Hebruixe

The problem is not with the game, it's with you. I beat the Alpine Dragon on PotD difficulty. It's totally doable, assuming your party is level 15-16 and has end-game gear equipped. Just because you're having trouble doesn't mean the developers have failed you. Learn to play.

I'm probably alone on this but I would love to see the sequel take place 1000+ years into the future, at a time when technology is as sophisticated as magic, and the fantasy setting is mixed with heavy sci fi elements.

The writing is a mixed bag, in my opinion. Some of it is needlessly elaborate and ponderous. Some of it is breathtakingly thoughtful. As a reader I often feel rewarded for "forgiving" the tedious parts, as there are a lot of gems buried in the mud. The lore is the real selling point for me. Regardless of the quality of the Pillar's prose, Eora is a fascinating world full of mystery and intrigue. I've invested almost 400 hours of my life exploring this world. It only get more and more interesting with each playthrough.

PoE isn't perfect but it's a rare gem of a game. I love it too -- I've logged almost 300 hours in playtime. Whatever they do with this franchise I will definitely follow with cash in hand.

I think they nerfed the escape chance but it still happened to me once during a playthrough this past November.

I strongly disagree with the OP.

I recommend PotD. Min-maxing isn't needed, nor are custom companions. Just strategy.

^This x1000 Nothing could hurt PoE worse, imho, than converting it to a WoW-like 3D environment. 3D is the reason RPGs gave up on storytelling and lore-building.

Also, shades have a nasty habit of cloning themselves. Try to keep track of the originals. The clones die instantly if the originals are slain.

Early game is by far the most difficult part of the game. It will become easier and more enjoyable as your characters level up and gain powerful abilities. I recommend that you do all of the Gilded Vale side quests before proceeding to Caed Nua. In Caed Nua: Use Durance to buff Eder with damage reduction and the tier 2 HoT (Consecrated Ground, i think it's called). Summon minions with Kana.. LoS the trash groups into a small cluster so that Aloth can nuke them down with his AoEs. If your guys are mind-controlled by the Will'o'the'wisps, you can use Durance's tier 2 "suppress affliction" spell to cancel it out and regain control of them. But even with perfect strategy, it's not easy. Keep your group fully rested and rest-buffed before each pull. GL!

This needs to happen.

The bugginess is becoming a frustration. I sure hope they're working to fix this game, because it's so fun to play when it's working properly.

You might have to start a new game. That's what I did, anyway. The opening quest for White March starts as soon as you finish the Temple of Woedica in Act 2.

My experience was that paladins really shine as off-tanks. They can buff the party with their auras, prevent imminent death with Lay on Hands, combat rez fallen allies, and they are tough enough to hold their own in melee combat (blocking enemies from reaching your squishies). I don't go anywhere without Pellegina and she's far from optimized. If you know how to use your paladin, you'll never question their place in your party.

Suppress Afflictions works beautifully. I never paid attention to it until now. It's the perfect counter to MC and stunlocking. Thank you very much for bringing this spell to my attention!!

Update: I discovered a useful paladin ability called Liberating Exhortation...haven't tested it yet, but it seems likely to break CC and provide immunity for the duration.

My Saint Ydwen's Redeemer (a 2-handed soulbound great sword, bound to a paladin) went from exceptional quality to superb when fully upgraded. It also received some very nice powers. I would not trade it for anything.

Suppress Affliction is just overpowered. It's not overpowered for a 2nd level spell, it's overpowered at any level whatsoever. If enemies used this spell, crowd control would be almost useless, except for durable AoE effects. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't use it, just making an observation You can use Prayer against X as well, or just keep them as far away from your party as possible, or you can hit them before they hit you. Generally, a mix of all of these and Suppress Affliction in a pinch, works best. I'll try that out! Thanks for the tips.

What level was your party when you attempted those boss battles?

I love Pillars. Combat is extremely fun. I live for those "oh sh!t" moments when an army of vicious snarling monsters descends on my party and I know that an epic battle is about to go down. But all this CC added in White March...sheesh. It's not very fun when most of my party is stunlocked and mind controlled. With no way to prevent it. Am I missing something? How do you guys keep the fampyrs from spamming MC? Or the phantoms/spirits from stunlocking everyone? Can I get some tactical advice? EDIT: Problem solved. Use the Level 2 Priest spell "Suppress Affliction." It cures MC/Stuns and confers immunity to them.

I'm just reporting a few bugs I've experienced with the respec system, in hopes of helping out. Retraining my main character fails to reset his skill points. So he'll start over at level 1 with 10 points in Lore (and then receive additional new skill points for each retrained level). This bug does not seem to happen when I retrain my companions. Retaining companions sometimes fails to reset talents. For example, when I retrained Sagani, it offered me the "Brutal Takedown" talent at level 2, presumably because "Takedown" had not been erased from her talent pool. Hope this helps! Despite the bugs, I love Pillars of Eternity and White March!

There's no question you'll be able to gather them all.

I think you're right. Most of the vanilla game will be a breeze at level 14. My personal solution is to use the preset companions up until level cap, then create a new custom party when I return to lower-level content. Since custom companions can be created at an level, they are a nice alternative to steam-rolling quests with a max level super party. But yeah. Not ideal.

They wanted to avoid mage chess? As in, magic duels? I thought everybody loved that part of IE combat. I could have sworn that Maerwald ran out of AoE spells when I battled him. But the stupid xaurips never quit paralyzing my party. I would be extremely happy if they placed a limit on enemy spells/special abilties, even if the limit was a bit high.

I personally feel that druids trump wizards in all regards. However Aloth performs quite well (despite his mediocre stats) and is a very viable member of the party.