gkathellar

You get confronted in the Sanctuary 3 times, and each time you need Intellect or Resolve to successfully deflect the guard. Each attribute check is harder than the previous one - IIRC, you need 15-16 to get through all three confrontations.

He had it as an extra talent, on top of the normal ones, IIRC if you picked him up as a level 3+ character. Perhaps they finally removed it? That'd make sense, since you can now direct the companions from level 1, and thus avoid terrible choices that need to be compensated for.

Do you still get the normal cursor when you switch to scouting mode? This behavior sometimes appears in normal walk mode, but I've never seen it while scouting.

Very cool.

Turns only pass when you progress or complete Tasks and Quests. Defiance Bay can be a bit bewildering, yeah - it's probably got at least as many sidequests as the whole rest of the game combined. Most of them don't matter much, although you will need to do the quests for one of the three factions (Doemenels, Dozens, or Knights of the Crucible) to progress the main quest past a certain point. That said, problem (b) may help you solve problem (a) - wrap up some of the easier quests, and Aloth will be back promptly.

An painter/illustrator by the name of Jason Seow has done some nice ones matching the actual head models on his website, here. Especially handy for Godlike players, although there's also a great female wild orlan portrait, and one portrait specifically intended for characters wearing the Pilgrim's Lasting Vigil helm. (also you can play Josh Sawyer the barbarian)

Dunno, but it may be worth noting that IEMod has an option allowing you to increase the speed of fast mode by holding down the CTRL key.

Well, that would not be the first time one of these self-proclaimed gods was either killed or seriously injured. Abydon had to rebuild himself into a golem after an apparent death. Mind you, the Godhammer Bomb was a first so perhaps the death really was permanent. Still, that piece of history leaves a few dangling plot threads just waiting to be picked up - like who gets to take Eothas' place in the realm of the gods? (I hope it's me ) It can't be you, since it's obviously me.

Because you're interested in seeing two new companions (one written by the same guy who wrote Eder yeeeeeeah), playing with new talents, and reading additional story material? What you're asking for is a sequel, but a TotSC-style expansion was always promised first.

I like the idea, but I have a couple of reservations about it. While it'd be cool, it doesn't necessarily make sense for all of the NPCs. Some of their quest resolutions rock them to their very cores, but don't really give them anything other than self-knowledge. Now, self-knowledge is a powerful thing in PoE, so that can be handwaved to a degree, but it's worth considering. (On the other hand, a few of the quest resolutions definitely put the heroes in touch with their own souls on a more tangible level.) The NPC quests don't resolve evenly throughout the narrative - some can be finished early in Act 2, while others force you to wait until the very end of Act 3. YMMV on whether this is actually a problem, but it would make some NPCs powerful more quickly than others. It would make the companions theoretically more powerful than hirelings. Mind, hirelings can have more specialized (read: better) attribute builds, but some people might complain about it.

Suddenly shifting from a stylized isometric viewpoint to an HCG doesn't? (As an aside, does anyone else sometimes feel like this whole immersion thing is getting out of hand? I feel like some day I'm going to find a person saying, "Oh, I don't read books, turning the pages breaks immersion." Obviously an exaggeration, but it seems that way, sometimes.) I play eroge, bro. I like sexual appeal just fine. But I don't need to be titillated 100% of the time. Are you just, like, unclear on how to acquire pornography? Because I feel like asking for more of it in PoE is inefficient. You're ... what? Look, to be clear the devs are almost certainly not going to follow this type of suggestion, if only because it'd be a foolish thing to do from a business perspective: they'd have to spend money on something with little or no potential for positive return and the possibility of ensuing bad press. This thread isn't a vote (nor could it be), it's you going on about how video games don't provide you with enough pictures of sexy ladies. If you have a real problem with that, you don't need to acquire a consensus, or negotiate for some kind of deal. Hire an artist and code up a mod if you feel so passionately about the subject. But don't expect your critics to be any less critical because you're willing to "meet [them] half way," when they have no stake in coming to an agreement with you. I dunno, can you handle the lack of titillation in PoE? Can you handle people disagreeing with you on forums? (For anyone who's interested, this is a classic example of what the strawman fallacy actually looks like: by casting one's critics as unable to "handle" one's obviously good idea, one makes opposition to said idea out to be something it isn't. In this particular case, for example, it presents opposition to the idea as equivalent to personal weakness. Many people employ these conversational techniques unconsciously, so learning about them can help you screen your own arguments, as well as those of others.) Naw, that's okay. Personally, I feel like PoE could use less violence, too. Especially towards the end game, a lot of the fights just feel as though they were included for the sake of having more fights, rather than to make the game fun. The Burial Isle and Sun In Shadow in particular should be wonderfully atmospheric, but I think the combat just makes them into a drag. In general, or specifically in the case of PoE? Because in general, I'm fine with both, as long as they feel appropriate. There are reasons to include lots of graphic sex and violence in, say, Outlast. But if killing Sly Cyrdel treated you to a CG of head flying off and his entrails on the ground, well, that would be just as out-of-place as an HCG would be. No, that's the Lesbian Illuminati. They're just like the regular Illuminati - dark suit, dark sunglasses, crew cuts - but women.

It comes down to preparation.

The Thaos fight is really kind of an obnoxious trawl on PotD, I agree. 1. Virtually all of the spellcasting enemies in PoE have unlimited spells, and many of the non-spellcasters have numerous uses of abilities that are 1/encounter or 2/encounter for players. As best I can tell, enemy abilities have cooldowns, rather than limited uses, which is honestly just loathsome. 2. As to Thaos' ungodly resilience ... well, he has very high defenses, but in particular the Shields of the Faithful dropped on him at the start of the battle is really nasty. To be honest, I'm not convinced it's actually the same spell players have access to, given its hundred-second duration. Until it expires, most characters can basically give up on hitting him with deflection-based attacks. I think the best way to handle him is really just to stick a tank on him to soak up his offense while the rest of the party takes down the golems. 3.a. Yeah, I dunno. Taking down the statues first is generally a better bet, so ... 3.b. I'm pretty sure you just got lucky with crits. It happens. 4. It may be that they have natural duration reduction for CC. There are a couple of items and spells that do such, so it's definitely in the game. 5. I think you're talking about Shining Beacon, which is a pretty sick spell in general. Will-based DoT Burn damage with a defense penalty in a Foe AoE? Yes please. 6. The statues are Vessels, yes.

You have internet access, and you really need more porn? Really? Keep it classy, Luz. The other day I was speaking with my significant other, and when she observed to me that there is a small but significant minority of gamers who seem to feel video games are incomplete without sexual titillation, Luzarius is who I thought of.

I was sure CoD already had one of those ... Considering that PoE is very explicitly meant to be in the tradition of games like BG2 and PS:T, which had romantic subplots, I feel like you might be misrepresenting the nature of this discussion just a little bit. My undeerstanding is Infinity Engine games are the inspiration for this game, and there are more games with that engine that do not have romances. BG1, IWD, and IWD2 each come to mind. Romance was not part of all IE games, and that just further makes my point. It's not somthing to have all the time. I didn't say it was. I said that discussing romance as an addition to PoE is by no means as unreasonable or far-fetched as a false equivalency to a mass-market FPS makes it seem.

They're really not.

"Funny" story about that. So, in my current playthrough, Azurro comes by and offers to sell me an ostensibly unique morning star. I figure, "what the hell, completionism," and buy it. Shortly afterward, he comes by and tries to sell me the same morning star. Naturally, I growl and ignore this. On his next visit, he once again drops by to sell me the same morning star. At this point, I'm kinda regretting my failure to spec the whole party with WF: Knight, so that I could have them all parade around with the same unique weapon. ... I'm just going to console in Hiro's Cloak on my next playthrough, since clearly Azurro is bs. is silly for developers to fail at removing the previous chosen unique item(s) from azurro's possible inventory. that being said, given that the item selection in question is random, one may exploit if you so desire. go to most recent save previous to azzurro and try again 'til you get whatever particular item you wish. HA! Good Fun! I dunno that he'd even turn up again, since he seems to be totally RNG-based, without even the reliability of a day-based loot table like major containers. Anyways, I'm long past that point, and I don't actually want any of his items for my current game - just thought I'd share. It's not as if it's an incomprehensible mistake, or something. Just another slightly depressing stronghold/random loot/opaque mechanics anecdote.

Naw, you just can't use them outside of combat mode.

I was sure CoD already had one of those ... Considering that PoE is very explicitly meant to be in the tradition of games like BG2 and PS:T, which had romantic subplots, I feel like you might be misrepresenting the nature of this discussion just a little bit.

PoE's encounter system does not lend itself to trivial filler fights, and I'm honestly glad to see that there aren't any. Those encounters weren't random. The only random encounters in BG occurred during resting and area transitions.

Why not 6 priests? Each one with a different god.

You don't get access to level 3 spells until character level 5, so that's where your problem is coming from. By the looks of it, you have normal spells/rest for a level 4 wizard.

It is indeed a start! Maybe while they're at it, they could make the special deity talents for a Priest less terrible (having the abilities be per-encounter instead of per-rest would help). It doesn't create hype so much as exhausting, all-consuming madness.

If it was too easy it would lose its exciting unknown appeal ....where you are not sure of the next Romantic dialogue option I also use to give the best equipment to my Romance ladies ...so Viconia and Isabella were always very well equipped. For me I do tend to spoil my girlfriends in RL so this just seems normal Actually, the gaming aspect of it may be what turns people off romances and makes people say they're poorly written. If you're choosing the dialogue options based on what you think will further the romance rather than what you think your character sincerely feels, you're breaking character to pursue a romance (unless you're playing a manipulative creep). I think a lot of people have a completionist approach to roleplaying games so they feel like they have to explore the romantic options, but if you have to twist your character in order to squeeze through the hoops, it's going to feel forced. Personally, I enjoy the romances but I only pursue them if they feel right. I remember my second BG2 character was a female paladin which meant (inevitably) that Anomen was all over her...whcih made sense for his character. But she found him obnoxious, so I spent the whole game avoiding the romance. On the other hand, in DA:O, my character was charmed by Alistair, and I never felt like I had to choose a line of dialogue that didn't fit the situation. In DA2, my character flirted a little with Isabella but the line to keep it going didn't work for my character, so it didn't go anywhere (and she ditched me at the end of Act 2). I also tried to flirt with Avelline and got shot down, but I felt the dialogue played out quite naturally. This is well put. Unfortunately, romances often feel like something that have to be completed - which can make them into something of a gamist chore, rather than a roleplaying opportunities. It's especially bad when games tie Achievements to them - that's really about as cynical as you can get. Avelline is an interesting case here, since that's the only possible outcome of her flirting track. Ultimately, she just isn't interested in Hawke, which is ... stunningly mature for a Bioware romance, to be honest. Kinda reminds me of Mira from KotOR 2 ("no offense but you're like super old kthxbye"). IN EORA, THERE ARE NO INNOCENTS, ONLY DEGREES OF GUILT RAAAAH

"Funny" story about that. So, in my current playthrough, Azurro comes by and offers to sell me an ostensibly unique morning star. I figure, "what the hell, completionism," and buy it. Shortly afterward, he comes by and tries to sell me the same morning star. Naturally, I growl and ignore this. On his next visit, he once again drops by to sell me the same morning star. At this point, I'm kinda regretting my failure to spec the whole party with WF: Knight, so that I could have them all parade around with the same unique weapon. ... I'm just going to console in Hiro's Cloak on my next playthrough, since clearly Azurro is bs.