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Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/26 16:49:20


Post by: nels1031


Anyone else picking this up? This was an auto purchase for me and I can't wait to dig into it, after I do a bit of work around the house. Pretty excited.

PC Gamer Review:
Spoiler:
Almost an hour had passed, and I was still on the character creation screen. That’s how I knew, before I’d even started, that this homage to classic computer role-playing games like Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment was authentic. Created with the help of 77,000 Kickstarter backers, Pillars of Eternity is Obsidian’s love letter to those beloved Infinity Engine RPGs that have come to represent the best of the genre.

But while it could easily have been little more than a cynical nostalgia trip, dining out on the legacy of those old games, Obsidian have actually created something that stands tall on its own. It’s the most captivating, rewarding RPG I’ve played on a PC in years, and I’ve fallen in love with the intricate, richly painted world they’ve crafted.

You begin by creating a character. Most of the races are familiar—elves, dwarves, humans—but there are a few you won’t have seen before. The aumaua are giant semi-aquatic humanoids with colourful patterned skin. Orlans are diminutive, furry creatures with large ears. Godlike are blessed by the deities they worship, giving them a distinctly supernatural appearance. The influence of D&D is clear throughout Pillars of Eternity, but Obsidian have taken many of its staples and twisted them to fit their own lore.


The same applies to the game’s eleven playable classes. There’s the usual selection of wizards, rangers, fighters, barbarians, and so on, but there are two wild cards in the deck: the cipher and the chanter. Ciphers have extraordinary mental abilities, sucking energy from the souls of their enemies and using it to cast powerful spells. They can force an opponent to relive the pain of an attack over and over again, or confuse them by making them think they’re surrounded by ghostly apparitions.

Chanters are a bard-like class whose songs and stories awaken lost souls around them, creating magical effects. Their chants can summon skeletons to aid them in battle, create thunderous explosions that push groups of enemies back, or paralyse foes with fear. One of the ways Pillars plays with D&D standards is allowing magic users to hold their own in regular combat. A chanter can comfortably wear plate armour and wield a two-handed sword, meaning your party doesn’t have to be burdened by squishy mages who explode into a fountain of gibs when an ogre so much as looks at them.

I don’t know how long I spent creating my character in the end, but it was a long time. I settled for an elven ranger, choosing a white wolf as my pet. As well as your main race, you also get to select a sub-race. I go for a Glamfellen, or pale elf as they’re more commonly known, from a chilly expanse of ice and snow to the far south of Pillars’ world, Eora. These tall, pallid elves are rarely seen in the Dyrwood—the lush forested region where the game is set—so I thought that might get some interesting reactions from the locals. They’re also naturally resilient against fire and ice damage.

Pillars06

People you meet will react to your race, class, and background, both positively and negatively, so the choices you make when you create your character have some meaning beyond personal preference and what you want your hero to look like. The Dyrwood is fairly multicultural, and I’m glad Obsidian didn’t go down the road of making racism a big part of their world, which is a fantasy trope we've seen before in modern RPGs. There is, naturally, some animosity between certain races and factions, but it’s rarely at the forefront.

Instead, the cultural tension comes from a controversial science called animancy, which involves the manipulation of souls. When your hero arrives in the Dyrwood, a mysterious curse called Waidwen’s Legacy is causing babies to be born without souls, which becomes an important part of the main quest. Animancers are convinced their work will put an end to the curse, but others think it’s an affront to the gods.

This mirrors the battle between science and religion throughout our own history, although animancers do a lot worse than tell people the world is round and clone farm animals. They implant animal souls into children, power automated war machines with them, and perform all manner of bizarre, ungodly experiments that, understandably, have given them a bad reputation.

After surviving a deadly magical storm known as a bîaŵac, your hero’s own soul is ‘awakened’, turning them into a Watcher: a person who can use souls to see people's’ past lives. A useful power you might think, but an encounter with an old Watcher who has been driven mad by it sends your hero on a quest to discover who or what caused their awakening, in order to reverse the damage. However, this being an RPG, it’s not long before their fate becomes entwined in that of the Dyrwood itself. Waidwen’s Legacy, it seems, may be connected to your own predicament.

The story in Pillars of Eternity is told largely through text. Page upon page of superbly written, vivid, descriptive text. There’s some voice acting, from companions and in important story quests, but mostly you have to use your imagination. This frees Obsidian to write mountains of text without having to worry about recording dialogue for it all, and the result is a vast amount of detail.

As characters speak, their body language is described, giving you a sense of their personality. Click a magnifying glass icon on certain objects in the world and you’re treated to a totally unnecessary, but wonderfully evocative, description of them. Use your Watcher powers on selected NPC’s souls and you’re treated to expressive 500-word vignettes about their past. I haven’t done this much reading, and enjoyed it, in a game since Planescape: Torment.

291650 2013-07-25 00024

Dialogue is also at the heart of the role-playing. There are dozens of factors that can come into play when you’re speaking to someone, from your race and reputation in a town, to your alignment with certain groups and your base stats. To give an example, a quest in the city of Defiance Bay sees a kid asking you to buy a knife for him, in exchange for the location of a secret. If your might stat is above 12, you can grab him by the shirt, hold him above your head, and demand he tell you where the secret is.

This lowers your reputation in the city and gives you an ‘aggressive’ point. Get enough of those and people will react appropriately. A city official might shun you because of your bad attitude, but a shady character down by the docks will see it as a positive trait. This is called your disposition, and there are loads of ways to shape it: benevolent, cruel, clever, stoic, rational, deceptive, honest, passionate, clever.

The more you act a certain way, the more your reputation will grow around it. This gives you fine control of your character’s personality, which enhances the role-playing side of things significantly. It also lets you, in true classic RPG style, talk your way out of tense situations, using your intellect or charm to defuse them. Violence isn’t always the answer in Pillars of Eternity.

But sometimes it’s unavoidable, so it’s a good thing the combat is excellent too. If you’ve never played an Infinity Engine game before, think of the combat as like a real-time strategy game, but with the ability to pause at any time and plan your next move. Depending on who’s in your party and the skills they have, battles can play out in a multitude of different ways. Even on normal the game presents a stiff challenge, and in tougher battles you really do have to play with a strategy in mind.

The rhythm and style of a battle is also determined by the enemies you face. Fighting a pack of wolves is very different from fighting a team of skilled spellcasters. You have to make good use of buffs, debuffs, offensive and defensive magic, and the unique abilities of your classes. Pausing before you make a move, studying the battlefield and your available powers, quickly becomes a vital habit.

Here’s how a typical battle with my current party might play out. But there are so many ways to play that this is just one of countless strategies. Leading the charge is Edér, my fighter. He’s clad in thick plate armour and is equipped with endurance-regenerating gear, making him a formidable tank. In most fights his HP rises faster than it falls. He can knock enemies over and sap their health by poisoning his blade.

Pillars03

Alongside him is a cipher, Grieving Mother, who is, incidentally, the game’s strangest companion—and written by Torment scribe Chris Avellone. Equipped with a dagger, she slashes away at enemies, sucking energy from their souls. This energy, called focus, is then used to cast spells that can immobilise, damage, and confuse her opponents.

Behind them are two rangers, Sagani and my own elven Watcher. Both have wolves as pets, and they join Edér and Grieving Mother at the front, drawing aggro and letting us safely pepper the enemy with arrows from afar. As well as powerful ranged attacks, I can hobble enemies and damage them over time. Pets grant damage and defence bonuses to rangers, but if they die, their stats will actually decrease for the duration of the battle. Your choice of pet is important too. Wolves are fast but relatively weak, bears have a massive damage threshold, boars get a might bonus when their stamina is low, and lions can terrify enemies with a mighty roar.

Finally, at the back, there’s my two casters, Aloth and Durance. Aloth’s a wizard, and one of the biggest damage dealers in my party. He casts magic missiles that bounce between enemies, creates copies of himself, launches devastating AOE fireballs into groups, and zaps them with bolts of electricity. The wizard is one of the most fun classes to play in Pillars, and some of the later level spells create dazzling light shows. Wizards’ spells are stored in a grimoire, and you can actually pry the grimoires from the fingers of any wizards you kill to gain access to their spells.

But the secret hero of the party is the priest, Durance. While everything’s kicking off at the front, he hangs at the rear of the group casting healing and defensive spells that quietly keep everyone alive and boost their stats. He casts bubbles of healing energy, improves accuracy, and strengthens armour. When your party is working together like this, the combat comes into its own. Or, if you want a real challenge, you can play the game solo. There’s even a permadeath option for the masochists among you.

Companions were a huge part of what made those Infinity Engine games so memorable, and Pillars features a similarly varied cast of intriguing, colourful weirdos to adventure with. Durance is a priest who has been betrayed by his own god. Pallegina is a godlike paladin who has sprouted birdlike feathers. Kana Rua is a seven-foot-tall scholar who wields a two-handed sword. They all have their own reasons for being in the Dyrwood, which you can get involved in, and they’ll regularly comment on your decisions and actions. These relationships develop as major events in the story occur, and you’ll either grow to love or hate the people you’ve chosen to travel with. You can create your own party members at an inn, but you’ll miss out on a lot of story.

Surviving a tough battle through clever use of your party’s distinct skills is immensely satisfying. Controversially, though, you don’t earn any XP for killing things—only through quests, discovering locations, and actions like disarming traps. It's already dividing the community, but I think it's a bold, brilliant idea. Characters who choose to sneak or talk their way through quests are rewarded equally with those who resort to violence.

291650 2015-03-25 00012

Pillars of Eternity is an RPG that really makes you feel like you’re on an adventure. Plunging the depths of ancient ruins, battling the monstrous creatures who lurk there, grabbing the loot, then limping back to the warm glow of an inn’s hearth to rest and steel yourself for the next quest. It’s a testament the quality of the art, atmosphere, and writing that, despite the old school 2D visuals and isometric perspective, I’m completely transported to its world when I play it.

And it’s big. Like, really big. It took me 11 hours to reach Defiance Bay, the first of the game’s two capital cities. There are multi-path, open-ended quests everywhere, and your journal will fill up rapidly as you explore. It was another 30 hours before I reached the second city, Twin Elms, and there are dozens of towns, temples, ruins, and wilderness sections to explore on the way. There’s a critical path to follow, which leads you naturally across the world map, but you can ignore it and explore at your own pace.

You become the lord of a stronghold early on, opening up an elaborate management side-game in which you upgrade its defences, deal with bandit attacks, and send party members out on quests. And below your stronghold you’ll find the Endless Paths of Od Nua, a gargantuan 15-level mega-dungeon that’s home to some of the toughest battles and best loot in the game, with a big surprise at the end.

This is a big, fat, deep adventure that lets you carve your own unique path through a fantasy world that’s been brilliantly brought to life with rich, evocative writing. It’s a game steeped in a bygone era of computer RPG design, but somehow it doesn’t feel archaic. Obsidian have always been bound to other peoples’ worlds—Fallout, Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, South Park—but in creating their own from scratch, they’ve made not only their best game to date, but one of the best RPGs on PC.



Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/26 17:58:21


Post by: Sigvatr


Potential to be the last great core RPG game. Highly recommend everyone to pick it up.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/26 20:38:50


Post by: Wyrmalla


How is it for failing quests? As in has there been any instances where a quest has failed because you didn't know some arbitrary thing (as in say Wasteland 2 where you can only complete the warring tribes quest by typing the word "both" into the dialogue ...something that doesn't really come up at all anywhere else).

Oh, and are there unique sprites for all the different types of gear as well? Hmn, frankly I'll be picking this up inevitably, I just don't know when, but I'm curious how well it stands up. It'd be nice to hear that Obsidian did well for themselves with this.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/26 21:17:09


Post by: Eumerin


 Wyrmalla wrote:
How is it for failing quests? As in has there been any instances where a quest has failed because you didn't know some arbitrary thing (as in say Wasteland 2 where you can only complete the warring tribes quest by typing the word "both" into the dialogue ...something that doesn't really come up at all anywhere else).

Oh, and are there unique sprites for all the different types of gear as well? Hmn, frankly I'll be picking this up inevitably, I just don't know when, but I'm curious how well it stands up. It'd be nice to hear that Obsidian did well for themselves with this.


It's an Infinity Engine game, iirc. So not including a crucial word in a conversation shouldn't be an issue (since the dialogue is all pre-selected).

And as far as unique armor sprites go...

Again, it's an Infinity Engine game.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/26 22:42:41


Post by: thedarkavenger


I will be picking this up ASAP. I've played the living gak out of every Infinity Engine game from Planescape Torment onwards.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/27 02:41:21


Post by: Ahtman


I was one of the KS backers. So far still stuck on character creation as I don't know what I want to play.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/27 04:07:18


Post by: Bromsy


 Ahtman wrote:
I was one of the KS backers. So far still stuck on character creation as I don't know what I want to play.


Yup. I am torn between doing my normal thing and playing a pure melee bog standard warrior so I can learn the game mechanics and playing a chanter because they sound so damn cool.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/27 09:57:17


Post by: Tibbsy


KS backer here too.
Currently playing a Dwarf Ranger with a crossbow and a pet bear . I'm really enjoying it so far! Only a couple of hours in but I'm going to play it more now.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/27 11:23:24


Post by: TheDraconicLord


I got interested the minute I saw in the trailer in Steam. Not picking it up for now, and I'll probably wait for a sale (God-Emperor knows the game backlog I already have) but the game looks so damn good.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/27 14:51:59


Post by: nels1031


Well, everything was going well and I thought to myself "Man, this is pretty bug-free for an Obsidian Entertainment game!" Sure enough, 5 minutes later I killed Raedric for Kolsc after a long battle with my sword and board human fighter, I now can't leave the castle without the game crashing.

Started over as a 2H sword Paladin and liking that a bit more, though. Just going to stay clear of that castle until a patch rolls through.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/27 20:09:22


Post by: Karazax


Loving it so far, though I only got to play about 2 hours on hard last night. There is a spoiler free review on RockPaperShotgun.com

Some things I found out about on accident:

S key will slow everything down to half speed, which is nice for microing combat with less pauses. D key will speed everything up, which is nice for sneaking or running thru explored areas.

You can hire new adventurers from the barkeeper at the inn in the first village, which you can customize as any class you want to fill your party up fast. You can always replace them with companions when you find them.
These videos are long, but if you are stuck at work or some where that you can't play, they give a nice over view of the mechanics with no spoilers:







Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/27 21:01:30


Post by: illuknisaa


When I buy a game I follow these steps:

1. Cause I'm a hetero cis scum, never preorder (don't even get games close to release)

2. Don't trust a single word rps or "pc" gamer says

3. Game costs more than 20€? just lol no.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/27 21:41:24


Post by: Ahtman


I found out (though no story spoilers) that there are no Monk, Barbarian, and Rogue companions so I have gone with a Monk Slave PC for the first time through, as I will not have any of them with me and it has sort of the 'coming from nowhere and nothing' vibe to it.

As to Illuknisaa:

1. Makes no sense
2. Ok
3. It cost me less than 14 Euros.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/27 23:07:43


Post by: Bromsy


 nels1031 wrote:
Well, everything was going well and I thought to myself "Man, this is pretty bug-free for an Obsidian Entertainment game!" Sure enough, 5 minutes later I killed Raedric for Kolsc after a long battle with my sword and board human fighter, I now can't leave the castle without the game crashing.

Started over as a 2H sword Paladin and liking that a bit more, though. Just going to stay clear of that castle until a patch rolls through.


I was worried, reading about all the other people who had the same problem, but I got out just fine. Nary a hitch.

So far I am diggin' my Chanter - running with me as buffs/off-tank, Aloth as a ranged damage dealer, Edér as main tank, Durance as heals/buffs, a created 2Hand Barbarian as melee damage, and a created Rogue as ranged damage. I am loving the game so far. About to enter Defiance Bay.

Already thinking about what to do for my next character.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Ahtman wrote:
I found out (though no story spoilers) that there are no Monk, Barbarian, and Rogue companions so I have gone with a Monk Slave PC for the first time through, as I will not have any of them with me and it has sort of the 'coming from nowhere and nothing' vibe to it.


Monks look they will sync up well with the human racial abilities, I almost went that route but slam poetrying people to death was just too cool.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/28 00:33:28


Post by: illuknisaa


 Ahtman wrote:

As to Illuknisaa:

1. Makes no sense
2. Ok
3. It cost me less than 14 Euros.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9hfZJ9VKPE


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/28 01:06:10


Post by: Tannhauser42


 illuknisaa wrote:
 Ahtman wrote:

As to Illuknisaa:

1. Makes no sense
2. Ok
3. It cost me less than 14 Euros.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9hfZJ9VKPE


Except for that, without Kickstarter, this game wouldn't have happened.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/28 14:37:53


Post by: Bromsy


 Tannhauser42 wrote:
 illuknisaa wrote:
 Ahtman wrote:

As to Illuknisaa:

1. Makes no sense
2. Ok
3. It cost me less than 14 Euros.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9hfZJ9VKPE


Except for that, without Kickstarter, this game wouldn't have happened.


Yeah, pre ordering triple A titles and other games that are going to be made one way or another is a bad idea. That is different than what happened. The entire Isometric RPG genre was dead and would have remained so had we not backed them on Kickstarter.

On topic, I am now running around in Defiance Bay, I think I am leaning towards helping out
Spoiler:
The Dozens, as the Cruicible Knights don't really jive with my character's outlook. I'm kind of on a "most of them are posers, but at least their hearts are in the right place" sort of kick.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/28 15:20:11


Post by: Silent Puffin?


Eumerin wrote:

Again, it's an Infinity Engine game.


Its not, it just looks like it is; it was actually built using Unity.

I have had one side quest that either bugged out and didn't display in the journal or I failed it accidentally but as it was tied to a larger quest I still 'completed' it in terms of its outcome.

I'm about 15 hours in and its pretty good so far. Somewhat amazingly for a modern RPG I am actually reading all the dialogue, I don't think that's happened since Baldurs Gate 2. The combat isn't the best although its certainly functional and I may warm to it a bit more when there are more abilities in play.

Has anyone found wizards to be actually useful?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 illuknisaa wrote:
When I buy a game I follow these steps:

1. Cause I'm a hetero cis scum, never preorder (don't even get games close to release)

2. Don't trust a single word rps or "pc" gamer says

3. Game costs more than 20€? just lol no.


Your quite strange.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/28 16:08:47


Post by: Sigvatr


If I wasn't overly manly, I would cry tears. This game, ladies and gentlemen, is the absolute epitome of pc video gaming. It's perfection. It mops the ground with the utter trash Bioware produces nowadays. If you want a modern Bioware game, a real RPG, with depth, complexity, an interessting story, well-written characters and so much love gone into it, then, by all means, play this game. It's perfect.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/28 16:38:31


Post by: Iron_Captain


From what I have seen of this game so far, it seems to be truly amazing. It is probably going to beat Skyrim and Fallout 3 as my most favourite game. It is almost like reading an interactive book. The artwork is also completely amazing.
There are a few flaws, such as annoying Kickstarter characters and the background becoming blurry when you zoom in too far, but they are easily ignorable.

The biggest problem however is what character I should play. I always really liked the Ranger and Druid classes, but I also want to give the new Cipher and Chanter classes a try. They look really interesting.
Ah well, I still have until next week, when they release their patch, to decide. I'd like to see the most gamebreaking bugs ironed out before I really start playing. Also still have a lot of school tests to learn for. This is going to wreck my school results and social live. I love it.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/28 17:28:48


Post by: Bromsy


 Silent Puffin? wrote:

Has anyone found wizards to be actually useful?


Now that I'm getting into third level spells, it's starting to pay off.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/28 17:31:53


Post by: Da Boss


Gonna pick this up based on the good feedback for it here. Hope it's worth the cash


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/28 18:10:39


Post by: Silent Puffin?


 Iron_Captain wrote:
I always really liked the Ranger and Druid classes, but I also want to give the new Cipher and Chanter classes a try.


You can have a party made entirely of characters you roll yourself and you have complete control so why not play all of them? You get a Chanter NPC quite early on though and a ranger a little while later.

Conversation options can be unlocked by going certain classes/specialities but so far I haven't seen anything really significant. It seems that stats are more important in terms of dialogue options though.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/28 18:36:06


Post by: Sigvatr


 Da Boss wrote:
Gonna pick this up based on the good feedback for it here. Hope it's worth the cash


Best money you'll ever spend on video games.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/29 09:55:44


Post by: Eumerin


Just a heads up -

If you're still running a 32-bit OS, then avoid some crashes by -

1.) Setting the executable to Run as Administrator, and
2.) Launching the game from the directory instead of from within Steam

Doing both of those should save you some grief. For instance, a number of people running 32-bit systems have reported crashing every single time they attempt to enter the Gilded Vale (which is one of the first few areas that you visit during the game). The official explanation has to do with the game using more than 2GB of RAM at points, which is apparently not allowed within 32-bit Windows. The official solution involves downloading an utility that will allow you to change this. But since you're messing with core Windows set-up, you might want to avoid doing that. The fix I described above will at least let you enter Gilded Vale.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/29 10:25:42


Post by: Da Boss


Played a couple of hours. Enjoying it quite a lot. Very unforgiving, so I think I need to spend some time making a party that can deal with difficult challenges (soloing or just going with one other person got me wiped out by a pack of wolves!)

The plot is really pretty interesting though. Really like all the stuff they've got going on.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/29 16:50:05


Post by: Tannhauser42


I'm having lots of fun so far. I initially rolled a Human Chanter and played for about an hour or so. I couldn't quite warm up to it. By the time I finished enough chants and could use my invocation ability, combat was already almost over. I then restarted with a Moon Godlike Cipher, and now I'm several hours in (just got the stronghold), and am having fun. Now I am having battles that are long enough to make use of the Chanter's invocation, but I have the NPC Chanter now so it's cool. I am really enjoying the Cipher. Combat is starting to get more tactical now, where I have to use positioning and support abilities/spells to do well. In the first few hours of the game you can pretty much just bumrush every opponent. Now, that tactic isn't working so well.

For those who don't yet know:
The Chanter is much like a bard from other games. You can preprogram a series of "chants" that create different passive effects while you're in combat (they automatically play so you can do other things while you chant). After enough chants have completed, you can then use a more powerful ability (like summoning three skeletons).
The Cipher is kind of like a psychic class. You build up your spell points (focus) with your attacks that you can use to cast your spells. What I really like about the Cipher's spells is that many of the offensive ones will only target enemies. Wizard spells that have AoE effects tend to not distinguish friend from foe.

What's funny is that the Chanter and Cipher seem to be among the most popular classes from what I've read on other forums, and they weren't even in the original design for the game (they were stretch goals).


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/29 18:30:24


Post by: Sasori


Backed this a while back, and I'm really glad I did!

Game is fun, and is challenging at times. I found once I had a full party, it did start to get a bit easier.

I would suggest anyone who loves RPGS to pick it up, it is well worth it.

I've been playing a Rogue myself, and I easily deal the most damage, and have killed the most things in my party. I get knocked out a lot though.

If you are the fence, just get it. You won't regret it.

EDIT: Stay away from Rodericks keep until after the patch though.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/30 17:16:35


Post by: Ratius


Is this like a modern version of Baldurs Gate? Same style and mechanics etc?


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/30 18:14:22


Post by: Silent Puffin?


 Ratius wrote:
Is this like a modern version of Baldurs Gate? Same style and mechanics etc?


Same style but the mechanics are different.

A modernised (in a good way) Baldurs gate that isn't based on D&D mechanics isn't a bad description.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/30 19:50:59


Post by: flamingkillamajig


 illuknisaa wrote:
When I buy a game I follow these steps:

1. Cause I'm a hetero cis scum, never preorder (don't even get games close to release)

2. Don't trust a single word rps or "pc" gamer says

3. Game costs more than 20€? just lol no.


Seems like typical solid advice. Don't trust game review sites/magazines and such and don't go for pre-order or as i'd like to add early access. A friend mentioned early access is basically paying to beta test a game. In some cases it is beta but in others so many features are missing it's nearly alpha and i'm not paying a ton for a game with half the features missing.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/30 20:31:43


Post by: TheDraconicLord


 Sigvatr wrote:
If I wasn't overly manly, I would cry tears. This game, ladies and gentlemen, is the absolute epitome of pc video gaming. It's perfection. It mops the ground with the utter trash Bioware produces nowadays. If you want a modern Bioware game, a real RPG, with depth, complexity, an interessting story, well-written characters and so much love gone into it, then, by all means, play this game. It's perfect.


Ok. Color me impressed to see Sigvatr typing something like this. This has to be the RPG of the decade.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/30 20:50:37


Post by: Ratius


Spoiler:



Is this a fair review?
I have zero interest in the verbose dialogue and intricate combat micro management.
I enjoyed baldurs gate et al but does this game do anything different than those originals apart from homage them in a reimagined way?


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/30 21:04:42


Post by: lord_blackfang


This was my first KS.

I played it for an hour and the plot really escalates quickly (from the humble start of picking berries for your stomach ache - seriously!) and it's interesting. If I were still in high school this could be one of those games that destroyed my life. But nowadays I just don't have the focus and time to engage in a storyline that will last for dozens of hours of play.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/30 21:14:27


Post by: Ratius


Kinda my fear too, sort of game that could last weeks and simply cant put that much time in anymore


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/30 23:21:32


Post by: Silent Puffin?


Apparently a playthough will take around 60 hours.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/31 10:13:34


Post by: Grimdark


Did anyone here pledge enough for the lore book?

I was thinking of skipping the collector digital edition and go for the dark horse hardback book + steam code just for the game.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/31 12:32:09


Post by: John Rainbow


Truly excited to get my hands on this. Not sure if I should pull the trigger right now or wait for a sale though. My steam backlog is just redonk right now...

It does look awesome though and BG 2 is probably my all time favorite game.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/31 12:50:04


Post by: Chongara


I always like the idea of games like this way more than I actually wind up enjoying them. Still it looks like a pretty good specimen of its type. I'll probably pick it up when it goes on sale, make a bunch of characters then spend a handful of hours unable to get into world then leave it to languish always thinking "I really should play that again some time".


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/31 13:13:37


Post by: John Rainbow


Maybe I'll play through BG now...


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/03/31 20:11:24


Post by: Cheesecat


 Chongara wrote:
I always like the idea of games like this way more than I actually wind up enjoying them. Still it looks like a pretty good specimen of its type. I'll probably pick it up when it goes on sale, make a bunch of characters then spend a handful of hours unable to get into world then leave it to languish always thinking "I really should play that again some time".


That's how I was with Dragon Age: Origins.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/01 11:29:04


Post by: His Master's Voice


So far the only issue with the game is the bizarre difficulty spike at the end of Endless Paths.

Well, that and Unconquerable breaking Grieving Mother.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/01 18:05:33


Post by: Karazax


 Silent Puffin? wrote:


Has anyone found wizards to be actually useful?



The key thing with wizards and AoE casters in general is having high intelligence to maximize the area you hit, and good might for the damage. When placing area of effect spells, you will notice two circles. The inner circle will hit enemies and allies. The outer circle will only hit enemies. This makes it easier to land those types of spells on top of your melee characters and tank.

Unfortunately pretty much all of the premade companions are poorly specced and not optimally skilled attribute wise. You can hire and create your own party members from the inn, but then you miss out on the companion's stories. There is also an IE Mod that can be used to change the classes of the companions, or re-pick all their talents and skills (though not their stats at this point), though it will disable achievements if you use the mod.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/01 20:24:19


Post by: Eumerin


Nah. The key thing with wizards is getting them to survive the first two rounds of combat. The wizard companion often dies before we even make contact with the enemy, as he gets singled out for ranged attacks and teleports/burrowing. That's without him lifting a finger, and with other ranged party members already cutting loose on the enemy.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/01 23:06:33


Post by: Tannhauser42


Eumerin wrote:
Nah. The key thing with wizards is getting them to survive the first two rounds of combat. The wizard companion often dies before we even make contact with the enemy, as he gets singled out for ranged attacks and teleports/burrowing. That's without him lifting a finger, and with other ranged party members already cutting loose on the enemy.


Yeah, it's like Aloth has a "kill me first" sign taped to his back.

Of course, to be fair, "kill the wizard first" is usually my standard tactic in most situations, too.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/03 15:10:16


Post by: Sigvatr


One thing that's really "meh" about the game is that custom characters don't have personal stories (duh) while the premade NPC characters with background are terribly built.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/03 15:19:48


Post by: Da Boss


I had my first crash coming out of the Temple in the first town (the one with the horrible tree).

Gawd damnit! That was a really tough challenge and then I crashed walking out of it


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/03 16:14:20


Post by: mattyrm


I just competed Ori and the Blind Forest (565 deaths!) and I'm about two hours in to POE, I'm enjoying it but its not absolutely utterly fantastic.

To me, its basically Neverwinter Nights with a much more engaging story and a way better party system.

Its great, but I'm not seeing why it is perfection.

Ill let you know if I change my mind after another ten hours.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/03 18:22:51


Post by: Sasori


 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Eumerin wrote:
Nah. The key thing with wizards is getting them to survive the first two rounds of combat. The wizard companion often dies before we even make contact with the enemy, as he gets singled out for ranged attacks and teleports/burrowing. That's without him lifting a finger, and with other ranged party members already cutting loose on the enemy.


Yeah, it's like Aloth has a "kill me first" sign taped to his back.

Of course, to be fair, "kill the wizard first" is usually my standard tactic in most situations, too.


I swapped him out when I got Grieving Mother.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/03 18:44:17


Post by: Sigvatr


Grieving Mother <3.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 00:38:18


Post by: Chongara


I bought this against my better judgement, but I'm still managing to enjoy it so far despite it hitting a good deal of my pet peeves. One thing that is annoying the hell out of me though is the UI. I get they were going for the old school feel here, but did that need to include the game handling like a bus with flat tires?


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 01:24:22


Post by: Bromsy


 Chongara wrote:
I bought this against my better judgement, but I'm still managing to enjoy it so far despite it hitting a good deal of my pet peeves. One thing that is annoying the hell out of me though is the UI. I get they were going for the old school feel here, but did that need to include the game handling like a bus with flat tires?


What's so bad about the UI? I feel like it's modernized enough.

I forgot how much I enjoy getting the things a person had on them as loot. I hate killing some uber elite guy in plate armor with a greatsword and you get... some money and a random potion.

Although I finally did away with the provided companions and built my own party after a very nearly disastrous fight in the lighthouse in Defiance Bay. I took a hit of about a level on average for logical stat and ability choices.

Now I am running a mountain dwarf main tank, me as chanter off tank, death touched wizard nuker, pale elf rogue dps/ my stealth and mechanics person, meadow folk barbarian dps, and a wood elf priest of Berath. Maybe I'll do a stupid easy playthrough to get all the companion storyline and dialogue stuff. I've also started my hard ironman playthrough. Still not sure if I want to do my path of the damned as Ironman or solo. We'll see.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 01:53:16


Post by: Chongara


 Bromsy wrote:
 Chongara wrote:
I bought this against my better judgement, but I'm still managing to enjoy it so far despite it hitting a good deal of my pet peeves. One thing that is annoying the hell out of me though is the UI. I get they were going for the old school feel here, but did that need to include the game handling like a bus with flat tires?


What's so bad about the UI? I feel like it's modernized enough.


When I have my whole party selected, I can't access any of their abilities. I have to click through manually to each one first! It should give me a hot-bar with everyone's abilities.

In combat the default action is a straight move, not an attack-move so a minor misclick makes a melee character run out taking free strikes, or a ranged guy run in. The default behavior should require me to shift or ctrl, for "Dumb" movement (this doesn't even seem configurable)
(party members in general seem to sit around slack-jawed if they're not ordered to attack first, which makes pulling enemy groups back to a prepared position kind of tedious)

Area attacks are a bitch to use. A lot of them seem to be cone-type attacks from the casters face, but when I cast them I can't do any kind of movement. Meaning I need to manually move my mage into position, which makes lining up shots somewhere between finicky and impossible. I'd much rather be able to Shift+Click to select a position for the mage to move to and THEN select the facing of the cone. My mage also has this bouncing flame-ball spell, but the UI only shows you the original trajectory and not the bounces even though all the terrain is static and it doesn't bounce off creatures! Just show me where the damn spell is going to go.

Enemy click-boxes are like really small and there's no "Snap to target" to feature, meaning targeting in melee is a pain. Give me clear hit boxes, snap-to or at least some kind of cycle-targets feature (this seems configuerable for party emembers).

Why can't I access world map travel from friendly/cleared areas without having to run to the edge of the current map?
Why can't I fast-travel between the way points on a cleared/friendly map?
Why is there not "Wait X Hours" feature. When I just want to get on with a construction project I need to either sleep at inn a bunch of times or just travel back/forth for no reason.
Why can't I enabled object highlighting to be on all the time? WHY MUST I HOLD DOWN TAB GAME, WHY MUST I HOLD DOWN TAB!?!?
Why is there no toggle to show the reputation change value of dialogue options, like there are for the skill/attribute prerequisites?

Why can't I queue up targets? Focus fire is important like in any other game where multiple active targets at the same time. Every time I have down someone I have to go wrangle all the party members one by one to get them coordinated again.

I have other general user-friendliness nitpicks beyond the UI.

At least at normal difficulty the "Resting" and "Health" mechanics largely feel like a superfluous add-on. Camping supplies are so cheap and the game is so generous with where it lets you camp, it doesn't seem function as much of a restriction at all. I can camp basically between every encounter if I like, it's just the cap on camping supplies is just nuisance factor making me run back to town.




Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 02:20:14


Post by: Bromsy


Spoiler:
 Chongara wrote:
 Bromsy wrote:
 Chongara wrote:
I bought this against my better judgement, but I'm still managing to enjoy it so far despite it hitting a good deal of my pet peeves. One thing that is annoying the hell out of me though is the UI. I get they were going for the old school feel here, but did that need to include the game handling like a bus with flat tires?


What's so bad about the UI? I feel like it's modernized enough.


When I have my whole party selected, I can't access any of their abilities. I have to click through manually to each one first! It should give me a hot-bar with everyone's abilities.

In combat the default action is a straight move, not an attack-move so a minor misclick makes a melee character run out taking free strikes, or a ranged guy run in. The default behavior should require me to shift or ctrl, for "Dumb" movement (this doesn't even seem configurable)
(party members in general seem to sit around slack-jawed if they're not ordered to attack first, which makes pulling enemy groups back to a prepared position kind of tedious)

Area attacks are a bitch to use. A lot of them seem to be cone-type attacks from the casters face, but when I cast them I can't do any kind of movement. Meaning I need to manually move my mage into position, which makes lining up shots somewhere between finicky and impossible. I'd much rather be able to Shift+Click to select a position for the mage to move to and THEN select the facing of the cone. My mage also has this bouncing flame-ball spell, but the UI only shows you the original trajectory and not the bounces even though all the terrain is static and it doesn't bounce off creatures! Just show me where the damn spell is going to go.

Enemy click-boxes are like really small and there's no "Snap to target" to feature, meaning targeting in melee is a pain. Give me clear hit boxes, snap-to or at least some kind of cycle-targets feature (this seems configuerable for party emembers).

Why can't I access world map travel from friendly/cleared areas without having to run to the edge of the current map?
Why can't I fast-travel between the way points on a cleared/friendly map?
Why is there not "Wait X Hours" feature. When I just want to get on with a construction project I need to either sleep at inn a bunch of times or just travel back/forth for no reason.
Why can't I enabled object highlighting to be on all the time? WHY MUST I HOLD DOWN TAB GAME, WHY MUST I HOLD DOWN TAB!?!?
Why is there no toggle to show the reputation change value of dialogue options, like there are for the skill/attribute prerequisites?

Why can't I queue up targets? Focus fire is important like in any other game where multiple active targets at the same time. Every time I have down someone I have to go wrangle all the party members one by one to get them coordinated again.

I have other general user-friendliness nitpicks beyond the UI.

At least at normal difficulty the "Resting" and "Health" mechanics largely feel like a superfluous add-on. Camping supplies are so cheap and the game is so generous with where it lets you camp, it doesn't seem function as much of a restriction at all. I can camp basically between every encounter if I like, it's just the cap on camping supplies is just nuisance factor making me run back to town.




I'll agree with the not being able to fast travel except at the edge of the maps; other than that I don't mind any of the stuff you posted. I actually enjoy having to micromanage all my guys in combat


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 02:25:33


Post by: Chongara


 Bromsy wrote:
Spoiler:
 Chongara wrote:
 Bromsy wrote:
 Chongara wrote:
I bought this against my better judgement, but I'm still managing to enjoy it so far despite it hitting a good deal of my pet peeves. One thing that is annoying the hell out of me though is the UI. I get they were going for the old school feel here, but did that need to include the game handling like a bus with flat tires?


What's so bad about the UI? I feel like it's modernized enough.


When I have my whole party selected, I can't access any of their abilities. I have to click through manually to each one first! It should give me a hot-bar with everyone's abilities.

In combat the default action is a straight move, not an attack-move so a minor misclick makes a melee character run out taking free strikes, or a ranged guy run in. The default behavior should require me to shift or ctrl, for "Dumb" movement (this doesn't even seem configurable)
(party members in general seem to sit around slack-jawed if they're not ordered to attack first, which makes pulling enemy groups back to a prepared position kind of tedious)

Area attacks are a bitch to use. A lot of them seem to be cone-type attacks from the casters face, but when I cast them I can't do any kind of movement. Meaning I need to manually move my mage into position, which makes lining up shots somewhere between finicky and impossible. I'd much rather be able to Shift+Click to select a position for the mage to move to and THEN select the facing of the cone. My mage also has this bouncing flame-ball spell, but the UI only shows you the original trajectory and not the bounces even though all the terrain is static and it doesn't bounce off creatures! Just show me where the damn spell is going to go.

Enemy click-boxes are like really small and there's no "Snap to target" to feature, meaning targeting in melee is a pain. Give me clear hit boxes, snap-to or at least some kind of cycle-targets feature (this seems configuerable for party emembers).

Why can't I access world map travel from friendly/cleared areas without having to run to the edge of the current map?
Why can't I fast-travel between the way points on a cleared/friendly map?
Why is there not "Wait X Hours" feature. When I just want to get on with a construction project I need to either sleep at inn a bunch of times or just travel back/forth for no reason.
Why can't I enabled object highlighting to be on all the time? WHY MUST I HOLD DOWN TAB GAME, WHY MUST I HOLD DOWN TAB!?!?
Why is there no toggle to show the reputation change value of dialogue options, like there are for the skill/attribute prerequisites?

Why can't I queue up targets? Focus fire is important like in any other game where multiple active targets at the same time. Every time I have down someone I have to go wrangle all the party members one by one to get them coordinated again.

I have other general user-friendliness nitpicks beyond the UI.

At least at normal difficulty the "Resting" and "Health" mechanics largely feel like a superfluous add-on. Camping supplies are so cheap and the game is so generous with where it lets you camp, it doesn't seem function as much of a restriction at all. I can camp basically between every encounter if I like, it's just the cap on camping supplies is just nuisance factor making me run back to town.




I'll agree with the not being able to fast travel except at the edge of the maps; other than that I don't mind any of the stuff you posted. I actually enjoy having to micromanage all my guys in combat


Which is fine. If any/all of that were options, you'd certainly be free to turn them off and play a game that controls like they did 19 years ago.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 12:45:37


Post by: TheDraconicLord


I couldnt't hold myself any longer and I bought this game.

I can only describe it as "this is so fething good"


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 17:26:48


Post by: Sigvatr


The best part about the game is character creation. My wife and I spent 2 or even 3 hours just theoretizing different builds...we have about 10 (!) pages of handwritten paper with our notes. Min-maxing is back, no more Biocrap hand-holding "you're too stupid to skill the character right" bullpoo for console peasants.

Hail the glorious master race!


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 17:56:31


Post by: Soladrin


I caved. Downloading on steam now.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 19:13:51


Post by: Sasori


 Soladrin wrote:
I caved. Downloading on steam now.


Great Timing, patch just got released!


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 19:31:10


Post by: Sigvatr


Laughed at the patch. +1 damage for unarmed Monks, now that will surely save Unarmed from being super useless

Playing a Paladin, Shield-Bearer, Moon Godlike with 2 dump stats (Might + Dexterity). I cannot even scratch enemies, but boy do I take the damage.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 19:46:28


Post by: nels1031


The patch fixed Raedric's Keep though!

Currently getting my ass spanked by the Adra Dragon at the end(?) of Dungeon of the Endless. I got my Barbarian, the feathery paladin, the chanter who looks like Sloth from Goonies, Grieving Mother, Eder(my tank) and the Priest. Can't get it below Injured before someone gets dominated by the dragons breath and I'm playing catch up on healing. I only did five tries before I hit the sack, but I started to formulate a plan. I think I'll have it down by the end of tonight though.



Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 19:56:50


Post by: Soladrin


So, since I just got it. Any early tips? I've discovered that a crossbow is terrible in close combat with a spider.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 20:04:33


Post by: mattyrm


 Soladrin wrote:
So, since I just got it. Any early tips? I've discovered that a crossbow is terrible in close combat with a spider.


Yeah I'm struggling as well, I just approached some weird tree thing in the woods and Im only about 3 hours in, it smashed my face in with consummate ease.

I picked a Priest but as far as I'm aware I still cant actually heal anybody, just give them some endurance. It crushed my warrior mate in 5 seconds and then dismembered me and cast my twitching corpse into the bushes.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 20:10:41


Post by: Soladrin


Also, when disarming traps. Don't step on every other tile.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 20:12:12


Post by: Sigvatr


 Soladrin wrote:
Also, when disarming traps. Don't step on every other tile.


>> Deactivate stealth mode
>> HEY THERE WAIT WE WILL RUSH TO YOU

Boom.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 21:32:32


Post by: Silent Puffin?


 mattyrm wrote:
 Soladrin wrote:
So, since I just got it. Any early tips? I've discovered that a crossbow is terrible in close combat with a spider.


Yeah I'm struggling as well, I just approached some weird tree thing in the woods and Im only about 3 hours in, it smashed my face in with consummate ease.

I picked a Priest but as far as I'm aware I still cant actually heal anybody, just give them some endurance. It crushed my warrior mate in 5 seconds and then dismembered me and cast my twitching corpse into the bushes.


Endurance is health (sort of). You lose endurance during combat and when you reach 0 you get knocked out and your health gets damaged (your health also gets damaged a little if you lose a lot of endurance). Lose enough health and you become maimed which means that you are permadead if you take any more damage.

You can hire more party members from Innkeepers, they start at 250c, which you can create however you want. Wandering around with just the 2 of you will not get you far

There is an achievement to complete a Path of the Damned playthough solo. I can't see many people managing that.......


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 21:47:37


Post by: Sigvatr


Health gets constantly damaged in battle - after all, you're still taking those cuts, bruises, burns and so on. In PoE, there also is Endurance which basically reflects your capability to stand your ground in a single fight.

Just imagine Endurance your "short term" HP and your Health your "long term" HP.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/04 22:02:11


Post by: Silent Puffin?


I've managed to clock in 34 hours in my first playthough and I haven't even finished act 2 yet and I'm only on lvl 6 of Od Nua.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 05:17:16


Post by: Chongara


I've found health to be pretty meaningless anyway, it feels like the vestigial remains of an earlier/meaner designer and somebody on the team just couldn't afford to kill their baby entirely.I swear it really does just feel like a mechanic meant to pad that games the run time at this point.

Still my UI and design nitpicks aside I'm enjoying this more than I thought I would. Controlling a whole RPG party is nice to get back to and I like that there's room for tactics. I can defintely feel the difference between running in guns-blazing and actually executing on a plan.

The story is a bit bleak for my taste, which is something I've come to expect from most non-jRPGs at this point and it's hardly the worst offender. I like that I got to talk down the giant ogre creature from the cave instead of just beating him to death. Still it'd be prefer to have at least one straight-up pleasant event at some point. Seriously guys not every quest has to have some tragic twist, or poor soul you just can't save. Not every NPC in a quest has to have some shady ulterior motive, gone insane or secretly be a rapist. I mean I get it dead god, cursed world, whatever you're still laying it on a bit thick here. Despite those complaints though it's compelling at least, which is all I can really ask for.

EDIT: Confirmed something I suspected by starting a new game.

The named companions Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I dunno whose idea it was to assign them stats like you couldn't charOP your way out of wet paper bag AND make it so you can't respec them. It's beyond a night/day difference having some competently built characters backing me up. I get those guys are like... supposed to have stories or whatever and I guess I'll catch them on youtube or something if I can be bothered. No way I'm playing any further with the Short Bus squad. You really ought to be able to retool their stats/abilities so you can get the full story experience without having to hang out with a bunch of heads-up-their-butts incompetents.

Serious wtf aloth? You call that rinky-dinky Fan of Flames a 1st level AoE?


Generic moonhead druid says THAT is an 1st Level AoE. You know those targeting issues I was complaining about? NEVER MIND THE CONE HITS EVERYTHING. Even the friendly-fire safe part STILL HITS EVERYTHING and also maybe like some guy in the other room.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 10:13:43


Post by: Sigvatr


 Chongara wrote:


The named companions Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I dunno whose idea it was to assign them stats like you couldn't charOP your way out of wet paper bag AND make it so you can't respec them. It's beyond a night/day difference having some competently built characters backing me up. I get those guys are like... supposed to have stories or whatever and I guess I'll catch them on youtube or something if I can be bothered. No way I'm playing any further with the Short Bus squad. You really ought to be able to retool their stats/abilities so you can get the full story experience without having to hang out with a bunch of heads-up-their-butts incompetents.


http://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity/mods/1/?tab=2&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fpillarsofeternity%2Fajax%2Fmodfiles%2F%3Fid%3D1&pUp=1

We used the mod. Allows you to fully respec any hero / companion in the game.

Also: Fan of Flames is insane for a lvl 1 spell in early game. If you got it on the right companion and get a nice arc. Man I love my paladin. Sure, early game, I hit for less (!) than 1 damage (no kidding), but you can really waltz in places and take a beating like the manliest man around.

Also: MOONHEAD? You goddarn racist, you! It's a blessing of our god


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 10:32:12


Post by: nels1031


Yeah, I think after my first playthrough I'll just use custom party members. I'll just recruit the named characters to breeze through their quests as the appropriate quest maps unlock and get whatever rewards/xp I can from them.

I made my first (almost done)playthrough alot harder than it needed to be, figuring that the developers made competent named party members. It was only as I got deeper into the game and understood its mechanics that I realized I've kind of hamstrung myself. Adra Dragon is unkillable for what I specced my members to be and how their stats are distributed. I think the mod is a must for me at this point.

Going to try for the harder achievements with a proper party, when/if I finish this playthrough.

Also, level 12 seems egregiously low for the level cap. I get that this is the first in whats likely a series and such, but damn, part of my love of RPGs is levelling and getting cool new abilities. I think I hit level cap before act 3.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 10:51:55


Post by: Chongara


 Sigvatr wrote:
 Chongara wrote:


The named companions Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I dunno whose idea it was to assign them stats like you couldn't charOP your way out of wet paper bag AND make it so you can't respec them. It's beyond a night/day difference having some competently built characters backing me up. I get those guys are like... supposed to have stories or whatever and I guess I'll catch them on youtube or something if I can be bothered. No way I'm playing any further with the Short Bus squad. You really ought to be able to retool their stats/abilities so you can get the full story experience without having to hang out with a bunch of heads-up-their-butts incompetents.


http://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity/mods/1/?tab=2&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fpillarsofeternity%2Fajax%2Fmodfiles%2F%3Fid%3D1&pUp=1

We used the mod. Allows you to fully respec any hero / companion in the game.

Also: Fan of Flames is insane for a lvl 1 spell in early game. If you got it on the right companion and get a nice arc. Man I love my paladin. Sure, early game, I hit for less (!) than 1 damage (no kidding), but you can really waltz in places and take a beating like the manliest man around.

Also: MOONHEAD? You goddarn racist, you! It's a blessing of our god


I'm not so much dissing fan of flames, so much as I'm dissing Aloth's Fan of Flames. I dunno how a well built wizard stacks up (found the overall spell selection for class lacking at least up through 3rd levels), but that level 1 Frost spell has a nice long range with a nice big fat safe zone so I can actually shoot it into melee easily, cool knockback effect and I get like bunch of utility spells baseline too. Seriously it's so nice being able to spray down the front line quickly and effectively without wasting time jockeying for position.

Glad paladin is working for you. I found paladin sorely lacking as a tank. It's got no native engagement limit bonus, lower base health,& deflection, accuracy. The way that game likes to throw hordes of enemies at you, the +2 Engagement limit feels really important. Hell I'm going with a pair of fighters with hold the line just so they actually hold everything in place while my deeps go ham. I like the aura, but I'm not sure it's worth the slot. Could be worth trading out one of the fighters -if- it seems like 6 engagements + ranger pets is enough to keep the front line from leaking. That's a big if though, given what I've seen of the game so far.

Rangers are also feeling like a no brainier right now too. Rogues/Monks seem to want to be too close to the fight which doesn't seem to work too well when you're not picking up any defensive stats and putting on the lightest armor for attack rate. Also because of the way things tend to clusterfeth up it's very hard to get multiple melee characters of any stripe on the same target. The ranged guys can focus fire for maximum efficiency without having to worry about clear lanes to their targets, or relying on limited use abilities.

Ciphers & Chanters seem like they might have some utility. Particular given the latters ranged attack buff, given my bow-centric playstyle so far.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 11:59:47


Post by: Sigvatr


Oh, I got two tanks. Due to how tanking works in this game, you will definitely want two tanks. Main char is my primary tank for the big guys. And, as usual, take every single +engagement talent like Hold the Line.

Chanters are very, very good throughout the whole game and also deliver reliable damage via ranged weapons. Ciphers are good too but can be busy work in battles.

Wizards become good later on when their spells become /per fight/. Fan of Flames per fight? Yes please.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 12:17:06


Post by: Silent Puffin?


I have a paladin, a warrior and a bear as tanks and it works fine. Its quite rare for mobs to break my line unless I get swarmed in the open.

I find the paladin to be quite useful.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 12:34:36


Post by: Soladrin


I'm trying to play the game solo with my Rogue. Already 1 shot the cave bear before getting to town.

Sneak attack+backstab+crossbow+blinding shot = 1 dead bear.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 13:08:28


Post by: Sigvatr


Rogues definitely are top shots for damage. Their sneak attacks are insane.

And now imagine there was a class who could pull off that damage without any prerequisites. That would be insane, wouldn't it?

Try Cipher.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 15:11:57


Post by: Soladrin


Very annoyed with the rogue now. I picked the Escape ability and it turns out it's completely fething useless.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 15:30:44


Post by: Sigvatr


Rogues in PoE are all-in heroes. You throw them in the fight and hope your enemies die before they do. I wouldn't take more than one, though, as they require quite a bit of micro management and might quickly turn out to be a hassle to deal with.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 15:43:29


Post by: Da Boss


I've played a couple more hours now, got the Stronghold (which is really cool!) and have started exploring Od Nua.
Party so far is:
Balor (Me) - 4th Level Aumaua Barbarian mostly speccing into passive abilities
Brigid - 2nd Level Nature Godlike Cleric of Eothas
Daghda - 2nd Level Dwarven Fighter
Morrigan - 2nd Level Orlan Rogue
Durance
and that Aumaua Chanter.

So far it's pretty great, but I'm quite interested to see where they got the linguistic inspiration from. There are a lot of welsh or Irish gaelic words thrown around (Nua is the word for new, for example). Or if they're not words, the spelling conventions track pretty clearly. Nice touch, helps immerse me, especially since I'm naming my group after various celtic mythological figures!


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 15:47:30


Post by: TheDraconicLord


Christ, what level of difficulty are you guys playing? I'm in "for the ride", I only made one adventurer to try out how it looks / works (fighter) because I needed a tank. Currently I'm a rogue, wizard (the elf), a fighter and the fighter that later joins you.

I like the NPCs that join us, so there's no way I'm creating "useful" adventurers and use them as a party, so I hope it doesn't make a difference on normal difficulty level.

Heck, but the bear was awesome. "A bear you say?! I shall slay it!" - *sneaks in * *bears spots me* *SLAP* critical *BITCH-SLAP* Dead

Had to wait until I got the wizard and created a fighter before I tackled that monster


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 15:49:05


Post by: Da Boss


I am playing on Easy with zero shame because I've not really played games like this in a long, long time. I never got to finish the original Baldur's Gate in college so I'm a total noob!

I might up it now that I have a party of 6 though, because that makes things a lot easier.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 16:10:04


Post by: mattyrm


It took me 20 attempts to beat that fething mental bloke in the cellar of that old crypt and I've only got it on normal. It was pissing me off because I couldn't save it after the massive amount of dialogue before the fight starts.

I think from looking at everyone elses shots I am going wrong by only having two lads with me. It looks like the aim is to go around massively mob handed!

Anyway, long story short if you have just started the game seems hard to me, make sure to hire an extra bloke at that first inn, because its hard going with two.

Buy camping supplies as well because you cant heal or use your spells if you don't get enough kip, I had to walk all the way back to buy help and supplies at the Inn after walking for miles to fight a deranged pensioner and realizing it was impossible to beat him.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 16:21:08


Post by: Da Boss


Yeah, you need a full party of six. I've hired three dudes and am using two pre-made ones.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 16:48:43


Post by: Sigvatr


There are two NPC companions in the first town

A tank and a wizard.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 18:33:51


Post by: Silent Puffin?


 Da Boss wrote:
Yeah, you need a full party of six. I've hired three dudes and am using two pre-made ones.


You get an exp bonus for every empty party slot you have (IIRC its 10% per slot). You don't need an full party, well most of the time


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 18:53:07


Post by: Sigvatr


You should always take a full party though. The XP bonus is pretty neglible compared to the power you miss out on. Unless you plan to take a Monk. I'd then...consider the XP bonus.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 19:54:46


Post by: Sasori


I'll echo about the Rogue doing the most raw damage. My main is a rogue, and he consistently dishes out the most damage. He is also consistently the one knocked out the most...


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 20:23:39


Post by: Sigvatr


Have you played a Cipher yet? Insanely broken, Rogue damage without restrictions, i.e. backstab. Tons of AoE. Druid is similar, skyrockets soon.

I'm in for about 8 hours now...man the game is so awesome. It's just amazing. If I didn't get it for free and if not for the problematic handling of the tombstone issue, I'd buy it a few times just to support the developer more D:


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 20:45:42


Post by: Soladrin


Update on the adventures of solo rogue. I killed almost all of Raedrics keep on my own. Hired some goons to kill both Korc and Raedric (because Anarachy for all). Ditched the party after that and just went through all the effort getting my own keep.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 20:47:46


Post by: Sigvatr


Careful not to spoil stuff


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 21:05:55


Post by: Soladrin


Trust me, I could've spoiled a lot in there. Just saying though, Solo rogue is do-able for everything except the boss/group fights.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 21:08:03


Post by: Sigvatr


You're not through yet


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 21:09:31


Post by: Soladrin


 Sigvatr wrote:
You're not through yet


I'm 12 hours in. Obviously I am not.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 21:11:55


Post by: Sigvatr


F5 / F8 still working under excessive load?


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 21:21:11


Post by: Soladrin


 Sigvatr wrote:
F5 / F8 still working under excessive load?


I fear I may need a new keyboard before I am done here.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/05 22:14:09


Post by: Tannhauser42


Looking at the global Steam achievements, nobody yet has completed the game entirely solo. Much less completed on the hardest difficulties solo.

Well, someone may have done it, so it could be reading 0% because so few have achieved it that it isn't registering.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/06 13:08:01


Post by: TheDraconicLord


Completed the first "dungeon": the area under the village with the *Tree*.

It was 2 am and I honestly just wanted to play all night long because how good it felt. I had to lay down a fireball trap, sneak attack to attract the enemies, run back and pray the fighters held the line while the wizard casted some AOE spells to take care of a particular room. Hell, I scout everywhere because I don't want to be caught with my pants down or else my party is wasted. (The Phantoms hit like a truck)

Seriously, this game just feels GOOD. The attention to detail, that warm and fuzzy feeling when the search finds a secret, oh, glorious, how I love this game!


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/06 15:01:05


Post by: Sigvatr


 TheDraconicLord wrote:
Completed the first "dungeon": the area under the village with the *Tree*.

It was 2 am and I honestly just wanted to play all night long because how good it felt. I had to lay down a fireball trap, sneak attack to attract the enemies, run back and pray the fighters held the line while the wizard casted some AOE spells to take care of a particular room. Hell, I scout everywhere because I don't want to be caught with my pants down or else my party is wasted. (The Phantoms hit like a truck)

Seriously, this game just feels GOOD. The attention to detail, that warm and fuzzy feeling when the search finds a secret, oh, glorious, how I love this game!


Exactly what both me and my wife felt too. It has been such a long time where you just wanted to explore that dungeon not because of any SUPER EPIC LOOT or a ACHIEVEMEEEEENT at the end but because you were genuinely interested in /exploring/.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/07 06:31:01


Post by: Soladrin


Started a new game with my party based on the main characters from Vikings, because why the hell not. Going well so far.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/07 09:02:59


Post by: Sigvatr


Dear lord, how can people stand playing fighters? Talking about one-trick ponies. You just...run...into enemies, then stand around until the end of the battle. Oh, and you sometimes push people over. That's it. Exciiiitiiiiiiiiing!


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/07 10:44:44


Post by: Soladrin


 Sigvatr wrote:
Dear lord, how can people stand playing fighters? Talking about one-trick ponies. You just...run...into enemies, then stand around until the end of the battle. Oh, and you sometimes push people over. That's it. Exciiiitiiiiiiiiing!


Eh, I like playing mine, it's more a case of gear micromanaging, though they get some abilities pretty quick if you choose them. (I didn't, passives up the wazoo!) The knock down is great for crowd control or just kicking the snot out of a single target.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/07 13:51:53


Post by: Chongara


 Soladrin wrote:
 Sigvatr wrote:
Dear lord, how can people stand playing fighters? Talking about one-trick ponies. You just...run...into enemies, then stand around until the end of the battle. Oh, and you sometimes push people over. That's it. Exciiiitiiiiiiiiing!


Eh, I like playing mine, it's more a case of gear micromanaging, though they get some abilities pretty quick if you choose them. (I didn't, passives up the wazoo!) The knock down is great for crowd control or just kicking the snot out of a single target.


You're also not playing a character, you're playing a party. Having fire-and-forget fighters makes managing everyone else a bit easier. It doesn't hurt that fighters are just damned good at what they do. Having 4 Engagements is such a big deal. You can get high defensive stats on anyone but being able to be sure that those 6+ enemies STAY on the people with the defensive stats is what makes that deflection 90 really count.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/07 15:12:16


Post by: Sigvatr


Fighters are the absolute best at tanking - impossible to take down, 1 more engagement than other tanks. They also are the most one-dimensional characters, though, that's why I still prefer Paladins. 1 less engagement, but Auras and Buffs to make up for it.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/07 15:23:28


Post by: Chongara


 Sigvatr wrote:
Fighters are the absolute best at tanking - impossible to take down, 1 more engagement than other tanks. They also are the most one-dimensional characters, though, that's why I still prefer Paladins. 1 less engagement, but Auras and Buffs to make up for it.


Where is the extra engagement on the paladin coming from? Fighter's defender is +2 for a total of 3 native. Paladins don't have anything comparable (unless the wiki information I've been looking at is outdated). This means taking Hold the Line they're still behind by 2 (2 vs 4). Losing only 1 Engagement would certainly make the paladin option seem more compelling.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/07 19:48:51


Post by: Sigvatr


Oh, got it mixed up then. I just had in mind that base engagement is 2.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/08 03:43:30


Post by: nels1031


Finally beat it. Pretty unique story and satisfying ending.

In addition to being a great game, I felt the in game universe was excellent and unique. Can't wait to see how this franchise expands!

As far as the ending goes:
Spoiler:
I chose to restore the captured souls back to the hollowborn. Seemed like the compassionate thing to do, for my benevolent Barbarian, although I betrayed the gods to do it.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/09 12:36:46


Post by: Sigvatr


Priests. Mother of God.

Start out utterly terrible and nigh-useless, from lvl 7-8, they turn into your party's heart. The buffs are downright insane.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/09 14:30:35


Post by: Soladrin


Really? My priest has been performing pretty well from the get go. Heals + buffs + some aoe damage. (though I also gave him one hand style and a good axe and armor).


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/09 16:19:57


Post by: Sigvatr


 Soladrin wrote:
Really? My priest has been performing pretty well from the get go. Heals + buffs + some aoe damage. (though I also gave him one hand style and a good axe and armor).


"Good" is relative. Most other classes outshine Priests early on as Priests are very limited. Once you get able to cast every 1s / 2nd spell of yours on a /per encounter/ basis, poo hits the fan. You absolutely need at least 18 Dexterity with a Priest, else you can't spam enough.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/10 10:17:12


Post by: Soladrin


Meh, I've never really had any great difficulty in the game and most every build seems to work for me. I'm playing on easy though since I CBA to keep quick loading in such a massive game.

That all said, a Rogue with two weapon style, high recovery armor (15-25%) and reckless assault murders fools dead.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/10 10:28:56


Post by: Sigvatr


Well, even Monks could work on Easy


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/10 15:37:29


Post by: mattyrm


Yeah ok I love this game, I cracked a 5 hours session last night.

My character priest is totally fething useless though, I'm now 5th level and still cant heal anyone other than a single gakky guy each rest, only only by 50 health.

I do think the tutorial stuff on the side is lacking though, I am still confused by lots of things, for example I didn't know I could build stuff at my stronghold without going all the way back there until about 3 hours in.

Also, crafting is not explained, and Im confused about armor as well, looking at the tab it only makes a few actions a percentage point slower, so does that mean it makes sense just to stick every class in plate and be done with it?


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/10 15:47:38


Post by: Sigvatr


 mattyrm wrote:
Yeah ok I love this game, I cracked a 5 hours session last night.

My character priest is totally fething useless though, I'm now 5th level and still cant heal anyone other than a single gakky guy each rest, only only by 50 health.


Huh? You should have Restore Minor Endurance and the healing circle that restores Endurance plus you class ability that AoE restores Endurance. Unless you explicitely refer to HP, in that case, yeah, there's little to do. Supplies are plentiful, however, so resting is okay.

Priests aren't your MMO priests, they mainly work as superb buffers. At lvl 9 (iirc), you can cast your level 1 spells /per encounter/ instead of /per rest/ which is amazing. A good priest turns a party into gods. Believe me, they get downright insane later on. Even early on, their Seal that knocks enemies down is overpowered as hell. And Divine Armor at lvl 1 - awesome. +4 DR for your entire party is a LOT.

I hope you have a lot of Dexterity, though, if you got less than 18, lategame will be annoying.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 mattyrm wrote:


Also, crafting is not explained, and Im confused about armor as well, looking at the tab it only makes a few actions a percentage point slower, so does that mean it makes sense just to stick every class in plate and be done with it?


Armor has two effects:

a) Increase Damage Resistance (DR)

b) Lower Recovery Speed. If you have e.g. -50%, then the time between actions is increased by 50%. Casters therefore will absolutely want to stay in light armor in order to spam their skills. It's simple math - yes, you can put your mage into platemail, but you lose 60+% of his damage.

Here' s the ultimate PoE guide:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=416939844

It's the best guide I have ever seen for any game.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/11 00:14:17


Post by: mattyrm


Thanks for the advice, makes a lot of sense.

Yeah I specifically meant HP, its easy to keep Endurance up as a Priest but they still take damage and I dont like resting the team after 5 or 6 scraps.

Ill be sure to start hitting dexterity, I think I'm still sinking it all into caster stats.

As for the armor, I am starting to get the hang of sticking Eder and a Pally out front and keeping the casters in the rear with the gear.

One question, I tend to lead with the same stuff for most fights, I have managed to figure out formations, is there any way to get the whole party to default to a certain attack at the start of every fight?

Actually, Ive just checked the guide out, that's more than sufficient Im sure.

Cheers mate.



Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/04/11 20:52:39


Post by: Chongara


Just beat the game.
Spoiler:
It fell pretty flat for me. Not enough of a buildup/climax, then again my mainstays have always been more bombastic games as a whole. The whole "The gods aren't really gods, just artificial creations!" revelation felt wasted. It didn't play into the conflict at all besides a twist to Thaos' motivations. Give me some option to confront them, or at least put in something about my character floating the idea that maybe some truth needs to be spread. More than anything I guess it was pacing issue, you arrive twin elms and the game is all "OK. It's time to wrap this sucker up" even though it scarcely felt like it should be at the halfway point.


Overall, I enjoyed it more than I typically do for these kind of games. For all the nitpicks I have with it, It felt worthwhile.

Final Grade: high C+ or low B-.

EDIT:
One question, I tend to lead with the same stuff for most fights, I have managed to figure out formations, is there any way to get the whole party to default to a certain attack at the start of every fight?


No. Near as I can tell you can't even set up hotkeys, or use any other basic feature games have had for last 20 years. See my above comment on nitpicks. The UI for this thing is a horrible dinosaur. I swear 2-3 hours of my playtime must have just been mousing through the party options that wouldn't have happened if I just had modern keybinding options.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/08/27 02:50:40


Post by: Eumerin


The first expansion for this game is now live on Steam. And it's a two-parter. You can get part 1 for $15, or but both parts for $25. It also adds two new party members, two more levels, and some new areas. I'm not in a position to take a look at it right now, though.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/08/27 03:03:49


Post by: nels1031


Eumerin wrote:
The first expansion for this game is now live on Steam. And it's a two-parter. You can get part 1 for $15, or but both parts for $25. It also adds two new party members, two more levels, and some new areas. I'm not in a position to take a look at it right now, though.


Its fun so far. The monk is a riot
Spoiler:
You find him meditationg in a barrel of dead fish and he seems to be tripping on shrooms every now and again
and the rogue I just found, but she seems pretty interesting.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/08/28 18:40:54


Post by: Col. Dash


In the older games, the party had auto-actions that you could script in so you didn't have to micromanage every little detail, although you could if you wanted to do so. Does this game have a similar feature?


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/08/29 17:59:54


Post by: nels1031


Col. Dash wrote:
In the older games, the party had auto-actions that you could script in so you didn't have to micromanage every little detail, although you could if you wanted to do so. Does this game have a similar feature?


This most recent patch also included a party AI system, that allows you to adjust how your party acts when combat begins. You can set them to aggressive/defensive/healer/support and such. I was pleasantly surprised by how effective it was, although I feel the need to point out that I play the game on normal difficulty. On harder difficulties, you probably still want to micro manage.

I completed the contents of part 1 of this expansion and wish I had just waited for part 2 to drop. I tried to avoid spoilers for this release and I missed the part that it unlocks at 1/3 of the way through the game. I had gotten to the point where I made the "leap of faith" near the end of the game, and felt that I did the content an injustice by being so high level, and missing out on all the interactions/dialogue that might happen between the monk and rogue while I went about the main quest. I mistakenly thought this was more Throne of Baal than Tales of the Sword Coast.

Although it does give me a reason to do a play through with a new class I haven't tried. But I'm torn on whether to wait for White March part 2 to do that.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/08/30 01:33:05


Post by: Hordini


Just picked this up since it was on sale on Steam. First RPG like this that I've played in awhile, and it looks pretty promising.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/08/30 09:16:57


Post by: Ratius


You guys are really tempting me with this.
However is it as hard as they say - like does it get eye rollingly hard or frustrating during fights?
Played a lot of BG back in the day and sometimes it was like argggggh just NO!


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/08/30 13:35:50


Post by: nels1031


Its challemging at times but not insurmountable. The only thing that frustrated me was the boss at the bottom of Caed Nua, and that had more to do with my choices in class abilities and party makeup than anything else.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/08/31 17:10:46


Post by: Col. Dash


I picked it up with the expansion. Felt like I was playing Ice Wind Dale or BG2. Disappointed in how few races were present, was kind of hoping for a few more, especially evil type races and the classes were not very diverse as well, especially with all the books out there with classes and races they could have borrowed from and renamed.

Game play is good so far. I am not far into the game as I suffer from multiple character syndrome and keep starting over to try something new out. I enjoy the old school feel to it and how fast it moves. Digging the dungeon crawling aspect of it. My favorite part of any fantasy RPG.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/09/04 15:36:43


Post by: Frankenberry


I must say, I'm interested - is there somewhere I can read an objective review (or listen if youtube is your thing) that doesn't involve "ZOMG THIS IS LIKE BALDURS GATE" and other 'NOSTALGIA IS BETTER THAN COMING UP WITH ORIGINAL IDEAS" type of deals?

Not saying any of that is bad, but it makes for a pretty gak review for those of us who don't want to throw money at a game they know nothing about.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/09/06 19:41:45


Post by: Psienesis


Metacritic allows you to read the reviews from which its aggregate score is created. You can just scroll through them to find ones that aren't just nostalgia trips... and, when it comes to games, I typically find the bad and neutral reviews to be the most-helpful in highlighting problems and tend to have less fan-wankery involved, even for games that I like.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/09/12 18:10:15


Post by: Compel


There's always this as a review for the game.




Though, it's not the most unbiased of ones, Marisha's partner, Matt Mercer, voices both Aloth and Eder in the game.

In all seriousness though, I've never played more than a few minutes of Baldurs Gate, but Pillars of Eternity is great. I'm currently finding myself playing more of this than trying out the new dragon age DLC.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/09/12 21:40:40


Post by: Eumerin


Finally got to the end of the Endless Paths.

Spoiler:
Then when the conversation with the dragon ended, she instantly one-shotted my entire party save the paladin NPC (who only had single digit endurance left). Um...

So I set that aside to return to later.

Then a little while later, I faced the blue dragon in Hylea's temple. That fight went something like this -

Miss
Miss
Miss
Miss
Miss
Miss
etc...

/sigh



Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/09/13 19:56:21


Post by: Shadow Captain Edithae


I've barely played it, just 2 or 3 hours, but I found Pillars of Eternity to be much more accessible than Baldurs Gate. A better interface, a little easier to learn etc. My recommendation would probably be to play Pillars first before graduating to the classic Baldurs Gate series.


Pillars of Eternity is Live! 92% Score from PC Gamer @ 2015/10/02 07:13:54


Post by: Sasori


Eumerin wrote:
Finally got to the end of the Endless Paths.

Spoiler:
Then when the conversation with the dragon ended, she instantly one-shotted my entire party save the paladin NPC (who only had single digit endurance left). Um...

So I set that aside to return to later.

Then a little while later, I faced the blue dragon in Hylea's temple. That fight went something like this -

Miss
Miss
Miss
Miss
Miss
Miss
etc...

/sigh




Yeah, both of those challenges are pretty much made for max geared/level characters.

The brightside is that the level cap goes up in the White March! So that can make those a little bit easier.