Wormerine

That's not correct: At the current state priest and druids gain three spells per spell level (assuming you always pick the highest level possible: 2 choices + one from subclass) and 3-4 in case of wizards (2 chosen + 0-2 from grimoire). While it is difficult to judge I would hope for some way to craft at least one custom grimoire late into the game. I didnt' compare PoE1 spells to Deadfire spell (mostly because spell trees are not complete so it seems like a fools errand right now), but is there something specific you noticed is missing? More doesn't necessarly mean better. BG2 had over 100 spells but many of them were on repeat. In PoE many spells were designed to counter one specific affiction. Personally I didn't notice anything specific missing as of yet. EDIT: We know single class characters will get extra talent to spend per powerlevel, which means potential 5 spells per spell level for wizards and 4 spells per spell level for priests&druids. Seems fine to me.

Played quite a bit of beta, recently finished playthrough of BG1&2 and started PoE1 playthrough with a mage character. While the Deadfire’s casting system has its issues I believe it is the best system for spellcasters yet. Per rest system discourages using spells which means it gives you more options which you never use. I didnt find that an access wider range of spells means using more of them. While spells spellcasters can learn are more limited, let’s not forget there are scrolls, which can be use by anyone who invests in arcana. In Deadfire i am regularly capable of cast quite a few spells befor combat is done. I understand that there are some completely broken multiclass builds, but those need an attention first. PoE1 spellcasters have a habit of making the fight trivial when using spells, or being not very interesting when spamming weapon attack. I find per-rest discourages experimentation leading to me casting the same spells, if they keep working. Cipher was my favourite spellcasters in PoE and I am glad to see that Deadfire aims to improve in other areas as well.

My problem was more with writing. Or at least it annoyed me, personally. There is a lot of writing in Divinities, but little character, meaningful story or anything memorable whatsoever. I skipped through a lot of voicework as well, simply because I wanted to skim through dialogue. Rarely anyone has anything interesting to say. They will give you quests or hints, but there is also a lot of filler to hide useful stuff. Conversations rarely “go” anywhere - what I mean by that they don’t have an arc. I feel it’s more coop oriented. I don’t think that you as a player are expected to pay close attention to everything or discover everything by yourself. VO isn’t bad by itself - there is some really funny stuff. Impressive chicken voices.

Click or not to click, that is the question

Why? Well, when I think Battlemage I think: mage + standard melee class. Like a mage but also trained in traditional combat. Warlock I always associate with a more tribal enviroment and casting spell, making its connection to barbarian and wizard class make more sense to me. Argument you are making does make sense, but just doesn't work for me either. Its a subjective thing though.

Well, at least Sagani showed that dwarfs can be interesting. I was creating a new character in PoE1 and I was considering creating a dwarf femal mage, just to mess with Obsidian's data but sadly no good portraits for a mage dwarf. Had to go with old good wizard elf.

Let me summarise it just to make sure I understand it right: casting buffs with decrease casters (or everyone inflicted?) concentration making it easier to interrupt him/her next time he/she casts. It would be still possible to cast as many buffs as one desires but it would get easier and easier to get interrupted. As a side note: it is already possible to cancel buff/debuff by casting on a target opposites debuff/buff of the same type of affliction (strenght, dexterity, perception etc.)

Josh said its coming so I am sure it is. I doubt they knew they will delay the game before we did, so they must have been planning with that in mind.

Something I would like not to see in Deadfire - padding! I have grew more and more critical of Baldur's Gate2 over the years and when I restart it I always forget why... and that's padding! While its nice to have lengthy games, don't make game longer than it needs to be. After absolutely delicious first half Baldur's Gate looses it's speed once you leave Ankathla: Pirate Island is empty, underdark, while cool in concept, has a lot of walking from one point to another and passively watch the story develop. And then you leave underdark and you have this really weak content just before finale - killing vampres 'again' + 3 completely empty, pointless and boring new maps. A lot of fat and empty space which earlier quests simply didn't have. Let it end already. Sorry, had to vent for a bit.

Do I understand it right that you have to override existing portraits and can't just add new ones as you could in BGs?

The system is heavily abstracted and no, it doesn’t make sense. In case it is not clear the restriction is that you can make one full move per round (1x full sail, or 2x half sail). From what I understand from a ship stream, it is a callback to tabletop RPG rules, though I never played one, so can’t confirm that. Josh mentioned a while ago that this restricion will probably get removed.

It should be found under: %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Pillars of Eternity If you use steam or gog cloud service you can regain saves by reinstalling the game.

At the same time Witcher series have a benefit of being more confined - you play as Geralt. This is a weakness and strenght not many RPGs will have. It leads to more defined characters and interactions, which lead to more character and overall a more direct voice acting. As an actor you know who character is, what their attitude is toward the person they are talking and they can craft several arcs of how this conversation could develop. It also helps that Geralt as a character is emotionally muted, making decision making more natural. A lot of voice acting in RPGs (especially from PC character) is very generic to make space for interpretation. And this is where unvoiced characters work better, making more space for interpretation and expression. I do agree about soundtrack. I like it overall - I think main title theme is excellent, but I could use more unique tracks. Looking forward to shanties.

Prerendered 2d background must look great in 3D :-D

I am not 100% sure what you mean. Engaging works the same as it did in PoE. Once you are engaged in melee you and your enemy are locked down and if one of you moves away the enemy will get a free attack. This doesn’t work when a target is being pulled away, via spell or an ability. There are also abilities (like rogue’s escape), which allow characters to safely leave an engagement.

Yeah, but I don’t feel like there is an easy fix for that beside allowing you to move between “preparing” and casting a spell, which might introduce a new can of worms. Once the change will be live that cancelled casting doesn’t consume the spell it shouldnt be as frustrating, though as I usually target a back line I don’t run into that issue very often.

A cannon shooting dragons?

I feel like beta hasnt been focused on giving us better experience with each update but on giving us stuff to test. Feedback from beta1 still hasn’t been implimented, while we know they have been working on adding more passives for a long time. Makes sense, I think. While might not be satisfying right now, if they fix the stuff for 1.0 it’s all that really matters in the end. At least I am not burning myself out on Deadfire beta.

What can I say? When you are right: you are right. And you are right.

Yeah, those are just images so they are fairly easy to add/replace. It’s a bigger challenge now, when it would be fitting to match watercolour art style, but Aramintai has been generously helping out with that. I will probably compile all of those for personal use once Deadfire comes out:-).

Two playthroughs. I am not saying that the later chapter are static, but that they are defined by decisions made in act1. I find making a decision to be much more appealing than watching it play out. While there are some cool dilemmas to solve after act 1 (like dealing with the child) overall it feels much more like watching a fallout of conquest and act1, and to me, is less involving.

I am not sure if that is what put you off, but for me what made Tyranny weaker wasn’t per say design of the locale (I did like the more focused approach) but that after act 1 for the most part you were watching you choices from intro and act 1 play out, rarely making new ones. It is as if after act one you were set on straight line till the end after rather brilliant opening. Beside Oldwalls Tyranny didn’t have an exploration, which fit the theme, though I can see how it could have been missed.

How was Tyranny “open world”? It’s a set of couple fairly linear locations and in many “storylines” you even don’t have direct control control over which ones you visit and when. Open-world and sandbox a rather well defined. Open-world game is a game which design doesn’t create artificial boarders for exploring. There are no set levels, which you need to beat in certain order (I am talking location wise, not story instances). BG1 is sort of open world (except some locations are cut off) but I would say BG2 isn’t, although you get lots of choice in what to do. Sandbox games, often use open world structure, are games which put little limitations on players - it is more of a playground than a structured game. Often sandbox games adapt a more traditional, limited gameplay for the “story instances”. Witcher, Gothic, Fallout: NV or Baldur’s Gate were not a sandbox games (even though Witcher3 has handful of mini games typical to sandbox games) there is nothing indicating that Deadfire will be. Systems added seem to be there to enhance main content, not distract players from it.

There is: 1) no scaling 2) scale everything 3) scale critical path only + Scale up only. For my first play through I am leaning towards no scaling or critical path up only. Without expansions the critical path hopefully won’t become trivial, though it all depends how sidecontent is spread.

Sure, but UI could support that - like in Wasteland2 or scripted interactions of Deadfire - choose nearby party members without leaving conversation and initiating a new one with different character. I did love that aspect of Icewind Dale2. I was pleasantly surprised by it.