Preview Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part 2 Screenshots at PC Gamer

[Prime Junta]

I'll have to check this out again sometime after the second part drops. Ciphers really needed a nerf. They were stupid powerful.

Yeah, they were. They may have oversteered though. I'm reserving judgment until I get to play it though.

I'm interested to find out how chanters play now. I like the way Kana's written but always ended up dropping him before getting very far because it just takes so fucking long to build up to an invocation, especially if you're using higher-level phrases, and he's kind of useless at anything else.

 

[Quatlo]

(I quit playing at the beginning of Act the 3)

Everyone did

 

[Irenaeus III]

(I quit playing at the beginning of Act the 3)

Everyone did

No

 

[you know what time it is]

I wish I would.

It looks great though, but then again it was never a problem.

 

[MrE]

Started playing when they released 2.0, should have waited for 3.0 it seems. But I do have saves from before the end so I won't have to replay the whole thing again (kinda happy about that).

 

[Septaryeth]

Here's a question to those who played Part 1, do the items and companions get carried over to the main game?
I read it somewhere that the companions do react to events happening in the main game, but given that the expansion is more of a high level endgame content, I really doubt how much effort they'll put in for the reactivity in the first village.
I'll probably try another playthough, they better have fix that bloody cipher skill which cause enemies to float and stun indefinitely.

 

[Prime Junta]

Here's a question to those who played Part 1, do the items and companions get carried over to the main game?

Yes. The expansion is just another area that appears on the map, you can move back and forth freely.

I read it somewhere that the companions do react to events happening in the main game, but given that the expansion is more of a high level endgame content, I really doubt how much effort they'll put in for the reactivity in the first village.

Quite a bit actually. And the new companions react to stuff in the main game, even surprisingly early in the main game.

 

[Sannom]

I mean, Pallegina reacted to something in Magran's Fork. That's not expansion related, but it's still a Defiance Bay companion reacting to something happening in what is probably the first are you visit after Guilded Vale.

 

[Rivmusique]

Here's a question to those who played Part 1, do the items and companions get carried over to the main game?
I read it somewhere that the companions do react to events happening in the main game, but given that the expansion is more of a high level endgame content, I really doubt how much effort they'll put in for the reactivity in the first village.
I'll probably try another playthough, they better have fix that bloody cipher skill which cause enemies to float and stun indefinitely.

The main WM areas aren't high level endgame content, you get the quest to go there after meeting the LK in Defiance Bay, you'll probably be level 6. So that's around the beginning of Act 2 that you can head off and do the WM main quest (not Cragholdt though, that IS high level content). If you head there with a high level party (10-12 I guess) you get a popup asking if you want it scaled up to your level, but it's a far worse experience than going early as enemies just have more health and boosted acc/def, they aren't given new abilities or anything to allow them to compete with your high level abilities. That cipher AoE knockdown alone will win you most fights. Problem is, going early leaves you at level ~10 with you still at the start of vanilla act 2 so the game's now (more of) a cakewalk until Thaos/Adra Dragon/Cragholdt.

 

[Irenaeus III]

Someone needs to balance this.

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

Is it just me or loading times are smaller? The first loading screen is still pretty long but after that I can't complain.
Last night I encountered a quest called Bound and Burried in the Stronghold about some virgin blood and Holloborn. I was to far from the Stronghold to do it myself so I send Eder and he got some rope , experience and money.

 

[Rivmusique]

Could you actually have done it yourself? Or is this just some flavour text added to "Major/Grand/Whatever Adventures" that were always there?

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

Could you actually have done it yourself? Or is this just some flavour text added to "Major/Grand/Whatever Adventures" that were always there?

hmm there was the option to manual resolve the encounter but as I said I was in White March region and was to far to reach there in time. Even if that's just a flavor text it's nice they implemented new additions to the Stronghold.

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

I had Grieving Mother now for the first time at the Blood Legacy quest. Man, I can't believe that in my 3rd play I am able to see new ways for the quests. Really hope part 2 will be more story based...

 

[Daedalos]

So.. How much less shit is this now than the vanilla version?

Is combat fun and good? Are the quests improved? UI is good? Is patch 3.0 worth it for starting up again?

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

They did improvements almost to every aspect : interface, bestiary, combat , attributes and even difficulty : there is even a Story mode difficulty with unlimited camp supplies. After playing 91 hours on Underrail I have to say that going back to Pillars is a very nice feeling. Mainly because of the speed that can be changed, interface (the ability to compare items like in Diablo) and of course the polished graphics and sound. I will keep Underrail on hold for after I will finish White March part 2.
I would love to see a part 2 made with the same engine ( creatures, items, etc ) but with a more complex story and huge C&C but not a Kickstarter project. Maybe just EA.

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

does anybody knows a mod or something to remove that repetitive combat music and chants? Goddamn they are annoying.

 

[Prime Junta]

I just remove headphones.

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

if you rename the mus combat files the music will not change during combat. located in \steamapps\common\Pillars of Eternity\PillarsOfEternity_Data\data\audio\mus\mus_final
Also found Kana's annying chanting :
steamapps\common\Pillars of Eternity\PillarsOfEternity_Data\data\audio\vocalization\vo wav files\kana
companion_cv_kana_voice_set_0084.ogg

 

[Nekot-The-Brave]

Stronghold in PoE was a steaming pile of shit. Did they fixed it in WM1?

not really, but along with the patches now the Stronghold can be invaded and we will even get a new quest when 3.0 hits.

The stronghold could be invaded before (vanilla) and you'd lose all your fucking upgrades making it even easier to invade the next time.

 

[Atlantico]

Sticking feathers up your ass does not make you a chicken.

Sounds like you learned that the hard way.

 

[Moth]

Is there a single damn real reason that these two expansions had to be connected in any way other than geography? "Part 2" makes me flacid.

 

[Infinitron]

Is there a single damn real reason that these two expansions had to be connected in any way other than geography? "Part 2" makes me flacid.

Yes, the story of the second one is a continuation of the first one.

 

[Moth]

Yes, the story of the second one is a continuation of the first one.

Oh, damn, really? I had heard from multiple people other wise. That makes me really happy now.

 

[Sizzle]

Yeah, the mystery of

Spoiler

who exactly attacked Durgan's Battery

, as well as Zahua's personal quest (and Maneha's, presumably) are going to be continued in Part 2.