Gromnir

conning were our new "word" for the day? how sad. for folks who wanted kill xp, we got the bestiary. originally, lore influenced the speed with which your bestiary entries were completed, but in response to the kill xp folks, we got the bestiary xp. incremental revealing o' critter strengths and weakness is s'posed a feature o' poe... which is also kinda sad. HA! Good Fun!

on the other hand, the current mechanic makes stealth usefulness rather suspect. we were hoping, beyond hope, that obsidian would implement the stealth fix (or fixes) they had referenced before the game were released. will stealth get a fix with a patch? do we need wait for an expansion? at this point, the expansion would appear more likely. we get very little value from stealth. any character can scout. stealth adds a slight increase in how close one may approach foes w/o detection, which is only useful for setting traps and would be valuable if we could position the stealth character appropriately before battles. have party stealth drop makes our scout a proverbial sitting duck for the cf mobs that is ubiquitous in hard mode. at the moment, in Gromnir's experience, stealth is the least useful poe skill. HA! Good Fun! Really? Because all my characters have Stealth.. and my high-Stealth rogue plays a very important part of my strategy - he's the one who can get close and scout how many enemies there are, enemy types, etc. This isn't as useful if you are doing your third playthrough, but for first playthroughs it's extremely useful. If you want to talk about useless skills, there are a few others that need to be looked at first *coughSURVIVALcough*. use o' consumables can be invaluable. extend duration o' such is likewise useful. we typical can scout very well with even a low stealth character. the density o' mobs in hard mode make poe scouting a bit limited, so that even with extreme high stealth, we will be discovered as the screen is frequently filled with enemies. low stealth character can get close enough to see front line o' foes and get away undetected... which is usually what we can manage with our high stealth character. perhaps because you got stealth on everybody, you don't realize how it is almost complete unnecessary. currently, stealth is good for setting traps (wish we had more) and for aiding in stealing as high stealth allow us more time to get away before inevitable detection. HA! Good Fun!

Actually, no, that's not true but it doesn't really matter as people censor things all the time (e.g. if you know your grandmother doesn't like swearing you might self-censor cursing while around her). It's still censorship. self-censor is a far different thing. don't confuse the two concepts. HA! Good Fun! But Obsidian can also choose not to self censor and whoever thinks the joke is in poor taste can choose to not play the game or patch it out themselves correct? if that is what they decide, then sure. there is no organization with authority over obsidian that is gonna be able to compel them to take out the backer silliness. no censorship. self-censorship? complete different. folks who don't self-censor is typically suffering from mental or neurological conditions. is different. thank goodness. HA! Good Fun!

Actually, no, that's not true but it doesn't really matter as people censor things all the time (e.g. if you know your grandmother doesn't like swearing you might self-censor cursing while around her). It's still censorship. self-censor is a far different thing. don't confuse the two concepts. HA! Good Fun!

on the other hand, the current mechanic makes stealth usefulness rather suspect. we were hoping, beyond hope, that obsidian would implement the stealth fix (or fixes) they had referenced before the game were released. will stealth get a fix with a patch? do we need wait for an expansion? at this point, the expansion would appear more likely. we get very little value from stealth. any character can scout. stealth adds a slight increase in how close one may approach foes w/o detection, which is only useful for setting traps and would be valuable if we could position the stealth character appropriately before battles. have party stealth drop makes our scout a proverbial sitting duck for the cf mobs that is ubiquitous in hard mode. at the moment, in Gromnir's experience, stealth is the least useful poe skill. HA! Good Fun!

nobody is forcing obsidian to do anything. there is no censorship... period. HA! Good Fun!

it boggles the mind. *shrug* poe is a commercial product, so this ain't a free speech issue... period. obsidian is trying to make money, and they gotta needs be more sensitive than the typical misanthropic college undergrad. ... the bit o' backer nonsense is harmless to Gromnir, but it offends some. take same bit o' backer drivel and make it reference jews or blacks or a dozen other traditionally disenfranchised groups and we would not be having this conversation, would we? only the most obtuse and social inept 'mongst us would fail to recognize that obsidian needs be careful 'bout including crude racial and religious content in their games, not that we don't have a few such folks posting. hell, some o' our more prolific posters on this board has run afoul o' moderators 'cause o' their pro-nazi iconography, and that is simple message board postings. such board stuff is censored immediately and without apology by the board moderators. have such stuff in a game has a much greater chance to harm obsidian reputation, so one would expect greater sensitivity in their commercial releases, yes? poe ain't the south park game. again, the backer content don't concern us personally, but there is no free speech issues. there is no evil censorship worth fighting. HA! Good Fun!

Level 8 is basically end game, you will have plethora of options by then. Being able to grab Durance at lvl 2 with already 3 mechanics is much more useful especially when Aloth is pretty garbage without slicken. Kana with his might/int/lore makes him the ideal scroll user. Also fits his personality. within 10 minutes o' getting aloth, we were able to level. so, what were the first spell you chose? on the other hand, all the companions is teh suck at mechanics. even if you put all points into mechanics from 3 onward, they is still missing the tougher disarms... and we would much rather be having better mechanics at the end than the start. durance is best 'cause he gots a 1 point advantage for a few levels over kana? and yeah, with kana's 7 starting lore, he already got a useful second skill. regardless, a we already noted, they all is terrible. were a trick question. HA! Good Fun!

the point is that the advantage durance has begins to disappear. aloth and kana is paying for skill points in mechanics at a cheaper rate than durance. skill level 2 costs aloth 1 skill point. skill level 3 costs aloth 2 points stead o' three, and so on. *shrug* they all suck, but durance only has an advantage early... til level 8? HA! Good Fun!

trick question. the answer is: none o' the companions is best. sure, durance starts better, but w/o the innate class boost, he don't have a genuine advantage over the other companions. *shrug* pick between otherwise terrible options is not having a genuine "best." HA! Good Fun!

funny, we were gonna same... though am expecting we got complete different pov on the issue. oh, and am complete disagreeing that the attributes were better before accuracy were removed. accuracy was/is too important to link it so heavily to a single attribute. have one attribute that were effectively essential were not only running counter to the design philosophy o' poe, but it were stoopid. the poe attributes ain't near as significant to overall character success as folks are imagining. whether that is a good or bad thing is debatable, but we believe it were intended. "What i dont like is how unflexible current builds are. I feel like game is pushing me towars strict tank/glass cannon builds with really bad characters inbetween, on Hard that is. Nor BG, nor nwn2 had this problem. And i dont see HOW can you roleplay on hard with ironman." this is just not true. our first character (hard mode) is proving to be a very impressive melee combatant, as well as giving us many dialogue options that would otherwise not have been available to us. m 10 c 10 d 10 p 18 i 14 r 16 for a dual-wielding rogue, the above is horrible attributes as far as any mechanics monkey is concerned, and yet we ain't gnashing teeth and pulling hair in frustration. our character is effective in and outta combat. from a pure mechanics perspective, talents and abilities quickly become far more important that starting attributes. from a rp perspective... well, as we said, we ain't feeling handicapped. quite contrary. HA! Good Fun!

two songs we like... and can't explain why. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLsDxvAErTU how the hell could Gromnir like a jimmy buffet song? *shrug* both songs make us smile. HA! Good Fun!

the two most common complaints for every ie game: it was too hard it was too easy is no way for developers to win. HA! Good Fun!

beginning attributes are important, but not nearly as important as ability and talent choices will eventually become. people fixate on poe starting attributes, but that is a mistake. use the companions as a comparison. the chanter companion, kana, has useful attributes for a chanter. is not ideal attributes, but his attribute spread is better than most o' the joinable npcs. however, what is the point o' good attributes if kana's abilities are cringe worthy? am gonna need a few level-ups to make kana genuine useful to us. eder, on the other hand, has crummy starting attributes for the tank role we wish for him to fill. nevertheless, he gots ok starting talents and abilities (though ruffian weapon focus is perplexing) and as soon as we added the defender ability, he became more than satisfactory in his role. folks is complaining about aloth attributes, but a poe wizard is far more a function o' his spell selection than anything else. we gave the joinable wizard slicken at the first opportunity and with discovered spell books we have been able to add a few other o' our favorite spells. aloth attributes has not prevented him from being a major contributor. am much concerned about grieving mother. if we don't get her soon, she may be too level'd to be useful. is not her stats that will make her useless, but rather her talent and ability selection. unlike a wizard, we can't simply add the "spells" we want to he repertoire. also, with 11 classes, there was a need to make each class distinct from each other. make distinct is functional resulting in greater specialization. the poe paladin's role is that of a low maintenance support class that is excellent in defense. if you wish to make a paladin that does jaw-dropping damage, you are gonna need work very hard at it, and you still won't be as good as a rogue. you are gonna have a difficult time making a character genuine unplayable because of your starting attribute selections, regardless o' how borked they may appear to some o' the mechanics junkies who post on these boards. on the other hand, if you is building a character that don't exactly coincide with the role obsidian chose for your chosen class, you is gonna need be a bit more thoughtful with your talent and ability choices. HA! Good Fun!

am reposting an earlier post that we has, for all intents and purposes, posted 'bout a dozen times already: we got three characters we is still juggling for our first play o' poe, and all three were more than serviceable in our many bb hours o' gameplay. dual wielding priest o' berath or eothas. (maces or flails) or dual wielding rogue likely to use spears. stat breakdown is almost identical for the priest(s) and the rogue: m 10 c 10 d 10 p 16 (18) i 16 (14) r 16 priests will take lore and some athletics skill. rogue will choose stealth (fingers-crossed that obsidian fixes stealth) and lore. what made such characters powerful or weak in the beta had less to do with starting attributes and more to do with talent and ability choices... and weapon choice too. the poe starting attributes are significant, but they are no more impactful than were the starting attributes in d&d 3 point-buy. is our opinion, stated more than once, that people is getting too concerned about the mechanic impact o' attributes. mechanically, talent and ability choices will quickly eclipse the importance o' attributes in poe. HA! Good Fun! ps we will note that 3e d&d starting attributes were actual more significant 'cause o' the threshold issues with saves and bab n' such. an extra wisdom or intelligence point could actual have long term impact that does not similarly exist in poe. most d&d attribute significance were due to post level 1 inflation, but even so, the starting attributes had more importance than poe 'cause o' thresholds. end repost we got over 10 hours invested in the game as 'posed to possible hundred-plus hours from the beta. am current playing the rogue, but am kinda regretting not going with the priest, for rp reasons. regardless, while our level is only 4 (the beta took us from 4- 8 ) Gromnir's rogue build is not struggling. yeah, is amazing just how much our meta-knowledge in the beta made battles simple, but even with the tendency for encounters to develop in ways unexpected, our non-optimal rogue build is hardly handicapped. genuine annoyances so far is limited to a handful o' bugs, the illogical companion skill, ability and talent selections, and the remoteness o' a place to buy camping supplies. our lack o' strength is not keeping us from exacting comparative impressive damage on all enemies. do not sweat the starting attributes. sure, for a tank you need build deflection, and those starting resolve/perception deflection points seem invaluable. 'course eder is doing just fine tanking for us in hm, and with proper talent acquisition, we suspect he will get even better. also, if you were to build a dedicated interrupter build, perception would, we suspect, be a must-have as perception and a single talent o' dubious worth is your only options to boost your base interruption score. however, for most builds, the starting attributes is far less significant than many people believe. this is a crpg. poe is kinda an old skool crpg. given how important starting attributes is in many old skool crpgs, it is understandable that folks would assume similar importance for poe starting attributes. the assumption is largely misplaced. HA! Good Fun!

Low int penalizes AoE and duration - the object of the build being that it doesn't need either. That's more-or-less all. well, not exactly. the 3 int also modifies will saves. you is gonna start with a 17 will save. at level 8, your will save is a 38. you can somewhat counter the impact o' near guaranteed failed wills saves by taking bull's will, but that does cost a talent, and talents is vital. you are gonna face many will saves in the game. something to consider. is still a powerful build, but it would be good even w/o tanking int. HA! Good Fun! Yeah, but you counter loss of will by pumping Resolve. Which adds to your will saves. Thus you're starting with even more will saves then your default 10res/int stats. Precisely by 5 more with 16 Resolve. it doesn't quite work out that way, does it? you actually have worse will saves with the 3/15 split on intelligence and resolve as 'posed to 10/10... but that is precise why it makes sense not to tank int. take 10 int and 15 resolve (not that we suggest doing so for a rogue) gets you 30 on will saves as 'posed to 17. regardless, we sure as heck don't want worse than 10/10, but am s'posing we is more concerned with saves than is some other folks. *shrug* HA! Good Fun!

Bah, don't try to hide the fact I'm more versed in Dragon Age lore than you are. Which is something embarrassing to brag about... am pretty sure that the use o' Ban, as a title o' nobility, predates dragon age by a few years... or a few centuries. HA! Good Fun!

The best movie! Featuring Original Badass Kirk Douglas. sacrilege! oh, sure, who can't love a time-traveling aircraft carrier with kirk douglas in command, but original bad ass kirk douglas is either spartacus from spartacus, einar from the vikings, or jonathan shields from the bad and the beautiful, if only 'cause bad is in the title, and he weren't that pretty even when he were young. HA! Good Fun! ps am thinking guys like cagney and bogart and edward g. robinson might get some votes for earlier movie bad assery.

Confirmed proof Gromnir is spying on all of us... playing PoE (Project Eternity) before us using government codes (provided by Paradox?) It's a conspiracy I tell you! *Dusts off Deus Ex* hey, it ain't Gromnir, it is the "softball" association folks who is listening to your phone conversations and reading your emails. and y'know, we never trusted those guys. 260 lb 40-somethings with knee braces on both legs who is willing to charge the catcher at home plate to score a run? who could trust them, eh? has gotta be some kinda six degrees o' separation 'tween the NSA (national softball association) and the illuminati. HA! Good Fun!

speaking o' covers... v. y'know, for Gromnir, the crickets just ain't selling it. one wonders what fighting sonny curtis were contemplating. jaywalking perhaps? HA! Good Fun!

It depends a lot on playstyle. The burst then recharge focus through normal combat is going to frustrate some players of the cipher, while wizard will do largely what people expect (once they work out what spells are useful and which are garbage). The single target bias of the cipher is also going to appeal or frustrate. take the blunderbuss as your weapon o' choice... maybe even use a weapon focus talent to boost it. now, sit back and let your cipher focus concerns just melt away like those glaciers in argentina and montana. HA! Good Fun!

no offense, but if you can't figure out which poe is referenced from the context o' the post, particularly posts on the poe section o' the obsidian message boards, we suspect you have... problems. just saying. HA! Good Fun! Oh Grom, I luvs you so. ...of course it's not hard to tell which is which in context, but it can still cause that microsecond of weirdness, like any other time one sees abbreviations that mean one thing to you but are obviously meaning something else to others. oh sure, that happens all the time to Gromnir. we play in a softball league and whenever somebody mentions the NSA (national softball association) in the context o' our softball league affiliations, we always get bumfuzzled. ... wait, no we don't. HA! Good Fun!

no offense, but if you can't figure out which poe is referenced from the context o' the post, particularly posts on the poe section o' the obsidian message boards, we suspect you have... problems. just saying. HA! Good Fun!

uhm... okie dokie. has been a few years o' following project eternity for Gromnir and we is feeling great anticipation that we will finally be playing poe tomorrow. that being said, we doubt we take sagaskrimsha (or whatever is her name is) as a joinable npc, 'cause we don't particular like ranger pets. we only read the poe wikis for amusement 'cause they is dated and filled with inaccuracies, even more inaccuracies as is contained in the official poe guide/manual. enjoy the game. HA! Good Fun!

Low int penalizes AoE and duration - the object of the build being that it doesn't need either. That's more-or-less all. well, not exactly. the 3 int also modifies will saves. you is gonna start with a 17 will save. at level 8, your will save is a 38. you can somewhat counter the impact o' near guaranteed failed wills saves by taking bull's will, but that does cost a talent, and talents is vital. you are gonna face many will saves in the game. something to consider. is still a powerful build, but it would be good even w/o tanking int. HA! Good Fun!