Pillars of Eternity: your opinion so far?

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Anyone notice any changes/boost/nerfs on your characters/party with the new patch being out? I haven't gotten a chance to hop on yet, just got back from work, but I'm hoping it boosts my party a bit, I'm having fun with the combat, but "normal" is certainly more challenging than I was expecting... random baddies aren't just insta-kills depending on if I'm not paying attention to my party locations, one if not two of the squishier guys will get one hit KO'd before I even realize they were out of position.

As far as balance goes, it's mostly nerfs on some of the overpowered stuff and some improved ranges on Wizard spells.

Sure-Handed Ila chant now gives 1.2x reload speed instead of 2x
Slicken wizard spell only afflicts prone status once instead of over and over
Chill Fog wizard spell doesn't only hit enemies anymore (bye bye level 1 safety cloud of freeze damage and blindness)
Mind Blades cypher spell damage was tuned down
Curse of Blackened Sight spell only afflicts enemies with blindness now
Ranger's Bonded Grief debuff upon pet KO has been made less crippling

There's some other balance stuff, but I can't quite remember how significant they are

The only nerf that bothered me particularly was Mind Blades, which I thought was unnecessary. It did "a little" damage before and made for a good combat opener (when Mind Lance was inappropriate because enemies aren't conveniently standing in single file ), but the nerfed version is too nerfed when one takes DR into account. Chill Fog was somewhat annoying too, but not that troublesome and certainly no more than any other AoE spell. I never used slicken. As for the Ila chant...I don't think it was overpowered and even a reduction to 1.5x would've worked too....the reload times are so long on those weapons. Saying that, it isn't a game-changer.

The ranger's Bonded Grief is a nice bonus and means sagani isn't entirely useless if/when Itumaak bites the bullet/arrow. The added range to wizard spells is nice. Before Aloth had to run in front of my druid and grieving mother to cast a similar or less damaging spell. Now he doesn't have to approach so closely. A shame this change wasn't in game for the first 13 levels of the Endless Paths I've cleared o.o

The fixes are nice too. Using lockpicks from stash, getting my racial passive ability back and other minor things make it that little bit more playable and convenient. I'm currently stuck into sidequesting in Defiance Bay and thoroughly enjoying myself. My party are level 9 now so my druid's Winter Blast is now per-encounter. :-D

 

[Norrdicus]

The only nerf that bothered me particularly was Mind Blades, which I thought was unnecessary. It did "a little" damage before and made for a good combat opener (when Mind Lance was inappropriate because enemies aren't conveniently standing in single file ), but the nerfed version is too nerfed when one takes DR into account.

Iirc, Mind Blades dealt more damage and bounced better than the bouncing magic missiles spell that Wizards get, not to mention can be repeatedly casted thanks to focus (Blunderbuss 6 hits...)

As for the Ila chant...I don't think it was overpowered and even a reduction to 1.5x would've worked too....the reload times are so long on those weapons.

A competent tank and 5 characters with firearms make the game a bit of a joke as firearms deal too much damage to be that much affected by DR.

Then put Ila chant on top of that? The DPS gets ridiculous. The chant in its previous form is what, 1.5-2.0x buff to it?

 

[Fat Hippo]

I've yet to encounter any of the major bugs so I cannot comment on those but I'm having fun so far.

Played up to Defiance Bay with a 3 man party: Monk+Tank Pally+Cipher and finally added in a dps Pally to round out my party. Just hit lvl 9 on my PC with Defiance bay and the first 3 bounties done.

Are you sure? The stat creep one is even worse than the double-click bug in terms of being sneaky. I was 100% certain I'd avoided bugs, then found out my Eder had all his defensive stats bloated by 20+.

What exactly causes the stat creep? I can't be sure, but Eder sure seems like an unkillable brick wall in my game. But maybe that's just his natural state?

 

[DoPo]

I've yet to encounter any of the major bugs so I cannot comment on those but I'm having fun so far.

Played up to Defiance Bay with a 3 man party: Monk+Tank Pally+Cipher and finally added in a dps Pally to round out my party. Just hit lvl 9 on my PC with Defiance bay and the first 3 bounties done.

Are you sure? The stat creep one is even worse than the double-click bug in terms of being sneaky. I was 100% certain I'd avoided bugs, then found out my Eder had all his defensive stats bloated by 20+.

What exactly causes the stat creep? I can't be sure, but Eder sure seems like an unkillable brick wall in my game. But maybe that's just his natural state?

It's supposedly fixed in the latest patch. There is some bug that causes passive bonuses to be applied more than once. Or maybe more than one bug. Something triggered by saving/loading games, I think.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

What exactly causes the stat creep? I can't be sure, but Eder sure seems like an unkillable brick wall in my game. But maybe that's just his natural state?

Saving/loading games in the area where you recruited that party member can cause bonuses from stats/buffs etc to perpetually stack. If Eder is an unkillable brick wall, I can almost assure that you've fallen afoul of it. Other people have had stuff like Aloth doing 4500% damage.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

What exactly causes the stat creep? I can't be sure, but Eder sure seems like an unkillable brick wall in my game. But maybe that's just his natural state?

Saving/loading games in the area where you recruited that party member can cause bonuses from stats/buffs etc to perpetually stack. If Eder is an unkillable brick wall, I can almost assure that you've fallen afoul of it. Other people have had stuff like Aloth doing 4500% damage.

double that, and add 1...

HE'S DOING OVER 9000%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*ahem*

I wish I would've found that one instead of it's counterpart, the double click bug..

OT:

this may be spoilerish if someone answers me, but has anyone found any choices/decisions that you might've made earlier on in the game (such as making someone a prisoner instead of killing them, or allowing something to live/pass by with no quarrel) that ended up coming back full circle later on in the game? either by appearance, someone hearing about your choice, or even just a slight mention in a conversation somewhere.

off topic:

If I get asked if I speak spanish by captcha one more fucking time, I'm going to go loco.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

The only nerf that bothered me particularly was Mind Blades, which I thought was unnecessary. It did "a little" damage before and made for a good combat opener (when Mind Lance was inappropriate because enemies aren't conveniently standing in single file ), but the nerfed version is too nerfed when one takes DR into account.

Iirc, Mind Blades dealt more damage and bounced better than the bouncing magic missiles spell that Wizards get, not to mention can be repeatedly casted thanks to focus (Blunderbuss 6 hits...)

It *was* great against so few enemies, namely the ones with like DR4-6 ish, like spirits and the like. Against anyone else, which usually has DR8-14 or more, it did some damage, usually 15-25ish. It wasn't a game changer, just helped out at the start of a fight (I open a tough fight with my druid: Winter blast/blizzard, GM: Mind Blades Aloth: Fireball and Eder: Winter Blast (from an item)). The nerfed version of 14-I-can't-remember dmg is down to single digits damage after DR :-(

As for the Ila chant...I don't think it was overpowered and even a reduction to 1.5x would've worked too....the reload times are so long on those weapons.

A competent tank and 5 characters with firearms make the game a bit of a joke as firearms deal too much damage to be that much affected by DR.

Then put Ila chant on top of that? The DPS gets ridiculous. The chant in its previous form is what, 1.5-2.0x buff to it?

That's a very specific party setup but I'll grant this one. The 2x bonus was a bit much, particularly if multiple party members would fire faster. But I dunno....when reload times range from 3-6 seconds already (and Magran help anyone who tries to move while reloading), reducing it by 1-3 seconds, on top of slow attack rate...they're still slow o.o

I don't have any firearms equipped on my team (though I might use the Unforgiven I just got from the guy at Vailan Trading Company...very powerful, tho short range), too slow for my taste. I also got rid of Kuna after Endless Paths level 7...it just takes too long before he can use an invocation and other classes are more useful than his chants in those first 12+ seconds of any engagement. I could try a firearm on Sagani since she has some nice ranged perks, but I've been going for Dex/Per, Attack Speed and Interrupt on her since her stats are already specced that way.

 

[freakonaleash]

I love the quests, none of them are what they seem initially.

 

[Lightknight]

The game gets dramatically easier when you fill out your roster. Not easy, mind you, but easier.

Has anyone figured out what prisoners are actually useful for besides them escaping or being released on payment? I'm seriously regretting having spent the time to build a dungeon.

Other than that, I'm 19 hours into it and still enthralled. Fantastic writing, fantastic setting. They nailed this. I can't believe I'm enjoying it so much. Certainly my best kickstarter campaign (I unfortunately did not enjoy Double Fine's Broken Age despite being a fan of Tim Schafer's amazing work. But I only gave that 68 minutes so maybe that's it).

 

[mavkiel]

OT:

this may be spoilerish if someone answers me, but has anyone found any choices/decisions that you might've made earlier on in the game (such as making someone a prisoner instead of killing them, or allowing something to live/pass by with no quarrel) that ended up coming back full circle later on in the game? either by appearance, someone hearing about your choice, or even just a slight mention in a conversation somewhere.

off topic:

If I get asked if I speak spanish by captcha one more fucking time, I'm going to go loco.

If you spared a couple of people in the first town you come across, you can find them working in a tavern in another city. Little things like that tend to pop up.

 

[Fhqwhgod]

2 hours in I completely lost interest in the story (basically I touched the magic stick in yet another RPG) but the combat difficulty still keeps me going. (31 hours into the game)

Class: Paladin (Kind Wayfarer), Moon Godlike, Merchant

 

[Cowabungaa]

I'd love it if the game wouldn't throw bullshit in my face all the time. "Estocs are amazing against armoured opponents!" *hits Paladin with it* "Ineffective!" Rince and repeat for guns with mages. I haven't the faintest idea what's going on, and despite the game offering me a lot of calculations I still feel like I'm out of control. I don't know why the game is responding the way it is, and that's very frustrating. I expect the game to not outright lie about guns being effective on mages, yet there you go.

And don't get me started on Raedric's fight. "Heej guys, let's stick a fight for a 6-man level 5-ish group in a level 3-4ish spot when you only have about 4 guys realistically." They dropped the ball with that encounter.

 

[Cette]

And don't get me started on Raedric's fight. "Heej guys, let's stick a fight for a 6-man level 5-ish group in a level 3-4ish spot when you only have about 4 guys realistically." They dropped the ball with that encounter.

I very much like the game but yeah doing that fight at level four with only a four man group must have taken me over a dozen tries. Especially the fact that it starts your group in the middle of his guards so they immediately surround you before any kind of response is possible. Usually resulting in the mage dropping before getting a single spell off.

Once I figured out that I could leave everyone else down the ramp and send Eder to talk to him and then run back to my defensive line it was super rough but doable.

 

[SweetShark]

I never played a Baldur's Gate or similar game before, but I played Planescape: Torment and is one of my favourite games of all time.
WOuld I like this game as well?