cheesevillain

Well, BG2 was a game all about wizards and their utterly useless hanger-ons, so they got a little more love. :-P

1) Most classes & subclasses. I've never actually had fun building and playing fighters before. I didn't expect or even want that, so that was a pleasant surprise. I think fighter tanks are really interesting now with all the new weapon effects and customized abilities, in contrast to dam. I also love Helwalker, and I'd be very sad if they changed it at all. 2) With the current Pen mechanics, Devoted and Sharpshooter. 3) The penalty that discourages me right now is that the Conjurer's familiar spell is not useful. That makes me sad, and not want to use the class, even if it's an otherwise fine class. I know it's not a very serious complaint, but it really bothers me. 4) Less about power level than fun level: Stalkers & Priests of Skaen are unfun to play by themselves. I hope that Priests of Skaen get more than a single talent to match the lists of free spells the other priests get. 5) I love the loss of spell scribing, and in general how caster classes don't get all the spells available to them. It meant that all the caster classes ended up with very similar builds. It was a poor design move that made classes feel artificially powerful at the cost of making caster builds feel indistinct.

We're getting a general talent tree. I think some of the passives will affect spellcasting.

It should definitely add to your character's history. I'm not sure if they want to punish people for not having played the first game, though.

If you have a problem with the style of fighting, that's fine. I don't agree personally, but I won't try to change your mind. People often phrase these things as if a difference between taste in these things is a product of the devs being "lazy", or a lack of "effort" or "attention", as if the industry standard for video game devs wasn't non-stop 7 day-a-week crunch. But they obviously shared that pommel strike in the video because they thought it was good.

And I hated the old system. And I love the new system. The old system punished you for wanting to be really good at a particular skill, which sucked. The new system rewards you for being really good at a particular skill (the party assist isn't that strong), but doesn't absolutely require it if you build your party correctly. It allows you a lot more creativity. Also, solo play is supposed to be brutal. That's the whole point of solo play. I wouldn't agree that it's an "immense jump behind", because most of the non-priest classes are already much more interesting than they were in PoE1. You do realize that there were a lot of class-specific talents in PoE1, right? However, the devs have announce that they'll be adding a general talent tree for all classes, just like last game. We're probably not going back to a DR system, since it was problematic in PoE1. (and in most/all other games it is in)

I like it. It means two characters can be relevant in taking traps out.

I'm not sure that druids necessarily worship anything, based on the ones we met in PoE1. All those are great ex-priest roles, though.

I'm not sure this game was made for people as badass as you!

No no! You must summon forth a bolt of pure pommel from the heavens! It's the new Wizard spell for Wizards who don't like lightning. OOH! Or what if it was a sword made out of lightning that crashed down pommel-first into the target's temple? It must be named "Pummel with Pommel".

Hey, we haven't actually met the guy, yet. And although Hylea's priests definitely would have benevolent as a disposition, do you remember how she talked to Pallegina in the first game? That was (unintentionally, I think) really cruel. Gods have very different perspectives from mortals. Already, from the beta, it looks like we're going to see new sides to all the gods.

I imagine that those important story consequences might carry over. Skaen may remember you positively if you sacrificed someone to the blood pool. Berath might be cranky at you if you devoured a bunch of souls. The talents aren't the most important thing.

Priests have now passed their theology exams, and are ready to go adventuring with the other classes: https://twitter.com/jesawyer/status/933394936837259264

On the other side of the battle, I find breaking enemy engagement is usually very painful for my PCs if my characters' are not built to survive it. Engagement shouldn't be so powerful that it's THE single most important thing to winning a battle.

According to Josh, they are hoping to keep those talents on in some form, possibly something you gain overtime as your soul heals from your initial encounter with Eothas. Also, you redo character creation in PoE2, so you can change profession, or class, or race or gender if you want to.

Well-rounded characters are expected to be heaving around a heap of stat-boosting items later in the game. That's why they increase. It'll be nicer this time round since much of that is now going to be handled by skills. Insight is the "social perception" skill that replaces perception.

I'm stupefied that there's a single person who wants a walk-toggle more than big head mode. Of course it's absolute nonsense. IT'S BIG HEAD MODE!!!!!!!!!! As Karkarov said, it's also very useful in chaotic fights. It's also fun in PoE1 to actually get a look at people's faces, since there are hardly any NPC portraits.

I like the pommel strike as well. It looks "realistic" to me. Irrc, pommel strikes were a real thing, and were typical with heavier two-handed swords. However, some people look like they have a problem with the general animation in general being too cartoonish. Is that the case here?

You guys say effort and attention, but that translates into lots and lots of money and lots and lots of time. They probably can't do that as easily. The style of animation was probably picked in part based on what was cheaper to animate.

So... what’s wrong with this animation? It’s brief, it’s clear, it has impact, it will fit with multiple weapons. He has absurdly high expectations. He might as well be expecting to receive a complimentary private jet plane with his copy of the game. Animation is much more expensive than most people realize. The second clip is from an E3 promotional cinematic for Kingdom Come: Deliverance. That game has some beautiful graphics/animation, but they're nowhere near as good as that video. If he thinks games can reasonably resemble that kind of animation today, he's going to be disappointed for a long time.

Mmmmm, Assassin's Creed: Adra-green Flag.

Also, this update that signals the return of a universal talent tree: https://twitter.com/jesawyer/status/933088736954408960

Agreed. If you're picking background first, newbies are confused. But a veteran is already factoring the background bonus while picking attributes by the 2nd or 3rd time they make a character.

Well, I've certainly not found ranged Rangers weak, and I feel that the Sharpshooter class might be a little too good, especially if combined with a class like Devoted or Assassin. Rangers, by themselves, aren't really supposed to be the best at ranged DPS. They've got to be balanced around their animal companion. If they're doing a lot of damage, they should be doing it with the help of their animal companion. Also, abilities like concussive shot & evasive roll are great abilities for a shooter that fighters doesn't have access to. I personally wouldn't want to play a ranged devoted for a DPS and lose so many of the ranged weapons modals. Adaptability is king.

They're not for some people. And for the people who like the RP elements a whole lot, giving a small mechanical boost associated with it makes it feel more significant. And first time players aren't really going to get how significant the dialogue changes are from picking a background culture & profession, so giving it a mechanical bonus will make them pay attention.