Eternity Pillars of Eternity + The White March Expansion Thread

[Prime Junta]

If you're a completionist you will be dangerously close to outlevelling and out-gearing the content towards the end of the game anyway. Whatever you do, don't play White March early and then return to the main campaign; either do it last thing level scaled up, or save it for a second play-through.

Does Od Nua and the Bounties give EXP? I didn't do either and didn't feel like I overlevelled the game's content too much.

Yes on both counts. Also they give you some of the best gear, which makes a quite a bit of difference.

 

[Prime Junta]

BTW Od Nua is a pretty decent dungeon crawl and some of the bounty fights are fun also. Hit them early, stop, do something else, and level up if it gets frustratingly hard, then come back, and there's a lot of fun to be had there. You can then go on to play WM level-scaled.

I'd suggest that for a second play-through though, as coming back to the main campaign after that is pretty boring as the combat is strictly story-mode with no real rewards to be had either; if you want to explore alternative quest resolutions then sure.

 

[Delterius]

I am considering buying the WM expansion and doing a full playthrough. I assume you can't somehow do it after the ending with Thaos, right? And that the Thaos fight doesn't scale up either?

 

[Prime Junta]

I am considering buying the WM expansion and doing a full playthrough. I assume you can't somehow do it after the ending with Thaos, right? And that the Thaos fight doesn't scale up either?

The endgame can be level-scaled up as well, including the Thaos fight. It's quite short and not all that good IMO, as endgames often are though. The last point where you can do WM is the save before you jump down that well; there will be one automatically even if you don't remember to save it.

 

[Terpsichore]

Combat was very boring and tiresome the last time I tried the game and writing was garbage besides the MCA's bits. The game just didn't endgage me at all, felt more like a chore. MMO-esque gear system didn't help either.

 

[Sentinel]

Combat was very boring and tiresome the last time I tried the game and writing was garbage besides the MCA's bits. The game just didn't endgage me at all, felt more like a chore. MMO-esque gear system didn't help either.

Should probably remove those fanboy glasses, think it'd help your case.

 

[Haplo]

The game just didn't endgage me at all, felt more like a chore. MMO-esque gear system didn't help either.

Seems like I have a very different idea of what is MMO-style gear.
At least the power creep was limited in PoE and we avoided silly tiers here (well, except quality, but only a few brackets with limited effect).
IMO it's like one of the few modern cRPGS WITHOUT MMO style gear (as opposed to Wasteland2, DA:O and Witcher 3 for example).

 

[Haplo]

If you're a completionist you will be dangerously close to outlevelling and out-gearing the content towards the end of the game anyway. Whatever you do, don't play White March early and then return to the main campaign; either do it last thing level scaled up, or save it for a second play-through.

Does Od Nua and the Bounties give EXP? I didn't do either and didn't feel like I overlevelled the game's content too much. A few choice encounters were pretty challenging/fun then, IMO.

Note: I've only played it on release, so maybe they balanced the xp rewards a bit since then.
Od Nua was fairly ok, though it tended to obviously overlevel your party. But the bounties really felt like too much. Not only great loot, but crazy fast xp as well. Both combined meant maxed characters like 2/3 into the game....

 

[Excidium II]

The game just didn't endgage me at all, felt more like a chore. MMO-esque gear system didn't help either.

Seems like I have a very different idea of what is MMO-style gear.
At least the power creep was limited in PoE and we avoided silly tiers here (well, except quality, but only a few brackets with limited effect).
IMO it's like one of the few modern cRPGS WITHOUT MMO style gear (as opposed to Wasteland2, DA:O and Witcher 3 for example).

Twitcher 3 is the worst in this regard, with level req. on gear.

 

[Parabalus]

Note: I've only played it on release, so maybe they balanced the xp rewards a bit since then.
Od Nua was fairly ok, though it tended to obviously overlevel your party. But the bounties really felt like too much. Not only great loot, but crazy fast xp as well. Both combined meant maxed characters like 2/3 into the game....

They severely nerfed the bounty xp, which was much needed.

A useful tidbit is that you can manually scale areas with the console, using

Spoiler

ToggleScaler <scalername> Forces high level scaling. Example: ELMSHORE_HIGH_LEVEL, ACT3_HIGH_LEVEL, ACT4_HIGH_LEVEL, PX1_HIGH_LEVEL, PX2_HIGH_LEVEL

This gives you a bit more flexibility since you can ie. do stuff in WM1, go thorugh Od Nua or Elmshore, then come back and scale up so you don't just roll through everything. This affects only areas you didn't load yet, obviously.

If you find the game too easy drop your priest, and to a lesser degree, mage. PotD is tougher than Bg2 with SCS, but not extremes like Insane/Tactics. Less reliance on gimmicky mage whack-a-mole too.

 

[Sensuki]

I am considering buying the WM expansion and doing a full playthrough. I assume you can't somehow do it after the ending with Thaos, right? And that the Thaos fight doesn't scale up either?

You can buy my key if you like. I haven't used it yet and don't intend to.

 

[LizardWizard]

Hard is too easy now because of all the changes making everyone stronger overall.

Hard was always too easy though

 

[Delterius]

I am considering buying the WM expansion and doing a full playthrough. I assume you can't somehow do it after the ending with Thaos, right? And that the Thaos fight doesn't scale up either?

You can buy my key if you like. I haven't used it yet and don't intend to.

I'm not sure if it would make sense since I already pay in Huebucks, which is a big discount in itself. But sure, we could look into it.

 

[Sensuki]

Ah yeah. I'd probably be looking for $20 usd (for the full wm1+2). May or may not be worth it for you.

 

[Dwarvophile]

Ok, so thanks to the "let's put savegame folders all over the place" and to my pathologic lack of organization I willll have to start the whole last Durgan's battery level and at least 3 levels in Od Nua ! It's the third time it happens to me (long story). Now I really consider starting the whole game again with a more interesting build than my present dual wielding human fighter.

I was considering a rogue for only one reason : always having somebody able to detect trap and open lacks without having to use the lousy companion alternatives.

What class did you find the most fun to play or the most relevant plot and lore wise in PoE ?

 

[Prime Junta]

What class did you find the most fun to play or the most relevant plot and lore wise in PoE ?

Most fun:
- Paladin, Wizard, Priest
- why: paladin has the biggest range of build variety, wizards and priests have the most interesting spells and also lots of build variety

Lot of fun:
- Fighter, Druid, Ranger
- why: ranger is stupid powerful and coordinating with Mr. Bear is fun, druid spells are almost as much fun as wiz and priest (but not quite IMO), fighters can really make some high-profile items shine

Not so much fun:
- Monk, Rogue, Barb
- why: they need lots of micro, monk needs deflection and DR fine-tuned so they get wounds at a suitable rate plus I have a dislike for the concept of a class that wants to be hit, barb only really works in gimmick builds or combined with specific items, otherwise it's just a second-rate fighter

Not much fun at all:
- Cipher, Chanter
- why: gameplay is rote as fuck, with the proper AI settings with them the game will play itself

Most interesting plot and lore wise:
- Paladin, Cipher, Priest (but doesn't make all that much difference really)
- why: paladin orders and priest gods are acknowledged in nice ways here and there, ciphers get some unique options to resolve quests or generally do mind-ready stuff

 

[Grunker]

Pretty much what PJ said, just some notes:

I went for a tank Paladin last time. Even if I go for another playthrough in like two years, I am probably going to be playing a dual-wielding Scion of Flame paladin. Great class.

Caster-druids are really fun as well - IMO don't go for shapeshift build.

For any first playthrough I would recommend Paladin with high Might, Resolve and Intelligence. It's a great stat-line for your character and really puts you in that party leader category, letting you handle a bunch of the game's speech checks. If you're thinking about taking Pallegina and therefore avoiding paladin, don't think about the overlap as a downside. I'm strongly considering a 3-4 paladin playthrough for my next one!

 

[Dwarvophile]

Ok, thank you very much guys ! Palladin is tempting. Never played one before (except an anti-palladin in pen&paper Ad&d).

But who do you bring on to open find secret doors, open traps and chests ?

 

[Haplo]

Cipher is tons of fun as well. Depending on choice of powers, could run well on auto indeed. But other powerful skills will greatly benefit from micro. Like the psyhic backlash line powers you use to connect with an enemy/ally. Also extremely powerful (though cant quite unload like an end game vancian caster).

 

[Starwars]

Ok, thank you very much guys ! Palladin is tempting. Never played one before (except an anti-palladin in pen&paper Ad&d).

But who do you bring on to open find secret doors, open traps and chests ?

You can develop Durance to be pretty good at Mechanics, or you can make a custom Rogue character to bring along with you at the tavern.

There is a Rogue companion but she comes a bit later in the game so she won't be there for the first Act and maybe a chunck of the second Act.

 

[Mazisky]

I finished the game 3 times but never played with a Cipher, not even as companion. I am afraid i missed one pretty good class.

 

[Starwars]

Ciphers can be powerful but I never found them particularly fun to play so wouldn't say you missed a lot.

 

[Prime Junta]

Ok, thank you very much guys ! Palladin is tempting. Never played one before (except an anti-palladin in pen&paper Ad&d).

But who do you bring on to open find secret doors, open traps and chests ?

If playing as one of the classes which gets +1 Mechanics, self. I pick a background that gives another +1 and then stack the hell out of it. Otherwise whichever of the companions who has base +1 Mechanics.

In re ciphers, as I said I found them really rote. You just cycle through one or two of your most powerful abilities as Focus builds up. Powerful for sure, but dull and repetitive. (Same as chanters.)

 

[Grunker]

Grieving Mother with a pistol is nice as a party member if you really want a Cipher, because she doesn't need much microing except for spending a big pool of Focus now and again. Like Junta I wouldn't recommend it for the main character. My first playthrough was with a Cipher, and I think that contributed a lot to why I found combat more dull the first time around.

 

[Fairfax]

Ok, so thanks to the "let's put savegame folders all over the place" and to my pathologic lack of organization I willll have to start the whole last Durgan's battery level and at least 3 levels in Od Nua ! It's the third time it happens to me (long story). Now I really consider starting the whole game again with a more interesting build than my present dual wielding human fighter.

I was considering a rogue for only one reason : always having somebody able to detect trap and open lacks without having to use the lousy companion alternatives.

What class did you find the most fun to play or the most relevant plot and lore wise in PoE ?

Cipher. They're basically PoE's Psion class from D&D, and I thought it was the most fun and unique class in the game. They're probably the most relevant to the game's main themes, and they have a lot more dialogue options for it.
Here's Bubbles' list, the number of unique dialogue options for each class:

Barbarian: 2
Chanter: 1
Cipher: 12
Druid: 1
Fighter: 4
Monk: 2
Paladin: 1 + Order
Priest: 6 (3 unique - without equivalent "Clergyman" background check) + Deity
Ranger: 2
Rogue: 2
Wizard: 3

(The full list has the numbers for all types of dialogue checks)

However, the Grieving Mother is a Cipher already, so keep that in mind.

I'd say just avoid Fighter and go Paladin if you want to be a tank.