Voss

Not true. She doesn't narrate everything, but she pops back up for main plot stuff, at the very least.

It says 'casts this way' so presumably those 9 specific spells. (well, the subset of the 9 where that matters)

Weird. I wish things like this were more transparent to the player. Something on the class screen out to tell people that chanters get an extra ability pick, or what the trickster spells are, or what, exactly, a 'slight chance,' 'small chance' or 'significant decrease' was...

Depending entirely on what class(es) you choose and what abilities you pick. A passive heavy class doesn't have more 'uses' of anything, especially compared to the potential of a chanter or cipher, who both have a lot of active abilities and innate recharge of their 'uses'

Do they? Their tree starts at 'level 0' with a subclass-passive and an hourglass icon with music notes in the active tree. Then they get one level 1 pick (whether they're single or multi-class). So what invocation do they start out with before choosing a single ability?

But they have different method to fix the build without making an ability trash. Like change the mechansim of Lash, or increase ability cost. Increased ability cost would make it horrid- far more so than losing a few percentage points of additional damage. No idea what you have in mind for 'change the mechanism of lash,' but I very much doubt it would quick or functional to do.

Eh. It feels significantly less railroady than the first one, at least so far. There is a big unavoidable plot hook, yeah, but that was true the first time around as well, and also isn't a railroad. On the other hand, no areas look blocked off by magic floodwater that only goes away only once your quarry sets the main city on fire in an unstoppable script regardless of what you do. We will have to see if Eothas will wait around in a hole for months to flip the last switch after a completely successful plot, just so you can be there to stop him at the last minute.

No, eternal flame got nerfed because the whole flames of devotion package was just too good, even for a single class paladin. Eternal flame was a trivial part of BW/Assassin- that math still goes nuts without it.

Eder: unavoidable, being a creepy boy and watching you sleep. Xoti: first town (Port Maje), being a poorly mannered part of a baptism. Roughly the middle-right of the main area Aloth: first dungeon (engwithan arena), required to leave island. In the central cage outside. Fighter, wizard, priest as first starting group. Hmm Also, you can hire adventurers in the tavern, Serafen: scripted ship encounter after leaving starter island. Pellagina: standing around above the Neketaka docks. Refuses to come, not sure where she goes. Note: this is post bad end, kind wayfarer pallegina, so may vary. Perhaps you need to go to a Valian run shop and kill someone before she'll join.

Heh. You owe your life to Berath because Berath says you do. There isn't a favor being exchanged here. Your living breathing body was just fine, Berath just grabbed hold of your soul and can do anything she wants with it. This is Eora. The gods are jerks, and they're definitely more interested in themselves than people. You have the required talents, so you're Berath's preferred tool for this. Just remember, after the job is done, tools often get discarded... or hung up.

Not sure what the problem is. Balance adjustments between beta4 and release were to be expected. It isn't like this will disrupt anyone's game in progress. Besides, most of the 'nerfing' I've noticed was warranted and fairly reasonable. I'm not sure how nerfing the 'whole puzzle' would work. Most of the crazy stuff IS made up of pieces, there isn't an overarching bundle to turn down.

What *is* the theme of the Darcozzi? All I've ever gotten out of it is mangled Italian with fire shield because reasons.

Not true for multiclass. They get one point for each class when they hit a new power level (every 3 levels), but only 1 point (which can be put into either class) for the two levels inbetween. So they have to split their points somewhere between 7 in one class and 20 in the other (the extremes), or the balanced spread, which is 14 in one, 13 in the other. They're also not only capped at power level 7, but they have to get more lower level abilities (4 of each level) rather than 3 for single class (and only 2 1st level abilities). For 7th tier abilities, multiclass characters can at most get 2 in one class and 1 in the other. You can't save points for later, either.

Maybe. I'm... suspicious. She's got a thing she isn't really talking about, and it looks horribly sinister to me. The nightmares don't help either. Nor does her firm conviction that she knows what goes on when gods come back from the dead. For no apparent reason. Anyway- my big expectation is the Big Walking Plothook is a red herring. Particularly that certain other parties engineered where he woke up, and the mess that resulted was intentional and out of his control. So the other parties, out of spite, jealousy and/or cutting down on the number of gods involved in the cycle of death (3 seems a bit high). Or... keeping spirits stuck in the beyond to exploit in some fashion. If lack of Eothas limits rebirth somehow... who benefits?

It depends how literally you want to take 'champion.' You're still praying to whomever for power, but Berath has made you his/her flying monkey for this errand. In theory, chasing down Eothas serves the purposes of the other gods as well.

I know absolutely nothing about what you are talking about But I am going to ask questions to learn more. That's not falling on a LGBTQ spectrum is it? Like I would be straight but only interested in sex. Or homosexual but only interested in romance. That's not my sexuality it's more like a behavioral choice? Like just to me it seems like aromantic is code for someone with a form of sex addiction. And if not how would you distinguish between sex addiction and aromantic? What? Oh, no. You're jumping to pretty much the exact opposite end of things. Someone who's asexual doesn't have interest in sex. Generally when people use 'aromantic' they mean someone who isn't interested in sex OR romance. No dates or late nights cuddling on the couch or whatever, but also not mindless boning. They've friendzoned the world (if they're social) or tend to be work/project focused (if they're not) Think of it as more like the vegan/vegetarian spectrum. One is excluding more things than the other. Actually, there ARE people who are aromantic but not asexual, just like there are people who are asexual but not aromantic. (As well as people who are both, of course.) Sure. But, but -generally- when the topic comes up, they're connected. Aromantic sex often just gets a shrug and 'Eh, college.' Not everywhere of course, and it isn't universally true, but I've meet a lot of people who think avoiding casual hook-ups is aberrant behavior. It's certainly well represented in tv and media. And politics of course, with those darn kids and their lack of morals destroying the country. Or some nonsense like that.

Wild Mages in BG2 were fun I am a risk-adverse, controlling, joyless ****pail. Plus I had to deal with that in an actual D&D campaign. The idea of putting up with 'misfires' or worse, intentionally fishing for random outcomes in life or death situations (even in simulations) makes me angry. The practical approach to such companions in a D&D setting is very early on, one night in the woods, the wolves get them. I prefer a betrayal sub-plot from companions to lol!random.

Evenly? Not so far. Resolve and might get checked quite a bit. But might gets checked in interactions when companions can do it. As far as skills go, the big skill for conversations so far seems to be insight. Race and class get checked from time to time. Also, just as a note, the Achievements for the game have spoilers. At least the GoG version- I don't know if devs can mark achievements as hidden on GoG the way Steam does it, but if it can they... uh... missed a couple important ones.

Trickster Rogues- what spells do they get access to? I still haven't found a list for this yet. And images from the stream snippets says they're unlocked at power levels 3, 5, 7 and 9, which puts them at 5th, 9th, 13th and 19th level, respectively, for single classed rogues, and 7th, 13th, 19th and never for multi-class. I'd expect them to be really amazing for that long a wait, and that big a penalty. 1st- Dazzling lights 3- ? 5- ? 7- ? 9- ?

That certainly is a big shiny plot hook to get the ball moving, you almost can't see the forest behind it. Hmm. There is someone knocking at my door. brb. A very nice young herring dropped off a package for me. I complimented him on his timing, and boy did he blush. Anyway, he gave my a curious little box marked 'scavenger hunt.' What's this on top? Quite the fancy cloak. Anyway, where were we? Ah yes, someone's gone walkabout in a simple little progression from A to B. Sounds like it would be quite the rousing tale, if a bit trite and predictable.

Saying you welcome the fight or 'bring it' or something along those lines doesn't necessarily mean you actually want the fight. It very well may just mean you're more than ready for it, and if someone dares bring it, you're ready to thwomp them. Or, more commonly, merely posturing.

Because everyone needs a buggy shooter with an hour of whining at the front?

Cuts off the text of Death of 1,000 Cuts: "Keyword: Shred Target when damaged: 31 Raw Damage, +10 sec Duration of Death of 1,000 cuts effects Acc vs Fortitude Target: 31 Raw damage, 19 raw damage per 3 sec for 30 sec Acc vs Fortitude Fracture the target's soul, causing them to receive Raw damage over time. Shred spells used on this target will cause another fracture, dealing Raw damage instantly and extending the duration of the effect." One of several cases where the top and bottom text seem contradictory. Guess the bottom text is more likely to be accurate? If not it could form a loop with Combusting Wounds.... Reminds me of another one where the top numerical description says "on hit" and the bottom says "on critical hit". Maybe they tested it one way and decided it was too powerful? [Edit: Recall Agony is Shred... guess that doesn't trigger Combusting Wounds though, so it probably doesn't trigger this?] It will be interesting to see how it works. Against many targets, I'm not sure it will matter. 31 plus 190 Raw damage over time is pretty lethal in its own right. Adding 31 plus 57 over time per other shred spell (Plus, well, all the other bonuses you've accumulated over 19 levels?)

Serafen: Cipher subclass is 'Wild Mind,' which gives a chance of 'unexpected manifestation' whenever he uses a cipher spell. These can explicitly be bad for the party. Unclear with the proc chance is for him to mess things up. Effectively a Wild Mage from BG2. So, for me at least, his cipher version is completely off my list.

Exactly. I don't know. Funny, neither do you, neither does Avellone. So when I point out how it could possibly be benign I am an idiot, because I have no data to prove it, but Avellone claiming it is nepotism and immoral is legit? Oh wait, he also has no evidence to prove that. You don't talk crap if you have no data to back it up, that was the whole point of my post. Avellone has a name on a spreadsheet, and gives no context beyond that. Either because he doesn't have anything else to offer (so no actual data), or because the context would make his point moot so he omits it (data doesn't play into his narrative). See I am a data analyst by trade. So one person asked what I know about Avellone? A lot actually, because he keeps running his mouth on the internet. Every time he does it, he does it specifically to hurt his former employer, and he has done it multiple times over multiple years. That says he holds a grudge, is likely very petty (in his own words he is rich now, it isn't like whatever deal he got from Obsidian actually hurt him), more than likely extremely self centered, and likely has a massive ego. He also only ever says it on RPG Codex, which tells me more. It tells me he knows he has no real argument, because if he had real evidence to prove Feargus was unethical he would release it to a real news source. It tells me he is probably cowardly at heart, because he only ever posts this stuff on Codex, which is the safest space in the internet for Avellone. On any other forum he might face a critical reception, or hard analysis of what he is actually saying. What do I know about Feargus? Not much. He runs a profitable company, he has not risen to the bait and replied to Avellone, his company does in fact do Charity work, and he did expense a big ass party for his team to celebrate a game release because they deserved some reward more than their normal paycheck. If nothing else that tells me he is at least a decent business man and manager, otherwise Obsidian would not have held on this long. He gives at least half a crap about his employees, or why give the party? Also he isn't dumb enough to fall for Avellone's bait, which means he has common sense, and values his companies reputation more than replying to personal attacks. So yeah, if I had to trust one over the other, the data I have says I should trust Feargus. Unlike Avellone, he has never publicly tried to disparage former coworkers and business partners, or done anything blatantly self serving. That's good enough data for me. PS: for all of you wondering why RPG Codex not being on this forum much at all anymore is a good thing, look at this thread. Now make threads like this pop up weekly. Yeah. So Chris is untrustworthy because he has spoken against his former employer and Feargus is trustworthy, because he did not. Because that's all to it. We haven't seen any evidence that Chris was lying. And before you say it, I know we don't have hard evidence supporting Chris' claims either, that's why we can talk and speculate about it. Or we can just sweep everything under the carpet and call it a day. But what if Chris is telling the truth? Do you really think that everything he told us is just a made up story? You can't really believe that. And even if a fraction of what he was saying is true means that there are serious problems with Obsidian's management. And I'd rather talk about this, them being one of my favourite companies. But being a favourite doesn't mean that I don't care if they do something ****ty. And stop dragging the Codex into this. He was talking about this on the Codex because the Codex bothered to ask. Unlike other magazines and forums who are afraid of asking any hard hitting questions from developers. Just compare a Codex interview with any other. Which one actually asks the more interesing, not watered down questions? No one. Obsessing over personal melodrama isn't 'interesting' or 'not watered down.' I'd expect 'any other' interview to focus on games or game development in some way instead.