Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous, Part 6

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

7 minutes ago, majestic said:

Bruno is in Deadfire?

Not in the release version, which I guess is both a mercy and a letdown

[Gromnir]

aside, if you watch the vid in the linked thread where josh speaks about poe health/stamina you might be confused by the wound binding and field triage talents... though is doubtful many recall such board kerfuffles at this point. field triage in particular were almost useless beyond extreme early game. the poe goal o' no bad builds and no trash talents, spells or weapons were a smidge undermined by the existence o' release version field triage and wound binding. 'course is worth recollecting those talents were only added extreme late in development and 'cause so many backers howled 'bout the absence o' health recovery outside o' rest. obsidian threw players a bone and doing so resulted in a couple poe talents which were arguable trash and is doubtful many chose voluntarily. 

however, am gonna observe how field triage received a serious boost post release, restoring a % o' health as 'posed to a flat 50, which made it so kana were no longer stuck with a useless talent. even so, improving field triage were most assured functional running counter to the thematic rationale for no health heals for poe.

for developers, health/stamina fixes were a damned if you do and damned if you don't conundrum which resulted in a thorough unsatisfactory solution which made few happy. cautionary tale.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[kanisatha]

Sorry, wasn't intending to cause a kerfuffle.

I love PoE mechanics and can't stand D&D mechanics. Just my two cents. And I completely agree with the sentiment of "different strokes for different folks." That said, I do feel strongly that there is a problem, in that people generally, and ironically gamers especially, are very resistent to change. Therefore, a mechanics system that's been around for ~40 years is ingrained in a lot of gamers regardless of its merits/lack there of, and many of those same gamers won't give a new system a fair chance. Thus, for better or worse, we're stuck with the old way of doing things and with no equivalent alternatives ('equivalent' being operative here for me because shallow, superficial systems like the D:OS system don't count).

[ShadySands]

I didn't hate PoE and thought that each release was an improvement but I was always still disappointed for some reason. I think what bothers me the most is that I really want to understand why it didn't meet my expectations but I'm really fuzzy on why exactly. Probably death by a thousand cuts more than just one big thing. 

I could never be a critic, that's for sure.

 

[HoonDing]

Really glad you can turn the furry back to human.

[InsaneCommander]

Act 5 is almost over. The only quests left are the second run of the Midnight Isles and Nenio's.

Is it worth doing the Midnight Isles again? Nenio's quest at least will bring some sort of character development, I think.

[uuuhhii]

12 hours ago, kanisatha said:

Sorry, wasn't intending to cause a kerfuffle.

I love PoE mechanics and can't stand D&D mechanics. Just my two cents. And I completely agree with the sentiment of "different strokes for different folks." That said, I do feel strongly that there is a problem, in that people generally, and ironically gamers especially, are very resistent to change. Therefore, a mechanics system that's been around for ~40 years is ingrained in a lot of gamers regardless of its merits/lack there of, and many of those same gamers won't give a new system a fair chance. Thus, for better or worse, we're stuck with the old way of doing things and with no equivalent alternatives ('equivalent' being operative here for me because shallow, superficial systems like the D:OS system don't count).

poe was designed for video game dnd are designed for table top

the way owlcat and larian waste so much time recreat table top rule in video game feel misguided

Edited July 18, 2023 by uuuhhii

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

36 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Act 5 is almost over. The only quests left are the second run of the Midnight Isles and Nenio's.

Is it worth doing the Midnight Isles again? Nenio's quest at least will bring some sort of character development, I think.

You get some ending slides, a lot of xp, and some fat loot.

[InsaneCommander]

5 minutes ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

You get some ending slides, a lot of xp, and some fat loot.

My xp far exceeds what I needed for level 20. With no more enemy armies, gold is irrelevant now. I guess I'll do it for the ending slides then.

[bugarup]

2 hours ago, uuuhhii said:

poe was designed for video game dnd are designed for table top

the way owlcat and larian waste so much time recreat table top rule in video game feel misguided

I imagine it's easier for some just to hire a bunch of coders to do them if-then-elses than employ more sophisticated brain areas and, you know, think something new. 

[Gromnir]

3 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

Act 5 is almost over. The only quests left are the second run of the Midnight Isles and Nenio's.

Is it worth doing the Midnight Isles again? Nenio's quest at least will bring some sort of character development, I think.

could be a misunderstanding, but there is three separate treasure of the midnight isles quests/chains before a final boss encounter.

tracking, chase and prey is our recollection o' quest titles.

what you reference is likely your second run o' the prey chain o' islands, but if not...

HA! Good Fun!

[InsaneCommander]

10 hours ago, Gromnir said:

tracking, chase and prey is our recollection o' quest titles.

I'm talking about Chase. So there is even another one after that.

Spoiler

Perhaps I should bring Daeran so he can enjoy his last vacations before being handled to the authorities.

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

I'm talking about Chase. So there is even another one after that.

  Reveal hidden contents

Perhaps I should bring Daeran so he can enjoy his last vacations before being handled to the authorities.

 

Now that's naughty.

[HoonDing]

lol at level 6 party running into random level 15 12d6 eye ray murder robot spider

got lucky it used fire ray against Seelah I had made fire immune

this game is really something unique

[InsaneCommander]

55 minutes ago, HoonDing said:

lol at level 6 party running into random level 15 12d6 eye ray murder robot spider

got lucky it used fire ray against Seelah I had made fire immune

this game is really something unique

[Gromnir]

39 minutes ago, HoonDing said:

lol at level 6 party running into random level 15 12d6 eye ray murder robot spider

 

am ordinary quick to jump on the bandwagon to criticize owlcat, but some o' the pain you feel is self inflicted, and another portion is the result o' pretending pathfinder pnp and owlcat pathfinder crpg is analogous.

only being level six in leper's scar is requiring you to skip over considerable content, which is a perfect ok approach, but is also your choice. if a battle is seeming serious tough but you ain't level'd as much as possible and you skipped over content which likely provides useful power boosting loot, then you do have options to improve your odds, no?

also, we wish folks would quit with the pnp level/power comparisons. in pnp the game is balanced for four person parties and not six, so throw out some o' the level math, yes? heck, if you got animal companions the wotr maths is even more broken as you may be mounted on horses capable o' traversing ladders. with reload plus adventurer gear shops aplenty, is no reason to be without scrolls and potions which is gonna serious buff your party, advantages magnified by your perfect clairvoyance which allows you to see all foe buffs and abilities.  reload means even if you die once or twice, you may redo knowing exact how the battle is gonna unfold. 

ignore the numbers. 

HA! Good Fun!

[Gorth]

I got myself brutally mauled to the point of reload because of my own silliness. That place where you loot a trivial object that spawns some angry wraiths (unless you put it back again)? Yeah, I forgot I had vendorized that for a few pennies and went back later to pursue another side quest on the same map. The welcoming committee was overjoyed to see me again... to the point where they wouldn't let me leave

 

Need to prepare a bit better, go back and spank them for their effort.

[Gromnir]

55 minutes ago, Gorth said:

Need to prepare a bit better, go back and spank them for their effort.

the encounter(s) you reference is a perfect example o' the god-power o' reload. the seven spectres have specific spawn points, so even w/o resorting to an online guide you will eventual know exact where on the map you need prebuff. also while each spectre has a different means o' trying to annihilate your party, those spirits is consistent. for instance, the spectre who unleashes sciroccos always does the scirocco bit. 

this is also one o' the encounters where the bane of spirit ring is making pain in the arse battles far much more manageable. the bane o' spirit is requiring only a free action, so whomever is wielding may buff the entire party during his/her turn and the ring wielder may also do full move and attack actions during the same round. 

make certain everybody gets deathward and then add stuff such as protection from fire as needed. 

HA! Good Fun!

[xzar_monty]

On 7/17/2023 at 11:31 PM, ShadySands said:

I didn't hate PoE and thought that each release was an improvement but I was always still disappointed for some reason. I think what bothers me the most is that I really want to understand why it didn't meet my expectations but I'm really fuzzy on why exactly. Probably death by a thousand cuts more than just one big thing. 

I could never be a critic, that's for sure.

Could it be because you had [such high / somehow definite] expectations in the first place? I'm not trying to be glib. For instance, I wonder how your experience with PoE compares to your experiences of expectation -> disappointement with movies, books, albums, whatever.

It could also be a question of age, especially if you are (like me) one of the people who fell in love with games such as BG2. It's essentially impossible to experience that thrill again with so many years of life inbetween.

As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed both PoE and Deadfire but could criticize a whole lot of things in both games (hah, and I've even worked as a critic for quite a while, starting from 1988). I didn't adore either of those titles as much as I once adored BG2, but I think they're both slightly better than P:K and WotR, which are also both good but just terribly written, story- and dialogue-wise, and contain an awful lot of bad design, as well described on this very thread. (Indeed, it possibly even bothers me a little to realize that although there's so much wrong with P:K and WotR, they're still actually good.)

[HoonDing]

When sneaking around Wenduag triggered a level 20 demon to appear out of nowhere. Luckily she had an amulet found earlier that summons two high level angels. The demon was ripped to shreds in no time. Crazy game

[HoonDing]

I really like the succubus

She frees up two slots in my party

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

It looks like WotR is doing the beach episode. 

[Gromnir]

arueshalae is the worst kinda anime cliché, but she is highly effective as an archer who covers all your rogue needs. 

also, if you are struggling to deal with the stat bloat of foes, particular boss foes, the succubus is considerable undervalued and rare built to take advantage o' her most useful ability: hunter's bond. am advising demons o' magic is the category o' ranger foe you wanna keep maxed at every opportunity, and am gonna discourage multiclassing 'cause you want to max the ranger's bond as well as your access to the instant enemy spell. instant enemy transforms your hunter's bond so that it is effective against any foe; this is invaluable. with instant enemy + hunter's bond, the entire party is gonna get a considerable ab boost from arue's hunter's bond, which is also why am suggesting taking the abundant casting mythic. 

furthermore, the succubus is gonna have incredible initiative due to being a high dex build. improved initiative and mythic improved initiative is worthy considerations. being able to act first is a serious overlooked benefit although such will be more noticeable in tb. other than boss battles, the demon tart is predictable gonna be able to remove one or even two foes from an encounter almost as soon as combat begins.

aside, being high dex means it is serious worth considering a crossbow build. am so not saying crossbows is better than longbows for the demon, but there is interesting crossbows in the game and with a full dex build you won't be sacrificing much by avoiding enlarge person, legendary proportions and the like. 

it is understatement to say am not a fan o' arueshalae from a writing pov, but there is no question she is effective. proof you don't need an animal companion to be useful.

HA! Good Fun!

Edited July 21, 2023 by Gromnir

[InsaneCommander]

4 hours ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

It looks like WotR is doing the beach episode. 

It will be a lot of fun. Until the party wakes up the next morning and you find some severed heads washing ashore.

[HoonDing]

Is it worth investing in spell focus: abjuration to reliably dispel. It hasn't worked at all so far (of course Camellia is worthless using it)

I groaned when that balor dispelled my entire party's buffs, similar to the final boss of Icewind Dale

Edited July 22, 2023 by HoonDing