bobthe
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Posts posted by bobthe
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I reached level 12 just after reaching
Twin Elms
I was level 11 when I first arrived, but before doing anything there I went back and did a couple bounties. That leveled me to 12. I still had all of (see above) plus two other completely unexplored areas to do and I was already max level. I am not a completionish either. While I do complete most of the side-quests, there are quite a few (a dozen or so) that I have not completed.
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Everybody says it's Mechanics, but... I dunno. It says Edér spots most of my hidden objects. My rogue has super-high mechanics and spots traps really far away, but she rarely gets the hidden objects.
AFAIK, it will always say the party leader detects the stashes for some reason.
This is definately not the case all the time (if at all) I have had numerous situations where I scouted ahead or covered a room after a battle and it is the scout that gets the credit (of course if the scout is the leader...)
I tested this briefly in the BB as well and there were times the BB rogue could find things and other characters (main PC or adventurers) with less mechanics skill could not - altho I did not really check to see if the BB rogue also had more perception.
It logs the detection as whoever you have selected at the time, even if they are not the one detecting the secret thing. This defaults to your main character if you have him/her selected along with others. If you have multiple characters selected but not the main, I'm not sure who it defaults to.
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I play with them on and I really appreciate the ability to do that. Without this information I would not assume there are dialogue paths that I did not have the ability to try and thus would have less interest in replaying the game with different attributes and reputations. Beyond that, I often don't even have time to play through a game more than once these days, so I appreciate being able to see if there is an option I can increase a stat for temporarily to be able to try.
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I think you have issues to address if you become "offended" and not say 'disappointed' if no one made an intentional atteampt to wrong or mislead you.
Stop right there. I DO consider releasing a product without sufficient testing an intentional attempt to "wrong or mislead" me.
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It should mention bonus damage in the description, just without any specifics as to how much. You might check again? Perhaps it's been changed if that isn't in there anymore - but it was last night when I checked.
Ah, must be another one of those abilities where they forgot to flesh out the details. It took me a really long time to realize that some spells have details you need to know in the "flavor" text at the top. The effect description is NOT complete for a lot of stuff. I really wish they had done a sanity check on this stuff. For example there are a couple spells that say they deal 1000+ damage but don't qualify in the effect description that it only applies to enemies with low endurance, and even where it mentions this in the flavor text it still doesn't DEFINE "low endurance". These kinds of mistakes are frustrating when trying to learn the strategy of a game. Honestly I haven't even tried either of those two spells referenced because I have just assumed that there is more wrong with their descriptions that I haven't caught yet.
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I agree that Durance is annoying as hell. He also seems to have some contradictory stances on things and I generally get the feeling that he's a bit insane.
I also absolutely hated Aloth initially. When I first encountered him it was very late and I was just about to go to bed. During that initial encounter I really just didn't realize that he might be
possessed
so I assumed he was just a huge di.ck (really? they censor **** this but not "hell"??) who liked to make trouble and then lie about it. I honestly alomost reloaded to right before I got him since I had just saved to skip getting him completely. Now that I know more about his backstory he's grown from "detested" to "i really just don't care but he's useful in my party".
Eder is more boring than a wood post but he gets the job done in combat. I call him "unflavorful generic fighter man".
Honeslty I didn't really care for any of the companions personalities or backstories. The wailing MILF wasn't bad. Chanter-dude grew on me but I didn't have much of a chance to get to know him because I dropped him for another companion (combat just wasn't lasting long enough to warrant a chanter).
I also wish there were more options for companions. I don't care so much about their backstories and sidequests (generally speaking not specific to these characters), so the fact that I don't like some of the companions doesn't bother me much. But it would have been nice if there were, for example, at least two different wizards with different builds and spellbooks. Same for the other classes. It would have been nice to have some more options for pre-built NPC builds across the classes. The ability to make your own is a very nice touch too but that effectively removes a lot of the immersion in the game world.
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There will always be minor and major bugs on release. It is inevitable, since as many ppl posted, bugs and problems with PC games vary wildley from one machine to the next. Some bugs are consistent on all systems, while others are unique to some components. Not to mention that BETA TESTING does not involve 100.000 ppl but rather, a fraction of that number, so accounting for every instability during a beta test is impossible.
As for "good old times" when games "were released when they were done and not a moment too soon", I am confused... Was that before or after computers were invented?
Because no matter how much I love some old games, they were as bugy as most games of today... (ok slightly less bugy). Anyone who played Fallout 1/2 knows how painfully bugy both games were... Baldur's Gate series? A ton of bugs, some of which were never actually fixed unless you downloaded all official updates, then the unofficial comunity patch and finally a specific mod... Gothic 1? Buged as hell, Gothic 2, even worse, Gothic 3, a disaster at release day. Sacred 1? The game infamous for it's "wasser" console cheat, needed to progress the main quest. VTM: Bloodlines? Where you had to use a teleport cheat code to progress the story, and most skills were broken. Starcraft 1? Where ppl demonstrated new bugs during official tournaments?
Were those games bad? Hell no!!! I loved every second of them and I still play them from time to time when I get nostalgic. The only difference was the gaming comunity was much smaller back then, not to mention a lot more civilized... Most ppl back then were content to play their games and occasionally post on forums if they encounterd some rather gamebreaking bug to ask for a workaround untill the patch comes out. Today I find ppl on forums posting questions such as "where can I check my skills" because they didn't even bother to look for them in game. Posts about bugs where ppl scream "why no one mentioned this" even if a post about the issue is staring them in the face, but they didn't bother reading through it because it was 2 pages long?
Bottom line is: STOP WHINING! If you can't wait for 24h for a patch to come out do something more productive with your time than flame all accross the forums about "being dissapointed, offended and emotionally hurt". IF YOU LIKE THE GAME play it anyway and help devs pinpoint and solve all the issues. And if you feel like "I didn't pay to be a beta tester" GO DO SMETHING ELSE UNTIL THE PATCH IS OUT!!!
Ok rant over, back to playing...
Just because you're ok with insufficient testing on a product doesn't mean everyone else is. Also, your examples of old games show how young you are. Those examples are definitely not from the days before games were released with major bugs. You need to go back to the days of the original Nintendo and other early consoles. Sure, many had minor bugs, some had major bugs, but the rate of bugs (especially major bugs) was much lower. Without the ability to issue a patch they had to be sure their game worked on release. These days it's not developers that are lazy, it's the management pushing to meet deadlines to make a few extra bucks and assuming they can fix anything with patches later. It's an insulting practice to be honest.
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My point is that, given what I know about certain NPCs and factions and their goals and motivations, some responses/reactions to certain actions/positions were very surprising and contradictory to how they have been portrayed in the game. I'm not talking completely generically.
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So I've been looking at One Stands Alone... you get the bonus if engaged by 2 or more enemies, not 3. And it gives you plus TWENTY damage when engaged by 2 enemies. 20. Two-zero.
Umm... is this a bug? This seems like a bug. No way can it be that good.
Is this new? As of last night the description for this ability in my game did NOT say anything about bonus damage, only that you cannot be flanked unless there are 3 or more enemies. Where is the bonus damage from? Is it just missing from the in-game description for this ability?
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I think you and I are just very different audiences. I'm not sure who those other characters you referenced are but I am assuming they're from the BG series, which I found terribly boring and never even managed to get all the way through either game. I'm not sure why people keep comparing PoE to BG...it's much more reminiscent of Torment to me (which was a wonderful game).
Yes, the banter picks up more than the wolf petting line. I believe that was actually the very first banter line I remembered hearing. It picks up after that. But if you don't care about the characters then you probably also wouldn't care about the banter. There's no "benefit" from it aside from finding it amusing (which I do) and adding some minor character development. The nature of the random banter is primarily just for amusement though.
The companions do make comments during dialogue with non-companion NPCs and they do depend on reputation (I believe). What they say during other NPC interactions is more meaningful than the banter but I admit it does not seem to have any real effect on the game.
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But it's a possible outcome. I just thought it would be courteous to hide end-game content behind a spoiler tag if the topic isn't clearly end-game related.
While this is a spoiler-friendly sub-forum, most of the users coming here are probably not looking to find out endgame content, and seeing a thread titled "Durance", who you get fairly early on in the game, and then the first thing in that thread is endgame content is a bit disconcerting.
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So if you are going to build a class to use a two hander....
I have a 'fine Estoc' now. I may enchant it up some.
Would you put in in a fine BP or light armor?
Generally speaking, probably medium armor, but armor choice depends a bit more on your party composition. If your 2H char is taking too much damage, use heavier armor. If they aren't taking much, switch to lighter armor for the increased attack speed. See what works best for your party and playstyle. I use medium armor for my barbarian because Eder is my front-line tank but my barbie is the only other melee-er in my party, so he does get attacked a decent amount.
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The spoiler tags are not meant for the non-spoiler forums so what would you propose their use is then? I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect people to put spoiler tags around end-game content details when the topic is as vague as the name of a character. If the topic was "Durance end-game discussion" then I wouldn't have asked for the spoiler tag because the topic title would have warned me.
Just because it's a spoiler-ok forum does not mean everyone reading this forum wants to see everything spoiled automatically. Have some care for more sensitive topics. That is exactly what the spoiler tag is for.
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Ack! Even in the spoiler-ok forums you should still put a spoiler alert around anything end-gamey!
It's under "Special BBC Code" - "Spoiler" in the post options at the top of a new post.
Like this!
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Not really because you can rise up with second wind.yeah, gotta say, vengeful defeat would be pretty useless in solo...
Second Wind doesn't give back very much endurance. In my experience it wasn't very useful but I also have a high Con and lots of Endurance. If you're taking enough damage to go down, the few endurance second wind gives back won't last long. However, if you are using Vengeful Defeat, then Second Wind becomes much more useful. It's also more useful on the squishier classes than on high-endurance classes since the endurance it gives back appears to be fixed.
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Well in some builds Vengeful Defeat is even less useful, as I have pointed out in my case, so what exactly is your point? Most things are situational. To simply rule out one option becuase it doesn't match your playstyle is naive. What if the op wants to solo? Or simply not use certain classes? Or maybe he wants a more casual playthrough where microing your barbarian's deaths and resting isn't something he has to worry about?
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We are not talking 'for you' we are talking about op that wants to have dps focused barb and my picks just plain suit his desire. Again i insist on shouts being useless. Ciphers cast it almost for free huge aoe frighten spell. At start you activate frenzy not your stupid shout lol. We deal damage remember?
And I agree that your picks suit his desire. All I am saying is that it's not the only build and that my recommendation does not require one of your suggested abilities. I am trying to provide OTHER suggestions to the op. You seem unable to accept that both our suggestions are viable for some reason.
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Barbarian for the reasons mentioned above, although personally I prefer a 2H reach weapon like the pike for my barbie. The added reach puts more enemies in ranch of Carnage which means more damage output.
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The AOE on yell and shout is very big. You should be able to get it off before the enemies are close enough for melee while still affecting all the ones nearest to you. I also like to grab the +4 Int inn bonus. Why use yell and shout when you have casters with similar abilities? Becase it's more abilities you can use before resting. As I mentioned before, resting frequency is something to consider. Plus I've been assuming they stack but I could be wrong on that. Even if they don't stack it's still more stuff you can use before resting.
As for vengeful defeat surely there are some fights you get wiped out or at least your barb goes down due to a mistake especially on Hard and PotD, let's not lie to each other just to prove a point.
Actually that happens very rarely for me, even on hard, and even less so past the level where Vengeful Defeat becomes available. Yes, it does happen occasionally but I have not actually lost any fights since around that point in the game even when my barbarian goes down. I've revived her exactly once in such a circumstance. Therefor the added damage from Vengeful Defeat would barely even be noticable. Therefor^2 that means that an ability like yell or shout, even if not used every combat, is still more useful than Vengeful Defeat unless you're "spamming barbarian deaths" at the enemy intentionally.
Again, I'm not saying it isn't effective or fun, just that it's definitely not an obvious "must have" grab for any barbie build.
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I mostly agree with the other responders with two exceptions:
1) Don't bother with vengeful defeat. If your strategy involves dying a lot that is a problem. Even with Second Chance you get so little endurance back you just go down again in no time. Better to just keep your barbarian up and swinging with Durance heals or some such.
2) Putting a few points into Dex helps with DPS due to attack speed. This can help mitigate medium armor penalties. I gave my barbie a 14 Dex (and 20 Str with racial)
The thing is there's no other good ability on that level. Barbaric shouts are crazy bad. Plus you can trigger vengeful defeat twice with a 'second wind' item and thrice with a ressurection spell and it deals huge bonus damage on everyone around you with carnage too AND you get the blooded active since you're low hp. It'll destroy things
I'm not so much saying that I think Vengeful Defeat isn't effective at dealing damage as much as I'm saying you just don't need it. My barbarian hardly ever goes down. If I had taken this ability it would not have triggered even once yet. Sure, you could plan to use it and put your barbarian in situations where they may go down faster, but then you're just wasting health and forcing yourself to rest sooner. It's just unnecessary and long term, with resting in mind, i think it's more effective to prevent going down than to rely on it as part of your strategy. But it could be a fun strategy, I won't deny that.
Also, Barbaric Shout and Yell are not amazing by any means but they aren't "crazy bad". The shout includes a -20 to accuracy. That is quite effective at reducing incoming damage. The yell is a bit less useful at only -10 accuracy but it's per encounter instead of per rest so you can use it more often.
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I mostly agree with the other responders with two exceptions:
1) Don't bother with vengeful defeat. If your strategy involves dying a lot that is a problem. Even with Second Chance you get so little endurance back you just go down again in no time. Better to just keep your barbarian up and swinging with Durance heals or some such.
2) Putting a few points into Dex helps with DPS due to attack speed. This can help mitigate medium armor penalties. I gave my barbie a 14 Dex (and 20 Str with racial)
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You've only given the community a few hours to respond. Don't rush to conclusions.
What you get out of the companions depends on what you want to get out of them. It sounds like you're concern is not about how well they are designed from a combat perspective (not well in general) but more about their side quests and inter-party banter. I can definitely say that the banter picks up mid game onwards. I'm not sure where exactly you stopped because there is no map that includes half of a city. Defiance Bay is 5 maps and the rest (until the end) are all single-map towns. My friend and I had a similar concern about a lack of inter-party banter but we both agreed it does pick up substantially a bit into the game. One important note: you only hear banter when your characters are on-screen. It took me a while to realize that by watching their overland movement on the region map popup view or by leaving my view centered on where they are going and not tracking their movement with the camera I was missing out on a LOT of banter.
As for side quests, I don't know what to tell you. They have side quests...but you know that. You didn't really provide much info on why you don't care about them so it's hard for me to justify them for you. What do you consider "exceptional"? They're somewhat interesting. Certainly more interesting than the non-story for a user-generated companion. Plus you get some XP for them and they can take you to areas you might not otherwise go.
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Yeah, it works. This thread is for those who don't want to cheese it.
Osrya, found in Raedric's Hold Dungeon
Lvl 1: Minoletta's Minor Missiles, Jolting Touch, Fleet Feet
Lvl 2: Concelhaut's Corrosive Siphon, Binding Web
Lvl 3: Fireball, Crackling Bolt
I would not consider that strategy cheese at all. You're effectively paying for those spells by hiring a wizard to let you copy his spells. The cost even scales if you want higher level spells since the cost of hiring a higher level adventurer scales. In fact, if you consider this a cheesy way to get spells, I can't imagine what you consider actually USING said custom-built wizard companion in your party to be. That must be epic level cheese to be sure.
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I agree with the other votes that Barbaric Yell is not that great. I took it late game when pickings were few over the shout because the yell is per encounter and the shout is per rest, but honestly I don't use the yell every encounter anyway.
I went with a max Str (20 base with race) and a moderate Dex (for attack speed) and Con. I use medium armor (no armor is just TOO low DR) and the high HP and endurance is extremely helpful. It also helps with blooded, giving you a larger range to fight with the bonus.
I actually didn't bother with any of the weapon focus traits that give +6 accuracy. I use only 2H weapons but I switch a lot depending on what I find. I have not worried about losing out on that +6 accuracy potential. Although in hindsight, if I play a barbarian again I will take the one that gives a bonus with Pikes and use those exclusively. I found that the proc rate on Carnage is much higher with a reach weapon. Not in terms of hits vs misses or grazes but just in terms of how often and how many enemies are in range of Carnage.
Cead nuan tip
in Pillars of Eternity: Stories (Spoiler Warning!)
Posted
Am I interpretting correctly that you started tiral by iron mode without having played through once yet?