Ganrich

To bounce off of mazeltov. Yeah, many requirements mid to late game are 18-19 or more. So, you won't see everything no matter what. I am sure every attribute has some silly high checks toward the end. So, you will have to play multiple games with varying stats/skills/classes to see most everything.

Ok, I have a few questions, but I want to say a few things about how I feel about the Soundtrack and my 2 cents all around. I have been letting the desire to post about the soundtrack simmer partly because I was hoping someone else would come out and do it (I am lazy), and also because wanted to really give it a listen prior to posting. I think if Pillars of Eternity had a single thing that I could say was 100% home run territory it is the Soundtrack. Kudos to Justin. So, first off... Big shoes to fill. I know a lot of people here, myself included, really love the music of the IE games. Everyone has their preferences, but I think many people here can agree these games had top notch soundtracks. From booming tracks like Baldur's Gate's main theme, to the melancholy tracks from IWD (Skeleton of a Town comes to mind), to the ambient music of PST. I feel Justin swings through all 3 of these territories while making it his own. Paying homage without pure emulation. The combat tracks are very Baldur's Gate (particularly a, b, and c), and have big drums, big horns, and frantic strings. Something that gives great tension. Combat d... my god. Combat d is easily my favorite. I almost picked up a sledge hammer and went bear hunting, chanting Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr all the while, the first time I heard it. It really is epic. It pulled me from the game in a good way. I just left the game paused for a minute or 2 and enjoyed. Every time that track comes on I feel like that is the most epic battle I have ever encountered in the game. That section at the 41 second mark... gets the blood going. The area tracks for the towns, cities, and wilderness are very much like PST's soundtrack while sometimes like IWDs. Some are very much ambiance only. They set mood, and I love it. Honestly, most tracks set mood, but the ones I am referring to are very minimalist. The tracks for Temple of Skaen, Woedica, and Heritage Hill are what I am referring to. They give the sense of dread, and some sorrow. The Temple of Woedica theme particularly reminds me of Baldur's Gate again. Just to clarify: when I say I am reminded of PST... obviously that isn't the music itself, but the purpose of the music. PST is mostly ambiance, and themes for characters, areas, etc that are there to draw a certain mood or feeling. Highlights for me are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuwXHOiSow4 Honorable mentions are Defiance Bay, Elmshore, and Ondra's Gift. Questions for Justin, if he reads this... I am somewhat disappointed the track from the trailer isn't included in the game (not to mention the Soundtrack). Why was this? Will new music be made for the Expansion? Please? I am sure more will be done for a sequel... if that occurs. I am betting it will. Other than the IE games, what other things were you listening to? Anyway, I hope this wins some awards. You earned it. You nailed the IE sound, while not sounding like you were trying to rehash it, and you made it your own. That is a tall order, and especially to get general positive responses from us curmudgeon of the RPG community. You also seemed to take a little from each BG, IWD, and PST. At least that is what I am hearing. Also, and this is a compliment... I don't know why, but Defiance Bay made me listen to The Orgy from the Conan The Barbarian Soundtrack. I can't put my finger on it. Hopefully others will sound off on their favorite tracks, and what they think in retrospect to the IE games. Kudos again.

Perception and resolve happen a good bit, so does intellect and might, con and Dex I am unsure about. I know dex happens in scripted interactions. I know priests get some based on deity, and Paladins based on their Order. I can't remember which Order I saw the most. I played a Chanter Tank on my play through, and can say resolve and Perception have some cool things, for sure. Also, Ciphers get some cool dialogue moments as well. FYI, some of the later checks require 19 in a stat IIRC. That is about the best I know of atm. I had the option so anything I didn't meet requirements for didn't show up for my first play through. So, some of these are observations from early in the game (Pre-Defiance Bay). EDIT: If there was something in conversation that cam up the most... I think it was the Lore skill. It came up a lot IIRC.

Which? Almost all of them. I could make a fairly reasonable argument for only ever using hatchet (for tanks) and arbalest/arquebus for everyone else. I wouldn't actually want to play that way, but the weapon system definitely leans to that level of optimization. Not to mention that Estoc outclasses the other melee 2 handers in damage in most encounters. The weapons with reach are the only ones that still have purpose.

You actually get: 6 Skill points a level starting at level 2. 6 x 11 = 66 Starting skill points are dictated by Class and Background (Scientist, Laborer, Scholar, etc). Every point you put into a skill after the first increases its cost for the next. So, at level 2 with a Chanter you would have 0 in Athletics (unless you pick a background that gives athletics). To get 1 point in it you put 1 point, but if you want to put another point then that requires 2 more points. This means it requires 3 points total to get level 2 in a skill. It is hard to explain. Chanters get a +2 to Lore and +1 to Mechanics at level 1. So, let's say you want Lore to be higher at level 2. Even though your Lore is already 2 you only need to invest 1 point to get to 3, and 2 more to get to 4, etc. This means your Class and background dictate how cheaply you can attain more points in a skill. Hopefully this makes sense, but if not it is incredibly intuitive and shouldn't hinder you. You should be able to understand what I mean when you get to level 2. If you don't wanna be a scroll caster... I recommend a background that gives you +1 to Mechanics as it will start you at 2 in Mechanics, and that means you will be better at finding traps, disarming them, and picking locks. There isn't a companion that is really optimal for Mechanics. The phrase/invocation spread at level 12 is actually: 3 level 1 phrases. 2 level 2 phrases. 2 level 3 phrases. 3 level 1 invocations. 2 level 2 invocations. 2 level 3 invocations. I would ignore the level 1 Invocation that does lightning damage. It does pitiful damage. I didn't see it in the patch notes as being buffed... Take that how you will. If you don't want a summon... I would get the one that reduces enemy DT in its stead. (And Hel-Hyraf Crashed upon the Shield) Everything else looks solid. Don't ignore the level 3 invocation that does AoE ice damage around the caster. It is silly good damage. I ended a few of the toughest fights (no spoilers for you) on hard with it. It's caveat is that it is really easy to peg your party members with it. It has 7 large icebolts that shoot from your body in all directions. REALLY BIG TELEGRAPH that is hard to avoid with your friendlies. Also, the drake summon is stupid good, and the Might, con, res buff is +5 to all for 30 seconds. Same buff for Perc, Dex, and Int is also +5 for 30 seconds. None of the level 3 invocations are bad really. They are rarely used because it is hard to get 5 chants to fuel them, but when you get 5 in a tough fight they are game changers. I tested all these level 3 Invocations by saving as I dinged around level 10 or 11. They are all potent. Only one I didn't test was the Ogre summon. I don't want to talk about what is good, or bad, with the archer/gunner chanter. I haven't done it. Perhaps someone else knows. It looks solid though. Ila Nocked is a definitive, and I would ensure it is up 100% of the time via your chant sheet. EDIT: yeah, as Lasci is pointing out, as a tank you want max Perception and Resolve for sure. You don't need Con. Dex isn't a requirement either. You will swing slowly because of your tank talents and sword and board, and you won't be doing damage often with Invocations so Might isn't a necessity either. Intellect increase AoE and Duration for Invocations like stuns and Charms while increasing AoE on your Chants.

Actually, 2 Chanters is fine as long as you don't have them using the same phrases at the same time. A little overlap won't hurt either. I will use 2 mid-level chanters as an example. I will use an plus sign (+) for the main Phrase and a Equal sign for the Linger effect (=), and the semicolon will indicate the chanter starts over ( . Each use of the + and = signs will be 1 second of the chant. We will keep Thick Grew their tongues on the enemies constantly. Chanter 1 will speak Thick Grew their tongues, at the sight of their comrades, and then Dull the edge, and go back to sight of their comrades. Chanter 2 will use Lo their Endless Host, and then Thick Grew their tongues, and move to . The numbers signify the phrase being used: 1) Thick Grew their tongues 2) at the sight of their comrades 3) Dull the Edge 4) Lo their Endless host Chanter 1: 1) ++++== ++++== 2) ++++== 3) ++++== : Chanter 2: 4) ++++++=== ++++++=== 1) ++++== : There is a 2 second gap at the end where we have an overlap from the last linger of Thick Grew their Tongues. I copied the effects of Thick grew their tongues. 1) ++++== ++++== 1) ++++== : < both Chants reset at the same time. So, they will not go out of sync. With 2 Chanters we can have the enemies nearly constantly Frightened (1 second where that debuff wears off), and constantly at -10 Concentration. Of course you could also have 1 Chanter Debuff enemies (tank) as a melee, and another Chanter buff the party (DPS) as a mid-ranged gunner/archer. Chanters have 5 phrases each spell level, and only get access to 3 at the most with level 1. I just looked at my level 12 Chanter and you only get 2 level 2 and 2 level 3 phrases. Since there are five each level you could have 2 Chanters doing some wonderful buffs/debuffs, and hardly ever overlap while having only a few gaps where the enemy isn't debuffed or the party isn't buffed. Heck, the only level where you could double up on a phrase is level 1, and I would probably pick Come, Come Soft winds of Death for that. So, if you wanted to constantly do a little AoE damage you could. Anyway, to the OP: Talent picks will depend on what you want. Ancient memory and Beloved Spirits are about to get their Endurance healing halved from the looks of things from the patch notes. They weren't great before, and soon they will be worse. If you want to be a tank then I would suggest defensive talents: Weapon and Shield Style, Superior Defense, Cautious Attack, Hold the Line, etc. You will max (or close to max) Perception and Resolve, and you will want good Intellect for bigger AoE's on Invocations and Chants, and it will increase duration times on your Invocations as well. If you want to help more offensively then having Interrupting Blows talent + Thick Grew their Tongues (phrase) may be fun. You won't hit often, but with your high perception combined with the aforementioned talent and phrase you will interrupt a lot. High Lore will give you the ability to cast scrolls for fun. I would get enemy attention, use CC (with another character), and cast Fan of Flames from a scroll as an opener in a lot of situations. Tank being at the front made it incredibly easy to land. I picked mostly debuffs for my tank Chanter because I could ensure most enemies would be debuffed, but didn't always have my ranged close enough for the buffs. So, I would recommend Debuffing enemies if you are melee. Invocations I picked were Stuns, Debuffs, some damage. I rarely used the damage when I could kill the enemies DR or stun them. I didn't use summons, but they are useful. So, if you like summons then by all means. For a ranged build then pick talents for that, and then Phrases and invocations that seem reasonable. You could make a non-tank melee using reach weapons (pikes ect), or a Dual Wielding Chanter. They would work a lot like the tank spec with different talents ofcourse. You would also have to be patient and let enemies settle onto the tanks. Because without Resolve, Perception, Weapon and Shield, and tank talents... you will get hit and it will hurt. My one issue with the Chanter, after finishing the game with mine, is that they only have 2 Class specific talents. Ancient Memory and Beloved Spirits. Beloved Spirits just improves Ancient Memory, and they are both passive. The class doesn't do much outside of auto-attack. You can cast Invocations when you get enough Chants up, but it doesn't happen often. However, they really do win battles. A Chanter with 5 Chants up is a terrifying thing. Anyway, I wish Obsidian would give us some active abilities to use. Wizards, Priests, and Druids all get active abilities to help conserve spells, but chanters get nothing to do. The only exception is when you switch chants, cast from scrolls (expensive to do), and invocations. EDIT: I don't know if Ancient Memory Stacks with multiple chanters. I don't believe it is a buff. I think it would, but I could be wrong.

Beat the game, and no game breaking bugs for me. Only bug that I ran into was a bugged Chanter Phrase that lays ice traps that caused saving and loading times to increase. I was still able to finish without an issue.

Awesome thread, Longknife. I actually think not having Eothas explained as definitively being dead or alive is a tell that we don't know everything, yet. I hope that makes sense. I don't think that situation is as cut and dry as it seems for sure. I am expecting the definitives of Eothas' fate will be part of the upcoming expansion or sequel. I look at Baldur's Gate, and I think of its ending and how it leaves you with unanswered questions. How many brothers and sisters do you have? This game has a lot of similarities to the first BG story-wise. BG has a group corrupting ore, using bandits to block trade, etc to get a position of political and financial power over a region. In PoE we have a group of fanaticals using ancient machines to cause chaos, they assassinate political figures, etc to cause the populace to blame animancy. Because Animancy could cause the whole facade of the Gods to fall down. Both are conspiracy stories. PoEs expansion will be like Tales of the Sword Coast. They seem to be riffing somewhat off BG. Without copying or emulating. I expect if PoEs sequel follows similar parallels with Baldur's Gate 2 we will see more on Eothas. I was half expecting us to run across him (or pieces of him) along our way in this game. Waidwen's Eothas has one thing special about him: he is he only God that has taken physical form on Eora. That we know of anyway. This means it is easy to see him as something special. This could be intentional, or not. I don't disagree with you, though. I remain unsure. the first Hollowborn come within a year of the Godhammer. Could the some of the machines been turned on prior to the hammer falling on Eothas? Did the bomb destroy his soul or push it from Waidwen's body? How could Durance survive his proximity while others are destroyed? We are told the Machines act like magnets to souls. It would allow them to get Eothas out of the picture if the bomb just pushed the soul out to be collected by a Pillar, cause the locals to blame his demise for Hollowborn, and allow a campaign against animancy in other areas one stroke. Eothas' soul, if that thought pattern is correct, could have to go through the cycle of souls now. This could mean it is a matter of time before he pops back up. I also find it odd that Eothas and Thaos are almost anagrams. Not that I think Thaos is Eothas, but it is an odd coincidence. Could mean something, but probably me looking for clues letting me see them where I will.

Makes me think of the old Bill Hicks bit: Today, a young man on acid thought he could fly and jumped out of a building. What a tragedy. What a ****! If he thought he could fly why didn't he try to take of from the ground first? You don't see birds who are ready to fly south lining up at elevators!

I think the Chanter needs more class specific talents. As of now all I see is Ancient Memory, and a talent that improves it. Otherwise you pick from generic talents that all classes do. I am only level 6 or 7, so perhaps they get a few more at higher levels. However, it sucks leveling a Chanter and only selecting generic talents while getting to select neat class specific talents for companions.

^ that is more or less the way it works.

@Skol - I misread Voss's post. I thought he was saying that replacing the Chanter with a Wizard/Druid made the class pointless. That is my mistake. I should have read his post more carefully. In my defense I was up all the night before playing, and only got 3 hours sleep. I was thinking: level 2 Phrases take 6 seconds to cast and linger for 2 I believe. They could make it 4 second cast and a 4 second linger. Although that means the linger will completely overlap the next phrase. They could also let level 2 phrases build 1.5 Chants, and adjust level 3 phrases/chants accordingly. It doesn't make sense that Invocations cost more to cast at higher level, and phrases build Chants slower. One or the other is fine, but both is a bit much. A class should become more efficient as is levels, not less. I guess they want to let you play in a different ways. You can use level 1 phrases and use invocations more, or you can use level 2 or 3 phrases and use invocations less. It is a bit unintuitive though.

Ok, sorry I was at work. Just sat down to play, and figured I would respond here first. The Chanter isn't a face melter class... It's support. That is its strength. If you want to play the game in a way that is "burn things down as fast a possible" the Chanter is of marginal value. To compare it to the Wizard or Druid is silly. Those classes don't have a constant buff/debuff cycle rolling, and they can't debuff/buff while attacking. A Chanters Chants are active while moving, attacking (melee or ranged), while casting scrolls, while drinking potions, while using special abilities (from items and leveling up in game), etc. The only thing that interrupts the Chants are Invocations. Wizards, Priests, and Druids must stop attacking/reloading/etc to cast a buff/debuff. My Chanter is only 50% the damage of Aloth IIRC. However, I am using him for buffs, debuffs, casting from scrolls, and he is my primary tank. He has 77ish DR, IIRC. A pure battlecaster, and he is carrying my team. Although, sometimes Durance has to hit him with a heal or a buff. I use my chanter so I don't run Aloth and Durance out of spells too quickly. I use their per encounter abilities, and then IF I need them to do something I keep it minimal. Why? Because my Chanter takes very low damage in most fights. If I get low on health and have excess spells then I begin using those spells to end fights more quickly. I rest very rarely. This means that fights take longer though, and that isn't for everyone. I am playing this way because I want to savor my first play through. I understand that it may not be to other's taste. I won't disagree that Chanters are a bit slow to build for the combat at present. There are a few things that could be done to help. 1) Not related to Chant speed, but ... They overnerfed Thrice She was Wronged. It is useless, and was a go to Invocation before. The other damage level 1 Invocations are situational. One has a Push back (I might want to keep those enemies clustered around me) and the other requires enemy corpses on the ground. 2) The dead zone after an Invocation could go away, and have no bearing on combat. Although this doesn't help initial build to X chants... it helps with follow ups. 3) Currently, If you have 4 Chants built up, and use a level 1 Invocation, then you go back to zero (even if 4-3=1). This is unnecessary. Once again it helps with follow ups. 4) I could possibly see lowing the Chant requirement by 1, but that might make them a bit overtuned. . 5) Also, not related to Chant speed, but allowing a Chanter to trade in Phrases and Invocations at level up like the Bards and Sorcs in NWN2 would be awesome. EG - Skeletons become useless, but now I have level 2 invocations, so I switch Skeletons for another level 1 and pick up a level 2 summon. Also, I won't disagree over how little the level 1 Phrases effect things. I am using Aloth's high perception and Blasts along with my Chanter's -10 Concentration and his high perception to slow enemy attacks via interrupts. Is it weaker than just using a class that can do boat loads of damage? Absolutely, but for a first playthrough it is enjoyable. I also have a Barbarian with a 2 hander and decent Perc. The Barbarian drops like a rock though. :/ Anyway, the chanter is a PoE version of the Bard. Bards weren't really mega damage dealers. They were Jack of all Trades. The Chanter fits that bill. They can be pretty good as an arcane archer, or a melee DPS, or a tank. However, they will never be as good as a Rogue/Cipher (maybe even a ranger) Archer, a Barbarian/Rogue in melee, or a fighter/Paladin built for tanking. I will say they make a great tank though. I do wish Obsidian had given Chanters a talent for using a single level 1 or 2 spell from the game (Wizard). Let them have 3 casts a day, or 1 per encounter. It would add to the Chanters versatility while keeping them from being better than the Wizard as a caster. Give the Talent a Lore requirement, and it makes sense. @PugPug - No you cannot speed it up. Also, your chant book sets up the "twist mechanic". So it is done automatically.

What difficulty are you on? It is an issue for easy and normal, but on hard I use invocations fair bit. I do think they need to be tweaked though. it takes far too long for some of the effects to be worthwhile. with some tuning I think having the chant requirement of each level reduced by one could help.

Yeah, they did their due diligence in world building, and it shows. I hope it does well enough for a few sequels. Perhaps Obsidians relationship Paizo can spawn some PnP rules as well. The rules would need changing, but I think the world would do really well in a PnP game.

Double post.

Yeah, those bears are rough until you get some companions. I played all day yesterday. Like 12 hours. I'm in Defiance Bay at the moment and playing on hard. Hard difficulty has more enemies, and many of which are harder version s of those enemies. Can't wait to get home and get back to it. I am trying to complete everything, but the big cities always give me trouble. I seem to let quests fall through the cracks. Some fights are pretty merciless on hard.

I have a high lore, and I craft scrolls and potions for mine. He is built for tanking, but can do some damage with early fan of flames scroll and some offensive pots. Still more passive than some other classes, but I am fine with it.

Just for clarification on the Chanter. The level 1 Invocation that does Crush damage in an AoE cone needs a dead enemy to work. It summons 3 grubs from a corpse and they do crush. So it is good for cleanup in my experience. It does nothing if you haven't atleast killed one of the enemies. The way chant counters build is a bit weird, IMHO. I wish you gained a counter after each Phrase, but I guess you could micromanage the character, and switch between single phrase chants to get more offensive with the chanter. As it stands, if you want to use more invocation you cannot make much use of setting multiple phrases in a chant. It is a pretty versatile class though, and that is awesome.

Top seller on Steam, gog, and now the reviews seem to be placing it at the top of metacritic. I hope this restores faith in IE style games, and gives Obsidian the sales they deserve.

Well, congratulations to Obsidian thus far. I hope the game keeps getting 9s and 10s (or 5s).

Going to make a cheese dip with Rotel tomatoes, Velveeta, jalapeños, and some hamburger. I have a variety of alcohol, Pepsi, coffee, etc. My body is ready, as is my pantry.

I remember when BG1 came out, and I didn't meet the minimum. My party was teleporting along the sword coast, and I had to pause more to ensure my health was ok. It was painful, but I beat it. I hope it runs for you all.

Pretty sure steam just lists the game in its list... not all 3 skews. GoG lists all 3 skews. So, steam just takes all 3 skews, lumps them together, and shows 1 game place on its most popular list.

Yup, I moved Star Citizen's Arena Commander to my HD to make room. Sacrifices must be made to appease the RPG gods.