VahnXIII

I officially just learned how to create custom portraits. I must admit that I'm quite excited about this! Now I must scour this thread for some real beauties!

The cipher has his own debuffs, many of them, including a large aoe flank for 30 seconds, a small aoe blind, a single target paralysis, and a number of others. The cipher performs well as a debuffer that enables the melee to wipe the floor with the mobs, and once debuffed, his own damage spells come into play... as I said above, the cipher is more than a replacement for the wizard, and never has to sleep. This is actually one of the reasons I'm thinking of re-rolling. Even at level 7, I find myself always casting Mental Binding followed by a couple of Mind Blades for AOE damage. Afterwards I take one blast with my blunderbuss and start the cycle over again. If a team member is in trouble, I'll substitute one of my Mind Blade castings for another CC spell of some sort. To OP: Not everyone needs armor. I'd recommend having Pell use a two handed sword to dish out more damage. Your casters don't need leather armor and they could be wearing robes or regular clothing (this includes Kana and I'd recommend giving him a firearm). This helps with their casting times and overall damage output (or CC spells depending on the situation.) As for execution, you're correct in sending in your tank (Eder) first. However, especially in dungeons, I would recommend sending in a char with high stealth and mechanics to disable traps and identify troublesome encounters. Once that is done, THEN send in Eder to start your offensive wave. Use the terrain to your advantage. I can't tell you how many times you'll win fights just by using choke holds and knocking enemies off one by one. For settings, I always recommend turning on your "auto-slow mode in combat" option. It gives you extra time to think while the skirmish is going on. Pause often. This game isn't meant to be played in real time and letting the AI take care of everything. You're meant to constantly pause and give orders to your companions. Save often. F5 is your friend. There is nothing more frustrating then having your characters die and having to reload a save from hours ago. Don't let this happen to you. My $0.02. Cheers, and have fun!

This patch is excellent. In the future I would like to see the Ranger class get some attention and perhaps more focus on optimization to reduce load times and random FPS drops some players experience. To be honest, I'm going to start a fresh game as a Wizard once 1.05 goes live. Is there an ETA on when 1.05 will roll out?

I'm looking forward to the expansion for PoE1. I'm also excited that Sawyer indicated the importance of introducing players to a familiar setting that contains lore about other regions in Eora. This really opens up the number of possibilities for new titles. I wouldn't mind exploring new lands and experiencing completely different adventures (I'm thinking of the Elder Scrolls series - each game taking place in a different nation) in future releases.

I'm chasing you through a couple of threads it seems. A lance made out of energy seems cool. Now all we need are proper looking coats or light armors (robes/cloth based) and the look would be complete!

How are wizards becoming Jedi's? I played a fighter/mage in the BG series and it was one of my favorite classes to play. Are you saying wizards are now able to have a similar play style with the most recent changes? It is. Wizards got a major buff to base health/endurance, heavy buffs on all defensive spells and conjured weapons (staff/lance) are super strong now. Very interesting. I always liked dual wielding blades and slinging spells in BG. Though I never wore heavy armor and wielded 2H weapons and it looks like I may need to use the conjured weapons (which are 2H). Any chance of having a viable dual wield wizard build? I may need to ask the theory crafters.

I'd love to be a dual wielding, spell slinging swashbuckler. But I don't think these changes will allow for that still. Might have to stay with my dual stilletos Cipher (with blunderbuss as ranged backup).

How are wizards becoming Jedi's? I played a fighter/mage in the BG series and it was one of my favorite classes to play. Are you saying wizards are now able to have a similar play style with the most recent changes?

Excellent patch. However, loading times are still an issue. Why is this still an issue? Also, when does this go live?

I get paranoid when in dungeons thanks to BG experiences. My main char is a cipher with high stealth and mechanics levels. Typically I send him in first to disable traps (more like collect them) then I send in the cavalry. Pretty classic move in the RPG playbook.

Good thread. I'll probably pick up Scion of Flame for him. I've been taking the extra spell slots. Just figured the more spells I have available, the more utility and utility is good (saved my life many times in hairy fights).

I don't mind the crafting. To be honest, I would have preferred having an NPC that could take found pieces and artifacts and use them to craft unique weapons a la BG2. To be honest, I prefer the camping tools system more than having camp sites spread out. I agree with the load times. It's 2015. Why are we plagued with loading screens in a game that uses 2D backgrounds and plain 3D sprites?

I actually like a lot of the items on that list and would miss them if they weren't in the game. I'm thankful Obsidian accumulated the funds they did to provide the content and I'm very much looking forward to anything they release in the world of Eora.

PoE is my favorite game since the legendary IE titles. The combat is very good. It's been a while since I've played DAO, but I remember enjoying that game as well. DA:I I'm not so sure of. I tried very much to like it, but I just couldn't finish it.

Awesome! I'm just now completing side quests in Defiance Bay. I love Ondra's Gift. I was curious how much further I had seeing how I'm sitting at level 7 with 40 hours of play. Sounds like I have plenty more to look forward to!

I actually really wanted dual pistols in this game. I imagined being a gun slinging cipher. Now I dual wield stillettos, but one blast from my blunderbuss seems to give me more than enough focus for an entire fight.

I agree with this though my modding days are limited. Whenever I start installing mods into games, I spend more time shopping and installing mods than i do actually playing the game. I would like to see this available for PoE though.

Managing limited resources has always been part of the classic cRPG's. Some people enjoy this and others don't. People will vigorously defend their opinions either way. For me, I like having spells per rest and limited camping supplies. It makes me play smart and manage my resources appropriately.

Awesome! I was thinking of trying a ranger for my next play through. What are your thoughts on it?

I quite agree with this. The interactions between characters is fine for now. I do wish their personalities came to light when clicking on them. I do miss the "Mincs and Boo stand ready," or "Heya," or "C-c-c-click on someone your own size," or even my PC's "It shall be done in a trice." A simple few lines for each character would bring a lot of color to them. I wold also like to see different colored circles underneath each character that shows their minor/major colors.

My wishlist: More companions to choose from - I miss the 20+ companions you could recruit from BG More banter and companion interaction More lively cities More lively NPC's - I miss the shouting from inns in BG "I need a swig of some strong, dwarven ale" or "I wouldn't mind her porkchops in me lap" etc. Builds atmosphere Respawning enemies - just enough to keep the immersion going Single companion stealth instead of having the entire party go into stealth Better ranger class More unique weapons and armor - love the weps and armors that come with a little back story More areas to explore - the overall map seems small. I would love to see more areas to explore and perhaps have little stories and quests to complete Better stonghold - I think this was a great idea. I loved having a "stronghold" of some sort in BG2. Though this stronghold in PoE could use some fleshing out Those are the big ones on my list. I love PoE and I would like to see future works on making the setting more lively and full of character. It would make this a masterpiece imo.

Good to hear! I hope the game is long enough for me as well. I'm at about 35-38 hours in and I just started the side quests in Defiance Bay. It seems most people beat it around the 60 hour mark so I figured I may be close to the half way mark.

PoE is great.

Obsidian lions are equal opportunity lions. This made me giggle a little.

This is not the case because it's not a salient expectation to have in the first place. It's a bit like saying you've been playing football at the highest level for 15 years, surely you can kick the ball and hit that guy in the face from fifty metres away every single time. Game development is incredibly complex, and its practices and organisation has also historically been very chaotic. Every single game often has to reinvent the wheel in many different ways, including as you say the engine issue, and there is also extremely high turnover of your team members in the industry (Feargus' experience doesn't count for much when he doesn't work with the same guys each time necessarily), and so on. As for the rest, yes. POE has already made some major, conscious decisions in this first iteration about the kinds of things it wants to do differently and the kinds of things it wants to be its 'signature' - whether it be its classes, engagement, the souls setting, and so on. The key for POE2 will be to build on those signature things and make them much better. Some of them are arleady good and just need extra time; others are still a bit half-baked, but that was also the case with something like BG1. I'm fine with POE trying to be a bit different and build its own strengths and I hope they continue, and I hope they do a good job. No matter what they did someone was always going to complain that it's not like the IE games, or that the IE games were better. I think the most productive way forward for Obsidian is to treat POE as its own thing and to assess what it needs to do to improve itself, and worry less about IE at this point. I agree with this point. I've stated in previous posts that PoE's success will be based on how sufficiently they play on the strings of nostalgia and originality. In order to stay relevant and successful, PoE must be a game or series that plays like the IE classics but has a degree of uniqueness that will allow it to stand on its own identity. Personally, I'm hoping the developers are able to take what they've learned from making PoE (which is amazing in its own right) and build an even better experience for PoE 2.