Stat bonus modifiers can erroneously be applied multiple times allowing stats to grow beyond intended values

[pi2repsion]

When I reached character level 5 I observed that Eder had considerably larger defensive stats than he was supposed to given his level, attributes, and equipment. I cannot say exactly when it happened as I do not save to separate save slots that often, but looking back through my saves, the following saves are the last from before this happened and the first from after it happened.

 

I am running the game on Windows.

 

Saves at dropbox due to forum attachment limit:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t5sgetpefdousrr/Eder_unexplained_stat_increase.rar?dl=0

 

 

The save before the discrepancy occurs is from temple of Eothan with about half of the first level cleared. Eder is level 4 and when stripped of all gear and buffs, his defenses are 36/53/31/39 - exactly what one would expect given his level and attributes.

 

The save after is from the Black Meadow, two days later. Eder is still level 4, but now when stripped of all gear and buffs, his defenses are 58/63/48/51 and he has also gained +1 perception and +1 resolve (which are responsible for 2 of the reflex and will increases).

 

The total unexplained increase is thus 20/10/15/10, +1 per, +1 res.

 

It is obvious to suspect a bug with respects to stacking stat bonuses that fails to get cleared, as that is a much too common bug in CRPGs, and the suspicion is supported by the stat-bonus gear Eder has been wearing during this time is Fulvano's Amulet (+5 reflex) and Minor Ring of Deflection (+5 deflection) as well, after finding it in the temple, Pilgrim's Lasting Vigil (+1 per, +1 res).

 

The observed discrepancy is thus a perfect match with the stats of Defender mode (with Wary Defender) and the three named items being added once and not cleared when they should be, so it seems very likely that the discrepancy happened at some time after the Pilgrim's Lasting Vigil helmet was picked up and equipped. That still leaves a considerable gap from that point of time in the temple to the Black Marsh save, but it is the closest I can narrow down the gap given the saves on hand.

 

 

...He does make an awesome tank, though, running around at level 5 with 96/73/65/63 defenses when defender mode is activated and he is wearing his equipment, but it is trivializing content.

[Insolentius]

As far as I could notice this bug did not happen in beta, at least not in the latest build. And there were no companions that you could pick up.

 

But the devs had access to everything in their own builds while the backers were rampaging through the beta. The question is whether the bug was present in the pre-release builds that the backers didn't have access to.

[Jazou]

Also I would love to hear a statement if the stats can get corrected for already affected savegames. But I don't think so. :/ I will start from the beginning as soon as this is fixed. Makes me really sad right now.

[Andre]

I think you could implement that pretty easily. Just load up whatever stats the companion is supposed to have and reset him at the appropriate level. I mean code-wise it shouldn't be hard with a silly workaround.

 

Maybe reset talents/skills as well while they're at it.

[Zornack]

 

Higher intelligence decreases damage?  You sure?

Intellect at 10 : DoT Damage = X over Y seconds

Intellect above 10: Dot Damage = X over Y * (intellect bonus) seconds

 

Basically, the amount of damage stays the same, but the DPS suffers.

 

 

I don't think that's how int works. I tested this with a Wizard and the Corrive Siphon ability (33.33 damage over 10 seconds) and no matter my int value, I tested at 19 int and 42 int (with console commands), it ticked on application, again every 3 seconds and when the debuff expired. More int = longer duration dot = more ticks. For example, with 19 int I had +45% duration which increased the duration from 10 seconds to 14.5 seconds. The DoT ticked on the initial application of the DoT, every 3 seconds after the application and when the DoT faded. Since the time between the second to last DoT tick and the removal of the DoT was less than 3 seconds the final tick only did partial damage, 7 instead of 9. (2.5/3)*9=7.5, which got rounded down to 7. 

 

It could work differently with other spells, though. 

Edited March 30, 2015 by Zornack

[sparklecat]

Looks like obsidian is just living up to their reputation... still love you folks though!

 

Is there an ETA for a patch?

A patch is due this week, but we're not sure what all will be fixed in it and what'll still be in progress.

[Shake Appeal]

I think you could implement that pretty easily. Just load up whatever stats the companion is supposed to have and reset him at the appropriate level. I mean code-wise it shouldn't be hard with a silly workaround.

 

Maybe reset talents/skills as well while they're at it.

This does seem like something that could be fixed retroactively: they know what the default values should be for NPCs (and PCs?), and they can just force the game to re-run calculations for things like Deflection.

 

In theory.

[geobio]

****, this why it was so easy, damn half-finished game ><

 

Now I am convinced to wait 3-4 month hopping some holy  modders do the job and enhance that because I am pretty convinced that Obsidian will continue to give us bad design and such.

 

Great graphics though.

Edited March 30, 2015 by geobio

[zephiris]

****, this why it was so easy, damn half-finished game ><

 

Know I am convinced to wait 3-4 month hopping some holy  modders do the job and enhance that because I am pretty convinced that Obsidian will continue to give us bad design and such.

 

Great graphics though.

 

Haha, yes this bug explains why so many people complained the game felt so easy on its 'hard' setting.

I am lucky I found out relatively soon and only finished all Main & side-quests in Act1.

[Viperswhip]

Probably this is what happened for people that are saying hard is too easy. I only reload when I die (when the game tells me to), but I am sure this bug has crept in. I will have to check when I get home.

[geobio]

Fail edit.

Edited March 30, 2015 by geobio

[sparklecat]

 

I think you could implement that pretty easily. Just load up whatever stats the companion is supposed to have and reset him at the appropriate level. I mean code-wise it shouldn't be hard with a silly workaround.

 

Maybe reset talents/skills as well while they're at it.

This does seem like something that could be fixed retroactively: they know what the default values should be for NPCs (and PCs?), and they can just force the game to re-run calculations for things like Deflection.

 

In theory.

 

It should be easy enough for NPCs, yeah, but I was thinking about how they'd fix it for PCs; they know the maximum stat points we can reach and obviously they can drop us back down to legal levels for each attribute, but depending on how it's fixed a) there's a potential problem if multiple stats have been affected with how much to decrease each, and b) that might make it impossible to cheat in higher stats later, not sure.

 

Not that I really know anything about their code, of course.

[Sking]

Awesome,

 

Thanks for the feedback, saves, outputs, and all that stuff. I think we nailed down the steps and I've added the issue to the database and we will work towards a fix for an upcoming update. Until then avoid save loads on Companions home maps.

 

Keep up the good work citizens

[AgentTBC]

Thanks!

 

Note that there is a similar bug unrelated to saves!  For an example create a druid PC and change forms in the starting area and your stats permanently increase.

 

So it isn't just reloading saves, it's anything which applies a stat increase.

[Cactuscat]

 

Higher intelligence decreases damage?  You sure?

For DoT spells high intelligence means less damage. Well not less per se but spread out over a longer duration. One would think a longer duration on a DoT would mean more damage overall not just the same damage ticking for way longer

 

 

This seems to actually be a tooltip bug rather than a mechanics bug - my Aloth's Corrosive Siphon tooltip shows as "33.3 damage ... over 13 sec (base 10 sec)" but expanding the combat messages gives Corrosive Siphon as doing 43.3 damage over 13 seconds on hit - exactly the damage it should be doing to preserve the same dps.

 

Edited to remove definite statements. I'm pretty certain it's a tooltip bug, hence evidence, but could totally be wrong.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Cactuscat

[Destructor646]

Well, I've stopped playing PoE until this and many other bugs have been fixed because this (and others) are currently affecting my save.

 

It sadly seems that Obsidian Entertainment's legacy has struck again - they make absolutely fantastic games that tend to have massive bugs at launch.

 

I hope all the fixes come in soon and can actually fix people who have run into these issues.

[Achilles]

Looks like obsidian is just living up to their reputation... still love you folks though!

 

Is there an ETA for a patch?

You should repost this over at the Unofficial Skyrim Patch site. Those guys are still releasing updates every month or so even though Skyrim's been out for almost 4 years. Oh, and it got GOTY.

 

...love how everyone EXCEPT Obsidian gets a pass...

[Suhiir]

There are always people that can't quite seem to understand any game will have bugs on release simply because some of the players will do things no one ever foresaw when doing QA.

 

It's very rare for developers to play an entire game start-to-finish before it's released.  Sure they play sections to test one or two specific things but those are really the only things they're looking at.  It's not practical to pay QA folks for a week or three to play a 40-120 hour game as a test while they also have to pay the programmers, artists, writers, etc. to sit around and do nothing because any new or updated content will ruin the test and they have to start over from square one.

 

If bugs bother you THAT much only buy games six months or so after they're released when most of the bugs are fixed.

[Cronstintein]

RPGs are the worst culprits by far.   A smarter version of myself would wait until a few patch-cycles have gone through before purchasing.

 

I should really know better by now but my impulse control was never that great. (IRL Willpower is a 5 )

[Kevro]

My Eder is level 6 and has 100 Deflection.  He's been using a Minor Ring of Deflection for a while now.  Is he bugged? 

 

He has 56 Deflection naked and 85 with gear (pre-Defender.)  He's got that Larder Door shield and the Sword and Shield talent also. 

[Hatred]

I feel the game is fairly easy on hard but I dont think any of my companions have bonus stats. I had Kana gain some stats but I then stopped taking him with me. Here is hoping that if its not just these bugs that make hard too easy that we get patches or mods which up the ante. Path of the damned just seems straight up silly hard from the description.

[drithius]

My Eder is level 6 and has 100 Deflection.  He's been using a Minor Ring of Deflection for a while now.  Is he bugged? 

 

He has 56 Deflection naked and 85 with gear (pre-Defender.)  He's got that Larder Door shield and the Sword and Shield talent also. 

 

Yes.

[sanpats]

In the mean while is there a way to edit the faulty stats without ruining steam achievements?

[itsame]

In the mean while is there a way to edit the faulty stats without ruining steam achievements?

 

I have tried with console but there appears to be no command that can edit these values. there are commands for skills and main stats but not for the ones like fortitude or will.

I would gladly edit the stats by hand and continue playing while keeping an eye on that bug.

does anyone know a way how to do that?

can this be done by modding?

[gentlemanorcus]

I would be cool with losing my acheivments, I just want to play the damn game.

[Vardis]

 

Looks like obsidian is just living up to their reputation... still love you folks though!

 

Is there an ETA for a patch?

You should repost this over at the Unofficial Skyrim Patch site. Those guys are still releasing updates every month or so even though Skyrim's been out for almost 4 years. Oh, and it got GOTY.

 

...love how everyone EXCEPT Obsidian gets a pass...

 

Bethesda didn't get a pass on that either.  Much less so, from what I remember.