termokanden

I start out using cipher powers and then power up some more of them with a shot from my blunderbuss on a debuffed mob. Actually it's not like I miss much on mobs without debuffs either! No stats improve your accuracy. Certain passives do (Distant Advantage from being a wood elf wood elf, Mob Justice, Weapon Focus, ...). There are also buffs that increase it (paladins have a +6 aura for example). In addition, the Sure-Handed Ila chant increases reload speed so that helps with the slow reloads.

They are great if: - you have good accuracy - you have good DR reduction (say, from Penetrating Shot or Lead Spitter, or both) They are amazing if: - you are a cipher with Draining Whip My character is a wood elf cipher with Mob Justice (accuracy bonus if targeting something your party is attacking), Weapon Focus: Ruffian, and I'm frequently shooting at enemies with deflection debuffs (say, from Mental Binding). This makes a blunderbuss incredibly deadly and very unlikely to miss. It generates tons of focus.

Hiring when not at full party size works, thank you for the quick response

IMO a good resolution by Obsidian. People are still going to protest and cry about it, but what can you do.

I for one do not want to play a game that is still so much in development that the meaning of stats can suddenly change after I've spent many hours playing a character. I also don't think we'll ever have an attribute system that pleases everyone. Might as well make the best of the one we have and focus on getting rid of those bugs instead of redesigning things.

That is correct. Lore comes up a lot in conversations, so I would say it's a pretty good pick for the main character. You're going to want someone who can use scrolls, might as well be you.

Maybe earlier in development. Now that the game is out and people have already made characters, changing them would harm a lot of players. So actually I think it's the right decision to just change their stats.

So apparently this happened at some point after I level 7. My save from when I was level 7 does not have this weird effect. I tried unequipping items and switching off some buffs and it was still there. If it does anything, it's well-hidden. Still, it annoys me that I don't know what it is!

I have a level 8 cipher. Under active effects, one line simply reads: ": 10 raw damage" What the heck does that mean? Anyone know?

Yeah the old "works on my computer" is not a good argument. To be fair, the reason I've not run into the game-breaking bugs is because I've been in the forums and am in the know about them.

Call me an Obsidian fanboy if you will, but it seems to me that I can either support one of the few remaining developers who will make this type of game and do it well, or give up because of bugs that are fixed one week after release. Bugs and all, I've already enjoyed this game immensely for 30 hours. I don't even disagree that some of these bugs are game-breaking, I'm just glad they're likely fixed tomorrow. What is most important to me is that the issues get fixed so we have the modern classic that this game could very easily be. Edit: Patch is out now? Must... play... MORE.

There's a hint for the first one and the last as I remember it. Makes it substantially easier, but I agree it would probably be a bit annoying if you didn't find the clues.

That's why I never liked it. It feels more like a theme park than a believable dungeon. I much prefer the other dungeons. Even Watcher's Keep has a consistency to each level of the keep.

My thinking is pretty much in line with Horrorscope's (fan of Overkill?). I agree that it is not really the consumer's problem that software can be complicated to make, although I'd say be realistic and expect there to be at least a few minor bugs. Vote with your wallet as always. Despite the bugs (and yes the major ones are not acceptable but at least are being patched now), ultimately I'm still happy I paid for PoE. I want more games like this and so I voted YES with my wallet. Good point. Remember Apple's goto fail? That was hilarious and sad all at once Don't even get me started on SSL/TLS and its many failures. Goes to show we actually live with extremely serious bugs every day.

Why all the fuss about the bell puzzle? I didn't think it was very hard, but then I did clear out the dungeon first and found the two hints.

There are no guarantees in software development, unfortunately. A bug may suddenly be noticed even after years of flawless operation in the real world. A bit off-topic maybe, but luckily this is not always the case. I know many software developers who don't have much overtime. Sorry that you had to be a part of that! I know from myself that overtime is a waste. Quality and productivity both drop noticeably, so why some organizations are crazy about it is beyond me. Having realistic deadlines and making sure you're spending your time optimally during normal working hours while your mind is still sharp is so important. That said, yeah sometimes there are crises and just have to put in the time.

BG2 is an overwhelmingly huge game. If you forget about that comparison for a little while, I think PoE has tons of content. I'm at the 30 hour mark and not even close to finishing my first playthrough (of many, likely).

Yep, I love it too.

I didn't even notice. I bet now I can't stop thinking about it. Thanks a lot for that

Turns do indeed pass as you complete quests. Doesn't seem to be one turn per quest though. I have the same problem as the OP with the system. It seems broken, and I don't use hirelings because of it. It also seems that the more I upgrade the keep, the more money is taken by bandits. Initially it wasn't so bad. What's up with that?

I agree with all of that, but I still think the tax and hirelings system needs a major overhaul. It just doesn't make sense at the moment and is far too punishing. For example, you pay your hirelings per day but only collect taxes per turn. Complete quests quickly: get a lot out of your hirelings. Travel and rest a lot: Lose serious amounts of money on your hirelings. I also don't understand why increasing my security doesn't seem to help against bandits. The biggest problem with the tax system though is that the amount you can earn if you even earn anything is negligible. It's because I love the stronghold that I hope something is done about this, particularly the hirelings. Either they should be paid per turn, or taxes should be collected per day as well.

Indeed BG2 is full of quite long dungeons whereas BG1 mostly has short dungeons and lots of wilderness instead. Durlag's Tower is the obvious exception (and it's pretty damn awesome, by the way!). But yes, the dungeons in this game are very fun.

For the most part, that works out OK and you won't have to reload much. There are a unfortunately a few places that aren't balanced well enough. I obviously won't spoil where they are since you don't like metagaming. I've hit level 8 now and I can remember three places where the balance was a little off and I'd expect the average player to have to reload.

Sure-Handed Ila is getting nerfed very soon anyway. Still looks like it'll be good though.

Actually on normal difficulty I've found that I don't need a priest at all. Much of the time, the protection spells and healing was entirely unnecessary. I'll be playing on hard next time I think and hopefully it'll make more sense there. I actually managed to go through half a dungeon without noticing that Durance had died. All of a sudden, I realized his portrait was gone and had to backtrack through the dungeon to find his belongings. Everything was going super-smooth without him