Pillars Of Eternity Options

[Lopov]

Nice shots - Darryl is humongous!

Team Deadwalker looks great in action, but most of all I like Aloth Serana holding her grimoire firmly even in the heat of the battle.

I'm considering cheating in PoE -> combat is quite difficult for me to fully understand with what limited time I have for gaming, and since I'm mostly interested in story, I'll make my main character a little overpowered to get through difficult battles easier. For some reason I can't use cheats in Yetizad's game, the command "player" isn't recognized while if I start a new game, I can use console commands fine. Maybe because I started his game without IE and added it later on, I'm not sure.

Today I accidentally spoiled myself by reading about console commands on some forum and the discussion went off-topic and some guy revealed the name of the robed man (the one which appears in the intro) and who he is. It's quite a spoiler but fortunately I still don't have a clue about the rest of the story.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Sep 8 2015, 06:43 PM

[SubRosa]

I used the console to buff up Team Deadwalker's attributes to match what I felt each character ought to have, based on what they were like in Skyrim. So they are pretty impressive. But the combats are still interesting and a challenge.

I had one case where the game didn't recognize Player. What I did was use this command

FindCharacter Player

It gave me the internal name that game was using for the Player. The cheats worked just fine when I used that.

I also made a nice discovery. The White March adds those new Multi-Class Talents. I took Apprentices's Sneak Attack for both Persephone and Darryl, and it works really great. Like the Rogue's regular Sneak Attack, it gives extra damage for the first strike, and against all enemies who are prone, hobbled, blinded, dazed, and so on. It combines perfectly with the Fighter's Knockdown ability, because once they knock down someone, they get extra damage against them.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 9 2015, 05:30 AM

[Lopov]

I couldn't get cheats to work in Yeti's game, so I started over. Seems that whenever I start a new game, I discover something new.

It's a spoiler so I'll put it in tags:


Aryan & Heodan leaving Cilant Lis

Aryan, the sole survivor of a deadly windstorm

Time to rest

Aryan is a monk from Old Vailia, "gifted" with some powers that put him above an average character but still not anthying god-like.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Sep 9 2015, 10:28 PM

[SubRosa]

Good luck to Aryan!

The amount of variables in Cilant Lis is just amazing. If you actually get Heodan through the fight at the encampment without him suffering any debilitating injuries, you can rest in Cilant Lis without Calisca leaving, or there being any discussion about it at all.

Persephone and her gang have discovered Caed Nua, and have been exploring the endless depths below. Wow, some of these fights are just brutal, and I have only gotten down to Level 4 so far, out of 15 or so!

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 9 2015, 11:21 PM

[Lopov]

Even more, if you managedto get through the fight by interrupting the bandit leader's attack (I think that your Dex has to be high enough), Heodan doesn't get hurt at all and an option to rest doesn't appear, it happened with my first character.

[SubRosa]

The Deadwalkers have been plumbing the Endless Depths of Od Nua. They got down to the 8th Level so far before returning to the surface. By then the Eastern Barbican was completed, opening the way to the rest of the map. Brighthollow (the living quarters of the stronghold) were done by then, and the Warden's Cabin.

So after getting a good night's sleep without having to pay for it or use camping supplies, the team talked to the new Warden. He gave Persephone and company a slew of bounties to collect upon. Most are in the areas already explored on the way to Caed Nua. I left the team on the way to the first one.

The Endless Depths were tough. Really tough. I had to use the HealParty cheat several times. The first few levels were not too bad. But once I got deeper it seemed like almost every fight was a boss battle. Up until now the Xaurip have been pushovers. Basically Kobolds. But not down there. They paralyze with every attack, come in hordes that outnumber you three of four to one, and have a zillion endurance. And they are the easy ones!

I started trying to use traps down there. But even with a Stealth of about 7, Lucia cannot get near the monsters without being detected. So she has to set them at the edge of bow range. It seems that you can only set one, since when I put a second one down, the previous trap just vanishes. After all that work, the monsters nearly always manage to avoid the traps. They walk around them, so clearly they know they are there. So I have given up trying to use traps.

Fighting in doorways seems to be working best. Persephone and Darryl can block the widest ones, while the rest of the team stands behind and uses wands and bow. Serana putting a Slicken spell right in front of P&D helps. But some enemies seem to teleport, and appear right behind the party. Mainly ghostly undead ones, so maybe that is a special power of theirs. Still, even with Sofie healing them during the battle, and using potions, either Persephone or Darryl often go down, or nearly down, in many fights down in Od Nua. Yet they each have over 700 Endurance, and wear heavy armor. I can really see how many people say that the latest version of the game is significantly more challenging than the it used to be.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 11 2015, 12:32 AM

[SubRosa]

Team Deadwalker ventured beyond the Eastern Barbican of Caed Nua, and began exploring the next outdoor area - Woodend Plains. I am relieved to say that it is not the gladiator school that the Endlesss Paths of Od Nua are. The Deadwalkers have been handily dealing with everything in the area. So it looks like the Endless Paths are basically turned up to 11. My guess is they do not expect you to try to tackle them until late in the game.

[Lopov]

Are Endless Paths of Od Nua completely optional or must you fight through some levels? They must be really tough, if even Xaurips are challenging.

--

Aryan made it to Gilded Vale and got acquainted with Raedric's law. After such warm welcome, he doesn't intend to stay in Gilded Vale for too long. He went on a walk before sleep and descended down the stairs leading to the collapsed Temple of Eothas, which I haven't noticed until now. He picked up a quest there but will see to it the next day.

[SubRosa]

You only have to do the dungeon of Caed Nua, and about half of the first level of Od Nua proper. The rest is all optional.

You haven't been in the ruined temple before? Aryan better get some help from Eder and Aloth, or hire some Adventurers. That's not a place to tackle alone!

[haute ecole rider]

Reloaded the game. Got further against that Forest Lurker but still got killed. Trying to figure out the strategies in this game and Sage Rose's posts have been helpful, but I still feel like I have much to learn!

Thanks for the heads up on Cael Nua - sounds like a place for lots of saves (like after each battle!).

[Lopov]

SubRosa, do you by chance know a console command to remove items, specifically quest items?

After completing the Buried Secrets quest in the Temple of Eothas, I'm stuck with Bones of dead priests, because Aryan finished a conversation with Wirtan and didn't give him the bones. After the conversation the quest was completed and bones are now a permanent quest item. Apparently they can be given to magistrate in Gilded Vale but only if you don't talk to Wirtan first. I know that bones are located in stash and don't take up space in my inventory but it gets on my nerves that I can't get rid of them. I tried various commands like removeitem, takeitem, deleteitem but to no avail.

[SubRosa]

Reloaded the game. Got further against that Forest Lurker but still got killed. Trying to figure out the strategies in this game and Sage Rose's posts have been helpful, but I still feel like I have much to learn!

Thanks for the heads up on Cael Nua - sounds like a place for lots of saves (like after each battle!).

I found the best way for dealing with Forest Trolls and their Forest Lurker big brothers is with archery. Most notably lead off with Wounding Shot to hobble the target. That cuts their movement way down, and gives you more time to pepper it with missiles.

The other thing is that every member of your team needs a missile weapon, including the melee tanks. What I did was give Persephone and Darryl (my tanks) each an Arbalest. It has a long range and does a lot of damage. The glacial reload speed doesn't matter for them, since they are normally only going to get off one shot before going into melee anyway. But against a single, hobbled troll or lurker they can often get off two shots.

Your other characters need missiles as well. Your Wizard should have a wand, scepter, or rod. I find I like the wands, because they have a fast attack speed. Make sure you take the Blast & Penetrating Blast Talents for them. Between that and their Arcane Assault they always have a medium or short range attack. Your Priest can use either a bow or wand. I have Sofie using a wand, and find that works well for her. Finally your Ranger or ranged Rogue should have either a Hunting or War Bow of course.

I always sneak around with the entire party. Give everyone at least one point in it. Then when I find the baddies I deploy for battle at the edge of missile range, make sure I switch everyone to ranged weapons, and have everyone open up on a single target. That often kills it right off. If not, they should be hobbled and taking continuous fire from your archer, wizard, and priest as they limp near. If they survive to meet your line, have one tank engage them head on and lead with a Knockdown. Have the other tank or your Priest circle completely behind them. That gives them the Flanked debuff, which lowers their defense (and makes it easier for you to hit).

SubRosa, do you by chance know a console command to remove items, specifically quest items?

After completing the Buried Secrets quest in the Temple of Eothas, I'm stuck with Bones of dead priests, because Aryan finished a conversation with Wirtan and didn't give him the bones. After the conversation the quest was completed and bones are now a permanent quest item. Apparently they can be given to magistrate in Gilded Vale but only if you don't talk to Wirtan first. I know that bones are located in stash and don't take up space in my inventory but it gets on my nerves that I can't get rid of them. I tried various commands like removeitem, takeitem, deleteitem but to no avail.

I have had success with RemoveItem. I think I used it like this:
RemoveItem Player misc_item 1

Just be sure you have the right name for the character, use the FindCharacter command to make sure and the right name for the item. Even the player character is not always Player. I have had it come up as something else. You should be able to find the item names in PillarsOfEternity_Data\assetbundles\prefabs\objectbundle

You could also try taking the remains to the guy first talked to when you entered Gilded Vale. I think his name is Urgeat. This guide says you can give the remains to him, though I have never tried it.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 11 2015, 09:56 PM

[Lopov]

I found the correct code, it's quest_item_sack_bones. I tested it by using the command additem quest_item_sack_bones 1 and it works - I get another set of bones in my inventory. However, the removeitem command doesn't get recognized, even if I insert player (or the reference of the player) in the command line. Can you please test it in your game and see if it works with this same item? I get the response "No command or script 'RemoveItem' accepting 2 parameters exist.

[SubRosa]

I am not having any luck with it now. I even tried using RemoveTalent, which works on both talents and abilities. It might be something that changed with the White March expansion. Or I might have been thinking of removing abilities or talents.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 11 2015, 09:14 PM

[Lopov]

Thanks anyway. I'll wait for the save editor to be updated at Nexus, then I'll manually delete bones.

--

Aryan teamed up with Durance and they were on a way to Caed Nua, crossing the Black Meadow, when they found supplies, intended for the blacksmith from Gilded Vale. They backtracked to return the smith's shipment and rented a room at the Black Hound Inn, planning to journey east to Caed Nua in the morning.

Aryan fights a shadow

Forest Battle

Lurker dies

Aryan rushes to the combat while Durance stays behind and fights with his spells. He only joins the fight directly when Aryan does most of the work.

[SubRosa]

Aryan is taking on the world with just one companion? He definitely has cajones! I'd go with a much bigger party.

The team now has an undead cat for a mascot

Taking on a Drake

There's more than one Drake, but Serana has a Ray of Fire!

Serana burns them down (and Persephone and Darryl too!)

Here is a short (2 min) video I made showing the Deadwalkers in a typical battle. Make sure you set it to play back at 1080p, otherwise it just looks all blurry.

You can see how I pick a choke point in the cave to fight, and start out with everyone concentrating their missile attack on one target, a Flame Blight at the lower left. Sadly it survived, because I forgot that it is immune to piercing attacks (which means arrows). But it still suffers the debuffs from archery powers, notably the Hobbled effect from Lucia's Wounding Shot. That at least slowed it down and kept it out of the fight for a while.

Then Persephone and Darryl switch to their melee weapons and step up to block off the tunnel. Lucia switches her target to the on coming Xaurip, with the hopes of Hobbling the nearest one and slowing it down as well. Finally Serana and Sofie continue working on the slowed Flame Blight with their wands.

After a few moments I noticed the Xaurips had an archer that was taking potshots at me. So he became Lucia's sole concern. Since Serana and Sofie have shorter range attacks, I used them to support Persephone and Darryl by attacking the enemy front liners they were engaged with. That gave me a 2-1 advantage at the point of contact.

I find ganging up on the bad guys works really well in this game. I try to use Persephone and Darryl to block off the enemy horde at a bottleneck like a doorway. Then I will usually leave one of them to fight on their own, while the rest of the party all gangs up on the baddie the other has engaged. That way I get a 4 on 1 at that spot. They tend to go down pretty quickly that way. Of course that can be rough on the one tank going it alone, and sometimes they get 3 or more baddies on them. But that is why they are the tanks, and have over 800 health. When things start going bad for them I have Sofie switch from ranged attacks to healing buffs.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Sep 12 2015, 07:04 PM

[Lopov]

Aryan is taking on the world with just one companion? He definitely has cajones! I'd go with a much bigger party.

I buffed both of them with the console, so they can manage on their own. I prefer smaller parties myself.

An undead cat looks familiar - did team Deadwalker by chance found her in Raedric's dungeons?

I've never met a live drake yet, only their remains scattered over Black Meadow. I assume that bigger drakes a.k.a. dragons inhabit Eora as well.

So that's how Ray of Fire looks like. Aryan keeps this scroll for a special occasion.

[Acadian]

SubRosa, love the little black cat familiar! So it looks like Serana still has a bit of a friendly fire problem - this time it's fire instead of ice spikes in the back?

[SubRosa]

Aryan is taking on the world with just one companion? He definitely has cajones! I'd go with a much bigger party.

I buffed both of them with the console, so they can manage on their own. I prefer smaller parties myself.

An undead cat looks familiar - did team Deadwalker by chance found her in Raedric's dungeons?

I've never met a live drake yet, only their remains scattered over Black Meadow. I assume that bigger drakes a.k.a. dragons inhabit Eora as well.

So that's how Ray of Fire looks like. Aryan keeps this scroll for a special occasion.

Ray of Fire is very effective. But it damages any friendly who gets caught in the ray as well. So you have to be really careful about where you use it.

I have run into regular drakes, and really a really big one in Searing Falls. As I understand it, there are dragons as well. Including an Adra Dragon, which sounds really dangerous. But I have not encountered one yet.

That is indeed the black cat from Raedric's dungeons. I thought he'd be perfect for the Deadwalkers.

SubRosa, love the little black cat familiar! So it looks like Serana still has a bit of a friendly fire problem - this time it's fire instead of ice spikes in the back?

There are a lot more fire than ice spells in Pillars, so just like you said, now Serana is shooting us in the back with flames instead of ice spikes!

[Colonel Mustard]

Eyyyy!

*Finger guns into thread*

I've just been reading through all of the thread as I'm quite interested in getting a copy of Pillars, and I had a couple of questions about the game:

1: Is combat turn-based/can it be turn based? I quite like isometric games in a old-skool Fallout/Baldur's Gate vein, but I much prefer isometric combat to be turn-based rather than in real-time, as I tend to find managing multiple characters in real-time combat to be a confusing, overly-difficult mess. I find turn-based stuff way more enjoyable.
2: Is the inventory complicated? I tend to end up carrying loads of excess stuff when I play RPGs and frankly I hate that. I always end up just getting confused and tired out of trying to sort things out and deal with merchants.
3: How cheesy do you have to be to make a gunslinger build? Flintlock firearms are cool as hell. I want them. I want them all.

Yeah, those were my main questions. Cheers in advance, everyone!

*Finger guns out of thread*