Just finished Act II on Hard. Should I switch to PotD for Act III?

[Matt516]

Here's where I'm at: My party is all 1000 XP from lvl 10 or so. I did every quest I could do before finishing Act II except for the Endless Paths - I'm on floor 7 of those. And I've just finished Act II. I haven't been challenged in any battles in quite a while. I think I had maybe... 1 or 2 characters even get knocked out in all of Act II (note that I did all the Dyrford quests before starting Act II). I don't use summons and I don't use figurines. Just a nice Barbarian/Monk/Eder/Durance/Sagani/Aloth party.

 

I miss being challenged in battles. I'm not a masochist - at least not in this game (I have XCOM Long War for that), but I do want to feel like I actually need to try in combat. The first third of the game was about perfect for me on Hard. "Eothas Temple -> Raedric's Keep -> Endless Paths down to 7 -> Dyrford" made a really nice difficulty curve and was probably the most enjoyable part of the game for me. Act II was decent, but too easy. And if the game is only going to get easier than I'm going to lose steam and just get bored.

 

So. Should I switch to PotD difficulty for Act III? Or do the lower levels of the Endless Paths and the Act III enemies get reasonably challenging enough to bring back that "Act I feel"?

Edited May 24, 2015 by Matt516

[roller12]

try floor 8 first hehe

Edited May 24, 2015 by roller12

[Bryy]

You won't get the acheev so it's not real worth it at this point. 

[Tigranes]

If you play for achievements you're basically accentuating your genetic similarity to lab mice (which we all have, yes). You miss the challenge? You already said it - go POTD. Difficulty goes down in Act 3. 

[Matt516]

try floor 8 first hehe

 

Haha just finished it. Didn't find it too difficult for the most part, but the final boss provided quite a fun fight. I may stay on Hard for now. Not like I can't replay it. We'll see how story content is later game. Endless Paths still seems decent though.

 

 

You won't get the acheev so it's not real worth it at this point. 

 

.... ...

[Idleray]

How to challenge yourself and not be masochist:

 

1. Don't have a cipher. Swap your cipher out.

 

 

oh and yea play on POTD

[View619]

How to challenge yourself and not be masochist:

 

1. Don't have a cipher. Swap your cipher out.

 

 

oh and yea play on POTD

 

I would say don't pick the clearly unbalanced spells. It should be possible to play a Cipher that doesn't trivialize the game if you're not using **** like AOE Paralyze/Charm/Stuck. Also, no figurines and POTD.

[Shevek]

Restart on PotD and use IE mod to reduce xp by 25%.

[Matt516]

Restart on PotD and use IE mod to reduce xp by 25%.

 

Yeah, no. I have no interest in restarting a game 80 hours in. That's probably the least helpful advice you could possibly have given.

[Forefall]

Don't think you can switch to PotD unless you started on it.

[AGX-17]

Wizard only, no spells, final destination.

[Gromnir]

 

Restart on PotD and use IE mod to reduce xp by 25%.

 

Yeah, no. I have no interest in restarting a game 80 hours in. That's probably the least helpful advice you could possibly have given.

 

you have no idea how many times we has made the same observation. 

 

in any event, as you o' all boardies well know, the developers made a serious error regarding the poe xp progression.  at the end o' chapter 2, the completionist will be multiple levels above what the developers anticipated (am not sure why) and such a player is gonna have access to end game 1007 that were no doubt considered outta reach.  the critical path problem rears its ugly head in yet another game, eh? the further you get into a game such as poe, the more you will see a disparity 'tween critical path difficulty and completionist power. the disparity is inevitable, but the power gulf can be minimized. obsidian developers, for reasons we cannot fathom, failed to recognize just how great were the disparity.  conclusion: if you do a majority o' side quests in poe, chapter 3 will be too ez on hard. 

 

we don't like potd as it actual requires less tactical and strategic consideration on the part o' the player. there is gaming cheese that can make potd battles a breeze, but in the absence o' such you is nevertheless having your tactical and strategic options narrowed as you must inflict max damage as quick as possible.  is perhaps ironic that increased difficulty makes poe gameplay less varied.

 

one o' these days, if Gromnir becomes extreme bored, we will try a critical path run o' poe on hard difficulty.  am genuine curious what level we end at and how difficult the game plays with less than optimal gear and levels.  our curiosity is a small and pitiable creature that is likely to expire at any moment, but it is real nevertheless.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited May 26, 2015 by Gromnir

[TT1]

Don't think you can switch to PotD unless you started on it.

Fatality.

[Matt516]

 

Don't think you can switch to PotD unless you started on it.

Fatality.

 

 

IE mod.

[Bryy]

 

You won't get the acheev so it's not real worth it at this point. 

 

.... ...

 

Well it's the truth.

 

Besides, if you're not starting on Hard or above, 90% of the time if you switch, it means you're going for some sort of difficulty acheev and trying to cheese the system.

[Gorbag]

Besides, if you're not starting on Hard or above, 90% of the time if you switch, it means you're going for some sort of difficulty acheev and trying to cheese the system.

There is another option: He could also be trying to counter-balance the decrease in difficulty caused by over-levelling. While Act I is more straightforward, Act II opens up a huge variety of side content which you may or may not bother with. On the other hand Act III isn't balanced around doing everything in Act II (since that would be too punishing for those who don't care about side content) and difficulty does not scale, so a difficulty switch is in order if you want to keep the encounters challenging. 

[AndreaColombo]

How can you move to potd using the IE Mod?

Edited May 26, 2015 by AndreaColombo

[View619]

How can you move to potd using the IE Mod?

 

There's a specific console command that allows it.

[LeonKowalski]

You won't get the acheev so it's not real worth it at this point. 

 

You can get every achievement you want without playing the game (Valve doesn't care about cheating in single player games, including achievements).

Edited May 26, 2015 by LeonKowalski

[Bryy]

 

You won't get the acheev so it's not real worth it at this point. 

 

You can get every achievement you want without playing the game (Valve doesn't care about cheating in single player games, including achievements).

 

This is incorrect. Plenty of games on Steam disable acheevs if you cheat.

[LeonKowalski]

Shrug, I don't know about plenty of games ... I only know about PoE. You can get any achievement you want by googling a bit (I'm not going to link the program, Valve might not care but I dunno if Obsidian doesn't care). Including the Kickstarter one if you're one of those people who wants to 100% a game.

[Bryy]

Including the Kickstarter one if you're one of those people who wants to 100% a game.

Oh good lord, the Kickstarter acheev does not count towards anything, and I say this as a complete Achievement Whore.

 

And if you have it and did not earn it (the Backer Acheev), that's seriously screwed up.

Edited May 27, 2015 by Bryy

[LeonKowalski]

It counts towards Perfect game, like every achievement.

[TT1]

It counts towards Perfect game, like every achievement.

 

If you are a player and uses cheats to achieve the "perfect game" you are a loser, as a player and in life. And I think that Obsidian would just ruin your game if you use cheat to get the "backer achievement".

 

BTW, what good is having "perfect game"? I can exchange it for money somewhere? Your photo will be published somewhere and you will be successful with the girls? What's the point, exactly?

[Bryy]

It counts towards Perfect game, like every achievement.

No, it doesn't. It counts on the Steam app, but for the actual game in which you are playing? No, it doesn't. No acheev in Pillars of Eternity actually counts for anything. It's just an image that pops up on an overlay.