Eternity Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pre-DLC Thread [GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Infinitron]

I figure the quick levelling at the beginning is actually on purpose so you can get to an end-of-PoE1 power level as soon as possible and get more of a BG2 experience? Depends how fast it is later I guess.

 

[Lady_Error]

So my last two saves were fucked, but the third one worked. Not sure what the trigger is - the one that works is on the world map, while the two that didn't are at the Burial Site.

Also, that sabre with 20% burn damage: Is it normal that it can be equiped only in the off-hand? That seems weird.

 

[Blakemoreland Hybrid Boss]

I figure the quick levelling at the beginning is actually on purpose so you can get to an end-of-PoE1 power level as soon as possible and get more of a BG2 experience? Depends how fast it is later I guess.

The quick levelling at the beginning is to prevent refunds from popamole players. The game is "insanely easy" for the same reason. The real target audience of this game are casual gamers, not codexers.

Which is fine, as long as the difficulty picks up later.

Which will never happen because it would defeat the purpose of making everything easy to begin with.

 

[Lady_Error]

Which is fine, as long as the difficulty picks up later.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

The game is insanely easy. Normal difficulty is literally unplayable, my guys just delete the enemies before I can scratch my balls.

The second complaint feeds into the first one - leveling is insanely fast which makes you even more overpowered than you already were.

Why the hell are you playing on normal? This is 2018. Normal is the new story mode.

Leveling goes much more slowly once you get a few more hours in.

I always do first playthrough on Normal. Pretty sure I once explained on the Codex how I play these games.

I have 3 rules:

1. No restarts. The player character I made is the one I have to finish with, even if I completely fucked things up and he is absolutely useless.
2. No research. I play completely blind from start to finish. I don't read on strategies, I don't check the internet where the good loot is, I don't check which classes are good and how to build them, I don't use any outside information, ever. It is me vs. the game.
3. I play semi-iron man where saves are only used to save progress, but they cannot be used to pop chest loot, check all the decisions in conversation to get best outcomes, win mini-games, and other weird shit that people do.

Playing like this usually makes first playthrough of a new game fun enough even on Normal. Wasteland 2 on Normal was actually a nightmare for me. You start with 4 guys, and going in blind I build them all wrong ( one talky guy with almost no fighting skills, one guy who was melee, a sniper and shotgun user, the most retarded lineup ever made). And I had to push a 60 hour game with not just 1, but 4 shitty party members.

But here, it's just fucking retarded. It isn't even a Story Mode, it's a fucking Interactive Movie mode. It literally plays itself and fights are over in seconds with zero input from me. It's unbelievably bad.

 

[Ulfhednar]

Okay, two massive complaints so far:

The game is insanely easy. Normal difficulty is literally unplayable, my guys just delete the enemies before I can scratch my balls.

Yep - also true for difficulties higher than normal.

The second complaint feeds into the first one - leveling is insanely fast which makes you even more overpowered than you already were.

Don't know why this would be a complaint for the lower levels, since people wanted the game to start at higher levels anyway...

 

[Lacrymas]

We should've been tipped off by that guy who barely knew what an RPG is and didn't reload once on PotD.

Don't know why this would be a complaint for the lower levels, since people wanted the game to start at higher levels anyway...

It is a remake and retry of PoE1, so they could've made the early levels last longer.

 

[fantadomat]

Here is some tits,pussy,ass and dick:

 

[Alienman]

Hard difficulty also seem to be very easy (with upscaling) :/

Edit:

fantadomat Quicksave junkie?

 

[Infinitron]

You could also have been tipped off by Josh Sawyer openly admitting it three days before release! http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...go-to-new-thread.119184/page-396#post-5597361

Wonder how long it'll take to fix.

 

[MajorMace]

Also, that sabre with 20% burn damage: Is it normal that it can be equiped only in the off-hand? That seems weird.

Do you mean the torch ? I asked myself the same question, I guess torches - because of the new animation that Xoti has for instance - are left hand only now.

Launched a new game real quick to rush to Xoti and see if the companion reputation works, it doesn't.
I did notice however that the premade save state work, as Vela was there on the beach and a dude of the crew referenced Durance. (picked hylea's one).
It's pretty frustrating, especially since I'm not sure when the feature is supposed to be active, so I just can't test where the bug comes from.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Hard difficulty also seem to be very easy (with upscaling) :/

Edit:

fantadomat Quicksave junkie?

And of course I can't switch to PoTD once the game started, so basically I either have to restart (which is a sacred rule for me to never do that) or I have to put up with interactive movie mode.

Suck a cock Josh, this is unacceptable.

I think it might be possible to force POTD in console.

 

[Lacrymas]

I'd just wait for patches, tbh, it's obviously undercooked. Like always. Good thing there's no danger of running out of good games to play while waiting on those patches, I can wait a lot, I still haven't played D:OS2, lol. Not that I have a particularly strong desire to, but that's neither here nor there.

You could also have been tipped off by Josh Sawyer openly admitting it three days before release! http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...go-to-new-thread.119184/page-396#post-5597361

Wonder how long it'll take to fix.

Except it doesn't say "every difficulty is baby's first video game tier". I one-shot the skeletons in the starting cave on Veteran! It's even solo because I didn't take Eder in PoE1.

 

[Blakemoreland Hybrid Boss]

I'd just wait for patches, tbh, it's obviously undercooked. Like always. Good thing there's no danger of running out of good games to play while waiting on those patches, I can wait a lot, I still haven't played D:OS2, lol. Not that I have a particularly strong desire to, but that's neither here nor there.

Have you played Jagged Alliance 2, Temple of the Elemental Evil, Knights of the Chalice or (to mention a recent game) Battle Brothers? If not, you should have a look.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

I always do first playthrough on Normal. Pretty sure I once explained on the Codex how I play these games.

I have 3 rules:

1. No restarts. The player character I made is the one I have to finish with, even if I completely fucked things up and he is absolutely useless.
2. No research. I play completely blind from start to finish. I don't read on strategies, I don't check the internet where the good loot is, I don't check which classes are good and how to build them, I don't use any outside information, ever. It is me vs. the game.
3. I play semi-iron man where saves are only used to save progress, but they cannot be used to pop chest loot, check all the decisions in conversation to get best outcomes, win mini-games, and other weird shit that people do.

Playing like this usually makes first playthrough of a new game fun enough even on Normal.

But here, it's just fucking retarded. It isn't even a Story Mode, it's a fucking Interactive Movie mode. It literally plays itself and fights are over in seconds with zero input from me. It's unbelievably bad.

How long have you been operating like this? Sad to say, your high-integrity play style cannot withstand the inexorable rise of degenerate gameplay.

Putting save-scumming and ubiquitous strategy information aside, you know we've had a ridiculous amount of difficulty level inflation (maybe difficulty level deflation--you know what I mean). Most of the people who buy these games want the combat to be super easy, but they don't want to feel like pussies. So normal is basically god mode. The casuals get the easy playthrough they want without having to feel like total wimps.

I don't think you'll be able to play on normal for too many RPGs going forward; normal = game plays itself. Story mode = game plays itself really, really fast. Hopefully modders will add in a "path of the extremely damned" setting.

***
Lacrymas, Ziets says we were wrong about Skaen.

re: Skaen - I came up with him in late 2012, but he wasn't based on any particular influence. (I may be unusual in this, but a lot of my ideas bubble up from my subconscious, and if they're inspired by something, I don't know what it is.) He appeared more as a visual image - a ragged figure following behind the Burned Queen. The goal with him was to create a malevolent god who would appeal to those who suffered undeservedly, and whose rituals could be suitably horrific.

I can't speak for the writers who developed the Skaen cultists that appear in game, though. They might very well have been inspired by other sources like the ones you mentioned.

 

[Lacrymas]

Have you played Jagged Alliance 2, Temple of the Elemental Evil, Knights of the Chalice or (to mention a recent game) Battle Brothers? If not, you should have a look.

Of course, but I can replay those as well, classics never lose their charm. I didn't like Battle Brothers, though, too unstructured and sandboxy for me.

***
Lacrymas, Ziets says we were wrong about Skaen.

re: Skaen - I came up with him in late 2012, but he wasn't based on any particular influence. (I may be unusual in this, but a lot of my ideas bubble up from my subconscious, and if they're inspired by something, I don't know what it is.) He appeared more as a visual image - a ragged figure following behind the Burned Queen. The goal with him was to create a malevolent god who would appeal to those who suffered undeservedly, and whose rituals could be suitably horrific.

I can't speak for the writers who developed the Skaen cultists that appear in game, though. They might very well have been inspired by other sources like the ones you mentioned.

Like I said in the other thread, it doesn't matter if Ziets was conscious of that, I think we made a solid argument that the parallels are there. For example, Malevich himself didn't know what he was doing when he painted the Black Square at first, it only dawned on him 2 years after the fact. Authorial intent is hardly of interest to me, even though I firmly believe that great artists do their greatness with intention, sometimes that's wrong and they stumble on it.

 

[Sensuki]

But here, it's just fucking retarded. It isn't even a Story Mode, it's a fucking Interactive Movie mode. It literally plays itself and fights are over in seconds with zero input from me. It's unbelievably bad.

They've learned that they need to undertune for reviewers for Day 0

 

[Blakemoreland Hybrid Boss]

Have you played Jagged Alliance 2, Temple of the Elemental Evil, Knights of the Chalice or (to mention a recent game) Battle Brothers? If not, you should have a look.

Of course, but I can replay those as well, classics never lose their charm. I didn't like Battle Brothers, though, too unstructured and sandboxy for me.

I heard good things about Betrayal at Krondor. I want to play it. Have you played Realms of Arkania 2 – Star Trail? I probably saw this thread, it has a bunch of suggestions. If it is just about the combat, maybe you should look for more strategy games that have some RPGish elements. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is really something.

 

[Lacrymas]

I heard good things about Betrayal at Krondor. I want to play it. Have you played Realms of Arkania 2 – Star Trail?

Haven't played either, but have them in my GOG backlog. There are also a lot of non-RPGs that I'd like to tackle. So, yeah, there's no danger of going dry with great games, I don't need uncle PoE2 to molest me just so I can feel something every day.

 

[aweigh]

So my last two saves were fucked, but the third one worked. Not sure what the trigger is - the one that works is on the world map, while the two that didn't are at the Burial Site.

Also, that sabre with 20% burn damage: Is it normal that it can be equiped only in the off-hand? That seems weird.

I agree that the "mechanic" feels weird, but the intent behind it was to provide a "powerful weapon" to the beginning player and balancing it out by forcing it to only work on the Off-Hand, which automatically reduces ACC (regardless of whether the Main-Hand is occupied).

There are a few other uniques with that property as well, i.e. off-hand only. This also prevents these items from being used with shields, which cannot be equipped on a main-hand either.

There is no benefit whatsoever to off-hand-only weapons, the flag on these items is meant for "balancing" purposes. +20 extra damage (as burn) is a pretty big enchantment for a free weapon. Seems to me that adding Off-Hand Only FLAG to some items was a last-minute balancing pass thing someone did, as it's very awkward since there is no logical reason to prevent main-hand usage in-game.

 

[Lady_Error]

Launched a new game real quick to rush to Xoti and see if the companion reputation works, it doesn't.

Seems to work for me. I bluffed the druid in the woods and Xoti wasn't pleased. There is a whole screen with a your reputation and the relationship to companions.

 

[Infinitron]

They're still putting these out?



And here's your audio team update:

 

[Ulfhednar]

I think it might be possible to force POTD in console.

I think they did this in one of the streams. It's the one where they are doing content from Fulvano's voyage.

 

[MajorMace]

Seems to work for me. I bluffed the druid in the woods and Xoti wasn't pleased. There is a whole screen with a your reputation and the relationship to companions.

Sorry, the second part of my post wasn't in response to yours, I should have made myself clearer.
I was following up on an earlier post : I have this weird ass bug, which is more than just display because some companions discussions i've seen pop very early on livestream don't pop in my game. They're like, glitched.

Can someone enlighten me on something : I have several hours in the game now, i'm level 6 and have Xoti, Edér and Serafen in the party.

Real problem though, is that on the reputation window, I don't have any companion showing up. I've cleared the first island, I did the pirate's lair quest to take the fucker form the beginning off. To utter a word : I'm pretty sure i'm passed the tutorial part (couldn't tell, expert mode disable pop ups). I suspect it's a giant bug ? Isn't this supposed to appear as soon as I recruit a companion ?

Spoiler

So I still see the nods in dialogues, which acknowledge a companion reaction to something, and it does display companion relationships on their own page.
But mine is empty. And after rushing to Xoti with another char, this time with a premade savestate instead of mine (or a custom one), it's still not up.
My best guess right now is that it doesn't work on expert mode because they somehow tied it to a tutorial pop-up ? Is that even possible ?
Can someone playing on expert confirm or infirm that ?

 

[aweigh]

In PoE 1 the IEMod added the console command for switching to POTD (and switching back). There'll be a mod that allows this once again for PoE 2 soon enough, whether it's an IEMod 2 or something new. I recommend you guys keep a tab open on Obsidian PoE 2 forums.