Gromnir

Don't think the concern is that choices are hard and meningful. It's rather a lack of signposting that's annoying. really? am certain there is ways to get too much rep with a faction via a couple o' the tasks and side quests, but the faction leaders made it kinda clear to us that if we accepted Quest X, it would anger the other factions. do a particular quest on entering defiance bay and side against dommel's could result in such a quirky result, but that still leaves you with two options... and the very reasonable animosity o' the family members o' the person you killed. such a choice also not actual prevent you from doing multiple dommel quests. hard choices should be announced, and they is, but at the same time, how much hand-holding does folks need? HA! Good Fun!

people demand hard and meaningful choices in crpgs. people get angry when developers include hard and meaningful choices. ... HA! Good Fun! ps it is a meaningful choice. you cannot advance other quests and there is even faction talents you will be locked outta by choosing one faction over another. limit the definition o' consequences or meaning to one specific choice is misleading.

traps have the capacity to be game changers. our first priest run had our main as a priest o wael, with maxed mechanics and gloves o' manipulation. we also kept durance in the party, in part 'cause Gromnir wanted to explore durance character, but also because we were the only guy in the beta calling the priest the mvp class, so 2 were better than one. we also gave grieving mother additional mechanics 'cause she actual had the only usable sneak skill in our group. so, three traps, per encounter, placed in choke points, and at least one o' those is having ridiculous high accuracy. "I disagree with what seems to be the majority opinion though, about the single trap limit. I think that's okay, because setting up a long string of the more powerful traps would be an "I Win" button in many situations" qft. a single low-level trap in a hallway is gonna be a fail far too often. on the other hand, high level traps, backed by a character with an effective 14 mechanics is devastating. HA! Good Fun! ps am not certain if intelligence affects aoe o' traps, but that could also be an issue with the basement intellect rogues people is creating in the adventurer's hall.

Of course; I'd never argue anything else. Mind you I'd argue a Spiritual Successor can be completely different as well (David People's SOLDIER and BLADE RUNNER for example - set in the same universe, similar themes but different movies). Heck an actual successor can be completely different as well, depending on how the story goes. that is why we noted that everybody gots a different notion as to what is needed in a spiritual successor. what qualities amentep recognizes as integral or even recommended for a successor, spiritual or otherwise, is gonna be different than others. an homage? spend five minutes discussing what is homage and any rational or reasonable person is gonna agree that homage is... less. homage may be a minor metaphorical nod. now, in the present situation, we agree that the kinda homage we referenced with the marvel movies and severed hands wouldn't be enough for many poe backers. obsidian did observe that the ie games were inspiration and they did name those games. even so, to suggest that use o' term "homage" is what created or increased those expectations is unfair. regardless, we do believe that perpetuating the spiritual successor claim is not helpful. HA! Good Fun!

well, there was gunpowder in lotr... HA! Good Fun! Black powder was in use well before even the crudest of firearms were invented. The Japanese for instance used black powder several centuries before the introduction of the matchlock by the Portuguese in the 16th century. But it does make one think that in LotR, maybe they too were just a few centuries away from developing firearms. Somehow, Legolas packing a fully-automatic assault rifle does not seem to be quite as charming . the actual word, "gunpowder" were used in the hobbit. call it artistic license, but combined with fireworks and some kinda explosive device... *shrug* and we would not have been the least bit perturbed if gimli or legolas had a couple flintlock pistols that they would use at the start o' every engagement. in fact, we believe such stuff mighta' improved the story 'cause then the whole Evils o' Industrialization/Scouring o' the Shire crap woulda' need been changed if the good guys had firearms. HA! Good Fun!

well, there was gunpowder in lotr... HA! Good Fun!

what a wonderful opportunity for Gromnir to again observe that we predicted the actual release date to within a week. that were back when obsidian were saying 2014... and pj were angrily trying to bet folks who suggested a later date. memories. speaking o' memories, am recalling the state o' some o' the earlier betas. *shudder* HA! Good Fun!

and that's fine, but an homage can be complete different than the original. folks who is fans o' the artist or work being paid tribute to can see the connections, but the new work is not typical considered a successor, spiritual or otherwise. in fact, you make what amounts to the "spiritual successor" to a novel and chances are you got many folks complaining that you were simple stealing or copying the original. in virtual any other medium, we would expect an homage to be genuine original, otherwise, what would be the point o' creating such a thing? if you like the original so much, just go and read the gosh darn original, no? why is poe different? 'cause folks wanted a spiritual successor and not an homage? HA! Good Fun! ps please note the second quote in our signature. miller's crossing were an homage to 1940s gangster flicks. it took bit and pieces from any number o' such films, but it did different.... and in color too.

am very disappointed in you. did we not thoroughly and complete exorcise this demon during the past couple years? the ie games, ALL the ie games, were listed as inspirations for poe... along with other unnamed crpgs from the increasing distant past. no "spiritual successor" nonsense from obsidian. evar. Would you rather I say "homage" - like Obsidian did in their Kickstarter pitch ("Project Eternity (working title) pays homage to the great Infinity Engine games of years past: Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment.") than "Spiritual Successor"? I'm not sure such a semantic split is necessary, but I suppose that depends on what you see a Spiritual Successor means... thats the problem, isn't it? as we noted, folks believe they know what a ie spiritual successor is... and everybody is believing different. an homage is not the same. some novel or movie includes a brief nod to previous luminaries and that is considered a freaking homage. a little honesty. HA! Good Fun! ps we saw a funny bit where it were noted how many marvel movies had folks get their hands cut off... homage to empire strikes back. homage is nothing.

am very disappointed in you. did we not thoroughly and complete exorcise this demon during the past couple years? the ie games, ALL the ie games, were listed as inspirations for poe... along with other unnamed crpgs from the increasing distant past. no "spiritual successor" nonsense from obsidian. evar. and truth-to-tell, even if we did try and shoehorn poe into a "spiritual successor" straightjacket, we don't even know what that means. get a dozen folks to tell you what were best in the ie games, or most integral to ie game appreciation, and you is gonna see as much variation as you see same. the ie games used the same engine, but they were, in many ways, fundamentally different. obsidian never claimed to be making the ultimate evolution, the final distillation, o' the ie experience. Gromnir liked the ie games. the developers (many o' them) liked the ie games. thousands o fans still like the ie games. obsidian were creating a game that would share many common elements with the ie games. but spiritual successor? nope. never said that... and thank goodness, 'cause it don't mean anything... or rather it might mean anything. we do agree that a bg2 comparison would be even more perilous than the spiritual successor hobgoblin. obsidian, or at least josh (as an aside, people who have names that is also verbs is always difficult for Gromnir. technically we is esl) mentioned more than once that poe would not manage bg2 levels o' scope and would almost certainly have less encounter complexity. bg2 were an enormous undertaking and obsidian didn't have the resources to match. nor would they have the benefit o' multiple previous releases from which to build 'pon and refine. bg2 were specific identified as more o' a future goal for the potential poe franchise rather than any kinda reasonable expectation for poe itself. HA! Good Fun!

Priest starts with 10 less accuracy compared to Fighters/Monks/Rogues/Rangers. This talent merely brings the priest's base accuracy up to that of other frontliners, for two weapons only, each covered by a different Weapon Focus. It's pretty good for a caster who wants to melee, but abysmal compared to an actual melee damager. am not sure how you get that the talent benefit is comparative abysmal when the deity weapon focus talent results in you having the same accuracy as the high accuracy characters. is only 2 weapons? *shrug* is only 'bout 10% o' the game that we feel compelled to switch from our prefered ranged and melee weapon for any character in our party. 2 weapon at high accuracy for cost of one talent? is not a terrible burden and surely ain't reducing to level o' abysmal. would it be splendiferous if we could get both weapons covered by a single weapon focus talent? actually, no. priests is already a very strong class. make the priest class not only have the highest possible spell accuracy with at least a handful o' spells, but also make 'em better at melee combat would be criminal negligent on the part o' the developers. heck, the three obvious priest attributes we would focus 'pon, if we genuine were concerned about attributes, would be intelligence, might and dexterity, in that order. so is not as if the typical priest is gimping self if he decides to focus a bit more 'pon doing melee weapon damage. still strikes us as mind blowing that we were the lone priest honk during the beta. HA! Good Fun!

for priests, no amount o' mechanics is ever enough. go figure. HA! Good Fun!

cipher's paralyze can virtual eliminate reflex saves at one go... but mental binding requires a will save. is not as if these status effects work complete insular. HA! Good Fun!

is less true than most folks suggest. no 1st level serious damage spells, but divine mark hits hard for serious burn damage. make sure a wizard casts will draining miasma and/or other will debuffs, and then watch as your level 3-4 priests with non-impressive might scores crit for +80 damage and the -25 accuracy debuff. similarly, the priest o' wael with a quarterstaff will do reliable weapon damage throughout the game, or you could focus on rods. in either case, whether you use rod or quarterstaff as your primary weapon, the other will still give you decent accuracy, so you got a reach weapon, a ranged weapon and you cover crush/pierce/slash. the reach weapon is a serious boon for a squishy priest. and once you get access to level 3 spells... well, is no excuse at that point for failure to do serious offensive damage. our priests always max mechanics and take scion o' flame. scion does not current buff searing seal (a bug according to obsidian), but it does buff the priest's other burn spells, which is considerable in number and devastating in power. the trap accuracy math is far more forgiving than is priest accuracy Plus you get the additional mechanics accuracy boost. a mid level priest routine getting +100 accuracy on seal spells? seems overpowered to us, but am admitting that such has not stopped us from using seal spells. use 2 priests. if you got 1 priest in a party, the priest is gonna spend all his efforts buffing, debuffing healing and cleansing-- you won't notice just how much damage the priest is capable o' doing. our aforementioned priest o' wael, with a 10 might, were doing damage a smidge below grieving mother... could starve on the difference. HA! Good Fun!

no, you expressed yourself perfect. don't need any backsliding. HA! Good Fun!

you can play a rogue and take colonist background. suggestion: choose the adventurer weapon focus talent to get war bows. at that point it becomes difficult to build a bad archer, and you can get 12 survival if you wish. HA! Good Fun!

eh? ok. am fine with that. every attribute in poe is dumpable. if you wanna, you can dump any attribute and still have a viable build. you not see how that invalidates the meaning o' the term, but fine. what do we win? HA! Good Fun!

no doubt the reviewer would agree with you. unfortunately, you clear are suffering from the same disconnect as he is. stun says half the attributes is clear dumps. the reviewer recognizes how little pain is suffered from dumps. the reviewer then laments how little juice he gets for the squeeze from pumping the useful attributes. ... do you folks not see the problem with your beliefs regarding optimum builds and the conflict it creates with your actual reasoning? ... think about it. HA! Good Fun!

is at least arguable that constitution is worthy o' significant investment on a retaliation rogue. *shrug* not everybody needs do things the same way in poe, which is actual much different than the ie games and so many other crpgs. the starting attributes is not make-or-break. is there optimum builds for a melee rogue depending on particular play-style? sure. so what? the attribute mechanics makes a larger range o' options viable. most o' rogue's enormous damage output is not coming from might, so boost perception or con or whatever instead o' might ain't gonna spell doom for your character. yeah, you build non-optimal or non-ordinary and you gotta be much more careful about ability and talent choices if you wanna be efficacious in combat, but that ain't a bad thing neither. the ability to play a vast variety o' builds effectively is precisely why the poe attribute mechanics exist in its current form. HA! Good Fun! ps as we said elsewhere, we believe that the attributes mechanics would still benefit from balancing, but refusing to recognize what the mechanic does and is designed to do is amusing to us.

didn't actual say he wanted it nerfed. change bestiary entry. you likely encounter shadows for the first time 'tween level 3 and level 4. change bestiary entry so it reads as level 3... or 4. is true that shadows is a bit strong compared to other level 1 fodder... not that the label should make a difference. heck, we had folks raging at us recently 'cause we suggested that calling the hard counters and insta-kills from bg2 a d&d & ie game legacy. apparently, claiming that folks wanted more o' an ie feature is ok, but more o' a D&D feature is bad... even if they is the same thing. people is nuts. the bestiary entry is odd, but is harmless. also takes next to nothing to change, eh? HA! Good Fun! ps ok, now he wants nerfed. *shrug*

that is the problem. unless you do something complete different, changing the abilities won't have much impact. the ranger and rogue is heavy-hitters. rogues get sneak attack mechanic and then stuff such as reckless assault and a whole bunch o' other passive and active crit and damage increases. is sneak attack that is the focus o' the rogue and how to exploit sneaks that is the focus o' playing the rogue. a ranger, w/o an animal companion, is a weapon using heavy-hitter w/o sneak attack? the abilities and talents is gonna be familiar and different mostly cosmetic, 'cause they is all gonna magnify the weapon damage o' the ranger. mechanics o' poe only has so many ways to increase weapon damage. sure, call your ranger a vermin warrior who can change into a giant rat... give his "weapons" a corrode effect or some such would make him look different, perhaps, but is gonna play similar to the rogue. still got same weapons and still got same core mechanics. animal companion is what makes ranger different. instead o' sneak attack and maximizing situations in which attacked foes is suffering status effects, our ranger gots the animal companion. remove animal companion? square one. HA! Good Fun!

all completions o' act were post 1.04... we kinda ran a few simultaneous characters. the reckless assault bug stopped us deepish into act 2 with our rogue, so we didn't finish with him until actual after starting our second character. funny aside, the reckless assault bug ain't been fixed, but there is a workaround. am honest not certain what turn we were at for the stronghold runs. and got no idea o' the number o' companion quests. feels like 'tween 6-8? am expecting that such quests were a function o' prestige? our prestige were necessarily borked because o' a few bugs. two o' our strongholds is bugged kinda awful... one example is the "guest" psion who has been dismissed from employ but is still hostile in the main keep and will turn all other npcs in visual range similarly hostile. keep killing him, but to no avail. HA! Good Fun!

the attributes is just not near as important to combat efficacy as folks believe. in spite o' his tank-terrible attributes, eder can tank quite successful in potd. we mentioned our non-optimal priest and rogue, and our paladin is built along almost the same lines as we prefer the dialogue options such attributes afford us: s 10, c 9, d 10, p 14, int 19, r 16. starting attributes for a paladin, which we is told is a sucky class and which we is using more as support than tank. reduce con to an extreme low is gonna result in having to win fights very fast and to protect such characters. we can win such fights without resorting to such tactics and we got characters who can actual pick and choose from the role-play dialogue options we find more intriguing. HA! Good Fun!

update: have made it to act 3 3 times now. never reached level 12 even after having completed all pre act 3 bounties (one initial bounty offer is unavailable til act 3) and finishing the endless paths. however, we can reach level 11, and 10 is not difficult to manage. this does make the critical path quests a bit o' a pushover. HA! Good Fun!

I've been dumping Con for my back line since the beta went live. And I'm not the only one who's been doing that. I'll take experience and the experience of others over your theories any day. In all fairness though, "*shrug* it works on my end" is probably not the answer Prime was looking for. it works because encounter design is a bit wonky and 'cause the higher the difficulty, the more brief is fights. tactics and strategy actual become streamlined as difficulties increase precisely 'cause o' the brevity o' most fights. the goal is to do the most damage possible as quick as possible. there is indeed a cost for lowering constitution. less endurance is a significant price to pay, but in practice it doesn't make much difference if fights is won or lost in 30 seconds or less. folks is confusing mechanics issues with encounter design problems and the way in which difficulty scales. HA! Good Fun! ps as an aside, the dump o' constitution is just one reason why the same folks is so bitter about domination/confusion and other effects. those status effects cannot be complete avoided, so chances are that their basement dwelling con rogue is gonna topple the first time she gets back shot by grieving mother and leadspitter. those status effects prolong fights, and the low con characters wearing nothing but clothes 'stead o' armour is particular vulnerable in such circumstances. 'course they ain't realized that their strategy is part o' their problem.