What NEEDS to be fixed before launch?

[Diogenes]

You and your logic...

[Luckmann]

 

I'm not sure how much I trust them in that, especially when it comes to changing things like attribute bonuses, because those things are core parts of the system.

 

I'll give them that, that they are incredibly brave if they actually do it, because changing functionality like that is inevitably something that upsets a lot of people that are mid-game. Let's say for example that they'd re-separate +AoE and +Duration and make Resolve not terrible for non-tanking paladins. It'd basically ruin any ongoing game where someone min-maxed to any degree.

 

It'd screw over tanks, because Resolve was changed, it'd screw over Wizards, because Resolve is no longer a dump stat and Intelligence the win-all attribute, and it'd in general just invalidate a lot of builds. I'm not saying that shouldn't do it, quite the opposite, I just don't think they will. Hell, even if they implemented the exact changes I want, I would still probably be annoyed to hell and back, either because it ruined my current play-through, or because I'd feel like I'd have to go back to creation and create the character I wanted from the beginning.

 

Either would result in considerable bellyaching.

 

A lot of games these days lock savegames to a major version to avoid rules changes messing up existing saves. In other words if you save was made on game version 1.01, you will keep playing the 1.01 version of the game if you load it, and only new games you start would actually have the changes in 1.1, or whatever.

 

I'm not saying they'll do that, but it's not all that uncommon these days. I could see PoE version 1.0-1.09 or whatever being mostly bugfixes that don't invalidate savegames, and 1.1 introducing rules changes (attribute bonuses, combat rules, etc.) and requiring a new game.

 

 

I can't really think of any games that do that (but I don't doubt that they exist, it depends on how they are structures and how simple they are) but I can't see it happening to Pillars of Eternity, because Pillars of Eternity pulls on a lot of assets as the game is being run. After a major patch, you'd basically have to have two installations of the game and the size would grow for every save/version.

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

My guess is that they'll either tie major balance changes to expansions or wait a few months in between them so that most people have completed their playthroughs.

[Tartantyco]

I just hope they sort out all the vague, inconsistent, and often straight-up wrong information in the tooltips.

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

Oh one thing

 

 

They should give Godlikes a +2 additional stat boost to compensate for the loss of head slot. 

[Sensuki]

It's supposed to be made up for by their "more powerful" abilities.

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

It's supposed to be made up for by their "more powerful" abilities.

 

Oh, I'm aware, but it isn't, so it should be. The obvious balance would be to give each type of godlike a +2 bonus to a particular stat to balance out being unable to wear a +2 item in that slot

[Sensuki]

 

 

death godlike death's usher ability now triggers at 25% instead of 15% endurance #pillarsofeternity #murder #death #skulls

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

 

death godlike death's usher ability now triggers at 25% instead of 15% endurance #pillarsofeternity #murder #death #skulls

 

 

 

I'm glad he's looking at them but that's still not exactly "good"; any ability that requires dropping to 25% endurance is a lot higher-risk than it's probably worthwhile. Compare with the human racial ability, which is just better, and humans don't have to give up a head slot, much less Wood Elf or Hearth Orlan, which aren't conditional on shooting yourself in the foot first.

 

 

Just in the backer beta, we saw one helm that gave +1 dexterity and +2 athletics; the wiki shows another helm that gives +2 intellect. Every +2 armor item that isn't on your chest slot, is another positive enchantment you can put on your chest armor instead of that +2 stat. 

 

Losing a head slot is a larger penalty than it seems in the beta because the beta doesn't have many good items for that slot. It's a big hit to equipment flexibility. Maybe a +1 bonus to (stat) would be more reasonable than +2, but the Godlike bonuses aren't really strong enough in comparison to other racial bonuses to justify the loss of the head slot in balance terms. 

 

Give, say, Nature Godlike an additional +1 to Resolve, Death +1 Con, Moon +1 Perception, Fire +1 Might, and you're all good. Godlikes give up some long-term character flexibility in exchange for a permanent standing bonus to a given stat. 

[Sensuki]

Yeah I think that's fair, an extra attribute point might be a good idea. Maybe one that scales with level so it keeps up with the helmet bonus.

 

Like with their favored attributes, they could get an additional +1 to them every 5 levels or something.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Sensuki

[Headbomb]

"I'm glad he's looking at them but that's still not exactly "good"; any ability that requires dropping to 25% endurance is a lot higher-risk than it's probably worthwhile. Compare with the human racial ability, which is just better, and humans don't have to give up a head slot, much less Wood Elf or Hearth Orlan, which aren't conditional on shooting yourself in the foot first."

 

To be clear, the Death Godlike ability triggers when your target is at 25% health. Not when you are. I.e. you get extra damage against low-health targets, and finish them more quickly. That's a good ability to have. Death (triggering at 25%) and Moon godlike abilities (as they are now) are good and feel at the appropriate balance. Nature Godlike needs some thinking. I don't know what I'd do for them. Fire Godlike would be fine if you gave them a +5 DR vs Fire.

[Sensuki]

Performance is a lot better now.
 

[Namutree]

Yeah I think that's fair, an extra attribute point might be a good idea. Maybe one that scales with level so it keeps up with the helmet bonus.

 

Like with their favored attributes, they could get an additional +1 to them every 5 levels or something.

Good idea.

[Darkpriest]

Hmm a question. Would it be possible to set an internal.CD that cannot perform more than 1 Diseng att against the same target within x seconds (lets say 6s for the purpose of arbitrary round duration)

[Striped_Wolf]

I just hope they sort out all the vague, inconsistent, and often straight-up wrong information in the tooltips.

Yeah, nothing breaking immersion better than having to tab out of the game in order to search the web for correct info.

[Shevek]

 

 

death godlike death's usher ability now triggers at 25% instead of 15% endurance #pillarsofeternity #murder #death #skulls

 

 

 

I'm glad he's looking at them but that's still not exactly "good"; any ability that requires dropping to 25% endurance is a lot higher-risk than it's probably worthwhile. Compare with the human racial ability, which is just better, and humans don't have to give up a head slot, much less Wood Elf or Hearth Orlan, which aren't conditional on shooting yourself in the foot first.

 

 

Just in the backer beta, we saw one helm that gave +1 dexterity and +2 athletics; the wiki shows another helm that gives +2 intellect. Every +2 armor item that isn't on your chest slot, is another positive enchantment you can put on your chest armor instead of that +2 stat. 

 

Losing a head slot is a larger penalty than it seems in the beta because the beta doesn't have many good items for that slot. It's a big hit to equipment flexibility. Maybe a +1 bonus to (stat) would be more reasonable than +2, but the Godlike bonuses aren't really strong enough in comparison to other racial bonuses to justify the loss of the head slot in balance terms. 

 

Give, say, Nature Godlike an additional +1 to Resolve, Death +1 Con, Moon +1 Perception, Fire +1 Might, and you're all good. Godlikes give up some long-term character flexibility in exchange for a permanent standing bonus to a given stat. 

 

I think it kicks in when the ENEMY is at 25%

[Hassat Hunter]

Well I know that Divinity and Wasteland 2 are both undergoing large changes to core systems in patches, so there's no reason why PE cannot follow suit.

 

Have you checked the Divinity forums for the outcry over what's obviously a huge improvement (Dark Rot/Tenebrium now now influencing damage but weapon skill, not nullifying all weapon skills once Tenebrium comes in game)...

 

Gamers have difficulty with changes... over-thinking, calculating, plotting RPG-players even less.

"They ruined my OP munchkin build... I hate you, I'll never buy a game of you again, I will spread dirt about you to all my friends...!"

[Luckmann]

 

Well I know that Divinity and Wasteland 2 are both undergoing large changes to core systems in patches, so there's no reason why PE cannot follow suit.

 

Have you checked the Divinity forums for the outcry over what's obviously a huge improvement (Dark Rot/Tenebrium now now influencing damage but weapon skill, not nullifying all weapon skills once Tenebrium comes in game)...

 

Gamers have difficulty with changes... over-thinking, calculating, plotting RPG-players even less.

"They ruined my OP munchkin build... I hate you, I'll never buy a game of you again, I will spread dirt about you to all my friends...!"

 

 

Well first, saying that there is a "large outcry" is a bit over the top. The Larian D:OS forums are practically dead. Second, there are some really solid issues with that particular change, even if it's overall for the better.

 

I think what he was referring to was the more tumultuous upcoming changes that will rebalance arms and armour in Wasteland 2, and add things like dual-wielding to D:OS.

 

Neither which will change pre-existing key character functionalities, as far as I know.