AndreaColombo

Why not Readceras?

You do get a Barbarian companion if you have The White March pt. II installed.

A character tied to more than one nation could be very interesting, if developed and explored appropriately. It would go beyond the one-dimensional nationalism characters tend to exhibit in this kind of setting and offer a fresh character development opportunity; especially if the character was somehow tied to two nations that don't necessarily always see eye to eye.

That's what I thought.

Today's tweet says "10."

The other two alphabets are Engwithan and Huana, also from Josh's Instagram (I linked to them in this thread on page 1.)

Where have we seen that balance symbol already...? Ah, yes:

The countdown supposedly lasts for 8 days, which would place its end on next Thursday, 26th January.

Tbh I don't think it would make much sense to bring an old companion back if not to join you. All companions in PoE had ending slides that placed them somewhere more or less steadily and with compelling reasons to stick there; IIRC, none of them were said to keep on adventuring with or without the Watcher. It would be rather weird if they suddenly moved to the other side of Eora and were kind of involved with the Watcher but not enough to actually follow them around like in the days of old. It would feel like misplaced, gratuitous fan service to me.

Back then it was not possible to edit older posts; now I'm simply too lazy

I'd say it depends. For example, take Edér. I got the ending where he became mayor of Dyrford. If PoE 2 were to feature a brand new protagonist with nothing to do with the Watcher, it would be weird AF to have Edér leave Dyrford and travel to a distant location to fight alongside an unknown low-level dude; it would feel like Edér was just placed there for the sake of having a familiar face. However, if the protagonist were to be the Watcher, then they are someone Edér is attached to—someone he owes to, even. If the Watcher needed his help for something big/important, he may be inclined to leave Dyrford and follow. By contrast, take Durance. He was only traveling with the Watcher to solve his own personal dilemma. At the end of his story arc in PoE he figures things out and his dilemma is solved. His endings, if memory serves, range from his becoming a secluded, disillusioned hermit to his committing suicide (?). In either case, I don't see his will to follow the Watcher around any further as justified or justifiable. That is what I meant by my sentence

There can be giants, titans, a leviathan (especially if the setting is aquatic), more dragons, higher-level undead, higher-level kith, and of course the best enemy of all: good A.I. paired with interesting and varied encounter design.

Let's not go down that rabbit hole again Imo, Edér, Aloth, and Pallegina are the three characters from PoE who, based on their personal quests and stories, make the most sense as potential comebacks in PoE 2—and I think it's a good idea to have a mix of familiar faces/fan favorites and new characters. Some of the characters in PoE were fun, but they told whatever story they had to tell and that's it; we need something fresh. Then again, it's good to bring back some characters from PoE to establish a sense of familiarity and consolidate them as known personalities in the lore of the setting.

^ Damn straight. Appreciate I may be with the minority, but from a mechanical perspective the real fun starts at max level with end-game gear for me.

Josh teased those three specifically as coming back: https://www.instagram.com/p/BJbB6FLAb7Y/?taken-by=jesawyer1975&hl=en https://www.instagram.com/p/BMC1lcrAqci/?taken-by=jesawyer1975&hl=en As for the setting, he teased the world map too a while back: https://www.instagram.com/p/BLtt11cAKFc/?taken-by=jesawyer1975&hl=en (If you look closely, you'll see the file's name is "poe2_world_map")

Engwithan R

Mh? It is Aloth who had a (shady) past with the Leaden Key. I don't think Edér ever said, thought, or in anyway conveyed the notion that the Leaden Key could be right about anything.

IIRC Josh posted sketches of all three characters on Twitter/Instagram. New sketches never before seen, specifically, which would suggest new art being done for a new game.

That would, however, imply the letters in the countdown aren't in the correct order (which is perfectly possible, mind you; just pointing it out.)

^ It does, but not all symbols are there. A ... E ... ... EF ... EDIT: https://www.instagram.com/p/BHM_7tmAN4l/?taken-by=jesawyer1975 https://www.instagram.com/p/BFrXir9px4P/?taken-by=jesawyer1975

/Subscribes thread waiting for Infinitron to crack the code

This is so appropriate I don't even!

Do you think the reverse "e" letter is actually an upside-down 9? Or a flipped-over 6?

Fancy homepage at obsidian.net...

Can't go wrong with Thundercat, Juggernaut, Chillfog, and Unfaithful.