Pillars Of Eternity Options

[Renee]

Aww, so cute to see you folks rolling nu t00ns to pwn teh game with. Keep it up!

[SubRosa]

Aww, so cute to see you folks rolling nu t00ns to pwn teh game with. Keep it up!

Ph3&R U$ n00bS!

[SubRosa]

Some notes about Wizards.

I already mentioned before that Wizards all get Arcane Assault, which is a short ranged attack that they can do twice per encounter. Well, they also can take a Talent called Blast which allows them to fire an unlimited number of short ranged attacks through a wand, rod, or scepter. Yet another Talent gives the Blast at +5 DR reduction against their enemies. So between Arcane Assault and Blast, you can at least keep up a continuous series of magical attacks. Granted, neither does a lot of damage, 10-16 for AA, and 6-11 for Blast. The first is about the same as a sword or bow. The second is lower than a dagger.

The IE mod also does allow you to increase the number of spells you can cast between rest periods. It also allows you to make all spells castable per encounter rather than per rest. Or you can use it to make 1st and 2nd level spells castable per encounter sooner (in the vanilla game they become that way at 9th and 11th level respectively).

So with all this - especially IE - Wizards are a viable class for a player character, rather than just a support character only useful once in a while for strategic spell usages, and missing the bad guys with a bow or sling the rest of the time.

[Lopov]

I rolled a new toon, a monk again, but this time I paid more attention when choosing attributes and leveling up, besides I didn't like some choices which I made with my previous character.

Now I'm using the IE mod, mostly to have the Drop button in the inventory. It annoyed me the most in the vanilla game that you couldn't drop any items. It has several other cool features but I haven't tested them yet.

One thing I really like in PoE is that I'm not "afraid" to start any quests since (so far) all of them have multiple outcomes, suited for different types of characters. Unlike in TES & Fallout where a lot of quests can only be done in one way. There aren't any essential characters either.

However, I find the game quite difficult at times (attack at Raedric's hold for instance) or perhaps I'm doing quests which were meant to be done at higher levels.

This is my new character - monk Yetizad in the Xaurip Camp in Valewood (I'm using the zoom range as recommended by SubRosa at page 1)

And that's his portrait (the large version)

[SubRosa]

A Yeti monk! I know that pic, it's Aarin Gend from NWN 1! I always liked him.

I just finished Raedric's Hold with Skadi, and it was a tough series of fights, especially the last one against Raedric himself and all of his bodyguards. Aloth got knocked out in that one.

There are two ways to sneak into the castle though, rather than going through the front door and fighting through all the guards. If you go to the left, near the very end of the land is a section of wall you can climb that gets you up into the second floor where all the priests are. There are a bunch of spare robes in the crates you can put on, and blend in as priests. That will get you through the second floor at least without a fight.

If you go to the right on the outside map of the castle, near the end is a section of rocks where the moat is shallow and you can walk across. Then there is a sewer grate you can pry open and get into the basement. There are a bunch of undead down there to slay your way through. But I didn't find them too much trouble. I had Durance with me by then, and his Holy Radiance does wonders against undead.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 5 2015, 07:23 PM

[Lopov]

The name Yetizad is from a comic book. Yetizad was an African necromancer who traveled to the USA to spread evil. However, except the name, the necromancer doesn't have anything in common with monk Yetizad.

My previous party attacked the keep though the front gates and didn't have much problems until getting inside, then it got problematic. They somehow made it to Raedric but defeating him was impossible.

Are you far through the MQ, SubRosa and is it difficult?

This post has been edited by Lopov: Sep 5 2015, 09:36 PM

[SubRosa]

Wow, I had never heard of that Yetizad. But I stopped reading comics a while ago. Aside from the Yeti, the other thing the name makes me think of is the Yazdegerds - the kings of the Sassanian Persians.

I am only a little ahead of you. Skadi killed Raedric a few days ago. She found Caed Nua yesterday, and I just cleared its outside today and started working on the Eastern Barbican. As I understand it, you have to complete that before you can go any farther in the world, and reach Defiance Bay. While I wait for the construction to be done, Skadi and company are exploring the Endless Paths of Od Nua. It is a over a dozen different dungeon levels under Caed Nua.

So far I would not say it is too difficult. One thing the developers said was that they wanted to make a game that you could complete without having to min/max your character. To me it looks more like they spread around everything that a character is going to need into so many attributes that you cannot really min/max a character. There are no real dump stats anymore. But what I see from people posting is that you can finish the main quest without being overpowered. Still, I think I am going to institute a house rule of giving every character a +1 to an Attribute every four levels, like we could in Neverwinter Nights.

I have also seen many people say that the enemy AI for version 2.0 is much improved from the previous game versions. Since now the bad guys act more intelligently, they are harder to defeat. I have seen them trying to do end runs around my front line fighters to get at the squishy mage behind. But I keep Durance back from the front as a reserve, and he intercepts anyone who tries that in melee. Otherwise he is there for support with either spells or ranged weapons.

I think the real secret here is make sure you are always fighting in formation. Keep your fighters up front where they can pin the enemy and soak up their damage. Eder is a great tank. I gave him that magic flail I found early - Guan's Share - and a magic shield I bought at the smithy in the first town. He is really tough in melee. I also gave him an arbalest, so he can get off one good shot at the beginning of every fight. After that he switches to his flail and shield, since it takes too long to reload.

Keep your mages and archers back out of the way, and use them to make pin-point attacks on the enemy. Aloth usually just uses either his Arcane Assault or Blast, and doesn't do much damage. But when something looks really tough, he is my first up to attack with an area spell like Rolling Flame. I found the Slicken spell is really hand too. Cast that directly in front of the party at the start of a fight, and it makes the enemy fall down as they charge you. Then Aloth and your archers can pick at them with ease. Chill Fog is a good 1st level Area of effect spell you can use the same way, as it keeps going for an extended amount of time. Just be careful not to step into it! Ghost Blades is another good 1st level spell. It hits everything in an arc in front of the caster, does decent damage, and doesn't seem to harm the party. Fan the Flames is similar, but it definitely does friendly fire to the party, so I don't use it.

Finally, keep at least one second-line fighter ready to step in and block off an enemy that tries to flank and get into your rear. Durance is a Priest, and he works really well for this. He can fight in melee with his staff, use spells to support the party, or a ranged weapon to attack the enemy from behind the front line. His Holy Radiance does damage to undead like Turning in the old games. I took a talent that increases that damage, and it really does the trick once they all close into melee. It also heals the party, so hold back on using it until later in the fight.

I play in slow mode all the time to make sure I can see keep track of what is happening. I still have to pause a lot to issue orders. My biggest problem is I cannot always tell if a character has cast a spell or fired a weapon yet.

I also never charge in. Instead I keep the entire party in sneak mode, find the enemy, and then deploy for battle from a distance. Then I open up with ranged weapons, and force the enemy to come to me. They will almost always charge. That is what makes that Slicken spell so useful.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 5 2015, 10:11 PM

[Lopov]

Yetizad was featured in an Italian comic series called Zagor, these comics are mostly popular in Italy and surrounding countries (like Slovenia), I doubt they ever made it over the ocean.

These are some great combat tips. One thing I'm using a lot, is to engage only enemies at the edge of the fog of war. Sometimes the enemy closest to the edge will notice one of my characters sneaking and will go to investigate, thus separating from his group. Then I pick them off one by one unless another enemy comes patrolling around.

I was never that good with mages / priests but I better learn how to make a good use of one. Fortunately, PoE gives some pretty good tips too if tutorial messages are enabled.

[SubRosa]

I like that bird logo Zagor has on his chest. It looks like a black phoenix.

I use that same trick of attacking from the very edge of fog of war. You can often get them to come at you one a time that way, and pick them off. I tried that against Raedric, and it almost worked. I got everyone to attack except his Archmage. Which I am thankful for, since he might have turned the tide of the battle against me.

I am still not making the most of the Priest class too. I am trying though. I am not used to all the various buffing spells they have. But I am working on it.

I just found Kana, and am really having trouble getting the knack of using him. He's a Chanter, and I am not really sure how to use him the best. Mostly I just use him as a front line fighter, but he's definitely not as good as Eder or Skadi's Wolf Companion. He seems to chant all the time, and I just figured out how to move the phrases around in the chant. But I am sure there is a lot more to it than I have figured out. I am giving a lot of thought to removing him from the party.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 5 2015, 10:27 PM

[SubRosa]

Here is a map of the game world. It shows where the companions can be found (green arrows), and where each territory links to the next (yellow arrows).

I also made a Short Vid of Persephone, Eder, Durance, and Aloth taking on the bandits in Black Meadow. It should give folks who have not played the game an idea of what the gameplay is like.

You can see how formations are important when the two "front lines" meet. A bandit tries to sneak past at the top of the screen, but Durance - the Priest - stops him with a Halt spell. Then he moves in to flank himself, which incurs a penalty upon the target.

The bandit archer way to the left probably gave me the most trouble. Persephone's team does not have a dedicated archer. Persephone and Eder (the team's other Fighter), carry bows as backup weapons. They typically only use them for the first shot before going into melee. So Aloth - the Mage - had to step up to take on the bandit archer. The only trouble is that while Aloth has ranged attacks, they are shorter range than a bow, so he has to get a lot closer.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 6 2015, 03:31 AM

[Acadian]

Very nice, SubRosa! It's great to see there are some strategy guides/walkthroughs out there. And the vid looks very familiar to this old BG player!

[SubRosa]

This looks like one of Persephone's old pals

Speaking of whom, I had an idea, and started Persephone over. Tonight I reached the first town in the game, and was able to hire two Adventurers at the inn. Unlike the Companions, who are NPCs that are fully-fleshed out, with backstories, custom portraits, quests, and so on, Adventurers are basically blank slates that you can hire to join you. Each is a specific level, and the higher level ones naturally cost more. Once you hire them, you go into the character creation for them, just like you did with your PC. This is nice in that it allows you to create them exactly how you want them. So you can do this to fill a specific role on your team.

The downside is that the hired Adventurers are always several levels behind you. But I found a way to get around that. The following console command will bring them up to the level you specify, and wont' change your PC's experience if you are already the same level:

AddExperienceToLevel {Level}

So now Persephone has been joined by Darryl (on the left), and Serana (on the right)

[Lopov]

SubRosa, Persephone's race is Godlike, right? How did you manage to get her such a humanoid look without any kind of horns?

I'm curious to try out the Godlike race myself.

Monk seems a difficult class to play for now. In combat, they can't use their special powers until wounded enough, because to use a power, they have to spend a wound, so to speak. The better the power, the more wounds are required. They aren't meant as a first line warriors, it seems.

[SubRosa]

Persephone is a human. When I first tried her out it was as a Godlike, but I deleted those saves. The horns just didn't fit. I did make Darryl a Death Godlike. He has a horned helmet in Skyrim, so they are perfect for him.

The Monk looks confusing to me, with all that business of using Wounds to activate powers. That is why I have not tried one yet. I still have not figured out the Chanter either, or the Cipher.

[Lopov]

Yeah, it's quite confusing, though the good thing is that you can use special powers in every encounter, you don't need to rest in between. It seems that monks are similar as in BG - difficult to play at low levels but (I assume) tanks at higher ones.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Sep 7 2015, 07:52 PM

[SubRosa]

Serana cleans up with a Ghost Blades spell

Team Deadwalker is now fully assembled. From left to right are Lucia (ranged Rogue), Serana (Wizard), Persephone (Fighter), Darryl (Fighter), and Sofie (Priest)

Team Deadwalker takes on a Forest Troll

[Acadian]

Spectacular shots, SubRosa. That sword spell looks wonderfully related to a couple of the older BG sword spells. And your team looks very well assembled. I'm guessing the crew is 'Adventurers' that you hired crafted to your purpose from the inns instead of existing in-game companions. If that is so, do you miss the NPC banter much?

[SubRosa]

That Ghost Blades spell is awesome. It is a 1st Level spell, so you can start the game with it. It shoots out those ghostly swords in an arc in front of you, and it doesn't harm your allies. That one shot killed everything in the room.

Those are indeed Adventurers hired from an inn. So far I am very happy with using them, as I was able to not only give them the stats I wanted, but the identities as well. So far I don't miss the regular companions. All of their comments and banter seem to be scripted remarks that come up during specific pieces of dialogue, and is generally somehow quest-related. Otherwise they never really talk among themselves.

You do of course get some talking from even the Adventurers. Like when you go into stealth mode, one will say something about being sneaky. Darryl seems very talkative, as it is his voice I hear most often from them. It sounds like Clancy Brown.

[haute ecole rider]

Clancy Brown sounds perfect as Darryl!

[SubRosa]

It is the Male - Sinister voice. Turns out is done by Matthew Mercer, who also did Aloth and Eder! I never would have guessed that. He is a good VA, especially considering how he can change his voice to do multiple roles that are all so distinctive from one another.