Fardragon

Thematically, one might imagine an Ice godlike associated Rymrgand, and a Sun godlike associated with Eothas. Even if we accept the idea that godlikes are connected to the gods in some way, there doesn't need to be a one to one match up. For example, a fire godlike could be associated with Magran OR Abyddon. Given what we know about the PoE gods, as created beings they must be subject to entropy (which existed long before Rymrgand became the god associated with it). Ergo, over time, little bits of their essence break away and are returned to the wheel to be reborn as a part of the soul of a kith. Hence a godlike is born. Animancy has established that animal souls don't (normally) share the same "pool" as kith souls. One might hypothesize that Wilder, Primordials, etc also have separate pools. Since the gods where specifically made from kith souls, I would hypothesize that there are no non-kith godlike.

I believe they have a shadowstep kind of ability. But players also get access to Charge and Leap abilities that can take them instantly across the battlefield.

I felt that a major theme of Pillars of Eternity was to never trust anything we are told.

If you bring Pallegina to Hylea she practically confirms it herself. Gods lie.

The thing is, given all the untruths and half-truths about the gods in PoE, we don't know that it's true that "godlikes" are in truth associated with the gods. It could be a myth invented to explain a completely different phenomena.

Vithrak Cipher would be my choice for a unique race companion. They would have to be an outcast or sole survivor of thier hive, which would make them depressed and needy, but also seem unemotional - at least by human standards. They would find humans, and particularly human v human conflict, difficult to comprehend, and probably given to utterings which seem wise - if only we understood what they where talking about. See: "the truth is a three edged sword". However, I agree that dwarf or pale elf chanter/cipher seem like the most likely choice for the unrevealed companion. I reckon the Orlan is a rogue. Swashbuckler subclass?

I hate random loot.

I don't really agree. I think the lore dumps where a nessassary consequence of introducing a completly new world. As they where mostly things that happened in the past, the only way to "show not tell" would have been via lengthy animated (engine or FMV) non-interactive flashback sequences. Boring to sit though and expensive to add. BG1's dreams where simply text and narration, with a single illustration, so that is hardly an example of "showing". BG had a much more simplistic story anyway, stickling closely to the "heroes journey" metaplot. Telling, rather than showing, also allows for the "unreliable narrator" device to be used, which is so important for the PoE plot. + I can read much more quickly than I can watch or listen. Reading saves time.

I'm confused about the terminology at this point, but making it procedurally scale seems like the right thing to do, since they won't need to balance empowerering separately. Say you have two classes, A and B. If you take a level in class A you are also granted 1/3 of a level in class B (for spell and ability progression, not new Abilities and Talents).

Paladins have to choose an order, but they don't have to take any of the abilities associated with it.

You can create a paladin with "no order" simply by not selecting any order-specific abilities. That may be what Josh means by the base class still being viable, rather than subclass A/subclass B/vanilla triple options on character creation. For example the obvious counterpart to "Black Jacket" (Jack-of-all-weapons) is the "Weapon Master" (master-of-one). Since the Weapon Master would get access to enhanced weapon focus and specialisation in thier chosen weapon, Black Jacket would have "lower accuracy" relatively, without needing an built in penalty.

I'm pretty sure Carnage will work differently. There are some class abilities that you wouldn't want to trigger off it too. I expect it will be set to do only base weapon damage, with no chance of procs or special abilities triggering.

If we assume that paladin orders and cleric deities are subclasses, then it seems likely that other subclasses work the same way. So you get nothing for your original pick. It simply unlocks some Talents and Abilities whilst locking others.

So far as I can make out, companions have a fixed option for multiclassing. Eder can only multiclass to Rogue, Aloth can only multiclass to Barbarian, the stretch goal companion is a cleric/monk, and so on. Only the Watcher and hired mercenaries can choose any two classes.

The more complicated the better so far as I am concerned. PoE1 was far to limited in terms of character options.

I imagine "subclasses" are basically equivelent to kits in Baldur's Gate.

Mine is very short: 1) A better system for dealing with the advantages and disadvantages of wearing armour. 2) Let druids sacrifice some spells for shapeshifting that doesn't suck.

I was never a fan of vancian casting, and PoE never even attempted to justify it in the game lore.

Kana Rua's personal quest suggests a connection between the amaua and the ancient engwithans.

It's Rocket Raccoon.

I guess it's about choice. You don't need to do Endless Paths. You don't need to hunt bounties. You don't need to do White March. If the endgame difficulty or the XP rate where balanced assuming you did all of these things, then the game would be too difficult for non-completionists. In effect, it would remove choice.

99 of the 100 expansions ever released take place AFTER the main story. Thank you for your brownnosing comment Let's see your 100 expansions worth of evidence then. Because I reckon the majority of expansions take place BEFORE the end, especially if you start including DLC adventures for games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age in your list, which you need to to get up to 100 in the first place.

I don't have a problem with dump stats unless the game uses unweighted point buy - That is PoE's real flaw (again, IMO). Real life: I'm a Physics teacher, I need intelligence and charisma - I don't need much strength. If I was a PE teacher I would need strength and dexterity, but would make intelligence my dump stat.

If you don't know which quests trigger act 3, then I presume you haven't played through the game yet. In which case there is no reason to try and trigger White March ASAP. Just play through the game and White March will eventually crop up. It's implemented in the same way as BG:TotSC: You can get there from the beginning of chapter 5, but you probably wouldn't want to do it until chapter 7.

IMO, the whole PoE attribute system violates the "if it aint broke don't fix it" maxim.