Teioh_White

I wouldn't say food is overpowered or anything. I just think the it's annoying to use, and awkwardly inserted into the gameplay, like it's just sorta left over from an earlier build and/or better idea I guess +2 Dex is kinda spiffy, as attack speed gets increasing returns, and we can already get that down to point where anything in melee range just melts due to stacking it. (Which tends to happen in any game that allows for 'Haste' effects, without a hard cap on it). But that's not really the foods fault, just the fact we have so many sources of haste that stack. I also wouldn't say Pillars got the system right that we can't break the balance in two. The games got weak spots all over that snap it in half. What I would say is that the core gameplay is pretty strong, so if you try to avoid those rotting boards, it can actually be a pretty engaging combat system. Which is more than the vast majority of RPGs can say; most games combat, no matter what the player tries to do, ever be anything with any nuance or balance. Look at something like Dragon Age games, which theres no way to really have that gameplay be anything strategic. (Maybe the 2nd one, a bit, I suppose).

Yeah, not that I think it's good design or anything, but the annoyance of gathering materials/going shop to shop to buy food, then having to constantly be aware of refreshing it, is enough to get me to rarely use it. Unlike, say, backtracking to rest more though, I don't think the pain of gathering food was supposed to discourage players from using it. I just toss it on the pile of self-imposed restrictions. Not that it's anywhere near as bad as most things on that pile, just too much of a pain for me to get worked up over, so might as well just remove the option.

I like the fatigue change for my found-supplies-only rest runs. Doing things like Bounty's or running back to do defend the Keep was murder on my supplies. Not sure a 'Second Wind' ability sounds very useful for new athletics, healing isn't that great in this game, but it's something to dump skill points into if not using lore or being a mechanic monkey. Of course, that's after Survival, which looks like the new stat to pump. The old mandatory 3 Athletics looks to move now to 3 Survival, just to get everyone a speed boost. Not that I ever use kiting strategies, but this should make it easier, if folks are having trouble with stuff rushing the back line.

Amplified wave is pretty broken, and one of the cheese powers that makes the class OP. (Seriously, take/alter a few powers, and the class would be downright balanced and interesting). It's really just the massive AoE size of it, that both lets the player CC mobs out of the range of the mobs CC, as well as CC the entire field at the same time. At least in WM, some of the fights have the mobs in spread out enough groups a single Vancian can't lock down the entire room with no shots fired the enemy. Cipher, before I tossed Wave into the too cheesy to use pile, would make every fight go the exact same way. Auto-pause on combat, Wave a team mate, Mica Roar an enemy, Lead split an enemy, Wave, reload, wave. At this point, the fights almost always either, or down to few enough mobs that the stun lock weapons of the frontline will keep them underwraps. And if not? Well, the Cipher just moves from 100% CC up time to like 75%. Just another crazy OP thing I'm surprised made it this far. A severe reduction in AoE size is needed, at the least.

Well, the big issue for me is their extra effect is just a % chance on hit or crit, rather than 100%, in addition to the lower damage from no lash or steel. By level 12, I'm in the 50-100% crit range with every swing, so effects that boost crit damage or CC on crit get really useful. A weapon like We-Toki or The Hours are great examples, getting huge damage boosts while also stun locking whatever mob is being attacked. Those 15% chance of extra effects really start to fall behind, even just for base stats, let alone piling on a Lash and Steel upgrade.

Yeah, I'm not sure even with a Lash I'd use some of the weapons. I guess the main use for Soul Bound weapons is for folks on the team who otherwise wouldn't get much of the limited resources, so the weapon is compared to a non-superb, non-steel'd weapon.

If it's just damage you're looking for, best bets would be: Purgatory + Resolution- Dual Sabers for high damage trait +crit enchant, which is 3rd best damage enchant, and space to be SuperLashed If you still want damage, but less Micro: Llarawen's Stick - 13% post mod boost form speed, and Reach trait lets one shed armor for me attacks. Only 2hander with Speed+Superlash gives it a definite edge in damage over the rest of 2handers. I normally don't do pure damage on my Barb, and use them more for CC, letting the two or so of the other frontliners instead swap to DPS set ups, as the Barb will do a decent job of locking down a group by himself to not need the help for these type of builds I use: Tall Grass - Prone on Crit is great(though less so since 2.03), 5% more Crits plays well into the plan, and Reach is a great trait, letting one drop some plate for more damage to make up for lack of dmg enchants, as well as less micro. Can be Superlashed is nice. Mabec's Morning Star - Stun on Crit is still nice, and Morning Star trait of 33% stronger interrupts is great, as only need a hit for those. Best used in builds/party situations where crits won't be as likely. Sadly can't be SuperLashed, limiting it's damage potential. Cladhaliath + Vile Loner's Lance - +5 acc to the team,, stun on crit, spear +5 acc Trait is very nice for stun weapons as well. No speed mod, and can't SuperLash Cladhalith, and low base damage combined with poor Barb mods means damage will be underwhelming. Still, this is my favorite set up if I'm not going for reach, for the extra +10 acc leading to easier stuns, and boosting the teams acc. Forgemaster's Glove are nice as well for damage, though not really an every down kinda thing, due to only being usable in 3 encounters per rest. Will get the most raw damage, as it's high base plays really well with the crit boost. Harder to get those crits now though, as the weapon has no +acc, and in 2.0 it's was changed from targeting Reflex, the easiest to lower Defense, to Deflection, the 2nd easiest to lower. (Was nice being able to toss out low level blind+hobble, then mow things down with the Super Crit Fire Sword with +54 to hit.)

A Barb with Mabec's Morning Star and interrupting Blows with a decent perception score's always been a favorite of mine. Really slows down the incoming damage of the enemies frontlines. Other than that, I guess I use Hunting Bows to semi lock down a mage with a Ranger? I tend to go more for on-crit effects, so Interrupts are more a consolation prize.

I like per rest as a system as well, but as no game has ever really tried to balance a per rest system, I can see why they'd just rather scrap it. Be strange if they'd want to start now trying to balance it. Easier to just keep shifting to pure per encounter stuff. Also, I don't mind engagement either; I wouldn't cry if it got removed, but it's barely gotten in my way at all while playing. Always seem a strange thing to get em in a bunch over.

Hmm...so, want either Reflex spells that CC, or Reflex spells that lower Fort or Will scores? I think that's a pretty small selection, for whatever reason. Fort and Will can help out Reflex, but Reflex isn't keen on repaying the favor. And Reflex is more of the damage save than the CC save. Mostly because while tons of status effects lower deflection/reflex, not many lower Will and Fort. Off the top of my head, the only thing that fits that bill would be good ole slicken, a CC effect that attacks the Reflex score. Level one, as well, so spammable through the latter half of the game. It's base 4 sec duration may seem low, but with enough Int, can get that up to 6 sec or so, and you can cast it 6-7 times a fight to keep a sizeable area of things on lockdown. Other than that, most things that lower WIll or Fort are Will or Fort themselves, so would have to instead look towards buffing your own Acc instead to land them to make the follow ups crits. Cipher can do that with Tactical Meld, followed by a stat drain to soften up a target, and Wizard can try an Eldritch Aim, then follow up with something like Miasma of Dull Mindness before tossing out the big boy will saves.

Might boost Chanters into the great classes, then. Chanter's right now are fine right now, balance wise, though perhaps a bit boring. The Flame Lash song boosts most forms of damage, even caster spells, by 25%, so replacing one class with a Chanter will boost most group compositions damages with just that. After that, the Chanter gets to add one lesser Chant to the team, a 12 second large aoe para to clean up what's alive after 20 seconds, and a warm body to do whatever with (Really, they don't dps/tank -that- much worse than a fighter, beyond the whole needing lots of Int).

Spelltongue does some nutty things, especially in combination with Barb. Which, if history is any guide, means it'll be 'fixed', while even more powerful cheese remains as intended. (RIP fireball Barb).

Of the top of my head, I think Reflex has the largest number of damage-only spells under it. For a Wizard, bread and butter damage spells like Fan of Flame and Fireball target reflex. Once those spells go per encounter, a Wizard can spam them to burn large chunks of the enemy dead every fight. Bonus points for these is Reflex is the easiest save to attack, with low level effects handing out Blinds and Hobbles. Spells don't have many way to boost mods, but have a high base damage to compensate, so that +.5 mod crit gives is extra saucy. For Ciphers....I'm not sure what they have attacks Reflex. Only things I can think of are Soul Shock and Echo. Soul Shock is decent enough early on, but as mob HP increases it's better to spend that focus on something that scales, like a Blind. Echo's great, though cheesy, but if you're having trouble with a fight, Echo's a great choice.

It is a little strange how many ways there is to manipulate the Acc formula, but relatively few for the damage or speed ones. Early game I guess it's an issue, as mobs don't get a ton more defenses while later on the player gets a ton of ways to buff/debuff themselves into 50%+ crit rates with ease. Guess just makes it extra important to start with as high a base dex and might, as one can always easily fix the Acc issues. Though, Perception is one of the very few ways to boost Interrupt, but I've never really decided exactly how much weight that should get in stat comparisons.

It's not terrible, of course, but It's not amazing; main issue is it has to compete with the rest of Pld's support tool kit for one it's 7 talent slots. It might make my Pld's list around level 11, when I'm spinning wheels waiting for Sacred Immolation, but it's not great by itself. In general, per encounter single target damage effects have minimal impact on fights on PotD, when 6 mobs is one of the smallest encounters. Two hits of +20 Acc, +50% damage isn't super amazing, especially for a NPC Pld. It'd be a bit impressive on a Rogue PC, who could get close to a 5.0 Mod, but Pallegina will top out around 2.6 mod. For refrence, Level 1 a Pld wants Lay on Hands, as it's the best heal post buff. Level 3 is Zealous. Level 5 is Liberating. Level 7 is Reviving. Level 9 is Rightous. Level 11 is a bit of a freebie, and 13 is of course, Sacred Immolation. Basically, it's competing against Coordinated Attacks and Reinforcing Exhortion. I personally prefer the perma +10 acc to one of my team mates over an entire fight, rather than 2 shots of +20 acc, +50% damage. The other option is on level 7, dropping Revive, but like Lay on Hands, it's the best Rez in the game, and it's per encounter, making it a really useful tool in Pld's kit that no other class has, to give up for the minor damage increase that plenty of others do better.

Pld's in a pretty decent spot right now, so Pallegina benefits from that. It along with Rangers got the biggest boost from 2.0, have to see if 3.0 does the same thing by adding some amazing end game talent to the other classes. All it takes is one. (Like, fighter could get double attack stance - all attacks have a second free attack, -10 acc while in stance. Boom, class is now amazing on level 15.) Pallegina's biggest issue is the whole, Non PC pld's miss out on 5 Def and 11 to all saves, plus the fact she starts with Flame of Devotion rather than Lay on Hands. Personality wise, she kinda fits into Sagani's mold for me: bland enough to not offend anyone, but won't be remembered at all.

I think Vampire is currently owned by Paradox? Maybe they'll do something with it, or rent it out, or something. At the least, a pre-patched and modded version of VtM:B on steam, sorta like Kotor 2 had recently, would be nice. As for the rest of those, BG3 might someday get a 'spiritual' successor from kickstarter, as the gameplay and story presentation still seem to have some strong nostagila (just look around this forum, heh). Really doubtful we'll ever see anything like Arcanum again. Not that I personally mind, but that game really did it for some folks. As for Kotor 3...well, Disney's got it, maybe they'll think something like Kotor 3 could be decent money someday. It might not be in same 'canon' exactly, but another single player Star Wars RPG is def something I could see happening someday. Otherwise, we'll just have to settle for SWTOR being pseudo Kotor 3. (I don't have the rabid hate for that game that most seem to, but I'd still have a preferred a legit Kotor 3 to a MMO that was doomed to fail).

I'd second the 6 ranger party. Adding one or two casters in there would make it 'better', but it's fun just running around with a zoo of all 6 animals, and just running over enemies. My 6 ranger playthrough was the most enjoyable one I've done, really. I've also done 6 Chanters, which was kinda fun. In a normal party, the Chanter's Invocations are pretty much a novelty, so it was nice change of pace to instead make them the core strategy. I imagine other '6 of' teams could be fun, as it's just greatly magnifies a classes strengths, making it play good deal different from a balanced party.

Yeah, I really doubt Obs, or any team really, would be willing to go through with the whole, 'companions as a resource' thing. Especially if it's taken to it's logical conclusion, where eventually the Watcher would have just Eder hanging around and his stats would have degraded to the point of uselesness, turning the game into some sort of weird Eder Solo Run. Games reaching an unwinable state has fallen out of favor (rightfully so, truthfully). Though it does seem a really innovative approach to the system, and in PoE's case, would've even tied right into the story for extra immersion goodness. I certainly wouldn't want it as a default mode or anything, but it'd be a nice take as part of an 'expert' package or something. I completely agree about MotB. If that was tied into resting or mobs killed or anything other than just real time, it coulda been interesting. As is, it was just extremely annoying. I can't speak for others, but while I love strategic thinking, constantly being pushed by a clock 100% of the time is just turrible.

Regardless, a "No sleep for the Watcher" mode under Expert would be marvellous for people who like strategy elements in RPGs. After resting 15 times, your character would become partially deranged and unable to recharge per-rest resources (items too!) any longer. Endurance potions would replenish health, but only outside of combat. The insanity would intesify every subsequent resting session and increase the chance of companions leaving you for good. I...would actually really like that. Would be interesting, also turning companions into a 'resource' of sorts. They could have different levels of...tolerance? For the crazy Watcher. Like, best bro Eder would stick with you through it all, but Pallegina would bail on your crazy arse quickly. Would have to make it so we can't just stash extra's at the camp, and make at a certain 'crazy' level, they won't join you. That'd have to at a lesser value of crazy than they'd leave though. Anyways, it's interesting. As the game goes on, the Watcher has less ability to finish his quest, and must increasingly rely on his companions. While at the same time, his companions are increasingly less willing to stand his insainity, and give him less support. Would make for an interesting idea. But I don't think that much thought was really put into the plot in this game, certainly not with any desire to really sync it up to gameplay.

Yup, that's why I think it makes sense. I suppose it's not so much that it's not -here-, but that it's on -SA-, a place I've no desire to wade through.

Shame more info pop ups on SA than here; makes sense, of course, but it's not a place I've ever liked to frequent over the years.

I don't really favor any game type, so long as it's well done. Be it TB, RTwP, FPS, A-RPG, JRPG, RTS, whatever. So long as it's quality, I'm there.

Could easily happen, it's already a pretty strong Invocation as is. It has base 8 sec duration, and even just Kana will have 21 Int easy enough to make that 12.4 seconds. Right now, takes 16 seconds to power one out with dink chants, so I could see it becoming a full time thing, especially for a player pumping Int to 27. Course, not really an issue compared to what broken stuff we already have, as even though the AoE effect with 27 Int would be pretty massive to tag most mobs, it still won't be as broken as what a lot of classes can do, as it'll take likely at least 12 seconds to get running even with a buff.

I don't mind story mode, it's a solid addition to games these days. There's a suprising (to me, anyways) demand for games with no or minimal, well, gameplay, these days. It's easy enough to feed that demand in a game even with a gameplay focus to get extra sales. What'd I'd like though, would be a no-story mode. Something for doing replays, that just puts the player from action to action, with only the bare minmal story to push progress in the same lines it'd go with the full story on.