? The chanter/paladin one.

 

[Grunker]

I mean the large Vithrack pack which has mind controlled a bunch of Kith, including a good number of high-damage dealing Barbarians with Leap that jump into your backline.

What are your PCs unbuffed defensive stats? The chanter/paladin one.

10
10
10
18
20
10

 

[Grunker]

I actually regret taking Perception oddly enough. Didn't use a single enemy-targeted chant after the first few levels so accuracy didn't matter at all. Should have went with Dex. So damn you Prime Junta (also y u have two accounts so confuse). I did use The Dragon Thrashed but could have made do fine without it.

 

[Theldaran]

Proper Gods should be creators, not created, and definitely shouldn't have their divine power dependent on the trite mumbo-jumbo of meatbags.

The gods in FR drew their power from their followers; the more followers the greater the god. That's also sad.

But they might be, in retrospective, just Ao's secretaries. So if they didn't do their job right, Ao went and stripped them of power etc.

They're just glorified Valar.

 

[Parabalus]

I mean the large Vithrack pack which has mind controlled a bunch of Kith, including a good number of high-damage dealing Barbarians with Leap that jump into your backline.

What are your PCs unbuffed defensive stats? The chanter/paladin one.

10
10
10
18
20
10

That's the westrenmost pack, I know what you mean. It's also a wide open space, so you really can't make a choke.

I meant the defenses, not the attributes. Def/Ref/Will/Fort.

Asking mostly since Paladin defenses can get ridic, but never had a PC one.

 

[Grunker]

I mean the large Vithrack pack which has mind controlled a bunch of Kith, including a good number of high-damage dealing Barbarians with Leap that jump into your backline.

What are your PCs unbuffed defensive stats? The chanter/paladin one.

10
10
10
18
20
10

That's the westrenmost pack, I know what you mean. It's also a wide open space, so you really can't make a choke.

You can sortta drag the fight onto the bridge, but the danger of doing that is you have limited movement when the barbs jumps behind your backline.

Regardless I rarely used chokes in my PoE1 playthrough since it's pretty cheesy.

I meant the defenses, not the attributes. Def/Ref/Will/Fort.

Sorry I just read stats. Defenses are:

Naked - 91, 93, 104, 116

Gear equipped - 125, 99, 134, 116

 

[FreeKaner]

^ that might be it and brings up another quibble I have with the game, which seems like it's been mentioned a lot in this thread?

Going for attack-focused characters that deal damage backed up by a single buffing or debuffing caster seems like the right way to make a party, no?

I wouldn't say the right way. I think you are really underestimating the impact a single empowered cast makes late game. In a way that's the way you play, if you had couple well placed spells the fights wouldn't drag on for so long in the first place. The way your party is composed also makes it a lot more depended on attrition-grind which is both easier to play but also in a way more of a gear test. It's true though the value of attackers, chanters and ciphers increase the fight drags on, which is why I found that you shouldn't have more than 1 resource caster. A good party can be something like Wizard (best resource caster especially later in the game with unique grimoires), fighter/barbarian, paladin, ranger/rogue, cipher (focused more on attacks).

I don't think either is the "right way to make a party" though, the game is surprisingly robust to allow different builds. I guess it's because painblock and savage defiance are both the same spell.

 

[Orma]

Main path forgotten sanctum fights were all first tries for me, they were indeed challenging but I'm just that good i suppose.

However I did reload in the optional fights

Spoiler

the imp and of course the vithrack/spider fight. First took a few tries but the latter is ridiculous, forgotten sanctum Vithraks seem to be the toughest mobs in the game overall

Frightened Child fight was a first try as well, but barely(still no knockdowns). I'd say that is one of the highlights of the DLC, really fun encounter.

 

[Grunker]

Which casts shorten megaboss fights and similar encounters though, FreeKaner? I can't imagine any of the spells I got to see during my time affecting, for example, the Belranga fight enough to warrant even a pale comparison to attrition comps, but I do accept that I haven't actually tried other comps so I might be completely wrong.

 

[Grunker]

Spoiler

forgotten sanctum Vithraks seem to be the toughest mobs in the game overall

Fucking yes. Jesus christ these guys could take a beating and the Luminaries can cast a Minoletta's Missile spell that 100% takes out one of your party members if you don't have specific protections. I liked fighting these guys, wish more of Deadfire's trash was like that.

The imp, however, was a total pushover for me just like the main path fights so who knows

 

[Prime Junta]

Should have went with Dex. So damn you Prime Junta

I'm pretty sure I said PER is critical for everyone except pure support characters, and you made a pure support character, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Grunker]

Should have went with Dex. So damn you Prime Junta

I'm pretty sure I said PER is critical for everyone except pure support characters, and you made a pure support character, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Fake news! You specifically recommended it on my Herald because of the active chants, like Paralysis. But using phrases for summons is much more economical IMO.

 

[FreeKaner]

You know what confirms Sawyer being on the spectrum? All summons across all classes having 6 seconds cast time, regardless if that's justified or not.

 

[The Great ThunThun*]

Proper Gods should be creators, not created, and definitely shouldn't have their divine power dependent on the trite mumbo-jumbo of meatbags.

They weren't meant to be "proper gods"

Enlighten us what they were meant to be then.

The idea in the game is pure ass.

 

[Prime Junta]

Digression for larpers -- I came across a list of pre-Columbian Nahuatl names. Selection:

Cocoliloc -- She is hated
Tematlalehua -- She bruises people
Cihuacocoxqui -- Sick woman
Yaotl -- Enemy
Yawica -- He goes to war
Coatl -- Snake
Tecocoa -- He hurts people
Poton -- He stinks
Ilcahualoc -- He is forgotten
Itzcotocatl -- Cut by obsidian
Motolinia -- He torments himself
Mizyaotl -- Cat enemy
Tlailotlac -- Dirty one
Yaotlhuehue -- Old enemy
Tecocol -- Someone's anger
Yaonemitl -- Enemy arrow
Tlapayauh -- It became dark
Itzmiquiztli -- Death by obsidian/sacrifice
Nahualquizqui -- He came out of sorcery
Tlaocoyoa -- S/he is sad
Yaotlachinol -- Destruction of war
Pozon -- Boiled one
Huetl -- Sacrifice
Itzmalli -- Obsidian prisoner
Miquiz -- Death

Aztecs seem like charming people.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

When will the Turn based mode for PE2 be released?

looks like Fagass Cuckhard is losing his reign now that Microsoft is the sugar daddy.

It will probably still be dumpsterfire, but hey TB.

 

[Morality Games]

Proper Gods should be creators, not created, and definitely shouldn't have their divine power dependent on the trite mumbo-jumbo of meatbags.

They weren't meant to be "proper gods"

Enlighten us what they were meant to be then.

The idea in the game is pure ass.

The main conceit of Pillars of Eternity is that its inhabitants *think* they live in the Forgotten Realms with activist gods and clearly delineated measures of good and evil conduct but actually they live in a Nietzschean world where the "good and evil" enforced by the gods is good and evil as the Engwithan philospher-scientists envisioned it should be (conductive to social stability, even at the cost of stagnation).

So instead of a world driven by metaphysics, you have the world driving metaphysics.

 

[Prime Junta]

Fake news! You specifically recommended it on my Herald because of the active chants, like Paralysis. But using phrases for summons is much more economical IMO.

Fair. I will say in my defence that you can make an active or passive Herald. Build the paladin side around Flames of Devotion and the chanter side around phrases (Troubadour with extended linger is good), and you've basically got a badass alpha striker with fantastic group buffs from the paladin aura and chanter chants, with the occasional offensive invocation thrown in for good measure.

From where I'm at the weird thing in your build is low DEX and high PER. Since PER only contributes to active abilities, the low DEX significantly reduces its utility. IMO it would have been better either to dump both and go full tank/support, or keep both at a moderate level and focus on active abilities. Those chanter summons /are/ really good, but then so are many of the attack invocations.

 

[Theldaran]

Proper Gods should be creators, not created, and definitely shouldn't have their divine power dependent on the trite mumbo-jumbo of meatbags.

They weren't meant to be "proper gods"

Enlighten us what they were meant to be then.

The idea in the game is pure ass.

The main conceit of Pillars of Eternity is that its inhabitants *think* they live in the Forgotten Realms with activist gods and clearly delineated measures of good and evil conduct but actually they live in a Nietzschean world where the "good and evil" enforced by the gods is good and evil as the Engwithan philospher-scientists envisioned it should be (conductive to social stability, even at the cost of stagnation).

So instead of a world driven by metaphysics, you have the world driving metaphysics.

So, shit concept.

 

[Quillon]

Proper Gods should be creators, not created, and definitely shouldn't have their divine power dependent on the trite mumbo-jumbo of meatbags.

They weren't meant to be "proper gods"

Enlighten us what they were meant to be then.

The idea in the game is pure ass.

The point is what they were meant to be was NOT being proper/usual fantasy gods, criticizing them for failing to be as such is idiotic. Whether the idea is good or bad I don't care since FUCK FANTASY(tm).

 

[Delterius]

Itzmalli -- Obsidian prisoner

This confirms Sawyer's supremacist agenda. Not only do Eora's mexicans look like north americans (the only proper version of acquiescent natives), not only does the game lack in ixamitl portraits for the PC (who would want to be a mexican, like, come on) but their culture is 'obsidian's prisoner'. IE, the victims of cultural appropriation most foul ever since Sawyer channeled his inner 4channer, turned the spaniards into italians and then the italians into black african americans from brooklyn.

:makesyouthinkemoji:

 

[Morality Games]

Proper Gods should be creators, not created, and definitely shouldn't have their divine power dependent on the trite mumbo-jumbo of meatbags.

They weren't meant to be "proper gods"

Enlighten us what they were meant to be then.

The idea in the game is pure ass.

The main conceit of Pillars of Eternity is that its inhabitants *think* they live in the Forgotten Realms with activist gods and clearly delineated measures of good and evil conduct but actually they live in a Nietzschean world where the "good and evil" enforced by the gods is good and evil as the Engwithan philospher-scientists envisioned it should be (conductive to social stability, even at the cost of stagnation).

So instead of a world driven by metaphysics, you have the world driving metaphysics.

So, shit concept.

Kind of subjective. Also, all of the Realms-like alternatives have been exhaustively explored.

 

[Theldaran]

Proper Gods should be creators, not created, and definitely shouldn't have their divine power dependent on the trite mumbo-jumbo of meatbags.

They weren't meant to be "proper gods"

Enlighten us what they were meant to be then.

The idea in the game is pure ass.

The main conceit of Pillars of Eternity is that its inhabitants *think* they live in the Forgotten Realms with activist gods and clearly delineated measures of good and evil conduct but actually they live in a Nietzschean world where the "good and evil" enforced by the gods is good and evil as the Engwithan philospher-scientists envisioned it should be (conductive to social stability, even at the cost of stagnation).

So instead of a world driven by metaphysics, you have the world driving metaphysics.

So, shit concept.

Kind of subjective. Also, all of the Realms-like alternatives have been exhaustively explored.

Already explored? Well. What's your opinion on shooters? MMOs? And people still flock to them.

I say, better do the tried-and-tested but do it well and putting effort. POE tried so hard to be so avant-garde it failed right away.