Koth

So it's 5:15am here in my part of Australia... I woke up early to try and get at least character creation done... only to find out that even though my preload had finished at 16.9gb, that there was now a total of 18.8gb to download... really? another 2 gig! what's even the point of pre-load? in a rural area such as mine, 2gb will take at least an hour... should have slept in... /grumpy /need coffee

Assuming its a world wide release at 10am pdt, then here in melbourne aus it will be 3am here sad panda... won't be able to play till the kids are in bed tomorrow night 7pm... oh well...

Are you referring to pre-mental fortress? or post? pre... a lot, but it will mainly be dependant on your int / carnage radius. post... none?

I think the problem as others have stated is that Cohh's multi is quite strong.... in the early game... I think the fact that the shifter's spiritshifts scale with power level and not character level will catch up with him late game... That said, I do agree that although I like Cohh, he really does have no idea how to play the game. He rarely if ever buffs, he is constantly forgetting to cast his monk's lightning speed buff which is kind of the whole point of the build. He doesn't understand penetration system, nor how to buff / debuff to make the most of it... and he is basically cheesing his way though fights by chain-potting... But, as others have said, I have faith that Josh and the team will get around to tuning PotD to a level to which we are more accustomed. Personally, I'll play the game just to listen to... every... thing... that... Xoti... says.. I love her character so much, and that accent... man...

Well... judging from watching a few small snippets of Cohh's stream (don't worry no spoilers) they haven't yet tuned PotD to the point were you even need to min max. I love Cohh, but good god he has no clue how to play the game. He's playing on PotD, he rarely casts any combat buffs, barely micro manages, uses the default ai settings with some minor tweaks and I think he's only ever reloaded for story reasons. Lets just say that currently the game is more geared towards story than combat anyway, so you might as well take the story companions and enjoy the content as it was meant to be played. I get the feeling that as in the first game, if you pre-make an optimised full party of mercs, that you'll roflstomp / faceroll the content even on PotD ironman. To be fair though, Josh did comment that they will better tune PotD in later patches.

Wait... does this mean that my planned Ascetic(Druid-Shifter / Monk-Shattered Pillar)'s spirit shifts will only scale with power level and not character level? if so, this is balls and I'll have to re-think my pc build...

Love Cohh, but no way in heck am I spoiling anything about the game... would welcome some class suggestions though... played a priest in poe 1, was op as hell, not sure for this run though as I want Xoti as my priest... so undecided and time is running out.. helpz!

Yeah I remember this as well as all the old gold box game manuals from pools of radiance, curse of the azure bonds etc. I remember making myself read the manuals from cover to cover before I even started the game. Added so much flavour and depth to the experience. I miss those days...

Some spanish dude prolly. This reply.... made me laugh... that is all.

Ok, I'll bite... in which way did I misrepresent my argument?

I wasn't aware anyone was trying to argue that it should or shouldn't be happening. Just what to do / how to build your party composition given that it *is* happening....

Yeah, or the sidekicks, cause that's what they're for. You are not reasonable. You are just constantly repeating what you want. Achilles on the other hand just stated, that there are reasons for the sidekicks to be in the game and that they are alrerady in, so all that complaining is useless, especially as you didn't even play the ****ing game yet. And guess what: Surprisingly other people want other things than you and guess what else: They will get them and you won't. Get over it! Seriously: What's your problem guys? All that whining and nagging and "I want, I want, I want" that came to this forum in the last year or so. It is so incredibly annoying. I don't think I was ever requesting that sidekicks be taken out of the game, I was just trying to work out what their niche was. The more I read, the more I am beginning to see people who want companions-lite™ i.e. some banter with maybe a little backstory and a quest to obtain them but not much else. Cool, I get it now. Not for me, but at least I understand why some might like this kind of thing... Either way, no need to be so... Xan about it

But... but... but... I needz mah fireballz!

Damn you Yosh! Stop messing with my brain... hmm... maybe if I ditch Pallagina?.... GRRrrrRRrrr

Yes I like this composition as well, though for me, I can't consider having a party without Maia Rua... She's just too cool... So I'm taking her as a scout (ranger / rogue) and dumping eder...

So, would you rather they not include sidekicks at all? I don't really mind if they do or if they don't. I hardly think that there's all that much developer time invested in setting up a virtual 'hireling' with an initial quest line and a few lines of dialog. If people go for this, then great! Kudo's to them, I just wanted to make sure I won't be missing out on anything by not taking them, and as far as I can tell, I will not. From what I can see, sidekicks are just a skinned hireling with limited class combination options and sub-optimal attributes (am guessing the latter will be the case based on PoE, but could be wrong)...

Great question. For me I think I tend to look at the information that I already know about the game such as the companions that appeal to me the most and then choose my class / race to best fit in with the companions that I have decided to take. For example, for my first playthrough I intend to take: Maia Rua as a scout (Ranger Gunhawk / Rogue) Aloth as a pure Wizard Xoti as a pure Priest Pallegina as a Herald (Paladin / Chanter) And myself as a Crusader (Fighter Unbroken / Paladin Shieldbearer)

I'm pretty sure that's what they meant. :D As far as I know, Sidekicks only have that 1 quest to get them.Ok then, now I'm confused. If this is the case then.. well.. *to me* sidekicks are a complete waste of a more valuable slot that could go to either a pre-made character offering optimised class combination and stats or companion offering story line, roleplaying, relationships and dedicated quest lines...I can’t wrap my head around the “all or nothing” attitude. Better to have no integration into the story than some because unnecessary min/maxing?Well, it's all about tradeoff imho,It's not about the min maxing per se. Using sidekicks/companions i sacrifice part of the combat fun i would have using the most intersting class/subclass combination. So if i sacrifice that, it has to be worth it... I could do that for interesting companions with deep personality, interactions with other npcs, personal quests and so on. I'd definitely not do it just for a line of dialogue from time to time. FFS, no one is stopping you from taking a party of hirelings. “Deep companions” take time and cost money and the opportunity cost of having more of them is quality. I feel like Josh has said this about a million times. You can’t have more full companions. Full stop. With that said your options are: 1) take sidekicks and get some integration 2) take hirelings and get no integration 3) throw a tantrum...then do option 1 or 2 I'd hardly consider my opinion or stance on the matter as being emotive or hyperbolic... I was merely quizzical as to why I should consider taking a sidekick over a hireling which offers better customisation or a companion that offers some nice story and background to the game. But I think both Yosharian and Malchiorita have summed it up better than I could at the time...

I'm pretty sure that's what they meant. :D As far as I know, Sidekicks only have that 1 quest to get them. Ok then, now I'm confused. If this is the case then.. well.. *to me* sidekicks are a complete waste of a more valuable slot that could go to either a pre-made character offering optimised class combination and stats or companion offering story line, roleplaying, relationships and dedicated quest lines... Exactly. But Ydwin... <3 Well played sir! My only possible counter to this infallible argument will be to steal her pics in game and then make a pre-made with her name and portraits

I'm pretty sure that's what they meant. :D As far as I know, Sidekicks only have that 1 quest to get them. Ok then, now I'm confused. If this is the case then.. well.. *to me* sidekicks are a complete waste of a more valuable slot that could go to either a pre-made character offering optimised class combination and stats or companion offering story line, roleplaying, relationships and dedicated quest lines...

I guess with regards to point a) I was less referring to the individual lack of attribute optimisation and more the fact that you don't get to pick and choose an exact custom class / multi-class combination that best suits the roles that you would like fulfilled at any given moment. Regardless however, you have answered my question in your final statement. The fact that the sidekicks offer quests will be enough for me to try and save a spot for rotating sidekicks to fulfil their quests. I was under the impression that the only quests relating to sidekicks would be the ones required to get them to join the party in the first place. If you're saying that this is not the case, then it changes things enough for me to try and squeeze one in. Cheers.

I guess what I'm struggling to come to terms with is the fact that: a) We all know that a party built with custom made characters will be vastly superior from a gameplay perspective to the companions provided, but... b) The incentive to take the companions is the role playing story lines and companion quests / romances and interactions that they provide. So where do sidekicks fit in? They seem to me to be the worst of both cases. They can only be partially customised (like companions), but they do not offer the same level of interaction and story as the companions... So what am I missing here? Why would someone take them over either a pre-made character or another companion? I'm not trying to be snide here, I'm genuinely interested as to what others believe that they offer to the game. Thoughts?

https://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/171289309831/various-deadfire-changes Thanks for this, good read. I just wish Josh would consolidate all of this VERY relevant information to the game in the one source. He seems to be spread across all of the interwebs social media. Nevermind, I'm glad I read it. Thanks again.

Did I miss something? Are they looking at changing strength back to might again? If so, can someone please point me in the direction of the source of this information? Regards, Koth.

I think you're all forgetting one very important piece of information. The cake is a lie... I'm sorry... I'll show myself out...