chouia

As said, for difficulty, skipping Endless Path is probably a good idea. I started with Endless Path (I stopped depth 13, where you are blocked), and with all xp and equipment I felt that the game after that was not the same.

With imagination, I was afraid to sacrifice a part of myself just for a spear... (Even if there is no gameplay effet.) So I loaded. :D

Trial of Iron is hardcore. Definitely, "auto save points" is different from "permanent death". I don't want to have to start to play 20h again just because I did a mistake. On the other hand, it could be interesting to have to play 20 minutes (for example) without saving, so you still have some pressure, and you really want to explore carefully, to fight seriously, and to talk smartly. (I didn't impose myself saves limitation... so, of course, "hard" mode was not so hard...) Other option could be that you can only save when you are at inn, or when you arrive in a new map... but it could be flawed. Indeed, you could always backtrack to save, so it would be just annoying... unless ennemies come back with time, so backtracking (or sleeping) would be a failure. PS: AI, fight situations, and ennemies diversity are not perfet, for sure! (Even if I got a lot of fun.) But it's not a reason not to give importance at sleeping and time in-game. Both aspects can be improved! (As it was just said in SlayerDorian's previous post... and pretty well.)

Maybe the game was not designed to be rushed... but it was not designed neither to sleep before every fight! For me, there is a (little) problem. (But it was already there in BG.) Why do we have "per sleep" abilities, or tiredness, if we can sleep before each fight with no influence? It's like time is linked to gameplay just a little bit, for immersion only. Basecamp was a good idea to improve system. Endurance/Health is good too! But it's not enough? With infinite sleep, you nullify a part of the challenge. On the other hand, I agree that you cannot put a final deadline... If you are too slow, even if you had the time to explore, what happens? You just have the "bad ending" at the end? Or you have to start the game from the start? So, it could be interesting to put several independant deadlines during the game, for each part, so you can feel you can really take your time to explore everything for this part... but not too much. However, it could be complicated in a game like this... If you do no side quest during part 1, and all side quests during part 2, you could be short?... "One-shot" design indeed sounds really more interesting to me! Examples: - If you go in Raedric's Castle you cannot sleep, or only at some particular places. If you leave the castle too long, some new guards will come. (loot problems?) - If you don't kill every monsters in a room (or the boss), if you leave too long, other monsters come. - If you didn't finish totally a dungeon (killing boss, using switch, etc...), if you leave for too long, other ennemies will come. It should not be like this for every place, for sure... especially when it would be weird. But it seems to be interesting mechanisms for some place, to put challenge, and to force you not to sleep during a small part of the game. Notice that travelling is soooo long, that it's hard to really use time in game. For example, I directly went inside Deviance Bay with the good bridge. So, when I wanted to visit the map I missed, I needed something like 2 days to go, 2 days to come back... and when I had to protect my stronghold, it was so long that I didn't go ther. (I try to play with minimal sleep and travel, even if -unfortunately?- there is no interest on that.) Notice too that random encounters are not so great, even if I like it too. You meet strong bad guys, and you are wounded? You load. Is it really interesting? It could be, if you had to win several fights in a row... but it's not like this when you can save easily. During my playthrough, I thought that it would be great if you couldn't save, but with automatic saves (knowing more or less when will be the next). So, every fight and dialogue would be exciting like in PotD, but not crazy.) I would probably play normal with this dangerous mode, and not hard even if i like when there is more monsters...) However, I think it would be fificult to set good automatic save's emplacements in a game like this...

Yes, a lot of players found that he fortress was not useful at all. I didn't use it, and it could probably be really better. However, i liked to improve it, even if it found it worthless and... far. On the other hand, it gives you money... and it's a basecamp for Endless Path. (EP was fun, but I still think that a so big dungeon at the beginning can break the experience; I got too many experience and discovered nearly all ennemies before I started to explore...) Nobody's perfect. I did the same mistake... but I didn't find it annoying. I had to do a choice, I knew that it was risky too keep the tower, but I didn't want to break it without knowing what it was. I did the bad choice... it's the story! (For Dozens quest, yes, there is a problem! It was presented as an Adventurer's Hall, as you say, and everybody said to go there... could be patched, to be clearer! )

You would sell the saber? I used it during all the game with Eder... Yes, it's "just" an exceptional saber... but you have to be very high level if you want to make exceptional weapon. Furthermore, there is some limited ingredients (I think...) And fireball was not so bad. A tank is well positionned to launch firebal, and when he uses three quick fireball in a row, it can help to clean quickly. Anyway, it's better than simply hit, especially if there is a lot of ennemies. Glad I did the right choice at Maerwald. (There is a fireball necklace too in the secret room, with 7 fireballs I think. I found a second one, and never used it. But it could be fun... My main character was a wizzard, so... with Aloth, 2 necklaces and the sword, it's easily 15 fireballs launched in few time, pyrotechnics style... )

Good your party is better now! Personnally, I used one or two tank (especially Eder, not killable later with defensive upgrades, good armor and good shield), I gave big long-ranged weapons to others, and it was efficient to do damage. It's slow, but it does high damage. It looks like what you did, indeed. With Kana chants, and not too much armor, the reload time was pretty fast... And later, there is a chant to add 25% fire damage. Crafting weapons can be useful too. To help to "re-position" the formation, using the good weapon range is efficient too... like you did, again. (I liked arbalest for fragile companions, but it was before patching... And as already said, pistols or powerful wands can be efficient for second-line companions.)

So, nobody knows??? (And... there is a place with Adra and water, in the main screen, when you launch the game. Do you know where is it? Maybe it's not linked to Adra... but I was wondering if it's interesting information, and maybe a clue?)

Even if I love this game, and I don't agree totally with the OP... I think that every points here are interesting, and I can understand his point of view... I don't agree with you. (1) pont from OP post is "I don't like story line because I didn't read anyting in last 2 hours of game". Sorry but it is ridiculous. Personlly, for point 1), I understand somethnig else: "the story was too complicated and not interesting enough for him, so he didn't read at the end". It was not my feeling, obliously it isn't yours... be he can have his own opinion! I think that we won't analyze it here, but... rather than insinuate that his opion looks like a stupid troll, I would find more interesting to have answers. Why exactly did it find it too complicated and/or boring? Are there other players with the same point of view? Were gods' presentation and revelations good enough for most players? And... even for this first point, even if it's not my point of view, I can understand him: - You make your own character past, answering questions. It's interesting, but sometimes it was weird... With simple common answers, I felt that my character was not really interesting by itself, with poor motivations. My past were bland and blurred... and the situation during the game is unknown. - When you get flashbacks, it was weird too. You had to answer for a previous yourself, for a situation you don't know and don't understand. You had even to create your past with your answers... again, it was interesting, but more complicated, and less powerful for the story. - I read everything, and I liked it. But I couldn't say it was epic, or really exciting... it's a game of subtlety. (It' a quality too.) Furthermore, even if it looks complex, the main plot really stands in few words, so its is maybe artificially complicated. Yes, there is quests, but it's secondary, not depending on the main plot. (It's a quality too.) You just have to do some quests to unlock other quests, and to be able to cross some checkpoints. Usually you don't do quest because it seems obvious to it, you do it because you have nothing else to do... so I can understand that some players were not "in". - It was difficult for me to remember some god's names. ;-)

Never. It was really too boring to manage 2 or 3 spell books in the inventory, and to remember what you put into! Furthermore, it was too long to change book during battle. Clearly, speelbook for wizard was weak gameplay for me. Being able to cast each spell you know once per rest (with some gameplay adjusment maybe) would be more fun for example! At least, you would try to use every spell you know, you would have to vary, and it would be really more interesting to learn a lot of spell for a wizard.

I think too that ennemies prefer attacking characters with no armor. (Not sure.) And yes, ranged dps are more efficient with no armor... but it's more dangerous. (Not a good idea with "iron man" mode? ) If the armor is really good quality, and with special abilities, I think it worth it. (Anyway, I probably played most of the game with one tank, and others without armor. Then, I put heavy armor on an second one, to have an emergency tank. But at the end, I felt better with a "medium" armor on everybody.)

Even if I love this game, and I don't agree totally with the OP... I think that every points here are interesting, and I can understand his point of view...

Do you know why Dragon Age Inquisition works better than Pillars of Eternity? Because it's on consoles? Because there is more advertising? Or simply because "new players" prefers this kind? (Maybe I should try DAI... but when I look at videos, it seems so boring and unsexy to me...) Anyway, it's sure that 3D is not the most important? It's another kind of game, and we didn't talk about it in this thread... but I'm still hoping for a new Heroes of Might and Magic I really would like to play! There is so much to do, and they never go in the good direction. Sorry... I mean: the direction I would love. ;-) I would be happy to "kickstart" for an old-fashion, beautiful (HD 2D), revisited, serious and complex HOMM. I don't say that new ones are bad! And I guess that Heroes VII will not be bad. But... come on... I don't think a real fan of HOMM 2 & 3 could really be excited with Heroes VII trailer? (And it's not nice to say that, because I'm sure they worked a lot...)

At least, PER 19 and RES 19 are good if you like dialog options. Maybe too much. (As already written, high Int can be useful too for that, but not so much.)

I though that magic missiles was not bad in PoE. You can get a lot of it, it's long range, it's quick. It's nice to annoy and even kill quickly other spellcasters. (Especially if you got two wizards.) But, to be honest, the "problem" with "magic missiles" was more the powerful longe range weapons for me. It was very effective. If you are lazy, you don't really need spells (especially single target damage spells), except for very few fights. (I agree that the spell to creat a long range double of yourself is efficient too. :D) Furthermore, with the Damage Reduction system, big damages with big weapon are good idea...

I remember that my fighter was tired before others, and he got good athletic. He was the only one in front, dodging and tanking all ennemies. So I guess that when you get hit, you are tired more quickly. But I'm not sure, just a feeling. (Notice that he attacked -and ran- more too, because he was using a long sword, and others were using very slow arbalests.)

1) I have to admit that... I hate to sleep. (It was the same in BG.) I know that you lose nothing in the game when you use 8 hours... but I feel bad when I rest "too much", it's like breaking game mechanics. It's weird that the only thing you have to invest to replenish your health is "in-game" time... when in-game time worth nothing. Ok, there is campfires now... but you can always easily backtrack to an inn (there is very few exceptions). I think that tiredness and "per rest" abilities (and health now) are good tribute to Baldur's Gate, are maybe important for "role players", but are not really interesting gameplay features! At least, if the game annoys you with resting, it could be more important. (For example, timing could be important to resolve some quests, could impact the result of some situations, could lead to ennemies come back so you can not sleep 10 times during dungeon exploration, etc...) But, of course, you're right! If you take the game as it is, this exploit is not interesting at all. Except maybe if you try to do an "in-game time" speedrun... Small spoil (I would prefer to know that before I finish the game) : 2) I think that when you unlock a lock with mechanics, it's something like "lock level x 30 xp". It's not so much, for sure, because there is not so many keys... But why not taking this experience if you could? I'm still thinking that finding a key to open a door should give you more experience that unlock it.

I got the same problem. It's boring to have to wait at EVERY map's change when you have good SSD and good RAM... I think it's not the same problem, but... I got a lot of saves, and the worst was when I launched the game. I had to wait REALLY long time before I could "continue" or "load" a game. However, I made back up of save files in another directory, and then it was ok. I noticed too that when you start a new game, you can save instantly. At the end, it's... longer.

10 - I ididn't use it, but to replenish health (and tiredness), I think you can just remove and take back a character from your party. PS: Indeed, you can only do that in some specific places, likes inns for example... PS2: Unfortunately, it will remove the character's statistics. It's sad this game is not able to memorize statistics for a character if you remove it from your party... PS3: With a good strong long range weapon equipped, none character could be worthless... PS4: A companion with high mechanics is very useful. If you have that, don't take keys, or you'll miss opportunity to make some experience. It's silly, opening doors with keys should give you the same amount of experience... or even more!

So, you're not totally in love?... It's the same for me. I like to fight in this game, and I was not really bored. But I must admit figths in this game lacks variety. It's an IA problem... but not only. Ennemy, battlefields and situations could be more different! It's possible to find plenty of ideas to improve and vary fights. However, I know it's touchy sometimes... a good specialized party, good for for the game, could have big trouble if some fights were more specific? Sure, there was also some trouble with ennemy's groups too. There are not united enough, and there are not motivated enough. Groups should attack you together, and follow you... or it's too easy to cheat them. Notice that I found that it would be more interesting to show us directly "percentage" to hit, and potential damages, when you chose an character and point an ennemy. Whithout that, it was disorganized... There is a lot attributes and numbers. Even if I love numbers, I cannot calculate everything. (Yes, bestiary needs to be completed for this... Anyway, I thnik that clear fights is more important that surprise effect.) Personnally, even if I kept people alive when I thought it could be interesting later, I fought a lot in the game! But it was not always my fault... I found that people were really agressive. Even a poor angry man could chose to fight with me, even when he is alone, we are 6, we got shiny armors, and we have high reputation. Notice that I started with Endless Pathes. (In Hard.) So, the beginning was really though... and then, there was not really challenge anymore. My figther was not killable, and the 5 other characters with arbalest (roughly) were kiled very quickly. Nevertheless, I liked the game!

The talent "deep pocket" gives 2 additional quick item slots. Like other general talents, you can pick it every even level. Of course, I never took it, so I never tried it... (Could have been better if the number of slots was improved with specific equipment?)

With Grieving Mother, it should be easier. I didn't have it in my party... First I though the girld could be saved, so I let here go. I hesitated to kill here, but I got hope, and she didn't deserve to die. I got pity for skaen "slaves", but the way they use was so trash that I killed them all. I though to tell the truth to save the girl, even if I didn't like the uncle... Maybe the uncle didn't deserve to die, but he was so selfish and unscrupulous he didn't deserve to live... And I didn't know the worst for the girl: to be accused of murder, or to be treated at Sanitorium? So I didn't tell anything, and I took all the money the uncle could give me: he would not need it anymore. Furthermore, everyone seemed to be happy with my choice, and I got good reputation. I hope it was not too hard for the girl, after the murder. I hoped I could help her later, saying at her trial it was not her fault... Hard choice, indeed.

The description of the mage's petrify spell describes damage x4. And it's a lot! I had a really bad start with the blue dragon, I discovered I had this spell, then I won this fight very easily. For Adra Dragon, I tried in hard with game's companions level 9-10. I died a lot. Then I win with no cheesy tactics, after a relatively long fight, with minions, not using traps, several resurrections, not using too much potions... I don't know how I did it... maybe luck? (Maybe bug too... I discovered later that Hiravias got really high INT, i don't know why. I don't know if it was already like this during the fight, and I remember I used storm spell to strike. I had to remove him from the party, I found no other way to solve that.) Anyway, this dragon is really strong. It should be terrifying to fight with him in Iron mode! :D

If the OP played the game a couple of times, and if people like to talk about the game, it means the game is not so bad! Great. * I agree that there is no real terrible choices or endings. But it's credible. The game try to follow a more or less realistic path. Everything is more or less grey, everything can be a little bit different, but life continues. * I agree that factions are not "incredible", and some points of the story could seem a little bit weak. But everything was still pretty nice, and it was never boring. I was afraid to play this kind of game again. Finally, I read everything, I was never bored, and I wanted to continue playing. * I agree that choices doesn't make "big" or "really different" results. But there is always some little differences you can enjoy, for every quest, for every dialogue. I guess it's already a lot of work! (I'ts nice, isn't it? Even when the only difference depending on your reputation is a dialogue line.) Furthermore, when there is not a lot of difference, you can really chose to play the way you want it, not being influenced too much by the reward. And you are never too much frustrated with bad choices you made. Of course, it may be less immersive, less "powerfull", but it's pleasant to play too. (And it requires less work for the team...) Anyway, a lot of choices in the game are not easy to do, it's really a good point of the game. I couldn't say it's the perfect game, of course. The game is probably not "universal", and it's not my most memorable gaming experience. But it's still very good. About endings cards for example... it could have been more... it was nice... However, it's still a cheap way to resolve some quest? I got the feeling that big choices you made in game got impact only at the end, and never during the game. It's not really a problem, and I understand they cannot put every result in game, but it's a good example of the game's mechanics I think. Every choice/action get influence, but it's never "big". It's more easy to appreciate the game when you appreciate subtlety. And yes, the game is gentle, the quest/reputation/choice system is not hardcore: * You can experience pretty much everything with only one playthrough, nothing really closes doors. (Except maybe killing everyone, I didn't try it. And the dozen quests, of course... I accepted a dozen's quest just for some adventure, and it closed directly other factions last quests...) * When you start a new quest, you know it's never a bad thing. Even if you are talking to "bad" people. * Usually you can decide to chose "later". * When you cannot find a "good" solution, usually you don't lose too much. * ...

"Resolve" can lead to be firm in your resolution, more than finding solutions, or being charismatic. In my language, they use directly "determination". So, it shows your will... rather than your influence. Anyway, it's not charisma, for sure. But it's not always rude. For me, it was usually somethnig like "Do what I say". It's not used a lot, but it's used. If you have a bad "build" for fight, it's never a problem: you can manage. You can use companions to help you (even if they have bad builds too...) And there is no "real" bad build with the game system. But If you don't have the mandatory attributes for dialogues, you can totally miss some opportunities! Even if it's only two or three times in the game. Ok, it's RPG... but it's a game, and I like to be able to chose the way I prefer. So, I would totally create a main character dialogue-oriented, even if it's not really useful. (If I would like perfect fighters, I would create companions at inn... but still, companions you meet in game are more fun...)