Abel

Depends of what you mean by MAIN. As i said before, it depends of how you can feel satisfaction with a build. My priestess is not a pure Damage dealer. But since she is versatile (spells, distance, melee) and efficient in all these roles, she is the very core of my party, she is the most critical member of the group to deal with encounters (and she can qualify for most diaogue options). And that's how i feel satisfaction. If you look more for a big damage dealer that can solo encounters and say "look guys, this is how you give punches" (and this is actually pretty satisfactory to me, too), then, i would suggest not to play a priest (even though you'll definitely need one in your party). Priests will never be the big damage dealer of any group.

Holy crap, what does it take for you to not like a game, if you're willing to put up with a laundry list of issues like this? Pretty easy to answer actually. I like the writing, the ambiance, the characters, the character building, the freedom, the lore, the graphics, the designs, the artistic touch, the music, the places, the little stories you find everywhere, the way i have to play the "philosopher" (lol), the creepiness of the visions as a watcher, the story, the side quests, the ability to write notes in the journal, the reactivity of things, some banters, the humour, Osric's breastplate, many things in the stronghold (since 3.0) though it's far from perfect yet, and so on. I found some ways to manage some of the things i don't like, which probably makes me play in a way that was not intended by the devs. The best example is that i don't use the endurance/health system this much. Once one of my character is knocked out in combat, i consider him dead, and reload (hence, all items that give bonuses on unconscious, such as "second chance" won't ever be of any use to me). And then, i use only the health bar, and make use of "Field Triage". Though, this can't make up for the uselessness of healing spells, nor for the miraculous nonsensical healing on rest, which i still really hate. Another example is that i barely use the stash, i use my characters inventories, or the fact that i won't, ever, take talents with Sagani in order to improve Itumaak's damages. Or the fact that i will just never use most of the soulbound items. There are others examples, but i guess you got the point by now ^^. As for not liking a game... Well, take a look at what Fallout 4 is. Or even Fallout 3. This is what it takes: the 4 is dumb to an extent that it lets me speechless.

Magic has to be spared. I think magic is meant only for harder fights. That's why i think a potent melee character as a MC spellcaster can do the job just fine. Just remember to make your priest pretty tanky if you go into melee. He won't have much health and endurance, so he will need deflection. Spells, and especially priest ones have a learning curve. When i first played the game, i could not find any use for other 1st level spells than armor of faith and blessing. But now, i figured out the usefulness of the others too. Some will prove usefull only later on (such as prayer against fear, once you meet creatures that debuff your party with terrified afflictions). Just keep in mind that even level 1 spells will do wonders when you're lvl 10. I guess that unlike BG's spells, the ones in Pillars are meant to be usefull all the game long. A priest can have the same melee accuracy than a fighter. But can be potent archers too with the right weapon focus. Anyhow, if i have one advice for you, here it is: the start of the game may be the hardest part for any character. And once you will have leveled up several times, the low base accuracy/deflection of your priest will be mitigated (since you get 3 each at level up). The 10 points difference at start will become trivial in the end. So, at first, have Eder take on the ennemies in melee, and be careful with your priest. You will have to level up several times before he can actually tank in melee correctly.

Eh? philosophy? Well, maybe it's because i'm much into these things in real life, but i did not felt like Pillars was about philosophy. There are some questions, morality grey things that push you to ponder things and decide where your character stands in this grey patched world. But pilosophy? isn't it too much? The first time i played Pillars, i felt like "meh" too. I droped the game during act 2. After WM and some patchs came out, i tried again. Well, it was like a different game. Nowadays, i wonder if i like more Pillars or Baldur's Gate (may still be BG though). There are many things i hate in Pillars (The might attribute, stash, health system, useless immortal pets, healing spells uselesness, rest curing wounds, the fact that camping supplies are limited but you find some of them everywhere in the wilds including in the most unbelievable places (wtf, inside Durgan's Battery? Did the dwarves used to camp in their halls?), rest and food bonuses, use of skills like survival, unics that are not (because of the crafting system), the whole crafting system (which is the absolute worst part of the game to me), overpowered items, soulbounds items (ugly visuals that are wayyyy over the top), lack of many necessary NPC in Caed Nua, arbitrary limit of 8 guards in Caed Nua (are erls limited to 8 guys in their army, too?), the telepatic stuff in Caed Nua, encounters that will always result in a nonsensical fight (especially in WM), the fact that companions will agree to everything from goodie-2-shoes stuff to mass murdering without much of a consequence, the fact that Itumaak (which is fox!) strikes harder than my heavy hitters,... and dozens and more dozens other things... These things hindered me at first. Now, it's more like inconveniences. So, maybe if you try it one more time later, while knowing what to expect from the game, you won't be rebuked in the same way.

First hour of play: run, and go pick Eder lol. Don't try the bear alone...

Crossbows, arbalests, firearms do huge amounts of damages (and thus are ok for high DR foes) but are really, really slow. And they need to be reloaded. I use them, but only with my tanks at the start of combat; one shot, then switch to melee weapons, and engage ennemies. Though, i tend to do this less and less since some of my party members have other stuff to do at start of combat: like using an ability, or casting a spell. Even with high dex, these weapons will be slow. Though their DPS may not be lower than that of a bow, due to the amount of damages done. But i tend to think that such slow ranged weapons are a bad pick for a spell caster. The reason is that once you have fired your bullet, you will be hindered by a long recovery time before being able to cast a spell. I like my casters to be reactive and able to cast when i really need it (therefore, i use bows or magic implements, which are way faster). There are two armors i like with my melee priestess: Osric's family plate (breastplate, and because of the look of it, which is great with her skin tone, hairs, and the shield badgradr's barricade ), and Rebel's call (leather armor). They are medium armors, with moderate recovery time. The heavier the armor the less often your character will perform his actions. To me, Eothas spices things a bit. But i guess it's true only because i roleplay my character. The reason is that many things in the story are linked to the Saint's War, in which Eothas had a huge role. When i roleplay my priestess, she would obviously take things at heart. And since her reason to come to Dyrwood was to find out what really happened during the Saint's War... Obviously, it's great roleplay value for me. I can't spoil, but there are story related reason for Magran as a priest deity to be an interesting pick, too. One of them (it's no spoil) is that since the Dyrwoodan Revolution against Aedyr, Magran is the patroness of the Dyrwood, and his cult is widespread in the country. Keep in mind, though, that there won't be any specific plot branches depending on your faith. It's only helpful to get yourself more immersed in the story, because, well... all the stuff relating to what Eothas or Magran did will have a special signification to your character. J.E.Sawyer, the game designer tried to make a game system where it's really hard to mess up your character. In the end, almost everything will work. Even a dumb, armor clad wizard. You can definitely make your own toon. it depends on the way you get satisfaction from a build. I use to roleplay, but i need to feel that my character is something special, too. I had a hard time finding a way to get this feeling with my priestess, but i guess in the end it worked out fine. Just one detail. If, by any chance, you choose to use weapons like the flail (low damage, crush), pick vulnerable attack at some point... Otherwise, you'll find yourself striking fast, but without any huge result. Oh, and one last important piece of advice. If you want to make your own toon, i guess, the most important thing you have to consider is "what role do i want for my character to have in the party?". Narrowing down your options according to your playstyle/ideas of the character will be a huge help. Otherwise, you may end up taking talents and abilities that sounds cool, but don't work quite well together, or without fulfilling your real needs. As an example, while having more spells to cast with my priestess would be cool, i can't spare the talents to get some more if i want her to be potent in a melee role. I struggled a lot to figure this out.

From what i understood, binding them to cannons have a huge impact on endings. Correct me if i'm wrong.

I think Maerwald has a huge role. Once my character saw what happened to him, she found the urge to solve this problem. Actually, she was terrified by everything until then (Caldera speaking to her from that hanging tree just freaked her out to the point she almost got nuts). But i would agree that if your character is the fearless kind, or the kind to actually feel like your curse is a gift... then the urge is... meh. And now that i think about it... I had a hard time too, in BG2, to feel the urge to go save Imoen in Brynlaw :D. The problem may be that the main plotline is not present enough, too short, and diluted into all the side quests things. Side quests is a great thing. But in act 2, the main plot part is really diluted, to the point that you could even forget the urge of your situation. Though the terrific visions, even in side quests, were a good reminder to me. Maybe a longer, more present, more detailed plotine could have helped. IMHO, BG was no better in this regards.

I play with qualifiers on. Priest is actually one of the class that has the most dialogue options so far. Durance, the priest can be quite interesting... Well he's a priest of Magran, and as i said, playing a priest of Magran or Eothas makes things... more personal due to the main plot. IMHO it can become especially relevant if your character is priest of Eothas, once more, because of what happened in the Saint's War. There is no specifical plot branch as far as i know, but when roleplaying your character, you feel more concerned about things. Anyway, i don't even have interdiction or inspiring radiance. The first level spell i tend to use the most is actually... holy meditation (once i've got Pallegina in the party). Since Pallegina has zealous focus, which don't stack with blessing, and since Eder and Pallegina are devoted to cast all the anti affliction spells with scrolls, my priestess is actually quite free. She has her hands full because she has many options and things to do. There is no stereotipical way to play her. And to me, it's the most interesting member of my party to play. It's definitely not boring. But it's true that the priests become more powerful/fun after a few levels. But i guess it may be the same for other classes. One of the many examples of the things she can do in a fight: 1- cast holy meditation to protec low will companions from spells and abilities targetting will, and helping them not being interrrupted (+30 concentration) 2- cast champion's boon to raise her might and perception by 10 points. 3- cast lvl 2 spell divine mark on this awful frost troll (targetting its low will) and crit it for 90 damage and -25 deflection 4- Tore the troll into pieces with chain crits in his face with vulnerable attack and her flail 5- Help Caroc to kill the others while helping her qualifying for sneak attacks (flank affliction). (In my party, Caroc is actually a high deflection rogue with small shield and riposte) But she can do something like this too: 1- cast buff 1 2- Cast buff 2 3- Cast debuf 4- use her war bow until the end of the fight Or this: 1- Plunge into melee directly because Eder could not protect the front line alone and ennemies are coming for squishes. 2- Cast one fast spell or two while in melee to help the party while killing things like a fighter would do. In the end, i think that to me, the boring way to play a priest would be to use it as a ranged caster/squishie who cast systematically the same boring spell at the sart of each combat. That's why i did not take interdiction. I tried to emulate the dual class warrior/priest from BG. And aside from the useless healing spells, i'm quite satisfied, even if it took several levels. In hard mode, lvl 9, i cleaned the entire Durgan's Battery (3 lvl dungeon) without sleeping once (because i would never sleep in a haunted dungeon). With such a build, i could spare my spells until the end. I barely ever come short of spells with her or Aloth, even though i barely ever camp outside (same reasons as before) and never come back to town unless i've finished what they left for. If you play on normal, you won't have to use your spells all the time. As for the attributes... I don't quite know about monks. But probably might and constitution are the most important. And about the melee priestess. Quite hard. Everything is important. But i found out that might, intelligence, perception and dexterity are probably the most crucial. Mine is 14 Might, 11 Con, 12 Dex, 15 Per, 14 Int, 12 Res. Actually i have one huge problem. Might governs spell power AND physical strenght. My priestess has some spell power but no physical strenght. So... while i would have taken 9 Strenght and 18 spell power, i picked 14... I did not want her to demonstrate herculean strenght in scripted interaction. This design choice about might is awful to me.... In the end, there is no bad choice i think. It all comes down to your own tastes and play style. To find yours, you wuill have no other choice but to play and test. There is a huge chance you will ditch your first playthrough at some point and start over, once you have figured some things out. I did the same, though i started over with the same kind of priestess :D

Since you're about priest and roleplay... Maybe i can give my 2 cents. I'm still in my first playtrough, act 2, around 200H so far (yeah, i take my time, and the fact that i write the diary of my character in the notes actually consumes half of my play time , but reading it after several weeks of pause is great ). I'm a huge fan of priests in Baldur's Gate. Mostly because of their healing spells and their capability to switch to melee. My priestess is not min/max (a pale elf with all stats between 11 and 15). But the good thing is that even though i never ever use any healing spell (which is a shame) in this game (hard difficulty), you can actually craft a melee priest in Pillars. As far as priests are concerned, i see 2 ways to build them. Either you make them a pure spellcaster who will stay behind, using ranged weapons and spells, or... you can craft a versatile priest who can cast spells or act as a frontliner (but in this case, i would recommand good armor, and shield because of their poor health and deflection) I chose a versatile priestess of Eothas (because the plot is much about Eothas). She came from the White that Wends to discover what happened to her God. lvl 10, i chose only combat oriented talents (weapon focus adventurer, superior deflection, Weapon and shield style, Vulnerable attack, eternal hope (+10 accuracy with flails and morning stars). She still has her spells when needed. But she mostly uses personal melee buffs (like "champions boon", lvl 5 spell, which is much like some priest spells from BG). She actually has her hands full, having much to do, and much choices in combat and outside. Which is why it could be a good idea to take in your party the NPC companion priest of Magran you find early in the game. In the end, i think that if you like roleplaying deeply your character, then, chosing a priest of Eothas or magran should give you some good opportunities to feel really immersed in the game plot. At least, i don't regret my choice of Eothas in the slightest. And the good thing with priests is that they have buff spells, damaging spells, they can cure afflications, and they can become quite potent warriors too. Well, my post is a mess, but i hope it gave you some clues. If my point of view helped, then i'm glad. Nice game to you.

Oh, thanks for this. I planned to try for a bit next time i play the game, but you just spared me another headache. Millions thanks for that . Now, i'm pretty sure i won't regret my funny idea.

Yep, thanks for this . Actually, i read a lot these forums. So, i'm pretty well aware of the downsides of bash. It's because of this that i came up with an idea to make it worth. You're right, the feedback in game is not detailed enough on many points. And maybe i would not have understood alone the problems with bash. If i am to use just a fail, and a non bashing shield, i may prefer Unforgiven, because of its +20% attack speed. I have accuracy enough with my priestess to not worry much about her chances to hit in melee. But i looked for an idea to proc thrust often, and to crit it. Actually, chain stunning a foe while hurting him for 5 or 15 damage with the flail seemed laughable to me . Pointless, even. imho, this stun effect makes sense thanks to the thrust. Obviously, this is not an optimal DPS idea. But to some extent, it's still efficient and fun And the shield has good enchantments. Well, if only the durgan steel really does not suppress its enchantments, that is.

I will believe you. I knew the chances to get 65% were really low . Or maybe the fact that some of my friends used to call me "padbol" (cursed) comes from somewhere. Well, my main weapon is still a flail, and my char stats are 14M 11C 12D 15 P 14I 12R. So... the flail does not hurt much (14-20 damage with strenght boost). I could manage more than 50 total damage with the shield (because it's easy to crit with thrust when it procs). The point is that my flal has the benefit of the stun affliction while hitting, too (thx to int that make the stun longer). That helps a lot. i can't chain stun and chain crit every foe, but it works quite smoothly most of the time, but that means that my shield generally do almost as much damage as the flail, so the bash thing is not a waste; while still allowing my prietess to have the benefits of shield+weapon style. I play on hard, by the way.

You're right. I just saw the same thing after i used durgan's steel on badgradr's barricade. There is no way to know if there are two 10% chance for the effect to proc or if one suppresses the other. Logically, both should apply, because there shouldn't be any script on shields to suppress enchantments (since they should always apply). But there is no way i know about to test it in game in order to be sure. And i agree. For some reasons, even a guy who don't optimize like me don't want to waste an ingot like this Suppression would occur on the wielder rather than the shield itself, actually. But that would show up as "suppressed" on the character sheets. I expect it's just a UI issue, though it might also be that the two item mods are somehow overwriting each other in some sense (seems unlikely though). Personally I wouldn't use Barricade anyway, but if you want to be sure it's easy enough to test; takes a bit of work to get enough data points for a statistically reliable estimate, though. That's what i think too. It's unlikely one suppress the other. About this shield, I'm trying to create a build with my Eothas melee priestess. With Starcaller, vulnerable attack, and Badgradr's barricade. It's actually pretty powerful once starcaller reduces the target's deflection by 30 points, allowing to chain stun the foe with enough attack speed and intelligence (if all goes well). Dire blessing as a per encounter spell should help, too. But i'm defiant about this kind of statistic you speak about. last time i tried, for fun, to make statistics while rolling one six faces dice, out of nearly 200 rolls, i ended up with a 65% chance to get 1. I'm not the guy for this :D

You're right. I just saw the same thing after i used durgan's steel on badgradr's barricade. There is no way to know if there are two 10% chance for the effect to proc or if one suppresses the other. Logically, both should apply, because there shouldn't be any script on shields to suppress enchantments (since they should always apply). But there is no way i know about to test it in game in order to be sure. And i agree. For some reasons, even a guy who don't optimize like me don't want to waste an ingot like this

In my experience, there are two kind of people that don't bother with photgraphy/creative filming/... in films, don't see the point in Roleplay, find fantasies are bul****, don't bother to grasp details of characters behavior/feelings in books/series/situations and say that it's not a problem anyway, because it's not their stuff. First, there are the people who genuinely really don't care. Their feet are well grounded, and while it's ok to be like this, they won't grasp situations all that well either. They're not the empathic kind. But, most of them have others ways to do things, and their pratical attitude is often a sign of great intelligence. A logical intelligence, not an empathic one. Very useful in everyday life. These ones will think that the emo people who can be touched by the lighting work in the climax scene of a drama they see at the cinema are just weirdos, but won't be bothered by it. And then, there is the people who can't graps these things. They learned to no care much, but at the same time, they would want, too, to understand what is beyond the matrix. What these emo people fan of immersion really see when they look at this painting. But since they can't, they will just state without any further thought that all this is bull****, and that it's a limitation of their own liberty since everything should be designed to be logical, grounded. It's the frustrated sort of people who will yell that they despise something just because they can't understand it. by the way, they surely have other ways to appreciate the same things as the firsts. It's just that some words have started to fluster them in the long run. Just my thoughts.

I kind of remember that what Obsidian wanted for the music is "nothing too epic". The old IE games music was definitely meant to be epic. The music for Pillars was designed to be more subtle, evocative. I guess this is what OP points in this thread. I really loved the epic tracks for IE games. But the Pillars approach makes sense, too. And the music is actually pretty awesome. Although it's not as "take-that-in-ya-face" than the IE ones.

I will just say that my way to be immersed in a game like Pillars is by being surrounded by things i feel believable. That's why i can't favor game mechanics over believability. But all this is just a mean. Immersion is more about Roleplay to me. I quite understand what you say about immersion in Skyrim with some mods. I'm the same. I somehow managed to feel that i really climbed to this cliff to watch the sunset... But it's not the same kind of immersion to me. In Pillars, i use the notes to actually write the diary of my characters. It can get pretty long after 100H hours in my playthrough. According to who my character is, i write how he/she perceived things, what he/she thinks about matters in Defiance Bay, what his/her fears are, how things that happen influenced their behavior, values, beliefs, fears, etc... It helps me thinking the way he/she thinks and actually feel what they feel. And because of the writting, my imagination can go wild more easily. I could not do this with a non isometric RPG. I would have a hard time to let my imagination go wild if everything is just "showed", actually "because" everything is just showed. And thus, i would have difficulties roleplaying a character that is not me. Finally, the true immersion, to me, is about becoming my character. I need to be able to believe in everything that is showed in the game. But i believe, too, that showing too much, actually tie the imagination, and hence, the immersion in a roleplaying sense of the word. In Skyrim, i may feel that i climbed the hill, but the point of a Roleplaying Game is definitely not about you feeling that, it's all about you becoming the one who actually feel he/she climbed the hill.

1) Eder is available to recruit after some key event in Gilded Vale i assume. I suggest that you speak to named characters several times at different times. May be obvious, but all won't say everything they have to say after you first meet them. Some will give you new informations, new quests, or even become available to recruit after some time. It all depends of what happen in the game world. There may be new things in areas you explored 50H earlier in your playthrough, too. Understanding what is going on may help you discovering many things. But i guess you already knew this . 2) you need to put potions, food, and most consumable items (like scrolls) in the quick item slots before using them. You can't eat a meal during combat tough (which is quite relevant actually) One more piece of advice about combat. It's a Real Time with Pause game. Which means you can issue orders while game is paused. I feel it's better to over use the pause than not using it enough . Beware of the AI too, since, sometimes, it will screw up the orders you have issued. If you feel like your characters don't do what you told them to, it may be because of the AI. If so, try deactive it. While some things i say may be obvious, i think it's better said once than not at all. Have a good game.

4. Don't know what you refer to here. If it's resting in a dungeon, that's a bad idea. The use of camping supplies makes resting and using powers more strategic decisions. This would encourage people to go back to inns, or lead to people getting stuck in mandatory dungeons. No, actually, i was refering to the fact that while even magic can't cure health, a little nap provides wondruous results... If my character is almost dead, it just has to sleep a bit to be completely healed... i would have expected that bad injuries, when not healed carefully, would end up killing my character during his sleep, rather than the nap saving his life. In BG, the better the room is, the more HP are healed. I'd rather a system like this. I would think that a good rest allow you to be back to normal. Your examples are essentially the far fetched explanations i talked about . Furthermore, a good bed is a good bed. Having a library in the bulding next to your rest room is no valid explanation to me, especially since the rest bonuses are widely different from one room to another. While both could have a good bed, one give you lockpicking bonuses, while the other gives might bonuses. In the same inn. I can't think of anything reasonable to explain this. And while i'm sure some people feel it's not even a detail worth mentionning, some, like me, think it's a real bother. Agree. I'm pretty sure if time allowed Obs to give more love to all this, they would actually have had handled them better. Brigandines have the same recovery time as plate armors. Mails is 45 i guess. While brigandines has the same recovery malus than plate, they provide less protection. If i have the choice, i would take a plate armor, and dump brigandines and mails (unless i really want a mail armor for some RP related reason). It's a shame, because, some brigandines are actually really nice. I understand what you mean. I won't say you're wrong. But probably, i would rather a broken mechanic to a dumb one. And for me, my companions just staying still and looking my PC struggling without giving a hand is dumb (it's actually the same with the stash). Plus, since i don't really min max, even a party check system, rather than a PC check system would probably not allow me to have all the options available. And i don't think the quest resolving system and the conversation system are mutually exclusives.

Never found the game too easy yet. But, while i played act 1 and 2 several times, i never got further in the game yet. But one thing is for sure: i don't spam rests. I would clear an entire dungeon before resting, and i barely ever use camping supplies in hard difficulty. I rest if my party members are tired, or if night is coming (because night should be the time to rest ^^). Not to replenish abilities or spells, never. I use them very, very caustiously so i can go on for an entire day, even in a dungeon. I don't min max my characters either. Even my PC is clearly suboptimal. I don't really use an item if i feel it isn't fit to the profile of a character, even if it seems powerful. I would rather put a non magical scale armor to my priest than a heavily enchanted plate armor because, well, my priest is more fit to wear scales. Just my idea of the character. At first, i thought some people here were genius strategists, for thinking the game is too easy since the very start. But actually, now, i think some of the so-called geniuses just do everything they can to make the game easier, and then complain it's too easy. Editing companions stats, with no care at all about their RP background is just one of many examples. I guess, everyone play the game the way they like. But to post a complaint because the game is not linear enough...? Well it kind of gets on my nerves. There are enough silly non-quite-RPG around here: linear, fancy, barely written. And there is WoW, too. Try it.

Yep guess different people look for different things . Well at least, this was the things that really, really bothered me

Actually, it's not true. Some, like me, don't like the IWD franchise this much. Plus, crafting a game is not exactly the same thing as baking bread... It's a bit more expensive to craft, and there is no way you can afford to craft a different one for every people around.

To me it would be less build oriented. -Allow companions to take part into conversations, and to use their skills to fill the conversation checks (Sagani, with her survival skill, should be able to warn a boy using a knife in a bad way. As it is now, only the PC can do it. Sagani would never say anything about it if the PC has not met the requirements, which i feel is silly. This detail is the one reason i dropped the whole game in my first playthrough. If i wanted souless companions, i would have taken adventurers). -Allow the NPC to actually react to what the companions say in conversation. Right now, Eder might say something during a conversation, but no one will ever notice he said anything. Let alone react to it... In all these situations, companions are (once more) not much more that souless pile of statistics... Which kind of get on my nerves (again). At least, in Baldur's Gate 2, there were quite a lot of occurences when NPCs looked or spoke to our companions directly. -No more stash (please). -No more miraculous naps... oO -No more seclusion of characters in one way of fighting. Being a wizard or a priest should no prevent them to learn at least some clues in the warrior ways... (limited mutliclassing) -Slower leveling. -If stronghold, the first feature i would want is intregration in the world, people talking about it in cities, life brought inside... All this is much more important that any statistic related feature (rest bonus, merchants, items, xp, etc). -Speaking of resting bonuses... No more of them, really. I could come up with silly far fetched reasons as to why sleeping in this one room makes me more clever, but really, it's really immersion breaking to me... I would really rather to see resting bonuses disappear. If it is about complelling to use more expansive rooms, i definitely think BG got it right. -Livelier towns (Defiance Bay, with its way too wide open areas and streets is filled with emptiness. It does not feel like an important center at all. Needs way more narrow streets and trash NPCs). -No more immersion breaking stuff (backer stuff). -No more dumped medium armor (who actually use mail armors and brigandines in Pillars? Unless you find some epic unic one?). It has to do with the recovery time of each type of armor, probably. -Finding a way to separate physical strenght and might would be great. I have a hard tme to roleplay my frail female elf priest... You know, the one who has 18 divine power, but can also move a truck like superman... oO. Gosh! -Some decision about voices. Does a fancy human aristocrat really need to have the same kind of average voice than a redneck dwarf? It strikes me every time. These are the things that really bothered me in Pillars. I won't mention any Ok-ish things (once more, according to my own way to value things). Useless to mention that there are plenty of things that are great in the game, too. This is not a rant

Yeah. It was totally beyond my understanding as well. Like Marceror, i never, ever used party AI in any RPG (i disabled the AI in Dragon Age Origin quite early too). I always try it for a bit, and i never found it usefull, in any game. AI just mess up everything i try to do. I really hate it. Now... Maybe there are people that are way more talented with AI than i am. Because some people explained it quite well, i kind of understand now, the feeling of accomplishment when everything goes as planned in a battle, thanks to a well handled brainstorming beforehand, tuning the AI behavior. But to me, it looks like having an actual AI that could provide enough options to allow this would require... well, thousands of hours of work. Pillars is not a triple A game. I, now, can understand the pleasure some people here have while playing hard difficulty with a strategy based on AI, foreboding anything that could happen and then, seeing everything going according to plan. But i don't think an AI that could alow this kind of gamplay is possible for such a low budget game. Hence, i'm wondering: is there actually any need for such a debate, unless Pillars 2 have 50 millions dollars budget?