Kjaamor

On my game, it was the Skaen guards (with shields) who were invincible. I had to use my Fighter and Cipher to move them out of my path to get on with it.

The best thing that can be said about NWN2 is that it has not been explicitly proven to be carcinogenic. Yet. The "enhanced" edition of BG baffles me because they basically tag on a load of items, skills and features from a different game and succeed in completely unbalancing the decent game they had.

I'd argue that it has already succeeded, although I agree with Sensuki that the big question is how well it will compare. EDIT: I agree with your concerns regarding the maps being tight and clustered, PJ, although I personally think that many people have slightly over-emphasised the BG1 exploration. The impression of exploration I got from the pitch was that you will not be npc sign-posted into every dungeon, a la DA:O and every other mmorpg/pseudo-mmorpg. To that extent, I actually thought that the maps gave a sense of exploration rather than tour-guided. ...but I shall be very surprised if we're seeing wilderness maps of BG1 scale.

I think he is referring to the way you could roll for attributes in BG, rather than combat dice rolls.

For me it remains an ugly and arbitrary limit. Why 0.3, 0.3, 0.4? Why not 0.267, 0.301, 0.432? I suppose the real question is why not just round things up and down to numbers that we can see and account for?

Cipher spamming "Whispers of Treason" = God Mode. Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin, Rogue = Fine. Priest = Useful and cool while the front-line is weak, when the front line gets stronger, unneccessary. Wizard = Terminally useless for artillary, although I'm reliably informed they perform better in Muscle Mode. Rangers = Handy for crashing the game or getting slaughtered in the back row because ILOVEMYBEARSOMUCH. Chanters/Druids = Not really touched so far. They crash the game disproportionately frequently for me.

I don't know how many of them are placeholder systems, but frankly the numerical formats of PoE make me twitch. You cite the shop example. Another example is Cipher focus. A successful Soul Whip provides 5 focus. Cipher spells use focus in multiples of five. Why? Why not have soul whip gain one focus and spells use focus in multiples of one? Also, I strongly dislike the use of fractions in the damage log. Is 0.3hp damage actually calculated within the whole number system? If so, why is it obfuscated? Why not just increase health and damage by a factor of 10? If it is not calculated - and/or is rounded up or down, then why not just state the end product in the damage log?

The charm power should be a level 3-5 wizard spell. As a reusable Cipher talent it makes mincemeat out of almost any encounter that comes your way. I agree that in terms of Githing, the Cipher doesn't really live up to purpose, given that its two best spells are Charm and a DoT.

The Cipher needs a good nerfing, imho. A combination of one or more of: -Removing the starting focus, so that Ciphers have to land hits to use their powerful spells -Reducing the amount of focus gained per hit. -Removing the spell "Whispers of Treason" entirely. Oh, and at the moment I haven't been able to find a "Dismiss Party Member" button, so that would be nice.

In other news, in my eagerness to put forward my opinion, I've created a new thread when in hindsight this might be best placed in one of the general discussion threads. So if a mod would like to move it, that would be great.

So I've finished clearing most of the temple, barring a few sections of invulnerable guards (deflection = 150+). Hope and Dreams: To return to the village, empty the stash, dismiss the wizard and pick up a Paladin. Reality: First off, dismissing the wizard in the manner I have grown accustomed to does not appear to be an option at the present time. Instead I have had to opt for a rather more constructive dismissal at the hands of some invulnerable Skaens. The shere amount of effort it took to get an unarmoured, seemingly defenseless wizard killed made me question whether his removal was the right decision. I marched him alone into a room of 2 Skaen Cultists, 2 invulnerable Skaen Guards and 2 of the the aforementioned *Missing Strings*. He lasted for over ten minutes by which point both the Cultists and one of the *Missing String*s had perished after the Skaens got so riled up at being presented with a naked wizard that they duely hacked each other to pieces. No charm spells used by me on this occasion. Unsure if this is a bug or a feature. Whatever. So with the wizard "dismissed" I leave the temple. 5 warriors arrive in Dyrford Ford. Four character portraits. My hired adventurer Barbarian's health and picture have gone. By the time I reach the village, the adventurer has gone entirely. The off-screen indicator will suggest that a blank character is somewhere off-screen, but nothing reveals. I go and recreate a new adventurer, and the new hired gun's portrait appears, but not their character. Again, the off-screen indicator points vaguely north of the inside of the inn. I cannot leave the inn, because I cannot "gather my party". Any thoughts?

My interpretation of the priest spell was that it merely delayed the impact of things like deep wounds, meaning that my fighter would die 9 seconds later than he otherwise would. Is this not the case? I must admit that I haven't tried muscle-wizarding (Traditionally I've used Mages as artillary rather than controllers or giths) but half of the issues I've experienced with the wizard are that it's impossible to do any useful dps without blasting your front-liners in the process. Frequently a spell will be used that misses the enemy but hits the fighter!

So I downloaded the BB on my housemate's 64-bit PC (Even with the update, on 32-bit it crashes to desktop so frequently as to make it unplayable), and am finally playing the beta instead of just suffering it. My first thoughts are that it is really quite enjoyable, and despite the lack of combat exp I still feel compelled to kill every damned Skaen Cultist or Beetle I come across. At the moment I'm still in the Dyrford Ruins, exploring that. Also, after my 32-bit nightmare, I'm pleased to see that the beta has far fewer gameplay-altering bugs than it did, so those updates are helping. Of note: -Graphical Glitches A go-go: Graphics of items appear all over the world without warning - my PC has a shield, a bow and a spear at his feet constantly. My personal favourite was when my fighter reloaded his Morning Star and fired it at the enemy. -Cipher works like a Charm: The level 1 charm spell is hideously overpowered and is at the core of every battle I win. That it can be used infinitely needs balance. -My arch-nemeses, "Missing String" - Aka Skaen Archer. Deep Wounds consistently kills off my party members and this power alone makes Skaen Archer far, FAR harder than other enemies. -Selective engagement: Sometimes they will, sometimes they won't. -Selective "Escape": See above. Not the best combination. -Underpowered Mage: I know Josh has complained about Quadratic mages in D&D, but at present the mage seems woefully unpowered compared to the Cipher - even on a spell per spell basis (to say nothing that the Cipher does not have to rest and can charm everything he needs to). As it stands, when I get back to Town I'll probably swap out my lvl5 mage for a level 1 or 2 Cipher/Chanter/Paladin. I'm sure that can't be right. -Exit to reload: For some reason, for all the update notes, if I want to reload my game I have to close down PoE entirely and re-open it. Generally enjoying things and look forward to chipping away at the beta over the coming days.

Yup.

It was my experience that grandmastery in bows was hardly needed anyway. I found that my level 2-3 archer thief (pure thief, proficient with shortbows) was not only doing more damage but was tactically far more useful than any of my melee classes. For all the power of those pesky Quadratic mages, a Baldur's Gate party where five of your party are skilled with bows will destroy just about everything that is in the vanilla game that has flesh on its bones. My experience of PoE so far (which is limited due to my frequent, 32-bit, crashes) is that ranged characters are nowhere near as powerful as they were in BG.

Ah, fair enough.

I think it's knocking on the door of absurdity to renounce the title of "Spiritual Successor to the Infinity Engine Games" based on whether or not Path of the Damned has unique items, but I would like to see some higher level items appear exclusively in the mode. I say this, because even while I am unlikely to ever touch PotD-mode, I hate the notion of someone gaining all the treats a game has to offer on the easiest setting. If you want it, come and claim it, etc.

I'm in a bit of rush to leave so I apologise if this has already been said, but isn't the point of making might have a greater impact upon big slow weapons to represent the fact that you would need to be big and powerful to use them? And weaklings like myself would be better with smaller weapons used quicker and more thoughtfully? Or am I missing the point? (Obviously this has no bearing on whether overall balance is off)

Most amusingly, I had a stone beetle start hacking away at itself, which doesn't seem quite in line with more traditional "charm" style effects. Whether this is a bug or a feature, I couldn't say. Certainly charmed creatures frequently continue to attack their original target.

Obsidian have acknowledged that Chanters are overpowered at this stage, but I've noticed a few people talk about Ciphers being overpowered too. I haven't played a Chanter, but at the levels I've played so far Ciphers certainly seem overpowered.

Agree that the lack of definitive art style is slightly irritating, although I like the individual quality of all of them. That said, it does seem that the Orlan was designed to be "Pretty female" first, and "Orlan" second. Maybe it's part of a modular set, because the ears and spots look quite tacked on. Or it could be a backer portrait, although I don't get that impression.

Having played a bit of the beta, I think my PC will be best served by playing either a Paladin or a Cipher. Both classes allow me to place my character stats for RP reasons (low strength and constitution, high intelligence, high perception and resolve) whilst also functionally dual-wielding without any semblance of being a "sneaky" character. I expect Ciphers to be toned down somewhat for the end game, as currently they strike me as a bit overpowered. Haven't even touched Chanters yet, but the idea of my PC being a bard is even worse than a (sneaky) rogue or barbarian.

I suggest that the difference for me is being on 32-bit XP with a cap on 3GB of RAM, but for me it crashes more often than the average beta.

If 4) is true for me, then you are a lifesaver! In general, I doff my hat to you and your thread, sir!

The style, atmosphere and general design is fantastic, and I think it will be a worthy successor to the IE games. That said, it is overwhelmingly buggy in the same way that the sky is overwhelmingly blue. As of the current release, I am experiencing crashes to desktop and fatal bugs so often that I realise spending money to participate truly is a negative status effect resulting from a failed will save. I have every confidence that they will sort these bugs out and a wonderful game is on the other side, but I would encourage non beta-players not to feel envious of those of participating. At the moment it is seeing a game through a pea-soup of bugs, and other than being able to view and play with character creation I do not feel substantially more aware of the game than I did before beta started. For the record, I'm on 32-bit XP, and I think it reasonable to assume that this is interfering with my experience, since others have claimed to have completed the game and I have barely managed a single quest within. Players in a similar boat may wish to consider their PC options.