Crazy Tuvok

1) If I understand this correctly you want to know what has been patched since your first playthrough What release version did you play? I.e., how many patches ago? I mean you can always look at the patch release notes to see what has been added / changed. 2) Not as much, tho the content is as good as the original NPCs in terms of banter. 3) I'm not the one to answer this as I generally swap NPCs given my mood. I really like all the companions and use them all. I usually keep a core PC, Durance, Eder, Aloth party with the last two slots depending. 4) Banter wise yes they have a bit less, but story wise they are, I think ,superb. I liked all of their quests a lot. I used the new companions almost exclusively when I was in the WM. 5) You will have no and I mean no problems for frontlines with two monks. They are devastating. The mix you have there is pretty good you can get all the spell support (including healing) with Hiravias and Kana (can always craft scrolls don't forget). And I have played with just about every mix of party and have never had a problem surviving with any of them. Some mixes require more creative thinking and thinking differently about tactics, but having used all the companions and in plenty of mixtures all were able to hold their own.

I play on the PS4, physical copy with DLCs, and have a fully updated version. I have always been able to change my portrait since install. I too never had that large an update.

Right, the problem isn't that the combat in Pillars is bad: when it's hard boss-fight kinda stuff, it's really cool, with chokepoints and lures and timing and a whole bunch of things to pay attention to. But because the combat is intricate and TTRPG-esque, it's a really bad system for fighting trash mobs, because you have to pay way too much attention to fights that are entirely trivial and accomplish nothing. At least in BG and IWD when the combat was easy you could basically just click the things and watch them explode and get a little something for your trouble and then get back to the interesting things you were doing. In PoE that's just systematically not the case, and the answer here is and should always have been not having trash mobs. But then I've been saying this since the Backer Beta. Yes! This exactly. Wow I've been trying to say this for five posts and you nailed it. Thank you.

I don't mind that it is combat oriented, the IE games were even more so; nor am I looking for a Tides of Numenera level avoid all combat. It is just a bit unrelenting at times for just zero payoff (base loot, no experience, not unique (another mob of x) and hardly advancing of the story). I have to admit I'd been playing Pillars exclusively for quite a while, took a break and I am finding it less burdensome. Still think it poor design tho as there are just too mnay walk three clicks-fight-walk three clicks-fight sections.

Love the Icewind Dale games played them both more than once. What makes them less of a grind that altho they are combat heavy (to put it mildly) they are still fruitful in that you will still get either XP or some decent loot. By the time I got to WM money was no object so even expensive (but common, i.e non unique magical) loot drops were worthless to me and I was getting no XP. Other games have managed to be both combat heavy and still fruitful (Jagged Alliance 2, Wizardry 8, etc..). And yeah there are some quests you can solve w/o combat and I appreciated the hell out of them. It is just that there is nevertheless a preponderance of fights that are of no real point and largely if not entirely unavoidable. Still really like WM for the story and lore tho.

Don't get me wrong I like the combat in PoE, a lot. Way more interesting than the orginal IE games, but geez. Also like the diminshing returns on XP for fights but that is only fruitful when (a) they can be avoided or (b) you can get something for them if they are inevitable.

Terrific worldbuilding, love the lore, love the feel, love the story. But damn click three paces - fight. Click three paces cool thing to look at - fight. Investigate neat thing on wall - fight. Just too damn much for no reason. One of the reasons I think from time to time that PoE exceeds the BG series is that not every damn thing devolves into combat. I never understood why people lauded the BG series (and yeah I am old enough to have played them when they came out and yes I love them) as a roleplaying experience. No matter who you are or what you do, the resolution iin BV is combat. PoE has shown glimmers and glimpses that there are other ways (a particular enocounter in a tavern with a foe I was able to use rep and wit to avoid). and then I get to the WM. It's frankly exahusting when I just want more than a minute to enjoy the world and oh look a crazed Ondrite Paladin. Yah. And it will yeild neither any loot worth a damn nor any experience points. Well gosh that is just about the ****tiest DM'ing ever.

SR2 and GTA are just two totally different kinds of games (at least the more recent GTA games). SR just does not appeal to me in the least, but I get why people might enjoy it. I for one love the direction that the GTA games have been taking graphically, narratively, writing and gameplay wise. I think every iteration better than the one before. Except that I wish they had not dropped the stat building from SA. I do however think that objectively the GTA games certainly look a whole lot better than any SR game.

depending on your build, nearly every firefight in the game can be avoided. Nearly everyone. But you will be in a few no matter what. But a high stealth/tech build can let you sneak hack and lockpick past a lot of firefights. And in a few, depending on how you have played you can get others to do the dirty work for you. So in answer to your question, no it is most certainly not warehouses full of guys to shoot, but there are a few (tough) inevitable firefights.

Yeah you need to have a point in tech? sabotage? I forget what the skill is exactly but the first level of it is the ability to use EMP(s) to take down computers and locks. For me a must-have at later points in the game, no matter how many hacking upgrades, gear etc I had. tho I don't ever recall there being any point in the game where you *had* to have hacking or lockpicking to contiune (not counting Saudi). You just miss out on all sorts of cool gear, backstory and intel.

BG1 may be a bit dated but it has a lot more going for it than nostalgia. 1) For my money - low level adventuring. I love this. When a pack of kobolds are real problem and you are not some Epic Level hero fighting dragons and beholders and Lords of Hell every step of they way, the world just felt more perilous. Admittedly this my preference, but for me the ow levels of BG1that gives it a huge boost. 2) Map exploration. A new map that could be explored or not. Even the bigger maps of BG2, DA etc are all pretty linear and you will eventually see all there is to see if you just do what you came there to do. In BG1 you could wander off the pre-ordained path and while you weren't always going to find anything worth seeing it was still loads of fun for me to reveal the maps and come across the dryad being attacked by lumberjacks or the arachaelogical expedition of the haunted ruins e.g. I miss this in games and no Bio game since BG1 has had anything like it. It really lent to the feeling that I was playing a PnP session. 3) I still Baldurs Gate is the best city Bio has ever done. Again my preference but it felt like there were little nooks and crannies to venture into (again off the main quest path or even the main sidequest path) that you just discovered. Finally let me say there is nothing wrong with how BG1 looks. Hand crafted 2d backgrounds I think still look terrific (ok character models are ****e).

Does'nt really do any good in playing mindgames, it's Syndicate no matter what you call it yourself. Developers intentions and all that. Not mind games. It bears no resemblance to Syndicate, developer intentions or not. With Morgan writing it it does in fact bear more resemblance to Market Forces The Videogame.

Instead of thinking of this in any way as Syndicate reboot I consider it "Market Forces - The Videogame" which could actually be pretty cool.

Prologue counts against pacifist achievement. Tranq. shot to head will on occasion kill as well.

EMP immunity, gas grenade immunity, one decently upgraded heavy wep (i.e not a 10mm or Machine Pistol). In a pinch, drop difficulty for boss fights. No escaping they are garbage and totally at odds with the rest of the game, but above recipe they are over quick. Real quick.