gruelest

I purchased PoE 2 and I'm excited to start the campaign but I've come across some topics stating Path of the Damned is too easy, even easier than PoE 1. This is a huge concern for me, and has unfortunately quelled my desire to play. I'm writing this because I want to hear from other players, to see if this desire for a better challenge resonates with anyone else. Maybe one of you lucky souls will rekindle my desire to play--- or maybe... even more... (Side note: I understand there is a difficulty spike coming soon--- That is GREAT news--- I look forward to the release, whenever that may be, and I hope it does well. Most likely, I will bite the bullet and wait for the spike before I start PoE 2) For some time, I feel like there has been a tendency to make games more lenient--- to make players more overpowered. Intoxicating them with power to get them hooked early, even "dumbing it down" for newcomers to the genre. The game should be punishing in a smart way (not made to be impossible, obviously, but done in a way where resources, planning, and pure luck and roll of the die are paramount to success). This is what I believe will happen if I start playing now (outside of just experiencing the story) - Early game will possibly be challenging --- a good balance of trial and error - Mid game - The steam roll begins. + an occasional surprise (maybe some mass confusion, fampyr or viseryk stun lock - Late game - the optional "deep-roads-instakill-dragon" will be your only challenge I really hope there's a better focus on path of the damned in the future, and more challenging difficulties in general, not just in this franchise, but in all tactical games. *Just a background on myself as a gamer. I have over 400 hours in XCOM 2, a Commander Ironman Vet. I have over 100 failed campaigns to beat it on Legendary with Ironman to no success. I love hearing myself talk. It feels amazing. And I'm very proud to live in my mom's basement. No shame. No I don't really live in my mom's basement. Okay, yes I do. Someone please hold me.

Same here, thanks.

Yes I have verified the steam cache many times, 'all files validated successfully.' Thanks. Edit: To clarify, it doesn't fix the bug.

Cool, look forward to it. Thanks. Something went wrong in that last flight. You barely escaped with your life. Hiravias anxiously paces about the camp, kicking rocks into the fire until he begins to shake on his knees. You decide to suspend the campaign, and head back to Caed Nua for the sake of keeping everyone alive. You ordered a truck of chicken noodle soup. That should do the trick.

I made a video of the bug too. I cast 2 different spells in this video. This is 180 hour campaign. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nuD2EnrZh0

Here is all my information: Description: After a couple fights / few minutes Hiravias becomes bugged when executing spells, 'shooting blanks' and unable to do anything but Basic Attack. He will 'charge' the spells in his Recovery time, as if it's working, but no spell will actually execute. Steps to reproduce the issue: Fight. Destroy a mob. Run. Fight another mob. Starts happening the 2nd or 3rd or 4th fight in, (after I restart the game) Important files: I included my most recent save, and the previous save just in case you needed it. The output log is also in the zip file. https://www.dropbox.com/s/s7w8scxj9efs5yn/PoE%20Save%20File.zip?dl=0 System specs: DXDiag is attached Thank you for your help. Please let me know if there's anything else you'd like me to add for support. Edit: PS Also I didn't mean the title to be pretentious, I was just freaking out, worried bout 180 hour campaign XD DxDiag.txt

It seems to only be Hiravias, but I'm not entirely certain. Basically, any spell, or action I do besides basic attack doesn't execute. He will do the animations, as if he is casting the spell, but nothing happens. For example, if I cast 'Moonwell,' he will raise his arms in the air, but nothing appears, and the spell-per-rest counter doesn't changed, as if he never used it in the first place. Basically, I've done battles, thinking he was fighting, and casting spells, until I noticed he was firing blanks the entire time. If I reload the game, he seems to work okay for the first fight, but not much later he breaks again. I have a high level party working through the White March Part 1 (level 13). I have verified game cache integrity to no avail. Any help is much appreciated.