Ark Evensong

Not know, no. But I expect them to be plain ol' downloadable PDFs, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Except, there's no listed price for the Guidebook? You can sort-of arrive at $10 by comparing Kickstarter tiers, and I'd say the Guidebook is certainly worth it at that price - I paid €18 for an extra print edition - but I can't find a place that'll offer it digitally, except as part of an existing Kickstarter package, or the Royal Edition. The Campaign Almanac looks fun, too. But it's 1/3 the content, at 35 pages. $15 seems steep, considering you also get the Documentary and Soundtrack (and a few other misc. goodies) for the same (extra) price in the Champion Edition.

... Huh. There doesn't seem to be a way? It's included in all but the barest Kickstarter tiers, but it doesn't seem to be available as an Add-On. No luck on the Dark Horse website, either. Maybe it'll show up later. The Champion Edition will include the Campaign Almanac, (but not the Collector's Guidebook:Volume One, nor the Strategy Guide) so if you don't care about the Collector's Book, you could skip the Royal edition. (It's included in a bunch of Kickstarter tiers, and available as an Add-On for Backers, but for $15, I think it's a bit much. Call it a Kickstarter Artifact.) The Strategy Guide can be pre-ordered digitally from Prima itself for just short of $10. (Or as an Add-On for backers for $7.) It's also available in print. The Collector's Guidebook: Volume One looks to only be available digitally in the Royal Edition, and most Kickstarter packages. It's available in print, but I can't find a place that'll offer it digitally.

Seriously? So yes, there will be a manual available for download. It'll be pretty decent in size, too - but perhaps not quite as hefty as some of the classics had. There's an unboxing video somewhere that shows off the manual a little. [EDIT] Ninja'd by Cantousent. By three minutes, even. Whoops!

I do believe the plan is to release all the digital extras along with the keys Monday or Tuesday, with the possible exclusion of the Strategy Guide. (Saving that one for actual release, to avoid spoilers.) This should include the manual. The keys, of course, won't let you play the game until that goes live on the 26th, but would let you pre-load. (If on Steam. Not sure if GOG offers something similar.)

Apparently. Greatswords deal Slash/Pierce.

I sincerely doubt there's any infrastructure in place to support keys for the expansion as of yet. Pretty certain there won't be "expansion included" keys, nor separate keys for just yet. You should expect to have to log into the Backer Portal to grab your expansion key once the expansion is done. There'll be Kickstarter Updates that'll tell you what to do when the time comes. Uh, no? the $140 retail collector's edition contains 1 digital key (Steam or GOG), and a physical, DRM-free disc that will ship later. You may be confused with the $165 Digital Only tier?

Just to answer that YES or NO question - YES, the Backer Beta will run on Windows XP 32 bit. Remembered I still had a partition with a WinXP install on my PC, so decided to give it a shot. (i5-750, Radeon HD 7770 1GB and 8 GB of RAM (but 32 bit, so can't access - so just 4, then.)) It boots up, I can get through character creation and walk around town. Zoom level seems to be bugged a little. (I could zoom in a lot further than on my Win 7 install. I know there's a console command to set it, but I haven't touched it.) ... And, that's basically the extent of my testing. I can't promise there'll be no gamebreaking bugs or whatever related to Windows XP. If you're planning to upgrade soon anyway, I'd say it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

Karkarov's information if outdated - your primary key will be mapped to a Hero, Champion or Royal edition on Steam or GOG. (See this thread by Brandon Adler.) I haven't seen any info if that included the extra keys, though - those could very well be Hero edition only. That said, all keys generated on the portal should include both the Pre-Order and Kickstarter tems.

It's 3% per CON point, if I remember correctly. Even a 3 CON Barbarian will still have a better Endurance/Health pool (especially Health! CON doesn't modify the Endurance -> Health multiplier. Maybe it should.) than a 10 CON Rogue or so. But yeah, a higher Endurance makes CON more important, both positively and negatively. The gaps between the Endurance tiers (+10, +12, +14 or +16 per level) measured in CON are about 7 at the low end, and 4 at the high end. This may have the effect of CON being too expensive to be worthwhile for the lower Endurance classes.

No specific date, no - but "Winter of This Year, Definitely" was bandied about last autumn - which was delayed to "Early 2015" later on. Don't remember the exact timing of the announcements, but there was a delay, no doubt. But yes, just having a bit of fun. I can wait 4 more days (and 5 hours!? HRNNNG.) Just thought it'd be a hilarious disingenuous attempt at saving face to release on March 20th and proudly proclaim "We Made Our Target! Winter 2014! Woo!" (Maybe especially because I don't believe there is any need to 'save face'.) (Sorry for you Southern Hemispherians, but you should be used to the rest of the world using seasons to identify a part of the year that's just not right, like, at all.)

Ah, if only they released it yesterday - they could've made a halfhearted argument that they did indeed release on time. In the winter that started in 2014.

There should not be any difference in content between the Digital and Dead Tree versions. Following tier prices are for Kickstarter Backers - I believe 'slacker backers' have a slightly different tier system. Check your pledges in the Pledge Manager on the Backer Portal to see what you're already getting. Pillars of Eternity Guidebook: Volume one, (112 pages, published by Dark Horse) is the "Collector's Book" from the Kickstarter, and is included (in digital form) for backers of the $35 and up tiers. For the current digital pre-orders, it's only included in the Royal Edition. This will contain lore and art. Backers who pledged $250 or up will get a physical edition with their game box, others will have to buy this elsewhere if they're interested - Amazon.com lists this around $16, The Book Depository asks around $23. Pillars of Eternity: Prima Official Game Guide (or Pillars of Eternity Collector's Edition Guide) (512 pages, published by Prima) is the Strategy Guide included digitally in the $80 and up Kickstarter tiers. Also included in the Royal Edition pre-order as a download. In the Backer Portal, this can be an add-on for $7. Physical versions are not included in any tiers - Amazon.com asks around $28, and the Book Depository beats them at $26½. Campaign Almanac, (35 pages, no separate publisher) Included in Kickstarter tiers of $50 and up. For the current pre-orders, it's included in both the Champion and Royal edition. The Almanac is an "in-character" description of the world and lore, and looks like a lot of fun. Only exists in digital form. Available as an add-on in the Backer Portal for $15. Digital Novella by Chris Avellone, (?? pages, ?publisher?) Included in Kickstarter tiers of $50 and up. For the current pre-orders, only in the Royal Edition. No known plans for a physical version. There's an Audio Book version, though - included in $165 and up tiers, or available as an add-on for $20.Some of the price points may be a little weird. $15 for 35 pages, or $7 for 512!? The Collector's Book (the 112 p. one) is included in lower Kickstarter tiers than the Almanac (35 p.), but the Almanac appears in the Champion Edition, while the Collector's Book does not. I suspect most of these are artifacts from the Kickstarter tier prices, before they really nailed down what would contain what.

The GOG.com page also lists those 7 languages. No worries - that talk is wrong.

Amazon's free shipping offer is domestic only, though? Messier-31 is in Poland, not the USA. So that's a no-go. (Is there a Polish branch of Amazon? Or would an other European based version ship for free to Poland?) Someone mentioned The Book Depository before, which does ship for free worldwide. Price for the Guidebook:Volume One is a little on the high side (Currently €21,45, but it changes quickly - A few days ago it was €23-something. I ordered it for €18-something a couple of weeks back.) But hey, no shipping costs! The Strategy Guide is more competitively priced, at €25,10. I like them. (Even though they were bought by Amazon a couple of years back.) EDIT: Polish prices! Guidebook: PLN 88.60, Strategy Guide: PLN 103.66 (As of today, right now - could be different by tomorrow.)

The box art in Germany mentions an 80 page manual. (At least, the one on their Amazon) I can't imagine the digital versions would not include a PDF of that.

And even if it's Gold, pretty sure they're still working on a Day 0 patch - wouldn't want to miss out on that. As for the extra year - eh, iffy. Early 2014 was for the original (~1.1 Million) Kickstarter budget, not the 4M they got. It was delayed, yes, but I'd say at most six months.

The first few ranks in a skill are pretty cheap, so dabbling a little (one or two ranks) won't hurt too much. I imagine that this will be especially useful for Stealth and Athletics - the others perhaps less so. That said, I don't think anyone really knows yet how much specialization is necessary - in the Backer Beta, there are a good number of Mechanics checks in the 'mid-range' to 'specialized' range, and I know of at least one 'mid-range' and one 'very specialized' check for Survival. Ideally, any amount at any time in the game will feel useful, but I don't know if that was their design philosophy. There are definitely items that boost your Athletics skill - some of the pre-made BB-Characters start with +2 Athletics gear. I imagine there will be gear with a bonus to the other skills as well. Someone who dug through the files will know better. Not sure about temporary bonuses to skills, though.

Yes, it's included in the Royal Edition, and most Kickstarter tiers. (= Digital Collector's Book)

The way I understand it, (and this is mostly from [435], with a bit of additional info from the forums here - so I may be wrong,) - You can have 1 Quality enchantment, which can be overwritten by a higher tier Quality enchantment. (Accurate 1 or 2, Damaging 1 or 2, Fine, Exceptional, Superb.) Then, you can have any 3 other enchantments, some of which may be Unique, that won't get overwritten. [EDIT](Except for better versions of the same - you can overwrite Might+1 with Might+2 or Might+3, but not with another attribute bonus.) Ah, nope - can't even overwrite those. Probably should be able to, though.

Not entirely sure what you mean - from what I can tell, there are currently no discounts offered on pre-orders for Pillars of Eternity. The lower price offered during the funding period (Kickstarter, and after that for 'slacker backers'), is no longer available, and hasn't been for a good while. Backers can still buy additional digital copies through the Backer Portal, for a lower price. Not sure how long that will last - perhaps even past release. To snag one of those you'll have to get an existing Backer to buy it for you. Or do you mean the Pre-Order prizes / items? (Giant Miniature Space Piglet and Gaun's Pledge) I suspect any time before release (the 26th) will net you those items.

To help with the confusion - For non-backers there is only Steam and GOG. Any place that is not GOG.com will offer a Steam key. Retail boxed copies will be Steam as well. More places/services may appear later, but it's one of those two for now. (Backers can choose a key of either service - and if they backed for a boxed copy, theirs will be DRM-free non-Steam, probably the same as the GOG version.)

I think that was my post? I think you misunderstood. They are average(~ish). There not being any 'average'is just how the current naming scheme labels it. Very Low (30+10/level) - Cipher+, Wizard Low (36+12/level) - Chanter, Druid, Priest-, Ranger+, Rogue High (42+14/level) - Fighter, Monk+, Paladin Very High (48+16/level) - Barbarian (The +/- is their health multiplier, relative to the 'average' of their grouping. (V. Low 3, Low 4, High 5, and V. High 6) You would prefer they rename Low to Average? Does that matter?

You're a backer, right? Then soon - in the coming week, maybe the week after, but before release - you'll be able to log in on the Backer Portal and select a key to generate for a Digital Download version. This can be for either Steam or GOG - your choice. In case you're not a backer (Ah, but you have the badge?), then it depends on where you pre-ordered. The current 'first' link goes to the Paradox site. That would be a Steam key. Actually, it's Steam keys everywhere, except at GOG.com itself (and the Backer Portal), as far as I can tell. [EDIT] Uh, as LordCrash said.

Heh. There currently is no listed "Average" Endurance. Just Very Low, Low, High and Very High. But if there was an Average Endurance/Health, the Chanter would be right there - on par with the Druid and Rogue. (Also Ranger and Priest, if only looking at Endurance, not health. Better health than a Priest, but less than a Ranger.)