Eternity Pillars of Eternity + The White March Expansion Thread

[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.

 

[Agesilaus]

I hosted the space today, true fans of PoE click here:



here is the original twitter link, for those that want to access the images referenced:

https://twitter.com/Tweetophon/status/1714411391220920379


Did I do the game justice? Will Sawyer-kun make PoE3 and give us thousands of hours of Rymrgand content?

 

[0sacred]

flawed gem?

you mean on par with Arcanum, ToEE, NWN, BG2?

 

[Agesilaus]

flawed gem?

you mean on par with Arcanum, ToEE, NWN, BG2?

White March P2 was genuinely good/top-tier. The rest of the game, there is something high tier about it, but it gets held back in a variety of ways that have been mentioned in this thread.

Of those games you mentioned, I only have great things to say about BG2. MAYBE Arcanum, have to replay it some day. ToEE was just about the combat, and its presence during the crpg dark ages. NWN, never got into it.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Wait, people still post about this?

 

[Roguey]

Wait, people still post about this?

The mark of a classic.

 

[Axel_am]

Finished WM1 and now I'm clearing The Iron Flail camp. As previously mentioned I'm using the upscale option. Using this post as a breather.
Not bad at all so far! There are indeed tons of heavy hitting and tricky trash mobs all over the maps but it's not called path of the damned for no reason.

A couple of things seem to elude me. I've been able to deal with everything thrown my way from WM1 so far but the Siege of Crägholdt still seems to be particularly tricky. All of the enemies there are mega tough. I'm not really sure what I could be missing other than brute force for that one.

Also Edér picked up The Grey Sleeper and I haven't been able to remove it since. I caved in and checked online what the first verse was saying and I was just shocked by the solution. Why would they want you to do something like that? Why not keep it within the expansion? Why make you go to the first zone of the game? I'm not sure what Obsidian were thinking with this one. I'm still keeping the sword on my tank tho. Unless things get too annoying that's what I'm finishing the game with.

All of the criticism for the game seems valid so far. I'm enjoying it quite a lot tho. Saving my future ramblings for once I finish.

 

[Axel_am]

Guys, I think I'm reaching peak PoE levels.

 

[Axel_am]

It is done. I've walked the Path of the Damned and have completed everything I set out for. Caed Nua has been brought back to it's former glory, the Endless Paths have been dealt with, so has every dragon that I came across. The White Forge, The Eyeless, Thaos, the favours for the gods, my pledge to them and the fate of the souls. All of this and so much more. I don't think anyone can convince me that this is a bad game. It simply isn't.

Most of the criticism is valid tho. The writing is pretty stale at points but also there are parts of it that are extremely good. There are so many encounters that have no real reason to be as chunky as they were but it's called path of the damned for a reason. There is a lot of room to criticize Pillars but it also did a lot of stuff remarkably good.

I wish they leaned more heavily on the God mythos and how the world understand/interacts with them. That's when the game shines brightest. Even with Thaos the most interesting thing about him is that he is a servant of Woedica not his agenda with animancy. (Actually a very compelling character but they've decided to let him make his moves in the shadows.) Hopefully I get to see more of this in the sequel.

There is so much more I can speak about Pillars. I guess that's how I know that this one is one of my favorite games. Say what you will but this is a game that oozes with style. So fucking good.

 

[Axel_am]

PorkyThePaladin I guess I should thank you. Your whole rant that there is no use for tanks in Pillars is what got me to install it and try it out again. At the time I didn't suspect that I'd invest over a 100hrs to finish the thing but I'm not regretting it at all.

Also, tanks are extremely useful. Yeah, there are some encounters where you just get swarmed by enemies - especially shades and shadows. But after a while you learn how they fight and it's easier to outsmart them.

Christ, the music is so good. I'd love to get a vinyl of it.

I haven't really followed Josh Sawyer's career but I'm thankful for what he did with Pillars. This might not be the right thread but can you guys make a comment on Icewind Dale? I loved Pillars and I think I'll also love IWD but was wondering what the other people that enjoyed Pillars have to say about it. Or if you have any other recommends I would love to hear them. Obviously I'm going to play PoE2 sooner rather than later but right now I need a small break.

 

[Grunker]

PorkyThePaladin I guess I should thank you. Your whole rant that there is no use for tanks in Pillars is what got me to install it and try it out again. At the time I didn't suspect that I'd invest over a 100hrs to finish the thing but I'm not regretting it at all.

Also, tanks are extremely useful. Yeah, there are some encounters where you just get swarmed by enemies - especially shades and shadows. But after a while you learn how they fight and it's easier to outsmart them.

Christ, the music is so good. I'd love to get a vinyl of it.

I haven't really followed Josh Sawyer's career but I'm thankful for what he did with Pillars. This might not be the right thread but can you guys make a comment on Icewind Dale? I loved Pillars and I think I'll also love IWD but was wondering what the other people that enjoyed Pillars have to say about it. Or if you have any other recommends I would love to hear them. Obviously I'm going to play PoE2 sooner rather than later but right now I need a small break.

The original Icewind Dale is fantastic, especially due to some of the most atmospheric level design, art and music in the genre. It’s purely dungeon crawl though

 

[GloomFrost]

PorkyThePaladin I guess I should thank you. Your whole rant that there is no use for tanks in Pillars is what got me to install it and try it out again. At the time I didn't suspect that I'd invest over a 100hrs to finish the thing but I'm not regretting it at all.

Also, tanks are extremely useful. Yeah, there are some encounters where you just get swarmed by enemies - especially shades and shadows. But after a while you learn how they fight and it's easier to outsmart them.

Christ, the music is so good. I'd love to get a vinyl of it.

I haven't really followed Josh Sawyer's career but I'm thankful for what he did with Pillars. This might not be the right thread but can you guys make a comment on Icewind Dale? I loved Pillars and I think I'll also love IWD but was wondering what the other people that enjoyed Pillars have to say about it. Or if you have any other recommends I would love to hear them. Obviously I'm going to play PoE2 sooner rather than later but right now I need a small break.

IceWind Dale is an absolute gem. Play it, don't hesitate. Some maps are absolutely gorgeous like Kuldahar or Worms tooth. And that music mmmmm....... Just bear in mind that its like 95% combat.

 

[adddeed]

Not sure why I posted the same screenshot twice but I'm not regretting it.

It is done. I've walked the Path of the Damned and have completed everything I set out for. Caed Nua has been brought back to it's former glory, the Endless Paths have been dealt with, so has every dragon that I came across. The White Forge, The Eyeless, Thaos, the favours for the gods, my pledge to them and the fate of the souls. All of this and so much more. I don't think anyone can convince me that this is a bad game. It simply isn't.

Most of the criticism is valid tho. The writing is pretty stale at points but also there are parts of it that are extremely good. There are so many encounters that have no real reason to be as chunky as they were but it's called path of the damned for a reason. There is a lot of room to criticize Pillars but it also did a lot of stuff remarkably good.

I wish they leaned more heavily on the God mythos and how the world understand/interacts with them. That's when the game shines brightest. Even with Thaos the most interesting thing about him is that he is a servant of Woedica not his agenda with animancy. (Actually a very compelling character but they've decided to let him make his moves in the shadows.) Hopefully I get to see more of this in the sequel.

There is so much more I can speak about Pillars. I guess that's how I know that this one is one of my favorite games. Say what you will but this is a game that oozes with style. So fucking good.

Agreed. I played the game three times i think, two of those was ironman and solo. Pillars of Eternity 2 is even better in my view, though a bit different in aesthetic and atmosphere.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

PorkyThePaladin I guess I should thank you. Your whole rant that there is no use for tanks in Pillars is what got me to install it and try it out again. At the time I didn't suspect that I'd invest over a 100hrs to finish the thing but I'm not regretting it at all.

Also, tanks are extremely useful. Yeah, there are some encounters where you just get swarmed by enemies - especially shades and shadows. But after a while you learn how they fight and it's easier to outsmart them.

Christ, the music is so good. I'd love to get a vinyl of it.

I haven't really followed Josh Sawyer's career but I'm thankful for what he did with Pillars. This might not be the right thread but can you guys make a comment on Icewind Dale? I loved Pillars and I think I'll also love IWD but was wondering what the other people that enjoyed Pillars have to say about it. Or if you have any other recommends I would love to hear them. Obviously I'm going to play PoE2 sooner rather than later but right now I need a small break.

You are welcome, but you are still wrong. Tanks ARE useless in PoE. Besides shades and shadows, how about all the other crap throughout the game that negates tanking? The ogres whose clubs hit 2 miles out behind the tanks, the ogre druids that spam your whole party with massive insect swarms, the fucking tidal monks in the expansions that run around, kicking tanks out of the way and teleport, the dragons that breathe all over your party with map sized attacks, and that's just the shit I remember off the top of my head. I am not saying tanks are not useful ever, but in general, they are so weak and pointless in many of the toughest fights, you'd be better off going all dps.

 

[Axel_am]

You are welcome, but you are still wrong. Tanks ARE useless in PoE. Besides shades and shadows, how about all the other crap throughout the game that negates tanking? The ogres whose clubs hit 2 miles out behind the tanks, the ogre druids that spam your whole party with massive insect swarms, the fucking tidal monks in the expansions that run around, kicking tanks out of the way and teleport, the dragons that breathe all over your party with map sized attacks, and that's just the shit I remember off the top of my head. I am not saying tanks are not useful ever, but in general, they are so weak and pointless in many of the toughest fights, you'd be better off going all dps.

For druids I either spammed interrupts on them or kited back out of the AoE zone. Mostly kiting tho. I had a difficult time with the monks too. They truly are very bulshit to deal with. The problem wasn't that my tank was getting pushed around - his defense stats took care of that - but that they were moving like a Ferari that wanted to crash into my backline.

The dragons are tough fights but in every one of them I always used my tank to kite or just tank it while the rest of my party took care of the ads. Yeah they do have a lot of crazy AoE shit but I mean come on. You are fighting a dragon. Did you really expect a fair fight?

The toughest fights were the ones were I couldn't establish my main tank to be the center of my frontline. Things can turn real ugly really fast then. After getting the Charge ability tho everything becomes much smoother.

I can't really comment on the Ogre Druids as I didn't have any problems with them. Could be because I played WM with the upscale option but I can't be sure on that. The Lagufaeth Broodmother was my most despised enemy. If they manage to cast Cleansing Flame be certain that you are in trouble. If I remember correctly there was a fight with 3 of them at the same time and it was a pain to deal with.

I'm very happy with how Éder turned out by the end of the game. As far as tanks go I think this was one of the more capable ones I've had in my party, across the vast majority of the games I've played. 3xStuns, 2xCharges, 2xAoE Pushback, 2+ Engaged Enemies at the same time, Self Resurrect and to top all that off you also get insane items for tanks.

 

[Lacrymas]

It's not that tanks are necessarily useless, but you can replace them with basically anything else and it will be a better choice. The one exception I can think of is stacking defenses on a Paladin and using Defensive Mindweb to turn everyone into tanks.

 

[Axel_am]

Yeah, but I don't think of that as such a bad thing. Generally tanks are pretty boring to play with but at least in Pillars I was able to do some crazy shit with them. The Charge really opens up the game for them.

 

[Just Locus]

I've just gotten around to playing PoE a month ago and it's been a very enjoyable experience, but I had to put it away for a while because Neverwinter Nights 1's premium/custom campaigns have been consuming my life ever since I abandoned the OC started the first playthrough

 

[shidder]

When do people usually start WM2 during their playthrough?

 

[Axel_am]

I did them back to back before facing Thaos but someone mentioned that they complete part two right before Act 3. It kinda makes sense 'cause the items you get in WM2 will make combat heavy Act 3 a lot easier to digest.

 

[Grunker]

When do people usually start WM2 during their playthrough?

the earliest I ever started it was level 4-5. On PotD that was hella hard

 

[Lacrymas]

When do people usually start WM2 during their playthrough?

the earliest I ever started it was level 4-5. On PotD that was hella hard

WM2 at level 4? How is that even possible? ;d

 

[Grunker]

When do people usually start WM2 during their playthrough?

the earliest I ever started it was level 4-5. On PotD that was hella hard

WM2 at level 4? How is that even possible? ;d

You beeline straight to it as fast as possible. I wanted to try the new companions. Don’t think Stalwart would be doable if not for charm animal

 

[ferratilis]

If you want to get the good ending, ideally you'd do WM2 before the end of Act 2, for story reasons. But that's hard, and annoying, so I usually leave it for last. And it's not like the good ending in WM2 matters much when you import your savegame to PoE2.

 

[Haplo]

When do people usually start WM2 during their playthrough?

Level 7 is like optimal for WM1. So I guess 9-10 for WM2?