Tyranny + Bastard's Wound Expansion Thread

[Modron]

You bumped the thread for that?

You bumped the thread for that?

 

[Zeriel]

If anything I'd say the implications of the spires and what we learn about them is the most interesting part of the game.

That is? Honestly speaking I don't remember much from this game aside from a feeling of disappointment that this particular mystery was never really solved (what's up with the Spires and so on).

Spoiler

It's pretty obvious that they're the source of Kyros' power, but aside from that? Was there anything else?

It's implied Kyros did not make them, they were already there, and that all of his/her power stems from just discovering and using them. There's also a bunch of implications about them and the walls (wraithwalls? I forget what the name is, been a while) and the monsters inside them all being connected. Probably more I'm missing. It's kind of like the predecessors & the citadel & the Reapers in Mass Effect. They didn't get to explore it as much, but it seems to me like it's the central mystery of the setting.

 

[Saduj]

Finally beat the Ascension Hall fight. Really didn't do too much differently. Was able to focus down two handed melee goon quickly. Enemy leader and teleporting character focused down Lantry pretty early but Verse was somehow able to tank them both while by other two took down the bowman and casters.

Still haven't managed to cast a fireball.

Are you getting interrupted by enemy skills? Some can do that. The animation should play and it should go off without a hitch otherwise. I don't remember a failure mechanic being tied to your lore skill since what spells you can cast, and what improvements you can add, are already locked behind a certain lore level. Is some AI routine you have set interrupting it?

My Lore is well above the minimum required to be able to cast the spell. I have reasonably high Control Fire skill too because I cast the single target fire spell several times per fight. I've seen my character casting fireball and then it doesn't go off. I'll assume those times he was interrupted. The rest of the time, I put the command in and then he ends up doing something else even though it seemed like the command was accepted.

I don't think I have an AI routines set unless there are some defaults. Maybe I just don't understand the mechanics of the game well enough. One thing that seems to make the AI go crazy is when a character is engaged in melee and then target either runs away or, worse yet, teleports. When that happens, my char will try to run after the target and there are often pathfinding issues. Usually takes more than one try to get the char to accept another command rather than stammering back and forth pointlessly.

 

[Saduj]

Just finished this. Overall I enjoyed it. I liked the plot and thought the writing was mostly decent to good. I'm probably not going to play again and test it all out but it gives the impression that the player has a lot of choice where it comes to who to align with plenty of opportunities to betray as well. After the first act, I had an idea of how I'd like things to play out and the game more or less delivered.

The combat really did get easier after the first act. Made some of the AI shenanigans more funny than annoying. Bleden Mark was a decent boss fight. The spell system was crap. Maybe they were just trying to make something interesting with limited resources. But if they chose this over unique spells, they made a big mistake.

I played POE2 but not the original. The itemization in Tyranny is similar but somehow much worse than in POE2. I can't really think of worse example that I've played. I used pretty much the same gear for at least 85% of the game, with meager bonuses added for upgrading them at the forge. I really didn't get anything interesting until I killed some bosses and by then it hardly matters. That may be slightly my fault. I did get some decent two handed drops but didn't have anyone who could use them. By decent I mean good damage and some kind plus X damage on crit. Not sure if it was just bad luck that I didn't get any decent one handed drops or if you're supposed to just transition into two handers as the game progresses.

The game makes it seem like you're supposed to pay to maintain facilities at the spires but I built pretty much everything and it never came up. Another thing that seemed incomplete was the Edicts. I'm pretty sure I ended up with the minimum number of Edicts needed to finish the game but it also seemed that having more would be pointless. There is some kind of point value assigned to using Edicts but no associated resource pool so they obviously cut something out there. I liked the way they handled skills in the game but thought most of the ability tree stuff was just OK, with the exception of Sirin's.

If anyone is interested, these were my choices.

I chose to ally with the Scarlet Chorus because they actually seemed slightly more effective early on. Also, Ashe is hopelessly butthurt and Nerat is the more interesting character to interact with.

When I learned that Nerat was supplying the rebels, I knew I would betray him but wanted to stay loyal for as long as possible both for my own advantage and because I wanted to gather as much evidence as possible for Tunon. The one thing I would change about that is turning over the forge master to Nerat. I was hoping he wouldn't kill her horribly but the game pretty much tells you that he will. My bad.

At the first trial, I ratted out Nerat. Had more evidence on him both in quantity and degree of crimes. Sent Bleden Mark to kill him.

I thought I did just OK at my trial and was surprised that Tunon pledged fealty to me in the aftermath. I was hoping to accomplish this but the way it occurs in game doesn't make much sense, which is why they have Tunon say as much even as he's delivering the good news. In the aftermath of this, I had no option but to fight and kill Bleden Mark.

I went after Ashe immediately afterwards. Took the final spire right after that, not realizing it was unnecessary at that point. I thought I would have a chance to resolve the third Edict but the opportunity was never presented. I also didn't explore the final Oldwalls dungeon completely so maybe that had something to do with it. Got a mostly "positive" ending with the exceptions being the Forge Bound going to shit without their leader, leaving the Scarlett Chorus in charge of Leviathan (even though in previous slides it said that they were a shell of their former power) and not doing anything about that last Edict. Would be interested to know if it is typical not to resolve all three Edicts.

Edit: Also, I did manage to cast fireball eventually.

 

[ds]

Another thing that seemed incomplete was the Edicts. I'm pretty sure I ended up with the minimum number of Edicts needed to finish the game but it also seemed that having more would be pointless.

The specific Edict you choose (if you proclaim one against Kyros at all) changes the ending slides but collecting them all doesn't gain you anything as you only get to use one Edict against Kyros.

There is some kind of point value assigned to using Edicts but no associated resource pool so they obviously cut something out there.

IIRC there is a power level shown on your character that you fill up as you progress the game and which gets used up if you use your Edicts during the game from the map screen. I don't think the pool is used for the final Edict at the end though or it always gets filled so you can proclaim whatever Edict you want against Kyros.

I thought I would have a chance to resolve the third Edict but the opportunity was never presented. I also didn't explore the final Oldwalls dungeon completely so maybe that had something to do with it. [...] Would be interested to know if it is typical not to resolve all three Edicts.

Yes, the game prevents you from doing all paths in one playthrough and depending on the ones you choose for each chapter you can lock yourself out of getting all Edicts - exploring the Oldwalls won't change that. I think if you never choose Haven you can get all Edicts though. You will also have to ally with Bleden Mark (basically go against Chrous, Disfavored and the rebels) who will give you the Edict of Nightfall.