I feel like I am being pretty hard on this game and I shouldn't be. It's totally playable moment to moment - it's just that none of it has felt particularly memorable.
I also feel like players who would like this game the most are those who like tactical combat and have had previous experience with D&D and a good number of other similar RPGs. I love the combat, but feel like it's somewhat of an advanced course that I haven't at times been able to fully appreciate.
I came from pretty much the opposite direction. While I really liked Baldurs Gate 2 (and Planescape, but the combat was outright bad in that), I never got into the combat. It was not hurting the experience in those old game, it was just really secondary to the story, characters etc. PoE to me was probably the first time CRPG combat could really carry a game.
Well, I finished. The ending sequence was pretty interesting. Neat to see how the rest of the party ended up, for quests both complete and incomplete. I did just put it on easy and plow through that end sequence though. That type of gauntlet remains uninteresting to me. I am glad I bothered to ride it out though either way.
I'll try to rekindle my momentum with this one. Combat is good. The open ended nature and lack of interesting people dulled all desire to continue, though.
Well, I finished. The ending sequence was pretty interesting. Neat to see how the rest of the party ended up, for quests both complete and incomplete. I did just put it on easy and plow through that end sequence though. That type of gauntlet remains uninteresting to me. I am glad I bothered to ride it out though either way.
Congrats!
I feel like I am being pretty hard on this game and I shouldn't be. It's totally playable moment to moment - it's just that none of it has felt particularly memorable.
I feel like this sums up my experience too.
Anyone want to comment on how worthwhile/essential the DLC is/was to their PoE experience? I'm torn between seeing the full breadth of the thing and the prospect of potentially finishing the game in the (relatively) near future. The balance has been leaning toward finishing sooner, but sales are threatening to tip those scales.
In my opinion the DLC got the best the game has to offer. Both in the quality of the quests/story, it all seems more coherent than the vanilla game. As well as a bunch of more interesting items through soulbound items.
But if you are getting tired of the main game, the DLC is probably not changing that much.
In my opinion the DLC got the best the game has to offer. Both in the quality of the quests/story, it all seems more coherent than the vanilla game. As well as a bunch of more interesting items through soulbound items.
But if you are getting tired of the main game, the DLC is probably not changing that much.
That coherency definitely sounds appealing and would address one of my few relatively minor complaints so far. I'm not tiring of the game so much as just making slow progress due to time constraints and learning curve, so that makes a pretty good case for picking up the DLC.
The White March - especially part 2 - was the best thing about PoE 1. The story is more compelling and adds a lot of nuance to the over arching thread, and the mechanics it introduces really complement the game well.
I’ll just echo what’s been said, I guess. The DLC I think shows an improvement on using the engine to tell a story, etc. I could tell it was developed after the base game.
I posted in the main thread, but if it's not bending the rules too much, I'd like to get in on this. I finished the main game back when it came out, but never touched the expansions, which I just started into over the weekend. If I can get a credit for finishing those and then then a redo on the main game ending, that'd be aces, but no worries if that's against the spirit of the leveling. Can always get it in proper on the next one.
Sounds perfect. Thank you!
I've put in a few brief sessions as of late. Completed a few quests. Learned more from speaking with Durance.
I still feel lost at sea when hostile status effects have crippled the party. Am I simply choosing the wrong spells and abilities to counter? Or is it rather a case of prevention as oppose to remedies?
I remember Baldur's Gate having a back and forth. Pillars seems to favour whoever gets off the mark first.
I'm about 3 hours in, playing as a wood elf rogue, and I definitely agree that moment to moment it's enjoyable. It feels like the rules for combat are a bit difficult to understand compared to the D&D rule set -- but I am more familiar with the D&D rule set -- yet, at the same time, there are some serious updates to the UI from Baldur's Gate, like the lines that show who you're engaged with, the graphical representations of when you're at risk of being seen, etc.
One thing I had forgotten is how much reading this game requires. I'm usually ok with these Infinity Engine-style games and the amount of reading, but some of the Watcher elements seem very cumbersome.
One thing I had forgotten is how much reading this game requires. I'm usually ok with these Infinity Engine-style games and the amount of reading, but some of the Watcher elements seem very cumbersome.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of the whole Watcher mind meld scenes. They always seem to drag me out of the imminent action and I often struggle to figure out what's going on. I suppose that must be how the Watcher would actually feel in the situation, but still.
I still feel lost at sea when hostile status effects have crippled the party. Am I simply choosing the wrong spells and abilities to counter? Or is it rather a case of prevention as oppose to remedies?
I remember Baldur's Gate having a back and forth. Pillars seems to favour whoever gets off the mark first.
Ah, I think you have tapped into one of the major things bothering me about the combat that I couldn't really put into words.
Priest in particular got a lot of anti hostile effect spells.
Would say quite a bit is about positioning too though, as for trying not to get too many affected at the same time.
I've put in a few brief sessions as of late. Completed a few quests. Learned more from speaking with Durance.
I still feel lost at sea when hostile status effects have crippled the party. Am I simply choosing the wrong spells and abilities to counter? Or is it rather a case of prevention as oppose to remedies?
I remember Baldur's Gate having a back and forth. Pillars seems to favour whoever gets off the mark first.
There are times in PoE where the game expects you to know the enemies you are facing, and what particular status effects they can apply if they get a successful hit in. Early game you often lack access to spells and scrolls that counter-act those status effects, so if you stray too far off the beaten path (despite the fact the game is more than happy enough to let you go wherever) you come up against something that can charm/paralyze/terrify your party without resistance and that'll be the end real quick.
As you fight against different creatures your bestiary (which you can reach through your journal) will be populated with increasing information on what each creature is resistant to and what abilities they have. It's worth checking in with that on occasion to get a feel for what's going on - and you can pause the game at any time to check your journal.
Priests and priest scrolls are your go to to counter status effects. There are various priest spells (usually called "Prayer against......") that counter status effects. They unlock as your priest levels up and so, very broadly speaking, give some indication as to what level you should be when you are going up against certain enemy types.
Very early game the 2nd level priest spell "Prayer against Fear" is very useful when going up against spectres or shadows. It stops your party being afraid and taking some very significant debuffs. Sporlings can be a right pain until you get access to the 4th level "prayer against bewilderment" which prevents from becoming dazed or confused. There is a 5th level spell that prevents Petrification or paralysis, and finally the 6th level "prayer against Treachery" prevents people from being charmed or dominated, at which point you can counter pretty much anything that can get thrown at you. There are also two White March spells - Litany against minor afflictions and Litany against major afflictions that, while only single target spells, give a broad spectrum immunity to a wider range of effects.
The prayers are AoE effect spells so are very often best to cast right at the start of combat before your party gets too spread out. They are all fast casting too, so you don't have to hang around (usually) for the protective effects to take hold.
Finally all of those spells/prayers are available as scrolls you can buy and/or craft. Stick those on a couple of high Lore characters and you'll have enough people to spam out counters before you start, giving you more then enough time to take out whatever it is that is causing you problems.
Remember there are plenty of cipher abilities that allow you to charm or dominate enemy creatures. Very often the best idea is to take control of them before they can take control of you!
Thanks for this! I’ve been playing a low resolve monk who gets dominated a lot and then goes on to wreck the rest of my team.
LastSurprise wrote:One thing I had forgotten is how much reading this game requires. I'm usually ok with these Infinity Engine-style games and the amount of reading, but some of the Watcher elements seem very cumbersome.
Nice start!
In case you aren't aware, the NPCs with gold name plates are Kickstarter backers who wrote up little stories to be included in the game. None of those are connected to quests or the main story. Most of us here have totally ignored them.
Thanks for telling me! If those NPCs don't really add anything to the story, I'll probably ignore them too. I started reading them and wondering if they would be significant, but figured they probably weren't as the information I read about their souls was not logged in my journal.
Thanks, Sorbicol! I think I may have wandered off in the wrong direction, and completely missed the aforementioned prayers also.
The more you know!
I would complete White March before going back to Twin Elms personally.
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