Pillars of Eternity Thread [Pre-Expansion]

[Infinitron]

Such edge, much wow.

If you have the expansion, it makes sense to pick a Barbarian since that's the one class there's no companion of. Otherwise, Rogue and Monk are also an option.

Personally I think a Rogue is a good choice to begin with since it teaches you to play around with the game's systems, moreso than other classes IMO.

 

[Jaesun]

I *swear* I payed enough for the expansion, but I think I just forgot to add it as an add-on. That shit got so confusing. Oh well. Just playing the base game for now.

 

[Invictus]

Chanter is pretty good, its a second rank sort of class but fun and has some nice bonuses

 

[Jaesun]

If I like talky characters, is there a certain class/stat I need to have?

 

[Infinitron]

If I like talky characters, is there a certain class/stat I need to have?

Class doesn't really matter. Resolve is probably the most commonly used dialog stat, roughly equivalent to Charisma, but Intellect and sometimes Perception are used as well. Dexterity and Might are used more rarely.

For skills, Lore and Survival are occasionally checked in dialogue although I would say they're not that important compared to the attributes.

 

[Irenaeus II]

For quests and shit: Resolve goes a long way and Intellect helps. Perception is mediocre. The rest is useless.

 

[Dorateen]

Something interesting happened the other day in the Endless Paths. There was an interaction triggered by a party member, and another custom character was referenced by name, making an observation. Likely due to his high lore skill or intellect. Obviously, normal conversations only use the Main Character's attributes, but I had thought custom characters would not be recognized even in other instances. Not so, here. In general, at least other party members do remain talking to various NPCs in regular conversations, instead of the Main PC being warped to the spot as in NWN2.

Party is currently levels 6/5/5/5/5/5. Got the letter about the White March, will probably head up there after finishing Defiance Bay.

 

[Excidium II]

Class doesn't really matter

Eh, it does, some classes/backgrounds have way more exclusive dialog choices than others. Cipher being at the top and druid on the bottom iirc. Don't remember for place of origin.

 

[Infinitron]

Eh, it does, some classes/backgrounds have way more exclusive dialog choices than others. Cipher being at the top and druid on the bottom iirc. Don't remember for place of origin.

I guess so, but what I meant is that there's no "diplomat class" like you might take a certain class in 3E that has an inherent advantage in dialogue skills (class skill instead of cross-class) and more skill points per level to invest in them

 

[Johannes]

Do the class-exclusive dialogues matter at all though

 

[Excidium II]

Depends on what you mean by matter. You'll see some different text.

 

[Infinitron]

At least one of those Cipher ones definitely matters. You can also bring along the Grieving Mother though.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Stuff mattering in Pillars of Eternity.

 

[Ziem]

i dont recall any stat/class/race/skill choices being particularly impactful, its mostly random shit nobody really cares about, like an additional infodump if youre a high lore character or a different line of dialogue if you have decent survival and meet a hunter, etc.
this is not fallout or pst, sorry.

 

[Infinitron]

That's not true, a high Resolve unlocks plenty of alternate quest solutions, bypasses battles, etc.

 

[Jaesun]

Made it to that cave in scene in the beginning (love the cut scene art thing, and with the choices). I REALLY REALLY like this so far. Tried a Paladin, but restarted with a female rogue. Off to explore the cave...

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

I REALLY REALLY like this so far.

Yeah, it's pretty promising and even atmospheric (kind of serene exploration atmosphere) at first.

 

[Jaesun]

Yeah, it's pretty promising and even atmospheric (kind of serene exploration atmosphere) at first.

Yeah, that's what I am afraid of. Still, I am not expecting anything more than an enjoyable BG like romp, but done by Obsidian. Just met Durance, still having a good time so far. Those fucking wolf encounters were nasty...

 

[Infinitron]

You're going to like it even more later. One of the more bizarre tenets of the PoE sucks crows is that "the game turns to shit in Act 2". The way they were describing it, I was expecting Defiance Bay to be something like a city full of trash mobs ala Neverwinter in NWN1 OC Act 1. Imagine my surprise when it turns out to be a city full of lore and factions. Seriously, are you people out of your minds? You prefer forests and killing boars to that? It just goes to show you much these people have broken from what the traditional Codex would have thought, as Roguey has stated.

 

[Stompa]

a city full of lore

In a dull setting that is Dyrwood, that doesn't mean much.

factions

Woooow, one exclusive quest per faction, no actual conflicts between them, idiotic lockouts (resolved Rogue Knight diplomatically? fuck you, it doesn't matter shit to Knights, you're still a persona non grata for them). Such a great design from masters of the genre.

It also doesn't help that Defiance Bay is chockful of fetch quests, the two dungeons it has are nothing stellar (and the third is spectre rape for the unprepared) and at that point in the game economy breaks completely. And then there's the trial.

 

[Infinitron]

And then there's the trial.

Ah yes, the "trial", another thing that the Crowd(tm) misunderstood.

Spoiler tags for Jaesun:

Spoiler

No, it's not equivalent to NWN2 OC's trial. Let's see, a hearing that takes place in the Ducal Palace. You'd think in a game that's supposed to be based on Baldur's Gate the first thing people would have thought of is...THE HEARING THAT TAKES PLACE IN THE DUCAL PALACE near the end of Baldur's Gate 1. That's also "railroaded", isn't it? No matter what you say to the Grand Dukes, Sarevok's dopplegangers are gonna fuck things up.

But that's okay. Because the problem with NWN2 OC's wasn't that it was "railroaded". The problem is that the way it was railroaded felt like a narrative ass pull. "Uh, okay, we need to have a fight here to make it more dramatic, so TRIAL BY COMBAT". Not so in Baldur's Gate, and not so in Pillars of Eternity. Thaos' intervention makes complete sense plot-wise. He wanted to take down animancy using legit methods, but when you foiled that plan, he executed his Plan B - kill the duc.

That's not a problem with the game's plot. It would have been a problem with the game's plot if he hadn't intervened when he clearly had the power to do so.

As it is, it's a great narrative set piece. That moment when it dawns on you that Lady Webb's plan was a hopeless feint and she was basically just a Thaos former fangirl/wannabe with Dunryd Row as her own Leaden Key spinoff - good stuff.

idiotic lockouts (resolved Rogue Knight diplomatically? fuck you, it doesn't matter shit to Knights, you're still a persona non grata for them).

Actually, you don't get locked out until you go to Wenan and agree to take the next quest. He warns you ahead of time of this, as do the other faction leaders. Each faction has one quest you can do with them before you have to commit to that faction.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Misunderstood (tm)(c)(r)

 

[Athelas]

Yeah, that's what I am afraid of. Still, I am not expecting anything more than an enjoyable BG like romp, but done by Obsidian. Just met Durance, still having a good time so far. Those fucking wolf encounters were nasty...

Note the strategic placement of wolves near the Chris Avellone written character.

 

[Stompa]

stuff about trial

I honestly don't give a fuck about how it was in BG1 and NWN2, I don't even like those games. We're discussing Pillows here. The trial was ass because it's set up like it matters but gameplay-wise still ends the same with a Saturday cartoon villain cackling over his victory while everyone just stands there doing nothing. Even when you catch up to him, he gets saved by an asspull (gotta love them sudden headaches). Didn't help that the game bugged out and decided animancers should burn contrary to all my statements.

Actually, you don't get locked out until you go to Wenan and agree to take the next quest. He warns you ahead of time of this, as do the other faction leaders. Each faction has one quest you can do with them before you have to commit to that faction.

You realise how retarded that is in a game that uses a reputation system, right? Especially since you can do loads of quests for Knights that bring you nearly up to the max rep, but you still get rejected because hurr you're helping da Dozens. It's especially dumb when you consider specific quest resolutions, you could deny Dozens the weaponry, give them bad advice, leave Knights with apparently working golems - all matters exactly fuck all, you're locked into "Dozen prevail" ending and Clyver still thinks you're Satan even if you've just handed Knights victory on a silver platter.
This is actually where some inter-faction conflicts would've helped to establish initial rep standings and your character's relationship with factions in a more logical manner. And no, I don't remember any warnings.

 

[dukeofwhales]

Ah yes, the "trial", another thing that the Crowd(tm) misunderstood.

Spoiler

The reason I think the trial sucks is that the game promised that the player's effort would be worth something - you have optional objectives where you can find out extra information which unlocks dialogues through the trial - all through the second act the game says "figure out what's going on here and convince the Dukes that something is up!" but then it turns out it was all for nothing - the exact same thing happens either way, no matter what you found or what you said. You feel scammed, and that's bad storytelling