Andronidas

Also this helps a lot: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/103029-issues-with-nvidia-graphics-cards/

Hi Andrea, I have had similar issues (i think) with the game, and this thread helped me and a lot of other people out: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/103723-so-uh-i-fixed-one-of-the-games-performance-problems-with-whom-do-i-speak/ Try it out, it's a non-invasive procedure and easy to follow Hope you get it to work!

Basically title: If someone could attempt a mod to make backstab only doable by main hand attacks with light weapons and then buff it accordingly? It's my impression that it kills the immersion for many people.

Thank you, this is great! You fixed my problems in cities (no stutter at all now!) and i experience much less stutter in fights. Any ideas to bring the fight-stutter down as well? I have a GTX 960M running on a laptop. Cheers!

How do you figure that? Because of slower reload/higher dmg?

Yeah, it's a bit more worthy now. Actually, concussive shot seems really good now, too (1 bond), play dead (2 bond), evasive fire (1 bond). Barring the lack of acc. boost, the ranger really looks like a fun single-class for me to play, especially if you want utility, and you don't mind spending points on the pet. I just counted, and with (i think it is) 28 points, you actually don't lack for good pick-options. Full ranger next playthrough for me, I'm happy. Edit: Takedown Combo now increases dmg dealt to target by 100% as before, but for 10 sec!

Ranger change: Twinned shot now costs 2 bond and gives 25% dmg. That's down from 3 and no extra dmg, right? Also masters call is 1 bond.

What does Space do? The game is a RTwP (Real Time with Pause) game. That means that the game is built on the idea that you pause, then tell every party member what to do. When they have done what you want them to, give them new orders. Repeat until win

Well personally I think it becomes way too diablo-ish if the archer constantly shoots out multiple arrows that penetrate and find new targets, so I like it - maybe change the cost though. You could also make the argument that the other actives have utility - Wounding Shot for making your companion do extra damage, Headshot and upgrade for debuffing and interrupting enemy and then the rest of the time twin shot. Edit: You could also change Twin Shots to "On Crit" or something like that.

You may be talking about something like this and the thread before that one? https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/96828-portraits-ii/

That's true. I think it would fix it - or at least make it more fun - if the malus remained similarly harsh (excluding abilities), and magic resistance would be scaling with powerlevel and the class special worked on range as well to accommodate more build types (right now, afaik, only melee barb is viable).

Couldn't you argue that metaphysical strength = resolve though?

Ranged only would also lose out on the advantage of the Mage Slayer effect... it's only applied in melee. Frenzy and Wild Sprint don't have long durations to begin with, so the penalty can be very significant. Barbaric Yell has limited range. Firearms can benefit significantly from upgraded Barbaric Blow (instant extra attack on kill), but bows... not so much (unless you mean crossbows, which do have the nice interrupt modal). The Barbarian passive that lets you interrupt on crit is melee only. The passive that grants bonus stride... doesn't grant very much (10% as opposed to 100% from Wizard spells). On the other hand the only Ranger self-buff with a duration is iirc Evasive Roll. And fast ranged weapons can be used to increase your chance of landing the killing blow and triggering Bloodlust. Berserker Sharpshooter (especially with the bonus penetration from Berserker Frenzy) or Paladin Sharpshooter (+15 all defenses, not just spells) would be better. But if you want to do bow-only Mage Slayer/Sharpshooter for rp reasons and don't mind giving up most of the Mage Slayer and Barbarian abilities... it's not like you'll die quickly or be completely unable to do damage most of the time, if that's what you mean by "viable".... Boo But thx for letting me know, I'll have to RP that differently I guess, the Mage Slaying from afar was kinda the point. Maybe I'll just full-class ranger then

Do you guys think it would be viable to do a Sharpshooter/Wizard Slayer even though you lose out on the advantages of carnage and then go bows for the ultimate Ygritte build?

How about backstab being exclusive to fast weapons? That would solve issues with it being counterintuitive as an idea, and make for a reason to use more rogue-like weapons as a rogue. A streetfighter/fighter would always have reason to use other weapons, so I think narrowing it down would be nice.

I agree, BG2 was constantly challenging for me as well. That may of course have to do with it being more linear in its ways, but I'd prefer linearity and depth over a too open world running the risk of meaningless/no challenge. In my eyes, the bar should always be set high, so that everyone can have a challenge. That way, those who can't hack it going main quest only would, as you said it, be forced to go back and do something different - or reduce the difficulty. IMO the fun of these games, or any activity really, comes from (just barely) surmountable resistance - NOT by "having it your way" all of the time. It's like our modern life perception of freedom is a child-like idea i.e. "I do whatever I want, whenever I want it", but I think there is a deeper meaning of freedom, that eludes many in modern society, which is that, paradoxically, constriction or being bound to something/someone can be strangely liberating. For example, a real life example, being in a romantic relationship can free you from the stress/constant awareness of having to think of the other sex as "maybe potential partners", and gives you the ability to engage in different kinds of relationships with the other sex, that could maybe even make for a deeper understanding of the world for yourself. Returning to the world of gaming, I think this is applicable too in the great example of BG2: SOA; the linearity of this CRPG lends itself to such a dense world, that even though your choices are ultimately constricted and arbitrary, the story is so focused, that you don't mind doing annoying tasks to earn money for saving Imoen, thus making it so you will probably have reached a proper level for the challenging path ahead. What I'm worrying is that Josh and the team in Pillars 2 (which I'm really looking forward to, don't get me wrong) will buy too much into the aforementioned infantile perception of freedom, that I suspect much of this community is too grown up to really care for in the long run, thus sacrificing the enjoyment of resistance in the game and ultimately, replayability.

So that's why the Pen system uses a harsh threshold and why they're unlikely to move to a purely incremental (i.e., +/- 5% per point or w/e). They basically moved to the Penetration system because 1) it's percentage based so deals with very high damage values better, and 2) they like that there's a clear line that tells players "whoops, time to change strategies." How about this way, as an attempt of making a clear system that's harsh enough to make you think and at the same time keeping some of the scaling so you dont become useless: PEN -1-3 compared to AR = 70% dmg (call it "underpenetration" or something) PEN -4 or more compared to AR = 30% dmg (Still called "no penetration") Then just add 5% per penetration point over enemy AR and cap it at 30%, keep the current system or don't implement overpenetration at all - that's less important, as I think the punishment is most important. Also a gradual overpenetration system would make penetration buffs almost mandatory every battle (which is boring), which is why I would personally be in favor of keeping the old overpenetration system allong with what I just demonstrated for underpenetration. Gradual, yet harsh!