Barachiel

I like the stats on paper, but from an RP perspective, it's all a very flimsy excuse to either subvert expectations or try to avoid dump stats (or both). Now having said that, I usually prefer the array of midling stats. The only game I've ever power-gamed on is the Infinity Engine series, and that's just because 2nd Ed D&D was so damn stingy with stat bonuses, I felt compelled to have the best stats possible starting out with any character. *nods* I like the classes and I'm figuring things out. I wish the game did have multiclassing because it seems like, given what happens, starting out one class, then gaining Cipher just seems like a natural story point. But that's what POE2 is for, I guess (assuming I don't stick to your advice and just stay single classed.) I did notice the "Aspiring" feats (abilities, whatever) that give you a taste of another class' core mechanic. I've got a low level fighter and a low level cipher. My fighter is nearly untouchable. Hits often, is hard to hit, can take a hit easily and recovers quickly. My cipher has a couple cool powers but has at best a 50% hit rate, mediocre damage, and if i stick him in armor, his casting slows down to a crawl, but if i don't, he dies in two hits. I know at some point the Linear Warrior, Quadratic Wizard effect will kick in and the Fighter will taper off in power while the Cipher becomes as unto a God, but I'm not sure how long that'll take and if i can take the frustration of getting there, given I'm an amateur with the system. But my inner roleplayer LOVES the concept of a Cipher!

Huh. I've not done a lot with flanking in the early game. At least not in deliberately moving the team as individuals around. Everyone swears Normal mode is too easy and you can just let the AI do the work, so I that's typically what I've done, barring micro-managing spell/power usage. The more I look into this system, the more I think that "Min-Maxing" stats is a trap. Many of the stats seem deliberately designed to trip up the old D&D Powergamers (MIG affected spell damage; PER (which is also the WIS equivalent) being used for accuracy) by merging different stat needs on a whim (seriously MIG being a measure of physical AND spiritual strength? that's... there are countless examples of a person having a great deal of one and not another; same with PER I'm pretty good at reading people and finding things, but I've a vision impairment that makes hitting things at long range near impossible) for no other reason than to prevent "dump stats." With that in mind, with so much weight given to EVERY stat, and how Buffs in the mid-to-late game render a lot of this largely irrelevant, I'm beginning to think this system is designed around a spread of slightly above average to decent stats (15 15 14 13 10 10 for example) rather than the usual min-maxer paradise of a couple super high with the rest being average or dumped. I mean look at it like this: as a Melee Cipher, I feel like I need at above average levels: MIG for physical and spell damage, DEX for attack speed, PER for decent Accuracy, and INT for spell duration and improved AOE. RES comes recommended in general to keep my defenses up (and is tied with PER as the main RP dialogue choice stat, I've noticed; so that's a good stat for the PC to have in general). CON is the only one that isn't strictly mandated, but as a melee fighter, it can't be shortchanged either, because I need Endurance to not die. Every class faces this to some degree. Despite the "Star" system highlighting only 3 stats, the classes I've looked at (Fighter, Cipher, Paladin) all need 4 good stats at the very least, and nerfing any of the other two would be a serious detriment. God I hate point-buy systems, and miss the days of hammering "Re-Roll" in BG. *laughs*

Interesting! I have another question that's been on my mind, since reading up on mechanics. Cipher gain Focus by damaging enemies. Every melee cipher build I see talks about high Might to do more damage. But I've tried that, and I've noticed that due to average Accuracy and only a 10 PER, that my Cipher misses as much as he hits, at least in Act I. Wouldn't the way to gain focus faster be to hit more often and worry less about the damage per hit, by having a high PER?

What would you recommend in the place of "Bloody Slaughter" then?

I've narrowed my options down to a "Lady of Pain" 0-recovery build, which would require starting over (it's been nearly a year, so that doesn't bother me too much), or rebuilding my current Cipher. I've found this build for a Melee Cipher. It's over a year old, and I'm uncertain if it's still viable. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1293352068

First off, I'm starting on Normal Difficulty (i can beat the old Infinity Engine games with SCS installed without using cheesy meta-gaming tactics), but Dear Sweet Lord Fluffy, this game has mechanics that make my brain melt. Nothing works like I expect it to, and quite frankly, the system seems a little over-engineered, but I digress. I've started the game twice, but keep giving up somewhere early in Act II as combat becomes a slog. Oh, I'm winning. But I can tell I'm taking WAY too long, and for really hard fights, I have to use cheesy tactics and exploit the AI, something I don't like doing, as a rule. I'm also looking to move from POE1 to POE2 after I'm done. So at the moment, I'm torn between three classes: Fighter, Paladin, and Cipher. I've tried the last two in my aborted playthroughs, but haven't touched Fighter. What I'm looking for: Melee DPS, with maybe some mild off-tanking. Kinda prefer Two-handed, but Dual Wield is not off the table. Heavy Armor (Medium will do in a pinch if it wrecks resource management) RP Build (ie I want stats that'll let me pass some of the checks); no min-maxing needed as I'm not going POTD or Solo. I've browsed the forum and run some searches, and I've found a few interesting builds. The Fighter "Lady of Pain" variations look interesting. But everything seems designed around POTD and/or Solo so I dont' know what I can safely "tone down" for a less challenging playthrough. On a side note, I'm looking to the future, too. It seems like Cipher (Soulblade) and either Paladin or Fighter make a good Multiclass Combo in POE2. Does it matter which class I take through POE1 (and thus is the "main" class)?

I'm having the exact same issue as the OP. Figured I'd not bother starting a duplicate thread. In fact, my last achievement was from 2016. I started over this month, and just realized I'd completed "Watcher with Eight Friends", but did not get the Achievement for it. I've not used the console, so I'm not sure what the issue is. I found a thread for "removing" the flag for disabling achievements with a hex editor, followed its instructions, and sure enough, the flag is already set properly. *headscratch*

Pretty much what the title says. I've had Pillars of Eternity pretty much since launch, but I never got around to playing it (along with 100+ other Steam games). Well, I finally find myself in the mood, and am feeling a trifle overwhelmed. I've done a fair amount of reading on here already, but everything I find seems tuned for PotD and a complete custom party. As a first timer, that's not what I'm looking to do here. Bit of background, I'm an old hand at the Infinity Engine series, though hardly a master of it. I've started a game, trying for a melee Cipher build, and he just dies. A *lot.* Even if I move him to the back of the party, enemies beeline him over even Aloth and Durance, down him, then proceed to the rest of the party. Because of this, I'm strongly considering starting over with a Tank character. Here are how I'm setting up my game and what I'm looking for. * Normal Difficulty * Original NPC Companions (Eder, Aloth, Kana, etc) * Prefererred PC classes: Paladin, Cipher, Fighter, or Rogue. I'm not just looking for a single build, but tips on how to develop the NPCs properly. This game is very different than the 2nd Ed ruleset I was used to for these types of games, and I'm having to "unlearn" a lot of stuff.

Middle Mouse Button is good to know, but the Cage Mouse function is NOT working for Dual Screen monitors either.

You and every other higher tier Steam customer. Welcome to the party. *sighs* I should have bought it from GOG. No Steam-DRM and none of this BS.

What about those of us who didn't back it? I only pre-ordered, via Green Man Gaming for Steam, and while Steam *claims* I have installed all the bonus content DLC, nothing is there except the in-game items. I've restarted Steam several times, and done everything but uninstall the game itself. is there a way I can register my Royal Edition steam key on the Portal so I can DL the content from there? Hell, if there's a Royal level backer with all the stuff, would you be willing to share? I'll forward you a copy of my GMG receipt so you can verity my purchase.

Same here. I've restarted Steam twice, started a new game, restarted gain. Still nothing downloading, and nothing in the game folders beyond the manual. Royal Edition purchaser here.

Heheh, good point. *shups*

As a long-time fan of VtM: Bloodlines, I have to agree, Alpha Protocol is *nowhere* near as buggy as that game. The fan community is *still* releasing unofficial patches for it, I think! *shakes head* Now that being said, I've long felt Obsidian seemed to be working hard to take Troika's place as the "Development House Most In Need of a Good QA Department", but no, AP is *not* as bad as Bloodlines, *ESPECIALLY* not at release.