3.00 patch teased by Josh on SA

[DreamWayfarer]

Yeah, clear gear progression feels too "gamey" for me.

 

Actualy, I'd like if it was possible to give an unique enchantment to a non-unique weapon or armor that was not possible to add to unique ones.

 

Most of the unique items, judging by the stories in their descriptions, were not counciously enchanted to be so, but derive their power from the history of their first owner, like the soul of the wielder left a powerful imprint on the weapon or armor.

 

Many of those, like for exemple Mosquito, didn't even belong to legendary champions or people who lived throught things half as interesting as the Watcher did, so why can't we turn a normal item into an unique one by imprinting our essence upon it? Nothing too powerful, that you couldn't reasonably use a normal unique instead.

 

Maybe link the enchantment to our dispositions or something, and make it only work when wielded by the watcher or something.

Edited January 20, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[evilcat]

I do not have major complain about loot in PoE.

 

However it would be nice if weapon/shields/armours have a 4th enchantments category, lets say "legendary" with unique magical effects (draining, marking, tripping, spellstrike...) Probably not all, but these considered most desired.

 

Reason: Allows to have interesting effects of our weapon of choice. Not being limited by "best weapons come with Greatswords so this is way to go". (Souldbound walks around it a bit)

 

+ ability to name generic self crafted loot for some personal touch.

[DreamWayfarer]

I do not have major complain about loot in PoE.

 

However it would be nice if weapon/shields/armours have a 4th enchantments category, lets say "legendary" with unique magical effects (draining, marking, tripping, spellstrike...) Probably not all, but these considered most desired.

 

Reason: Allows to have interesting effects of our weapon of choice. Not being limited by "best weapons come with Greatswords so this is way to go". (Souldbound walks around it a bit)

 

+ ability to name generic self crafted loot for some personal touch.

I would link both of those suggestions, and limit it to only once per playthrough, since it is basically creating your own unique weapon, and as I speculated above, those seem to derive their power from reflections of the souls of their original wielders.

[PrimeJunta]

I wonder what the next step up from Legendary is, for Pillars 2. "Fabulous?"

[AndreaColombo]

I expect them to revise the rules for POE 2 as the current set doesn't look particularly ideal for high levels (e.g. 20+)

 

I don't think it would make sense to keep adding an enchantment level every four character levels as it would become gimmicky and pose more problems than it would be worth.

 

*If* there ever was a step beyond Legendary, I would call it Paragon, perhaps.

Edited January 21, 2016 by AndreaColombo

[Heijoushin]

I expect them to revise the rules for POE 2 as the current set doesn't look particularly ideal for high levels (e.g. 20+)

 

I don't think it would make sense to keep adding an enchantment level every four character levels as it would become gimmicky and pose more problems than it would be worth.

 

*If* there ever was a step beyond Legendary, I would call it Paragon, perhaps.

 

Ha! Remember the big uproar when PoE1 was being released, and people were complaining about the low level cap!

 

But yeah, for each level they add, there's a huge amount of things they have to plan (spells, equip, traits etc.) so I don't think they'll raise the cap too much.

[HawkSoft]

Yeah, clear gear progression feels too "gamey" for me.

 

Actualy, I'd like if it was possible to give an unique enchantment to a non-unique weapon or armor that was not possible to add to unique ones.

 

Most of the unique items, judging by the stories in their descriptions, were not counciously enchanted to be so, but derive their power from the history of their first owner, like the soul of the wielder left a powerful imprint on the weapon or armor.

 

Many of those, like for exemple Mosquito, didn't even belong to legendary champions or people who lived throught things half as interesting as the Watcher did, so why can't we turn a normal item into an unique one by imprinting our essence upon it? Nothing too powerful, that you couldn't reasonably use a normal unique instead.

 

Maybe link the enchantment to our dispositions or something, and make it only work when wielded by the watcher or something.

From what I remember most of the uniques got their power from somebody's death (not just knocked out) when presumably a soul fragment got bound up with the weapon. This makes it a bit problematic to craft your own

 

A nice easter egg might be to have a winning game create a soul bound weapon *seed* which your next protagonist gets to develop in a subsequent play-through. I'm calling it a seed because it should not be tied to any specific weapon but be useable with any mundane one. Standard enchantment would be possible plus the weapon gets (EG) its own skill slots on certain level-ups.

[DreamWayfarer]

 

 

Yeah, clear gear progression feels too "gamey" for me.

 

Actualy, I'd like if it was possible to give an unique enchantment to a non-unique weapon or armor that was not possible to add to unique ones.

 

Most of the unique items, judging by the stories in their descriptions, were not counciously enchanted to be so, but derive their power from the history of their first owner, like the soul of the wielder left a powerful imprint on the weapon or armor.

 

Many of those, like for exemple Mosquito, didn't even belong to legendary champions or people who lived throught things half as interesting as the Watcher did, so why can't we turn a normal item into an unique one by imprinting our essence upon it? Nothing too powerful, that you couldn't reasonably use a normal unique instead.

 

Maybe link the enchantment to our dispositions or something, and make it only work when wielded by the watcher or something.

From what I remember most of the uniques got their power from somebody's death (not just knocked out) when presumably a soul fragment got bound up with the weapon. This makes it a bit problematic to craft your own

I don't think so. The new description of Edér's armor implies it developed its enchantment on its own, and Éder didn't die while wearing it.

 

Plus, many of the descriptions of the uniques are ambiguous about whatever the power appeared only after the owner's death or if it was only discovered after it passed hands.

 

And finaly, the enchantment could only work when the Watcher is using the item, meaning that while his/her soul reaches into it and gives it power, it is still attached to its owner.

[HawkSoft]

…Plus, many of the descriptions of the uniques are ambiguous about whatever the power appeared only after the owner's death or if it was only discovered after it passed hands.

And finaly, the enchantment could only work when the Watcher is using the item, meaning that while his/her soul reaches into it and gives it power, it is still attached to its owner.

 

I'll accept that many of the descriptions are ambiguous, I think that's good in this context, I'd hate to see it getting too mechanistic.

 

There may be something in that an awakened watcher may/is (?) not a single soul so maybe a weapon could be powered by one of the joint souls?

I'd still prefer this to be something than you can enable at character creation time, rather than feeling it's a must-have piece of kit for every party.

[DreamWayfarer]

I'd still prefer this to be something than you can enable at character creation time, rather than feeling it's a must-have piece of kit for every party.

The personal enchantment could be something you could only do once per playthrought, and wouldn't be more powerful than normal uniques.

 

This way, it is opitional, adds to the roleplaying aspect if you don't want your character to depend on another's legacy, and if you do use it you could still want unique items for other equipement slots or to give to party members.

[tinysalamander]

The personal enchantment could be something you could only do once per playthrought

 

First playthrough (and that's the only one many will do) this might become frustrating experience.

[why]

 

The personal enchantment could be something you could only do once per playthrought

 

First playthrough (and that's the only one many will do) this might become frustrating experience.

 

This is the real problem.  It's like the really cool strongholds in BG2.  It's a lot of work with the risk that most people will only see one stronghold at all and may not end up doing much with or understanding any.

 

In this case, if Obsidian decided to pursue this idea, then they'd have to start the process of the personal enchantment relatively early and beat the player over the head with all the concepts in order to make it absolutely clear what was happening.  It could add to replay value, and it could definitely be a big move to choice and consequence to be sure, but it would be risky and no matter what some players wouldn't get it.  Of course, some players won't 'get it' no matter what.  Some players miss even the simplest of concepts spelled out clearly.  That's fair enough, but Obsidian would have to implement it carefully.

 

I would say that a personal enchantment, along the lines of what wayfarer and Hawk said above, would have to reflect actual choices in the game.  What decisions did the player face during the game, what path did he choose, and what was the outcome?  Let's say he followed a path to save a village, and this path must be not only stated in the game but a clear decision on the part of the character, only to find the village was later destroyed because of his incompetence.  Have the whole thing build into his personal enchant.  The problem is that this sort of choice and consequence would have to reflect something Pillars just doesn't do very much, which is to account for the difference between stated goals and hidden thoughts.  As... Voltaire?  Somebody said, and I paraphrase, some men use words for the sole purpose of hiding their thoughts.  In a role playing game, the player must know not only what his character says, but also what he thinks.  The motives of the latter should be clear to the former.  This is not only true in a game with an alignment system but equally true in a game without one.  In fact, knowing thoughts and motivations is even more important to characterization in a game that doesn't have an alignment system because the game doesn't provide the ultimate moral judgment about the character's actions.  The player does.

 

A personal enchant tied to the character in such an intimate way could in fact yield a huge benefit as a way to differential, define, and personalize the game for each player.  Moreover, the results of the decisions and the enchant need not be weak because of different outcomes.  The player might have wanted the PC to save the village.  The player and thus the PC might be discouraged by failing to do so.  However, the enchantment might have a certain strength and urgency precisely because of the failure.

 

Sure a system surrounding a single enchant sounds like considerably more work than they'd like to put into it, but it would make enchanting kick ass in a way that it simply isn't now.  I would probably argue against it, but I also think it would be cool if they did it.  One's a business decisions.  One is my own personal real life gamer choice and consequence.

[HawkSoft]

 

The personal enchantment could be something you could only do once per playthrought

 

First playthrough (and that's the only one many will do) this might become frustrating experience.

 

My thoughts are that PoE is a game you either want to play through several times over the course of time or it's something you might not finish at all. I see a *watcher* item as something specifically catering to players who want to play the game multiple times. Some action RPGs have *heirloom* items that are created when your character *retires*, I see it a bit like that.

 

Rough ideas for kicking about:

- You specify the item type at character creation (weapon, armour, shield, ring etc.)

- You find the item in Caed Nua, to start with it's completely mundane and can be enchanted normally.

- As you level up, say L5. L9. L13 you can pick a skill/trait (?) as the soul fragments within the item are awakened.

 

It would sort of allow for limited multi-classing but for the watcher only.

As this is a solo game (and this is an *expert* feature) I'd be happy for all sorts of builds. including ones that may be useless or overpowered.

[tinysalamander]

My thoughts are that PoE is a game you either want to play through several times over the course of time or it's something you might not finish at all.

 

I played it only once but completed it, including WM1. Where does that place me?

[evilcat]

I think that in category of personal weapon Soulbound weapons nailed it. And also this Ogre Helmet, this and Grey Sleeper have as fancy exposition as possible. And you cant beat that, so just do not overdo it. There could be more soulbond weapons, there is only one 1 handed so that is something to correct.

 

Hairloom weapons... a lot of work on setting artificial limits upon players (WotC would be proud). Not much gain.

"Special" enchancements on weapon/shield/armour + name the item option and it is all for me.

 

Stronghold could be done in a way which compromise time to develop and player happiness. Remove facebook builder elements, raids, and add some story arc, with world recognicion. There could be just one stronghold but more storydriven than so far.

 

But no big complains, just something to work on in PoE2.

Edited January 21, 2016 by evilcat

[PugPug]

I'm a kickstarter backer who's still on his first playthrough, and I've kind of suspended it waiting for this patch.

 

I just don't have time to game like I did back when I helped start this kick, you know? So I know that realistically I am probably only ever going to do one playthrough. There are too many games I want to play that I never will as it is.

 

I liked how WM1 added soulbound weapons (though I have yet to find one) and cross-class talents. I know there are some changes to those as well as skills coming in 3.0, and I assume some other undisclosed balance changes. Did I miss anything?

 

Can you tell me how far I am through the main game? I'm also wondering if I shouldn't start over to do things differently now that I have a better understanding of the game. Or maybe if I'm close to the end I'd decide to do two playthroughs. I don't know. This is my journal:

 

http://i.imgur.com/geCNik5.jpg

[gogocactus]

Patches are making this game better and better. So good in fact, that I just completed my third playthrough which is something I would have never expected. All I can say is that if you haven't played in a while, you've got a vastly improved and more enjoyable game coming towards you.

 

That said, I would say that you are at about 40-50%. Even so, there is no harm in starting a new game at this moment. Surely it would take you literally only a few hours to make the same progress as you have made so far. That said, if you are inclined to do so, I would certainly recommend you to take a look at some of the fun and exciting class builds here on this forum. I'm used several of Boeroer 's, AndreaColombo' s, Torm's and PrimeJunta 's builds in my past two playthroughs and had an absolute blast .

 

Edit : one cool and exciting change is that as of WM1,you can respec your main character and your selfmade character' s attribute points, skills and abilities. No need to worry about anything character related anymore, apart from your choice of class!

Edited January 22, 2016 by gogocactus

[Fiery Rain]

Some VERY, VERY quickfire thoughts on some (but not all) aspects of 3.00 patch, so keep this in mind:

1. Main screen - new, cool, thanks, guys!

2. More transparent breakdown of stats - also cool, very useful for builds, so far didn't notice any bugs.

3. Action icons on portraits - I'm not really sure about this one. Since player always looks on battlefield directly, action icons over character heads are far more useful, since you can see all at a glance, instead of always lowering eyes to portraits. PoE combat is very quick, sometimes even split-second can matter, so there's simply is not enough time for that. YMMV, of course. But as long as it remains an option which can be disabled, well...

4. Injuries... Well... It's very hard to breakdown, honestly. Especially in quickfire analysis. But let's try...
They ARE good and they need to stay in the game PERIOD, there's that. The problem is - since PoE combat is not very hard, except on PotD, they hit hardest only when they multiply, i.e. one character falls time after time without resting. And even when they do hit, they all rectified instantly with simple resting. Their effect so far is not very noticeable, so you can freely allow yourself to fall, just like before. That's my main gripe with the game combat overall - because of the health system, you effectively have 6 extra lives against just one in IWD, for example. Meaning - in IWD fight could be called dangerous if you could lose just one fighter in it, since player reloads immediately and restarts, resetting progress completely. Here, fight could be called dangerous only when there's direct risk of full party wipe instead of one member.

Which means - since injuries can be rectified instantly and their effect is noticeable only when they multiply since the combat is not really hard, they need to hit harder, I think. Much harder, maybe even. You already have two very easy difficulty modes, now when Story Time is included, so I think something could be done for players that want some challenge. And every PoE player WILL get better over time, even someone who is not good with mechanics so there's that. But even then it will only force resting, so I don't know, really. They ARE good for some players like me who can't stand seeing even slight penalty on stats, since this will psychologically force them to fight better so they won't see it, ever. So that's something, I guess. And BTW, this brings me to my next point...

5. Rest mechanics. The same players (but not me this time) probably will also now avoid the resting, since now it involves fairly long process of selecting beneficial effects each time when you press the rest button. So the game will become harder for them, in a very roundabout way. It's not hard to do, for me at least, so I don't mind. And it's better than it was before, because Survival now actually does something. But I've got some vague feeling there will be complaints that "it's too long doing that every time" or something. Again, for me, it's cool. My problem is different - these bonuses make fairly easy combat even easier. Easier combat mean less Injuries. And Injuries so far are not too noticeable. So again, I think, for Injuries to work, they really need to hit hard. Meaning, after receving two or three characters should already barely walk. They are optional, after all, if you don't like them - disable them, so you can "go wild" with them.

6. FINALLY SCALING TEXT ON LOADING SCREENS, HOORAY!!!

... I think.

I guess this is it for now. All changes ARE good and NEED to stay, I can say this much already. Maybe some other Pillars players can comment/add something?

[UlfTheUnwashed]

<snip>

 

Hairloom weapons... a lot of work on setting artificial limits upon players (WotC would be proud). Not much gain.

"Special" enchancements on weapon/shield/armour + name the item option and it is all for me.

 

<snip>

Don't normally comment on typos, but you may be thinking of the bright pink wig of ensorcelment? All enemies within 10 feet must make a saving throw against domination or collapse into hysterical laughter for one minute, during which time the wearer's attacks ignore the enemies' DR value.

[evilcat]

5. Rest mechanics. The same players (but not me this time) probably will also now avoid the resting, since now it involves fairly long process of selecting beneficial effects each time when you press the rest button. So the game will become harder for them, in a very roundabout way. It's not hard to do, for me at least, so I don't mind. And it's better than it was before, because Survival now actually does something. But I've got some vague feeling there will be complaints that "it's too long doing that every time" or something. Again, for me, it's cool. My problem is different - these bonuses make fairly easy combat even easier. Easier combat mean less Injuries. And Injuries so far are not too noticeable. So again, I think, for Injuries to work, they really need to hit hard. Meaning, after receving two or three characters should already barely walk. They are optional, after all, if you don't like them - disable them, so you can "go wild" with them.

 

I have a bad feeling about this. Being forced to choose buff at each rest is rather repetitive and does not bring gameplay i like. It is boring.

 

Imho there should be easier solution, like: Survival - increase potion, food duration AND gives bonus to healing effects on us.

If that is not enought:

+Give some small elemental resistance.

 

I simply would prefer passive buff, which leaves more time for real play.

[HawkSoft]

My parties have picked up a few injuries and I agree they are a *so what*: cancelled by one rest and somewhat equivalent to an enemy's de-buff, I just play through them/avoid combat until a suitable rest point.

 

I'm playing on normal but don't try to optimise the fights as much as I might on if I were playing on higher difficulties (hence getting injuries).

 

I'd prefer a system that gave a character a weak leg/chest/arm so that if the character was subsequently KO'd it could turn into a permanent injury. The severity of a weakness and the chance of a KO causing a permanent injury might depend on how long the character was KO'd before the end of the fight. Resting might gradually reduce the severity of a weakness but never eliminate it, Ideally there should be some injury related banter for the pre-made characters. Permanently injured characters could get a per-rest *overcome injury* ability (with a bark please).

[WorstUsernameEver]

I have a bad feeling about this. Being forced to choose buff at each rest is rather repetitive and does not bring gameplay i like. It is boring.

 

Imho there should be easier solution, like: Survival - increase potion, food duration AND gives bonus to healing effects on us.

If that is not enought:

+Give some small elemental resistance.

 

I simply would prefer passive buff, which leaves more time for real play.

I mean, the buffs are saved every time you rest and you only have to change them if you aren't satisfied with how they're working out or want to optimize for a particular situation. Otherwise, you just leave them as they are and confirm rest with another click. Doesn't seem like a huge hassle to me.

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

Has anyone figured out what level triggers the scaling option for Act III?

[PrimeJunta]

I'd prefer a system that gave a character a weak leg/chest/arm so that if the character was subsequently KO'd it could turn into a permanent injury. The severity of a weakness and the chance of a KO causing a permanent injury might depend on how long the character was KO'd before the end of the fight. Resting might gradually reduce the severity of a weakness but never eliminate it, Ideally there should be some injury related banter for the pre-made characters. Permanently injured characters could get a per-rest *overcome injury* ability (with a bark please).

(1) Complicated

(2) Functionally equivalent to permadeath (i.e., an automatic reload trigger for almost all players)

 

I.e., :thumbsdown: on this. If you want that experience, just get rid of the dual health bar and put in permadeath, it's much simpler.

[Karkarov]

Can you tell me how far I am through the main game? I'm also wondering if I shouldn't start over to do things differently now that I have a better understanding of the game. Or maybe if I'm close to the end I'd decide to do two playthroughs. I don't know. This is my journal:

 

http://i.imgur.com/geCNik5.jpg

You look about 60% or so.  I would wait for the patch and start over unless your time is at an absolute premium.