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.

[Red7]

Hey Sanpats, do you know if the base number for the AoE is just 1.0 ?

Edited March 31, 2015 by Red7

[sanpats]

Hey Sanpats, do you know if the base number for the AoE is just 1.0

Without any thing equipped and/or ability that mod it (bonus from attribute don't count), yes.

[sanpats]

I haven't really looked into your fix, but is there any chance it'll break the upcoming patch?

 

Thanks.

I don't think so, unless you modified it to the wrong value (it won't break the patch, but the patch may not fix your mistake). So please make sure you know the game mechanics and how to calculate stuff. But you can always mod it back. There is a good chance that the patch may recalculate everything to retroactively fix the bug, so your mistake may get fix as well.

Edited March 31, 2015 by sanpats

[Dufflebags]

I like the game, and I like the developers - but this bug, it should take 100% priority.  It's game breaking and it's not an anomaly that happens with different hardware or software configurations.

 

Honestly, I wonder how such a major bug got through the beta testing...  It's so huge.  I can understand other bugs/glitches, but this is just silly Obsidian.  You guys need to stop worrying about what some SJW says about poems in your game and get on top of what's really important, bugs like this.  This could be detrimental to your reviews and sales of the game, please fix this ASAP.

[crunching]

As a programmer, I know that the RPG this complex gotta have some bug. But the scope of this bug is surely make one wonder how can it pass internal testing.

 

Answer is simple: You must write tests even if you are in a hurry. It seems they didn't.

[Insolentius]

You guys need to stop worrying about what some SJW says about poems in your game...

Please don't bring this discussion here. I'm begging you.

[wagnerferreira]

 

Durance is with 4597% more damage!

I killed Adra Dragon with 1 hit. This bug really broke the gameplay. Will wait a patch   Sad.

Why don't you use the fix I posted above?

 

I didn't see it! Will try when i get home.

[Anaximander]

This is fantastic, thanks sanpats and figment!

 

I only found some minor discrepancies on my main game, the usual: Bonus deflection on Eder from Defender, bonus Int on Kuna from his hat, and bonus AoE on Aloth from his armor.

 

That said, I imagine both accuracy (fine weapons) and healing bonus (Fulvano's amulet, etc) are susceptible to this bug as well, but they are not currently addressed in figment's CT file.

 

Would it be possible to get 'accuracy' and 'healing bonus' added? I searched around a bit but was unable to find them in memory myself.

 

Cheers

 

EDIT: Typo, syntax.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Anaximander

[Jorgen2720]

Hey guys,

 

Does anyone have a way to make the fix work for Mac OS?

 

I've been trying to make it work with the 6.2 version of CE for Mac but can't seem to figure it out.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

[pepe]

Where is freaking fix for this ? Nearly all players have this bug, so nearly all players have unbalanced, not intentional by devs experience!!! COM'ON, THIS SHOULD BE FIXED ASAP. ALL PLAYERS CAN'T PLAY NORMAL!

[sanpats]

There is a temp fix above.

[DocDoomII]

Where is freaking fix for this ? Nearly all players have this bug, so nearly all players have unbalanced, not intentional by devs experience!!! COM'ON, THIS SHOULD BE FIXED ASAP. ALL PLAYERS CAN'T PLAY NORMAL!

It's not like patches grow on trees.

 

Give them time to analyse the problems, produce a working solution, test it and release it.

[Jorgen2720]

The bug is extra annoying for us Mac users as I can't find a CheatEngine client that works for Mac :/

[cw8]

I dont know anymore but my lvl 8 druid has 46 deflection xD So prolly you are bugged. What does the shield say.

 

Shield adds 14 or 15 deflection at -8 accuracy iirc. Wary Defender mode adds another 15. I would've to restart if bugged. Playing on hard and I want to be clean

[SnakeDoctur]

Now I love Obsidian,  but here's the cynic in me speaking:

 

The oldschool save/load/save/load/save/load is one of the ****ing OLDEST stat/item duplication tricks in the single-player-RPG book.  Bottom line is that this bug should've been discovered and nailed down pr-release and I honest don't believe that its cause was totally unknown.

[xxTheGoDxx]

To be fair, there was an extensive Beta. The reason that it wasn't discovered there was because it mainly affects hired companions instead of self made ones. Still strange that internal testing didn't come up with this.

 

On another note, funny and scary how NONE of the reviewers with pre release access to the complete game seem to have seen it.

[alvin_the_elf]

The bug is easy to miss in beta and QA. It's not like everyone saves and loads everywhere or checks their stats every time. And the bug is very easy to avoid, AND there is a temporary fix for it already. I don't see what the big fuss is about.

 

 

Where is freaking fix for this ? Nearly all players have this bug, so nearly all players have unbalanced, not intentional by devs experience!!! COM'ON, THIS SHOULD BE FIXED ASAP. ALL PLAYERS CAN'T PLAY NORMAL!

It's not like patches grow on trees.

Give them time to analyse the problems, produce a working solution, test it and release it.

 

 

I wish there was a patch tree.

[sanpats]

Update on workaround for this bug

 

Hi, tfigment released v9 of his CT file, now including various Accuracy Bonuses. I modified his original file to include Endurance Bonus, Healing Bonus, and AOE Bonus. However, I cannot find DR data anywhere, may be it is calculated by code, and isn't a variable.

 

My latest moded CT File: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4w071v6jhfe6wns/PillarsOfEternity_1.0.2_figment_v9_add_end_heal_aoe_bonuses.CT?dl=0

 

Original tfigment's CT file: http://forum.cheatengine.org/viewtopic.php?t=580596

 

Original thread at reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/projecteternity/comments/30x84n/unofficial_bugfix_easy_fix_for_attributesdefences/.compact

 

Dev said this should not break the coming patch: https://twitter.com/adam_brennecke/status/583043829244125184

Edited April 1, 2015 by sanpats

[Cronstintein]

Keep up the awesome work, Sanpats.  You're doing gods' work

 

I'm personally waiting for the patch to see if I need to do all these shenanigans or not.  Also if you find the booleans for the stronghold upgrades, mine have gotten screwed up (losing upgraded buildings).

[alvin_the_elf]

This seems good news:

 

https://twitter.com/adam_brennecke/status/583043829244125184

[Jazou]

For everyone who's same as dumb as me:

 

When it's called you shouldn't save within the areas where you've recruited your companions, it doesn't mean you also shouldn't save in their sub-areas.

So if you want to save e.g. within Gilded Vale just enter a sub-area (e.g. Black Hound) and feel free to save without increasing stats.

 

Maybe for everyone else this was already a trivial conclusion, but I thought I couldn't save within the entire areas including sub-areas. 

[Zwiebelchen]

For everyone who's same as dumb as me:

 

When it's called you shouldn't save within the areas where you've recruited your companions, it doesn't mean you also shouldn't save in their sub-areas.

So if you want to save e.g. within Gilded Vale just enter a sub-area (e.g. Black Hound) and feel free to save without increasing stats.

 

Maybe for everyone else this was already a trivial conclusion, but I thought I couldn't save within the entire areas including sub-areas. 

 

Yeah that's my go-to solution for now.

 

Especially Magran's Fork is a problem here, as you will likely save/load a lot (with Durance in your party) before entering the boar fight on hard or PotD...

 

Luckily there's a small cottage on the same map.

[ISC]

 

Especially Magran's Fork is a problem here, as you will likely save/load a lot (with Durance in your party) before entering the boar fight on hard or PotD...

 

Luckily there's a small cottage on the same map.

 

 

I was wondering, do we know that the specific NPC tied to the area is the only one affected and only when said NPC is in your party (i.e. recruited and/or not left at stronghold)? So that if I dont pick up durance I could save freely at Magran's, even with other NPCs and/or picking up Durance later?

 

Good point about the cottage anyway.

[Zwiebelchen]

Yes, you can freely save/load in all other maps or with all other characters. Saving/loading before picking up the character on the same map is also fine. It only affects characters in your party and seems to only affect those characters in the pickup zones (not the corresponding sub-zones).

 

There are other bugs, however, that might also affect your PC in a similar way regardless of the map (as they have nothing to do with this bug) that you should be wary of: Double-clicking items in the inventory, using "above 50% endurance"-procc items, using certain bugged abilities (PC ciphers) or the health bug on PC monks.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Zwiebelchen

[pi2repsion]

Where is freaking fix for this ? Nearly all players have this bug, so nearly all players have unbalanced, not intentional by devs experience!!! COM'ON, THIS SHOULD BE FIXED ASAP. ALL PLAYERS CAN'T PLAY NORMAL!

Well, they said last weekend that they expected to be rolling out patch 1.03 this week, but it is Easter. If they'd been a company in a Nordic country like Denmark, that would have meant they'd effectively have to deliver today as Maundy Thursday through Easter Monday are public holidays and trying to deliver patches with a skeleton staff is seldom a good idea, but they are a US company, so....

 

Quickly, somebody track down the holiday rules for whatever US state Obsidian is located in.