Whats up with this game? Or is it me? Probably me . . .

[sparklecat]

 

 

I'm having similar issues.

 

I rolled through BG1/2 on hardest difficulty.  Hell I solo'd it on some builds.  But this game on normal I'm just getting destroyed.

 

It seems your build/party has to be quite a bit tighter and more controlled in this game. Gonna have to keep restarting until I find out what's good.

 

Look at some of the steam achievements. Beat the game with resting under 10 times. beat it by killing less than 175 creatures/NPCs, beat it with no members hitting 0 endurance etc...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made a tank monk, dies in seconds on normal against wolves.  I've restarted 3 times. I even put maximum Con this time for 19 and I'm still the first one to fall flat on my ass. 

 

I've read up on guides and I'm a pro at these type of games so I'm extra frustrated.

 

Put Resolve and Perception up instead to increase their deflection?  Give them better armour?

[hypocritelecteur]

I've seen a lot of people complain about the difficulty of the courtyard fight.  Saying it's unfair, etc.  And I agree.  It's a damn hard fight.

But why on earth would you choose to walk through the front door?

[Dongom]

I use the 9 DR armor atm. My resolve/perception is a bit low tho but I wanted to get hit a little for battle-forged.

 

 

It's probably my fault for trying a weird build. Wtb save-editor lol. 

 

Thats what I get for not just making a simple sorc or ez ranged cipher/chanter.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Dongom

[Sheytan]

The key for me was pausing and using spells effectively, for example I discovered STOP can be used more then one on the same enemy, no immunity etc after its been cast. I used that, web and other spells in conjunction with missile fire to damage or destroy mobs before they can close to melee. Used the custom formation feature to set up one that works for you and keep the smooshies in the back. I am on my first play through and AM VERY IMPRESSED with fighter class, least the guy you can recruit in first town. I made a Rogue as my main and franky he isn't the backstab king, he does better as a utility class for me, spotting things disarming traps picking locks. I did notice however that he does some sick crits while stealthed and using a missile weapon. I gave him a crossbow and he will typically open the engagement, to pull then dash behind the tanks and continue unless I need to revert to melee and use him to flank, and even though he has really good DR he gets spalttered quickly when focused on. Unlike that NPC fighter you can recruit who can tank all day long eat a snack and trim his nose hairs at the same time. Only problem I had was in the keep dungeon with him and as look as I used the varied healing spells he still does fine. I am level 4 on normal and have cleared three levels so far. Anyway next play through its either a fighter of cipher for me. Cipher is bad to the gone too, entire party wiped in that dungeon but the recruitable cypher fighting some nasty... I MEAN nasty mobs, he is the only one left standing, only 2 of the enemy mob left both near death he drops one with that gun he has, summons the skellys, equipts the 2 hander and takes a hit...now im ready to say DANG IT! SOooo close...and he lands a hit for the win. Talk about a nail biter.

[sparklecat]

I use the 9 DR armor atm. My resolve/perception is a bit low tho but I wanted to get hit a little for battle-forged.

 

 

It's probably my fault for trying a weird build. Wtb save-editor lol. 

 

Thats what I get for not just making a simple sorc or ez ranged cipher/chanter.

These are the wolves in the tutorial, or elsewhere?  Do you have companions?  Also, by "a bit low," are we talking 6, 12...?

 

I'm thinking there's got to be something in how you're playing that's causing the problem, because I'm on hard with the standard companions and a priest PC built for roleplaying rather than combat, and I'm finding the fights just fine, as long as I don't wander anywhere too hard too early.  Which is good news, because that's something that can be fixed!

[Dongom]

Ya its just my silly build that's all. I'm talking about the big wolf pack in the area where you recruit the Priest.

 

I do the encounters just fine, its my terribly made PC that always is dead at the end tho

 

Fighter seems a far better tank though, but If I go dps-monk creating wounds seems like a pain. I think I'm going to try a better class.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Dongom

[kryadan]

Ya its just my silly build that's all. I'm talking about the big wolf pack in the area where you recruit the Priest.

 

I do the encounters just fine, its my terribly made PC that always is dead at the end tho

I had to go back after getting 4 or 5 people in my group to demolish the wolves (on Normal)

[Cantousent]

I've seen a lot of people complain about the difficulty of the courtyard fight.  Saying it's unfair, etc.  And I agree.  It's a damn hard fight.

But why on earth would you choose to walk through the front door?

I haven't received my copy in the mail yet, but this one did make me laugh.  I'm trying not to be spoiled, but I have to read a ton of posts and so I can't help but be forewarned about some things in the game.  Anyhow, just an aside.  Carry on.  :Cant's rueful grin icon:

[sparklecat]

Ya its just my silly build that's all. I'm talking about the big wolf pack in the area where you recruit the Priest.

Ah, okay.  I haven't encountered that fight yet; BG1 got me into the habit of sticking to the road :D

[The Craw]

I just bullied my way through most of Baric's keep. Its a familiar setup, mutliple ways to approach the issue. My party was strong enough for a frontal assault. Magic and positioning are powerful. But, I reloaded and tried for a more stealthy approach. Even so, I ignored the obvious clue and ended up killing a lot of people on th esecond floor. But the whole quest line is a very familiar one.

 

I'm seeing a lot of bait and switch on theses NPC interactions. You intend to go kill one, find out maybe they arent so bad then maybe you change your mind. I'm never sure which side to take. The answers are probably in th elore, but I'm not reading it that closely this first time through.

[Merina]

I also dispatched a couple forest lurkers, although the lurkers were a tough match and my fighter almost died outright.

The most difficult fight for me so far... with a party of five at level 3 and almost a dozen retries. Strange. I don't know whether the way I defeated them is expected. So, I used food, potions and healing to help my blocker. Perhaps I shouldn't have tried at that level? Reading other forum posts about the combat system, it seems that clever positioning of the heroes is a must for many fights. But even with those two huge things being engaged, they did above 35 damage per hit, and I didn't feel too well moving the unguarded wizard into their back for his cone-shaped AoE spell.

[Arctic]

I stumbled across Pillars only a few days before it's release and I was so excited!  I supremely enjoyed BG 1 and 2 though I never got into Icewind Dale as much because I felt it lacked the same depth of story.  Anyway, I leapt at the chance to play Pillars and I was especially elated that many of the reviews talked about not being limited to traditional character classes and it not necessarily requiring min/maxing . . .

 

So I start (and I won't give spoilers, though all this is early game stuff) and I was so excited that I could play rather organically rather than "meta-gaming" the game.  After the first major cutscene / event I was fatigued and so headed straight for the first town available.  While gathering information I stumbled over a couple of quests that I felt I could take while maintaining the "hey, i've gotta figure out whats going on here" idea . . . so I did them.  So it's not like I'm just straightlining the main quest.  But I'm also not going out of my way to 100% explore the few maps I've been in.

 

But then I get my information, head to the next major plotpoint, pick up a couple interesting characters along the way (so I have 4 in total plus a lion) and I find myself in the courtyard of my destination getting party wiped over and over.  Now, I'm on the standard difficulty and I'm used to playing BG on standard difficulty and never did I have this much trouble so early in either of those games.  I've played for like 2 hours of actual gameplay (not counting a lot of reading, ha!) and I'm kind of flumoxed.  Granted, I might just be horrible at this game and granted again, I don't have much experience with the new characters I've picked up.  My PC is a ranger with a lion that I made a "well rounded" character, but with an emphasis on dexterity and might.

 

So am I doing something fundamentally wrong?  Is this a game that requires min / maxing regardless of what others say?  Do I need to explore each map fully to grind XP before going to the next?  I believe my 4 characters are all level 3 as I get party wiped . . . Also, I was really hoping to avoid the "just dump all your points into one attribute / skill at every opportunity" method of play.

 

Can anyone offer constructive (emphasis on "constructive") criticism, advice or insight?  I thank you greatly if you can and do!

 

Im sure there is a cutscene ... going to that place of someone telling you "hey , dont go here without a full party" xDDDD

[knallfix]

Approach, run&split has been a fine weapon for me against many groups so far.

[SeekDWay]

i also find this game pretty hard tbh, and i too havent had trouble playing BG/IWD etc.

 

on normal i have found several fights where i die pretty fast. usuaully against multiple enemies like shadows/phantoms, will o wisps.

and thats with 5 companions!

 

i also find that enemies do always go for the squishies at the back like my mages etc, and keeping aggro on my 2 fighters is next to impossible.

with shadows able to teleport all over the place making my life an exercise in frustration and much swearing.

 

doesnt help that 2 of my companions have melee weapons when theyre only chanter/priest.

can they use ranged, or wont they have the stats for it?

I do agree that shadows are very frustrating and I think it is way too early when you first engage them. At the same time those require some very unique tactics that after reloading a few times I genuenly enjoyed. Most other fights I've encountered follow very strict and predictable rules.

 

You can and most likely should equip ranged weapons on characters you feel are squishy. I got my chanter in melee with a shield, but its personal preferance.

 

Do not try to melee with your whole party it does not work well in PoE. Positioning is key.

Edited March 30, 2015 by SeekDWay