Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

[Disgustipated]

Game is now out. Just barely starting it and I have won. Okay I lost, but I got the end credits. Turns out you can refuse the main quest and just die. Nice touch, I love it.

Haven't played enough for any kind of review. Looks great, but does cause my video card fan to run at high speed unfortunately, so it's a little noisy.

 

[Maniacal]

It looks great but I haven't gotten around to replaying PoE 1 yet, or it's DLC at all, and I don't really remember anything that happened Looking forward to playing it in a month or two I think.

 

[sherbz]

Have you cleaned the ball bearing and fan? Thats usually what makes it whine. My GPU sounded like a dying cat for ages. And when i oiled the ball bearings and cleaned the dust off it purred like persian.

Im half tempted with this. But i kinda got bored half way through pillars. I think its because my brain is quite binary when it comes to rpg games. So if something is very story driven and not overly dependent on the toughness of combat, i think it should be like that the whole way through. And Pillars for the most part was very story driven. And every so often you would get a fight that was either extremely difficult or nigh on impossible. Which for me ruined the story, and thus the game. Either that or im crap.

http://www.dansdata.com/fanmaint.htm

(for how to oil and clean your fan)

 

[Disgustipated]

My cat. I'm not much of a cat man, but this cat gives me +1 perception giving me 19 perception. Hopefully my wolf doesn't eat it.

And every so often you would get a fight that was either extremely difficult or nigh on impossible. Which for me ruined the story, and thus the game. Either that or im crap.

Yeah the first game could have wild swings in combat difficulty. Some of that was me trying to go into too tough of areas, but some of it was just the way it was designed. And sometimes I care more about the story rather than the combat. I can't be bothered to learn a billion weird strategies to defeat things. To be honest, BG could be like this especially the expansion to the first Baldur's Gate which I recently played (the enhanced edition), both the final werewolf battle and the final bosses for the Durlag's Tower were very difficult for me. I just lower difficulty during that stuff.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I'm a bit disappointed that the combat didn't change more, but overall it's good.
So far it seems objectively better than the first one in every way, but when PoE came out it was a revelation. The closest thing to a new Baldur's Gate with more modern sensibilities.
How far are you ? I just left the starting island and failed hard trying to board a pirate ship. Probably should have used grape shot to weaken the crew first. Until that point combat was pretty easy. Much more forgiving than in the first game.
I'm also beginning to think that playing a Helwalker Monk as my first char may not have been such a good idea. He can do a lot of damage from the start but becomes a bit of a glass cannon when the fight drags on.

 

[sherbz]

Personally i think paladin is the best class -- but thats coming from someone who knows almost nothing.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Personally i think paladin is the best class -- but thats coming from someone who knows almost nothing.

Paladins are pretty good. I played a Paladin first and a Monk second in the first game, but one of the later companions is a Paladin and I don't want my main char to be the same class as someone else.
I was tempted to make a Paladin-Monk mix, but the game warned me at character creation that multiclassing isn't recommended for new players, so I'll leave that for my second playthrough.
Still made Eder a Warrior/Rogue. I think this fits his character better than a pure Warrior (or Rogue).

 

[Disgustipated]

I'm still on the first island. Won't be able to play too much more today. I went with Ranger. I still haven an unfinished Druid in POE1 game that was nearly complete, but not really complete enough to import. My original POE 1 game I think was ranger, but I don't feel like digging around for the save as that was on another hard drive. I often choose outdoorsy types, but I almost went wizard. I'm not sure what companions are available either. I could have multiclassed myself, but it doesn't seem like anything meshes well with ranger except maybe druid.

As for Eder, I kept him as warrior since I need a tank. And kept the priest as a priest since I need a priest. That's all I have for now.

One more screenshot showing pretty graphics. Or at least I think they are pretty. Wish I could zoom in and out a little more though. My cat is somewhere under the water. I know he's there since you can see movement under the water when I move and I'm still getting the +1 perception boost (with a necklace I found my perception is already up to 20). Who said cats don't like water.

Had to turn up the lighting as it was too dark. Strangely you move the slider to the left to make it brighter, my above screenshot I had moved the slider to the right, so it was actually darker.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I still don't really know how to properly board a ship. Apparenty grape shot kills/wounds above deck crew and the ones you fight when boarding are below deck crew ? Those can be damaged with normal cannon balls, but the pirates that attacked me had such a weak hull that I destroyed their ship.
Maybe I'll have to hire more sailors to fight alongside my party ?
Anyway, I just won my first ship battle and still got plenty of loot, including a pirate flag that will help me with a quest.

Also had a very cool story thing. Not gonna spoil it. It's an unexpected conversation with six people You'll know what I mean when you see it.
I'm really into this game now. Came back from work around 11pm and wanted to play just a bit, and now it's four hours later and the only reason I'm stopping is because I'm too tired.

 

[PhroX]

I'm not really sure how the ship based combat works either - what I do during the text adventure bit doesn't seem to have any impact on what happens when I board them (which is usually one or more of my team getting alpha striked by 10 guys with guns...).

I've finished the starter island, done a bit of exploring of random islands (including killing some cannibals), killed a certain pirate and I've just headed up to the big city.

I'm playing as a Cipher/Rogue (no subclasses) as the druid I was planning on importing first is negatively impacted by some of the import bugs, and it seems to be working pretty well. Whispers of Treason is still really strong - for only 10 focus you get a long duration mind control - and with Biting Whip and Sneak Attack I can get pretty large damage numbers on my twin pistols even with a lowish might (11 IIRC). Also having a 1 guile cost Full Attack (the level 1 rogue one, I forget what it's called) is great with two guns as you don't actually have to have them both reloaded to fire twice with the ability - I'm not sure if it's a bug, as while it doesn't make sense immersion wise, having to wait for two reloads before using an ability would be really frustrating to play.

Eder is a fighter/rogue - he's still pretty tough and given I want everything vulnerable to sneak attack for my PC, I might as well get a 30-60% damage boost for him too. I've got him dual wielding with a dagger in his off hand and the modal permanently on, which, at this point of the game at least, seems better than a shield. My other party members are all single class - Xoti's a Priest, Aloth's a Wizard (Chill Fog is still amazing) and Serafen's a Barbarian.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I'm not really sure how the ship based combat works either - what I do during the text adventure bit doesn't seem to have any impact on what happens when I board them (which is usually one or more of my team getting alpha striked by 10 guys with guns...).

The alpha strike was a big problem for me. In my first boarding attempt my Helwalker Monk died after a few seconds.

I think I figured it out. You can kill crew with grape shot, but you can't kill the main party of the ship which consists of five people. And during boarding both parties are supported by some of the crew, including some who aren't assigned to any posts
Looks like the best way to board ships is to use grape shot and have the the largest crew possible.

I've finished the starter island, done a bit of exploring of random islands (including killing some cannibals), killed a certain pirate and I've just headed up to the big city.

Ah, a certain pirate. Did you make music ?

Eder is a fighter/rogue - he's still pretty tough and given I want everything vulnerable to sneak attack for my PC, I might as well get a 30-60% damage boost for him too. I've got him dual wielding with a dagger in his off hand and the modal permanently on, which, at this point of the game at least, seems better than a shield. My other party members are all single class - Xoti's a Priest, Aloth's a Wizard (Chill Fog is still amazing) and Serafen's a Barbarian.

I still use Eder as a tank. A tank that can move around quickly and can cripple and blind enemies, but still a tank.
Xoti is a pure Priest. Just common sense to have one of your earliest party members specialize in healing and support.
Aloth is a Wizard, of course, but Serafen is multiclass. Barbarian and Cypher seems like a good combination since both classes are melee focused.

 

[tesb]

still pretty much in the beginning (lvl 6), but there are some concerning points:

1) the game seems overall too easy (on veteran)
2) combat is fubar:
2.1) there is little to no tactics involved because a lot of enemies (especially those with rogue talents) can teleport all over the place. the same is true for your own party members which aare rogues. you simply can't establish formations, even fighting at doors or other choke points won't help much
2.2) characters move incredibly fast compared to attack intervals which makes all aoe spells that affect your own party and have a 3s+ sec cast time unusable (like fireballs) because enemies will run all over the place
2.3) combat engagement simply does not work to keep enemies bound to your tanks, as a result you should not make tanks, nor should you make glass cannons. every character needs to be able to tank to some extend.


i will probably switch to a custom party instead of running with the preset companions. my main character is a battle mage (conjurer + devoted (focus: staves)) which is a very nice class, you have good buffs and summonable weapons. it is a very good class which combines flexibility, damage and tankiness. my custom party will probably all be fighter dual classes, because rapid recovery and armored grace are very good tanking talents which are very well suited for any class. you get some more tanky talents with the fighter but those two are best imho.

 

[Disgustipated]

I kind of wish I made Eder a fighter/rogue. I'm really lacking a rogue right now. These chests I can't open are bothering me. I'm tempted to put mechanics on my ranger.

minor available companions spoilers below

And I had to break down and at least look up which companions are available. I wanted to go into the game as blind as possible. But the lack of a rogue right now is bothering me. It seems there are no pure rogue options. Though one of the sidekicks can have an alt class as a pure rogue it appears. I'd rather not use the sidekicks if they don't have the dialogue and interactions the mains do, and I don't think they do. Should have had Eder be a pure rogue or fighter/rogue and use Pallegina as a tank. I have options for Aloth as a wizard rogue which I am seriously considering or a ranger/rogue later on.

As for difficulty I may bump it up to classic. The default was the level below classic, and it's been pretty easy so far.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

You don't need a Rogue. They get an inherent bonus to mechanics, but it's not really a big deal with the character system and party wide skill checks. Three companions with one level in mechanics are as good as one person with three levels in it.
The main advantage of multiclassing is more flexibility and more available skills per battle.

Combat has been pretty easy so far apart from boarding, but I'll not change the settings yet. Sudden difficulty spikes are almost de rigueur for the genre.

 

[Disgustipated]

yeah I ran into some skeleton warriors in the ruins. But I'm guessing I need crushing weapons? I'm a little light on those, though I do have a morning star. Every other weapon I had seemed ineffective. I did put the difficulty to classic, and I'll leave it there except if a battle is too tough.

edit: yeah pollaxe and morning star worked much better. Too bad I can't disarm these traps...
and classic difficulty still seems pretty easy, so far at least.

 

[Disgustipated]

Finally got off the main island. Still not sure where to go next. Do I go after the pirate who attacked me or the main quest? Sometimes in really open ended games I am unsure what the best path is and don't want to get to too high level stuff (or is there level scaling?). I stopped at this island and it had this dragon like creature (I can't recall the name) with a xuarip priest or something, the area is just called desert. I managed to kill it with only Aloth going unconscious. Pretty tough battle, not sure I'm supposed to be doing that yet. And I don't know if it is associated with a quest. I ended up making Aloth a mage/rogue which is a weird combination and probably not ideal, but it could give him ways to get out of trouble.

Not a huge fan of the ship stuff yet, but once I get the hang of it, it may be easier. Is it better to scrounge for supplies? This is what I worry about most. Seems my supplies are going quick. This almost seems like a time limit, and I dislike games with time limits. I feel rushed, and I don't like to feel rushed. My only negative of the game so far. I have a feeling I'll run out of money and supplies.

Not sure what to do next, but have to call it for the day.

 

[Ajidica]

Are the companions better then in PoE1? Because that group of escaped mental patients were some of the least likable people I've ever encountered in a video game.
And in mechanics, are the companions less squishy then PoE1? Because that game gave you only one and a half tanks which is not enough.

 

[PhroX]

There's none of the really weird characters like Durance or GM this time round.

I'm not sure about companions being less squishy, as PoE 1 had plenty of characters that could tank just fine if you gave them heavy armour and maybe a shield - Eder (fighter), Durance (Priest), Kaka (Chanter), Palleginia (Paladin), Aloth (Mage, if you use the buff spells he has), plus Maneha (barbarian) and Zahua (Monk) from the expansion. Some of them (Durance and Kana in particular) could have problems keeping the enemies engaged due to their low melee damage output, but survivability shouldn't have been a problem. If you didn't build them to be defensive, then, yeah, they could die easily, and it's much the same in Deadfire.

As for my playthrough of Deadfire, I'm having problems with the urge to restart as another character - I'm enjoying my cipher/rogue, but there's so many other interesting builds I want to try. Especially as I've found a sword that can only be used by the Watcher that I really want to try....

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Finally got off the main island. Still not sure where to go next. Do I go after the pirate who attacked me or the main quest? Sometimes in really open ended games I am unsure what the best path is and don't want to get to too high level stuff (or is there level scaling?). I stopped at this island and it had this dragon like creature (I can't recall the name) with a xuarip priest or something, the area is just called desert. I managed to kill it with only Aloth going unconscious. Pretty tough battle, not sure I'm supposed to be doing that yet. And I don't know if it is associated with a quest. I ended up making Aloth a mage/rogue which is a weird combination and probably not ideal, but it could give him ways to get out of trouble.

You can adjust level scaling at the start of the game. I set it to only scale up.
Locations and quests that are above your level are marked with skulls. 1-3 white skulls means you probably should be 1-3 levels higher. but with proper preperation and tactics it might still be doable. Anything marked with red skulls should be postponed. Any location not marked with skulls should be safe.
I think I've been to the same island. There's also a cave and when you have explored all locations you can name the island yourself.

Not a huge fan of the ship stuff yet, but once I get the hang of it, it may be easier. Is it better to scrounge for supplies? This is what I worry about most. Seems my supplies are going quick. This almost seems like a time limit, and I dislike games with time limits. I feel rushed, and I don't like to feel rushed. My only negative of the game so far. I have a feeling I'll run out of money and supplies.

Even decent quality food is easy to find and there are places near the starting island where you can buy supplies that don't decrease morale. It's more of a money sink than a time limit and it's not even that expensive.

I went for the pirate after the first island. Got a Principe flag from a ship battle, put on a Principe hat I found somewhere and just sailed into Deadlight. The quest can be done without combat if you use a bit of stealth. I used stealth halfway competently and had to kill a few guards, but there was no really challenging battle.

 

[Disgustipated]

First ship battle. The boarding combat was extremely tough and 2 people were knocked unconscious. Not sure if I'll have to rest and repair those injuries. I think I have a crew promotion, but I'm not sure how to use it. I'm on the H ship management screen and don't see a place to use it. I probably should have taken more cannon shots. Overall it was pretty enjoyable.

edit: Oh and I made the mistake of naming my ranger pet the same name as myself. I thought it was weird I had to enter my name twice, I didn't see it was asking for my pet name. It's quite confusing having a pet named the same as myself.