kaiki

Better enemy AI is always a good thing. That's almost like asking "Would you like better art?" As for an escape option, nah I'm happy without something like D:OS. Seemed out of place.

If you are going for PoTD + expert + toi go for solo as well. Helps avoid all the aoes getting tossed around that can happen with a full party.

Which Thaos would have fixed himself: he was done collecting souls for Woedica, and would have let the activated machines power off. The game actually tells you this. And getting rid of the grandmaster unsurprisingly doesn't alter the behavior of this unbelievably stupid organization. They mindlessly follow the commands they already have (as witnessed if you don't break the machine in heritage hill: they just reactivate it again as per standing orders). So, while you've accidentally ended Thaos' personal role in various atrocities and genocides (by murdering him over an obvious answer), the organizations and gods he created will continue them like the mindless idiots they are. It's incorrect that Thaos would have fixed the Hollowborn crisis. Souls being collected would have ended but the effects would have still been left behind. When you kill him you have the option to send those souls back to the bodies they were intended for, or even empower all of Dyrwood with those souls. That is a substantial change in the world either way. Also preventing Woedica from gaining ascendency seems to be a plus as the game makes it seem that her being in charge is not a good thing for mortals. By getting rid of the grandmaster the organization has lost all strategic decision making. The Laden Key won't be the threat they have been as new orders won't be delivered. In addition if you help guide Aloth he can dedicate himself to dismantling the Laden Key.

They will expand the game further. Don't know if they're adding more models at character creation. For sure they'll be a sequel but don't know when that will happen. They are working on an expansion right now. The expansion won't be a kickstarter campaign. Obsidian is still having internal discussions over if they want to use kickstarter for future projects.

If you have to battle through FIFTEEN levels of dungeons, collecting different parts of a gun, then to travel and reforge ... is better than that weapon is an epic weapon. But not only it is not, it is a weapon worse than any of you can forge. And this does not make any sense. There are 2 big reasons why The Blade is far superior to vanilla Estoc posted. 1) It comes as Superb, so you don't need to kill the Adra Dragon in order to get the accuracy and damage bonus. As it comes as Superb that means you can make another piece of gear Superb instead, if you kill Adra Dragon. 2) Marking is a great ability for higher difficulty runs. Accuracy is harder to buff then damage so an ability that helps your party get those hits acts like a damage buff for 5 other characters rather then just a damage buff for 1. I'd also like to point out you don't need to run through all 15 levels of the dungeon in order to get The Blade. You acquire the parts needed to reforge The Blade rather naturally as you progress through the levels of the dungeon so it's not the burden you think it is.

I enjoyed the voice acting as well. Each actor did an excellent job that brought alot of character and emotion to their roles. The problem I have is the cost. Since the budget of the game would have needed to be 17m or so (4x the original budget) to VO the whole game I'm very happy to have the amount of VO in PoE in order for Obsidian to keep the budget down. While the scripted sequences add an immersive feel unlike any other rpg I've played in awhile and seem relatively cheap to make. Between the two buckets to put money into it seems to me that scripted sequences would get more bang for the buck.

Listening to the commentary it sounded like that was one of the last sequences (or -the last one?) made for the game. I guess(hope) the Heodan sequence will be indicative of the majority of such sequences in PoE 2. Now that the devs have a handle on the scope of what's possible with that technique.

Lightning strike in my brain. PoE 2, the Woedica gets some/all of the other gods to band together to try and hunt you and your companions down in order to keep the secret from being revealed. You have to dig deep into how the gods were created and perhaps create a new pantheon that's worthy of the people of Eora.....and murder alot of gods along the way.

I like the looks of the patch notes. Didn't see anything that got my goat. I'm really enthusiastic about being able to spec your companions as you please. Going to hold off on another run 'till that goes live.

I hope the documentary isn't being done by some guy in his basement that con'd Obsidian into thinking he was a real documentarian.

Too bad this can't be added to the forum's Announcements & News for everyone that doesn't know.

Send a message to the Obsidian Facebook page.

Go for it.

That is incorrect, there are many gods in Buddhism. Just that most predate Buddhism. They're not *used* as gods in Buddhism, though; the names and **** are there, but they are *very* explicitly just teaching tools. Bodhisatvas are a thing in some branches of Buddhism, but they are also explicitly stated to not be gods but simply souls like you or me who are at a different stage. Buddhism is one of the prime examples of a form or religion with no gods, and often used as an example of such. I understand what you're saying. If you are describing how Buddhists practice their religion I will always say that is wrong as that isn't how I've experienced it. No matter what you quote, link or say will you convince me that you're right as my life experience what I use as evidence that I'm correct. If you're stating that is how Buddhist doctrine and writings present different gods and spirits I will agree with you. What the text say and how people live are two different things though. And, since I doubt we will be able to convince the other that their posistion is the right one it's best that we just let this end and continue on with the rest of the conversation.

I generally get everyone stealth so that the whole party can sneak by encounters. Rogues don't use it that differently then anyone else. If you want to backstab wait until the tanks engage the enemies then run in behind and stab stab. It isn't like other games where you want your Rogue to sneak up in stealth and start combat with his melee attack.

Agreed. During my first playthrough I was under the impression that being a Watcher just let me see ghosts. So all the times I *think* you are supposed to be seeing visions of your past life, I thought those were more spirits. It very much feels that the devs wanted three things 1. The PC is super special in some way. 2. The PC has a deep personal connection with the main antagonist. 3. Whatever is the connecting thread between 1 & 2 also provides a driving motivation for the character to go adventure/stop the antagonist. While "Watcherhood" accomplishes those three goals the whole "being a Watcher" feel like an afterthought that is just a device to service those three listed goals.

To quote facebook "It's complicated". The relevant bits for this discussion, of if a god being made by human hands keep them from being labeled as a god, is that this thread is good evidence that the questions raised by this game did a good job at making the players ponder how the circumstances of the gods would effect how mortals view them.

That is incorrect, there are many gods in Buddhism. Just that most predate Buddhism.

So I guess you have never studied real religion? Ever hear of this guy called Buddha? I am pretty sure there are a lot of people out there who would consider him some take on the word "god" and his faith makes it painfully clear he was originally just a man. Your definition of "God" is far too strict. An ant likely looks at a man and might equate them with being a god on some limited intelligence way. We live thousands of their lifetimes, can kill them with literally no effort. cause flood their homes with seemingly divine power. In reality we are just biologically different and know how to get water out of a sink. But does that change the perception of the ant? No it doesn't. That's why I said it wasn't even a question about gods to begin with, but a question of belief. The Buddha is not thought of as a god in Buddhism and is not prayed to. He is looked up to and respected as a great teacher, in the same way we respect Abraham Lincoln as a great president. He was a human being who found his perfection in Nirvana. They would be wrong though, according to those who practice the religion. Well sorry to say that there are those that practice the religion do pray to him. It's correct that he isn't thought of as a god, but at the same time he's considered greater then many gods. It kinda goes back to the whole definition game of what is a "god" and what isn't. How do you define it in useful terms.

Both of those statements are inaccurate. In order to get Wael's boon you can't have already accepted a god's boon in Council of Stars. As for Skaen I've gotten the offer with multiple backgrounds that were not dissident. So far as I know you always get both of their offers. The only thing you can miss is the opportunity of Wael's boon if you have already taken a god's boon. Regarding Wael Boon: how can you survive the fall without accepting another god's boon? You can still complete all the other god's quests and tell them that you need to listen to the offers of the other gods before promising that you will deal with the souls according to their wishes. When you arrive on the island you will still gain control of the souls that are enslaved to the gods and they will allow you to survive the fall. You -do not- need a god's boon to survive the fall.

1. Quest order doesn't matter too much. There are areas/quests with challenging encounters but the game is designed that you can go back and finish the content that was too challenging when you first encountered it. 2. You pick up better gear by doing the quests and exploring. The merchants for each of the Defiance Bay factions also have some good equipment so it's a good idea to gain access to their stores.

Woah! Dean Venture was in this and I missed it?! D: Now I got to go back and listen for him.

You are correct Flint about DAO. I think I noticed a couple other voice actors from Bioware games. Not that surprising since, I believe, the pool of talent isn't that big for video game work.

Depends on the definition of what a god is. The characteristics of the PoE gods are similar to pantheons found in Earth cultures. Limited in power, limited in knowledge and wisdom, able to be killed, etc. Right, the difference is the "gods" in PoE are *direct* human constructs. They're tools made by mortal hands to carry out a specific job. In classical mythology the "gods" were natural aspects of the universe who had form, sentience, and will. All religions that feature a god that I know of in the real world are pretty explicit in that those gods are either natural aspects of the world or the creators of the world, or both. Not something created by normal mortal beings to do their will. In Chinese, as well as other Asian cultures, mythology human beings have become gods themselves. Similar stories are in classical mythology, though usually the subject is a demigod. That isn't too far of a difference with the PoE gods being, possibly, created from thousands of human souls. Granted the specifics of the PoE gods is unique, so far as I know, in regards to real life mythology there are similarities close enough that I think they could be considered proper gods. It's almost always demigods lifted up to Godhood, or sometimes a specific mortal is taken by the gods who then collectively decide to make him a god, or the original creator-god remakes a mortal into one of the gods. Never, ever, that I know of do *mortals create the gods*. That's the distinction--the "gods" in PoE are just tools made by mortals. Really advanced, really clever tools--the highest of automaton technology, but automatons nonetheless. That would be an interesting idea for future games to play around with, if the gods of PoE are confined by their initial designs. I feel it would it's conjecture to say for certain either way. As the specifics of their creation is so vague. Though I feel this argument has reached the level of semantics. You say automaton, I say god. Either term describes the same fictional characters. Neither of us disagree as to what they are capable of. My last argument would be that if the gods of PoE, as made my mortal hands, would be indistinguishable from what they would have been if they had occurred naturally then the two sets are equivalent.

Depends on the definition of what a god is. The characteristics of the PoE gods are similar to pantheons found in Earth cultures. Limited in power, limited in knowledge and wisdom, able to be killed, etc. Right, the difference is the "gods" in PoE are *direct* human constructs. They're tools made by mortal hands to carry out a specific job. In classical mythology the "gods" were natural aspects of the universe who had form, sentience, and will. All religions that feature a god that I know of in the real world are pretty explicit in that those gods are either natural aspects of the world or the creators of the world, or both. Not something created by normal mortal beings to do their will. In Chinese, as well as other Asian cultures, mythology human beings have become gods themselves. Similar stories are in classical mythology, though usually the subject is a demigod. That isn't too far of a difference with the PoE gods being, possibly, created from thousands of human souls. Granted the specifics of the PoE gods is unique, so far as I know, in regards to real life mythology there are similarities close enough that I think they could be considered proper gods.