Manveru123

Fully modded game with SCS had lots of tough fights. Maybe I'm a bad player, but some of them took me very long, or at least felt like they did. A fight that I remember that was part of the original game was of course Kangaxx. That took always very long and I had to reload a lot. That's because there's one item in the game that makes it really easy to survive for some time (Scroll of Protection from Magic), and only 2 or three weapons that could hit him. Without the Scroll, it was possible, but highly unlikely to defeat Kangaxx. With the Scroll, the fight was over in < 30s. SCS nixed that, along with the Shield of Balduran trivializing Beholders. That is true, but SCS was a player created mod

Empowered AoE spells are plenty powerful. It's a problem in the early game because you have very little spells, but mid-to-late game and when you grab that +1 spell uses grimoire, it's fine at the moment. A ulu thenn!

You folks don't seem to realize that knowledge about the genre is not the most important thing when it comes to assigning translators. When it comes to companies that outsource their LQA services, the one thing they value most is being a native. It doesn't matter how amazing your French is: they will always pick a native over you, just because he's a native. More often than not, these natives don't even play games. They translate without context, just with an excel spreadsheet. And everyone is fine with that. The developer gets their translation. The company does what they promised. And the translator gets paid quite well (project like these don't require you to hire someone permanently, you can just grab someone for the duration of the project, so it's no problem to give them a very good wage). If you get lucky, you get a translator who actually knows a thing or two about the game and you get a good translation (for example Polish is mostly quite good). This is my LQA experience in different companies. While I'm sure that it's not the same everywhere, I think this topic proves that something like this was done for Pillars 2 (and I know for a fact that it was for Pillars 1).

This is subjective AF. Who are you to tell someone how to have fun and what's fun for him? The whole point of an RPG game is to play however you want to, because someone's game does not affect yours AT ALL. How do you define challenge? If I take 5 minutes hitting an iron construct because his defenses are sky-high, was that a challenge or just poor design? Making player's characters weaker and enemies stronger just means that fights take longer to end, because you run out of resources and have to watch as your group autoattacks **** to death with Grazes. This isn't Dark Souls where you actually have to be skilled to finish the game. How do you define that in Pillars? Making the game about a war of attrition sounds more like a snorefest than fun. And this is the only way they can "balance" the game without completely reworking the mechanics or the AI, both of which cost too much to do post-launch.

You could use as many as you want if you equipped the scroll and casted Simalucrum. Another way was to use Protection from Undead scroll; Kangaxx wouldn't even react to your presence while you beat him up. Or you could use the line-of-sight trick (takes a while but works). Or instakill him with upgraded Mace of Disruption. Or pre-trap his spawn point. And despite all that, there were many ways to beat him in a "legit" way and the fight surely did not take 15 minutes. It's easy for some, and for others - not really, because as with every game, actual difficulty of a fight is completely subjective. Of course I'm talking about a normal fight here, not modded, because players shouldn't have to use mods, right?

Not solo, no. I had some storyline companions with me running on AI scripts. Mostly took them with me for story purpose lol. It only looks like no big deal on paper. In practice, the character is simply bad. When damage becomes lower and enemies suddenly gain more armor to penetrate, bad things happen. It really doesn't matter at this point. This topic was not created so that I could complain about my current character. To not repeat myself too much.. if I - or anyone else, really - start a new game, same thing will probably happen. I get to play something cool, and then bam, nerfs. This greatly discourages me from playing at all.

I really like the Lore part I'm gonna take a wild guess and say it's a Spiritualist. Alternative guesses include Herald and Loremaster

Bleak Walker/Evoker. The gameplay was all about buffing up, blowing a missile load, and cleaning up with FoD. Wizard missile damage is now crap. My PL got artificially reduced by nerfs to items. Evoker makes little sense for the build now, it's actually hindering instead. FoD damage and Bleak Walker bonus were also lowered. Nerfs to Wizard defensive spells and Paladin disposition passive were actually very major. This, coupled with buffed monster stats, resulted in the character being very squishy. A durable character with great damage turned into a glass toothpick.

You make some very good points. But you don't take into consideration that I didn't actually go in blind. Before I started the game, I researched the class, read up on abilities, theorycrafted a build. Then it was just a matter of execution in-game, and it worked exactly as great as I thought it would. But all of that is gone now. I'm not saying Arcane Knight is garbage class. To be fair, it probably isn't, I mean come on it's Pala and Wizard. However, MINE is pretty damn poop because the playstyle that I was going for when I created him is no longer possible. Like I've stated, yeah I can respec and salvage the run, but I'll be stuck with a very bad subclass for the new style of gameplay that I'll have to incorporate (due to, for example, not having access to some spells). Coming back to a saved game after a character suddenly becomes strong again sounds good.. but not the most realistic. If you abandon a game for any reason, and move on to play other games, there is a high chance that you will not even hear about a new patch for the game you abandoned. And even if you do, to continue the run after like... half a year, it would be a challenge to even remember what was going on in game, and at that point it would probably make more sense just to restart. Of course this is all extremely subjective, but I'm confident that I'm not the only player with such approach. Also, if you can manage to plow through some really bad posts, you can find that some other people got borked way harder than I did. Imagine you're playing Ranger/Monk and suddenly Monk's main buff no longer works with your weapon, and you HAVE to start playing melee (which was not your goal at all at character creation) to be somewhat effective. That's like a kick in the nuts.

I'm sorry mate but you are just wrong. Paradox Interactive took active part in development of the first Pillars. Their QA team was on it for most of the proccess. I don't know what happened after that (I quit), but it is safe to assume it was the same deal with Tyranny. I'm not saying that they were directly influencing OBS, because I can't know that, but saying that they had nothing to do with it is simply not true. Obviously it's not the same as having publisher take total control (which I really hate in gaming), but if we're nitpicking, let's be precise

I think I see what you mean. If they create a game for specific audience, it is obvious that they will do what they can to cater to that audience so that they keep supporting them. Okay, that makes sense, I just feel like it might be a poor move from a marketing perspective. I'd be fine to be proved wrong on that, though. Time will tell. Also, slightly off topic in case you aren't aware, neither POE1 nor POE2 was actually published by Obsidian. It was done by Paradox Interactive (Tyranny too) and Versus Evil respectively. This is, however, an extremely common practice and studios that actually develop and publish the games by themselves are very rare.

Set to Their Purpose was changed from Brilliant to Smart. Basically Chanters had an Inspiration that was the only source of resource regeneration for multiclass characters. You could make some pretty damn cool Chanter/caster builds around that, for example. Yes, there is a PL 9 invocation with a similar effect.. which you can't get as a multiclass, so you have to restart.

The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that they completely removed a Chanter mechanic. Not nerfed, balanced or whatever, just straight out deleted it. I think that's a bit more important than Defender giving negative Deflection.

I'm fine with boring snide remarks, really. Please intervene if he starts roleplaying though This is a gameplay issue. I covered that a few pages ago. Basically you start the game with a particular character, and with a specific playstyle. Now that playstyle is no longer possible because suddenly damage and survivability is gone. You can try to salvage the run by respeccing, but you are eg. stuck with a subclass that is literally hindering you and the game is no longer fun.

You couldn't have given off a more neckbeardish vibe if you tried. I see. Let me use a more modern example, then. Divinity Original Sin 2. The game had terrible balance on release, and even now it's not very difficult to build a demi-god character. Despite that, the game sold like hot potatoes and received massive hype and praise. Why? Because it's content was top-notch.

No, I'm saying it got (and remained) big without the need to overhaul its mechanics. I'm saying that difficulty is not what makes a game like this popular. It's content. Storyline, memorable characters. It doesn't matter how many overhauls to the mechanics a game receives if the content is lacking. Even when Enhanced Edition was released some time ago, all Beamdog did was fix the glaring bugs and massive exploits. In its core it remained the same game.

Ah yes, if only I had read the rest of the thread... I'd have known about your constant tendency to pretend you know what others did or considered or were motivated by. I'd have known about your hilariously hypocritical reprimand of Abel to stop trying to (badly) read your mind (I presume you wish to reserve that right for yourself)? I'd have known that you took what is at it's core certainly a reasonable position and managed to make pretty much everyone disagree with you. Oh wait, I did. Though you're certainly correct on one thing: there is exceedling little point in discussing things with you. Do you actually want to read the other pages and add to the discussion, or is being a pretentious **** enough input from you? I'm not looking for agreements or trying to rally the forum under my banner. I'm just pointing out that doing balance this way is hurtful to the game in the long run (namely, when it comes to sales, which is all that matters, let's not kid ourselves). How many times does the developer need to mess up your experience before you lose trust and move on?

Seriously, what bizarre kind of build are you running that post-patch it became utterly useless? What happened, it's arms and legs fell off and now is just being carted around in a wheelbarrow by Eder from scene to scene? Also, when you go ahead and recruit a custom companion, might I suggest perhaps clicking the retrain button first? Because if you seriously feel that some ability or build setup has been gimped to uselessness, maybe just change them? Or were you so caught up in righteous whinging that you forgot about that incredibly obvious possibility? You could always read my previous posts to get answers to all of these questions, but since you CBA to do even that, there is little point in discussing it The wheelbarrow thing sounds pretty rad tho.

Okay, then let's compare to games that actually inspired PoE. Baldur's Gate? Icewind Dale? If these games were released today, do you think the reception would be different? Do you imagine a bunch of REEEEE that they are too easy because a Sorcerer can blow up Firkraag in a single Time Stop or because a Priest/Wizard/Fighter multi autoattacks through Heart of Fury with massive buffs? Now, what did happen to these massively popular games. Were they "balanced" by the developers? Nope. The players did it themselves, with mods. Many years after these games were released, people are still talking about them, playing them, having fond memories, despite the fact that some of them had to use mods for "appropriate challenge". And then you get into this forum and read that BALUNS IZ IMPURTAND! This is just pure BS. The so well-balanced (eventually) PoE was not and never will be a quarter as popular as BG, and 10 years from now people will remember it about as much as they do Temple of Elemental Evil now (nice game tho, would recommend).

No, of course you don't "need" to start a new game. You can always play a gimped, useless character for the sole reason of not wasting the time you already invested in that playthrough. Better yet: you can go ahead and recruit a custom companion, build him in a way that actually works, and put your PC on some AI script so he at least contributes something to the battle, maybe. That sounds like what RPG games are all about - struggling to perform in combat because your PC wakes up one day and forgets how to do stuff. I can see some roleplaying opportunities here guys! There is also a difference between bringing builds in line and making them purely crap (like Beckoner or every Wizard subclass). This is exactly what I meant previously when I was talking about doing balance with a sword vs a nuke. I didn't realize this game is being developed with such long-term goals in mind, I'm sure Obsidian will be swimming in cash 10 years from now on, thanks to all the balance changes they do for Deadfire :D Unless that is completely irrelevant to the current situation, and 10 years from now on nobody will really give a rat's ass? But that would be preposterous right.

Fair point, but note that Obsidian is not doing this by itself. They have a bunch of external testers, they have beta. With this statement, you are basically assuming that all of this failed to provide a clear picture of the game's state. Which might be the case. POTD players are a minority. That's a fact. You'd have to know literally nothing about gaming if you assume that most players play on highest difficulty level. And the changes done by Obsidian are not POTD-only, they affect everyone, even if the degree is considerably smaller. Also would you mind not trying to read my mind? You're not very good at it. I never said anything bad about Josh Sawyer. If you read the whole thread, you'll see it was actually quite the opposite. I also don't blame the posters for anything. I mean, this is the internet. People will post tons of crap and there's nothing you can do about it. Just see how many people in this topic posted insluting one-liners and moved on. You sound like you have never played a cRPG in your life. Every single one of these games has one or more builds that are either overpowered right from the get-go, or become as such at some point during gameplay, unless the game happens to not give two craps about combat and treats it like an unwanted little brother to its story (Torment is a good example of that). Do you play RPG to feel like a peasant with a stick challenging dragons all the time? Good for you then, but believe me, this is not a very common approach. Also, this is completely beside the point. Some of you feel like this whole topic is just complaining that the game is now too hard. But u can haz play casual! Right. Well, no, it is not hard for me at all. Because the only point I was trying to make is that >>major overhaul when the game is already released can lead to multi-hour gameplay sessions become straight un-fun or tiresome, when the build you're using suddenly stops working at all and requires you to either struggle or restart the playthrough<< No matter how you look at it, this is a **** move. This isn't World of Warcraft. There is no need to balance the game a year after it was released (looking at you again POE1). Do you know what happens with most players when the game they play is no longer fun? They move on. I highly doubt this is what Obsidian wants.

Improving and balancing game is Obsidian advantage. Other company might release and forget, which is the style you prefer. Then you could choose some money snatch project, there are plenty on the Steam. When you feel the difficulty rises up over your character build, then you can lower it by yourself. You could still feel that power of unstoppable of rolling at first level of difficulty. Feel free to have fun. Everyone does balance. It's HOW, not IF. Check out Larian. They do balance with a sword. Obsidian uses nuclear weapons. Larian dont give a crap about game balance. D:OS 1 and 2 are two prime examples of why balance is important for the combat part of the games. In the first game u'd rain+shock everything for constant CC and win with zero risk. In the second game when i played that u picked necromancer spells and pumped warfare and proceeded to one shot absolutely everything once u had reached a certain point in ACT 2. If i want a story ill read a book, if i want to roflstomp everything and feel allmighty id play a hack n slash game or Diablo. Not a "tactical" RPG. Actually some time after the release there was a big balance patch for DOS2. And like I said they used a sword, not a nuke. Not to mention that this game's system actually allowed you to completely reset yourself during gameplay and never forced a restart, so even if they dropped a nuke, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. The reset in POE1 was also somewhat manageable, but in Deadfire you have things like Subclasses and multiclasses which you cannot change without using an in-game editor or something. But who cares at least Charge isn't op anymore right.

I was playing an Arcane Knight (Bleak Walker/Evoker), who after the patch forgot how to tank and started shooting toothpicks instead of magic missiles. Buffing up, blowing my missile load, cleaning up with FoD. That was really fun. Now I'm not only squishy, my Evoker (and nerfs to items like the Evoker PL gloves) subclass makes no sense because my offensive spells are garbage and I can't just respec to a normal Wizard. All I could do now is either completely change my playstyle and play a gimped Paladin or restart after 30 hours. I don't think I can lower difficulty, too, because it's POTD. My second save was a Loremaster by the way, I'm sure you can imagine which nerf completely ****ed it up And yes I focus on my PC only. Party members are just fodder running on AI scripts. But that's just irrelevant personal preference. So let's say I start a new game, and make something else. I don't know, a Votary. Gonna have fun maybe. Then DLC comes and suddenly another patch breaks this class too. So am I supposed to restart AGAIN because - despite all their experience - they have no idea how to balance their game? I'd rather just quit instead of going through this crap again (looking at you POE1).

Improving and balancing game is Obsidian advantage. Other company might release and forget, which is the style you prefer. Then you could choose some money snatch project, there are plenty on the Steam. When you feel the difficulty rises up over your character build, then you can lower it by yourself. You could still feel that power of unstoppable of rolling at first level of difficulty. Feel free to have fun. Everyone does balance. It's HOW, not IF. Check out Larian. They do balance with a sword. Obsidian uses nuclear weapons.

When the game is completely overhauled, it is no longer the same. I was actually happy with what I bought, tyvm. It's funny because this is exactly what you're doing in your own post, while all I want is to not have to play a completely overhauled game every couple of months. I'm fine with how you want to play, but why would I be okay if it affects my game too? More enemies, stronger enemies, smarter enemies, better AI, there are so many ways to improve difficulty without messing up the player's character itself.. Imagine you're drinking Pepsi. You feel it's fine but it could be better. Now what would you prefer: going to the store, trying other drinks, figuring out if maybe another drink would be better for you, or having someone tell you "hey this is better drink it" and then chugging it down your throat?