Voss

Insane isn't the word I'd use. Monster, perhaps. But rational for all that.

So, question on that. Is that stuff ever relevant in some way? Because the sheer number of them (and how many are inexplicably godlike, which the lore describes as rare) makes me think its backer related nonsense that isn't relevant to anything at all. I've been dutifully clicking on them in hopes they're relevant to something, somewhere, but it is starting to seem really unlikely. And rather repetitive.

Yes, it does affect spiritshape. I decided to test classes I may want to try out, so I popped a new game, toggled cheats on and maxed XP. Wanted to see if several things worked, and have a look at later talents. And to see if the low level spells actually did become per encounter at high levels (they do). On the downside, I find the spiritshapes moderately iffy still. Especially the wolf knockdown, since that is inexplicably per rest. Playing as a druid, I find it not worth the action interrupt to shapeshift, which makes taking wf:peasant a bad choice in retrospect.

Men are asked if they've ever sired a Hollowborn. When I said "No." with the honest qualifier, they then asked "Really? Are you sure?" Huh. Disappointing, actually, that is the same dialogue. Boring. I was hoping for some real differences

Yeah, it allows the shield to be used as a weapon. It in no way tells you this, but if you open up the inventory and look at the tab on the right, the wielder now has a secondary attack. Surprise! Personally, I'd like a hyperlink for Vessels and other types, so I can actually tell what is what. It certainly includes undead, but... also other things, like wichts. Because reasons. So what else falls into which category?

Its even weirder when talking with Durance in front of Eder. He interjects once during the discussion with Kolsc, but you can have another a more general conversation at any time and bring the conversation around to the counter-Purges of Eothasians, which Durance quite happily admits to participating in. You'd think this would provoke a reaction, or inter-party conflict. But not so far...

Well, it's about who's going to follow along with you. If someone says "hey, I want to help, your cause is just!" you don't usally turn around and say "you've got a derp build, go away". Sure, that's how MMO often players do it but that's more power play than role play. Instead let the guy come along and sing some songs while you carry the day maybe. Nonsense. This *isn't* how people behave. The life of an adventurer is life and death all the time. Think of people out on actual combat missions (do you think they want the supply clerk along?), or military themed TV shows. Stargate comes to mind here- the episode with Felger and wossname, or the moon with the zap bugs and the annoying scientists. The team absolutely does not want these people around, and literally do tell them to go away, because they are a liability. That is exactly what any sane person in the protagonist's role in PoE should do. Send these civilians home. But theoretically there is plot/story/interesting things afoot, so... yeah. Either feed them to bears or tolerate them for sake of story time. But they'd be far easier to tolerate if they weren't miserable useless wretches.

Don't just grab everyone and click attack. Send the tank(s) forward to engage/knockdown, start up the firing squad and only send the pet in once the battle line has stabilized.

Without any talents skewing things, I'm finding the arbalests I found early far outshine any guns I've picked up. That was kind of a disappoint- the arquebus, when I finally got one, felt like a downgrade.

Sure. That is in fact the point- resource management. Frankly, in most fights, even on hard, I don't need 'em. If you really want to burn spells every fight, go cipher.

I'm not finding any of that to be the case. race/gender seems to get an eyebrow at most, and only rarely.* In combat, well rounded is punished. Out of combat, they are one of 4-6 different options, so... no. It feels like none of them matter. *the sheer number of godlike just hanging around the first village (despite its... issues and the issues godlike supposedly raise) was staggering. And you can't...really... interact with them either, so I'm not even clear why they're hanging around. I suppose because they categorically can't contribute to the problem looming over the town.

That isn't obvious to me. Actually I think that Sagani, Aloth, Pelle and Mother were designed around perception as an accuracy buff, and never redesigned when it was changed. RP does not equal bad. Sorry, but that is an absurdity. I do find it amusing that Kana's biggest use for me so far is being a source of decent weapons. (Finally). Actually using him... ugh. Chanters aren't designed for this game. Even on hard, I kill too quickly, and he almost never gets to use his invocations (and low level phrases are garbage).

I'm on hard, and I just picked up Kana, did the dungeon level and just cleared the crossroads. And, honestly... I'm kicking him out, which feels ironic since he's has the best attribute spread of any of the companions. The low level phrases have a negligible effect (and the higher level phrases are longer, which means you get to use even fewer invocations), and I've used invocations exactly twice. Both times against the large groups of pwgra and forest trolls in the crossroads. And in both cases, if I'd had more damage dealers (particularly a druid or a better wizard), those fights wouldn't have lasted long enough to bother with invocations. Most combats are just an exercise in firing squad, paralyze & interdiction, fire again, paralyze as needed +clean up. Maybe open with an AoE effect from Aloth if the fight looks particularly big. But if I wasn't carrying half the companions (and instead had useful party members), I could just burn the encounters down and not care.

Dex/int ciphers aren't bad, neither are ranged ciphers. A couple points in might won't hurt, but you can get by without. The perception and resolve are pretty much a waste, however. That said, a couple of things. The dual weapons you started with arent a recommendation: they're cultural. The charm ability isn't very good. Dominate, later, is much better. The charm takes too long and debuffs the enemies, making them pretty incapable of contributing much. Blind is better for level 1, as is the shock ring. The 2 focus per hit talent with a bow is pretty poor. What you want to do is bump accuracy and damage. Marksman, biting whip and weapon focus: whichever will help a lot more. As will penetrating shot, later. If you want to use the 2 per hit talent, grab a blunderbuss, and as many accuracy buffs as possible. The important thig to remember is that there are many, many traps in character building, and leveling up. System mastery is a pretty hefty requirement to the game (and unfortunately you have to pry into dark corners to get it. Too much isn't told to you up front)

Yeah, it is important to realize when you're overmatched, retreat, gear up, level up, hire some extras and come back later. That said, with careful work and positioning, it is quite possible to get to the quest objective while skipping only a few fights. But at least on hard, the game requires positioning and thinking out what you're doping, and lots of crowd control for bigger fights. Just grabbing everyone and clicking attack isn't going to work well.

It gets creepier when you realize that the main point of the settlement invitation is to bring in women that won't breed monsters. To the point that if you're playing a female character, that is how you're greeted: ever have a monster baby? The sad thing is, out of radical and his two advisors, I'm not sure which is the most grim dark. The fact that alll three are basically optimists is a little chilling.

Yep. Squishies go down easily without a tank in the way. Proud can hire a custom adventurer (or two)'at the black dog, though

Accuracy is a problem, especially at the beginning. Venture a bit further on into the first 'dungeon', and you're at -20 to hit against a fair amount of enemies, almost as if they weren't rebuilt when accuracy was taken out of attributes. The problem does seem to fade a little as you get decent gear and start to level up, but it helps to be aware that early on, there are fights you just can't win. At least not without a lot of luck and a lot of reloads. But no, single weapon is a terrible idea. Slow and minimal damage.

That's actually nice to know. I believe they did not in the beta. Well, sometimes it is nice. At other points, it is simply mind-boggling- I just had Raedric and his two paladins run right past Eder (and then the entire rest of the party) at the start of combat and around two corners to attack my main character (who they couldn't even see at the time).

This was something I'm particularly worried about. I didn't want to be spoiled, but leveling naturally (I'm already at 4th and a quarter of the way to fifth) sets the companions up to be worse and worse. I have no idea why the default wasn't that you recruit the companions, they have xp appropriate to whatever level you are and then you level them up yourself. If not the default, at least an option, because this is really poor. I'm currently using Durance as an arbalester (due to the complete lack of any guns but 2 pistols so far, and one was a disappointment), simply for lack of anything better to do with him.

Ciphers can, but as second rank types. Pike or quarterstaff, really. You could get closer after the tanks engage, but that can turn pretty risky. Sometimes enemies just switch targets.

I'm finding Eder pretty useful, but after an unsuccessful attempt at a cipher, and a going fairly well attempt with a priest, both on hard, he's the only companion that seems worthwhile so far. Aloth tends to get dropped a lot. Mostly by stupid teleporting shadows and shades, but I have no idea what the rationale is behind arcane assault at 5m. Durance is also just a little baffling, as is the sheer waste that is con as an attribute. I've got 2 amulets of health (+15 end) already, and wearing one puts my endurance (with 10 con) above Durance's 16 Con. What a pointless waste, as is the giant pile of resolve. I'm essentially propping up the party with a hired rogue, because damage beats tanking flat out. At least, by the paladin experiment I ran alongside the cipher attempt. Enemies beat on her like she didn't have deflection, despite using everything available to max it out. The big thing I've noticed is a lot of critters seem to built with the assumption that something is giving accuracy. I'm often attacking at a negative, and reasonably often at -10 to -20. For reasons.

The ruined temple is punching me In the face in hard. Mostly because are eating my cipher and aloth, and partly because my cipher can't hit for beans to get focus back. And the paladin I hired at the inn is utterly useless for anything. Maxed deflection (at least as much as possible at low levels), and he various things still just chew through her like nobody's business, and she can't contribute for squat. Eder's abilities are good, but the paladin is little more use than exploiting a path finding bug. Speaking of which, when they go after the same enemy, one of them inevitably can't find room, and often suffers disengagement attacks as a result. thanks pathfinding. Don't get me wrong, the atmosphere is great, but combat needs work, and some of these classes.. Ugh. The paladin just blows chunks, and I do believe the cipher is not for me.

Finished unpacking.... black screen.... menu! Good bye people. Shutting everything out now.

The former. The latter would be expressed as '100 damage over 20 seconds' or possibly '5 damage per second for 20 seconds' That said, I hope they picked one standard phrase and stuck with it for all DoTs.