PIP-Clownboy

In my Hard/POTD games I did everything in the first dungeon except disarm the traps and was able to recruit Kana at lvl 2. So I have no idea what's putting you over unless it's the lock/trap xp.

I grabbed Kana at lvl 2 on my very first playthrough - it's possible. Just carefully beeline stealth your way there.

You can dismiss the loot D:OS because it's generic random bad mmoish garbage. PoE's itemization doesn't hold a candle to BG2, but neither does any game. Still superior to D:OS though.

Not worthless maybe, but overall have a low impact in most fights because you can use only 1. You can use six. I cannot confirm this, still lets me set only one trap per encounter. It's one per party member. Traps are very powerful as is. Spamming anymore would just make the game (which is already easy on POTD) even more trivial while placing a bigger emphasis on mechanics, which is already by far and away the most useful skill in the game.

They summon Blights Figurine cost went up like 1000%. Which is good because they are OP.

D:OS combat actually became very repetitive after the forest. I sure wouldn't call it 10 hours of epic, more like 3-5 hours. Then you realize how garbage the music/loot/writing/warcrafty graphics with ! everywhere and there is no real payoff. Turn based is objectively superior to rtwp, but Pillars was never going to be turn based. I'll take a Tim Cain/Sawyer led TB game over anything Larian any day of the week though.

Darcozzi's/GoldPact 10 accuracy/Charm defense upgrades on Liberating Exthoration is nice.. to put on a Barb at least.

You keep saying Savage Defiance is dumb and useless to take in a bunch of posts, which is quite honestly ridiculous. After frenzy with around 25-30 might, Savage Defiance will heal for nearly the same amount as Durance's 3rd, 4th, 5th level heals combined and it's basically instant cast. You want to heal your Barb with a Druid/Priest that's cool, but don't act like you aren't sacrificing DPS/CC to do so.

Pilgrim's was a bottleneck for me as well, there was not nearly enough in the first two acts. You can finally buy some in Twin Elms right when Fine becomes obsolete. Rushing to Act III really is the best option since it opens up a plethora amount of weapon/crafting choice.

Also a very good example on how not to do loot. Or plot for that matter. The game fell off a cliff after Cyseal.

People keep saying this, but no it's not. Not coming from Gamespot, which operate on a 6-10 scale with inflated value on a triple AAA publishers.

Rod of Pale Shades - Od Nua lvl 10 (or maybe it was 11 not sure)

No on multiclass. Yes on kits and/or prestige class

The real problem actually is encounter design, not xp. But I would like to see trap/lock xp removed and the bounties xp nerfed a bit. What I don't want is having to completely 95% of OPTIONAL content to reach max level like some people are suggesting. Also keep in mind, the expansion will be part of the main game and most likely the level cap will be raised.

Def bugged.

Brute Force/Threat Presence if you like crits. Only way I'm using a vengeful defeat build is from a hired companion that I have no problem losing to perma death in Ironman. Let him solo stuff while everyone hides. Basically like a fantasy Xcom rookie fodder. I prefer my Barbs nearly immortal. Savage Defiance and healing boots can switch to endurance leech set in a pinch; rarely ever go below 50% in POTD while vaporizing everything on screen. Savage Defiance heals for insane amounts with high might/int and is instant cast with no recovery. Why would I waste a round casting crappy Priest heals when he could be casting protection against treachery/accuracy buffs/debuff etc.

That's what I basically did. Kicked immortal deflection Eder and had Kana/Gina share tanking duties. Still pretty easy overall but was definitely taking more total party damage. Fighter deflection tanks are just too good even in POTD.

The backer ring Guans Share sells for about 1500.

That's because those afflictions turn your character hostile. Exhortations dont work on enemies. It is very annoying that that the party AI tends to automatically auto-attack charmed members of their own party though.

No, it shouldn't. This game offers so many ways to increase the difficulty. I just don't get what you people are complaining about. Play the game on PotD. If that's not hard enough, play it on Trials of Iron too. If that's not hard enough replace maiming with outright death. If that's not hard enough limit yourself to not using custom party members. If that's not hard enough limit your party size to 3 or 4. The list goes on and on. And if none of it is hard enough, congratulations, you are just too good for this game. PotD doesn't fix the difficulty issues. You can shove your trial of iron where the sun doesn't shine. The very definition of easy is getting through the game without dying. If you never have to rethink your approach how the hell is that hard? Trial of the Iron just puishes you for playing when you should be in bed. Hell half the time I know I should go to bed its because I have started to suck at whatever game I am playing atm. The other half its that I am not able to read subtitles on anime. So to play trial of iron I would need to actually be fully awake every single time I am in game. Its not difficulty. Haha what the hell are you on about? Trial of Iron promotes slower play, scouting/preparation rather than just save scumming after losing. Seems like you prefer to just attack move your blob everywhere lazily so I can see why wouldn't enjoy ironman. Also sounds like you suffer from sleep deprivation or something worse.

Trap/Lock xp is dumb. Just like in IE games where people solo farmed locks for free levels. It should not exist.

Also, spreading weakened is fairly easy to do with Priests/Wizards/Druids, which lowers fort to gross levels. Starcaller + anything

Balanced does not mean homogeneous. You can have different weapons all of which have different areas of specialty, which are still balanced against each other. When each weapon is useful and best in different circumstances, and no one weapon dominates all the others, that's balance. When one weapon is the best weapon under 90% of situations, that's not balanced. Exactly. It's not about them all being the same - it's about there not being an obvious winner. Estoc is the obvious winner. Greatsword is terrible in comparison. Which makes Matt sad, because a Barbarian using Carnage with an Estoc just looks and feels wrong. Thats why you go quarterstaff Barb

Not entirely accurate. But you'll definitely be resting 2-3 times as much. Nope it is accurate. You cannot face 20+ Potd shadows without 2 dedicated tanks Yes you can can. Gameplay video or it didn't happen. Properly built Barb, accuracy debuffs some summons. Hope this helps.

Keldorn came with a spammable ability that made vanilla BG2 a complete joke.