curryinahurry

You can build Fighters to be either very effective at fully defensive, balanced or DPS oriented in this game. I think the changes in AI are part of the obsidian desire to de-emphasize attributes in favor of talents and abilities (no bad builds) and also to try to de-incentivize min/maxing. I've been playing through the game very slowly, just to my time constraints but I have 2 fighters in my party, Eder and my PC. I have Eder built as a tank but have given him certain talents like confident aim and potion of eldritch aim, etc. Combined with Paladin auras, etc. Eder does a pretty decent amount of damge, and can hold 4 baddies in engagement. My DPS/ off-tank does most of the damage in the party and with auras, etc. I can have his accuracy up over 90 at 8th level. Combined with 'merciless' effects, the character crits very regularly. He can also hold 2 in engagement, raising the total to 6. Add in Pallegina/a paladin/ monk with hold the line, and your engagement level is up to 8. That will get you trhough most fights and with characters that will actually do some damage. The key element that many don't consider in this game is the dual health system. The game is designed around attrition over an adventuring day and health should be the limiter. Building defensive only tanks in this kind of system is counter logical as it takes at least one of your team out of the damage pool and leads to spells becoming the limiter for the adventuring day.

Please watch the spoilers,

@ OP I'll echo what others have already said about your critique in that 2 of your 3 gripes come down to a matter of taste; and while you are certainly entitled to your opinion, so are others in seeing greatness where you don't. That said, I think the true reason for all the 'hype' has a lot more to do with a game style and theme that was deemed unworkable by large publishers succeeding so emphatically upon release. PoE is very much in the tradition of the IE (and ToEE) style games that were considered beyond redemption. Through Kickstarter, that model was resurrected, and now looks like it will make over 20 million dollars, spawning a new franchise. It's a real thumb in the eye to large publishers and helps (along with certain other games) establish KS as a legitimate alternative model to large publishers. It will be interesting to see how this will change the industry, because the implications are massive and could be paradigm shifting.

Hitting Tab isn't cheating since the game has 'Scouting Objects' which are the real hidden objects that people can scour the map for is they really want to loot every item possible. Pixel hunting is just plain silly.

Currently I seem to be having problems with any screen transition in Gilded Vale. Valenwood is fine, but the transition to Gilded Vale crashes, or when I transition areas in Gilded vale it crashes. Memory is not a problem, the game is only using about 1 GB, but it's taking almost the entire CPU load. I hope they fix this soon.

Got it, cheers!

^ I think Obsidian mentioned how they got better at doing the areas as the development progressed, and they apparently made a second pass at some of the early areas to add polish. Not know what order areas were done in, it's logical to assume that the difference in quality can have something to do the the aforementioned. Also, in general, I think textures have been upgraded, lighting has had a couple of passes (the day night cycle was a big change in the backer beta). I think that layer of polish makes a huge difference in the end results; especially lighting.

Depends on what class and build he's talking about. I'll be the first one to say that one should go for what they want and aim for the RP, but if he's going for a traditional wizard and referring to Perception, saying that Perception is good for combat for him is ignorant at best and deceptive at worst. Disagree...it depends on the build. You can build a tanky Wizard with High perception and take down the Harond Guard at the bridge at 4th level with the right selection of spells and basic equipment. Just did it and interrupt came in quite handy. With the right equipment and crafting, one could build a very good character around a high perception concept. It may not be great for a Power gamer, but for for someone who wants to RP a particular type of chracter and have synergy between the RP aspects and combat, it's fine. BTW, we don't know how this might change between 480 and release, so the whole discussion might be moot

Please remove this post

Can a mod remve this and the next post...not sure what happened

As stated, Rogues are designed to do high single target damage if built correctly. They require a fair amount of micromanagement as positioning and timing of attacks is pretty critical with them. Ranged, they are strong and deliver consistent damage. In melee, they can be absolutely devastating with the right equipment, but also go down very fast if caught one on one by a tanky character.

It is good for combat. There are a lot of combinations for how to use attributes with certain builds and a perception oriented non-tank is perfectly viable with the right selection of weapons & talents. You may not be able to build an Uber character with it, but a decent build is entirely possible

This is derivative work, fanart (built using copyrightable parts of an IP) is owned by Obsidian Entertainment. Except that the OP's work might be rightfully called Fair Use (at least under US statute) as it is an augmentation. It also isn't based on a specific character. If it is established as Fair Use then, as long as the representations are new material, they can be watermarked, or even copywritten (not sure about this, and I'm not an attorney). Either way, your vehemence strikes me more as Envy then a desire to see an open field for creative discourse.

Although I do think it's ironic that he chose a painting that was stolen no less than 4 times throughout it's history (including a rumour that DaVinci stole the painting back from the Patron that originally commissioned it)

@ Luckmann First, Wikipedia should never be used as a resource in any discussion of legalities...it's just not reliable. Second, Watermarking is Protection of intellectual property through identification, removal of which is in violation of DMCA. In other words, if protection is removed, then there is a pathway towards Legal Remedy (in these cases, usually Civil). You're in the removal of the watermarks and reposting, for example, is an act that the issuer can view as either fair use, or theft, but either way, you're in the wrong and they can take action (as I see she just did). With regards to Fair Use, that is something for courts to decide on a case by case basis. Especially when it comes to re-posting others work on the internet.

If the watermark has copyright information or the name of the issuing company, it is absolutely protected. Trust me, I've used Watermarks and taken legal action against people who have removed them to get them to stop. It works.

To the OP; Really nice work on the portraits. One note about the Godlike portrait; the artwork is great, but the expression is a bit tough to decipher. I can't tell if the character is in pain or laughing or singng an old Aumauan folk ballad or choking on a bone, Without eyes as visual cues, expressions get a bit tricky. With regards to the whole Watermark issue; I wouldn't get dragged into some of the idiotic observations and provocations that are inevitably going to follow in a thread like this. No professional creative person in their right mind would fault you for protecting your work.

Good Post Sensuki...Obsidian should either Sticky this topic or put some notice on the forums to the same end. I never underestimate the ability of people to ruin their own good time then complain bitterly about it afterwords as if it's someone else's fault.

What makes a cipher work well as a thief? Are you thinking in terms of role-playing or is there some kind of mechanical advantage? Personally I intend to make my front line tanks good at sneaking and spotting/setting traps so I can keep them up front at all times. Unless I'm mis-remembering, it's the only class other than Rogue that starts with a level in both Stealth and Mechanics. Of course, it really comes down to playstyle, but my primary melee combatants I've built in the beta are using Athletics (fatigue), Survival (healing), and lore (Scrolls) In terms of building an IE type Thief character (with spells), it's mostly what you can choose in terms of powers and talents, etc....of course no backstab, but most of the other stuff. Plus putting a couple of points in Lore (the other skill point you get at level 1) and you can use Scrolls; similar to the BG2 Use Any Item

There are only 5 Skills in the game, and it's impossible to max out more than one skill afaik. So the choice will always be a matter of whether to specialize vs, generalize in character development; and that will depend more on how you want to play the game. For conversations, all the checks are against the Player Character and in Scripted Encounters; the checks are done so that you can assign the task to the party member that most fits the criteria. The game is designed to allow for a variety of approaches to solving problems; not restricted by class as the IE games. As MasterPrudent states above, assigning skills is going to be up to you and how you want to tailor your role playing experience. That said, certain classes like the Cipher, are pretty well adapted to stepping into the role of party Thief (as per the IE games). Actually, in some ways, the Cipher class fits better into the IE version of Thief than does the Rogue; which is much more a hybrid between Assassin and Fighter.

Between not having kill XP and a level cap, it should be pretty easy to control end game content. The fact is that the 1/3 time on the crit path will likely yield heavier XP rewards while the 2/3 exploring will yield lighter XP rewards but greater loot and other benefits. That said, if one really and truly adheres only to critical path content, then the final encounter should be extremely difficult if there is combat involved. At the same time, the game should allow options for these players to either avoid combat or solicit help/ find other solutions since these are likely the types of players who aren't going to be particularly interested in the combat/ crafting/ completionist side of things.

Lanfear from BG2, I believe. Also, several in TOB; Chinchilla, Draconis, Merlinious (SP?) Yakman, and a few others. It led to much strife on the old Bio Boards

Just to give this discussion a bit of perspective, as anyone who played CRPGs prior to Baldur's Gate already knows, many of the 80s and 90s games had a loot screen that popped up after combat which either gave a summary of valuable loot (a la Pool of Radiance) or a list of all the available loot from the bodies of the defeated (a la Darklands). Now it can be argued that this was a function of limited technology or just the logical extension of pen and paper gaming, where loot is always consolidated. Either way, I don't think any developer would think that making the looting of bodies individually would be a giant step forward in gameplay. In other words, as long as the looting isn't automatic, we're back to an issue of individual preference. Personally, I prefer a consolidated loot screen because of my old school, pen and paper background. It seems more natural and I like the idea of having a sense of scale; especially after a big battle. The other way, as it was in the IE games, is no big deal, just a bit cumbersome at times.

Actually, what looks most odd about is that the door to the courtyard on the bottom level has a rounded arch as opposed to the pointed arches above. If they fixed that it would look fine...but I'm nitpicking with that

^ Heh, that's pretty abstract, but I guess so. The look of the player stronghold is more traditional medieval-esque fantasy fare. But the place is a ruin, so the structures looking of an older time make sense to me.