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

[rusty_shackleford]

My harbinger has 27 might, being able to ignore dex is fun

 

[AwesomeButton]

2) Pets are awful. Resilient Companion doesn't really solve their armor woes and additional micro is real. It was already an issue in PoE1: even after patch 2.0 a pet was 70% asset and 30% liability. Wolf had very good damage potential but required quite some babysitting. In PoE2 we're back to the 20% asset and 80% pain in the ass scenario. And no, Ghost Heart doesn't solve the problem. It merely lets you ignore it.

I used a bear pet because it was the best tank of all the pets, and mainly tasked it with causing Flanked on enemies. It worked, but was still dying rather often on longer fights against larger groups.

 

[Parabalus]

In this roster of an unnecessary number of classes, Ranger is the most pointless, true. They should've made Ranger a subclass of Rogue and Barbarian a subclass of Fighter.

I did a full playthrough on PotD with a Barbarian/Fighter main character, and I didn't find any point to the Barbarian abilities. They all had a marginal impact. The only reason I picked Barbarian as one of the classes was the higher health pool.

The Barbarian passive abilities are insane for pretty much any character.

 

[Orma]

Damn, people here either haven't played the game and are talking out of their asses or they are really clueless.

Both ranger and barbarian are really good.

Fighter can't really replace either, but it complements both very well

 

[TT1]

Damn, people here either haven't played the game and are talking out of their asses or they are really clueless.

Both ranger and barbarian are really good.

You are some special kind of retarded, aren't you?

 

[Alpan]

Orma is right -- every class is good in Deadfire. If you don't see the point of a given ability chances are quite good (especially in a system with so many interacting mechanics as Deadfire's) you haven't realized how to utilize it to its potential.

Just a few hours ago, for instance, I realized that Wall of Draining (Wizard) is one of the more grossly OP abilities in the game. You wouldn't necessarily realize it from the description, but once you actually start using it in a solo playthrough the situation becomes abundantly clear.

 

[Lacrymas]

I did a full playthrough on PotD with a Barbarian/Fighter main character, and I didn't find any point to the Barbarian abilities. They all had a marginal impact. The only reason I picked Barbarian as one of the classes was the higher health pool.

The Barbarian passive abilities are insane for pretty much any character.

The problem is not whether they are good or not, the problem is they are not enough to base an entire class on. The passives could've easily been given to a Fighter subclass, remove that regen ability, add Carnage. If I had a say in the class design, I'd remove Barbarians, Monks, Druids and Rangers, all superfluous and unnecessary classes in the way they are implemented. Give the spiritshift form as a spell to Wizards (polymorph self), Monk and Barbarian could've easily been Fighter subclasses and Ranger a Rogue subclass. Focus on the classes that are left and make them more diverse. I'd also place restrictions on armor and weapon use. "But my choices" I hear you say, well that's where the multiclasses come in while making the classes themselves more diverse. PoE's system plays like a classless one due to all the homogeneity. The only unique classes are Ciphers and Chanters, everything else is a reskin of everything else.

The builds which are interesting are suspiciously few and far between for a system with so many alleged options. In PoE1, there are 4 I can name - Barbarian focused on dying and triggering on-knockout abilities; Skaen Priest; Rogue focused on casting from scrolls; and dual Ciphers which trade their buffs on each other. If you browse the build sticky on the Obsidian forums, you'll notice a lot of builds using same items and same kind of feats and talents. In PoE2, there are even fewer interesting ones due to the removal of many unique abilities on items and subclass abilities (like Skaen sneak attack, which I'm still not over *twitch*). There are still a lot of clearly superior options that get used in builds constantly. This also contributes to classes feeling samey and playing the same.

 

[Safav Hamon]

I enjoy all of Deadfire's classes, and have created multiple distinctive feeling builds within each one.

Like Alpan says, usually when someone complains about useless abilities, it's them that doesn't understand how to use them properly.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

People aren't saying ranger is bad, they're saying it's not distinct enough to warrant its own class.

 

[Safav Hamon]

It's the only class designed specifically around ranged weapons and has a unique mechanic in the form of pets, which despite what some people claim are more than just a gimmick.

 

[Orma]

Damn, people here either haven't played the game and are talking out of their asses or they are really clueless.

Both ranger and barbarian are really good.

You are some special kind of retarded, aren't you?

Yeah not gonna argue mechanics with some retard playing on story mode.

Autists coming out of woodwork since buttons are gone

 

[FreeKaner]

People aren't saying ranger is bad, they're saying it's not distinct enough to warrant its own class.

It's distinct in that it has a pet and unique synergies with the pet. Especially the boost to accuracy.

I feel like people here never used a ranger and are purely theorycrafting coming from a point of ignorance. The only reason one wouldn't use a ranger is because Maia is in the game and she is an exceptional ranger due her subclass and her unique pet.

 

[Lacrymas]

I've also noticed only 1 interjection triggering at any one time in PoE1, so everyone feels quieter as a result. As in, there are 6 companions with comments about the blood pool, but only 1 ever triggers.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

It's the only class designed specifically around ranged weapons and has a unique mechanic in the form of pets, which despite what some people claim are more than just a gimmick.

except most abilities are usable with any equipped weapon so it doesn't matter that they're "designed around ranged weapons", so their only form of uniqueness is having a pet. An entire class just to have a pet is a gimmick.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Autists coming out of woodwork since buttons are gone

Lol, because your button ratings were so scary. You really are PoE's core audience, aren't you

 

[AwesomeButton]

Listen to this folks:

Slick wet fur in the lamplight, calloused palms perusing her pelt, tweaking teats and biting at the soft edge of the neck, thrusting into botness... yet tender - hopeful - not that this time will be the one that lasts, but that she might forget this sodden shithouse for an evening or two.

 

[Lacrymas]

I have a friend who writes furry erotica/porn for money and the things he has written and has shown me from others who have written such aren't as cringey as that.

 

[FreeKaner]

Informative.

 

[TT1]

It's the only class designed specifically around ranged weapons and has a unique mechanic in the form of pets, which despite what some people claim are more than just a gimmick.

except most abilities are usable with any equipped weapon so it doesn't matter that they're "designed around ranged weapons", so their only form of uniqueness is having a pet. An entire class just to have a pet is a gimmick.

Everything a ranger can do, a Devoted/ Assassin can do with better results. Ranger in Deadfire is just for having an animal companion.

 

[Reinhardt]

Rangers are for fags and furries. Make him elf for full effect.

 

[Maculo]

Having great fun with my PotD solo run - Paladin/Wizard, but feels like it could work just as well with a Fighter instead of Paladin. The new Blood Mage subclass is very powerful.

Just started the DLCs (Beast of Winter up first), this being my first time through them. The base game is a faceroll (the usual difficulty drop off after the Engwithan Digsite applies here as well) but The Messenger fight at the beginning of BoW was surprisingly difficult. Had to come up with a plan to nuke single targets, whereas nothing in the base game had previously warranted such consideration.

I am curious, how did you stat your character? Last time I read the Obsidian build thread, posters were recommending low might, high dex, semi-decent constitution, and spamming slicken.

 

[Alpan]

Having great fun with my PotD solo run - Paladin/Wizard, but feels like it could work just as well with a Fighter instead of Paladin. The new Blood Mage subclass is very powerful.

Just started the DLCs (Beast of Winter up first), this being my first time through them. The base game is a faceroll (the usual difficulty drop off after the Engwithan Digsite applies here as well) but The Messenger fight at the beginning of BoW was surprisingly difficult. Had to come up with a plan to nuke single targets, whereas nothing in the base game had previously warranted such consideration.

I am curious, how did you stat your character? Last time I read the Obsidian build thread, posters were recommending low might, high dex, semi-decent constitution, and spamming slicken.

Base values are 15 Mig/8 Con/14 Dex/17 Per/18 Int/3 Res. I use Berath's Blessings for +2 stats so no stats other than Resolve (useless) incur a penalty.

I considered a slightly lower Mig and higher Con, but decided against it. The self-harm Blood Sacrifice does is somewhat overblown. The healing you can get from Exalted Endurance, Lay on Hands and (the vastly underrated) Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon does a fine job enabling you to use your health as a resource. Then you add the Voidward Ring for -25% Raw Damage taken and the Might becomes all upside.

Certainly you could go for dumped Mig, but it would feel much more tedious to play. Consider that the difference between 3 and 15 Mig is -36% damage and healing, not insignificant even when considering that the bonus is additive. Even with Blood Sacrifice it's in your best interests to make every spell cast matter.

 

[Maculo]

Thanks! I appreciate it.

I am having a hell of a time deciding what class to commit to for a playthrough. I am between Blood Mage/Pally and a Blood Mage Thaumaturge build that combines wall of draining and barring deaths door to be immortal.

 

[Jinn]

Are many of you playing with the turn-based beta? Haven't seen much mention of it the past few pages. I'm considering grabbing the DLC during the current steam sale and was wondering how encounters have been for people mid to later in the game. Does it feel like they need major re-tuning for turn-based mode, or are they feeling pretty good in general?

 

[Safav Hamon]

Thanks! I appreciate it.

I am having a hell of a time deciding what class to commit to for a playthrough. I am between Blood Mage/Pally and a Blood Mage Thaumaturge build that combines wall of draining and barring deaths door to be immortal.

Blood Mage/Steel Garrotte is a poweful combo because it gives you an unlimited means of regenerating health