Wormerine

Interesting - I have issue some with the story (but we can talk about it once you finish the game) but think that gameplay I pretty excellent. Difficulty tuning is the biggest issue, but I used mod to reduce XP gain on my recent playthrough and it made it much more enjoyable to me. I tend to be more flexible with what spells and abilities I use now, which makes combat more enjoyable and I don’t get stuck too long on each encounter, but you can power through most fights using the same strategy over and over again, even if it is not an optimal way for this particular encounter. I think the issue is that the game doesn’t really have a way of punishing you for making wrong calls - everything just takes longer. I strongly disagree on items - I love how they did them. I am not the biggest fan of linear numerical progression - I don’t find finding weapons, which are simply more powerful, an exciting thing - Divinity2 is an example of game were I hated items - boring stuff, but forces you to constantly review weapons you get in case on weapon does slightly more damage then what you have. I like weapons to have unique properties, which can offer unique advantages, and contribute to my team build in an interesting way, adding new synergies. The fun of this design shines on consequent playthroughs, when you know what you can find and where, and you can really pair weapons with your characters. Maybe a street sweeper on a high perception character plus “aware” buff would make the N fight more manageable? https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Street_Sweeper

Yes, DLCs are much more challenging - should I say, they have properly designed and balanced fights. Even now on Veteran you can push yourself through most fights without really being properly prepared to counter - it is much better then it was on launch. Its not cheese - being ready to interrupt enemy, suppress/remove buffs, raise your PEN, lower enemy PEN and core basics of Deadfire combat - it’s just too easy to over level most of the content in the base game without changing XP gain. DLCs bring it up to a good level. From what I have seen Megabosses are more annoying - you have to get to know them, and prepare for them - but it is why thy are there, and are skippable if someone doesn’t find this kind of challenge fun. You can and should swap Grimoires - having couple in your item slots for different needs is wizard ABC.

First of all: What difficulty? If PotD - then asking to know how the fights go, and what to watch out for isn't asking too much: after all PotD shouldn't be for the first playthrough. I beated her twice on Veteran and... it wasn't too bad? (My BoW PotD was cancelled due to a bug). If I remember well she casts a generic spell (Llengrath's Safeguard?), so by that point in the game I would expect you know what that means (you are also ahead of time informed that Neriscyrlas wields magic). Even so, there are ways of making the spell end quicker. Fights added late in the game tend to be HP focused, which I don't like, but at the same time I have no idea how to create a challenging enemy, while having per-encounter system, and being beatable by various builds.

It is clearly a bug, one I haven’t seen before. Any mods?

That is, indeed, something I didn’t know about.

I must agree here with @algroth. I found Neketaka to be one of the best cities in an RPG (better then Athkatla.) Grouping all "legit" factions in one cities makes story and gameplay sense, is convienient for quest purposes, and is a good representation of what Deadfire situation is at this moment in history. All factions have additional small settlements. Would it be nice for them to be bigger? Sure, but it is already a sprawling game working with limited budget. Granted, if individual faction settlements were seperate, allying with faction might have been a bit more extreme (like in New Vegas, where player will soon find himself welcome with one faction, while attacked on sight by the other). However, it is not the story Obsidian wanted to tell, as faction aren't at war with each other until endgame. They coexist, scheming behind each other backs, and that's where you come in - freelancing and working with each other, as long as you prove useful. Deadfire is not a very developed area of the world, and it makes perfect sense to have one major city, and multiple small outposts. It seems that really the issues OP has aren't with the city itself but that the game rushes endgame. We interact with the factions a lot, but don't really see the fallout of the conflict - rushed finale and ending slides is all that we have to work with. Seeing the city change is a great idea - and a very expensive one. I think a more realistic proposition would be - longer Ukaizo act, which changes depending what faction you ally with, or post game expansion were we return to Deadfire and see changes to Neketaka and surrounding areas for ourselves. I still thing that expanded Ukaizo would improve the game the most, alas the game is concluded. For the future: it depends what Obsidian has in mind. I think that sticking to one location served them well, allowing them to focus and fully explore limited culture in the world. WIth the potential introduction of fast traveling (valian experiments with adra) I wouldn't be surprised if we were to hop between major areas around the globe (Rauatai, Yekuza, maybe Aedyr etc.), especially if the game would move over to 3d engine, alla D:OS (practicality of 2d backgrounds might be questionable). That of course, creates a challenge of defining multiple places and cultures at once, which might be great if done well, and it might hurt if done poorly, due to how much needs to be defined/written. Coming back the the topic - I do think Neketaka to be a better version of Athkatla, however, sprawling adventures of BG2 were probably more satisfying. Replaying the game recently, it is important to remember how great the opening chapter of BG2 is, and how empty the city feels once the players returns there after Underdark (at least it is, if, like me, you complete all quests there before progressing the story with the factions).

Yes, I did have the sound bug the last time I fought her which persisted throughout the fight. It fixed itself when I left the area.

If the tone will be anything like D:OS, it should be Stoned Walker.

Nope. Eder in Deadfire feels weird to me. Oh, he gets a lot of lines, because now he responds to every pet in the vicinity, instead of being a cute quirk (I guess now I know how people around me must feel). It doesn't help that without a character arc, and no tie to any of the faction, he is just there. Even Xoti took over as the Eothas representative. And it is a shame, two of them might have a more fleshed out, conflicting viewpoint on Eothas. Eder has some conflicted feelings regarding Eothas, but they are mentioned but not explored.

There is new full VO standard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzvulqbyssc

Yup, that looks like Vampire. Plus playing with pad and not being able to turn for some reason. Why would one play FPS with a pad is still beyond me.

I did find this announcement amusing. In the past Klei released their alpha in a quite covert way - Invisible Inc. was purchasable via their website, and ONI was hidden on steam, with link available via official forums, and both games were released on steam in Early Access once Klei deemed them fun. So does Klei believe that Epic is enough to stop everyone but the most interested in the game?

It took me a while, but I finally discovered Ancestral Memory and Salvation of Time combo. Probably because on my first playthrough on launch the fights didn't last long, and afterwards I didn't have cipher in my party until now. It's a bit amazing, infinite best buffs for everyone. Xoti always ends up as must have. Priest spells are simply too good. I did use druid for my 2nd playthrough, but it wasn't nearly as good of a replacement.

Ethics simply seems to know more then most people overall. Bold move to make PoE a playable minigame within OW.

It looks already much higher quality then I expected from Paradox funded games. Naturally, graphics is not something that decides my interest in an RPG. Overall, it looks better then I expected.

Forgotten Sanctum has some cool interactions and lore teases/reveals. I never new about this detail about Rekke's past so I thought it might be worth posting for anyone who might have missed it. It pops up if one experiences the drug trip of Drowsy Puke with Rekke in the party: Also the bit from Serafen, which is probably just sailors rumbling.... or foreshadowing?

Yeah, I must say it does look good. 2020 is getting packed with promising titles. It might be the year to get myslef a new PC.

I feel spending a turn to switch weapons is a fair trade. the point is fair - Grimoires can be swapped once per turn. Black Jacket should have the same system (?) - one free swap per turn. I see how completely free swapping might be a more direct translation in RtWP system, but I think the pacing makes the difference.

Waffle Vs pancake. Which always puzzled me. Waffle is clearly superior.

Finally got around to playing Pathfinder Kingmaker. Didn't get very far just yet, but I worry it might be a bumpy ride. The system is frustrating mess, complex in all the wrong ways, with character creation being a test, rather then multiple choice. It was frustrating as the game doesn't come with any kind of manual (unlike BGates) so enjoy guessing how things are calculated. Luckily it looks very much like D&D imitator so one can figure it out. UI is quite clunky. Combat has been a slog so far, with little input choice, and a lot of dicerolls. Same fights can go in dramatically different ways, without any change of tactics. Writing is very dry, very artificial, and so far not very engaging. Seems like Dev team bit a bit more then they can chew. It does have some promising elements though, so I will persevere for a little bit longer (should have skipped season pass)

At the same time we don't know nearly enough to make any judgement - all we can go by is comparing Divinity to Baldur's Gate, which might or might not be relevant, depending of Larian want to stick to what they know, or if they have a more creative mindset and want to do so something different. Game has just been announced, so all we know is that Larian works on BG3. Cool. Thumbs up. How it looks/plays etc. that is something we can wait for a bit. We don't even know at what stage of development they are.

Abilities are translated into TB mode, but it doesn't mean they do exactly the same. Knockback is a very useful distrupt and got buffed with deflection penalty as people raised the same concerns you do. Making enemy skip a turn, would mean giving the knockback the same effect as stun has. Again, not all things translated smoothly into TB mode.

About to delve into FS myself as well.

Because it's Keanu? He is awesome and every one loves him.

Well, Oct 25, 2020:-)