Items: interesting change between PoE1 and Deadfire

[xzar_monty]

I am now knocking on level 8 in Deadfire. I just realized what a change there has been since PoE1: nearly everything I've done so far has consisted of walking around and talking to people. There has been some occasional sailing and very occasional fighting. There have been no important-feeling fights. As such, there's obviously nothing wrong with that. I am enjoying this.

 

But from a "classical" RPG perspective, I find it really interesting that I haven't essentially looted or otherwise gained any magic items yet. And I'm almost at level 8. Apart from my main character, everybody's still using the equipment they had at the start of the game. It works perfectly, too: apart from one encounter in the Old City below Neketaka, everything has been dead easy.

 

At this point, I don't even know whether Soulbound items exist in the game (my guess: yes). Uniques seem to be very, very rare. Some shopkeeper have had a few, but I haven't bought them, because (and this has not changed from PoE1) you don't need items to get ahead, and almost none of them have substantial powers.

 

I am enjoying the game. I am, however, beginning to wonder whether these changes hit the RPG genre to the core in the sense that something essential has been lost. I am not sure yet, but I may have different thoughts at level 15.

 

PS. Sometimes I also wonder whether the game is designed to be too easy. Like so easy that you cannot fail. An example: on an island, there is a cave. In a cave, there is a symbol of sorts that hurts you when you go near it. However, in that very same cave, before reaching that symbol, you can also pick a wardstone that keeps you safe from the effects of that same symbol. Now isn't that nice? They just left it lying around for you.

Edited October 12, 2018 by xzar_monty

[-dib-]

Uniques in general are not really rare, I usually end up with boat loads of them that I never use. Some categories are however. Like wands for example. While other categories, like great swords and sabres, have tons of uniques to choose from.

 

I guess the only really important enchantment is additional penetration on weapons.

Edited October 12, 2018 by -dib-

[xzar_monty]

Uniques in general are not really rare, I usually end up with boat loads of them that I never use. Some categories are however. Like wands for example. While other categories, like great swords and sabres, have tons of uniques to choose from.

 

I guess the only really important enchantment is additional penetration on weapons.

 

Ok, thanks for that. It'll be interesting to see where and when I start finding them.

 

As for enchantments: classically, in RPGs, there's a certain delight to be had when gaining your first magic items, and there are also certain monsters that can only be hit with magic or otherwise special items. Here, none of that exists, as you can hit pretty much anything with pretty much anything (Item-wise, not spellwise). That works, but I have a nagging feeling that something has been lost.

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

Ties with the poor pacing which comes with the semi-open world the game pursues. 

 

If you want to pace the game in a different way, you have to have previous knowledge and skip most of Neketaka at first. 

 

Other than that, there's lots of fighting in there, as well. 

[asnjas]

Keys like the stone are pretty common. Finding that stone is the equivolent to having a rogue disarm trap or mage use a spell to bypass. My only problem is maybe a slight lack of creativity but not in an item bypassing a trap.

 

Assuming you mean magical items as in the blue items from poe1? So in poe1 you have white items, blue items and gold uniques?

 

If i understand you right then i see no problem with a lack of blue magic items. Plain magic items are the same as white comnon items: their purpose is the same to act as filler for uniques. I see no problem cutting out additional filler item qualities down to one and focusing more on the uniquness of uniques and item diversity.

[Wormerine]

I generally follow the way game Shepard’s me, so I found it to have a healthy mix of combat/exploration/conversation. However, as the experience is pretty freeform it is possible to go for a long time without combat, especially if you try to take on Nakataka in one go.

 

I like how Deadfire handled items. I switch those often, but because I like the effects, not because the new sword does simply +1 damage more. The way I see it Deadfire is full of unique, “magical” items. There are few souldbound weapons, but they are rare. While they added a lot to boring weapon design of PoE1, I don’t really like or use them that much in Deadfire.

[bringingyouthefuture]

Yeah I found if you play Deadfire like a traditional RPG where you go do everything right away to figure out what to do next, you end up running around as a messenger for the first half the game - it is a game that definitely plays better following the loose narrative and picking up side quests along the way from one place to the next.