Cubiq

Lol Sensuki 5 fighters and 1 mage. Imagine the fun with that.

I know that the priest and the chanter have a revive skill but i think they need to be level 7-8 to use it. Still kind of a silly mechanic, it would be much easier to just cast Withdraw spell on them which i think is cheesy since it's too powerful for a level 1 and probably shouldn't even be in the game since it can be used on your tank to take 0 damage and also says: "i know you can't save your characters because of engagement but here's a spell that makes you invulnerable to fix it"

Yes i don't want to use 2-3 abilities for each enemy just so i can reengage them with my tank nearly every battle and repeat that again if my tank gets knocked down again. Since you're so hardcore go play the beta, record it and send your weaker characters to the front, first wait a few seconds to simulate a knockdown on your tank and then use your tactics to save them. And then repeat that at every battle in the beta, then tell everyone on the forum how much fun you had and that this is how everyone should play. I'm sure you'll get great replies.

Well yeah the pathing is a different issue. Sawyer said they are working on that atm i think, so who knows how that will turn out. Edit: nvm i think i read that wrong, not sure if they are working on it.

The dumb AI is there for people who support the engagement mechanic because controlling the enemy was too hard for them in IE games. So it would make it play no different than it currently does. If they actually make it so that the enemy could knock down your tank and disengage to each go after their own target you would be royally screwed with the current abilities in the game, because the tank would no longer be able to pick them up before someone would get killed. Also one of the points of the mechanic was for you to more easily control the front line. The game that you wish where the enemy can easily stride through your front line defense was never intended to begin with. Imagine the amount of abilities/spells you would need to activate just to get all the enemy back to your tank/tanks (which may or may not actually hit), while also activating defensive abilities for the weaker characters and healing them. And after you manage to reacquire all the enemies back to your tanks again, imagine him knocking you down again and doing everything over. I can guarantee you that that would be much more tedious than simply moving the character away and blocking them with another character like in IE games.

firsts = fists

I didn't really notice a difference. The deflection bonuses from spells like Mirror image and Arcane Veil don't stack, so it's pointless to cast those spells if you already have Arcane Veil Arcane Veil is instant and provides a lot more deflection if talented and doesn't waste a spell slot. You could get lesser Invulnerability spell heuristics so you could cast Spirit Shield and Bulwark Against The Elements faster but casting those 2 spells in succession is already very fast without the talent and when i tested it i didn't really notice the difference at all. Overall the spell buffs are pointless as none of them are worth the spell slot or will save you from the low health that wizards are blessed with. You're basically wasting spells to keep your wizard alive so he will keep taking health damage, and at the end of the fight you'll be without most of the spells and barely any health left so you will most likely need to rest if you don't want him to die next time. It's better if your wizard is in danger to just use your offensive spells to do max damage and when he gets knocked out as he will not only have more health remaining and more spells left for the next fight, but he will also do damage to the current enemy so you can finish them off easier.

In the spell description for the Spirit Shield it says that it provides bonus D.T. however it does not specify to what exactly. http://i.imgur.com/deL1Eeq.jpg The spell behaves very strangely. Looking at combat rolls the spell behaves differently versus different enemies. Versus Cowled Man with the sword it provides 10 D.T. protection versus slashing Versus Cowled Man with firsts it provides 10 D.T. protection versus crushing Versus Medreth it provides 5 D.T. protection versus piercing damage Versus beetles it provides 0 D.T. protection versus piercing damage

Ah so it was already reported, didn't see that.

After a character has been hit directly by the spell or has stepped on it while still in effect on the floor, it will prevent him from either ever getting back up or ever attacking again. If they do manage to get back up they can still do disengagement attacks. I have no idea why this is happening. Edit: Oh and also the visuals where the effect animation latches on the character still isn't fixed for most of the spells.

The spell It does nothing! The spell Bulwark Against The Elements does not seem to give the bonus D.T. to shock, corrode or freeze damage. However it does actually give D.T bonus to burn damage, which i tested, and you can also see it if you hoover over the buff icons above portraits. (lower left corner) http://i.imgur.com/WTkXplD.jpg

Like this? You could but that would be wasteful of spells, which are now more important with camp supplies. (i stopped the video because i ran out of spells.)

If the enemy can get past your fighter then your wizard can get away from the enemy as well. So you can just shoot him down with arrows. And he will do less damage to both of you than if he just attacked your fighter. So it's not really the optimal choice for him to do that in the first place. You don't want to run around like an headless chicken? You don't have to, because the AI would be smarter if he just stayed on the fighter to begin with.

On a side note, i wonder how the developers even imagined people will be able to play this, as there is no way to escape combat if you accidentally pull more mobs than you can handle. Play the perfect game with autism level of patrol path memory?

I don't actually understand the poll "Do you believe this engagement system should be implemented into Pillars of Eternity?" When you said "this" do you mean the one currently in the game or the fixes you proposed?

Lol just tried that with a 2h mace. Cool find sensuki.

Yeah i see it now. Before http://i.imgur.com/c3mSjtU.jpg After http://i.imgur.com/qQXPCxj.jpg I preferred the calmness that the first one gave tbh...

You mean how it looks more bleached out? I think that probably comes with the rain effect.

I've already tried that, and it really only works if you specialize for that, which is a balance issue. If i made 6 fighter/mages in bg2 i probably wouldn't have to move either. The slow run speed is so that the movement abilities actually matter. It may be a tedious design, but the encounters them selves are made for you to move if you don't abuse the mechanics. But yes i know that movement in IE was good thing. I was for removing the engagement mechanic, after all.

I would be if the melee party AI wouldn't keep getting himself killed. And the tactical view is too clunky to effectively move them all the time.

Huh? What difficulty are you playing at? I reposition quite a lot in DA:I to doge aoe attacks and enemies that can teleport past your tank, to place the tank correctly to absorb maximum ranged damage with with shield block, to aggro enemies correctly, place character so that the Barrier spell hits the most of them, etc.

Off topic, so what exactly are those arrows that point out in every direction from a selection circle?

Actually i'm playing DA:I atm and i find it more fun that what I'm playing here. I was never DA fan and i still find IE games better. On nightmare difficulty you actually need to be resourceful and the stuff you can pull off with positioning shield block and correct use of CC is really amazing. PoE doesn't even come close in this regard. I keep discovering better tactics to fight all the time. They also fixed the healing problem elegantly with Armor and Barrier mechanics, where it allows you to not take health damage if you play really well. Where it falls short is the bad controls, unreliable party AI and lack of spell selection. (I rely on party AI because the tactical controls camera is tedious to use.)

I haven't tested them yet, but their Stunning Blow should be still pretty good. Applying -30 deflection, and then have everyone focus them down.

I think they fixed the monk also? I noticed i'm barely taking any damage on hard vs Medreth