Katarack21

I took down everything in the Valewood with nobody in my party except my PC (a power-based damage dealer), Eder, and Aloth--and it was easy. I am playing on normal, though, not hard.

As a player who played EE versions of BG series and IWD just recently I can tell you it's not nostalgia, they're just that bloody good and worthy of occasional replays. Still not sure about PoE replayability though. THIS. So many times over. I confess I have put my latest BG1:EE all the way through to ToB (I never actually had ToB back in the day) on hold whilst I play PoE. They are waiting on Shandalar's Ice Island, where time means nothing... I put my recent playthrough of BG2 on hold for PoE. I could not disagree with you more strongly. I found Jan Jansen the most annoying little bugger on the face of Faerun. I sometimes murder him just because. Keldorn, on the other hand, is just boring to me. Minsc, though, is one of my favorite charcters in any RPG ever. I usually run with Viconia, Minsc, Jaheira, Yoshimo for the first half (replaced by Imoen) and often Aerie (even though I loathe her almost as much as Jan). I found the storyline compelling, the dream sequences riveting, and Irenicus a fascinating image of a sympathetic villain who is no less villainous for being so tragic. In short, I *really* love the writing in BG2. Lol, the fact that so many gamers still remember BG companions even to this day is also a testament to their awesomness. I'm still waiting in vain for BioWare to make a better set of companions and better romances. PoE companions while amusing at times are nothing to write home about, unfortunately. I hope they will be more developed in the sequel, their endings reactivity is a good step in that direction. Again, I disagree. PoE's companions are more subtle and complex, with more nuanced shading as compared to the clear, brightly colored archetypes in BG2. Eder's tired, world-weary cynical humor as compared to Minsc's brazen slap-sticky goofiness is a good example of that. "Trouble with having all these gods is you’ve got support no matter how dumb your ideas are. Maybe we had the right idea blowing some of ‘em up. Less of them to hide behind." --Eder

You've clearly never experienced the joy of five Rolling Flames bouncing in a crisscross pattern across a field of enemies.

1) None of them are unwinnable if you come back later when you're of the right level. I took out both Raedric (with smart positioning and use of bouncing AoE spells) and Wymund (attrition and foe AoE). 2) Why would you expect this to not be a thing? Fear the Fog of War. Fear it! 3) I took out both of those problems in one battle with no need to reload. It wasn't even all that hard. Wymund was harder. 4) There are no "wrong" answers, just different results. Sometimes you choices have consequences you don't like. That's called a good RPG.

As a player who played EE versions of BG series and IWD just recently I can tell you it's not nostalgia, they're just that bloody good and worthy of occasional replays. Still not sure about PoE replayability though. THIS. So many times over. I confess I have put my latest BG1:EE all the way through to ToB (I never actually had ToB back in the day) on hold whilst I play PoE. They are waiting on Shandalar's Ice Island, where time means nothing... I put my recent playthrough of BG2 on hold for PoE. I could not disagree with you more strongly. I found Jan Jansen the most annoying little bugger on the face of Faerun. I sometimes murder him just because. Keldorn, on the other hand, is just boring to me. Minsc, though, is one of my favorite charcters in any RPG ever. I usually run with Viconia, Minsc, Jaheira, Yoshimo for the first half (replaced by Imoen) and often Aerie (even though I loathe her almost as much as Jan). I found the storyline compelling, the dream sequences riveting, and Irenicus a fascinating image of a sympathetic villain who is no less villainous for being so tragic. In short, I *really* love the writing in BG2.

Probably, but it increases your DPS as compared to a normal shield. So it depends on what your going for with your fighter.

Also, the scrolls allow a spell caster to use spells from other classes, such as a wizard casting healing magic or a cipher casting fireball.

Protip: To win fights, do not solo creatures with a squishy.

"In fact despite strong writing most of the characters make disappointingly little impact, with many becoming as interchangeable and forgettable as The Hobbit dwarves." What. The. ****ing. Hell. Seriously? The companions are some of the best parts of PoE, with amazing characterization and incredibly destinct stories and personalites.

BG1: Let's see, do I use the short sword with a bonus to hit and damage, or the long sword with a one-number-higher bonus to hit and damage? Or maybe I should use the arrows with a bonus to hit and damage. I'm not sure. PoE: Hmm. Mace with drain life or dagger with spellbind?

I actually have a simliar issue because I restored some stats that were altered. I wish the guys at Obsidian could talk to Steam about resetting that after the first major patch fixes these bugs.

There are. That's a promise.

I find sending my main tanks in and then having Aloth create a wall of fire behind them, in front of the casters, is a super effective strategy to prevent this issue.

Good job on Eder! He's one of my favorite companions. I really enjoy his cynical, world-weary point of view and I find his cynical humor quite funny. Thank you!

I bought that ****ing game in a brick-and-mortar store and it killed my operating system straight up. Worst. Release. Ever.

SPOILER: I prefer Aloth in my party over the druid because Aloth has better selection, though the spells themselves are not always as powerful.

No, but ranting and raving about how the game is "broken" and such doesn't do any good, either. A bug report is a bug report--a neutral statement of an issue found. Criticism is criticism, and can be good or destructive. It's not a bad thing to call somebody out for passionate, inaccurate hyperbole that doesn't actually reflect the real state of things.

There is a secret vendor in Defiance Bay who sells the rare gems if you do a little task before you talk to him.

Paladins are fanatical believers in something whose fantacism gives them power. They are pretty fanatical about their dragons!

And I discussed that and made my statement about it, then responded to somebody else talking about what I had said previously. This is called a "conversation" where I "respond to other people".

I find Eder hilarious in a cynical, world-weary sort of way.

Why?

It was a time constraint. They were going to fix it, but decided to focus on other bugs since it doesn't prevent stealth gameplay. I read a post somewhere around here where they were planning to change it in an upcoming patch--not the one next, but the one after that.

Frenzy has drawbacks. You do actually want to choose when to frenzy, otherwise it will kill you quick.

The main motive behind much of our activity is economical. When money stops being an issue, this takes away from the roleplay - "My character is too rich to care about the plot events or about what someone is offering for a service" - and it gives you nobrainers in place of decisions - "Buy the best gear, why not, who cares about the money". Actually, even with around 6800 cp right now, I can't say I'm too rich right now, but this is due to limiting myself from using the stash as much as possible (it's unavoidable for crafting components), and from refusing to steal from places where it would not make sense from a roleplay perspective. I use the stash as much as I can, loot everything that isn't marked stealing (and some things that are) and generally do my best to generate as much money as possible. I also buy the best equipment I can, enchant everything whenever possible and have Aloth learning spells whenever I get a new grimoire. I've never had more than the 12K copper I have on me right now, and generally I'm sitting at around 4,000. Since I'm also doing upgrades constantly, I expect the amount of money I have will go up once those upgrades are done and I can then spend the money on hirelings to protect my tax income. My point is that the money system is so far balanced for me, but that might change.