Thessaly

I've started a great many characters, and every one of them has always hit level 2 before I finished the ruins (dungeon) of Cilant Lis -- providing I disarmed all of the traps with someone with 3 mechanics (three-person group). As of 2.0, I was 896/1000 by the time I exited. To put that in perspective, given that I'm usually 1013 by that point, that's a 12% reduction in overall experience. To put some numbers in here. Post-biawac dialogue, I had 511 experience. Trap experience remained the same; I raced to the traps, disarmed them gained ~245 experience (756 by this point). Which means the entirety of the dungeon resulted in less than 140. So the overall split from the dungeon itself was significantly lower, or things weren't awarding experience. Either way, it's a reduction in experience and I'm wondering if that's intentional (slowing the pace down game-wide for a now delayed ending given expansions) or a bug. Edit: Checked saves, added exact values. Edit 2: Noticed my previous characters started with more experience walking into Cilant Lis. Both characters disarmed the chest in the Encampment, but one used lockpicks. Even if it didn't give me any experience for using lockpicks vs not using lockpicks, it wouldn't account for a ~120 experience discrepency. But my 2.0 priest walked in with 511 and my rogue in 1.06 walked in with 628. Edit 3: Took my 1.06 rogue from the same point (using the 2.0 client), walked into Cilant Lis with 513 experience (had 628 previously). So definitely less than pre-2.0 values -- I figure the reduced metric is ptonsnlu the post-cutscene/dialogue experience. Come to think of it, I noticed in 2.0 beta one of my characters was level 4 at a certain point and another during 1.06 was level 5. (~2000 experience difference by the time I cleared towards the Keep.) I had chalked it up to doing something different at the time, but it looks like experience metrics have changed for cutscenes.

Having a hard time parsing info. Noticed in post #401 that there's an allusion to level 12 for a certain fight, but I've been getting the impression that The White March part 1 takes place immediately after Act I, probably level ~7-ish. Where in the story is the "optimal" time to play? Strictly story oriented (and as few spoilers as possible please).

Thanks for the confirmation. I'm as put off by "pre-orders" as the next person, but I just wish there was an entry somewhere.

It is still in Beta. Not out yet, will be released on the 25th, and you will have to pay for it (Backers could get it as an add-on, or as a part of a tier). If it's being released on the 2th (e.g., t-minus four days) then you'd think they'd have posted it on Steam for pre-purchase already, or at least an entry for it or something.

Judging from the imminent release of the White March in five days (and the likelihood of crunch-time that accompanies it), I'm guessing we shouldn't hold our collective breaths for any 2.0 patches prior to August 25th. On the bright side, just five days until the White March!

Hahaha! No good deed goes unpunished! Here comes the Nerf Stick... (I am pretty sure that getting Ruffian at lvl3 is working as intended) Just looking for consistency; some characters are /supposed/ to start with bonus skills or talents. I don't want to deliberately avoid recruiting Eder and play events out of order to get the "most out of him" -- and the temptation for it is real if I'm convinced it's a bug that he doesn't get the abilities and I'm "losing out" due to a 2.0 bug. Besides, I'm pretty sure I got a talent at level 4 with him as well -- now I'll have to double check.

I'm not going to mourn Eder getting an extra talent by any means, just thought I'd point it out. It's definitely a consistent event entirely based on level, I've made many, many characters and it's always happened; it's also been noted before in these forums with other players. (Reference: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/81108-defender-ability-not-updating-properly/?p=1720008) It's pretty obvious, right away, that he has Rapid Recovery /and/ Weapon Focus: Ruffian if recruited at level 3, where if you respec him (or nab him at level 2 instead) you only get one or the other upon leveling to 3. Granted, those are some fairly weak talents (even in combination) for either roles he's capable of, but it's obviously a bug he's either getting them or not keeping them on respec. I was hoping the latter, but it seems the former. Appreciate your efforts in having spent the time, Aarik! I'll chalk this one up as working as intended and the price you pay for meddling with respecs on companions.

As requested: https://www.dropbox.com/s/x0k6kyx8m6bgu12/output_log.txt?dl=0

Can do. Made two saves, both facing Eder, one level 2 and one level 3. https://www.dropbox.com/s/qnw2knl6on8s48n/b5a5b25deae548a1a5138bedbc113944%207786807%20GildedVale.savegame?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fnc7u3ddzpnc3eb/b5a5b25deae548a1a5138bedbc113944%207795187%20GildedVale.savegame?dl=0

Does this mean the saves from the beta build will be compatible with 2.0 final? I'm guessing any version "newer" will be able to utilise your saves. E.g., right now, the vanilla game cannot access beta 2.0 saves but come White March retail 2.0 - that version will be newer than beta 2.0 and your saves become accessible. At least that's my understanding so far. That's not a localisation issue, or at least it's not strictly due to localisation; it happens in all languages. It's been brought up a few times in the Beta Support forum, specifically: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/81132-continue-prompt-disabled-at-start-of-against-the-grain/ -- apparently it also affects a similar scripted event in a later stage (no spoilers) of the game. I'd suggest posting bugs you find here (if not already posted): https://forums.obsidian.net/forum/105-patch-beta-bugs-and-support/

At least we know it's an intended consequence and can plan accordingly. Thanks, Aarik!

Correct, recruiting him prior to you turning level 3 (or him being level 3 upon recruit) precludes Eder from gaining those bonus abilities; if you recruit him, and he /is/ level 3, he gets them. Moreover, using 2.0's retraining option removes the talents even if he started with them.

It's still an active bug (as of 8/17/2015), however there is a way around it -- but not without a cost. As you may already be aware, characters that were created and saves that were made after opting into the beta are not visible on the non-beta client -- but the reverse is not true. If you opt out of the beta, start a new game (if your character was created after 2.0), go to the mill and get past that initial conversation outside of the mill between the dwarf and the millwright, you can then save, quit, opt into the beta, and load your pre-beta save past that crash-point in the beta. It's goling to cost you some hours, but at least you won't be stuck. Granted, all of this will be moot in a few days, but there are workarounds.

I've started a few games on 2.0 to try things out, and one thing I noticed is that if I struck out immediately and nabbed Eder before I got enough experience to hit level 3 before reaching him, he wouldn't get his bonus Weapon Type: Ruffian talent. (So, recruit at level 2, no bonus talent. Level 3, bonus talent.)