awesomologist

I had checked earlier today but it wasn't up yet. Downloading now!

Yeah i figure the patch with come by the 1st. But it may be a while before the White March shows up.

So several months ago when I got PoE I got some great advice from players on making a character. I ended up giving up on the cipher simply due to the cheese factor of the class. It's not a bad class and I enjoy the "swordmage/arcane archer" archetype but it felt overpowered (I understand they've been nerfed now and have had their power level adjusted). After trying out the chanter and rogue I finally settled on the barbarian and had some fun. Made it the keep then got about 10 levels deep into the dungeon beneath the keep before I stopped playing and moved on to other games (re: my summer got busy). My biggest complain about PoE was how my party felt like it was slowing me down and combat became an endless slog of micromanagement. While it brings back fond memories of the old infinity engine games, I've become spoiled by the modern gaming advancements where I can set companion spells/powers and behavior and basically forget about them until boss battles came around. One of the purported changes in 2.0 is improved companion AI and I'm curious if it holds up. So does the new companion AI work? Or at least well enough for the casual player just playing on Normal? I'd like to play and not have to micromanage Aloth every 2 seconds because he either isn't fighting or being useful (or more importantly not dying every encounter because of the old trope that Wizards have to suck until endgame where they become overpowered). Tied into that question; I'm seeing a lot of complaints now on the interwebs about monsters ignoring engagement due to their improved AI. Is the companion AI smart enough to counter this? Or will I just end up micromanaging Eder (or any other tank) constantly?

So burried in their support page and not in the news is this tidbit from mac play: https://macplay.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/2104878-pillars-2-0-update-the-white-march Been two days since that post and no update yet. I know the App Store and Apple are very slow about this.

I sent the folks over at MacPlay a message almost 2 days ago now and haven't heard anything. Guess i should have bought the game on Steam.

Is there a place to just download the patch? The usual mac issues are just turning down your graphics setting a notch or two. Try going to the options before starting a new game.

So wait you can't even download it from GOG? I was curious if I should try the download and install since they have a 30-day MBG. Thanks for this info!

This fell off the first page and I'm hoping someone can fill us Mac users in at some point soon.

Hi So I bought PoE via the Apple App Store (I had an iTunes gift card so why not?) While it looks like 2.0 and the expansion are available on Steam and GoG, when will the App Store have an update? I'm fine waiting a few more days since I'm playing through Shadowrun: Hong Kong right now, but a time frame would be nice. If there's no concrete time frame (I know Apple is finicky about apps) can I purchase the expansion on GoG and have it still be compatible with my game?

I've done the temple again with a rebuilt Cipher going ranged and I had a much easier time. I also gave Eder a cloak that absorbs Freezing attacks which was also a godsend. I then went south and picked up Durance, so too late to shuffle that in. However my Ranged Rogue is a little squishier, so I may do that with her. Sadly Aloth falls into the trap of "Wizards suck until late in the game". I hope to gather more party members and drop Aloth as soon as I can. I also got a Chanter going and they're at Gilded Vale right now. That's actually a pretty fun class! Summoning 3 Skeletons midway through a fight is pretty fun. I think I'm going to get several characters to the Vale and do the temple, then choose the one I enjoy playing the most for a first complete play through. Thanks for the tips on Mechanics vs Stealth. So far I'm not finding stealth to be a viable way for me to play. It's nice to have, and maybe later when Stealth is at 10 it can be more viable to use a single character as a scout, but early on it doesn't feel necessary. However I'm finding Mechanics to be invaluable, so I may favor that for now. So far I haven't played a Fighter, Paladin, or Monk, but one thing I've noticed is that CON seems like a fairly useless stat. It's favored for the Chanter but my Chanter uses a bow, stands at mid range and barely gets touched. I wouldn't go negative with it (though I've seen some optimized builds that do so) it just doesn't seem that important.

Thanks for the insight. I did go ahead and roll up a Rogue and a second Cipher (Elf), this time built for ranged. Got them both to Gilded Vale, figured I'd run them each through the ruined temple there to see how they fare. So far both have fared better, most likely due to the fact that've become more familiar with the game, in the case of the Cipher, it's powers, and the few combat encounters so far. I figure that while it may take a few hours for each character to get through the early stuff, it's a nice way to get a feel for each class before deciding which one I want to see through to the end. So far by the looks of things I could make any class melee or ranged focused without totally making the too character awkward to play which is a nice surprise. For example, after exploring Aloth's spells a little it seems totally possible to play a "Swordmage" or "Arcane Archer" archetype by simply selecting the right spells (though I think the Cipher is better suited for that type of play). This may open up my options for finding a fun class to play in combat while still having interesting options in RP.

So I only just recently purchased Pillars of Eternity (playing on an iMac, purchased game from the App Store since I had an iTunes gift card. This info won't matter for advice, but just in case the mods and devs are curious). Anyways I'm about 5+ hours in playing a Dual-wielding Fire Godlike Cipher on Normal (I'll give more stats in a bit). While the class is fun and I LOVE the way it handles magic, I'm finding early on that I'm often having a hard time staying upright at times. Now i know enough to quicksave before each combat, but I would like to be able to have a bit more confidence when I go into battle. My ego won't let me drop down to Easy either. I grew up playing games like Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, etc so I feel like I should be able to handle everything on Normal difficulty. So while I like the Cipher class, perhaps I should be looking into playing a different class or reworking my build. So far I've reached Gilded Vale and have recruited Eder and Aloth. I then went ahead and cleared out the temple in the center of town at level 3. Man those teleporting Shades... Anyways I rested about 4 times in part due to my own squishiness and the fact that Aloth, which while his spells can hit hard, is about as tough as a wet napkin (part of the reason why I never roll a pure mage in games as my main character). I know I'm very likely playing him wrong; may just need to get used to how his spells work, when to actually have him engage combat, and when to just leave him in another room. Eder, as any fighter class in any game, was easy to figure out. Easy enough in fact that I'm starting to think that maybe I should be playing a ranged class instead of a melee one (or find a more durable melee class that isn't boring to play) So here are the stats for my Cipher: Class: 3rd level Cipher Race: Fire Godlike Background Old Vailia - Merchant Might 14, Con 10, Dex 14, Per 11, Int 17, Res 12 Stealth 4, Athletics 1, Lore 3, Mechanics 4, Survival 1 Abilities: Anitpathetic Field, Battle-Forged, Crucible of the Soul, Mind Blades, Mind Wave, Psychovampiric Shield, Soul Shock, and Soul Whip Talents: Draining Whip So I'm sure some of you will complain that I put points into "useless stats" but I'm trying to go for a decent RP experience. That said I notices that having Perception at 11 and Resolve at 12 doesn't open up any real dialogue options for me. I just didn't know that going in. I also don't like having negative stats, simply because I'm unsure of how they will affect game play. So far I've noticed that Con seems to be a wasted stat since the health/endurance provided per point are a pittance. Perception seems to be too low to matter as well, even if I was hoping to gain a little bit of Interrupt and Deflection. Seeing as how I'm finding this melee build to be a bit of a bust, I'm considering rerolling as a ranged Cipher. But before I go too far down that rabbit hole I figured I would look to the community for advice. What I would like to play is a class that is survivable (doesn't have to be durable, ranged could help here). I'd like to continue being stealthy and "mechanical". Looking at some of the classes online I see that Rogues are decent as ranged characters, Rangers are supposed to be but have a learning curve to them, and Ciphers are generally considered a very good class. Never really cared for Druids when it comes to RPG, while the Cleric and Barbarian classes don't really interest me (I could be persuaded if someone wants to point out a decent build/guide to them). Chanters seem interesting, but also seem like a heavy support class which doesn't really interest me in terms of my main character. Anyways I know this is a lot to read but any advice would be welcomed. Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any help provided!