Elex Sci-fi All

Yeah, I'm about level 10 or so and I can't even use a bow yet. The only usable ranged weapon I found was a laser rifle that I stole (with 30 ammo). I still get my ass killed fairly easily. There better not be a cap on levels.

Nevin73 wrote:

Yeah, I'm about level 10 or so and I can't even use a bow yet. The only usable ranged weapon I found was a laser rifle that I stole (with 30 ammo). I still get my ass killed fairly easily. There better not be a cap on levels.

That's a classic PB game. You get your butt handed to you in the early game by super tough monsters, along with all the juicy loot that they dangle before you. But then toward the end, you're a demi-god. Gleefully murdering those super tough monsters. And it never gets old.

MoonDragon wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:

Yeah, I'm about level 10 or so and I can't even use a bow yet. The only usable ranged weapon I found was a laser rifle that I stole (with 30 ammo). I still get my ass killed fairly easily. There better not be a cap on levels.

That's a classic PB game. You get your butt handed to you in the early game by super tough monsters, along with all the juicy loot that they dangle before you. But then toward the end, you're a demi-god. Gleefully murdering those super tough monsters. And it never gets old. :D

Also, no level cap.

MoonDragon wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:

Yeah, I'm about level 10 or so and I can't even use a bow yet. The only usable ranged weapon I found was a laser rifle that I stole (with 30 ammo). I still get my ass killed fairly easily. There better not be a cap on levels.

That's a classic PB game. You get your butt handed to you in the early game by super tough monsters, along with all the juicy loot that they dangle before you. But then toward the end, you're a demi-god. Gleefully murdering those super tough monsters. And it never gets old. :D

I absolutely love the feeling of progression you get with Gothic genre games.

In Gothic 1-3 they even gave you cleverly disguised tutorial/gameplay hints when you leveled up with the trainers.

It's always an achievement when you take out a tough mob and you never feel like you are fighting the same monsters with higher stats or reskins like in the Elder Scrolls or Fallout with the auto level scaling.

So I just started. I was a little sad that the MC is very blank slate and not really anything interesting about him. Why the scars though? The Berserkers are luddites and they are aware of it for some reason. They will take cool guns and tech and toss them into a pit. They say you cant go in to get it but you have a jet pack and you can just coast into it and the guard was “whatever”.

JohnKillo wrote:

So I just started. I was a little sad that the MC is very blank slate and not really anything interesting about him. Why the scars though?

The back story slowly gets filled in. The presentation is pretty dodgy though so even though I have seen several cut-scenes from the past, I'm still not sure what's going on.

Still loving the world though. 20 hours in I'm getting ready to commit to a faction...Clerics...if I can stomach all the religion.

I'm really enjoying this. If you want an open world game that fits (somehow) between Fallout and Skyrim, this may be for you. That is, as long as you can ignore the stupid graphic glitches (people crossing their arms through their armor), the somewhat janky combat, and the huge amount of dialog of questionable quality.

The game and game area really is huge, and there is a lot to do and discover. The biggest gameplay gripe I have is the stupid target locking mechanic where you can only focus on the guy you have locked. It's sort of painful. I've only entered Part 2 (of 4) and I think I must have 40 hours in.

Against my proclamations of waiting for a sale, I jumped in after finishing Shadow of War. I managed to get 8 minutes in before my daughter woke up and started crying. Got to the first abandoned building and picked up a bow and some arrows. Looking forward to actually using it tonight.

You do have to let eyes glance off some of the more prominent imperfections. But I enjoyed my run.

Nevin73 wrote:

You do have to let eyes glance off some of the more prominent imperfections. But I enjoyed my run.

I'm a big fan of Risen 2: Dark Waters but thought Risen 3 was very easy and just not great. Looking forward to see what Piranha Bytes can do with a different setting but am a little cautious. I really wish they had money to hire a better localization and writing team, though.

Have GWJers been using M&K or a controller? I've switched between the two and neither feels all that comfortable.

It looks like a M&K game, to me...

I'm playing on console and didn't expect it to feel good regardless.

Especially ranged weapons. They feel like nothing.

My assumption is that this was done to be able to give the player options for how they want to approach combat instead of refining the feel of combat. I'm definitely giving them the benefit of the doubt since they're such a small company, but the weak feeling to combat, ranged especially, is what was sacrificed in order to have factions that play uniquely.

Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:

It looks like a M&K game, to me...

It looks like it but having to double tap a direction to dodge felt terrible. The controller felt weird for combat, on the other hand. Same button for attack and draw weapon and the movement didn't match up. I felt a lot less controlled. The menus responded better with the controller too.

Vector wrote:
Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:

It looks like a M&K game, to me...

It looks like it but having to double tap a direction to dodge felt terrible. The controller felt weird for combat, on the other hand. Same button for attack and draw weapon and the movement didn't match up. I felt a lot less controlled. The menus responded better with the controller too.

Ugh, I forgot about the double-tab dodging... I was picturing it as more Skyrim than Dark Souls... double-tap dodge sounds like a recipe for plenty of accidental deaths or falls-off-platforms-that-cause-you-to-have-to-start-over.

I got all my exposure to ELEX from SplatterCat's YT.

Reminder to Vector: Combat in the beginning is notoriously difficult and crappy.

Most recent patch notes:

Engine
- Crash fix for systems with more than 16 logical CPU cores.
- If savegame limit is reached, “Create new savegame” is hidden. (limit is 99)
- Fixed saving for all Windows user.
- Fixed some freezes in tutorials. The tutorial won't be shown if the corresponding key bindings are not valid.
- Fixed saving after the Big Bang fight was not possible.
- Fixed pink water on some older AMD/ATI graphic devices.
- Fixed game freeze when you try to interact during an evade roll.

Quests
- Fixed permanently angry NPCs.
- Kral has now a quest marker for the Mana shrine quest.
- Jax gets the correct award from Reinhold when joining the Clerics.
- Bullet and Lucy don't die immediately when they encounter an enemy.
- Fixed quest targets when fighting in the arena.
- Trevor now gives Jax the correct reward, depending on his actions.
- Mad Bob’s dialogue is now in the correct order, taking the Jax’s actions into account.
- Jack will change his daily routine if Jax killed Hopkins and his bandits. Furthermore, the dialogue regarding Volkmar’s weapon now works properly.
- The quest involving Riley, Darrel and Paige is closed correctly now. (Might be necessary to sleep in a bed to trigger this fix.)
- Fixed a plot killer for a certain ending of the game. Talk to Logan twice, in case of having this issue in your save game.
- Bill will now return to his hut after the player killed Vance and talked to him about the situation.
- Martha will now not quit the dialogue, after Jax buys food from/trades with her - therefore she will now update the Legate situation if the player choses the ENDE/END dialogue option.
- If the player has joined the Clerics and talks with Darrell, he will now offer a quest for the player. If the player already spoke to Darrell and had only his standard sentence to say, he only must talk to Darrell again and then Darrell will offer the quest for the player.
- Nasty will no longer interfere in the battle between Player and Kid.
- Map Target Ethan/Volkmar will now be removed correctly during the mission: Scrap Delivery.
- Jack has now Volkmar’s Weapon in his inventory.
- If you ask Jora if it's lawful to take the laser rifle, while he has a Smalltalk with Stormson, both should continue their Smalltalk. If this situation already happened, Jax must talk to Stormson again until he has nothing to say anymore and Jora will return on his Smalltalk routine.
- Now Angrim at waterfall is teleported back to his current daily routine point.
- Sometimes Stormson, Eli, Wolf and Oswald were at wrong positions. Now they are teleported back to their daily routine points.
- Fixed a bug that prevented Jax from joining the Berserkers.
- Fixed Crony U5 mission. Now he won't get lost in certain locations.
- Kallax gives additional main plot background information at showdown with him.
- Fixed some time related quests.

World
- Removed wrong weather zone in the Hort.
- Corrected some items that were stuck in the ground.
- Fixed some minor graphical issues with some of the Berserker armor.

Game
- Now party members will be more helpful during combat.
- Enemies now have better targeting. They shouldn't shoot at walls or objects anymore.
- Now there is an option to deactivate the double-click evade roll. To enable this option, you must assign a key to the evade option in the key bindings.
- Human enemies can attack with low stamina now. This should prevent some issues with enemies doing nothing while they have low stamina.
- Now you can transfer chunks of tens in the trade menu.
- Fix for haggler perk. You can buy every item now.
- Fixed helmets being in front of the camera while looting a chest.
- Exploit fix with crafting energy reserve.
- Fixed equipped weapons. They weren't destroyed when you salvage them.
- Fix where you get an 2h Hammer instead of an 2h Sword at the crafting table.
- Fixed duplicated key binding page.
- Fixed the needed skill to upgrade the chain saber.
- Fixed evade tutorial. It has caused a slow-motion effect for 10 seconds.
- Elex and Elex Potions now show a message that your Cold has increased.
- Fixed Perk Bookworm. Now you get XPs for reading letters and books. Reading Letters without the Perk will also give Jax some XP now.
- Party members don't move around when the player is in a dialog.
- Fix for some wrong loading hints.

Achievements
- "Honorary Citizen" is now given after 80h of playtime, not after 1h

garion333 wrote:

Reminder to Vector: Combat in the beginning is notoriously difficult and crappy.

Hey! I've played all the Risens!

I am playing on the second hardest difficulty as well. I haven't made it out of Goliet yet but I've been slowly acquiring skill points and unlocking skills. Haven't ventured into the wildness yet but will after I've completed all of the Goliet-specific quests.

Finally ventured out; headed East. Immediately ran into multiple different enemy types with skulls beside their health bar. I died to the baddies. Decided, instead, to pursue the murder mystery and went North. Was a much better, definitely not pleasant, experience. Rummaged through some houses and met a guy who really likes trees.

I really like the leveling and skill system. It's an interesting revision of what they've done in past games. I'm finding myself planning out what I can get next in order to better facilitate quests (ex: I want 3 Charisma to peacefully solve the bar quest but right now I only have 1 Personality skill). Melee combat, on the controller, feels terrible but ranged is fine. I really need to see if I can rebind the controls.

Vector wrote:

Finally ventured out; headed East. Immediately ran into multiple different enemy types with skulls beside their health bar. I died to the baddies. Decided, instead, to pursue the murder mystery and went North. Was a much better, definitely not pleasant, experience. Rummaged through some houses and met a guy who really likes trees.

I really like the leveling and skill system. It's an interesting revision of what they've done in past games. I'm finding myself planning out what I can get next in order to better facilitate quests (ex: I want 3 Charisma to peacefully solve the bar quest but right now I only have 1 Personality skill). Melee combat, on the controller, feels terrible but ranged is fine. I really need to see if I can rebind the controls.

I knew you would crack Vector! By the way, your enthusiasm for Risen 2 kept me moving forward to the finish line when it became a slog

I'm about 53 hours into Elex and just hit chapter 2. I stumbled into some unique weapons and am finally skilled up enough to hit that magical Gothic tipping point where I can go around and roll up all the bad guys I have been avoiding for 50 hours and start to knock out a bunch of quests with a quickness.

TrashiDawa wrote:

I knew you would crack Vector! By the way, your enthusiasm for Risen 2 kept me moving forward to the finish line when it became a slog

I'm about 53 hours into Elex and just hit chapter 2. I stumbled into some unique weapons and am finally skilled up enough to hit that magical Gothic tipping point where I can go around and roll up all the bad guys I have been avoiding for 50 hours and start to knock out a bunch of quests with a quickness.

I'm so predictable! I was surprised to learn that I was kind of on an island about Risen 2. It's still my favourite of the series! How did you end up liking it overall? Did you play 3? I found 3 to be a big disappointment and become so overpowered so fast that there was no charm. That's the main reason I bumped up the difficulty in Elex.

I've got 24 hours into Elex at this point. I can take out about half the enemies I encounter but am still heavily restricted. The big breakthroughs have been getting a companion, purchasing Plasma and Laser rifles from a wandering vendor, and upgrading the basic bow to level 2. Just about to start the Caja and Separatist quests. I only have a few quests left in Edan and have finished everything in Abessa.

I just learned that there are potions that permanently boost your stats and grant EXP!? I need to check through my inventory and see if I have any.

So the Elex potions are a big deal. DON'T be tempted to drink the small ones which grant XP but rather upgrade them at a workbench to the much more valuate ability points ([medium] Elex potions) and skill points (large Elex potions) variations.

If you're not actively chugging Elex potions, it's going to take even longer to spec up to wear cool armor and train new skills.

There is a Cold alignment hit to drinking Elex (i.e. it tends you back into an emotionless Alb) but it's super minor. The alignment shift of a bunch of Elex potions can be overridden with one non-cold dialog response.

I really liked all the games in the Gothic lineage, including Risen 2 but the Risens take a back seat to Gothic (of course). Here's how I would rank Piranha Bytes games:

1. Gothic 2
2. Gothic
3. Gothic 3
4. Elex
5. Risen
6. Risen 2
7. Risen 3

In this context, Elex is really a return to form...but I still miss Gothic

[Quote is not edit]

[Ahem]

TrashiDawa wrote:

So the Elex potions are a big deal. DON'T be tempted to drink the small ones which grant XP but rather upgrade them at a workbench to the much more valuate ability points ([medium] Elex potions) and skill points (large Elex potions) variations.

If you're not actively chugging Elex potions, it's going to take even longer to spec up to wear cool armor and train new skills.

There is a Cold alignment hit to drinking Elex (i.e. it tends you back into an emotionless Alb) but it's super minor. The alignment shift of a bunch of Elex potions can be overridden with one non-cold dialog response.

I've been reading about this today (instead of working). I'm hoping I have a Large Elex Potion to get an extra ability point since I don't have the Chemistry ability. I'm definitely going to use the Medium and Large potions. I have been struggling with the lack of Attributes and Ability points. Don't even have the armor and health skills yet. I hope they back level on what they give but doubt they do.

The Cold system is weirdly put together. I get the idea but sometimes it feels that being compassionate comes across as cold. I chalk that up to translation issues but it feels very inconsistent.

TrashiDawa wrote:

I really liked all the games in the Gothic lineage, including Risen 2 but the Risens take a back seat to Gothic (of course). Here's how I would rank Piranha Bytes games:

1. Gothic 2
2. Gothic
3. Gothic 3
4. Elex
5. Risen
6. Risen 2
7. Risen 3

In this context, Elex is really a return to form...but I still miss Gothic :(

I never played any of the Gothic games. I own most of them but by the time I got around to playing them everything was too inscrutable and the graphics too old for me to handle.

I drank the hell out of Elex potions and was still able to get warmish for the ending (your cold level effects your ending options). When you see dialog options that say "enough emotion", you can select those to get warmer.

Vector wrote:

I never played any of the Gothic games. I own most of them but by the time I got around to playing them everything was too inscrutable and the graphics too old for me to handle.

All three of the PB Gothic games have a lot of fan mods including graphics mods that improve the visuals significantly. That being said, the mechanics of Gothic I are still pretty janky by modern standards.

Gothic II holds up way better with visuals and game play. I think you would be surprised if you stuck it out past the first major town (this applies to all PB games of course ;))

Gothic III with the fan patch (which also contains all the key graphics mods) is almost up to modern standards if you squint hard enough. If you bounce off Gothic II, try persisting with Gothic III, the level of interaction and cohesiveness in the open world is on par with Elex.

I'd like to get around to them one day but there's so much I want to play and I'm so limited in the hours I have. I've bookmarked and noted everything you've posted, though.

I've gotten really far in the game. Just started chapter 3 and only have one companion quest left with every other sidequest completed.

Here's a list of tips I've compiled:
-upgrade Animal Trophies skill as soon as possible
-don't worry about getting the EXP skills; the don't offer a high enough bonus early on to make up for the huge gains other abilities grant at early levels
-sell the animal parts; you get a lot of them and they are worth a tonne of money
-don't drink Small Elex Potions; use them to craft the other sized
-drink the Elixirs as they permanently boost your stats
-you can eventually craft the permanent health and stamina Elixirs
-once you have read them, sell all books, tapes, and notes
-the cold you gain from drinking Elex potions is insignificant
-The Redeemer is a legendary Plasma Blaster with 100 damage and very low required specs
-Plasma Blasters have two alternate firing modes: EMP and Explosive; EMP stun-locks and damages mutants and Explosive will knock down any character in the game and has splash damage
-Mutants are not just the humanoid monsters; Mutants, Forlorn, Rotbeast, Moloch, Rottmoloch, Mutant Bug, Terror Bird, Cyclops, and Patron are all classified as Mutants and will get the damage bonus and stun from the EMP
-you don't have to max level Lockpicking as it's possible to get two quick levels and an early necklace that adds +1, equip when needed
-the personality skills that give bonuses to Charisma, Strength, Crafting, and Survival gives +10 to each of those stats for conversation purposes
-the base stats don't actually affect damage, health, etc. they purely used as requirements for skills and equipment
-Attack Strength skill only affects chance to stagger with melee attacks
-Stamina and Extra Hitpoints increases Stamina and Hitpoints at a flat rate per skill point rather than per level
-Sunglasses of all types have a hidden defence bonus
-Armour is a flat damage reduction; 10 armour negates 10 points of damage
-Gemstone Socket is an important skill; you can socket gemstones (and upgrade them) into your wrist device at a workbench for passive bonuses
-Get all 3 levels of Hack
-don't waste a skill point on pickpocket; you can acquire rings and necklaces that will give you the ability to pickpocket
-the bonus from Haggler is insignificant
-Companions are the first big step to progressing in the game as they'll allow you to double your early damage output
-melee is required early on so learn to parry weaker enemies
-Legendary weapons can not be upgraded but can be socketed
-Modify Weapons allows you to upgrade weapons to higher levels, greatly increasing their damage
-You gain and lose cold via conversations drastically
-I didn't find a use for the Goldsmith ability
-some quests are just buggy for different people in different ways

some nice tips there Vector.

I'm just starting to enjoy and progress in the game after about 18 hours, much longer than the Gothic/Risen games and quite frustrating. I had a bunch of quests I couldn't complete because they depended upon a few tough fights and I was getting owned.
So I made it to 3 settlements, did the easy quests, joined a faction and I was finally able to deliver damage of about 50. With a companion I've started finishing those early quests.

Personally I think that is too much, I know there's tons of hours of gameplay so taking so long to get going will stop some people really enjoying this.

I've been having a really good time in Elex. I skipped the Risen games but this feels like Gothic 3 after the fan patches fixed some issues. The comments here have been pretty spot-on. It takes a long time to get beyond the "kill rats w/ a driftwood club" stage of the game. For me, it took a while to get a feeling for when I could sneak around a high-level monster and when I should run to another section. (Most of the time you can safely sneak/jetpack around monsters and keep exploring.

I'm in Chapter 2, about level 21, and really, really enjoying myself. The key is that the game is built for the long haul, not the short term. There's a depth to the storytelling that isn't apparent in the beginning. (I totally hear the complaints about the unemotional male stereotype. It's there, but it's not all that's there. The Outlaw female armor models are pretty bad too. That said, it's not a simple or two dimensional game. Things are worth exploring.) I'm really getting a kick about following up on the origins of the world-ending disaster. The reporter's audio logs and other journals really gives content to the world.

For me, it's a huge time sink. I have to set an alarm for the time limit I've given myself or it will eat up all of my weekends. From the inside, after dealing with the frailty of the early game character, it's tremendously rewarding. I've decided that Piranha Bytes > Bethesda. At very least, a good PB game is better than an average Bethesda game. Elex is much more enjoyable for me than Fallout 4 or Skyrim. The open world is not empty. This has to do with the environment not scaling with your character. There's new stuff to do in the starting area hours and hours after you first went through. I joined the Outlaws, but I still keep coming back to the Berzerker city to buy arrows & steal/pickpocket everything and there are new things every visit. Other open world games can make you feel like a fantasy janitor: your job is to pick up all loot and kill all monsters and when you are done there is nothing left but to move on to the next quest location. Elex's world keeps living after I've come through.

Some tips that helped me enjoy the game:

  • Get the sunglasses from the windmill.
  • If combat is really a struggle, the Mark B flamethrower is an easy button. (I didn't use it very much, but it helped me get unstuck when combat was killing me.)
  • upgrade your weapons. UPGRADE YOUR WEAPONS. UPGRADE YOUR WEAPONS I don't remember at what point repair benches & upgrades become possible, but upgrading my bow is what unlocked combat for me. I was still using the bow found at the observatory near the crash site until about level 20, where it ran out of upgrades & I switched to the war bow. Killing mecha w/ a bow is fun.