JerekKruger

Whilst this is true, it does require two things: (i) you have to have Devil in your party since she's the only companion who starts with 2 mechanics (which saves you 12 points getting to 12 mechanics compared to someone who starts with 1 mechanics) and (ii) the gloves you describe are random loot so it's very possible to never get them.

This is my preferred way of running melee rogues now, and with appropriately chosen weapons and armour you can get close to 0 recovery still, making them close to if not as good as dual wielders.

Really? A level 1 Cipher gets a large AoE prone, and gets an even larger one at level 11. Seems perfectly reasonable.

I'm in favour of all but one of the changes, namely the rogue's smoke cloud. To my mind that change doesn't really fit, though I agree smoke cloud needs to be buffed somehow.

I believe the game deals with fractions all the time. If you read combat logs for damage in detail you'll see fractional damage results. I don't know how this is applied to a character's endurance, whether they are rounded or the fractions are tracked under the hood, but they're there.

I posted this bug and got a reply that it was already known

That would be fine for me except how would you decide what abilities and talents to cut? I would actually prefer a party that starts at midish level, equivalent to 5 or perhaps a bit more in PoE.

Just spread the experience gain out, make it take longer to reach max level.

Thankfully this happens fairly rarely in PoE. I remember being very annoyed by it happening all the time in DAO.

Does high level scaling also scale the mechanics requirements? In my last play through without scaling I found it with 10 or 11 mechanics, though I had to walk close to it in scouting mode.

Yup, if they keep the same ruleset then I'd agree that this is the way to go.

I'd prefer a new character starting at a (relatively) low level, but as MaxQuest says, both options would be good if done well. The reason for my preference: (i) I feel like the Watcher's story is complete; (ii) I feel that an import option will force Obsidian to keep the ruleset the same and, whilst it's in no way a bad ruleset, I feel it could be improved; and (iii) I feel like level 16 in PoE is pretty damn high level and I feel that continuing on from that point will reach ridiculous levels of power, epic levels are cool but I feel they'd be better done rebalanced around a new progression.

Everything that can be used at a distance so spells too.

Wait, they do? I just rolled a level 1 fighter and he had 30 deflection. Am I missing something?

I too thought it was a good portrait so I tracked it down to here if you're interested: http://skyzocat.deviantart.com/art/Ethea-Commission-517835181

Also true. I think (though I'm not certain) the +2 con on Whispers of Yenwood is a new addition. I swear it didn't used to have it. That said, I'd prefer to duplicate something other than WoY myself.

That's true. I feel that it being a soulbound weapon its bonus should be higher, perhaps +8 accuracy and +30% damage, but I can agree that the destroy vessels proc is, perhaps, a little too powerful. Another solution would be to make the judges immune or make them not vessels (similarly for eyeless). Yeah, the Bartender's Ring is great.

A high level Paladin armed with St. Ydwen's Redeemer does this job well. His sword deals with vessels and he can take the new Abjuration ability to deal with spirits.

You're probably right to be honest. For some reason I just imagine that kith should be more dangerous. I think my Mountain Dwarf idea is probably a little better although when facing enemies that can paralyse yours will be really handy.

Thanks Achilles, looks good.

Depends on whether it stacks with the Chanter chant but yeah, it's a big bonus. I have this faint memory that Boreal Dwarfs originally had +15 against beasts and wilder and it was later changed to wilder and primordials but I'm probably wrong about that (beasts makes more sense for a talent called Hunter's Instinct).

Isn't a Paladin's base deflection 20, so with whatever the base bonus Faith and Conviction gives (used to be +5 but I have a feeling it dropped some) the difference is less than 10 isn't it?

To answer the OP the thing I'd really like to see in a PoE2 would be some more alien environments. PoE mostly stuck to fairly classic fantasy staples of temperate countryside, reasonably European looking towns and cities and classic fantasy ruins dungeons. Nothing wrong with that, I like it even, but in much the same was as BG2 moved to weirder environments from BG I'd like a sequel to do the same for PoE. I like the idea that some people have floated of having it nautically themed. My idea would be to have it begin in the Vailian Republics (fingers crossed for a Venice style city) and have the first act be fairly standard but end with you getting your stronghold which would be a ship. You'd then be able to move said stronghold to other locations (Old Vailia, Ruatai etc.) and see more of what Eora has to offer (Ruatai as described by Kana sounds like an awesome location). Ideally the actual sailing would be abstracted away, as in my experience these sorts of systems tend to be pretty bad if implemented in a realistic way, though the odd boarding battle out at sea would be cool. The Living Lands sounds like an interesting place for a campaign too. Not sure if it has sea access but then there are no maps so Obisidian could give it sea access. Apart from the above, I'd like Obsidian to take advantage of the fact that Pillars of Eternity runs on their own ruleset and not feel obliged to port everything over to a sequel. Feel free to change class abilities, spells etc. (though keeping some continuity would be nice), even feel free to change the rules altogether. Related to this, I'd prefer not to have the game be a direct sequel insofar as importing the Watcher over etc. as I feel that the rules in PoE have reached their limit in power level terms and going any higher would feel silly. Instead start a new character, perhaps with a few levels of experience to start, and redesign the level curve to accommodate more power. I would like to see a sequel go at least as high level as White March II though, if not higher. Epic levels are fun, though I still quite like the (fairly) early level experience. Given the previous paragraph, how is it a sequel? Well the plot could still relate to the events of PoE in some way, let's just let the Watcher enjoy his retirement in Caed Nua. I also wouldn't be opposed to seeing some of the companions return. Some of them are obviously tied to the Dyrwood and wouldn't leave but characters like Kana and Devil I could certainly see returning.

I was thinking about this one recently and I thought that a solution would be to leave them with the resistance to poison and illness and give them a +10 DR to corrode damage. Corrode seems naturally associated with poison and disease, and a +10 DR to it is worth roughly half what the Pale Elf Elemental Endurance ability does so it seems fairly well balanced. I must admit, I really wish Mountain Dwarfs had a better talent. I'd love to play one but I can't bring myself to (which I realise is silly given how unimportant the basic talent is). I'd say that +15 is a little too high. It's the same as the Boreal Dwarf gets sure, but I think on the whole Kith enemies are more challenging and hence +15 is effectively a bigger bonus. If they keep their current ability I'd say +10 would fit well. Seems reasonable.

Could anyone give me suggestions on how to build Devil of Caroc? In most my previous playthroughs I've tended to drop her after quickly doing her quest (it doesn't help that she's usually the last companion I pick up), but in my next playthrough I'd like to actually use her. I could simply spec her as an archer, but given her (relatively) high resolve and enforced use of a breastplate I fancy using her in melee. I'm thinking of equipping her with a one-hander (probably a sabre at first) and a small shield and using her as a fairly durable melee damage dealer. Do people think that'll work? A related question: I'd like to pick her up fairly early on. What sort of level could a party reasonably go to the White March at on PotD? Do you miss out on much by not doing the White March at the upscaled difficulty? Thanks.