Improving Stronghold Rest Bonuses

[Anaeme]

Who agrees with me that the best way to make the stronghold rest bonses more fun is as follows:

 

 

• Stronghold rest bonuses should be semi-permanent until you go back to rest and chose a different bonus. 

 

• So if the party has a perception bonus of 3, that bonus will not expire as long as the party finds it useful. The only way it expires if for the party to go back to the stronghold and chose a different bonus while resting.

 

 

The way it works now is very immersion breaking. The party has to break out of adventuring and return to the stronghold to rest again if the player wants to keep a particular bonus. You have to do this repeatedly, every two rests, for as long as you are playing the game.

 

What a royal pain! 

[daver]

Personally, I like the challenge of knowing that the bonuses will expire in 3 rests.  I know I'll need a certain buff, say the +2 mechanics bonus, to disarm some traps in a given area, so I have to time my travel to keep that bonus.  When it wears out I look for other ways to buff up a certain bonus, such as equipment or those rare scrolls that buff up a stat by 3.  Forgot the name of that type of scroll, but I believe the effect lasts for 120 sec.  Other than that, I check at the inns if I'm in a town to see what sleeping bonuses they offer.  They may not offer exactly what I'm looking for, but for me, it's part of the challenge to my party to be able to adapt.  I only purposely travel back to the keep to change characters, defend the stronghold from an attack, collect on a bounty, or to tackle a couple more levels of the Endless Paths dungeon. 

 

My biggest complaint about the stronghold is the merchants the player can add with the construction upgrades.  They, the merchants, have almost nothing worthwhile for sale.

[Ymarsakar]

Stop rest spamming, problem solves itself.

 

A lot of the stronghold mechanics didn't have a lot of good ideas for content, so it's very bare bones. It was added as as a stretch goal, so they probably de prioritized it from critical to secondary B level, which shows.

 

They said they would be adding more content to the stronghold in Pillars 2. Creating a small village experience is something the Japanese are known for, the West doesn't really know how that feudal vibe works.

Edited October 11, 2015 by Ymarsakar

[sapientNode]

They were actually boosted from 1.06 to 2.0

 

I would not mind having a semi permanent buff from the stronghold though.

Something that I can just set and forget.

There too many things in this game that take too much time to think about beforehand.

The buffs even at +3 are not turning the tide of a battle but they do serve a great purpose in working with scripted events and dialog options.

So they would become more useful if they were essentially a toggle.

[LaSpeakeasi]

Brighthollow resting bonus doesn't need a buff. The 1-rest per pop inn bonuses however, do. If I rested in Dyrford or Stalwalt and venture back into the main areas, I might already need a rest soon after reaching my destination.

 

Also due to the flawed way mechanics are implemented, chances are by late game most people will use the +2 mechanics exclusively anyway.

Edited October 12, 2015 by LaSpeakeasi

[Ymarsakar]

They were actually boosted from 1.06 to 2.0

 

I would not mind having a semi permanent buff from the stronghold though.

Something that I can just set and forget.

There too many things in this game that take too much time to think about beforehand.

The buffs even at +3 are not turning the tide of a battle but they do serve a great purpose in working with scripted events and dialog options.

So they would become more useful if they were essentially a toggle.

 

I preferred the dungeon mechanics of Planescape Torment, where the Cube was an item you brought along with you, so it wasn't a physical fortress people had to go several loading screens to travel to.

 

 

Instead of just accessing the stronghold ui from anywhere, the steward could be brought alone as a portable and the entire fortress enclosed in a more conveniently reached location. Scripting wise, they would probably have to use the adventure text screen as a ui.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Ymarsakar

[hilfazer]

Not counting the 'do nothing' and 'troll' options there is only one option in this poll. And it has no chance to be implemented. Why? Because it supports rest spam - something OEI wants to avoid. Also stacking stronghold bonus with bonuses from some better inns could be OP.

 

 

What i'd like to see is stacking 2 bonuses (more would likely be too much) from those you already unlocked. It's not too much because some existing inns already can give you +6 to attributes.

[tinysalamander]

Because it supports rest spam - something OEI wants to avoid.

 

Clearly, they have failed then Although, if the goal was to please both sides of this battle, they did pretty fine.

[Kilburn]

bonuses are not needed. kinda dumb that you cant open a lock then you go to your stronghold, sleep, come back and open it with the bonus.

 

food is silly too. Why is food bonuses so strong and long lasting? Most magical potions suck and last for 10 seconds but eating a meat pie or whatever is like chugging a potion of frost giant strength and lasts for 5 minutes. All of the food can be done away with and replaced by potions instead. the potions should be much harder to get and more expsenive. As it is now they give you an unlimited supply of food and the bonuses are insane.

[the_dog_days]

The stronghold and upgrading it should be more relevant somehow, but permanent resting bonuses aren't the way to go.

[Guest 4ward]

i'll admit i'm rest spamming, but it's because i'm forced to. I play on hard as i like combat being a challenge but the limited camp supplies don't add to difficulty. it's just an additional annoymnet for me since i need 1-2 supplies for 1 level of endless paths so i end up heading back to gilded vale even since brighthollow isn't ready yet.

[Fenixp]

4ward: If you need 2 supplies for one level of endless paths, you are either underlevelled or are quite simply playing badly. Remember, managing those resources is an integral part of the challenge.

[Guest 4ward]

yeah,  could be, though my party was level 5 at that point, i believe though that it has to do with my party consisting of 4 guys, so basically the game forces me to play with a full party. Still, since resting is between battles and not during battles, the number of supplies is just annoying and not an influence on the challenge.

[Ymarsakar]

i'll admit i'm rest spamming, but it's because i'm forced to. I play on hard as i like combat being a challenge but the limited camp supplies don't add to difficulty. it's just an additional annoymnet for me since i need 1-2 supplies for 1 level of endless paths so i end up heading back to gilded vale even since brighthollow isn't ready yet.

 

I played on POTD 1.0 and used 1 rest per Caed Nua level. Resting when a party member is at red health and out of abilities, was also common.

 

"Forced to" is a subjective test based on your tactics.

 

"so basically the game forces me to play with a full party."

 

Maybe the user who soloed Caed Nua all levels using one monk was thinking that too.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Ymarsakar

[tinysalamander]

Maybe the user who soloed Caed Nua all levels using one monk was thinking that too.

 

Which means, since the whole game can be soloed on hardest settings, that there are no problems at all, right?

[rjshae]

Do you know what would make Brighthollow an appealing place to visit and rest?

 

A bonus Camping Supply slot.

 

Resting at Brighthollow allows you to prepare and pack up your travel goods more meticulously, allowing you to carry one extra Camping Supply package whenever you depart from there after resting.

[tinysalamander]

Do you know what would make Brighthollow an appealing place to visit and rest?

 

A bonus Camping Supply slot.

 

Resting at Brighthollow allows you to prepare and pack up your travel goods more meticulously, allowing you to carry one extra Camping Supply package whenever you depart from there after resting.

 

Which you'll immediatelly burn on arrival from there because of travel time *cough*