What would you like for an hypotetical PoE3?

[Nssheepster]

Your comment about subclasses raises a good idea... What if our CURRENT Wizard subclasses were either rebalanced or modded to, instead of LOCKING schools, simply made the spells perform at a lower power level? That way it indicates you've focused on X school, but you aren't somehow incompetent at everything else. If the Wizard subclasses were all JUST + X Power Level to Y School, - Z Power Level(s) to everything else, that'd be great TBH, totally usable.

 

 

Endless Paths was definitely a huge boon to POE 1, really awesome to have that constant challenge to go back to, to slowly chip away at, or to wait and then bum rush through in one massive burst.

 

POE 1 did do well with that, with going from 'You've awakened, oh crap', to 'Leaden Key', to 'Hollowborn, not good', to 'Woedica's Favored is the issue'.  POE 2, the side content feels like the story. You don't need any allies or to do any faction missions to complete the critical path, so.... It just doesn't really mesh too well.

 

I do feel like a plot ot overthrow wouldn't work in Eora as it stands, just because there really isn't any place it will work and not contradict some of the things you do or may do in POE 2. It needs to be an issue that crosses borders to even attract the Watcher's attention and make them give a dang, so... Not sure what exactly you could go with that isn't God-related. Maybe instead of related to the EXISTING Gods... Maybe the current Gods are the final product, but the Engwithans made a 'Test God', to see if they could? And they thought it was destroyed, but it wasn't, it was raising a cult in Rekke's homeland and now it's coming back to destroy the legacy of the Engwithans or the current Gods or some such.

[Triple - A Foxy Lad]

1. Story wise, I'd stick with the Watcher main character. But here's what I'd do for the story. Remember that sidekick, Rekke, who you find floating in the ocean and doesn't speak any known language? I'd assume that he comes from previously unknown continent on Eora. And that the Watcher wants to return Rekke home and go exploring! Beyond that, I'd really like it if the writers could avoid a story where the central plot point was on the gods of Eora. Have it be something else.

More ammo for my cause. I really do think Rekke and Rekke land is the way forward.

 

Nice big plot hooks. Rekke seems quite popular from what ive seen. New part of the world gives new narrative blood space to stretch their legs.

 

New religion is interesting both for folk who are into the lore and folk who are sick of the current gods. (Tho im usually up for more rymrgand. Hes funny)

 

Also this provides other great opportunity.

 

Shipping watcher off to rekke land and ascending/stranding/killing them there minimises the shadow that the watcher casts upon the rest of the ip.

 

This is other reason id like continuation of watcher tale. Watcher now impactful enough to distort ip around them. One way or another, watcher needs to be something that is resolved for good imo, so future writers arent frantically retconning everyones beloved creation.

 

a. I'd love to see the plain "no subclass" option removed … sort of. In its place, what I'd like to see is a subclass that was a generic version of the class, but had more flavor than just thinking of it as "no subclass".

This idea might have legs, provided implementation doesnt go overboard. Coming up with a fancy name for each class that basically means 'all-rounder', without tying it too much to lore might be fun. 'Gestalt Mage'? lol.

 

As an aside, regarding mage subclasses, this has traditionally been hard as key maxim of mages be 'versatility uber alles'. Most mage subclasses have just been added power at expense of this versatility.

 

Dragon age got around this by making mages *only* spellcasters in lore. Ergo they could 'subclass' as what are essentially clerics, druids, necromancers etc.

 

Maybe is failure of imagination on my part, but feel will be very hard to create meaningful mage subclasses without seriously narrowing broad spectrum of base class. Im kinda resigned to notion that mage subclasses will always be slightly rubbish in game that doesnt revolve around mages.

 

EDIT: cant type. As if i even have to say this anymore

Edited January 9, 2019 by Triple - A Foxy Lad

[Crucis]

Your comment about subclasses raises a good idea... What if our CURRENT Wizard subclasses were either rebalanced or modded to, instead of LOCKING schools, simply made the spells perform at a lower power level? That way it indicates you've focused on X school, but you aren't somehow incompetent at everything else. If the Wizard subclasses were all JUST + X Power Level to Y School, - Z Power Level(s) to everything else, that'd be great TBH, totally usable.

 

 

Endless Paths was definitely a huge boon to POE 1, really awesome to have that constant challenge to go back to, to slowly chip away at, or to wait and then bum rush through in one massive burst.

 

POE 1 did do well with that, with going from 'You've awakened, oh crap', to 'Leaden Key', to 'Hollowborn, not good', to 'Woedica's Favored is the issue'.  POE 2, the side content feels like the story. You don't need any allies or to do any faction missions to complete the critical path, so.... It just doesn't really mesh too well.

 

I do feel like a plot ot overthrow wouldn't work in Eora as it stands, just because there really isn't any place it will work and not contradict some of the things you do or may do in POE 2. It needs to be an issue that crosses borders to even attract the Watcher's attention and make them give a dang, so... Not sure what exactly you could go with that isn't God-related. Maybe instead of related to the EXISTING Gods... Maybe the current Gods are the final product, but the Engwithans made a 'Test God', to see if they could? And they thought it was destroyed, but it wasn't, it was raising a cult in Rekke's homeland and now it's coming back to destroy the legacy of the Engwithans or the current Gods or some such.

 

An additional thought on "removing the no-subclass".  Look at Druids.  They don't have a generic "no subclass" option.  The generic druid is the Animist.  That's what I'd like to see for all classes.  A subclass that is the generic version of the base class.

 

Nssheepster, top be honest, I really would prefer to see the existing "school" based wizard subclasses removed.  They're too damned boring because the entire concept has been around seemingly forever in fantasy games.  I like my idea of a generic wizard subclass, the Mage, and some specialist subclasses like Spell Blade, Elementalist, and Necromancer (or perhaps use the Blood Mage term).  And remove the damned book, er, I mean, the grimoire.

 

 

Yes, POE1 didn't dump the entire story on you at once.  However, it did smack you in the face, figuratively speaking, by clearly putting you on the main story line path right at the very start, rather than creating a mystery.  Heck, POE1's main story would have been perfect for a mystery, since the first clue that something was wrong in the Dyrwood would have been the Hollowborn crisis.  You could have had to investigate that crisis and in the process discovered the clues that peeled back the layers of the main story's "onion", so to speak.

 

 

 

As for the idea of a plot to overthrow a leader, it was just an idea.  Consider though that my primary story line thought was to set the story in a mysterious new land, the land where Rekke is from, presumably far to the east of the Deadfire.    

 

After writing that post, I did have the idea that perhaps there was some sort of new god in the making, or some extremely powerful villain wanted to ascend to godhood.    Heck, maybe the existing Gods urge you to travel east to this undiscovered land because they're sensing something malevolent, maybe something that seeks to overthrow the existing gods and replace them with a new God (or gods?).

 

Hey, after reading the last couple of sentences in the final paragraph, I think that we're coming around to about the same idea.  Of course, the problem I have with what I said in the previous paragraph, is that I'd prefer for the story to be more mysterious.  And having the existing gods tell you to head east to search for something malevolent isn't exactly what I had in mind.  It's not all that different from Berath telling you to follow Eothas to find out what he's up to.  I guess that I'd rather that the storyline required you to do some exploring and investigating to figure out what's wrong rather than just have the Gods tell you something's wrong right up front.

[Nssheepster]

Assuming we stick to the aforementioned Rekke angle, the story could start by just aiding his return home, then noticing that his religion seems cult-like, investigate, and then discover this new/old god or whatever.

 

It's worth noting there can only be so much mystery. If there's TOO much mystery, players are left going 'WTF am I supposed to do?' and that's not a feeling anyone enjoys, especially not in a game. You do need to make the path to follow decently clear... But you CAN obscure what the path is actually for, or what it leads to, as long as you still make it clear that it IS the path.

 

Necromancer/Summoner is definitely a class I love to play in most games, so I can't say as I'd mind that. I like the schools simply because it makes sense to me. It's only natural to specialize in a field, especially a field that seems as wide ranging as wizardry, so... It made it feel more like a career choice to me. I mean, 'Hero' or 'Herald of a God' isn't really something you chooce to work towards, nor does it usually pay well. The schools make things feel more realistic, IMO.

[Triple - A Foxy Lad]

Yes lads, everyone on board the rekke train. Choo choo. Someone tell sam riegel to clear his schedule.

[Crucis]

 

1. Story wise, I'd stick with the Watcher main character. But here's what I'd do for the story. Remember that sidekick, Rekke, who you find floating in the ocean and doesn't speak any known language? I'd assume that he comes from previously unknown continent on Eora. And that the Watcher wants to return Rekke home and go exploring! Beyond that, I'd really like it if the writers could avoid a story where the central plot point was on the gods of Eora. Have it be something else.

More ammo for my cause. I really do think Rekke and Rekke land is the way forward.

 

Nice big plot hooks. Rekke seems quite popular from what ive seen. New part of the world gives new narrative blood space to stretch their legs.

 

New religion is interesting both for folk who are into the lore and folk who are sick of the current gods. (Tho im usually up for more rymrgand. Hes funny)

 

Also this provides other great opportunity.

 

Shipping watcher off to rekke land and ascending/stranding/killing them there minimises the shadow that the watcher casts upon the rest of the ip.

 

This is other reason id like continuation of watcher tale. Watcher now impactful enough to distort ip around them. One way or another, watcher needs to be something that is resolved for good imo, so future writers arent frantically retconning everyones beloved creation.

 

a. I'd love to see the plain "no subclass" option removed … sort of. In its place, what I'd like to see is a subclass that was a generic version of the class, but had more flavor than just thinking of it as "no subclass".

This idea might have legs, provided implementation doesnt go overboard. Coming up with a fancy name for each class that basically means 'all-rounder', without tying it too much to lore might be fun. 'Gestalt Mage'? lol.

 

As an aside, regarding mage subclasses, this has traditionally been hard as key maxim of mages be 'versatility uber alles'. Most mage subclasses have just been added power at expense of this versatility.

 

Dragon age got around this by making mages *only* spellcasters in lore. Ergo they could 'subclass' as what are essentially clerics, druids, necromancers etc.

 

Maybe is failure of imagination on my part, but feel will be very hard to create meaningful mage subclasses without seriously narrowing broad spectrum of base class. Im kinda resigned to notion that mage subclasses will always be slightly rubbish in game that doesnt revolve around mages.

 

EDIT: cant type. As if i even have to say this anymore

 

 

 

 

Part 1:  "Rekke Land"  I love it!  It's a nice turn of a phrase.  And in lieu of an actual name, it's as good as any and does convey that it's where Rekke's from.  As for liking Rekke, he wasn't particularly memorable for me as a party member.  But he absolutely reeks (pardon the pun) of being a hook for PoE3.

 

 

Part 2: As I just pointed out, druids already do this, i.e. not having the option of a "no subclass", because their generic druid is basically the Animist.  This is what I'd like for all classes.

 

As for wizards and a generic wizard subclass, I think that just calling them "Mages" gets the job some elegantly enough.

 

Come to think of it, another Wizard subclass could be the Sorcerer.  The Sorc might be sort of a generic wizard, but a little more powerful, but with some sort of offsetting downside.  One thing should be losing the general +2 bonus to Arcana that wizards usually get.  Sorcs should be more about the POWER of their arcane energies rather than being learned practitioners of the craft.  Maybe the real downside would be a +1 or +2 PL bonus to offensive spells and a -1 PL to all other spells.

 

I generally agree with your observation about generic wizards usually being all about versatility while their subclasses being about power in one area at the expense of versatility.  I have no problem with that concept.  My problem is that the old wizard schools concept is boring as all hell.  I'd like to see the wizard subclasses show more originality.

 

 

As for coming up with some fancy name for a generic subclass, I don't think that that would be all that hard.  For one thing, there are some classes that don't even need it.  Druids already have Animist as their "all arounder".  Paladins and Priests have their orders and their deities.   Wizard, as I suggest above is super easy; just use the term "Mage".

 

That leaves 7 classes, IIRC.  

 

Fighter:  Armsman?  Guardsman?  Guardian?

Barbarian: Warrior?

Monk: Just create another Order name.  Not that difficult, I'd think.  Silent Fury? 

Rogue:  Cutpurse?

Ranger:  Woodsman?

Cipher:   Mentalist?

Chanter:  Here's a simple one.  Call him a "Bard".  

[Nssheepster]

Fighter: Bodyguard

Barbarian: Make Berserker the Default, and then the other classes have an upside and downside in one by not getting the 'better' Frenzy that Berserkers get.

 

Rogue: Bandit/Thief?

 

As for the 'school' issue...Yeah, they do lack a bit in originality, but that's not always a downside. My major issue with them is they don't seem to... fit, with what spells are in what school. Evoke should cover any kind of summoning. Conjure, however, should ALSO be the same thing. Transmute, thanks to POE lore... Should cover ANY kind of spell, because ALL spells are causing an effect by Transmuting essence. It would make more sense to have schools focused on, say, evoking Weapons, call them the Arcane Armsman or some such. A school for the Elements, perhaps with sub foci in specific elements? And then a school for afflicting and buffing. That way you cover all our existing spells, leave clear space for new ones, and actually make sense instead of naming the subclasses so generically that you could easily swap the names around and people wouldn't really know you did it.

[Crucis]

Assuming we stick to the aforementioned Rekke angle, the story could start by just aiding his return home, then noticing that his religion seems cult-like, investigate, and then discover this new/old god or whatever.

 

It's worth noting there can only be so much mystery. If there's TOO much mystery, players are left going 'WTF am I supposed to do?' and that's not a feeling anyone enjoys, especially not in a game. You do need to make the path to follow decently clear... But you CAN obscure what the path is actually for, or what it leads to, as long as you still make it clear that it IS the path.

 

Necromancer/Summoner is definitely a class I love to play in most games, so I can't say as I'd mind that. I like the schools simply because it makes sense to me. It's only natural to specialize in a field, especially a field that seems as wide ranging as wizardry, so... It made it feel more like a career choice to me. I mean, 'Hero' or 'Herald of a God' isn't really something you chooce to work towards, nor does it usually pay well. The schools make things feel more realistic, IMO.

 

 

The way to deal with the "what am I supposed to do" problem is to have NPCs that help you.  Remember the old woman that headed Defiance Bay's CIA?  Something like her, but not always as demanding or controlling.

 

The first such NPC might be Rekke's father.  Say that Rekke's father is the head of a fishing fleet.  He'd be a fairly well to do person.  And maybe you'd want to run an errand or 2 for him, to get some early money and see the sights.  You might learn of some troubling things happening in the land and report them to Rekke's dad.  He might not know what do to about them, but perhaps he suggests you go off to some city to see the local governor who might be able to help out.  And so on and so on.  Each of these nodal information NPCs might give you some quests, not all of which are main story quests.  Indeed, you wouldn't even know which ones weren't and which ones were.  You'd have to work the quests to see what information you might dig up, and report it back to the nodal information NPC, who might be able to make some sense of the new information, or send you off to see a new N.I. NPC when the trail of information seems to be pointing to another city or town.  And so on and so on.  Eventually, you'd probably come to a point where you've gotten your "teeth" firmly into the problem and perhaps know who the bad guy is, and can go down the rest of the story line on your own.  Or maybe not.  Depends on how it's written.

 

 

 

Fighter: Bodyguard

Barbarian: Make Berserker the Default, and then the other classes have an upside and downside in one by not getting the 'better' Frenzy that Berserkers get.

 

Rogue: Bandit/Thief?

 

As for the 'school' issue...Yeah, they do lack a bit in originality, but that's not always a downside. My major issue with them is they don't seem to... fit, with what spells are in what school. Evoke should cover any kind of summoning. Conjure, however, should ALSO be the same thing. Transmute, thanks to POE lore... Should cover ANY kind of spell, because ALL spells are causing an effect by Transmuting essence. It would make more sense to have schools focused on, say, evoking Weapons, call them the Arcane Armsman or some such. A school for the Elements, perhaps with sub foci in specific elements? And then a school for afflicting and buffing. That way you cover all our existing spells, leave clear space for new ones, and actually make sense instead of naming the subclasses so generically that you could easily swap the names around and people wouldn't really know you did it.

 

 

I agree with you on Berzerker.  And also bandit or thief would be a perfectly good generic subclass for Rogues.

 

Bodyguard for Fighter is rather meh.

 

As for schools, I honestly hate them with a passion because they're so damned old and boring.

[Nssheepster]

Eh... The idea of mixing side and main quests like that isn't one I personally would want. I want to know what I can or cannot skip. As it stands, when I replay Deadfire there are a lot of quests I skip because I don't enjoy them, and thanks to the wide number of side quests and what people keep calling 'the XP problem', I can DO that and enjoy the game regardless.

 

As for old and boring.... Okay, but what do you REPLACE them with that actually makes sense? Replace them with different schools, it works out. Replace them with... what else, really? What else would you want to replace them with that isn't a school/specialization/focus of study?

[IndiraLightfoot]

 

 

I don't know if it's even possible to do properly, but I'd love to see a story where it wasn't so obvious what the main story even was for a good long time.    In PoE1, you don't even get out of the initial chapter (or the preface, I suppose) of the game without getting clearly put on the trail of the main storyline.  In PoE2, you already know the main story line before you create your character, for crying out loud.   How about a story where the main storyline DOESN'T pretty much kick you in the face right at the start?  Maybe you have to do some exploring and digging before you can even get a clue as to what's going on?  Maybe you have to do a number of what seem like side quests, but end up being something like "fact finding" quests on the path to discovering "what's really going on".

 

The story doesn't have to have some major moral message to it.  It could be a story about a secret invasion, or a secret plot to stage a coup to overthrow a government/king/queen, etc.    I'm sure that there are all kinds of possibilities.

 

 

I really like this suggestion about the story. I love the idea of a campaign that start off small and open in most ways, where you slowly gather your party and rummage around and discover things, tidbits here and there, almost by chance and by your own nosiness, only to see the campaign take shape later on, when you put together a few of the pieces and realize that something connects it all - there can be several plot threads - and then you pursue them the way you prefer.

Edited January 9, 2019 by IndiraLightfoot

[Verde]

I'm not sure basing the end of a trilogy on a easily-miserable sidekick is a good idea

[Boeroer]

I can definitely agree on the Grimoires. They were okay in POE 1, they were your source of spells, they made sense and felt valuable. In POE 2... They feel almost useless.

After "Rogues are the best class" and "Wizards are useless" in PoE forums this is the crassest misjudgement I read so far (at least from a mechanical point of view).

 

Grimoires allow Wizards to skip all spells at lvl-up (and only take passives - or in case of multiclass: take only actives from the second class) and still be able to cast spells as if he had learned them. How on Earth and Eora is that almost useless?

 

It's THE biggest complaint of players when they compare Priests and Druids with Wizards: that the Wizard has those omnipotent Grimoires.

 

This is so outrageous that I'm about to summon Gromnir!

[uuuhhii]

 

I can definitely agree on the Grimoires. They were okay in POE 1, they were your source of spells, they made sense and felt valuable. In POE 2... They feel almost useless.

After "Rogues are the best class" and "Wizards are useless" in PoE forums this is the crassest misjudgement I read so far (at least from a mechanical point of view).

 

Grimoires allow Wizards to skip all spells at lvl-up (and only take passives - or in case of multiclass: take only actives from the second class) and still be able to cast spells as if he had learned them. How on Earth and Eora is that almost useless?

 

It's THE biggest complaint of players when they compare Priests and Druids with Wizards: that the Wizard has those omnipotent Grimoires.

 

This is so outrageous that I'm about to summon Gromnir!

 

wizard have too many unique spell in special grimoire but very few in subclass like druid and priest

some grimoire even have special ability like 1 more use of every level spells

[InsaneCommander]

Allow us to edit grimoires. It could be something difficult or rare, for example: requiring something like the mythical adra stone or the help from a busy archmage, that wouldn't do it often.

 

No urgency for the main plot. In fact, make it so that you can't find the last area until you do multiple quests. That would justify doing the DLCs and exploring random places.

 

Have the Watcher settle down and have a child; you create stats for the latter based on the Watchers race and appearance. Something happens to tear them apart, then you continue their stories along separate tracks.

 

Include Vela in that. She could be a companion, antagonist or the mentor of a reincarnated Watcher. The child might become a villain too.

[DozingDragon]

Empowering abilities should be tweaked, as I find that I either forget to use my empower points or I only use them during difficult battles to regain resources.  I think granting each character fewer empower points and making empower points harder to regain (e.g., only certain types of food or resting bonuses replenish empower points) could offset an increase in the potency of empowered abilities.  

The naming convention for the Inspiration and Affliction system could use some clarity to better convey the stat each affliction or inspiration affects, and the relative magnitude of that effect.  Right now, a new player has to learn the names of 36 different effects which are sometimes only vaguely indicative of their impact, such as Weakened which affects Constitution even though the word "Weakened" could reasonably be inferred to affect Might.  As far as clarifying the magnitude of each effect, I think sacrificing a little bit of elegance in the naming scheme could go a long way in clearing things up.  Which of these are clearer: Smart-Acute-Brilliant or Smart-Smarter-Smartest, and Strong-Tenacious-Energized or Strong-Stronger-Strongest.  I know my examples sound a bit elementary, but they do clearly convey which of the three inspirations have the largest magnitude at a glance. 

Trinkets need to be reworked, although I believe they were implemented as generic per rest ability items in the DLC because per rest abilities were easier to balance given the limited amount of development time and scope for each DLC.  Regardless, each class should have a specific type of trinket that directly impacts their class abilities in some way.  Rangers could have collars that affect their animal companion's stats, priests could have holy symbols that could alter their Holy Radiance ability, etc.  These effects could range from restoring abilities like Aggrandizing Radiance for PoE, quality of life enhancements for certain playstyles (a collar that miniaturizes your animal companion and places it in a quick slot in exchange for a flat bonus for players that do not want to manage an animal companion but for some reason dislike the Ghost Heart subclass, plus nostalgia and all that), to the bizarre (a Sutra for monks that make them literally "Blood Drunk," i.e., they become intoxicated from a random alcohol after receiving a certain number of wounds). 

As far as story beats, I really doubt much we say here will influence the specifics of the plot of a potential sequel.  Instead, I think trying to make sure the "main quest" areas are a little more involved and built out than Hasongo, Ashen Maw, and Ukaizo would go a long way.  Making those areas more like Beast of Winter or the Forgotten Sanctum would have made for a much more interesting main quest, or at least as close as possible given budgetary limitations.  

[Starwars]

Personally I would love for PoE3 to go back to the PoE1 style of gameplay and push it even further into the per-rest realm than that game was but yeah, that's never gonna happen. 

 

Anyways, I'm not normally a huge fan of sequels continuing the story of a character. But I do think it'd be nice to get a final chapter in the Watcher's story, and see what happens after the events of Deadfire. I think there are a lot of cool things that could happen and it'd be awesome to explore the repercussion of the events of Deadfire among both kith and gods.

Maybe have the tables changed on the gods somehow so that they are now put more into a place of submission rather than ordering people around like in PoE1 and 2, and you'd have to decide if you want to help them or not. I dunno, it could go to a lot of cool places.

 

I would definitely welcome other stories in the Pillars universe as well, but yeah... I think it'd be great to have a good conclusion to the Watcher's story, as well as what will happen to Eora after Deadfire.

[Nssheepster]

 

I can definitely agree on the Grimoires. They were okay in POE 1, they were your source of spells, they made sense and felt valuable. In POE 2... They feel almost useless.

After "Rogues are the best class" and "Wizards are useless" in PoE forums this is the crassest misjudgement I read so far (at least from a mechanical point of view).

 

Grimoires allow Wizards to skip all spells at lvl-up (and only take passives - or in case of multiclass: take only actives from the second class) and still be able to cast spells as if he had learned them. How on Earth and Eora is that almost useless?

 

It's THE biggest complaint of players when they compare Priests and Druids with Wizards: that the Wizard has those omnipotent Grimoires.

 

This is so outrageous that I'm about to summon Gromnir!

 

This is true... But you could ALSO just focus on ONE spell per level, and NEVER need a Grimoire. Granted, because Trinkets are so late game, there's not really a big reason NOT to take them... But compared to POE 1? POE 1 where the lore and game FORCED you to carry a Grimoire or you can cast basically NOTHING? Of course, POE 1 told you that Grimories were why you COULD cast spells, and POE 2 promptly ignored that entirely, which hasn't helped.

 

Really the only reason to NEED a Grimoire in Deadfire is for a Grimoire only spell, of which there are very few, and for the Grimoire of Vaporous Wizardry. Other than that? Pick one spell per level, and as long as you either have a party or are running Blood Mage, you really won't even feel the lack of a Grimoire.

 

Unlike POE 1, which is what my comment specifically referenced, the disparity in Grimoire value between 1 and 2.

 

As for the Priest/Druid comparison? Wizards don't get a free spell every time they level up. If you choose to, you CAN play a Priest/Druid with ONLY those free spells and still do pretty well, so if anything, Priests and Druids have just as potent an advantage.

[Nssheepster]

Empowering abilities should be tweaked, as I find that I either forget to use my empower points or I only use them during difficult battles to regain resources.  I think granting each character fewer empower points and making empower points harder to regain (e.g., only certain types of food or resting bonuses replenish empower points) could offset an increase in the potency of empowered abilities. 

 

To go with this, we really should have something on the tooltips that tell us what power levels DO. Some of the things, if you specifically hover over the right thing, will tell you what your current power levels are doing, but not what more will do.

 

But then, Clarity really isn't a big thing from Obsidian on tooltips.

[Verde]

 

I can definitely agree on the Grimoires. They were okay in POE 1, they were your source of spells, they made sense and felt valuable. In POE 2... They feel almost useless.

After "Rogues are the best class" and "Wizards are useless" in PoE forums this is the crassest misjudgement I read so far (at least from a mechanical point of view).

 

Grimoires allow Wizards to skip all spells at lvl-up (and only take passives - or in case of multiclass: take only actives from the second class) and still be able to cast spells as if he had learned them. How on Earth and Eora is that almost useless?

 

It's THE biggest complaint of players when they compare Priests and Druids with Wizards: that the Wizard has those omnipotent Grimoires.

 

This is so outrageous that I'm about to summon Gromnir!

Rogues ARE the best class well prob not, but top 3.

[bringingyouthefuture]

I want a last game where you die saving the world ...

[Nssheepster]

I would argue that Fighters are the best, simply because if your build doesn't require those last two power levels, you can multiclass with Fighter and your build becomes strictly better by virtue of all that free durability Fighter provides. Generic durability as well, so it's fine for multi with ranged, melee, and spell builds.

[Crucis]

I'm not sure basing the end of a trilogy on a easily-miserable sidekick is a good idea

 

The idea isn't to "base" the 3rd story on Rekke.  He's just the hook to get you from PoE2 to PoE3.  You could very conceivably just dump him when you return him to "Rekke Land", and go on your merry way, with Rekke having nothing more to do with the story.

[Wormerine]

I can definitely agree on the Grimoires. They were okay in POE 1, they were your source of spells, they made sense and felt valuable. In POE 2... They feel almost useless. You can easily go without a Grimoire entirely as a Wizard, and yet your casting animation still makes it seem like you're holding one. Hell, thanks to the late addition of trinkets, I would gleefully just take a trinket on most of my wizards instead.

Maybe if there is a handful spells you are interesting in using. Can’t imagine playing pure Wizard without Grimoires. You put couple of those in your quick-switch tab and you have entire spell repertoire. Stick to just what you picked during leveling up and you will be casting inappropriate spells a majority of time.

[Boeroer]

Even better: why bother to waste an ability point on a spell as a multiclass wizard at all?

[Nssheepster]

 

I can definitely agree on the Grimoires. They were okay in POE 1, they were your source of spells, they made sense and felt valuable. In POE 2... They feel almost useless. You can easily go without a Grimoire entirely as a Wizard, and yet your casting animation still makes it seem like you're holding one. Hell, thanks to the late addition of trinkets, I would gleefully just take a trinket on most of my wizards instead.

Maybe if there is a handful spells you are interesting in using. Can’t imagine playing pure Wizard without Grimoires. You put couple of those in your quick-switch tab and you have entire spell repertoire. Stick to just what you picked during leveling up and you will be casting inappropriate spells a majority of time.

 

Shrug. Minoletta's Minor Missiles alone is valuable in almost every fight. There are more than a few spells that may not be 'the best' in every situation, but are generically good at almost all times. Sure, maybe you don't have a spell for every level that's good in X fight... But you're bound to have more than one that IS useful. Empower for extra casts, and the Wizard will be just fine... As long as you have a party. I don't suggest it for solo play unless you're running a Blood Mage in a very specific setup and have a good reason.

 

As for Multiclassing, Boro... Yeah, true. But as a pure Wizard, in a party? Extra passives is extra good. The small defense passives can make a hell of a difference in the long run, and there are more than a few items that grant per-rest spell casts that you want on your Wizard anyways, so you're really not lacking for resources or options.