Dr. Hieronymous Alloy

That's more of a problem with godlike racial pros and cons than with enchanting head gear. Hopefully, the developers have something in mind to make godlike racial abilities/their progression less abjectly out of sync with what the race loses. If not, then I don't think that headgear enchantment options are going to be the thing that tips it all over once and for all since the equipment itself is likely to do that anyway. The new level cap is 20 and what godlike miss out on through lack of access to headgear may be that much more pronounced given the likely introduction of new and more powerful headgear to match this extended progression. Right. I thought about the godlike issue but when you get down to it, if PoE 1 had let me slap a +2 stat enchant on any random piece of headgear, that's not a balance issue, that's a *cosmetic* issue, because I can already find SOME piece of headgear that has +2 (whatever stat), what I can't find is a piece of headgear that has +2 (whatever stat) and also looks good. Basically how can you put a fancy hat with a feather in the game and then not put good magical variants of said hat in the game, it's just cruel

Sadly for us, if these people sufficiently outnumber us then from Obsidian's point of view this isn't something worth preserving, particularly when these people claim that PoE's system ruined their sense of discovery and excitement. There's some truth to that, and we want the game to be something those people would enjoy. On the other hand, the weirdos like us who have 600+ hours clocked are the ones who end up writing guides, telling our friends to buy the game, etc. My personal hope is that Obsidian ends up: 1) Allowing the base enchants (fine, excellent, Damaging 1, Damaging 2, etc.) to be upgraded all the way 2) Implements a wider range of itemization and weapon options, and 3) allows for some *overlap* of low level weapons by high level weapons, if not actual "replacement" -- i.e., low level sword with bonus % burn damage, higher level sword with burn damage DoT/Debuff, top level sword that procs burn AoE, etc. #2 and #3 together should (ideally) be enough for the "casuals" to feel like they get real upgrades, without cutting off the option of upgrading for the rest of us. I think the players who both 1) only do one playthrough and just want sword +1, sword +2, sword +3, AND ALSO 2) understand the enchanting system well enough to feel that it "ruined" their play by rendering upgraded gear moot, are likely to be a small though perhaps vocal minority of players. I know I didn't even bother with enchanting until I'd played through the backer beta multiple times. I suspect the "real issue" isn't so much that enchanting and upgrading "ruined" playthroughs, as that the design choice to never have gear "overlap" in features led to people on their first playthrough not finding clear upgrades (because they didn't bother to learn the enchanting system).

Just to re-emphasize this from another angle: There aren't many RPG's that allow the degree of freedom that PoE 1 does. It's a near-perfect sandbox for that particular style of play, because character stats are wide open, because there is such a wide variety of items, and because of the freedom afforded by the enchanting system. People who want Sword +1, then Sword +2, then Sword +3 have literally every other RPG in the world to play. PoE's freedom of build design is something relatively rare and worth preserving. Like, y'all did a great job! Don't *#@! it up!

Right, exactly. If there's only one sword in the whole game that does fire damage, and you can't upgrade it, then you also can't make a build around it (fire godlike, bonus fire damage talent, etc). If there's four swords in the game that do fire damage, though, maybe you can. It all depends on how exactly they limit itemization. If they allow for some functional overlap (one sword does fire damage base type, one sword does bonus fire damage, one sword does bonus fire damage over time, one sword does slashing damage but procs fire damage Foe AoE) that's one thing. If they keep it really strict (literally only one one-handed weapon that does fire damage, period) then the removal of enchanting upgrades will REALLY hurt. All depends. There's also a problem with weapon proficiencies. You specialized in swords? well, whoops, the next fire weapon is a warhammer. . .

I don't understand that. Isn't there actually less choice? How can there be more choice if you take away options? . . . . How is there more choice? Or why is the choice more meaningful? And I don't want to nag or something - I really don't understand what you guys mean with that. Well, PoE 1 had a design goal of no magic items found later being clearly superior to ones found earlier. Everything was supposed to be at least slightly different. This led to LOTS of variety in the itemization which was great, but people didn't get to replace Sword +1 with Sword +2 and then with Sword +3 etc and people expect that progression in an RPG (especially if people didn't mess with enchanting, which is a lot of first time players). IF you remove that design goal and allow overlapping "clearly better" weapons, and ALSO if you simultaneously add a lot of (Sword +2 with X) and (Sword +2 with Y) or even (Sword +3 with X + B) or (Sword +3 with Y +A), then you might be increasing player choice and variety. And if you do that, then it makes sense to cut off upgrading lower-level gear after a certain point (because you're probably missing some better piece of new gear that you should be upgrading instead). But in that scenario cutting off upgrades of low-level gear is more a policy side effect of revamping your itemization generally after you've added lots more high level options. Otherwise, as you say, you're just cutting off player options to no purpose. it's an itemization and loot issue at core, not really an enchanting one.

I believe it procs on every hit, but to prolong buffs you need to be hitting buffed enemies, so it's not 100%. I really like spelltongue but you'd probably want fairly high dex if you were relying on it to keep buffs going. The attack speed buff and siphon happens regardless.

I liked the armors in PoE 1, and the focus on realism. I'd like for more focus on hats and cloaks, actually. Given the isometric viewpoint, the hat and cloak take up way more screen space, typically.

I think Josh has said somewhere (maybe SA?) that food is integrated into the new resting system. I'm assuming that food buffs are replacing camping buffs, i.e., eat a dragon steak at your campfire for +2 fire resistance till your next camp.

There are a lot of things in PoE 1 I'd like to see changed for PoE 2. Some of them already are being changed (buff stacking rules, for example). There are a lot of mechanical issues that need to be straightened out, too (attack speed mechanics, etc), and I was working on a comprehensive post on that front, but it looks like MaxQuest's excellent post detailing all the mechanical inconsistencies in PoE 1 has simplified a lot of what I was going to say on that front. I've still got a fair number of disorganized thoughts and "notes" I'd like to throw against the wall and see what people think. Here they go: Itemization Issues -- Customizable and Enchantable hats and cloaks. This is bigger than it seems. In isometric format, cloaks and hats are by far the most visible feature of your character, but they aren't customizable or enchantable at all in PoE 1. I'd really like to see that changed. If it can't be changed, please make sure that each hat "type" (i.e., frog helm, fancy hat with feather, etc) has a couple of different variants that would be appropriate for different builds. -- Why wasn't there a single soulbound gun? Why didn't we get fun period weirdo guns like the Nock Gun or Pepperbox Pistol? Or, for that matter, sword pistols? -- I really disliked how certain "gate-keeping" items like the Gloves of Mechanics, or "build-critical" items like the Gloves of Swift Action, were random-drop-only and thus easily missed even in multiple playthroughs. If you're going to have items like this, please make sure there's at least ONE place in the game where they are placed manually. Balance Issues All the missile weapons in the game, with one soulbound exception, use the same damage type (piercing), but then there are piercing immune creatures everywhere. I'd really like to see more ranged weapons that use alternate damage types. It's really difficult to give weapons with on-hit effects to any class other than Barbarian because of how powerful the interaction with Carnage can be. Fighters (and maybe Paladins) need something on this front to help balance out -- maybe allow some auto-attacks against Engaged targets? Chanters really need improvement (especially in light of PoE's movement away from per-rest abilities for other classes); similarly, priests are a little too necessary (because you need their immunity spells at high difficulty). The obvious change would be to give Chanters immunity chants at earlier levels than priests get their immunity spells. A few things I'd just like to see in PoE 2 Please steal the Witcher 3 bit where reading books adds to the bestiary for relevant creatures. That bird pet? Haast's Eagle ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haast's_eagle ). Just sayin'. I'm still pretty leery of the announced health/endurance changes. That was a system that worked. If there's no belt with a ship's wheel buckle, it'll drive me nuts.

ok, here's an additional weird inconsistency, copied from a post on SA: In response to the question "how do elemental damage talents work": https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3807509&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=149#post469964944

Well, weapons that apply DoTs would be really nerfed by that. Maybe just make them always stack, and balance them all appropriately.

I'll disagree to the extent that I think the current system is too confusing. Typical players don't even know what "recovery" even is (which is why they just called it "attack speed" -- it sounds simpler intuitively.) Just speaking as someone who writes a lot of guides -- the current system is too complicated to explain to most players. I'd also add that the addition of a separate "reload speed" category adds a further layer of confusion and complication AND causes balance issues in the endgame for bows vs crossbows/guns (as "recovery" and "reload" are distinct, and it's much harder to reduce "reload.") The whole system needs to be simplified. Combine reload with "recovery" and rethink the terminology throughout. Importantly, have an IN GAME DISPLAY ON THE CHARACTER SHEET of your attack speed / time between attacks with each weapon, so the player can see without having to scribble a bunch of math. Correct me if i'm wrong here, but from what I remember, Might does not effect weapon lash damage, which leads to a lot of potential confusion (especially involving things like Soul Whip, which is technically a lash). Just another way the game doesn't follow player expectations. I would suggest standardizing this by having Int give extra damage ticks, while Might gave more damage per tick, across the board, for ALL DoT effects. It's intuitive, balanced, straightforward, and simple.

I should probably admit though that itemization costs money especially in modern gaming where cool weapons usually need a unique graphic model. Regardless though: 1) If the problem is people not finding new cool alternative weapons at higher levels, that can be solved by placing more cool unique weapons at higher levels, or 2) If the problem is people not being able to keep upgrading "build critical" weapons, then there are two ways to solve that : either allow (some limited) upgrades, or make sure that there are high level replacement options for those low level weapons. Either way, what I'd suggest is place high level items with overlapping features with lower level weapons. Don't have just one spear in the whole game that has Disorienting or Marking; have two low level spears, one with disorienting and one with marking, and a high level spear with both (or even better, with some third feature that functions similarly). This was something PoE didn't do well but made up for by allowing constant upgrading. Lots of low level weapons had unique effects (cool!) but there were rarely late-game upgrades for those weapons that had similar effects (bad!). For example, the base game only had two magical blunderbusses, and (if you were a cipher at least) the one you found first was clearly superior; the expansions only added one more, and it had the "feature" of casting blind on your party members. Limiting Leadspitter to only one upgrade doesn't solve the problem of Scon Mica's Roar and Silver Flash sucking, it just makes Leadspitter suck too. EDIT: I should probably clarify that I realize the decision to make items in PoE not overlap with each other was a deliberate design choice; in fact it was a design choice I kinda liked since it led to big variety with minimal investment of resources. And maybe it'd be worthwhile to keep items from *directly* overlapping each other. But (for example) an "extra" damage bonus can be "better" than a "rending" enchant, without *directly* replacing it.

Exactly, yeah, if items have a ceiling, there needs to be about twice as many unique items with overlapping features. In PoE, just as an example, a barbarian could pick up Vile Loner's Lance in Dyrford and play a debuffing barb the rest of the game. In PoE 2, either that won't work or there will need to be another equivalent or superior Vile Loner's Lance later in the game to make that possible. The real answer is PoE 2 needs much deeper itemization either way. Deeper and broader item choices solve the "problem", regardless of what the problem is.

according to this looks like it was fixed: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/73986-chanter-rime-and-frost-traps-get-saved-causing-mobileobjectssave-to-grow-out-of-control/ the game engine is also generally a lot more efficient than it used to be

Oh I know, I was only talking about Weapon Focus talents, not other talents that add accuracy. To be precise, Priest weapon talents stack, as does the bonus you get from that knife throwing game in Stalwart Village (unless that has been patched away). Roger roger, I'm literally sitting here now reading this thread twenty minutes later AFTER coffee and oh look! that's exactly what you said!

You only get the benefit once so, for example, if you are wielding Abydon's Hammer and have Weapon Focus: Soldier and Weapon Focus: Adventurer you'd only get +6 Accuracy (not +12). This isn't accurate. The priest's bonus *does* stack with the weapon focus group bonus, at least when using a soulbound weapon. edit: screenshot: http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/97229796367340147/816DDF49A3322420475271D086AD4182FBC107B4/ (some spoilers) Summoned weapons work like soulbound weapons -- any talent you have gives proficiency -- but at least with the monk's summoned fists (for Long Pain) you can switch out of them (you don't want to but it's possible, and usually a mistake).

Well, there are multiple kinds of fights that aren't "Trash." The first is of course boss fights. Second is plot-related fights ("oh no! Lord Badguy's Minions are kidnapping Imoen. . again!") Third, and this is where they could really expand, is mechanically and strategically interesting fights. When I think "trash mob fights," I think fights like the ones filling Sun in Shadow -- just walk down the path to a clearing and Yet Another Big Ball of Shadows To Fight, etc. No new challenge, no bosses, just not interesting -- their only purpose is just to be a speed bump in between real challenges. Compare with, say, White March. Most of the fights in White March had really interesting and complex challenges. The one I keep pointing to is the one inside the foundry where there are some spirits across a bridge and you either have to send troops around a loop, or fight using long-range attacks, to take them out. That sort of thing isn't a boss fight, but it isn't a "trash mob" fight either -- it's interesting and a new challenge. That's what I want to see more of in PoE 2.

I was posting in my idiot way over on Somethingawful about how PoE 2 was going to "get rid of trash mobs" and Josh Sawyer posted to correct me and point out that he had not said they would be getting rid of trash mobs entirely and that there would very likely be *some* trash mob encounters in PoE 2. So never fear, they aren't goin away entirely. edit, here's quote: source: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3807509&userid=17931&perpage=40&pagenumber=3#post469310895

It actually gave +10 starting focus at release, from what I remember anyway. It's just that until they made all the cipher powers cost more and reduced the base starting focus, it wasn't worth it because 1) you were never significantly short of focus, and 2) if you were short, the +10 bonus wasn't enough to matter. Once they doubled all the power costs and reduced your starting focus by half, it got very useful overnight, because it meant you could open combat with a power two character levels higher than you'd otherwise be able to. I need to edit the formatting on my guide to make all this stuff clearer

It could be a decent idea to give you one or two "freebie" hits, the problem is that one freebie hit plus a second could instakill a lot of NPC's.

re: balancing -- I'd say at this stage an accurate description of the problem(s) is probably more important than balancing. Balancing is the game developer's job, and we know they're changing a lot of things around right now. The important thing is to make sure they have accurate information and understand what's poorly implemented & what's confusing players.

Fair enough I suppose. I do know he wrote the "Something Secret" quest in PoE (Gordy and the March Steel dagger) which *is* funny, albeit a fairly dry kind of humor.

no. just no. chris avellone were driving force and creative lead for old world blues. josh took the reigns for honest hearts. notice a distinct difference in narrative tone? HA! Good Fun! They're both listed as narrative designers for OWB though? Each of the Fallout: New Vegas DLC's was very deliberately taken in a different direction in terms of tone etc. -- my understanding was that wasn't so much "Avellone writes like this, Sawyer writes like this" as it was a conscious choice to make Dead Money a noir homage, Old World Blues a B-movie zaniness homage, etc., with basically each DLC taking on a different genre. I could have sworn I'd read a Somethingawful quote where Ropekid talked about deliberately writing more humor into Old World Blues but I could be wrong. I had also assumed he was responsible for the inclusion of a number of rather silly Somethingawful in-jokes into New Vegas (Zybourne Clock / Johnny Five Aces specifically). He doesn't actually hate fun.

This discussion is really detailed and useful. Is there any single thread in the PoE 2 subforum that collects all the wierd errata like this that should really be corrected in PoE 2? I'm thinking things like this, the absurdly overcomplicated attack speed calculations, the problem with shield bash lowering DPS, etc?