AncientToaster

How is it that you're punished for reaching the level cap? I agree that it's low and it apparently it doesn't seem to be spread out quite as well as it should be for the amount of content, but punishment? Nah

I think that would help if anything. I do not like Might being the Damage stat for everyone, I think it sucks for a story/dialogue/RP standpoint, and it just does not fit. Might in conversation is always almost brute force, intimidation and meat head in context. You have to stack it on anyone that wants to deal damage, even a damn Priest or Wizard. Please don't tell me that my puny Wizard is going to pick someone up by their shirt collar and intimidate them...It just doesn't fit. I don't know why they felt like they had to reinvent the tried and true systems we've been used to for years. I think if anything, people would have been more happy to see systems that make sense instead of trying to be different.

True but it does need to change. It wouldn't be the first time that a game released a patch that overhauled the game and broke a few saves. It probably won't happen for awhile though, so most of us will complete or get fed up with this game by the time the patch is released. I'm fine with some things and overall I've been patient with some of it but the more I play, the more things I find that need significant rework.

Overall I think most of the classes need some changes but these two stand out as the ones that need big overhauls. When I think of Monks traditionally in RPG's I do not think of them as meat bags that need to take punishment to do their attacks or skills. It goes against everything a Monk should stand for. Monk's train their body for defense and agility, if anything they should gain "Ki" and I think key stats for this character class should be Resolve, Perception and Dexterity. I think their class could get a lot out of Deflection. Deflection to me seems like what a Monk would do, using his trained martial arts defenses to block and dodge attacks, gaining Ki. Overall I think tweaking these characters also means tweaking the attribute system because as of now it's completely bonkers. Might governs Magic Damage, Healing and Ranged and Melee attacks? I, like many others do not like this at all, considering Might in Dialogue almost always goes along with brute force options and things that a Fighter or Barbarian might say, not a Monk or Wizard. Just needs to change, it really hurts the game from a combat and story/dialogue standpoint. Next, the Ranger. I'm currently playing this class and while I think it gets a lot of hate for no reason, it does need significant changes. I think the Pet gimmick is very bland. The pet should gain abilities and visual upgrades as your Ranger levels up. Upon reaching level 4, I think the pet needs to become more physically intimidating and game a new move. Imagine level 4 you get a Dire Wolf or Dire Bear, and they each have different abilities. There would be 3 milestones here, Level 4, Level 8 and Level 12 (max level currently) At level 8 your pet would become even better, gaining another ability, and level 12 they become legendary creatures. Right now the animal companions are just very very bland and there is so much potential being squandered on just having a boring, generic animal following you around for the entire game that never really gets interesting or changes at all. They really want the Ranger to be a ranged class but it's much better being on the frontlines. I am using mine with an Arbalest but I feel like I'm wasting it's potential being back there, oh well. I just think if you're gonna give the Ranger this animal companion, make it interesting. Right now it's just boring. I've been trying to stay positive about PoE since release Thursday but I keep playing and finding things I do no like, and I'm not one to usually be overly critical but how did these things not get polished up in Beta? Why are the attributes so goofy? Might governing all types of damage and being tied to strictly brute force options in Dialogue is absurd! Attributes in general need a huge tweak.

I think adding per encounter spells and maybe cooldowns on certain skills would go a long way into making this battle system better. I don't agree with the topic creator on most of his rants but I do acknowledge that the combat system isn't the greatest it could be.

Ranger is fine, not sure why people hate it so much. I started a Human Female Ranger last night, uses an Arbalest and a Bear. Once I got that skill that let me reload faster she dishes out great damage, and uses Wounding Shot during combat, while my Bear off-tanks for Eder. She was one-shotting enemies in the early game with her Crossbow

My Ranger is my Mechanics character. I see no reason to start over just to make someone a dedicated Mechanics character.

If there is one thing I dislike the most so far, it's the Engagement system. Early game enemies can safely ignore it (looking at you Shadow enemies...) and trash you, but you're bound by it's design. It's hard to get used to and really does hurt the tactics, I agree. I find myself having to use spells and abilities I do not want to use just to move a fighter or my Bear pet.

You disagree because it's wrong, or because you love banana's? I'd seriously like to hear some counter-crits here as the OP has pointed out some factual issues. It's kind of hard to counter points since he really didn't make any. SNIP I just wanted to hear some real counters, not another "you just suck at this game go play something else" response. I don't have the game myself so I like to see these points actually debated. I find that a lot of times someone's gripe about a game is something I would really like. Different strokes. If you don't have the game at all, why did you originally post about there being facts embedded in the Topic Creators rage fueled rant? You have literally no room to cite factual issues with his post because you have zero experience in the combat system to draw from.

Oh come on, get outta here with this. It is not poorly designed at all, you are just too lazy to learn the new mechanics of the combat system, and expect it to be identical to IE games. This system is fine, I've been playing for about 5 hours and I have not wiped yet on Normal, and it's been fairly challenging, you just have to use all the tools available to you. If you try to auto attack your way through fights, you're gonna die.

I feel like dumping any defenses down is just asking for trouble in this game. If a Barb is wrecking face with this engagement system, he's gonna get completely demolished in Melee without defenses. I'm still stuck trying to nail down a character class I like but I feel like no amount of constitution really matters.

I remember reading the Polygon interview with Josh Sawyer about stats and how they tried to eliminate Min/Maxing. I don't think they succeeded at all honestly. I find it difficult to make an effective combat character as well because if you want to be on the front line, you need high Deflection and Defenses, but if you actually want to do damage, you need Might, but if you actually want to be able to attack in a reasonable amount of time you need Dexterity. I don't feel like there is really any "dump" stat, I feel like I have to take points in everything and it sucks, because then I'm just gimped all over.

I was also wondering this, if it's better to pump two skills and leave everything at 10 or drop those down and massively pump skills? I have been building my characters with at least 1 or 2 points in every stat.

I rolled one up last night but I'm not sure I'm liking it, or maybe I just don't know what I'm doing. The class seems a bit too passive for me, I feel like you have your Chants ability on auto, and you just auto attack until you build your Phrases, then just cast something. I don't know what is optimal for stats. It appears to me that this class should probably be a tank. The rest of the group benefits from the songs, the enemies suffer from the songs, and then you can either summon or do some sort of crowd control spell.

Same problem for me. Quite annoying!

Seems like Intellect is pretty important for any kind of "fighter" class though, even Barbs. The combat seems heavily reliant on control, so anything that gives you advantage such as disables and knockdowns, and duration of those effects seems like the obvious choice. Hoping that Intellect isn't the "end all be all" stat for everyone.

Thanks again for the videos, I look forward to watching the individual class ones. Might have to watch those at work tomorrow to get me through the day until I can actually play the game myself!

I'm right there with you. Been playing cRPG's for awhile (not quite as long as you!) but since Daggerfall at least. It's going to be a loooong day tomorrow, got a full day of work then probably until Thurs. night until I can actually sit down to play for a couple hours. The anticipation is real.

Great thread, tag for later!

Professional reviewers anymore...I just tend to ignore them and listen to word of mouth from other players, and Steam. If something is "overwhelmingly positive" or "Very positive" that is usually a very good sign that gamers can unanimously agree the game is worth playing, and it hasn't steered me wrong. However anymore, when I see a game I want to play, I just buy it and play it, I don't rely on reviews anymore. I'm guessing Pillars of Eternity will score in the 80's on a Metacritic type scale. True cRPG fans and review sites will praise it and the big journalist sites will knock it down for not being flashy enough or a "AAA" type of game. It shouldn't deter any of us from enjoying it.

Really hope this game creates waves in the PC gaming community like Divinity: OS and Cities Skylines did. I have faith that this game will become a great seller. Great sales means delicious expansion packs.

Thanks for the guide, very informative.

I am sorry if this is a redundant topic. I'm fairly sure that I already know the answer to this question however I had wanted to bring up some other points that have to do with combat and party member AI. Josh Sawyer mentioned during the PAX East video that party members will not have AI routines when the game launches. That is fine, I was one to issue commands out to the entire party in the IE games mostly. Most of the more in-depth scripts felt too "all or nothing" in the IE games. For instance, setting up a Wizard to auto spell cast often lead to that character using up important spells on lesser battles and often leaving you with nothing for tougher fights. I usually just stuck to scripts that had the characters auto attack or stay at range. These basic scripts were nice because you wanted your Melee fighters to start the action up and then focus your attention to the spell casters to micromanage them during combat. Since PoE is launching without any kinds of scripts, does that mean that even rudimentary behaviors like attacking nearest target or attacking at Range are all going to have to be micromanaged? I am completely OK with issuing skill and magic commands myself, but trying to make sure my Ranger is at Range attacking, and keeping all my Melee characters occupied seems a bit cumbersome.