Silvaren

But if you don't want to waste empower you are mentally forced to use at least one spell from every level until you spend that one empower point. Casting spells is always partially tactic and partially situational based on the flow of encounter. You utilize some tools over and over in every battle but sometimes situation on battlefield requires to use the same tools one more time and right now you are limited to 2 attempts (without empower) and forced to use different tools after that. I prefer old per day limits - combined with passive talents and weapon there was no need to cast spell after spell. Resource management was better imho. Now it's only spellcasting and it's very limited.

Few known spells and very limited number of casts at lower levels aren't much problem. It was designed like that since ages (vide Dungeons & Dragons). Real problem lies in limited cast at higher chararacter's level, when there are still only 2 cast per level during combat. It lacks flexibility. In longer fights I would like to cast more Curses of Blackened Sight, Combusting Wounds, Mirrored Images, Merciless Gazes... And now I'm limited to 2 cast each level and the new system forces me to use something else, not necessarily suited to a situation.

2 cast per level during combat it's hardly resource pool. Sometimes you just need use more spells from 2 level than 4 etc. In D&D caster can prepare lower level spell using hogher level slot and it has nothingto to do with metamagic. It's just better customisation to fit player's need. In Deadfire non-caster classes have options to recover resources thanks to upgrades of certain abilities, like upgraded paladin's sworn enemy which refund zeal cost after targeted enemy die. Casters just have 2 cast per level. I'm not sure how stealing spells from grimoires work in Deadfire but it still require at least one cast do its tradeoff.

For now Black Jacket is more like quick drawing cowboy rather than versatile fighter proficient innie using multi-weapons. Since every class is "proficient" in using all weapons (they can't hurt themself while swinging), weapon focus and weapon mastery passives are more powerful than modals, modals themselves aren't much appealing. I vote for making modals better, more interesting in general, but I would give black jacket modals without penalties (I guess they won't be modals anymore because there won't be reasons to turn them off). Or at least black jacket could have lesser penatlies from modals.

One more thing: Old health mechanic was better. In PoE1 droping health while maintaining endurance at higher level required more tactics and it was a punishment itself. Now there is rarely need to rest (after changes in wound system in latest build). I can beat group after group in countless fights. Old health/endurance system worked better as additional layer of strategy and simply as a challenge.

When I first played PoE 1 I played in "Expert" mode and there was no recovery bar or icon displayed during recovery time. I new my character looked unresponsive because I cared to read about game mechanics and attack speed in manual section of in-game journal. Sorry for double post. The one above can be deleted.

GOOD 1. Visuals, game looks gorgeous - detailed character's model - option to turn on and off helmets, cloaks, pets, draw and hide weapons at the inventory screen - dynmaic lights & shadows - clouds - wheater effects - spell effects (and fading out during the pause) - animated foliage and water look super cool - birds, birds, BIRDS, BIRDS!!! - idle animations 2. Sounds, so far much imrpoved - spell effects - weapon sounds - music (only few tracks but I already uploaded them on youtubbe, so I could listen music during work until OST will be released) 3. Multiclass system - player can fulfill fantasy by making character's cooncept which works mechanically in the game 4. polished gameplay - characters are better at finding clear path to the target and can spread out near the enemy to make room for brothers in arms - AI customisation on the same level as in Dragon Age II (or even better), while I don't need such system in the game which doesn't have cooldows, it's nice tool for people who don't like too much micromanagement - new stealth mechanic works really well - new skills like Sleight of hand and specialisation in different kind of lore - option to copy-paste items in quick slots, like shield it's great, it's literally the only one missing thing that prevents me from changing weapons set in first PoE, because I didn't want to lose benefits from certain shield or off-hand weapon - new map which allows player to quickly embark on a journey - huge amount of unique dialogs depeneding on class, race, background etc - C&C are great from moral standpoint, each choice has consequences so the outcome won't be 100% perfect, bad choices should be consider as valid MIXED 1. ship management - it's cool concept to own the ship as stronghold and use it to explore Deadfire Archipelago - ship combat seems to be confusing and repetetive, but it can be more interesting in final version with all the choices about crew members, upgrades and types of ship - I would like an option to confront enemy ship instantly through abordage at the begining of sea encounter, I coudn't get close enough in the beta so far - I would like an option to resolve sea encounters through quick combat (like in Hearoes of Might and Magic series) - resource management is interesting concept but it shouldn't force player to be constantly worrying about supplies, while it can put some reasonable limits to exploration and ship's operational range it seems that it will consume too much money. I know that in PoE money at some point wasn't a problem and some kind of "gold sink" mechanic is required for Deadfire. I guess the ship will be introduce after a while, some kind of prologue. 2. Magic system - I prefer old system because of habits from p&p RPG and Iinfinity Engine games - 2 spells of every power level per fight seems to make caster less flexible and limited in terms of tactical choices, I understand that it add another usage for Empower to regain spells and on higher levels characters will have greater repertoire to pick from - if currrent system stays I would like to have an option to cast lower level spells by using higher level spell's limit (without any benefits, just to have option for another cast of certain lower level spells, like in D&D 3 wizard could remember for example additional 1st level Magic Missile using second level spell's slot - or even much higher level slot - please, do not confuse it with metamagic feats) BAD 1. No general talents - I'm replaying PoE right now and it still feel fresh and deep in terms of character's build, there is so much to try, in Deadfire I have to multiclass my characters to make similar builds to those from the first game - wizards and priests without passive abilities are lacking in terms of customisation, domains and grimoires aren't sufficient to make them as much appealing as other classes - sequel should imrpove, provide evolution not revolution, right now it's imposible to mechanically recreate every Watcher from the first game (for example Blast Wizard) 2. Casting time - it's too damn long, yes, it makes Dextirity more important but it shoudn't punish players who aren't min-maxing attributes because in PoE every attribute can be important for character - in first beta build when spells didn't graze wizards were far behind other classes, too long to cast spells, too little damage or no debuffing effects8 - long casting times are easier to interrupt, long activation and recovery put them far behind martial classes 3. Confusing mechanics - there are no indicators how Empower boosts every abiliy - there is no clear info how much abilities gain from higher power level - outdated tooltips (for example Penetration displayes rules from first beta build, pen mechanic was changed - wasn't?) - even if player knows how certain formula are calculated it's hard to imagine how it will work without testing (action speed and recovery) and calcuation are complex, there is no clarity about stackings EDIT Few things I forgot to mention. TERRIBLE 1. Weapons modals - they are tradeoffs but in many cases penalties are much higher than benefits - all classes can use all weapons without hurting themselves so in analogy to D&D, all classes are proficient with all weapons, and modals doesn't seem to require more training (aka "proficiency") while using specific weapon, most of those tradeoffs seem natural and I don't think that they need special training to perform, it's not consistent with Weapon Focus talent (grants +6 accuracy - yeah, this is true weapon proficiency) - maybe it will be better if character could choose lesser number of modals, but designed not as harsh tradeoffs but as something like mastery in using certain weapon, purely benefit from proficient weapon in use (for example one proficiency at the strat of the game and second on higher level) it could impact Black Jacket subclass to be more interesting as master in different weapons rather than person who can basically quick draw pistols like some kind of cowboy (Black Jacke choosing more proficient weapons than other classes) 2. Wizard's subclasses (and little about priest's domain) - too much tradeoffs in all sublclasses, it should be restricted in terms of avaliable school of magic, but I'm not sure if +1 power level compensate it enough (what it does for all spells?). And the longer recovery for spells from different school is atrocious, isn't casting and recovery long enough already for casters? - I prefer sorcerer or general wizard in D&D, the only one specialized mage I could play in D&D was the Red Wizard from Thay. In D&D specialized mage was losing acces to few schools of magic but gained ONE ADDITIONAL SPELL per day. Something like that would be cool in Deadfire. Like now it's 2 spells from every level per encounter. Why specialized wizard can't get +1 additional spell per level (of chosen school) to use in every fight, a spell determined through leveling proces (like in first PoE one bonus spell per encounter), It could be similar for priest's domain - one additional spell over those 2 per level during the fight (just like in D&D spells from cleric's domain have different pool). - right now I would pick general wizard, subclasses aren't appealing for me in terms of unique ability. At the beginning of the beta I liked Evoker, but when proc for second cast dropped from 30% to 15% in latest update and scepter's modal Destructive Channeling won't grant additional 20% damge for spell anymore, there is no point in giving up other school of magic and take penalties in recovery time for rest of themm. - too long casting, it shoudn't be designed with Deleterious Alacrity of Motion in mind

https://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/170559585501/how-would-you-feel-about-having-a-customizable Yeah youtube, learn from Deadfire!

Like I mentioned somewhere - it wasn't pure real time with pause. You could cast one spell, drink one potion, use one item or make certain number of attacks during 6 sec period in combat, 6 sec of individual round, where every character proceed through their rounds simultaneously. Dragon Age series is truly real time - you give order to character to perform specific task and that character is doing it right away - without waiting for next 6 seconds window to start (IE, NWN 1&2) or recovery time to pass before next action (PoE). Maybe I'm too pedantic about real time, just like Tim Cain about Fallout not beeing isometric :D

Ah! That’s interesting. I was wondering how people find time to watch their characters wait through recovery, with all the craziness that is happening. In solo runs it makes so much more sense. It reminds me of NWN1. I got stuck in a fight with spider where we couldn’t hit each other, so I went to make some tea while my character was swinging at the enemy occasionally hitting him. They were still swinging when I came back.It looks the same in first BG and both ID. BG 2 is different in that matter because game shows more attack's animations than the characters are doing, just to make combat more flashy and dynamic. PoE is as transparent as BG, ID 1&2 and NWN are - every swing animation is an attempt to hit the target. It can be boring to watch with long recovery (you know it, Barik, even too well) but it's acurate and important from gameplay perspective. In Enhanced Edition all IE games have more swinging animation than actual attacks per round, but it can be turned off in game options.

Rules of PoE 1&2 are simpler to understand (in comparison to Infinity Engine games), but much harder to calculate. They were designed for computer RPG only - lots of percentage values and numbers difficult to duplicate via dice rolls. Very high numbers or multipliers. For example casting times. In Infinity Engine games combat is quasi-real time. Truly it's turn based, but every character act simultaneously in individual rounds, which starting point is different on the timeline of combat, it depends on delay of a weapon or casting time (or initative in Icewind Dale 2 beacuse D&D 3). While playing IE games you know that each round last 6 sec and you know your character's attacks per round number, casting time of all spells etc. In PoE it's hard to calculate how long or how often you will cast spell with X Dex, X armor. Even if you know formula of actual attack speed and how modifiers aplly. Most power gamers from PoE community have been testing damage output in certain period of time etc. I don't need this knowledge to finish entire game even on PotD. We have tools we can do anything. I'm now replaying PoE 1 once again and for the first time I'm searching for builds,exploits, synergies (with The Ultimate challenge in mind) and it feels like I'm discovering deep mechanics of PoE for the first time. Game provides crazy tools. I finished all infinity engine games with solo char (except Planescape Torment) without a sweat, but PoE seems harder, trickier. To make mechanically more than average character I have to combine optimal attributes, skills, class abilities, general talent and gear (gear separately is more complex and has greater impact on gameplay than in infinity engine games). Crazy tools for power gamers. I can't find these tools in Deadfire - at least in current beta. Simple gear, no general talents pool, no passive abilities for priest and wizard. To scratch the surface of complex builds from first PoE I have to pick multiclass char and even then some subclasses are better than others and some abilities are too good, just no-brainer choices. Multiclassing is great for stricte RP concept of character too which can be build in the way it doesn't suck in combat and fulfil certain fantasy. I miss old tools. Maybe PoE is too complex mechanically, but player doesn't need to know everything to win the fight. Casuals will play once or twice through the game, mostly for the story or characters, lore. Hardcore players will master the game, playing it over and over. More tools, the old ones, won't hurt bigger selling target. Modals... as mastery skills with weapon of choice they seem to harsh, tradeoff with too little to gain, more like amateurs' endeavour. Only 1h spear has nice modal for tanks, scepter was awesome for evoker (boosting damage not only during autoattack but even with spells - I'm not sure if it works the same in current build, and range of scepter now ), maybe medium shield modal can be good or some penetration with huge penalties. /sorry for bad english

I bought huge amount of supplies like water, rum, rice, fish (500 in every stack) but I'm getting constant information about dehydrated and starving crew because of no food/water supplies. All items are in stash, can't be split into lesser stacks. I didn't have this issue with other Watcher during exploration even with 500 items of all types.

Why do you need so much RAM? Anyway, youtube definitely needs good channel with Pillars of Eternity stuff. There are only TCS or Ultimate playthroughs and Nerd Commando Game Studios channel, but the first are mostly boring to watch and I can't listen to Nerd Commando.

I was confused during my first combat scenario and now it seems clear enough. Except the wind which seems totally random. I know this isn't Empire at War but targeting specific part of the ship seems cool and I would like to see it in the game - while probably not so realistic at this stage of technological advance. Maybe different types of ship's upgrades will make sea combat better. Now it feels too long because player is doing the same things over and over again. Maybe few types of different AI behavior will make encounters more interesting. I never had a chance to board enemies' vessels. Resource management probably need some clarification. It's obvious that crew need water and food and better stuff make them happy, but how morale affects the crew? And ship's repairs is a little confusing at first. Is resource management supposed to be gold sink?

Go for balance or realism - not both. If you want realism in PoE, consider that movement in melee combat is the most important thing. Ashi sabaki in kendo, footwork in fencing, long sword manuals and any older medieval combat. You cant't make proper attack without dynamic of the body, kinetic force from movement. It's something what was strange in D&D from the begining. Two combatants standing square by square, swinging swords while rooted in place. Outside action computer rpg first Neverwinter Nights was probably the closest game to represent movement in combat. If you want realism, start with the most important thing, then aim for another. Better stay with the balance And in case of shields, acc penalty has reason - because oftym balance, as trade off. But I like am idea about bringing shield for offense, but as special talent or subclass ability. But it's only a flavour to make weapon + shield dps. It would be interesting to change display of the offhand weapon so it could look like shield and add some attack animation with shield. So character trained in two weapon style fight with weapons in both hands, but for sake of flavour offhand could be displayed as shield. Or just give some damage stats to shield and special talent to use it for attack purpose and bring all benefits from two weapon style.

How party assist is calculated? Sometimes compansions have skill at level 3 and 2 and the game give +2 party assist, while sometimes one companions has skill at level 3 but the assist is only +2, different situation when companions have skill level 3/2/2 and party assist grants +4 or they have 2/2 and give together +3.

Nope. In BG2 you could pick spells for sorc and mage from the same list. Sorcerers lend themselves more towards nuke than battlefield manipulation? It's individual player's choice. It was D&D 4th edition which changed roles of sorcerers and wizards. 4th ed changed them because of the way most people played them in 3.5. Same list, yes, but Sorcs pick fewer from that list and end up with a noticeably smaller spell selection that is capable more often. Consequently, wizards tend to have much larger and more variable spell lists while sorcs tend to be narrowly focused. For a lot of 3.5 gamers, that focus was often nukes, especially if there is already a wizard in the party. Still, before D&D 4th edition it all depended on player's choice. If you have favoured spells and know how to use them, then probably sorc is better. Especially in BG 2, where Int or charisma won't grant more slots per level or higher DC.

Nope. In BG2 you could pick spells for sorc and mage from the same list. Sorcerers lend themselves more towards nuke than battlefield manipulation? It's individual player's choice. It was D&D 4th edition which changed roles of sorcerers and wizards.

I wonder, dev team ever consider adding classic feature from many role playing games - damage treshold? I know that Josh is against insta kill but it's an interesting rule. Maybe it's bad idea because power gamers could learn how to abuse such thing like damage treshold, but it's great and rarely feeling to slay enemy with single strike.

It's probably one of my favoured things in BG2. Fight against mage is complex and fun minigames in BG2. But players have lots of tools to use in those combats. No game has ever repeat such complex approach to layers of defence's spell and ways to break those magic barriers. But what about other games? Neverwinter Nights has counterspell system took from D&D 3.0 but I never really use it while playing this game. During p&p session of D&D 3x I occasionaly put counterspell in use. It was quite good in The Temple of Elemental Evil but this game is the best adaptation of D&D ruleset ever (and first game based on D&D 3.5). Counterspell in pure turn based combat worked well, but still, it was only occasionally useful. Second edition of AD&D wasn't balanced at all. D&D 3X is balanced but only at 8 character level (second attack for classes with BAB 3/4, stone skin for sorc etc). Before and after 8 level it's total mess with more and more additional prestige classes, feats, spells. I guess that's why Icewind Dale II offers set of feats which are basically Player's Handbook content - stricte basic stuff. Talents from first Pillars of Eternity are similar to feats from D&D 3X Player's Handbook with the same addition of features as Icewind Dale II has - so talents (feats) which boosts for example fire damage. I don't see how arcane duels could work in PoE ruleset. Maybe like AndreaColombo said - Deafire's keywords or magic's schools are means to achiev cool new system. Sure, we don't have spells like Breach, Pierce Shield, Sequencers, Spells Immunity, Contingency etc but I think there is a potential.

I'm no fan of simplistic, repetetive combat from Dragon Age Origins. It was better in sequels, where you could put status effect on enemy and then triggered it with cross class combo. It added more tactical value to combat in the series since DA:O. About Taunts - it could work similar to Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. Tank use ability which do something + taunt enemy/enemies. Taunted enemy can attack whoever he wants, but all attack rolls against other than tank who taunted him are made with great penalty to hit chance (-5 if I'm correct, so after translation to d100 in Pillars it would be like -25 accuracy). I would like to see abilities from p&p RPG rather than computer games. If I could, I would pick Time Stop (it was hell of a fun in soloing Baldur's Gate II and Neverwinter Nights) so it's doable (probably) plus some kind of teleport spell - in combat or world map. We already have some abilities from Diablo, like leap.

Potential holes in new system reminds me of epic raidbosses from Lineage 2. Indestructable tank with healers behind his back just coudn't die during raid. There isn't much healing spells in Deadfire beta, but I guess combining some abilities, special items and other stuff will casue new health system to break or just being exploited. There are ways to prevent it, like for example: make healing abilities to heal large amount of HP instantly and buff small HP recovery over moderate period of time, while this over time bonus would block any other means of heal until it ends. But why bother? It's better just drop new concept and go back to original system. It's great that game mechanics in first Pillars works well with the lore of Eora - Berath's cycle. Old system was much better, especially with addition of wounds. In PoE I always try to push my party to their limits thanks to endurance+health system. I rest only when I know it's too much risk to try another fight. I like wounds in new system. It seems reasonable that characters can be wounded by traps or certain special attacks. Current beta hasn't crafting system at all so we can't make meals to cure the wound during rest. I found only few meals to use while playing beta. Since all abilities are per encounter and health regenerates like old endurance I rarely rest. If I could cook some meals then probably I would sleep only to restore Empower points for hardest fights or to get some bonuses from camping. Isn't it strange for game like Pillars of Eternity? Edit: I like Barring Death's Door spell from PoE. Health + endurance was more strategic.

Is that your personal feeling of what an Eoran wizard is (or should be), or is that canon ? 'cause I do not seem to find any lore explicitly stating that wizards are "the skilled and trained ones among all casters". Wizardry in RPGs is, generally, the ability to evoke effects (with or without resorting to implements and/or magical reagents) (arcane casting) as opposed to being allowed to cast this or that spell because of one's devotion to this or that deity (divine casting) or because of one's heritage (demonic abilities, draconic abilities). Nothing in there entails that the wizard (or divine caster) be particularly good at his craft, or underwent special training (or training at all). You make it seem as if wizards are the elite of the arcane casters, for which I can find no canonical reference. The wiki page for wizards, Description section, states they are "students of arcane [...] often forming academies or guilds". It goes on to say (background section) they are "of high education and extreme mental discipline". The page specifically states that wizard academies and guilds are "devoted to research and development in magical studies". There is not one thing in there supporting your claim/assumption that wizards are the elite of arcane casters, having undergone this or that rigorous training. One may very well conceive of a wizard as a somewhat recluse, somewhat close-minded researcher and pursuer of esoteric knowledge, who's had no field and combat experience whatsoever. One may as well conceive of another wizard being brought up and trained specifically as a battle-mage. True but I'm assuming that wizards have arcane powers because of lots of training and learning magic, which is probably hard and long path. It seems different than ciphers, druids or pirests, who (I guess) gain their power in more in-born/granted/gifted/natural way than hard work. That's why I compare wizards to fighters as those who learn their skill by both theoretic and practice way more as profession, ocupation (like scholars, soldiers). They are made, not born. But I pointed all this just for one purpose - at least Wizards should have ability to graze with spells just like fighters do with their attacks, thanks to, steady aim.

Some passive talents could solve problems of the wizards. Wizards in Eora are similar to wizards from D&D settings. They pursue knowledge, train magic as apprentices by practicing arcane arts. Wizards are the skilled and trained ones among all casters, just like fighters are disciplined soldiers among warriors. The point is - they could have equivalent of fighter's Steady Aim talent but for magic. I would go further in comparing wizards to fighters. Give them equivalent of stances. 3 stances with particular bonuses wizards could switch between as fighters do. Like Arcane Piercing (bonus PEN), Arcane Quickness (quicker casting) and the third one for bigger damage from spell or interputting strikes while using implements. I don't like how grimoires works right now. I don't like that spells are missing grazes as result of attack roll. I think that narrow choice of spell is good for subclasses but pure wizard knows too few spells and has no interesting abilities to help him switch grimoires depending on situation. Overall, while I like control wizards the most I had quite good fun with Evoker this time. WIth Destructive Channeling and random 30% chance to repeat attak roll I was able to oneshot-instakill one of quasibosses (the named one left from the stairs at second level of Poko Kohara) using empowered 4th level Minoletta's Missiles. But still I had too many "no pen" and misses during lots of fights. Casting time of spells is too long so I often lose spell because there is no reason to use it when it's at finish of casting or in case of change of situation I need to use something different - but the unfinished spell is lost because there is no way to cancel it and save it for later.

@Christliar Good news then, but I would like to see some passive skills as well. In PoE casters gained abilities, talents and spells, now there are only spells to gain.