Pillars of Eternity 2 Wish List and Suggestions

[Eadan]

 

Casters are supposed to be versatile. How to be versatile with 5-10 abilities ?

 

More abilities making a class boring does not make a lot of sense. Although more original abilities are sometimes better than too many abilities.

 

It doesn't make sense because you misunderstood me, horribly. Having ALL of the abilities makes a class boring. And yes, making choices is more interesting than not making choices .

 

30-60 well-designed abilities is way more than enough to be versatile...

 

Agreed, thanks for proving I am not alone in my suggestions.

[Elric Galad]

Well, it was more or less what I suggested in my second sentence.

 

However, classes have traditional strenghts and weaknesses. Casters are supposed to have a great versatility IN-GAME. That's the whole point of the spellbook thing. I think it is good as it is.

 

For each spell level, having choice between a few circonstancial spells and generic ones sounds perfect for me.

 

Also it is a good way to make room for specialized abilities : if you have to choose between something circonstancial and something generic, you would usually choose the later. Circonstancial abilities, while interesting, might not be chosen at all. The best way to avoid this is to let the player have both and make the choice in-game : that's the point of spell book.

 

Martial class abilities need more care by the way. Because you have few of them, it's better if thet feel unique and fun (yeah, immolation !).

Edited June 6, 2016 by Elric Galad

[Loren Tyr]

1. An additional "pet" focused class, where the pet is the main focus of the class. This could be an Animancer with constructs or animats, or maybe even a take on a Sorcerer or Warlock with a familiar.

 

How would it really differ from Ranger, though? A mage familiar would probably get into similar territory, but more magicky. To be more distinctive it would probably get more into Summoner-type territory. Which could be great fun actually, but might be tricky to keep balanced (maybe tie the Endurance of the summoner to that of his creations to some extent?). 

 

Might be interesting to have the animancer/necromancer actually *be* a construct-ish/undead character (akin to Helig). 

[DozingDragon]

 

1. An additional "pet" focused class, where the pet is the main focus of the class. This could be an Animancer with constructs or animats, or maybe even a take on a Sorcerer or Warlock with a familiar.

 

How would it really differ from Ranger, though? A mage familiar would probably get into similar territory, but more magicky. To be more distinctive it would probably get more into Summoner-type territory. Which could be great fun actually, but might be tricky to keep balanced (maybe tie the Endurance of the summoner to that of his creations to some extent?). 

 

Might be interesting to have the animancer/necromancer actually *be* a construct-ish/undead character (akin to Helig). 

 

 

I see where you are coming from, but I envisioned more of an Animancer/Sorcerer/Etc. with a pet that would allow for a different range of abilities for a pet than the ranger (or at least the ranger pets we have now). 

 

An animancer for example could have a tank-like Flesh Construct with the ability to engage multiple opponents and perhaps with enough investment detonate on command, something that wouldn't make much sense for a wolf to do. Animats might be able to use more spell-like abilities like energy discharges and focus on DPS style builds, etc. 

 

Beyond a newly opened range of abilities for a pet for an animancer, the combo of a sturdier pet with a more frail character might also open up some design opportunities for either high risk/high reward close ranged abilities for an animancer, focusing on spawning skeletons from fallen enemies which might be buffed if in proximity to the pet, etc. 

 

Similarly, like you point out, a sorcerer might be a bit like a wizard, but if the familiar is a centerpiece of the class design it can open some new design opportunities. If I recall correctly at one point in development wizards actually had familiars as a class feature or option, and allowed remote casting of spells from the familiar. While that may have been a bit much for the already versatile wizard power set, a class which focused on casting through a familiar might be more reasonable to balance along with the existing classes. 

 

A sorcerer might focus more on mobility as well, perhaps being to able to freely swap positions with a familiar on the battlefield. 

 

Again, these are just loose ideas, but I see some areas to allow for interesting pets, powers, and abilities that do not seem to currently fit thematically with the ranger class. 

 

However, I like your idea of allowing for construct/undead characters of some kind, either as a player option or a unique NPC. 

[Erstarrung]

I honestly think there are enough classes in the game as ist - there should already be a class for every playstyle (support, tank, ranged, melee, ranged caster, melee caster).

 

Personally, I wish the devs would focus on companions with more personality (more interjections, more comments on events, deeper personal quests [perhaps even more than exactly one quest per companion], having actual relationships [not necessarily a romance, although that would be okay, too, but developing friendships, or growing animosity, etc.], companions leaving the group if you make decisions going against the moral code of a companion, these kind of things).

 

Generally, I'd like to have a more immersive game world with more reactivity to the PC's class/race/ethnicity/gender/social status (more than the otherwise meaningless sentence here or there), perhaps with whole quests or other situations specific to certain classes/races/etc.

 

Both concepts could even be combined. For example, right now I'm playing a clergyman from Aedyr, a Priest of Eothas, who specifically came to the Dyrwood to (again) spread the Eothasian belief. But Durance had nothing(!) to say about that (not even during the temple quest in Gilded Vale), which is kind of sad and imersion-breaking.

 

Or an Orlan PC could have to deal with (a lot of) racial prejudice, a PC from the Vailian Republics could get a quest specific to Vailians (like Pallegina does now), there could be a Brotherhood and/or a Sisterhood (like the Frermàs mes Canc Suolias), only open to members of all classes, but only to men/women, the PC might want to join during the course of the game, and where the PC has to prove his/her worth and reliability, and so on...

[Kingsman]

More content especially in the main city. Pillars 1 was very lacking in depth without the expansions

[Guest Jamila]

More of the same would be fine with me I think, so my wish list is pretty short:
1) Less bugs, especially less of those introduced in patches. Though I had few problems with PoE, I noticed glitches here and there and the bug with stats increasing by save/loading turned out to be showstopper.
2) I would welcome if the story took place in one of the other regions that were mentioned, like Aedyr, Vaillia or Rauatai, and was largely unrelated to events in PoE. See, a good story needs to know when to end. Some companions/NPCs could return though. But they would have to have a credible excuse for coming back!
3) Also, an unrelated story could conveniently start with the hero at level 1, which would spare us a lot of trouble with scaling and progression past level 16 semi-sensible. The general truth is that any RPG is works well early and gets only worse at higher levels.

[Faerunner]

1) Richer, more intricate, more in-depth story. I enjoyed the story this game, but it seemed more like an excuse to run around beautiful scenic areas and kill creative baddies. I'd like it if the next story wasn't quite as simply summed up as "You are a Watcher, and the one who made you one leads a crazy cult with nefarious plans, so you run around trying to find a cure to your condition while uncovering and stopping what they plan on doing."

 

1) More in-depth exploration of a few nations, cultures, and/or races rather than shallow overview of all of them. Going to Dyrwood and encountering companions and NPCs of every nationality, culture, race, and subrace in existence was nice, but I felt we didn't get to learn about any of them in detail. I'd love to go into more detail of any of these races or cultures in future games.

 

3) More reactivity to the PC's chosen race and culture. For instance, it's kind of jarring to hear everyone talk about how they think less of orlans, and treat Orlan NPCs like dirt, but only two people ever comments on an orlan like you owning a Keep or back-talking them.

 

4) More deeply written companions with personal stories and quests more intricately woven to the main plot. I get that one of the gimmicks of this game is to allow players to create their own party members, so there's no sense putting too much effort into something that many players won't even see, but still...

 

5) While I appreciate the Gameplay/Story Integration of companions' stats and abilities reflecting their personalities (for example, Aloth having high intelligence but low physical stats and Resolution to show how he's allowed himself to be easily led and overpowered by others his whole life), at some point there needs to be an eye for combat use-ability too. I get not min-maxing them since that's just silly, but by the same token...

 

6) Obsidian, PLEASE stop releasing games where there are (initially) only one to a few more companions than we can bring in a party.

 

Remember Mask of the Betrayer? It KILLED ME that we could recruit four potential companions (Safiya, Gann, Kaelyn, Okku/One-of-Many) yet could only bring three in our party, making one sit out for no reason. For Pillars, before White March, we could recruit 8 companions but only bring 5 in each party. While not as bad as MotB, I find it frustrating being so close to being able to take everyone along, only to arbitrarily keep one to three out and miss out on a whole set. Yeah, other games like BioWare are worse since they usually let you have around ten companion but can only bring 3-4 in a party, but I can understand because I'm already going in with a mindset of "There are already way more companions than slots, so I can't hang out with most of them at a time." When there are only one to three more companions than party spots available, I personally find it frustrating because it's like, "If only there were a few less companions or a few more party slots, I could bring everyone and not miss out on companion-related content (ambient comments, party banter, companions' opinions on your quests, etc."

 

This was rectified somewhat with the new companions in White March, but still. And I know it increases replay value by having different companions you can bring with you in different areas in different playthroughs... but still. I personally feel: "Either have way more companions than slots available, or have no more companions than slots available in the party."

[LordElmdor]

Hello everyone! I've been analyzing PoD since it was launched. Suggestions to improve the already game came to mind several times during the gameplay, but as I do not remember all, I try to contribute analyzing and (in my opinion) strengthening the posted already ideas that seem to be more consistent for an heir of the legendary infinity engine games ...

 

1 "Obsidian need to let the character build an empire in pillars 2” . We want power and power and more power."Regarding the complexity of the game's plot, I think this willingly, but some events could result in more significant changes in the general scenario depending on how to end up some quests, such as limiting access to an area, behold a hostile region to PCs, increase / decrease the price of items and services in a city, take NPCs (or change the setting) of an environment before empty / abandoned ... and other random effects. These plot changes give more life to the world ...

 

2 In the project began some classes really were unbalanced (Cipher?), but the last patches become the most righteous things ... this last adjustment in the Rogue was great ... the rest, I do not see as much trouble as often point out, just remember some beginners this is a strategic-RPG! As the number of PCs in the group is optional, those who want something more challenging just decrease the amount of members

 

3 “Per rest attribute bonuses are immersion breaking and frustrating. No one shouldnt have to trace Their way out of the dungeon to reinstate attribute bonuses”  I think I disagree with that point of view Lol ... Per Rest forces is part of the tactical essence of the game, forcing the player to think twice before using certain skills, saving them for the right moments, making some more challenging times

 

 

4 "Take advantage of Amazon's free game engine to give us some better graphics. I want to see the armor I put on my toon, heck I want to see their face" -> YEH!

 

5 "All classes shouldnt have natural regeneration of health, even if some classes have more than others. Natural regeneration shouldnt be upgrade-able with talents" ... Definitely not. Regeneration should be a restricted ability of any race, class or item ... INDEED SHE IS THAT ... well ...

 

6 "Be brave ... let us experience some level or Divine epic gameplay. (Motb did just fine)" Epic / divine level, no, but >>> multiclass system and / or classes of prestige <<< YES!

 

7 "Players shouldnt be rewarded for designing good character builds. Remove the over dependence of classes on gear to be viable. (Forgemaster Gloves I am looking at you)" I agree, but I see that this problem can be solved with the above suggestion, on the possibility of building multiclass characters

 

8 "After the trap is detected, there is no reason for companions to run into Them. Bonus against traps shouldnt Increase upon detection" I do not see much logic in it, because the idea is to "divert" the trap, which makes things more interesting in fighting ... and also realize a trap not make me gain resistance bonus against their damage if I still fall on it ...

 

9 "Let us customize companions from the start of the game. Do not give us random stat distribution NPCs to salvage from Their miserable attributes (Sorry Pallegina ...)" No, no, man ... NPCs are designed to be only ones .. .and there is already protagonists generation system in Pod ...

 

10 “Implementation of multiplayer and Creating and releasing mod tools (Mod support).” Yeh and Yeh!

 

11 “more consistent and transparent mechanics” ... Yes, this could be solved with an initial root tutorial on the first map of the game (that camp ...) and a guide / encyclopaedia more enhanced

 

12 "Magic needs to make a return. Give the spells and magic items more creativity so we are amazed at what They can do. "Yes, like that talking sword of BG2 ... or any item that really alter the game environment, such as the ability to reveal a secret room in some left part of any town ... make that river / rock / tree out of the way and open a secret track ... these things ....

 

13 "The only thing in PoE I really hated was the combat, so please no more trash mobs and pointless random combat encounters and no respawning" The lack of respawning really is a problem to be solved ... it literally kills the organic game. some wilder maps should have not only respawn, but also the appearance of new random enemies ....

 

14  "- Level IX spells

- Maybe kind of set items with additional bonuses if you wear all or some pieces

- Enchanting is Soulbound Items

- Weather effects

- Class specific quests / adventures "

 

This guy is a genius ... perfect ... but out instead of level spells XI, could be more secret spells ...

 

15 “How about an antagonist you get to know and dislike something instead of something unknown somehing about something? " Yeh, these things give more life to an RPG. This antagonist might even join the group as a secret character. This would be possible only through a delicate quest, involving dialogues and choices that dialogues, as with Durance ...

 

16 "Less text without pictures / animations"Yes ... In this kind of game, an original avatar in the dialog box makes it more special and unique NPC ... Option to use the character models portraits, as posted, it is also a good idea

 

17 "Priests for all divinities. And a few more class kits (Paladin, Druids, Rangers and Priests can be expended too)." Moreover, it is interesting that the player could join some of the guilds / factions in the game, and such membership really affect the game, to add unique quests and change the atmosphere in a few maps ...

 

18 "-Companions With an edge. Have Them leave us, challenge us, attack us, attack other party members, etc., if there is a serious clash of beliefs. More DRAMA amongst the companions." Obsidian please take this idea seriously ...

 

19 “ Separate slots for necklaces and cloaks.” <<< !!! =)

 

20 "Hold position toggle, so I can leave on AI without Worrying about people moving and getting disengaged When I do not want this." This really bothers you, especially when you have a Barbarian in the group.

 

21 "If they're dead and nobody saw / heard it happen, it should not influence my reputation. (For example killing Medreth's party in the woods with no witnesses still gets me bad rep with Doemenels)" Yeah ... Also, a mechanical facing theft NPCs would be interesting, as in BG (pickpocketing) but with some changes in the theft process, such as bonuses me dark environments, floor noise depending on the floor material and of course the possibility of being caught in the act the field of vision of other NPCs in the environment. It would be a system in real time ...

[SableShrike]

Two suggestions!

 

 

Firstly, one of the things I liked most from IWD2 over PoE was that custom party members could still actively contribute to the story.  If you needed a certain Resolve and didn't have it on your MC, say, your custom Paladin could "talk" instead of the MC and clear the skill check.

That felt a lot more realistic because you're a PARTY, not an adventuring harem.

 

Heck, I'd like to see the Companions in PoE2 even be capable of that.  It would give you yet another reason to take certain ones along.  Sure, they may not min-maxed for combat, but maybe one of the Companions is a high Lore and mental stat setup.  They could be your voice of reason or your silver tongue if you got tired of grinding combat.

Honestly, out of all the IE games IWD2 had the most replayability for me because of this:  it offered so many different approaches and options to beating the game your own way.

 

Second!

 

Really think hard about what graphical effects you're going to tie to item enchantments in PoE2.  I really would like to enchant a Slaying Shocking Lash greatsword, but it looks terrible to have both on it.  Slaying doesn't need a graphical effect!  You could get away with NO weapon enchantment effects, really.  The OnHit component that explodes in a big elemental flash is more than enough.

What rogue is gonna sneak around with a dagger that burns as brightly as a sun?  At the least, could you guys think about making an optional "Minimal FX" toggle?  That would be perfect!

Loved the first; will definitely be buying the 2nd!

[DreamWayfarer]

More real companions, please. I want my story companions to actually have agency outside of the PC, and to be able to question my choices and leave me if I cross certain lines.

 

Better yet, I slso want them to contribute to the story in ways the player character can't, like how GM in the Blood Legacy quest was able to use her powers to give an alternate endimg to the quest. And don't simply make it linked only to class or stats, but to the character's backstory.

 

And last, give all companions unique tools, like you gave to Pallegina and Devil.

 

Oh, and I lied. Here is the last: don't have that one area per act thing please. Either make the entire game centered on a few well made areas or force the player to return to places that they saw before.

Edited June 12, 2016 by DreamWayfarer

[Suen]

almost forgot: ducks

[Sabotin]

I'd like a tighter story. Replaying MotB it reminded me how the themes explored should permeate the world and connect it to your personal story. The "big reveal" at the end of PoE seemed kinda flat and unrelated. I enjoyed the conversations with Myrkul and The Founder much more than with Iovara.

 

And I'd also like for the story to be more connected with the gameplay. For example in PS:T your character is built through the story and your deeds as much as through XP. While it need not be present to THAT extent, I do miss the narrative "excuses" for gameplay mechanics that were for example in KOTOR2.

[PizzaSHARK]

I'll chip in with my pet peeves and wants.

 

- UI improvements to make it easier to understand specifically what's going on.  I have an extremely tough time determining what's going on or even WHERE my units are in the middle of a large-scale, AOE-heavy fight (full party versus 6+ enemies, particularly if there are spellcasting enemies.)  The big brawl on the 7th floor of Od Nua by the locked door was an absolute cluster****.  I pretty much just spammed AOE spells and hoped my immunity buffs and healing spells would outweigh whatever AOEs the enemy units were spamming and the inevitable friendly fire resulting from selection circles being almost impossible to see.  I definitely feel like selection circles should override any spell effects, models, etc when that unit is selected or being targeted.  It's very frustrating to try and locate Sagani's pet Ituumak, a small white fox, in the middle of bright blue, white, gold, etc spell effects in the middle of a pitched battle.  I feel like PoE has a lot of potential to be a tactically complex and interesting game, but when I can't tell up from down in the middle of a fight due to the presentation of the game, I don't see it happening.  Even on PotD, large fights devolve into "spam AOEs and hope I come out on top, because I can't tell what the hell is going on."

 

- Related to the above, I'd like more information about spellcasting.  When an enemy is casting a spell, I'd like to be able to hover over that itty bitty icon to be told what spell it is they're casting.  Add a Spellcraft skill or something like that if you want to prevent the player from magically knowing everything about spells they've never seen before, or make it function like the bestiary: the more times you're exposed to a spell or spell-like ability, the more you're able to understand it.

 

- Add filters to the combat log.  It's very frustrating to be in the middle of a huge brawl and then suddenly Pallegina gets hit for like 80% of her HP instantly and I have to stop everything and spend two minutes carefully poring over the combat log, line by line, until I can finally locate what hit her.  If one of my dudes gets obliterated by something an enemy did, I want to be able to quickly find the line that explains what happened, so I can prevent it in the future or come up with a means of handling it (especially if it means I'm gonna have to load a save and try the fight again!)  I probably don't need to be advised of basic attack rolls: those could be safely hidden behind a filter.  Basically, I want to be able to customize the combat log to show me only information that I find important or relevant.  If the developers have played World of Warcraft, their combat log and how it has filters enabled might be an example of what I'm asking for.

 

- Add a "sell all" button to the trade panel.  Clicking it will place everything in the current page of the Stash into the trade window.  Allow us to mark items as "favorites", which will not be added to the trade panel unless added manually.  I just murdered my way through 80 xaurips, and I want to turn those piles of shields and bows into a little bit of spare change.  It took me something ridiculous like five minutes to do this.  Slowly adding them to the trade panel, one by one, with a couple seconds of lag between each transaction because of how the Stash works (instead of having discrete pages, it simply pulls an item from a subsequent page to fill the vacancy.)  Alternatively, just have monsters drop raw cash roughly equivalent to what their equipment is worth.  If that adorable little xaurip I'm scraping off my bootheel was carrying equipment worth 15cp to a vendor, just have him drop something like 8-18cp or something.

 

- Ideally, dial back on-hit effects of the "hard lock" variety: stun, paralyze, etc.  I don't find it particularly fun or even all that interesting to watch someone get stunlocked by a Phantom or permanently paralyzed by a Xaurip Skirmisher, and watching Sagani stunlock the enemy mage from across the room with her "chance to stun on crit" bow also isn't that interesting.  I'm okay with minor debuffs being on-hit effects (and even substantial ones like Weakened, if it's a very powerful monster), but I think that "hard lock" on-hit effects should be limited to self-buffs with limited durations, not just an intrinsic part of the creature's attack or weapon properties.  Like the Xaurip Skirmisher coats their weapon in poison, allowing Paralyze on hit for a few seconds, usable once or twice per encounter.  Phantoms can empower their attacks to Stun for a few seconds, once or twice per encounter.  That sword will apply Stun on a crit, up to four times per encounter.  Stuff like that.

 

- Rework the entire resting/Health system.  I like the concept, but find it to be very boring in practice, rather than interesting.  I don't like the idea that it's totally okay for the adventurers to waltz out of the dungeon with pretty much no health or spells remaining, travel 2 days to the nearest town (without ever worrying about being accosted by bandits or slavers, which we're always hearing about) and sleep in the inn (and maybe buy more camping supplies), and then travel another 2 days back to the dungeon and pick up where they left off.  I'd almost like to see a system vaguely similar to how Darkest Dungeon handles resting.  Rather than resting automatically restoring all health, curing injuries, restoring all per-rest abilities, etc, I'd like to see camping supplies be a much larger element.  Maybe you can carry 12 supplies instead of 2, but a "full rest" (which fully heals everyone, cures all injuries, restores all spells, etc) costs 9 supplies.  You could do a quick "half rest" or "breather" or something for fewer supplies, and with appropriately weaker effects.  I feel like the current Health/Rest system is just too binary and this results in it being an annoying chore rather than something that's interesting and which adds depth to the game.

 

- Similarly, make travel more dangerous.  Bandits will harass low level groups who look like easy pickings, but will be less likely to tangle with obviously well-armed groups... unless those groups look like they're only a few steps shy of the grave as it is.  After all, they might be wearing some powerful equipment, but if they're already half-dead, you stand to make quite a tidy profit if you can help them make it all the way to dead.  Ideally, tie these random encounters into the overall narrative.  If the woods are going crazy because evil Druids are doing typical bad guy stuff, make encounters with aggressive wildlife common.  If it's like BG1's Nashkel setting and quality iron is almost impossible to find, throw bandits and even desperate townspeople at us if they see us walking around with good steel.  If I've done a lot of good things, throw assassins at me, paid for by folks like House Doemenel who have become concerned that I might impact their operations.  If I've done a lot of bad things, throw the regional equivalent of the FBI after me.  I want travel to be a consideration, a risk.

[Fenixp]

Similarly, make travel more dangerous.

Oh please no random encounters. I've yet to see a game in which they'd be anything but massively annoying and often enough when playing a game that contains them, I just tend to reload until I don't run into one. Not because I'd be afraid of challenge - because I can't be bothered. And I'd absolutely not introduce risk to returning to safety, purely because that can lead to "dead man walking" situations - one where you can't possibly continue playing the game because every option will get you killed. Not good design, definitely not for a story-focused game like Pillars of Eternity where a party wipe means game over. Edited June 18, 2016 by Fenixp

[anameforobsidian]

I'll chip in with my pet peeves and wants.

 

- UI improvements to make it easier to understand specifically what's going on.  I have an extremely tough time determining what's going on or even WHERE my units are in the middle of a large-scale, AOE-heavy fight (full party versus 6+ enemies, particularly if there are spellcasting enemies.)  The big brawl on the 7th floor of Od Nua by the locked door was an absolute cluster****.  I pretty much just spammed AOE spells and hoped my immunity buffs and healing spells would outweigh whatever AOEs the enemy units were spamming and the inevitable friendly fire resulting from selection circles being almost impossible to see.  I definitely feel like selection circles should override any spell effects, models, etc when that unit is selected or being targeted.  It's very frustrating to try and locate Sagani's pet Ituumak, a small white fox, in the middle of bright blue, white, gold, etc spell effects in the middle of a pitched battle.  I feel like PoE has a lot of potential to be a tactically complex and interesting game, but when I can't tell up from down in the middle of a fight due to the presentation of the game, I don't see it happening.  Even on PotD, large fights devolve into "spam AOEs and hope I come out on top, because I can't tell what the hell is going on."

 

- Related to the above, I'd like more information about spellcasting.  When an enemy is casting a spell, I'd like to be able to hover over that itty bitty icon to be told what spell it is they're casting.  Add a Spellcraft skill or something like that if you want to prevent the player from magically knowing everything about spells they've never seen before, or make it function like the bestiary: the more times you're exposed to a spell or spell-like ability, the more you're able to understand it.

 

- Add filters to the combat log.  It's very frustrating to be in the middle of a huge brawl and then suddenly Pallegina gets hit for like 80% of her HP instantly and I have to stop everything and spend two minutes carefully poring over the combat log, line by line, until I can finally locate what hit her.  If one of my dudes gets obliterated by something an enemy did, I want to be able to quickly find the line that explains what happened, so I can prevent it in the future or come up with a means of handling it (especially if it means I'm gonna have to load a save and try the fight again!)  I probably don't need to be advised of basic attack rolls: those could be safely hidden behind a filter.  Basically, I want to be able to customize the combat log to show me only information that I find important or relevant.  If the developers have played World of Warcraft, their combat log and how it has filters enabled might be an example of what I'm asking for.

 

- Add a "sell all" button to the trade panel.  Clicking it will place everything in the current page of the Stash into the trade window.  Allow us to mark items as "favorites", which will not be added to the trade panel unless added manually.  I just murdered my way through 80 xaurips, and I want to turn those piles of shields and bows into a little bit of spare change.  It took me something ridiculous like five minutes to do this.  Slowly adding them to the trade panel, one by one, with a couple seconds of lag between each transaction because of how the Stash works (instead of having discrete pages, it simply pulls an item from a subsequent page to fill the vacancy.)  Alternatively, just have monsters drop raw cash roughly equivalent to what their equipment is worth.  If that adorable little xaurip I'm scraping off my bootheel was carrying equipment worth 15cp to a vendor, just have him drop something like 8-18cp or something.

 

- Ideally, dial back on-hit effects of the "hard lock" variety: stun, paralyze, etc.  I don't find it particularly fun or even all that interesting to watch someone get stunlocked by a Phantom or permanently paralyzed by a Xaurip Skirmisher, and watching Sagani stunlock the enemy mage from across the room with her "chance to stun on crit" bow also isn't that interesting.  I'm okay with minor debuffs being on-hit effects (and even substantial ones like Weakened, if it's a very powerful monster), but I think that "hard lock" on-hit effects should be limited to self-buffs with limited durations, not just an intrinsic part of the creature's attack or weapon properties.  Like the Xaurip Skirmisher coats their weapon in poison, allowing Paralyze on hit for a few seconds, usable once or twice per encounter.  Phantoms can empower their attacks to Stun for a few seconds, once or twice per encounter.  That sword will apply Stun on a crit, up to four times per encounter.  Stuff like that.

 

- Rework the entire resting/Health system.  I like the concept, but find it to be very boring in practice, rather than interesting.  I don't like the idea that it's totally okay for the adventurers to waltz out of the dungeon with pretty much no health or spells remaining, travel 2 days to the nearest town (without ever worrying about being accosted by bandits or slavers, which we're always hearing about) and sleep in the inn (and maybe buy more camping supplies), and then travel another 2 days back to the dungeon and pick up where they left off.  I'd almost like to see a system vaguely similar to how Darkest Dungeon handles resting.  Rather than resting automatically restoring all health, curing injuries, restoring all per-rest abilities, etc, I'd like to see camping supplies be a much larger element.  Maybe you can carry 12 supplies instead of 2, but a "full rest" (which fully heals everyone, cures all injuries, restores all spells, etc) costs 9 supplies.  You could do a quick "half rest" or "breather" or something for fewer supplies, and with appropriately weaker effects.  I feel like the current Health/Rest system is just too binary and this results in it being an annoying chore rather than something that's interesting and which adds depth to the game.

 

- Similarly, make travel more dangerous.  Bandits will harass low level groups who look like easy pickings, but will be less likely to tangle with obviously well-armed groups... unless those groups look like they're only a few steps shy of the grave as it is.  After all, they might be wearing some powerful equipment, but if they're already half-dead, you stand to make quite a tidy profit if you can help them make it all the way to dead.  Ideally, tie these random encounters into the overall narrative.  If the woods are going crazy because evil Druids are doing typical bad guy stuff, make encounters with aggressive wildlife common.  If it's like BG1's Nashkel setting and quality iron is almost impossible to find, throw bandits and even desperate townspeople at us if they see us walking around with good steel.  If I've done a lot of good things, throw assassins at me, paid for by folks like House Doemenel who have become concerned that I might impact their operations.  If I've done a lot of bad things, throw the regional equivalent of the FBI after me.  I want travel to be a consideration, a risk.

 

I can agree with making the graphics a little less flashy, but it was only a problem for me three or four times in the game.  However, I disagree with the idea that you should automatically be able to see what spell the enemy is casting.   That goes beyond legibility, and is giving you a pretty big tactical advantage.  I like the system the way it is now, where you can tell some spells from the animations. I can maybe see tying reading enemy spells into lore.  What I think would help legibility is if there was a list of the status effects on you AND what they did.  Right now the mouseover is only halfway there.

 

Nothings wrong with using LUA in the combat log.  It could behoove them to change the font for a nasty crit.  Another option is to have it to where when you click on a character's name, it only shows log entries for that character.  A final option could be an expanded log with an accountants style double ledger, where positive effects and damage out go on one side and negative effects and damage in go on the other side.

 

I would just have a sell trash button.  It's functionally the same, but you get to see cool weapon artwork for xaurip spears, etc.  Either way, this is a minor issue at best.

 

I would like a counter to stun, and I'm curious why they have an effect that can't be countered.  But on the other hand, I have no problem with the stunlockers, because it keeps tactics interesting.  Yes, Sagani can stun one dude to death, but who's it going to be?  Similarly, the oh ****, your tanks stunned and now everything is moving past him moment leads to more interesting gameplay.

 

A quick rest system would make it more like 4E, but I think it would face significant backlash from players.  Several people on these boards are unhappy that they didn't just include BG style unlimited rests.

 

Random encounters are just a bad idea.  They encourage save-scumming in hard situations and they're tedious in easy situations.  Or they're a source for farming kill xp.  Sure you can have BG2 events, where your choices determine what randoms you get (or was that a mod?), but even those get tiresome and repetitious after the first few times.  I like the current situation better, where assassins do wait for you, just on the normal maps.  

[InsaneCommander]

Here is my list:

 

1- Have a bigger part of the world map accessible from the beginning

 

2- A falcon/eagle/hawk companion. No idea how to implement it, but it would be cool!

 

3- More quests like the B. of Yenwood. It could be optional in case someone didn't like it. Make it increasing in difficult, a real war.

 

4- More Soulbound weapon requirements like the  Grey Sleeper's

 

5- Let the player character choose some dialogue options that require an attribute value even if they don't have it (they will fail). Just to get a comment from the npcs (they will mock or be anger, etc). This could be useless for people who can see the requirement, so maybe they could have a small % chance to succeed.

 

6- MUCH more reactivity for culture/background/class...

 

7- More scripted interactions, like in WM I and II

Minor things:

- Have a third character comment on the others' banters. It could be something quick or simple. It's strange when nobody laughs at somethings they say (like the Devil talking with Zahua for example. How come nobody laugh or take the opportunity to mock one of then?)
- Show some hair in a character wearing a hat. I know we rarely look at then so close, but it is strange
- Better bonus for Godlikes
- Option to have different keys for pause and unpause

Edited June 19, 2016 by InsaneCommander

[Keldaur]

Coop for up to 6 players. A man can dream.

[BrainMuncher]

Well the number one thing everyone wanted improved from the infinity engine games was pathfinding, and Obsidian inexplicably failed at that. Two expansions later and it's still bad.

 

So yeah, not-terrible pathfinding is still on the wishlist.

[Sannom]

You kidding, right? We don't need to check on the toons when they go from point A to point B in Pillars of Eternity.

[Loren Tyr]

I'd say the pathfinding is significantly better than in the IE games (then again, so does a braindead squirrel; it's hardly the highest of bars one could set), but I quite agree there is considerable room for further improvement there. It has not been an uncommon for characters (my own, or the enemy) to take a clearly roundabout route, or to occasionally be unable to find a route (around another character, typically) when it obviously does exist. 

 

It would also be nice for at least some minor coordination and/or wiggle room between (friendly) characters, actually; it's rather annoying when one character can't get past another, or can't squeeze in between two other characters because there is infinitessimally to little space. 

[Fenixp]

Sometimes, two characters met mid-way and so they proceeded to stare at each other for several painful seconds until their advanced AI finally managed to figure out a path around each other. It was realistic and Pillars doesn't have it, clearly its pathfinding is inferior.

[InsaneCommander]

Sometimes, two characters met mid-way and so they proceeded to stare at each other for several painful seconds until their advanced AI finally managed to figure out a path around each other. It was realistic and Pillars doesn't have it, clearly its pathfinding is inferior.

 

Are you sure it's a pathfinding problem? Maybe it's just love at first sight.

 

Am I the only one who saw a companion and an enemy running after each other in a circle around another character? I wish I had recorded that and made a gif.

[Cyseal]

Suggestion for skills, spells, gameplay  and environment:

[video=youtube;e5FrsBvE2Ik]

Edited June 25, 2016 by Cyseal

[Loren Tyr]

 

Sometimes, two characters met mid-way and so they proceeded to stare at each other for several painful seconds until their advanced AI finally managed to figure out a path around each other. It was realistic and Pillars doesn't have it, clearly its pathfinding is inferior.

 

Are you sure it's a pathfinding problem? Maybe it's just love at first sight.

 

Am I the only one who saw a companion and an enemy running after each other in a circle around another character? I wish I had recorded that and made a gif.

 

 

Nope, I've seen that too :-D.