Eternity Pillars of Eternity + The White March Expansion Thread

[Lacrymas]

Almost everything in and around Defiance Bay is soul-crushingly boring, though. That includes Dyrford village and Cliaban Rilag. Sure, you have the banshee in the tower and the weird theater murderer which I totally missed on my first playthrough (and I'm not the only one, surprisingly enough), but that's small comfort. I'm not saying Gilded Vale is sooo much better, but you have the whole Raedric thing to worry about and it has a nice culmination arc (faffing about -> finding Durance -> Temple of Eothas -> Raedric). Base game is peppered with unnecessary quests given out by boring people with silly problems (pre-natal vitamins woman, the prostitute with the necklace). Caed Nua's dungeon isn't good either, quite the contrary. The first few levels are ok, but then it just gets tedious. Good idea, terrible execution. As for Twin Elms, a lot of people seem to like it, but I'm ambivalent. It's rushed imo. The NPCs stop feeling like people, it's kind of hard to express. The druid orders are interesting on paper, but both the leaders have to be killed off to fulfill the gods' quests. Eh, whatever, the problem is the second third of the game, which is by far the longest. Twin Elms is also spoiled by the fact you are 16th level and nothing is of consequence anymore.

 

[FreeKaner]

You didn't like the Skaenite cultist quest either?

 

[Lacrymas]

I liked the idea of the perverted immaculate conception, I am in love with the Skaen faith after all, but the temple and the Skaenites were handled like B-movie horror villains.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Abydon is the best god. Bro even took one for the kith.

 

[Nano]

You didn't like the Skaenite cultist quest either?

Dude, that's the most insulting quest in the game. Not only are you not allowed to side with the uncle, you're forced to express how outraged you are at him.

 

[Delterius]

you're forced to express how outraged you are at him

i just nuked his room so i didn't have to express my feelings tbh

 

[NJClaw]

I liked the idea of the perverted immaculate conception, I am in love with the Skaen faith after all, but the temple and the Skaenites were handled like B-movie horror villains.

Wow, another episode of "Lacrymas against the entire Codex". How could I have missed it?

I always thought that the (albeit small) similarities between Christianity and the cult of Skaen were widely accepted as true, but it turns out I was wrong. I have played a couple of D&D campaigns in the world of Eora, and I have always stressed those similarities, making them one of the focal point of the cult.

 

[Lacrymas]

I liked the idea of the perverted immaculate conception, I am in love with the Skaen faith after all, but the temple and the Skaenites were handled like B-movie horror villains.

Wow, another episode of "Lacrymas against the entire Codex". How could I have missed it?

I always thought that the (albeit small) similarities between Christianity and the cult of Skaen were widely accepted as true, but it turns out I was wrong. I have played a couple of D&D campaigns in the world of Eora, and I have always stressed those similarities, making them one of the focal point of the cult.

I had a supporter that time who was more ready to dish out the Bible quotes, I only quoted Pope Benedict XVI. it's a pretty cool thread.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

I liked the idea of the perverted immaculate conception, I am in love with the Skaen faith after all, but the temple and the Skaenites were handled like B-movie horror villains.

Wow, another episode of "Lacrymas against the entire Codex". How could I have missed it?

I always thought that the (albeit small) similarities between Christianity and the cult of Skaen were widely accepted as true, but it turns out I was wrong. I have played a couple of D&D campaigns in the world of Eora, and I have always stressed those similarities, making them one of the focal point of the cult.

Yet unlike Christianity (which has a heroic dimension), Skaenism is basically the equivalent of the Sith ideology in Star Wars - great for the underdog, but self-defeating when institutionalized. It is no mystery that Skaen and Woedica share an uneasy partnership since Woedica provides the perfect social environment for Skaen's worship among the underclass.

 

[eXalted]

The lack of replay value is due to how mind-numbingly boring base game is. I'd say you can squeeze a few playthroughs by playing different characters. I actually managed to do 3 playthroughs of PoE1 - once when it came out with a Priest, then once again with a Priest (Skaen) when WM and all the patching was done, and a final time with a Bleakwalker Paladin. I tried to do an ironman run with a Druid, but it's a shitty class. I'm also planning a Wizard/Priest/Druid 3-man run sometime down the road. The problem is always how shit base game after the first town is.

And here, kids, you can see our favourite codex exhibit.

> Plays a game once.
> Plays the same game once more.
> Plays the game 100 more hours.

> Says that the game sucks.

 

[Hyperion]

If you haven't played for 1,337 hours have you really played long enough to have an informed opinion?

 

[TheDiceMustRoll]

i have 195 hours in it.

I have 18 in POE2. So I dunno, I thought POE2 was fucking boring

 

[eXalted]

If you haven't played for 1,337 hours have you really played long enough to have an informed opinion?

Wasting 300+ hours until you realize you are not enjoying what you are doing.

 

[Lacrymas]

Except I did enjoy what I was going, i.e. WM content. It is good enough to slog through base game for. Maybe.

 

[Haplo]

WM is some of the best crpg content in general.

 

[Lacrymas]

After thinking about it, I'd agree, but only WM1.

 

[Haplo]

I agree WM1 is the better part. Still, Part 2 is good also. Hampered a bit by its high level nature.

 

[Grunker]

After thinking about it, I'd agree, but only WM1.

That's too harsh. WM2 is great. It's just that WM1 is downright excellent. The monk-fight of WM2 is one of the best fights in the game period.

 

[TheDiceMustRoll]

After thinking about it, I'd agree, but only WM1.

That's too harsh. WM2 is great. It's just that WM1 is downright excellent. The monk-fight of WM2 is one of the best fights in the game period.

Loved watching my room mate shit himself in rage while he got ping-ponged around the room by those fucking monks. His usual strat of summoning a shitzillion enemies using the items was worthless

 

[Nano]

White March is probably a lot more fun if you intentionally avoid using the freezing fireball spell, isn't it?

 

[Tigranes]

WM is certainly far better than base game, but it strikes me as weird to think basegame is unplayable while WM is concentrated gold. Is there such a massive, gaping difference?

It seems to me that the gulf here isn't as large as, say, NWN1 vs HOTU, where the base campaign was a truly horrific slog only Volourn enjoyed, and is on a whole different level of dull.

Anyway, I wonder if using the console to level up your characters and teleporting to the WM starting area can work as an easy 5-minute shortcut, or if it breaks any scripts. You could also use the built-in console teleportation UI to go shopping in Defiance Bay, and console in quest reward items if you wanted.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

It’s great. Not playing through 7 times great, but still great.

 

[Shadenuat]

it's self sufficient story (unlike main game which knows fuck what it even wants to be) with extra effort put into levels, encounters and finally, itemization. In similar manner I always liked Heart of Winter more than IWD main campaign. although I woould gladly replay IWD over PoE main campaign.

it is always very important to also remember the context when people say how much they played one game. similar to DAO, POE came in a drytime of these games. there just wasn't any alternative when it comes to any BG inspired games. it's not like you could lavishly pick between poe 1 2 tranny kingmaker or even numa & disco etc.

 

[Lacrymas]

Is there such a massive, gaping difference?

Yes. It's a self-contained adventure that has excellent pacing and structure, the fights are pretty good from start to finish, especially since you are there at the best possible level range, the itemization is great, you can get hidden abilities by playing the games in the tavern, the story isn't concerned with the gods (thank Christ for that), and you get a high level challenge area that utilizes the lore to a surprising degree. I think the maps in WM2 are more creative and more diverse, but that's the only thing it has an edge over. Don't get me wrong, WM2 is playable and the highs it hits are pretty impressive, but WM1 is indeed some of the best content the RPG genre has to offer. Base game is a slog.

 

[Nano]

Mind you, because this is a mid-game expansion, it destroys the pacing of the base game.