Please Help with Your Opinion

[Forefall]

I've played Pillars just a bit, bought it over a month (or 2?) ago and stopped playing because I was concerned with the difficulty.  I'm generally a pretty good player but I didn't fully enjoy playing on PotD because all the numbers seemed really off.  I'd like people's opinions on what they think would be the best way for me to play.  I'd ideally like to play on Hard but I'm afraid that deflection will be too easy to get and I'll have a couple "physically immune" characters that will make the combat poor.

 

So, is this a reasonable suggestion for me to play?

 

Hard difficulty

Limit to 4 characters in party

No using shields

No acquiring traits/skills that boost deflection

 

Or is PotD just going to be more satisfying in terms of offering a challenge?

 

[abaris]

I've played Pillars just a bit, bought it over a month (or 2?) ago and stopped playing because I was concerned with the difficulty.  I'm generally a pretty good player but I didn't fully enjoy playing on PotD because all the numbers seemed really off.  I'd like people's opinions on what they think would be the best way for me to play.  I'd ideally like to play on Hard but I'm afraid that deflection will be too easy to get and I'll have a couple "physically immune" characters that will make the combat poor.

 

So, is this a reasonable suggestion for me to play?

 

Hard difficulty

Limit to 4 characters in party

No using shields

No acquiring traits/skills that boost deflection

 

Or is PotD just going to be more satisfying in terms of offering a challenge?

 

Why don't you start on normal when you don't know the game, the challenges and the locations and the game mechanics? Do you want to be frustrated?

 

And why limit yourself to 4 when there's enough XP lying around to reach the cap level with a full fletched party?

Edited May 21, 2015 by abaris

[Forefall]

I don't start on normal, or even hard with 6 party members, because I find the challenge is lacking.  Sorry if that wasn't clear.  The 4 party members and no shields etc. is an intentional buff to make playing on hard difficulty a sufficient challenge.  As I have little experience with the game I'm asking other experience players what their thoughts are.  I could just play on PotD but I'd prefer to play on Hard if I can make it challenging.  I'm wondering what others think.

[mystang89]

I started on normal play through with all 6 characters and beat the game. Thought it was too easy as it turned more and more into a tank and spank so I started a new one on normal solo. Seems to be the perfect difficulty for me.

[Nakia]

Since I don't know what your interests and priorities are I can only make some general comments.  There have been a couple of patches since the game was released which did some re-balancing.

There are plenty of options for information available including in[game tutorial also the loading screens give you a lot of information.  This game does have a lot of reading in it.

 

As  abaris says why not start on normal.  You can change  to hard once you understand the mechanics.  Leveling up is easy.  In my current game I am still in Gilded Vale with at least three quests to do with a party of five, Ranger PC, Eder, Aloth, Durance all at level three and a hired rogue at level two.  We are about to level up.   

[Forefall]

Sorry, can't respond yet as apparently I need moderator approval.  But I don't think normal will be a challenge.  I could do hard solo, but I'll miss the aspect of paying with a party and using the NPC's.

[manageri]

4 chars is definitely fine. No idea how refusing to pimp anyone's deflection will turn out though. PotD isn't that hard once you figure out most fights are really just about debuffing the **** out the enemy's accuracy and deflection/reflex and then nuking them to bits with your heavy hitters/aoe spells.

[View619]

Just play on Hard and find out for yourself if the game is too easy. If you feel the need, then move to POTD.

[Forefall]

I can't do that though.  Apparently PotD can only be chosen at the beginning of a game and can't be switched once chosen.  It just seems like hard would be too easy with a high deflection character, but I don't really know.

 

I guess I'll just go back to PotD.  Hard to estimate how much or little deflection to allow and I'm not really a fan of self-imposed rules in the first place.

[Clicks]

I'd recommend 4 characters on Hard difficulty.b I'm about to restart with similar rules, but I won't be restricting deflection or use of shields. I found a party of 6 a little too easy once I reached level 5/6. I found I could charge in to a lot of battles without regard to crowd control or buffs.

[Forefall]

I'm playing on PotD and wow it's still pretty easy.  Very glad I didn't try it on hard.  Wierd why the difficulty is so off.  Only got up to Radric's Hold, just got level 4, but been breezing through.  As a tip in case others read, if you're an experienced gamer, hard will not offer a decent challenge.

[rnarchlord]

If you want to add extra challenge also choose to play expert on normal or hard.  You will be scratching your head trying to figure out spell distances and AOEs as well as getting no hand holding from the game.