To buy or not to buy PoE2

[Jackjonez]

Hi folks,

I just finished my second playthrough of PoE1 and I'm loving the game. I am particularly fond of the barbarian class, its carnage ability and the various weapon debuffs (eg. disorienting) and effects (eg. stun upon crit) that synergize with these. I am now debating whether to purchase PoE2 or not, because I read from a review that similar items no longer exist, which puts a dampener on my plans. The same review explained that effects from weapons such as stuns are now based on a certain percentage instead of a flat attack vs. defence check, for example 20% chance to stun upon crit, which sounds very infrequent tbh. Is it true that similar CC barbarian builds from PoE1 based on item powers (the Leech was one of my all time favourites) are no longer viable in PoE2? Is there an item database where you can browse items based on their abilities like there was for PoE1?

 

I know it sounds one dimensional to base your builds on certain items, but that's how I've always liked to play my characters. I have limited time to play games and I wouldn't want to make a purchase that I'd regret later on for not playing.

 

Any help is appreciated

[xzar_monty]

I've only reached level 6 and a half, but an awful lot has definitely changed. The ability system, the items, and so on. I'm confused as to why: the system in PoE1 was pretty good and didn't warrant such overhaul, in my view.

 

Now, whether you'd like Deadfire more or less is impossible to say. I enjoy the game, there are many fun and good things about it, but at this point I would say that character development, abilities and items were a lot better in PoE1.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Yeah, if you liked builds like that ( I almost call them Boeroer builds), then Deadfire has far fewer of them, and on top of that the combat system + classes, abilites, etc have undergone pretty dramatic changes. Things might be rearranged again, though, but I suspect that it will take a year or so, for some huge patch 4.0 or something.

Edited October 4, 2018 by IndiraLightfoot

[rheingold]

Depends, it really isn’t a sequel as such, mainly because they really changed the focus to more of an open world mmo. If you like open world with loads of combat and not much story then you should enjoy Deadfire.

[M4xw0lf]

Multiclassing gives you so many new synergies to explore.

[Gfted1]

I've only reached level 6 and a half, but an awful lot has definitely changed. The ability system, the items, and so on. I'm confused as to why:...

 

[IndiraLightfoot]

^{The same telemetrics that show most people don't multicass and most players never even finish one playthrough, not even by a longshot?}

[daven]

I actually prefer the game over PoE1, there are flaws yes but it had me hooked for a while. I am waiting a bit to go back to it when all the expansions are out however.

 

The look of it is much better, i like the animations, I prefer the combat as it doesn't feel as hectic and fast as the first game, i like most of the music... (the only part I have a real problem with is the level up music!!!!)

 

I don't play on POTD and don't learn the systems inside out, i like to sort of barge in and take it as it comes in these kinda games. So the whole difficulty issue is not a problem for me I struggle on some fights in veteran mode.

 

It's on sale on GoG now right isn't it? I'd say go for it.

[IndiraLightfoot]

@daven I agree 100%, but Jackjonez was very specific, so I tried to address that.

[daven]

Yeah completely, was just chucking out my thoughts.

 

I feel like a lot of us are a bit overly negative on here, but i'm sure it's out of a place of LOVE!

[Gfted1]

^{The same telemetrics that show most people don't multicass and most players never even finish one playthrough, not even by a longshot?}

 

Yep, one and the same. But not all "data point" have the same value?.

 

Quit making me squint.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Yeah completely, was just chucking out my thoughts.

 

I feel like a lot of us are a bit overly negative on here, but i'm sure it's out of a place of LOVE!

Yeah! I want moar! Deadfire is a fantastic game, but the replaying CRPG devil inside hasn't begun calling me yet, but some day… 

[TheisEjsing]

Hey Jackjonez. Buy it regardless of playing. Show some love and support a small developer who cares about making RPGs in 2018. ^_^ I can't recommend it yet, since I have had almost no time to play since may, because of a new job with alot of new responsibilities and other life stuff. But I'll take some vacation days and play it when all expansions are out and it's all patched up. If you have limited time, I'd suggest you wait for that aswell, and maybe not play games twice. ;D

Edited October 4, 2018 by TheisEjsing

[Verde]

If you liked PoE1 youd be insane not to buy PoE2. If PoE1 is your awkward, yet deep emo friend, then PoE2 is your fun loving uncle. It may not be as philosophical as PoE1 but it's a hell of a lot more fun to play imho.

Edited October 4, 2018 by Verde

[cokane]

I have some serious reservations about Deadfire but I'd highly recommend buy. I think if you liked the original that much, Deadfire is guaranteed to be entertaining for at least the first tens of hours. It may not be enough to hold your interest for a while playthrough, but I still think you'll get your money's worth.

 

Perhaps, worst case, I'd say buy once the third DLC is out and maybe there's some total package edition slightly discounted.

 

I also think it's important to support indy developers who are making games in the genres that are not the highest sellers. If you want to see more games like these.

[Abel]

I did not play the game, and may never play it. But i second people saying that supporting indies is important these days. It was my first reason to back the game by the way, even though i pretty much knew already that i would be disappointed by the design choices (neglecting roleplaying aspects even more). While reading you, you seem to be much into combat and character builds. If so, and according to all what i've read about the game here and there, you will probably enjoy Deadfire, since, as far as i'm concerned, it's pretty much what you would expect from a good a-rpg. Especially since multiclassing opens a whole new world, and combat seems not as clunky as in Pillars 1.

[Skie Nightfall]

Haven't finished the game yet, just level 20 doing some DLC content before the final quest now.

If you like the first game, then you should buy it.

No one forces you to do all the combat if you prefer more of the story.

The game does some stuff better and some stuff worse than the original. But it's very subjective.

 

So far, the tie ins between this and the original have been probably the best sequel tie ins I've ever seen. Subtle, just enough to tell you things happened in your past.

[Jackjonez]

Thanks for all the comments everyone! I'm certainly leaning towards buying the game after reading this, although I'm a bit bummed that the game appears to have evolved more into the direction that I don't like. I've been watching a lot of tutorials on different builds and it seems that PoE2 is tuned more towards dishing out as much damage as possible rather than controlling the battlefield. I don't know, maybe I'm watching the wrong tutorials  

[wanderon]

Buy it and try it - while some of the popular builds from the first game may not work in Deadfire the multi-class option opens who new worlds of build options AND they can be utilized (to a somewhat lesser extent) with companions (All companions have some multiclass choices but not the full range of choices the player gets).

 

I am currently playing an Aumaua Druid with Eder as a Swashbuckler (Fighter/rogue) and Aloth as a Battlemage (wizard/fighter)  - classes I would have loved to be able to use for them in PoE1 - I also currently have a couple new faces  that have been multiclassed as well - a Barbarian/cipher and a priest/monk - fun times!

 

In the end if you don't like it you will have supported an awesome company that still builds old school isometric RPGs and maybe you will like the next one better.

[Zaris]

Definitely buy. While I have my issues with Deadfire (Tyranny is much more my thing) it’s wastly superior to PoE 1, so any fan of the original is going to at least have a good time with the sequel. Objectively speaking, as a person who’s far from a fan, it’s the best isometric RPG that you can play right now (however subjectively speaking Tyranny is the best : D ).

Also, developers like Obsidian and CDProjectRed are worthy of supporting, so as long as you can afford it, you should buy everything they make, as an investment in the future of gaming as a medium.

[xzar_monty]

Definitely buy. While I have my issues with Deadfire (Tyranny is much more my thing) it’s wastly superior to PoE 1, so any fan of the original is going to at least have a good time with the sequel. Objectively speaking, as a person who’s far from a fan, it’s the best isometric RPG that you can play right now (however subjectively speaking Tyranny is the best : D ).

Also, developers like Obsidian and CDProjectRed are worthy of supporting, so as long as you can afford it, you should buy everything they make, as an investment in the future of gaming as a medium.

 

It's opinions again: I don't think it's vastly superior to PoE1, or in fact superior at all. I would argue it's about as good as PoE1 was. Plenty of good things have disappeared, which is a crying shame, but plenty of other things have appeared, which is great.

 

Also, you're not speaking objectively when you say it's the best isometric RPG you can play right now. I don't think that can be judged objectively. I for one find Pathfinder: Kingmaker more promising, but it does need quite a bit of patching before I start playing it properly. (And if you don't like P:K, that's fine, but it's still subjective.)

[Zaris]

Well, not exactly xzar_monty. It is objective when you put aside your personal opinion (which is not very favorable in my case) and look at simple facts. There is simply much more enjoyment in Deadfire than original; original which forced you on each playtrough to go through generic camp, generic ambush by generic barbarians, generic dungeon and into a generic village. And even then you don’t really have much choice but to drag yourself futher to a single city in the game and only then start to have some fun. It’s even worse than Skyrim’s scipted openning and basically turns away everybody who’s not a massive fan of generic fantasy. In Deadfire you get much more choices at the beginning and much more agency. The companions are more varied and less boring little sh*ts, etc. Things like „time from new game start to actual meaningful choice”, „number of builds possible” or „variety of companions” are all measureable and possible to compare; and this comparison does look good for Deadfire. Other way is to ask somebody who doesn’t play RPGs to rate them: and it’s obvious that majority will say that PoE is torture while Deadfire is quite alright.

As for Pathfinder: please, another game with sexy elves in tit-armor? Fine for 12 year olds I guess but I think I’ll pass, no matter the pretense of maturity. Chris is great but one writer will not save the game. As seen by PoE 1 by the way.

Subjective opinion would be that Tyranny is the best, since in my view that’s the king of isometric RPG, one that finally delivers an interesting setting, original starting point and unique plot. And is the only one that actually lives up to the unspoken promise of the very name „fantasy” as something that allows for imagination to run wild rather than dumping you with elves and dwarves for a thousandth time. THAT is a subjective opinion. Althought it’s right and you know it.

[xzar_monty]

I'm sorry but you just don't know what you're talking about. Enjoyment is a matter of taste, which is always subjective. It is impossible to talk of enjoyment in objective terms. (Except like this: "Three out of ten people reported that they had enjoyed this." That's objective, it's a fact, provided that no one's lying.)

Edited October 5, 2018 by xzar_monty

[rheingold]

The first Pillars had a much tighter story/ narrative, Deadfire is open world with all the inherent compromises it comes with.

The writing is pretty poor overall, BOW which is simply stunning in parts just accentuates how bad the writing in the main game is overall.

Bad game or not depends on what you want from a game, some people like open world mindless meandering with no consequences and loads of combat. I don’t mind it, just not coming from Obs. They are the one decent developer who, when they put their mind to it can produce real quality as in parts of POE, white March and BOW. So I suspect the people who prefer Deadfire are the ones who aren’t that concerned about story. That’s absolutely fine, but don’t tell me the game is better than the first. It depends on your priorities.

Edited October 5, 2018 by rheingold

[Haplok]

Hi folks,

I just finished my second playthrough of PoE1 and I'm loving the game. I am particularly fond of the barbarian class, its carnage ability and the various weapon debuffs (eg. disorienting) and effects (eg. stun upon crit) that synergize with these. I am now debating whether to purchase PoE2 or not, because I read from a review that similar items no longer exist, which puts a dampener on my plans. The same review explained that effects from weapons such as stuns are now based on a certain percentage instead of a flat attack vs. defence check, for example 20% chance to stun upon crit, which sounds very infrequent tbh. Is it true that similar CC barbarian builds from PoE1 based on item powers (the Leech was one of my all time favourites) are no longer viable in PoE2? Is there an item database where you can browse items based on their abilities like there was for PoE1?

 

I know it sounds one dimensional to base your builds on certain items, but that's how I've always liked to play my characters. I have limited time to play games and I wouldn't want to make a purchase that I'd regret later on for not playing.

 

Any help is appreciated

 

Aoe hard CC Barbarian is dead. Though Barb, particularly pure, does get some soft aoe options: Shout, eventually Frightening Spirit Tornado.

 

There are items with solid trigger chances. Ball and Chain can be enchanted to trigger Prone on crit, I think. Rust's Poignard has 30% but for a long-lasting Prone, with additional damage effects built in against downed enemies. The itemization is great in general.

Trouble is, those are single target. Carnage has been nerfed badly and no longer transports weapon effects (except Lord Darryn's Voulge Static Thunder, which in Barbarian's hand causes aoe Disorient on crit and explodes accumulated Static Thunder stacks).

 

But there are new options. Best of them are ranged, I'm afraid.

Blunderbuss mortar weapons, which target Reflex, deal slash/pierce damage in aoe... and deliver special attacks in aoe, such as Monk Stunning Blow, but also Rogue Blinding/Confounding/Gouging Strike, Crippling/Arterial Strike, Toxic Strike DoTs and such. Even better that you can dual wield them (so 2x affliction chance, 2x crit chance, 2x resource refund chance in case of Stunning Surge)!

Rod Blast modal does this as well (but is slow).

Plus the summoned weapons that were already present in PoE1: wizard Blights, Citzal's Spirit Lance, probably also Rotskulls, but I'm not sure. With multiclassing you can combine the ability to summon such weapons with CC abilities from another class.

There are also some melee aoe weapons: Whispers of the Endless Paths GS (attacks in a cone), Wahai Poraga pollaxe (attacks up to 4 targets around, friend or foe).

 

And for what its worth, I think the gameplay, pacing, exploration, itemization, combat is much better in PoE2. Character building is much more involved (although classes have lost a bit of their uniqueness). Also the main town hub is incomparably better.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Haplok