Oxford_Guy

The range of zoom level between maximum and minimum seems very limited - you can't zoom out enough to get a good enough overall scope, nor zoom in enough to see more of the character details. Is this intentional or will this be changed? Might just be my setup? This is on a 13" 1440x900 screen and an Intel HD 4000 GPU Panning around the map also seems very slow, but maybe that's just my GPU?

Thanks!

Is there a manual where all this is covered? I'm feeling a bit lost at the moment...

Why does that matter? I thought this was meant to be the thread where first impressions for all new players were to be posted, no?

This one is quite funny, as if they're competing for an Olympic synchronised adventuring trophy...

Same here, back in the day I enjoyed playing BG1 with Ajantis + Jaheira + Imohen + own character fighter/mage/thief. Less micro-management, less clicks (I'm a lazy person), and it just worked as well. Hopefully PoE will be reasonably playable with 4 party members. I often used to play a Bard (usually a Blade or Jester) in BG, which sort of covered two classes, and usually just took 3, sometimes 4 companion NPCs

Okay, thanks

Yes, but you can level to class 4 immediately, which I didn't like. Will you properly start at Level 1 on the release game and have to work your way all the way up?

There are 8 known companions that you will encounter, and have the opportunity to recruit, over the course of the game. So it sounds like the rogue build I'm starting to think about won't be duplicated through the available companions, which is potentially good

Yes I picked up on that straight away - shouldn't the group leader (character on the furthest left) always be the person who engages conversation if you have the group selected? Think that's how it worked in BG, You can, of course, select a specific character, but it's tiresome to do that all the time. BTW despite this comment (which is really a very minor irritation) I'm very much liking what I'm see, but do realise it's a young game and will need time to mature to reach its full potential. Compared to BG (2nd Edition D&D, more or less), P:E seems quite a lot more complex on first look, which could be a good or a bad thing, though any moderately complicated game can seem a bit daunting at first (I thought this of the excellent Europa Universalis IV by Paradox initially, and now love the game and understand how it all works). Complexity can be okay if the systems are logical and clear.

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but I assume in the release game that you will start at level 1 not level 4 or whatever? I certainly hope so! I assume this is just because it's easier to test thing (e.g. magic, skills) at a higher level? Also - how far into the game is the beta start point? I assume it's not the same as the release point start point will be? I assume for similar reasons to above?

Great - BTW my computer has a 2Ghz dual-core i7, Intel HD 4000 GPU and 8GB RAM, so it's no powerhouse, but shouldn't be a complete slouch

If you ever played BG this was the same - the use of Fireball was actually quite limited, as although a powerful spell, it was very easy to burn you own party to a crisp, but there were other spells you could use (e.g. Magic Missile) that although on paper weaker, avoided this problem - I presume Pillars of Eternity also has a mix of types of offensive spell, for different situations - I've not played it enough to know yet, though

Actually I'm the opposite, I'm hoping it's going to be more like BG where (although there way ways around this) you had to pick up NPCs, all with their own personality and story. This was one of the reasons I didn't like IWD, as you had to create your whole party (and there was no inter-party interaction) - it takes me long enough to decide how I want my main PC to be, never mind 6! Is Pillars of Eternity going to be more like BG in this regard? Sorry, I haven't been reading the Dev diaries, if this has already been stated

Do you need good mechanics skills to be good with guns? I assume light armour and high Dex would be useful to get in swift attacks, anything else worth focusing on?

I'd agree, graphics-wise they're the only thing that let the game down from what I've seen so far

Okay, great, thanks for the explanation!

Okay, thanks

Doesn't seem to work for me, still can't figure out how to talk to my party

Thanks, but how do you talk to them when they don't have that icon?

Can you talk to you own party members, like you could in BG? Also, how do you remove a character from your party? I actually prefer a smaller party in most RPGs e.g. 4

Hi - I was thinking it might be fun to make a Swashbuckler/Pirate build - basically a rogue with dual-wielding rapier/stiletto and pistol skills, focusing on cunning and underhand attacks. Perhaps an aristocrat fallen on hard times, who's a bit of a cad. What would be good starting choices for such a build? Not so interested in traps/thieving. Also - how easy are the first pistols to get hold of (no spoilers please)?

Think I was looking for a female eleven or human rogue in leather armour

In BG I used to set up the game to pause after a round of combat, so that it was more turn-like - is there such a concept in Pillars of Eternity? Am wondering how long to set the pause timer for to get something similar

Great, I know the graphics are much better than BG/iWD, but the performance is definitely worse on my Intel HD4000 computer, though, as I said, it's still playable