Moragauth

I'm using a Goldpact/Evoker build which I am finding to be fun.

I'd like Thaumaturge or Arcane Knight for Aloth. I do wish they'd just leave the combinations open to you aside from the main class. Waiting for something like the IE mod to customise the game to my liking.

I might be more tempted to try wizard specialisations now. Pity that there's no romanceable Eder. I don't really like the other male options that much... Aloth is passable, I guess.

Such a shame that Eder is off limits!

I'll keep an eye out for them!

Does that apply to the enemy ones too? So far, I don't find them particularly tough, and I don't know if it's because they're badly optimised and/or scripted. Equally, I hope they don't go and do the complete opposite in Deadfire, making them too weak, as some developers are wont to do. I probably won't be touching PoE II for several months, anyway, as I'm gonna finish POE I first... so by that point the devs will hopefully have ironed any issues out... or there will be mods to do just that. :D

I meant the beginner's guide in the forum. Combined with the build guides, it's enough to piece together how to build a party. I'm using the IE mod, though, to get around the poor stat optimisation of the NPCs. Don't like running with deadweights. :D

Nevermind, found what I wanted. Didn't realise the last big patch was as from a couple of years ago. :S

I recall hearing the game had a big patch a while ago... are there any good up to date character/party design guides you would recommend for the game in its current iteration? Also appreciated would be any guides covering the NPCs. I don't have the greatest amount of free time, so I'm looking to min/max a bit, since I will just be going through one playthrough ultimately.

Divine Divinity yes, the rest, no. I played DD too long ago to recall it, really. I remember it had a well designed ability system in that there were limits on just how powerful your character could become. The majority of the rest are on my "to play" list. The thing is, I can still find them enjoyable, even if I dislike the design of the mechanics, as with, say, Morrowind or Oblivion.

I disagree strongly. IMO TESO is a textbook example of how not to do a classless system. Well to put it another way, it's about the only "classless" game I've enjoyed on the PC. However, I am not really one for classless systems, they've never held intuitive appeal to me. D&D tends to allow about as much customisation as I like.

I've never been keen on the TES mechanics, as far as I am concerned 3.5e has a huge edge over it. However, TESO did do the "classless" system as well as it can be done, IMO. D&D isn't perfect but as far as rulesets go, it is my favourite.

It depends, I don't see an issue with taking the 4th edition approach of purely assigning bonuses. For particularly powerful races, penalties can make sense to keep them balanced. Arcana Evolved had a nice approach to it, making the more advanced racials attainable through levels, a bit like TESO has done. I agree that it doesn't have to be level penalties, I really hate those.

...yet they're the ultimate failures. They see all their works come to naught, and they themselves are doomed to fade away. That's kind of the point. This is a pretty standard trope with them these days, too, and I think the Forgotten Realms perhaps goes the farthest to incorporate a similar theme, with the Retreat. The Altmer in TES suffer from this as well, although they are far more hellbent on the "do something about it" part, and it remains to be seen where they are headed; the MMO certainly didn't capture them all that well. What I do like about the LOTR elves (and Altmer) is their basis on what are, more or less, angelic beings. They also mirror many of the flaws (and virtues) of these beings. I guess I see Gromnir's point with regard to "perfection" making them ill-suited to being a playable race, however I still enjoy seeing them as superior in some significant aspects, with some concomitant flaws. I just loathe the "fated to vanish and die" theme. I'd rather see them as more embedded in the world, and eager to prosper within it. Longevity may change one's perspective but it is all too common to see RPGs translate this into an inability to adapt to changing circumstances. Mind, dwarves are often painted with the same flaw, but the "fated to vanish" theme is often omitted, with the notable exception of the Dwemer, who are dwarves in name alone. Personally, I like the notion of giving the race a "higher" caste of ancestors, and making the playable ones a bit more "down to earth" or at least invested in and capable of prolonging their presence on the homeworld, leaving it open to the writer if they wish to use the former as a tragic tale of extinction. I think, in spite of its flaws, WC managed to do a pretty decent job with re-energising the race. Particularly with the Scourge attack on the sin'dorei breaking them out of the aeons they spent ensuring they remained hidden from the Legion, becoming one of the most dynamic elf races out there, in terms of how much they do to ensure their survival. They remain one of my favourite renditions of the race, particularly how Blizzard made an effort to exaggerate their visuals. Maybe a single player RPG, like this one, that focuses more on the Fae mythos for the elves would be refreshing. Amalur did try, albeit not with the elves per se. I need to get around to finishing that game at some stage. All this reminds me that I need to re-watch LOTR and see the newest movies at some point, and read the books in the future. I read the Silmarillion when I was 15 but it's all faded into oblivion since then... along with the Earthsea Quartet, Cycle of the Eternal Champion, GoT etc etc... there just isn't enough time in this world.

Indeed, I do prefer his rendition of them, much as I do their mythological source of inspiration, but it has never hinged on whether Tolkien described them with pointy ears or not. It's also remarkably difficult to pull off with success, and you are correct, it is difficult to do justice to as a concept in a CRPG, something I agree with wholeheartedly.