Eternity Pillars of Eternity + The White March Expansion Thread

[processdaemon]

I've finished appeasing the gods and finally it's time to face the man himself - Thaos ix Arkannon. Before that I have to choose on what to do with all of the Hollowborn's souls.

The way I've played my character narrows down the choice between Hylea and Galawain. Hylea wants me to return the souls of the children, even if most of them turn out autistic. With the argument being that even if one of them turns out fine it would be totally worth it. Right, I'm not sure about that.

On the other side Galawain wants me to turn the souls into protein powder that will be used to strengthen Dyrwoodian's. Very based and very chadish. I like this one better. However, when trying to play from the perspective of my character I'm looking for the kinder option of the two. I suppose having some autistic kids is better than having no kids at all...? Feels like a pick your poison scenario. Who did you guys pick, I'm curious.

Anyway, as I am reaching the end of the game can anyone tell me what carries over to PoE 2? Obviously, I should finish up Aloth, Eder and Pallegina's quests. I think I've also seen Hiravias in PoE 2 but I'm not so sure. Some people say that some side quests also carry over but no one mentions which. I can't imagine side quests being that big of a deal but I wouldn't mind doing them if they give something extra to my PoE 2 run.

Hiravias isn't in PoE2 (and in my opinion nothing of value was lost in that respect), and I think the best measure of which side quests are important is the input for the custom legacies option in PoE2. If you don't mind spoiling yourself about the effects in PoE2 here's a link to wiki breaking everything down, if you don't want to risk spoiling yourself I'll copy the list of quest titles/choices that affect things below.

List of Custom Legacy Choices, have spoilered choices that come after the point in the game you're at

2.1 The Hollowborn Crisis
2.1.1 The fate of the souls
2.1.2 My pledge to the gods
2.1.3 The fate of Thaos ix Arkannon's soul
2.1.4 Maerwald's fate
2.1.5 Establish my stance at the animancy trial
2.1.6 Defiance bay faction support

2.2 Companions
2.2.1 What happened at the blood pool?

2.3 The White March
2.3.1 The White Forge
2.3.2 The Eyeless
2.3.3 Adaryc
2.3.4 The Siege of Cragholdt
2.3.5 The Phylactery's Promise

2.4 The Gilded Vale and Raedric's Hold
2.4.1 Wirtan's fate
2.4.2 Raedric and Kolsc
2.4.3 The Champion of Berath
2.4.4 A Mother's Plea

2.5 The Endless Paths of Od Nua
2.5.1 The Blade of the Endless Paths
2.5.2 The Master Below

2.6 Defiance Bay
2.6.1 At All Costs
2.6.2 The Wailing Banshee
2.6.3 Caedman Azo's fate
2.6.4 The Theorems of Pandgram
2.6.5 Undying Heritage
2.6.6 Cinders of Faith
2.6.7 Never Far from the Queen
2.6.8 Blood Legacy
2.6.9 His Old Self
2.6.10 The Parable of Wael

2.7 Twin Elms
2.7.1 Sacrificial Bloodlines
2.7.2 A Servant of Death
2.7.3 Into the White Void
2.7.4 The Nest Above the Clouds

 

[Axel_am]

Awesome. Truly a legendary response. Thank you.

Haven't really talked to Hiravias all that much. I'm getting the impression that he is a bit more horny than he should be but what else is a drifter going to be? The banter he has with Eder and Pallegina I like very much tho.

 

[processdaemon]

He's not the worst RPG companion out there for sure, but I think the sleaziness, not being a big fan of how he was voice acted and getting him later than most of the other companions meant I never really warmed to him. His personal quest is kind of interesting though.

 

[Axel_am]

Yeah, he does seem kinda thrown in the last minute. Like I said I haven't really talked with the guy that much to have a strong opinion. But the way he talks about other deities and druids, things in his field generally, is very enticing. I like the way he sounds. If anything his voice is pretty memorable.

I'll finish the game first before making a comment on the companions. My dumbfoundedness about what the mage can do better than the druid seems very illogical dumb now, don't really want to repeat it. I guess I was at a point where I just needed more AoE in my party and Hiravias was just doing better than Aloth in that regard.

Honestly, the game flows extremely well from quest to quest, zone to zone and act to act. The only exception is the beginning of Act 3. They really went combat heavy and the difficulty spike is unanimously there. I haven't played IWD but I imagine the combat density feels something like what's happening in Act 3.

 

[Lacrymas]

Theoretically, you can get Hiravias right after meeting Sagani (he's one area away from her), but it requires some metagame knowledge to know to go to him.

 

[Axel_am]

Yes, I remember running into him by accident on my first playthrough. Still with Twin Elms being very nature and deity themed he feels like a companion that was made for Act 3 specifically.

 

[Tweed]

Working on White March was probably the last time Sawyer was truly happy, one last chance to visit Icewind Dale.

 

[Agesilaus]

I just finished PoE 1 and both parts of the White March.

Great setting and story, but I think my ability to appreciate it rests entirely on my many hours of experience with PoE2. There is a lot that holds PoE1 back, but if you already know the setting fairly well and understand the combat, then you can connect the dots and appreciate some solid crpg goodness. It's quite a mature and tragic plot, albeit near the end it goes a bit edgy atheist.

What I will say is, it reminded me a bit of Age of Decadence. AoD came out the same year, but was publicly available during development for many years prior. The gods themselves are very different (PoE is Olympian), but in both the gods are brought to our world/created by ancient civilizations. They use giant, advanced machines to achieve this, and we barely understand how the machines/technology work. The gods are involved in some great destruction of the knowledge that introduced/created them. We have to enter some ancient complex to find the machines, and the game culminates with the gods directly communicating with us. We ultimately bring about their plan (either doing what they want with the souls, or bringing them a puppet to run the world with).

I could go on, but actually there are a number of significant differences. PoE is obviously pulling from several sources of inspiration, like greek mythology, baldur's gate setting, etc. But it would not surprise me if AoD was an influence, too.

 

[BlackAdderBG]

lol nobody on that team ever player AoD

edit: Yeah, Sawyer doesn't count. Let see who the writers of Pillars were. Eric Fenstermaker, Carrie Pate and Olivia Veras...hmm 100% they played AoD and explored it to find the true background of the setting and be inspired to create Kana "the refugees welcome" or the Aloth "I have another man inside me, but I'm not gay" masterclasses of tone and subtlety.

 

[mediocrepoet]

lol nobody on that team ever player AoD

edit: Yeah, Sawyer doesn't count. Let see who the writers of Pillars were. Eric Fenstermaker, Carrie Pate and Olivia Veras...hmm 100% they played AoD and explored it to find the true background of the setting and be inspired to create Kana "the refugees welcome" or the Aloth "I have another man inside me, but I'm not gay" masterclasses of tone and subtlety.

Aloth has a straight woman in him. Actually, I'm not sure how you got the impression Iselmyr was a guy.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Iselmyr was a guy

The voice, probably.

 

[Agesilaus]

lol nobody on that team ever player AoD

edit: Yeah, Sawyer doesn't count. Let see who the writers of Pillars were. Eric Fenstermaker, Carrie Pate and Olivia Veras...hmm 100% they played AoD and explored it to find the true background of the setting and be inspired to create Kana "the refugees welcome" or the Aloth "I have another man inside me, but I'm not gay" masterclasses of tone and subtlety.

Aloth has a straight woman in him. Actually, I'm not sure how you got the impression Iselmyr was a guy.

Apparently BlackAdder didn't play PoE




Anyway, I hope some of them played it. AoD was an oasis of incline in the great crpg drought. I played the combat demo and every update, along with discovering gems like nethergate and the geneforge series. Gaming in the late 00s and early-mid 2010s was saved by titles like AoD.

Anyway, I'll make a PoE retrospective twitter space, come tell me how aloth is gay or whatever.

 

[luj1]

lol nobody on that team ever player AoD

edit: Yeah, Sawyer doesn't count. Let see who the writers of Pillars were. Eric Fenstermaker, Carrie Pate and Olivia Veras...hmm 100% they played AoD and explored it to find the true background of the setting and be inspired to create Kana "the refugees welcome" or the Aloth "I have another man inside me, but I'm not gay" masterclasses of tone and subtlety.

Aloth has a straight woman in him. Actually, I'm not sure how you got the impression Iselmyr was a guy.

No one cares

This is why you always find politics in trash RPGs

 

[Agesilaus]

All codexians are invited to join the discussion. CRPGs are the highest form of art.

 

[0sacred]

Do you think he knows it's shit?

 

[Alienman]

All codexians are invited to join the discussion. CRPGs are the highest form of art.

How does one of these discussions work?

 

[Agesilaus]

All codexians are invited to join the discussion. CRPGs are the highest form of art.

How does one of these discussions work?

You log on to twitter/x and click "join space" when it starts. If you want to say something, you can request that by clicking on the icon of a microphone (bottom left) and then I'll grant it. Then you can unmute/mute yourself at will. I believe you have to use the phone app, although sometimes they let you use the website to participate.

Just imagine sitting in a room listening to a lecture or a discussion, and if you want to join the speakers up front or ask a question you just click that button and they activate your microphone. Also, people can pin tweets up at the top of the screen, so you can see pictures or diagrams or whatever.


Here, this is the last space I hosted: https://twitter.com/Tweetophon/status/1712955694050328712
I'm just reading through Parmenides' fragments and commenting on it/discussing it with others. I was going to do part 3 on Friday, but I figured it would be nice to do something about PoE. I usually record my spaces and then throw them onto youtube as well.

 

[Axel_am]

I'm still taking my time with my playthrough. I've cleared everything I want so going to the Sun and Shadow is all that's left. Well that and the two expansions. I thought I can beat the vanilla game and play them next but it seems I need a pre-endgame save so here we are.

Great setting and story, but I think my ability to appreciate it rests entirely on my many hours of experience with PoE2.

Yeah, I'm not really sure why they decided to go for a fantasy mystery in the main plot lie. You get to understand the story better by working backwards and the clues you find are never enough to know what's coming next. I think it speaks volumes of the confidence that went into making Pillars.

I haven't seen the full pay off yet, just the conversation with Iovara, but I'm sensing some decline there. Maybe what comes next can stick the landing but I'll go through the White March before finding out.

Anyway, I just finished the Adra Dragon. What a beast. What a fight. Enjoyed it much more than the Sky Dragon one. Both were awesome encounters and felt the perfect amount of same/different for me. The game really lets you fight for the win in those fights. Hopefully more to come in White March.

 

[Haplo]

Anyway, I just finished the Adra Dragon. What a beast. What a fight. Enjoyed it much more than the Sky Dragon one. Both were awesome encounters and felt the perfect amount of same/different for me. The game really lets you fight for the win in those fights. Hopefully more to come in White March.

Oh for sure, WMs have some of the best encounter design (and level design, itemization) in all of PoE.
I just hope won't be overlevelled too much, as that can spoil the fun.
Frankly something like level 7-8 is optimal to start WM1...

 

[Axel_am]

That's alright. I wanted to play the base game as much as possible. The first time I played Pillars was like this so it was a great opportunity to see what I liked/didn't like between now and then. And a great trip down memory lane as well. I also wanted to see the max scale option in WM.

It kinda feels like I'm leaving some stuff for a possible future playthrough and starting WM at 7/8 is definitely one of those.

 

[Agesilaus]

When you travel to Stalwart to start WM P1 and then P2, the game will notify you if your level is relatively high and ask if you want to make things more difficult. Personally, I do not enjoy the combat in PoE 1, so I declined and just slaughtered everything. I started P1 at a relatively low level, though, so that was a challenge. There is a dragon battle waiting for you; I found the dragon to be interesting an interesting character.

WM P2 is the height of PoE, I would say. Top marks. Told the story of Ondra & Abyddon well, interesting location and quests, very tight scenario that doesn't overstay its welcome. The bit about chasing down the Bleakwalkers was a bit of a pain in the neck but whatever, it's not attached or in any way relevant to the main WM P2 quest. You have a much better sense for Ondra and, as a result, it gives you that PoE 2 flavour where the gods talk to you and are clearly involved and driving things forward.

Re: combat, I do enjoy PoE 2 combat because of the good scripting system and some of the changes to the buffs/debuffs. Also, because of the improvements to the classes; they are more unique and interesting, and I appreciate the Pathfinder style chart. I am now playing Deadfire, I have an ancient druid and I've scripted it so he summons sporelings, casts a buff or two, then shapeshifts. Similarly, if I feel motivated I can script my other characters, or just use the default scripts and then step in as needed. It runs itself, but you have a big role to play in preparing a battle plan and you can always step in if the battle lasts too long. Also, death via wounds rather than death via an overall "endurance" on top of your health is a better system, lots of little things like that.

 

[Haplo]

Re: combat, I do enjoy PoE 2 combat because of the good scripting system and some of the changes to the buffs/debuffs. Also, because of the improvements to the classes; they are more unique and interesting, and I appreciate the Pathfinder style chart. I am now playing Deadfire, I have an ancient druid and I've scripted it so he summons sporelings, casts a buff or two, then shapeshifts. Similarly, if I feel motivated I can script my other characters, or just use the default scripts and then step in as needed. It runs itself, but you have a big role to play in preparing a battle plan and you can always step in if the battle lasts too long. Also, death via wounds rather than death via an overall "endurance" on top of your health is a better system, lots of little things like that.

The classes are not more unique in PoE2, quite the opposite - due to removal of vancian-style casting and move to per encounter for all classes. Also even more "magical moves". Multiclassing is complex, synergistic and fun, though.
Also I liked the Endurance system a lot. Its removal makes the combat more dumbed-down.
A bit less impactful buffs and steamlined buff/affliction system are big plusses for PoE2, though.

 

[luj1]

Also I liked the Endurance system a lot. Its removal makes the combat more dumbed-down.

How

 

[almondblight]

The classes are not more unique in PoE2, quite the opposite - due to removal of vancian-style casting and move to per encounter for all classes.

I always dislike Vancian casting in CRPGs because it becomes very meta-gamey. The whole resource management aspect is based on you trying to predict how many more encounters the designers placed in before you can refill your magic. Especially with encounter heavy games like PoE. In the end my Vancian casters just get really underutilized except for boss encounters when I know I can use them to their full effect.

 

[Haplo]

The classes are not more unique in PoE2, quite the opposite - due to removal of vancian-style casting and move to per encounter for all classes.

In the end my Vancian casters just get really underutilized except for boss encounters when I know I can use them to their full effect.

Which is fine in my book, really. You have martials, Ciphers, Chanters which can contribute in every fight - and traditional casters for when you need to bring out the big guns.
However PoE1 already started blurring this division in a very neat way IMO - by giving some decently strong per encounter powers to casters (that could be upgraded further), like Interdiction, Radiance for Priests, that aoe Daze for wizards and, at higher levels, turning select lower levels spells to per Encounter (including powerful stuff like Devotions of the Faithfull eventually).

I really liked how PoE1 handled the vancian system and also how it made Chanters, but especially Ciphers feel unique, as well as the Health/Endurance/Defenses/Healing dynamic.