Franknstein

Then let me have a go. Personally, my struggle with liking the story of Deadfire is it's lack of clear focus. It is fine to get distracted and let the player get involved in side activities (or even force him to). The problem is when the goal is getting muddled down or when what games wants the player to is in odds with what player wants to do. I think Witcher3 handled this well (being an RPG with defined character it was somewhat easier as writers and narrative designers could depend on what Geralt wants to do, rather than the player.) The overall goal for the game (find and rescue Ciri) was clear throughout, and "distractions" on the way were always an obstacle in reaching this goal. Additionally, the narrative was switching between urgent and loose, providing encouraging both exploration and focus on main story and even game player an excuse to finish other sidequests at certain points of the story (hey, if you do it **** will hit the fan, so make sure you are ready for it, wink, wink). Deadfire's overall structure and ideas are solid. Chase Eothas, get back your soul. On the way there you need to navigate through tense political tension of Deadfire. But there is so much focus on factions, who pay no mind to reincarnated God, and you spend so little time chasing the God, that I personally felt like the conflict of Deadfire took over as a main story of the game. Which would be fine, except our character has little reason to engage in the conflict (unless for your made up roleplaying reasons) and it is difficult to care about their conflict, knowing the bigger destruction coming. It could work if you were more engaged with Eothas and factions served as background, but in Deadfire they take over. And then we get to the ending, which: 1) doesn't provide satisfying payoff to the faction storyline (I believe the game needed something on the level of Battle of Hooverdam in Fallout:NV considering how massive factions were) and as the result doesn't properly finish what is the main focus of the game for the majority of its runtime. 2) Doesn't properly explain meaning and consequences behind Eothas' plan which made me confused about how some of the basic laws of Eora. 3) Due to not doing anything Eothas related for tenths of hours before doing straight Ashen Maw and finale, I wasn't nearly as engaged in the Eothas' thread as I should have been. That's refreshing. Much better than "the whole thing is stupid". And – I don't mean to be dismissive – very subjective. I didn't like the Witcher, for example (ah, the heresy!!!11). Boils down to my dislike of the protagonist, but the whole "I am about to save my loved ones, just you wait, do stuff first" story made me sad. In my book "save loved ones" – is highest priority, while "save the world" is no priority at all, 'cause ain't plausible possible. May do stuff while the doom lingers. And yes, a comprehensive guide to to the mechanics and laws of Eora wouldn't hurt. God's, gods and souls stuff 101. M.b. in the p.n.p. game there will be some basic explanations? Can't say much about the factions finale, just skipped to the end before things became terminal. But a nice battle royale never hurts.

Wow. Wasn' that the "Who has finished the game" thread? =) I didn't like the health from PoEI. Was tedious to keep track of camping supplies, and weird that with all the survival expertise one couldn't rest without them. And I did finish the game! =) Took me only 422 hours and a few cool gifs from Boeroer to stop me from restarting. Still hope for that build of his monk. Endgame made me to kinda start to respect Eothas. He's badass.

What I'd like to see would be some kind of an "archipelago life economy simulation". Islands have more or less of different stuff, with prices depending on scarcity, traders go all over the place, pirates and monsters interfere. One has a ship, could make some money by hauling a few crates of them skuldr ears and onyx from the mines to Neketaka, and guns, powder and spices back to the mines... sink a few merchants to create deficit, make some profit, frame some pirates, sink them too. Buy off all assets of the RDF and VTC combined, marry queen Onekaza, become king. And 'splode Eothas a second time, I guess? =)

I'd like to see some kind of progression after level 20. "Prestige points" to make some select abilities stronger m.b.? And moar portraits! Of the male coastal aumaua there is one!

But they are false, that's the whole point? =)

I'd really like to know the reasoning and arguments for this kind of criticism. The end of the story I liked best, the beginning was "ouch, them god stepped on my Watcher, that's gotta hurt". Quite enjoyable the whole stuff. Are there any good reviews out there or something?

Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire - Not So Definitive Edition! =)

All the other Infinity games and them enhanced editions? Neverwinter Nights? Dragon Age? Knights of the Old Republic? It wasn't all that empty for ~18 years. Not completing what's announced would be a total **** move to start a relation with the audience. Just watch how'd I support future products after that. =)

Given how a huge organization like MS generally works, it sounds unlikely that they would allocate any resources at all to a project that is performing so poorly as Deadfire apparently is. Thus, the MS acquisition likely puts an end to the whole thing. Naturally, I will be very happy to be proven wrong. Well, my hopes are on that Deadfire is kinda Work in Progress with a timeline of future releases announced. They will be done anyways, so, why don't make them good?

And to extend the question – do two Ancient Memories chants stack?

This thread is epic! Epic! =) I like Deadfire. The story, the mechanics, and I do feel like Deadfire being an improvement over PoEI. And yes, the game could profit from quite a few rounds of polishing in every aspect. Hope the resources from MS will allow the team to make improvements in the months to come w. the big DLC, and patch 4.0 e.t.c. And then launch a big "re-engagement" campaign to get wonder-sales and ensure PoEIII. =)

I use those gif's as a remedy for my restartitis for my current play-through. =) Salvation by gif's at least! Managed to beat the game first time thanks to those. Took me only 422 hours. =) So, as a contender for "Ideal dual gun build (PotD)" my vote goes for SC dual mortars helwalker monk. Bad things start to happen to groups of mobs after you get the Stunning Surge. After you get Whispers of the Wind and Resonant Touch they are all doomed (and you can launch yourself from a companion if the boss fails to bring buddies to the fight).

As been pointed out by thelee, extra wounds cost ain't a problem if one doesn't use a lot of wound spending abilities in the first place. =) And I like my buffer-healers to be safe and able to reach everybody in the party. Which is hard for me to achieve from the front-row. But this sexy notion of a monk spamming Force of Anguish, and later Skyward Kick, while armed with the Willbreaker tickles my restartitis all to hard. Something like Shattered Pillar/Corpse-Eater m.b.? Hm-m...

Without the strong dialogue requirements Resolve lost me. One can tank like a pro without it and the points do better in other stats.

I play Xoti contemplative all the time. Wounds to boost Int, or Con, Force of Anguish to push melee attackers back to the front line, Enduring Dance to offset the pistol modal penalty, and a bunch of subpar priest heals and buffs that make most of the challenges in the game (on PotD) a joke. Give her Tuotilo's Palm, Scordeo's Trophy and Humility. So, to answer the question "Xoti - ranged or melee?" – both, I say.

I use those gif's as a remedy for my restartitis for my current play-through. =)

Not arguing with the math, which is sound as an abstract, I do think that by dismissing the environment you present an error about BDD. 1. The counter to healing – damage, is much more common than the counter to BDD – Arcane Dampener. So, in all of the game healing has less weight than BDD in achieving the goal "of staying alive". BDD is more effective (and arguably requires less resources – stats, equipment, e.t.c – from the player). 2. The counter to BDD happens to counter all buffs without specific discrimination. 3. The environment provides ways to exploit BDD – Salvation of Time and Brilliant. One can't make BDD less effective by just giving out Arcane Dampener to every schmuck in every encounter, bosses to be a challenge have to have some form of Arcane Dampener built into them, fun and good buffs get screwed by association, and BDD in it's current form is a pain in the hindquarters from a designers perspective. Point is – you can say, that everything is nice and dandy with being immortal for some time as a general concept, but you can't say the same about the implementation of this concept in Deadfire.

And here it is again. I always use the same hand-made history. Had the fragments ever before. Just started a new game, and don't have them.

Well, the bug is still there. =/

A little bit of kiting, lure them pigs, panthers and Drake to a choke point (I like the one near the ladder, at the exit from the skeletons). So Eder has to fight them one at a time and be the tanky-tank. And you can cast Withdraw on him two times. Perception is super important to hit stuff early, accurate weapons help too. I like to poison the Drake with Stone Joint poison while he waits down the line, behind the pigs and panthers. Hate that bastard. The skeletons, I deal with the warriors first, one by one. Lure them down the stairs. If you use hirelings, a cipher can paralyze-lock the warriors w. a club (modal on), tenuous grasp + Mental Binding. After that, swarm the mage and archer from stealth, they are not as tanky. The archer has a fine hunting bow (helps with the Drake poisoning). Or, what Boeroer said, skip them all. Cheers.

Just double-tripple the damage of poisons and scrolls, same for durations of potions and drugs, and give full heal from minor healing potions. They do nothing, really. They are not FUBAR anymore, that's true, but are "easy mode" still. Spirit Shield gives 3 AR btw. =P Scrolls don't get anything from leveling Arcana, are you sure we're playing the same patch? Triple damage of poisons is pitiful, yes they didn't need to be even close at what they used to be, but grenades are much better than poisons and Aoe. Oh ok 3 AR, may main point was it doesn't scale at all. We definitely have a very different definition for "nothing" and should agree to disagree on that matter. Cheers.

Just double-tripple the damage of poisons and scrolls, same for durations of potions and drugs, and give full heal from minor healing potions. They do nothing, really. They are not FUBAR anymore, that's true, but are "easy mode" still. Spirit Shield gives 3 AR btw. =P

Depends. Alchemy, Arcana and Explosives are the "easy mode" unlock. You need it, you use it.

Resolve is being recommended for priests and druids from the times of PoE I . Still no idea why. Iron willed and dodgy kith of faith? I do agree that there might be lots of cases where Perception isn't the most important stat. It's the good thing about the game – lots of valid options. But as a *general* recomendation for where to spend your stat points? While you don't have even a general idea what all those numbers realy mean (and that would be, I think, the only moment when you pay attention to those rattings)? Perception, Dexterity and Intelligence beat all the rest for all classes. No?

Because... it depends. For example I have a lifegiver with 3 PER in party. He doesn't ever cast anything hostile. Or another (milder) example: do have a damage-dealing priest on whom I have 14 PER. I don't max it because other stats because I need maxed MIG and INT on him, plus will have other party members lowering enemy resolve. I think the main spellcasters on whom PER is absolutely vital and should be maxed most of the time - are the cc-focused ones. Did you max Resolve on any of this characters? Resolve is starred gold for all "divine" spellcasters. Like, Durance must have been the best NPC priest ever, eh? =) It is not super important, but I do think that this rattings are useless at best. Misleading and confusing for new players at worst.