Wasteland 2 Kickstarted

[Starwars]

I'm through with Highpool and the Agricultural Center and I really hope the game will pick up now as people say. I'm not really looking to be "speshul" and bash the game since everyone else seems to love it but those two locations were not good in my opinion. Very drab and uninspired. I went with Highpool first and I suspect that was a wise choice considering how much I hated the Agricultural area after going there after. Highpool had human enemies which was fun at least. The enemies at the AG were no fun to fight at all, not to mention having to look out for the spore plants. Ugh. Though the "water valve" quest at Highpool was... not good. Feels like they thought up a gimmick (leaving on party-member behind to turn on electricity and different sections) but it doesn't amount to anything. It's just pointless and makes navigating the area more clunky. It's not a challenge, it's just a chore.

 

Good times back at the Ranger Citadel when I activated the bomb though and got a game-ending, loved that even though it's kinda weird they'd have a bomb like that out for everyone to see and touch.

 

What is nice about the game is that it definitely has that... big feel to it. The skill usage is a lot of fun also.

Edited September 20, 2014 by Starwars

[Marceror]

Keyrock's words are as true in our time as they were in his.

 

You raise some very good points. Group control is evil and shouldn't be used. Just hit U to select your party.

[Keyrock]

Keyrock's words are as true in our time as they were in his.

 

You raise some very good points. Group control is evil and shouldn't be used. Just hit U to select your party.

You get a gold star and bonus points for the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer reference (which is the origin of my handle).  

[Marceror]

 

Keyrock's words are as true in our time as they were in his.

You raise some very good points. Group control is evil and shouldn't be used. Just hit U to select your party.

 

You get a gold star and bonus points for the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer reference (which is the origin of my handle).  

One of my favorite SNL sketches. Phil Hartman was pure gold.

[Monte Carlo]

It's better than Fallout. It isn't a slave to the setting. My melee vixen, Honeychile, is bashing brains out with blunt objects and it's more fun than shooting stuff atm.

 

My party are all religious extremists and perverts in bondage gear. It's pure Mad Max. Love the gnarly feel and design.

[Marceror]

I've found pre-combat planning and positioning to be very important in this game.  If you just wander into combat all bunched up in a group you can easily wind up in a really tough situation, for example a shotgun wielding character stuck behind other characters unable to fire at the enemies without hitting her teammates (I speak from experience on that one).  If at all possible, turn off group control and move each individual character into a good position before entering combat.  How you begin combat can make the difference between an almost impossible situation and a manageable one.

One thing that is sorely missing from the game is formations. Rather than having to individually place each character before combat, I'd love to be able to set up a few custom formations so that I could quickly get my team into place just by selecting that formation.

 

Also important to consider is whether you want some characters to begin combat in the crouching position. It takes 2 action points to do it, so it can be a boon if you do that before the fight starts. It can also work against you if you end up wanting to move a character, because it's also 2 action points to stand up. Something to think about.

[Keyrock]

Yeah, formations would be nice.  I should probably pop on over to the inXile forums and request that, if someone hasn't already, or add my voice to the existing request for that feature.  Maybe it's something they could add in a patch?  With formations, you could set your Rangers up in such a fashion that even if you do get caught by surprise and wander into a fight without having carefully placed all your Rangers and devised a plan, you at least wouldn't be caught in as horrible a tactical mess as having all your party members smooshed together in a random blob.

Edited September 20, 2014 by Keyrock

[Monte Carlo]

Pah. I move my rangers in two over-lapping fire-teams. ALL THE TIME.

 

Tactics, baby.

 

I'd like to hot-key my guys in different squads and move them separately, but apart from that it's no biggie.

[Marceror]

The point is there's a lot of different, valid ways to approach combat. Grouping subsquads could certainly be useful, as could a formation system. Hopefully inXile will continue to support the game and add improvements. In the meantime, I'm perfectly fine with manually positioning my squad.

 

@Keyrock - the formation topic has been brought up a couple of times on the inXile forums. I wouldn't advise you to visit them just yet, unless you're supremely patient. They seem to be overloaded with activity, so they are extremely slow and often pages just time out. Hopefully they're doing something to improve that situation.

Edited September 20, 2014 by Marceror

[Gorgon]

At least get them to spread out so they don't stand ready to shoot eachother in the backs of their heads.  

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Thanks guys. Unlike with PoE, you can absolutely screw yourself over with the wrong party, so I hope my pointers help you to avoid some mistakes. They certainly should. And for me, the enjoyment of the game is far, far sweeter knowing my victories are due in large part to assembling a well-optimized squad, rather than anything I randomly pick being an "I win" decision.

 

I can't remember the last time a game drove me absolutely bonkers the way WL2 has. It's a work of freaking art, and a grognard's paradise.

 

Brian Fargo is my new hero.

 

 

Oh, another bit of advice. Make sure to pick up a shovel!

 

This is what I love about the game. No hand holding, no every build is viable. And this game makes me want to read the manual. Oh how I missed those days of 100 page manuals.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Wasteland 2 Launch trailer.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn0B8fVfWFI&list=UUg5idxxVnOx25-pYmeMhUCg

[Volourn]

Before I go in detail, this message is for all those DOS fanboys: This is how you make an old skool game.

 

Also, (very early) WL2 > DOS And, it's not even close. Yeah, DOS has better graphics and the spells add a cool dimensional but everything else? ADVANTAGE WL2.

 

 

 Some points though: Sawyer would hate this game because the stats and skills certainly aren't 'eual' or 'balanced'.

 

The story set up is actually very good and believable even if it isn't PSTish.

 

This is also the best  use of 'codewords' I've seen.

 

Formations would be nice.

 

Combat is hella fun. Haven't died yet but did have a character get hurt due to a combo of frog attack and friendly fire. L0L Otherwise not much threat from the raiders.

 

Love the fact I was able to talk down the toll group in a meaningful way.

 

My biggest beef is having to move on right click. Lift click just feels better and more natural. I wish there was an option (haven't seen it) to make it so.

 

Individual vs group xp is interesting. My leader character is sure to level up quicker. Wonder what the difference will be long term.

 

Already lots of freedom where you don't have to follow the main plot.

 

The first NPC you get feels like cheating since she's super high level.

[CoM_Solaufein]

Now downloading. Won't be seen in a while.

[ShadySands]

I think I broke my game

 

 

I skipped the prison and wandered east and ended up doing the Titan and Damonta stuff first. It seems like the game just assumed I'd been to the prison and left without accomplishing anything so when I finally made it there it was in a pretty bad state.

 

 

I think I'll start over sometime this week because even though it's still playable it doesn't make much sense and I don't like the outcome

Edited September 21, 2014 by ShadySands

[Gorgon]

What happens if a guy bleeds out. Kinda curious because it almost happened to me. Got lucky and was able to loot a trauma kit. Do you get to create another one. At lv 1 ?

[Marceror]

What happens if a guy bleeds out. Kinda curious because it almost happened to me. Got lucky and was able to loot a trauma kit. Do you get to create another one. At lv 1 ?

So the direct answer to your first question is, if a guy bleeds out he/she dies. Game over for that character.

 

But what I think you're really getting at is can you replace that character. If it's an NPC you can replace with another joinable NPC that you meet in the wasteland and convince to join your cause.

 

If it's one of your 4 rangers:

 

you can replace with 1 of the 3 recruits who sit in front of ranger citadel saying "Vargas said if someone dies we can join their team."

 

Pretty sure their names are La Loca, Ashley Brygo and Rook.

 

Edited September 21, 2014 by Marceror

[Keyrock]

Damn, that first boss fight was pretty rough my first try at it, and my second try at it (for completely different reasons).

 

 

So, the traitor by the irrigation valve.  I had him pegged as the traitor as soon as I saw the body with the gunshot wound outside the building.  Nevertheless I was unprepared and my party was all bunched up when he first attacked me and he brutally obliterated me, partly because my group was in a cluster****, and partly because my group was largely injured at that point and I hadn't healed up yet.  On the second try I set my group up to get him in a nice crossfire before initiating conversation.  I had the craziest run of bad luck that time around.  Angela missed 2 times in a row on 80+% accuracy shots.  I had not 1, not 2, but 3 character jam their weapons, including Grimey jamming his heavy machinegun after the first bullet fired.  It was just a comedy of errors.  I got him on the third try when I didn't have insanely bad luck.  I still had one character go down, but I just used Surgery to revive her after the battle ended.  That was all types of fun, minus that second time around when I had the aforementioned streak of bad luck.

 

 

In other news, it's 3:30 in the AM here now.  I should probably stop playing and go to sleep now. 

Edited September 21, 2014 by Keyrock

[Marceror]

The game difficulty has definitely been kicked up since the beta, which is very welcome -- and something many of us have been asking for. I'm playing on Ranger difficulty and happy to have some challenge in the game.

 

Speaking of challenge, I just completed the Leve' Upe Mines and OMG. That was some HARD fighting! On my second try I got through without losing any rangers, but only just barely. Good stuff.

 

 

I'm blown away by Takayuki's stats, and I'm thinking maybe I was meant to come here later in the game. He's pretty high level now.

 

Edited September 21, 2014 by Marceror

[Gorgon]

I keep restarting because I'm not completely happy with my party. I do this in virtually every RPG but this is the third time and after having almost completed the first two towns. I know, I am not well. 

[Marceror]

Ah, chronic restarters syndrome (CRS). I believe your local doctor should be able to prescribe something to help with that.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

I've clocked up over 24 hours of playing this. I've scoured every nook and cranny and found some great stuff. It's fairy intuitive but I've had some forehead slapping moments when I've realised I could have done some things easier including the combat. Think it's time I'll take some time out, make a cup of tea and read the manual.

[Humanoid]

I have chronic non-starter syndrome - the character creation has completely paralysed me. I can design one, maybe two characters well enough, but four and the possible permutations of roles has had me stuck for hours (by which I mean I stare at the numbers a while, then tab out in despair for half an hour, repeat).

[Marceror]

@Hiro - RTFM is not a bad policy.

[Gorgon]

What I usually wind up doing is making two min maxed characters, one for combat, the other for skills and two balanced ones.