dulcamara

Totally, it's Gorreci Street. At this level I just don't have much gear or tactical options, feels like the math is dramatically stacked against you unless you just keep reloading & get super lucky with the RNG? I'll look into the stealth approach, but I do try to avoid the cheesing with stealth that a lot of games offer - i.e. temporarily respeccing everyone & pouring all their skill points into it, or inching along while metagaming the mechanics. Oh well. Seems like a weird spot for a huge difficulty spike, and one obvious enough they would have patched it by now. Otherwise the game's awesome so far.

Thanks everyone! I wound up doing Veteran but restarted with real-time combat mode - the turn based seems a little too slow & unpolished so far. Already on Maje I've come across a fight that my party is completely unprepared for. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing - I'm doing some exploring to try & power up a bit - but it's surprising this early, especially considering it's just a basic encounter rather than a quest-ending challenge or whatever.

Hi all, super excited to get the game underway tonite! Just looking for advice on difficulty. This would be turn-based FWIW. I'm not a min-maxer by any stretch, but am looking for something that challenges you to learn tactics, craft & use items/consumables, and explore sidequests to gain in power & tackle the main story. I have no problem dying occasionally & being forced to figure out a different approach. I'm not a total completionist but enjoy doing most sidequests. In the 1st PoE, I started on Normal but after the initial challenge (IIRC Raedric's Hold was pretty tough?) things got way too easy. Wound up doing PotD alongside level-scaling (since I did both White Forges & was swinging Durgan Steel & soulbound weapons halfway thru) - although midgame I was stomping opponents, most of the big battles in the last section were a good challenge. I was surprised because in 99% of games I have no interest in the highest difficulty - usually IMO they're for multiple playthrus or for people who really dial in the most powerful builds. When leveling my characters I'm more about roleplay & experimenting, I don't really care about efficiency too much. Is the sequel the same, i.e. the highest difficulty is more like "Somewhat Challenging"? Any other tips?

"Well I won't give you my "unfiltered" opinion of Planescape: Torment. I will sum it up by saying it was not faithful to the source material it was based on (the Planescape campaign setting), many of it's design decisions seemed to be based on being "witty" and "anti trope" not on actually being good design decisions, and the overall way the game was played was skewed to force a specific stat, class, and playstyle and if you didn't follow that skew you got sub optimal game experience all the way around. Also the sword comment is there for a specific reason. There are literally no swords in Planescape: Torment. Or there are, you just aren't allowed to buy, loot, or use them. Why? Because the dev's thought it would be cute apparently. This is my classic example of stupid design decisions in Planescape:Torment that made no sense." I wasn't really aware of any of this about Torment at the time - just played it my way and thoroughly enjoyed it. No idea if I got the "sub-optimal" or "optimal" experience you describe, was great anyhow. The thing is, there's a fantastic array of options out there for every taste right now and certainly plenty of games where you can wield sword to your heart's content. Really, show me any game that doesn't fudge things with what weapons/inventory are available to loot - either by not making enemy gear lootable, or by mysteriously upgrading as you progress so that by the end of ToB every minor opponent is carrying +5 weapons. A fully "realistic" design approach to this is the exception by far.

Hmm, but from what I've read in other threads, the WM difficulty scaling only bumps up enemies a couple levels - at this rate by the end of Act III I'll just end up cutting thru WM like a hot scythe through butter. Maybe I *should* try a new playthrough and a new class, and hit WM at the end of Act II. That's the only glaring flaw in this game - but it's a doozy - maintaining a consistent difficulty and a good flow of main vs side quest vs expansion content. I'm hardly a min-maxer, enjoy a little tactics in combat but not full micromanagement, but already had to restart once becase Hard got too easy. POTD seems more appropriate, but even then the easy camping mechanics take a lot of suspense out of quests. Hope they really take a step back and re-evaluate that stuff before any sequel.

Hi all, Trying to figure out whether I should buy WMII, just wanted get some info cleared up. First off, the most basic question - Can you install & integrate it into a current playthrough, or do you need to start from scratch? If the former - Does it dramatically change the balance or difficulty in a way that would be disruptive to an existing run? I'm currently at the beginning of Chapter III on POTD and am working my way down Od Nua, haven't even ventured to the first White March yet but that will come next. I think most characters are level 9-ish. Aside from changing the balance or other quirks of adding an expansion mid-game, I've also got a little concern that the experience/levels gained in the expansion content (and that goes for WM 1) would make the main storyline ridiculously easy. Did this get addressed at all in the expansion's patch? These days at the ripe old age of 38 my allocated weekly gaming time is limited, so this isn't something I can just "try on the next playthough". This will be my only jaunt through PoE. Thanks in advance for any info or recommendations you folks might have...

Hi all... I posted a while back asking for feedback on the preferred difficulty level for a first (and probably only) playthru. After getting the consensus that Normal was a cakewalk I switched to Hard. This worked at first with reasonable challenge, i.e. duc what's-his-name's stronghold, and the early parts of Caed Nua. But still not all that far in the game AFAIK - exploring Defiance Bay, etc - and things have gotten ridiculously easy. Most encounters I can just slam through attacking without even queuing up spells or other special abilities. Maybe there are difficulty spikes later but at the moment there's basically zero tension or strategy in the battles, and I'm far from a dedicated min-maxer type. Figured it was time to ramp up to POTD, only to find on the options screen you can't switch mid-game. Now that is a curious design decision! Is there any way - edited save or "cheat" code or something - that you can force the switch?

Plenty of reasons to ask... Although difficulty is partly subjective as you say, there *are* games that are widely acknowledged as particularly hard or easy. Just wanted to get the overall consensus on PoE. And many start players out nice & low-key for the intro chapter - a chance to learn the mechanics & such - and then ramp up the challenge fairly dramatically. It's useful for me to hear that PoE isn't one of those. Far as repeatedly switching difficulty levels willy-nilly, that feels a little gamey to me. I find it most rewarding to pick a suitable level and stick with it. Again, hearing others' opinions after they've played through far more of the story is helpful to make an informed choice. Thanks to all who weighed in though!

Hey all, Just got around to starting my first Pillars of Eternity (with WM1) game, playing a wizard character. I'm currently still based in Gilded Vale, have explored/cleared some of the surrounding areas, done the Temple of Eothas area, and am in the local lord's castle dungeons. It took a little while to get accustomed to the wizard/magic mechanics, but once I've gotten a few companions (Aloth, Eder, Durance) combat goes pretty smooth. Almost too smooth in fact. I'm on Normal difficulty and it's rare for anything yet to pose a challenge unless I've let spells & health get low (and with the ease of replenishing supplies, that is totally avoidable). What in your esteemed opinions is the preferred difficulty level? I've played most of the Infinity E games but am also not necessarily a min-maxer - just enjoy the story and the idea that some planning & tactics are needed, with the corresponding feeling of accomplishment after a tough fight. Probably will just do this one playthru. Should I bump it to Hard? Or does the game let you in easy at the start and then spike difficulty later? Thanks in advance...