rheingold

Wow that arbalest looks insane on a ranger with vicious aim....

I also liked the old endurance/health system. Bit of a bummer, but I'm sure I'll forget about it quickly.

Just as well I haven't played pillars for a while, hopefully I can now do a couple of "canon" play throughs with the same portraits I'll use in Deadfire. Thanks guys for listening!

To be honest, unless there is more information forthcoming its all irrelevant to me. I happen to like both Obs and Avellone - this apparent feud is pretty minor and shouldn't effect my sentiment to either, at least until something more concrete comes out. It doesn't say much about Fergus and his approach to management though. Clearly there was an issue which could have been sorted out.

Looks fantastic! Just one minor - almost cosmetic concern. I'm not sure about some of the names of the sub-classes - they appear to be a bit clunky. Not sure if they are still a work in progress, but I think they could be more elegant.

At the risk of confusing the issue... if you are looking for a dps warrior type, monks work really well. In fact I far prefer them to fighters. They bring a lot to the table - dps, crowd control and they are fun. Also quite a unique mechanic with wounds. And you can use weapons with them.

They fulfill different roles in the party - yes the fighter is better single target dps. The barb does aoe damage and depending on weapon choice can offer great crowd control as well. So it depends what you want. If you are talking single target dps then a fighters closest competitor is a rogue.

I really don't miss pre-buffing, please don't bring it back. There is nothing remotely fun buffing your wizard - entering combat and having the first few buffs you used expire because it took you 20 mins to cast all of them! Seriously it was just a chore.

I really like barbs, one of my favorite classes, I did try a perception/interupt build - using Boeroers advice. I found it pretty ordinary though. Sure it interrupted a lot, but it didn't do much damage. Having said that I don't like dropping any stat below 8, so getting max perception and high int(18) really doesn't leave much for might. Also I think it probably only really shines late game - it's even more gear dependent than a normal barbarian. So I have found that a more balanced approach with decent might, intelligence and perception, something like 16/16/16 works really well, does plenty damage and interrupts a fair amount. To be honest I'm not sure maxing perception is a great use of stats.

For a pure tank, cautious attack, the deflection talent and high resolve work really well. With them you can get an insane deflection score. Though it's better for a chanter than a paladin. Regarding the initial post, I reckon it's for rp purposes. Strength is obvious. Intelligence less so if you consider a traditional d&d paladin, but once you take the POE world and mechanics into account it makes sense. What other stat would work from a role playing point of view? Constitution is more of a monk/barbarian stat. I certainly don't think of a paladin when I think of constitution. Dexterity is even worse than constitution, it could work, but it's not what comes to mind. That leaves perception and resolve. And resolve as a discipline works better than perception would for a religious zealot.

Yeah, op definitely has something for god like slaves.... Perhaps the party is a bit light on crowd control, aoe damage, Barb or Monk could work well there, but it isn't a big deal. (I'm also biased.)

I have always found them in the Raedrics Keep dungeons. Right where you rescue Kolschs minion. There are 2 cells in the area - just below him, where if you search you find some loot. I am not sure if it's in the right or left cell. I think left. I also can't remember the exact date but it's around day4-6. Again, I seem to recall day 5. I have always found them there.

Yup that Elmshore encounter is tough... Might be best to level up and come back later to stomp on them. But as people have said, cc is your friend. Slicken is great, as is a barbarian with a weapon that inflicts prone. Having a druid of your own with moonwell and relentless storm and calling the worlds maw also helps. Just make sure to debuff them before you cc.

id definitely recommend a barb with high perception, Int and tall grass. The reach with a pike helps immensely with carnage and predatory and durgan steel, well it's brutally effective. Not as much dps as dual wielding wetoki and another axe, but tall grass critts a noticeable amount more. Great crowd control and a decent amount of damage. Also tall grass can be accessed early and lasts untill the end of the game. Only issue, it's necessary to pick up a back up weapon with a different damage type.

Stats actually aren't that important in the game, sure they make a difference but the companions are fine. Talents, abilities and equipment make a bigger difference. Sure some of the companions are not ideal statwise, but a few of them are really, really good. Zahua, for instance makes an awesome monk. Kana is a great chanter.

Well there are companions for every class so it's not really possible to choose a unique class unless you don't have white March. I'd use the first run as a role playing exercise personally, that means I'd choose a class I'm happy with, and companions I like regardless of potential overlap.

To destroy the machine or not is surely a meta gaming issue? Sure blowing it up could be construed as a better choice though it can be argued that it's not worth sacrificing souls in order to do it. But without hindsight it doesn't feel like a great decision, certainly from a nice guy perspective.

Ummm, I'm actually quite interested in what you do for fun! Cause that sounds incredibly painful not to mention masochistic.

Don't worry to much about min/maxing stats, you really don't need to. I'd say though, a ranger is far more superior as a ranged attacker than a rogue. Rogues shine as melee dps. But there is a lot of micro involved. To be honest, even Rangers take micro if you want to get the best out of the pet. The classes in general that require less micro are chanters and Paladins, and they both make great main characters and don't require min/maxing at all. Easy to get the stats for dialogue if that's your thing, as both benefit from resolve, Int and might. Melee rogues are fantastic though on the lower difficulties, less so on PoTD, just micro intensive. If you want to go ranged though, I'd look at cipher instead of rogue. You can plink away with a weapon and still do substantial damage, but you bring so much more to the table. And it can get as micro intensive as you choose, you can auto attack for most of the time only occasionally casting or you can go wild.

Closest I can get is the elves in Paul Andersons "broken sword" Less like Tolkien elfs( which I dislike intensely) and more like fey/faeries in Northern myths. Fairly self centered and superior, but hardly high brow, more rustic, just convinced of their innate superiority.

Hate saying this but the answer might depend on level. The ogres chilling in elmshore (upscaled bounty) can absolutely wreck you. I think I was even at 11th level and waltzed in there thinking I'd wipe them. It was the fastest most brutal party wipe I've had. The ondra tidalfists are also unpleasant. I'd say they are the hardest fights, mainly because you'd end up overleveled for many of the other tough fights, whereas it's likely that you could be under leveled for these in particular.

Jeepers, you haven't played Pillars yet! Colour me surprised. I'm biased but it's one of the best games I've played. The white March expansion is great too. Not aware of any manuals or documentation but you've played plenty games so I reckon you'll pick it up quickly. Might be worth hanging around the build forum there are some knowledgeable and helpful gents there.

I'd be prepared to suggest that any human sacrifice is evil regardless of wether it's a neighbour or family member. BTW, I'm also really glad I don't have you as a neighbour.

No idea, been trying to figure out the point of persistent distraction for a while now, as I'm sure many other people have... Would have been great if it did set up deathblows though...

Yup, the codex is pretty darn noxious, though to be fair they are hardly the only unpleasant gaming forum. Bad manners and ill breeding seem to be a mainstay in gaming forums... or maybe that's just the internet in general.