Jojobobo

Can someone explain this to me as I've fallen foul of it and want to restart. For example, it is just the literal map that your can't save in or is it also locations inside that map (so for Eder and Aloth, is it fine to save in the Black Hound Inn or Temple of Eothas without encountering that bug - or as they're locations accessible from the Gilded Vale map are they off limits too)? I guess if it's the latter maybe I'll just wait until the patch as there's no way I could do the Temple of Eothas without a save. EDIT: Nevermind, I just tested it myself. I guess for anyone who didn't know it's literally only the map itself, internal locations are fine to save in (so saving in the Black Hound in is okay for Eder and Aloth but saving outdoors in the Gilded Vale is not). I guess this was already covered somewhere in the thread, but I couldn't be bothered to trawl through pages to find out.

I don't really feel like people should be excusing Obsidian - are there bad bugs? Yes they certainly are. Is it enough to feel badly aggrieved about? Yes and no. No as in the bugs aren't the end of the world, yes because they had such a huge development time and a literal crap tonne of beta testers - and they could have pushed the development time back as much as they wanted. For me, I like to play on hard difficulty and now all my characters have uber stats. That's a pretty big problem. I've already restarted a load of times to find a character I feel in synch with and now I've sunk about 4 hours into the game and my save is completely borked, all the mechanics are screwed. No - this is not a good thing. And no - it's not really acceptable bearing in mind the crowd funding format and the fact they could have pushed the release back to accommodate. A concept I've heard of before is how much is a person's time worth? The example I heard of is consulting experts in their chosen field - who can earn hundreds of dollars or pounds just for an hour of their time consulting, that's how much an hour of their time is valued. If you equate people's time to money or any other kind of value, Obsidian have wasted that when they could have pushed back release - across maybe millions of people that's a pretty huge deal. And maybe people are fine playing the game through with uber stats, but when the game was supposed to hark back to tricky and challenging gameplay that runs completely counter to it. Overall, I'm pretty annoyed and I can see why other people would be to. Doing the standard thing of an RPG player and trialling several characters and restarting is normal, having then to restart again through no fault of my own is not cool. Maybe they'll be able to fix the crapped up saves but I'm not so sure. They really should have done better or pushed the release back if they weren't ready.

Fair enough, hopefully it'll get sorted.

TBH, I just got a bug and which I posted on and it is very annoying - fortunately I had a save I could reload to. Though I'm not offended per se the way reports of these bugs are accumulating isn't particularly great, especially as they had an extensive beta test and really as much development time as they wanted (people may have been annoyed if they'd delayed further, but I know those who've experienced a nasty bug would have rather them had ironed out all the creases first). I've also now got the stat stacking problem people have mentioned, giving me a much easier ride than I deserve - really who the hell wouldn't naturally save in the Guilded Vale? Hopefully this is another thing they can retrofix onto saves, I've already re-rolled numerous times as I got to grips with the mechanics and I'm really not keen to again.

It is pretty irritating, as long as they allow me to upload the saves before and after (a mod can PM me when that's sorted, I not sure if I can be bothered to check this thread religiously - I'd rather, you know, be playing the game) which I've made sure to make copies of hopefully they'll be able to get to the bottom of this stuff.

Aloth's Grimoire Slam says it it "already activated" and won't let me use it anymore - which is kind of annoying seeing as it's the best way for wizards to break engagement when the crap hits the fan. Anyone else had this, any workarounds or ways to restore function (I've tried resting, and all my saves are now post the point where the bug occurred - naturally). I would upload screenshots and the log and a save but apparently the screenshot won't work and for the save and log "I'm not allowed to upload this kind of file" as an attachment - more frustration is just what I needed. If I was trying to pinpoint what I happened, I seem to remember Aloth trying to Grimoire slam an enemy as another party member killed them - so it never actually landed. Seems like the most likely cause. Specs: Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 512 MB Software OS X 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion) EDIT: Just found out the Autosave was actually before the bug, I've kept both saves so if you'd kindly allow me to upload them you could try and patch it out. Still annoying that I now have to redo a good chunk of play to get back to where I was.

I guess I just didn't click on the right exit, thanks.

So I originally rolled a Ranger, but got to Raedric's Keep and decided to pack it - for me it seemed like they animal companions were too weak to make much of a dint in combat (I picked the bear, and picked Resilient Companion after this but what I got was far from resilient like anyone would be lead to believe - I guess Rangers should use a high speed/high damage companion so they can flank rather than the so-called tank). However, I got the quest "Lord of a Barren Land" before completing A Mother's Plea and Smith's Shipment which are supposedly requisites according to online guides (not that I go off them, but in this case I couldn't see what I had done differently or wrong). I recently re-rolled to give me any chances of survival at least with much less frustration (really, rangers are crap) and I've done all that I did with the Ranger character with my new Paladin and it didn't show up. I also had similar persuasive attributes (high Might and Resolve, albeit less Per to spot lies) so I wouldn't have thought that would have really factored. Is this a bug, did I do some dialogue that made the difference (I play on expert so I wouldn't know) or have I messed up somehow? I guess I'll complete Mother's Plea and Smith's Shipment anyway and hopefully unlock the quest, but I always worry when something that's inexplicably available for one character isn't for another.

I found difficulty depends a lot on class so far, some classes make things far easier than others.

I've not found any of the bugs game breaking (I never suffered from the double click one for example), just more annoying. The game still has received a deserved 90 on metacritic which is really the benchmark of a decent game, maybe that will drop with further reviews but even with the few bugs I think the team can be proud of themselves. Honestly I think they get a rough time with the crowd funding format, as now they have to answer to fans who believe they're entitled to have everything 100% perfect. Would it have been nice if they'd managed it? Sure. Are they the literal devil for not meeting the fans' sky high expectations? No, not really.

Has anyone made a successful Fighter-less party on Hard or higher? Personally I'm not really seeing how it would be successful with engagement being what it is, but maybe I lack the imagination. Sure you can give people Hold the Line - but the trouble is that's a talent and not an ability; there's no class that I can see where I have 6 abilities lined up that I must have whereas many of the talents (though by no means also "must haves") are quite a bit more useful - meaning that having a Fighter is far better as he can do that job much more easily than anyone else with less relative investment (again, in terms of the comparative worth of abilities compared to talents). The only other way around this would be having people who can break from engagement easily (probably in addition to a Hold the Liner), so engagement becomes a lesser issue. When you consider you can also give a Fighter Hold the Line, they're more or less doing the job twice as well compared to anyone else. I guess I'm not a fan of any class being more or less mandatory by offering a pretty huge advantage if it's part of the team; it makes party set up a bit too formulaic. Maybe if other melee guys could engage more (albeit less than the a Fighter) it would be better (or other weirder interplays with engagement that I can't think of), but as it stands I can't see how not having a Fighter on your team isn't majorly hamstringing yourself. It terms of personal bias, it's not great that the most vanilla class IMO is arbitrarily the one that must be on your team.

I'm running a Godlike Moon Wayfarer now and it's pretty sweet, being able to tank a lot on top of being able to restore endurance effortlessly to other tanks like Eder. I went for 18 Might, 12 Con, 10 Dex, 10 Per, 12 Int and 16 Res - mainly so I could hit hard and maintain my concentration, plus have a little extra endurance and AoE from the Con and Per (endurance is already high, I honestly wasn't too fussy about investing in it over Might and it seems to be working nicely). Abilities I'm thinking Flame/Lay on Hands/Zealous Endurance/Reviving Exhortation/Who Cares/Hastening Exhortation and for talents The Sword and The Shepherd/Hold the Line/Intense Flames/Strange Mercy/Weapon Focus Soldier/Weapon and Shield Style. I'm hoping hold the line will make me a good psuedo Fighter who in some regards is nicer due to their damn high defenses. I've heard that bash shields and a weapon can activate The Sword and the Shepherd twice so that's what I'll try for, along with a warhammer and Weapon Focus Soldier so I don't suffer from the shield accuracy drop and have a weapon that targets the lower defence hence consitency. It seems pretty sweet so far, far better than the Ranger I was playing hard before that who still kept on getting nobbed on even with extra hired fighters. In regards to the OP, I'll concede that Godlikes of any variety probably make slightly better Paladins - having said that Wood Elves clearly make better Rangers so there isn't too much of an inconsistency here. Plus, yes some of the Orders are definitely far better than the others, but so what? Play with what suits your sensibilities, Lay on Hands still provides them all with healing. Beyond that, the defense definitely does make a difference - try playing any other non-defensive class and it's very easy to see the difference there (with a Ranger, who should be no where near as weak as Rouge or Wizard, your ass still gets handed to you when someone reaches you. Even Eder can't tank so well). In terms of bonuses from following the desired behaviors, it seems to work for me - as far I a can tell it only buffs your Faith and Conviction ability (I'm currently on +6 deflection and +12 the other defenses when I highlight it, compared to the base +5/+10). Maybe you get a debuff if you don't follow the faith, or maybe it just stays at that basal level and that's your punishment - honestly to me receiving bonuses by just RPing a certain way is pretty damn cool.

2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Intel HD Graphics 4000 512 MB OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 Runs really well so far, and looks great.

Really? Fallout 2 in the 90s? Etc. It's a case of agency as others say. Broader than that it's a case of creating a world where you can legitimately do anything, which is what good RPGs should strive for - not that I'm looking for a game where I can wholesale butcher kids.

What Tigranes said, plus Fighters have Defender which allows them to engage three enemies while you maneuver your heavy bit fragile damage dealers - a way of avoiding disengagement entirely.

I prefer hitting a couple of times very hard and having to rest to reinforce the camping mechanic rather than being able to spam lowish damage spells that could be used every encounter. What's the point when most character's can do lowish damage every encounter anyway? To let people use full power spells every encounter is silly without tweaking the mechanics as mentioned, and by having it as is it really enhances resource management at the higher difficulties. A great choice by Obsidian, IMO.

I just managed it using a anvil and hammer kind of technique; get Eder up front first as the defensive mode allowed him to have much greater engagement than the other two fighters, box the group in with the bear and fighters on the sides, send Aloth round back to crisp things with Fan of Flames. Still that took a lot of trial and error with other tactic to get right (I'm talking maybe an hour plus on the one encounter). I think a thread like this is a good idea for developing different strategies with different classes that work in variety of situations.

So I've dabbled already a bit since release to find an appropriate difficulty level (I normally stick to the hardest, but no reload settings like Path of the Damned offer very little appeal to me) and in the end I settled for hard with expert mode with a Wood Elf Ranger (I tried both the bear cave and that huge lot of wolves in Valewood, even with returning with companions like Aloth, but it was so hard I figured if I played the game on this setting I would be crawling along at such a snail's pace it would be a chore. This is from someone who played Icewind Dale 2 on Heart of Fury mode with level 1 characters quite happily). However, it's still really damn hard - vastly harder than any game I've ever experienced on a hard or very hard mode. I'm currently trying to clear out the Temple of Eothas for Buried Secrets (an early game "easy" location, right?), and I've got to the point where you have to take out two Skuldr Kings and I'm finding it borderline ridiculous. I've recruited two extra dwarvern fighters on top of Aloth and Eder and my damnable Resilient Companion Bear and I'm not getting anywhere (and yes I'm slowing the combat down, pausing regularly, using choke points wherever possible with my defensive guys and using all my per encounter abilities - even using all of Aloth's per rest spells). My own player character as well as the dwarves have also been min-maxed for best effect. I'm sure through pure attrition I will get there with this encounter, but currently it's pretty damn dire (not even thinking about what else the Temple has in store for me). The bear gets knocked out in moments, the dwarves aren't a great deal better and it's only via Eder and his "second chance" armour that I think I might even progress at this point. I've heard that heaving a Priest is pretty damn handy, but even so I would have thought I should be able to manage at this stage. I guess did invest poorly in Aloth's second tier spells under the impression that Obsidian would have made all spells more or less equal in terms of combat effectiveness, only to find Ray of Fire is more or less useless and I'm pretty sure I should have gone for something like Rolling Flame instead (my other spell being Necrotic Lance, which is semi-decent but far out-damaged by Fan of Flames); also I realise Expert mode gets rid of your AoE regions which I'm still getting used to. Having said all that, what gives? Must you literally have a Priest and min-max the hell out of people to survive on hard? My own definition of a decent hard mode should be where you don't have to min-mix entirely to be successful, which really doesn't feel like the case here. Do I have to have things like a Priest to stand a chance, even on those earlier areas (I'm sure I get a decent voiced Priest companion soon anyhow)? Or should I have just left the Temple of Eothas until later - was I wrong to assume an early stage dungeon should be do-able on hard when you first find it? On the AMA Sawyer mentioned that the Gilded Vale was not as hard as Baldur's Gate, and he only found he had "difficult fights" later on - I guess other people must be finding it a cakewalk too on hard but it certainly doesn't seem that way and in some ways complete min-maxing (which does seem mandatory) does detract from role-playing in some respects (i.e. my character must max these attributes to stand a chance at the detriment to other ones, rather than making a more balanced "normal" person which some people enjoy to role-play). Is there a hump you get over on early levels of hard, then it gets easier (better access to weapons, more abilities and talents, etc.)? Beyond all my specific questions on difficulty, is there any strategies you've found particularly useful on higher difficulty? Is there any YouTube videos you could direct me and others too to get a sense of what's going wrong? I'm not suggesting anything like hard mode should be made easier, but it does seem like a very tricky beast to master and so advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like another name for a furry.

Is there going to be a big announcement with bells and whistles on when it does? My email account attached to my amazon account which I used to pay for kickstarter is quite old and I don't check it very often, probably most people aren't in the same boat as me but it would be useful if there was some sort of eye catching announcement here when it does happen.

I want crafting to be a chore. I want the game to be as boring and dull as possible. Why won't anyone let be play the uninspired game of my dreams?!

I'd like to see a non-combat assassination feat. Using this a rogue (maybe some other classes too) could set up a situation and kill someone without it being traced back to them in a public (or at least not entirely private) situation - with the means of killing someone being entirely situational (poison in the drink, discretely fired dart with a fatal allergen on, etc.). This to me is preferable to a backstab, which is in a way a means to assassinate people but being combat orientated, and not really realistic; who could find a perfect spot on someone's back and keep their composure to deliver a killing blow every time - regardless of armour of any other factors? To me it's a nonsensical throwback.

Well, spiky and shiny bits are real purty.

As other people have suggested, I thought a sword breaker would be an interesting way of disarming people rather than actually breaking weapons. The wikipedia page - which is of course the font of all knowledge - says that they probably weren't very useful in most cases to break a weapon. Still, if weapon and armour condition is in combat an animation where they break might be interesting - although again resource intensive. Having never have played WoW I don't really know the style, but I don't think anyone wants ridiculous armour and weapon design.

A jutte (or jitte), might also be fun. It's like a sword-breaker but in club form: LadyCrimson mentioned a sword cane, which would be a great idea for missions where guards pat you down for weapons.