Newbie questions (classes)

[NeoSoul]

Hello,

 

I bought PoE last year but I had so many games to finish that I just barely started it now (I played Baldur's Gate 1 again that I hadn't played since it came out before the year 2000 as well as Baldur's Gate 2 Enhanced editions and just finished the new expansion for it Siege of Dragonspear).  I'm somewhat familiar with a lot of the mechanics from PoE due to various RPGs I've played over the years but mostly Baldur's Gate that it seems to have been heavily influenced by (I think I read somewhere that some of the original Baldur's Gate crew made PoE but I couldn't find the info back so I'm not sure if that's true or not).

 

So I'm really not far into the game, I only got past the first pillar that killed my 2 companions and into the next map with the bear cave and bandits.  I always have a very hard time deciding what class I want my main PC to be in RPGs.  I normally enjoy several different roles but I often mostly enjoy melee DPS and offensive spell casters (Wizard type classes often attrack me the most at first because I like the versatility, I like to AOE and enjoy the spell visual effects).

 

1- I'm not sure if the guides I found were outdated and if much has changed over time but it seemed like Wizards were very weak (near useless) according to those.  Having many spells only refreshable through sleeping might be a bigger issue in this game than it was in Baldur's Gate where I could often get away with sleeping when needed.  I believe that most of the Wizard's AOEs also have friendly fire making it much harder to use?  Overall, what is the state of the Wizard ATM?  Is the class truly this weak?  What would be the pros and cons?  Any guide for the spells (to pick which ones to take at first or at least, which ones synergize well together if ever it's possible to make different types of wizards)?

 

2- I started out as a Rogue as I read that it has the highest DPS in the game and it looks fun for that.  I am realizing that I am indeed limited (at least early game) when solo fighting 2-3 enemies with the rogue as he can't quite take on the 3 bandits solo and can't handle the bears in the cave.  I read that the rogue is extremely squishy and that the stealth mechanic is really poor in PoE.  I don't mind micromanaging my characters, I'm just wondering if my points invested into stealth were a waste and how bad it truly is for the rogue.  I don't really feel like having him used a ranged weapon much (I rather take a true ranged DPS if the rogue has to use ranged weapons a lot).  I set the game difficulty on Hard so I don't know if this can have an impact with enemies being smarter and seeing through stealth more easily or not really.  Is the rogue seriously in constant peril when he enters fights to backstab enemies?

 

3- Fighter/Paladin/Barbarian/Monk.  I think that I read that the monk was horrible as he needs to get hit to be able to do anything so I don't think that I want to go with one of those or at least, not right away.  The fighter female character you get early game looked solid and fun.  I believe that the barbarian is a bit more fragile than the fighter but has more damage output (between rogue and fighter?).  I'm not sure about the paladin but those are often even more defensive than fighters.  Can I make one of these more DPS oriented or is their damage too far behind other ''true DPS classes'' for it to be a good idea?  I guess that I would need to pick up a ''main tank'' if I were to do so, would this hurt my party composition later in the game (dmg being too low, too melee oriented and such)?  What would you say are the pros and cons of each of those 4?

 

4- Cipher.  I read that it is a very strong caster but it's not entirely clear to me what this class does.  Would it be closer to a ''warlock/necromancer/mesmer'' type of class from other games (as in mostly debuffing the enemy, perhaps some damage over time)?  Is the PC one you can find in the game good enough on stats for me not to regret too much not having made my main PC a cipher if it's such a good and important class?  Could I have my main character be a Wizard and have a Cipher in the party (perhaps also a rogue and a priest) without my party being too squishy?  Does the Cipher work best with just a solid party (say Paladin/Fighter/Barbarian/Priest/Cipher for example)?

 

I believe that the other characters were mostly ranged DPS (non-casters) or healer/buffers which I wouldn't enjoy as much to have as my main PC.

 

I'm basically trying to figure out what class to focus on at first without going too far into the game.  Wizard is tempting but the reviews and comments about the class made it sound awful.  Rogue is apparently a solid choice but I'm just wondering if I'll be stuck spending half of my time with ranged weapons or just trying to keep him alive with a weak stealth mechanic.  An other melee oriented Fighter (or tank) might be more fun than the rogue in this case but I'm not familiar with the damage numbers and am unsure if I wouldn't just be trying to turn a high survivability/low damage class into something that it isn't meant to be with poor results.

 

I would like for my main PC to be the main source of damage or control out of the members in my party ideally as I have more control over its customization.  Otherwise, I guess that an optimized tank might also be good.  If the wizard always feels like it's only half a PC cause it's missing half of its good spells in most encounters and the rogue just has to spend half of his time trying to stay alive or attacking from range instead of dealing high damage, I might prefer going with an other melee class.  Cipher might be interesting as well but if that class is mostly about debuffing, I think that I rather not have it as my main PC.

[Kazuma]

Nothing of an expert myself but...

1) I'm pretty sure there's still a thread about a solo potd wizard build here on the first page - if not google w/site:obsidian.net. These forums seem to be the most active and therefore up-to-date. At any rate even if you don't plan on playing potd or solo I'm sure you can get an idea of what spells are useful and why. Also I thought I'd hate the per rest abilities vs per encounters but keep in mind that for the most part you're never in a position where you can't leave, go back to an inn/stronghold, and rest. It can kinda be annoying to travel back and fourth all the time. That's why I started using console commands to "rest". You lose achievements and some here would probably call it cheating but I call it convenience. It's not like I'm able to get the resting buffs that are available from other sources.

 

2) If you're finding an encounter too difficult solo search for videos about it or just watch let's plays to get some general ideas of what to look for when it comes to using choke points, kiting, splitting, etc. Even tanky characters have problems taking on many mobs at once solo. Mobility and using mob pathing/AI against them is quite common. Anything you can do to limit the number of opponents actively attacking you. As far as stealth goes it's never going to be like D&D where it approaches invisibility at higher levels. The higher the skill the slower mobs will detect you and there is no way to restealth (aside from one later ability) once in combat. Stealth is most useful in bypassing fights. Otherwise you want to debuff enemies, i.e. flanking so that you can sneak attack them. That is where the dps comes from with rogues as I understand it.

 

3) I suggest reading through the builds stickied at the top of this forum to get an idea.

 

4) I haven't played a cipher in a long time. They've been changed quite a bit since I played them but I felt they were more like psionics - that is attacking with the mind against the will. There's some threads here about them. Read and test I'd say. If you have the patience play a class thru the first dungeon to get a feel for them then restart and try another.

 

I wouldn't call wizards weak at all and perhaps your putting to much faith in a rogues dps. Ideally you'll have another party member tanking/debuffing while your melee rogue flanks/sneak attacks. It takes more setup to achieve their ideal dps. Mainly you have to throw out some of your preconceptions. For example any class can use any weapon or armor. Therefore there is no class restriction against a rogue or wizard in full plate. For a rogue you have to worry about speed debuffs but there isn't as big of an issue for a wizard.

 

I was just like you a few weeks ago. If you don't want to go thru your own trial and error then watch some let's play videos to see what works (just keep an eye on versions, ymmv). Keep in mind this mostly relates to PotD. As lower difficulty is not that demanding once you've read about the mechanics a bit.

Edited July 20, 2016 by Kazuma

[Clerith]

1) Wizard is one of the strongest classes. Your spells are limited, but powerful and impactful. You either have to play conservatively or rest frequently, but when you unleash your full power, it's a sight to see. A fully self-buffed melee wizard is insanely strong. There is no encounter that you can't solve by spamming your best spells.

 

2) Rogues take a lot of micro. They're squishy, so they attract enemies. The stealth mechanic in this game is kind of broken. Backstab is trash, way too much effort. Just rely on your Sneak Attacks to do damage. Stealh skill is the most useful on rogue, but it's still much worse than mechanics. And if you have a rogue, he'll probably be your mechanics monkey. Rogues do the highest sustained single target damage, but require a lot of babysitting and building the rest of your party around him. And yeah, as a ranged dps, ranger is better.

 

3) Fighters are good main tanks and offtank dps. You can even make them dual wield pure dps, but they're build to be sturdy. Monks are excellent tank and dps hybrids, but require micromanagement. They're one of the strongest classes atm. Barbarians are aoe monsters, but lack single target damage. You can build them as tanks, but they aoe goodness usually has everyone build them as dps, often with on-hit cc effects because, again, aoe. Paladins are the most defensive of the lot, with party support, healing and high saves, but you can also make a very solid dps build, thanks to stuff the expansions gave us. You're fine with two tanks or one main tank and one off tank. 

 

4) Ciphers are mind mages. Expect good cc and damage. The npc companion is... average. Could be better, but serviceable. Ciphers work best in pairs, actually. Picking the cipher class also gives you the most class-specific dialogue in the game.

 

Sounds like you might enjoy a cipher or a paladin tank. With cipher, you have infinite spells, tied to how much damage you do, so you build your cipher to do the maximum possible damage. Again, you usually pick whether you focus on cc or damage spells, both which are quite strong. You come with very high damage modifiers, and you're free to pick melee or ranged, both work fine. And you get a lot of roleplaying out of the class.

 

Paladin tank is a very typical PC build. You put points into your conversation attributes, your paladin passive works best if you're the PC, and it's just a solid build.

 

My favorite class is the wizard. Early on it's meh, but at middle levels you already feel op. It all comes down to how much you like the arcane casting and limited spells per rest style of play. But most of the board consider wizards very strong.

[Boeroer]

First of all: basically everything you reported you read was not true. I mean except the post before mine of course, those are great.

 

Every class in PoE has it's niche and there's no class that is significantly worse than the others. However, there are situations in which certain classes shine and others fail. 

 

I will quickly address your points:

 

1.: Wizard: one of the most versatile classes in the game. You can build him as a tank, a superb ranged autoattacker, a spellspammer. he has it all: self buffs, utility spells, great CC spells, great dps spells and most importantly fpr me he has a mechanic with implements (wands, sceptres, rods) that lets him do AoE damage and on-hit and on-crit effects in an AoE with his autoattacks. So he can be even great when using no spells at all. But the ones he has are awesome. Peapole who say wizards are useless didn't play one longer than lvl 3 or so. Because that's thre drawback of a wizard: he starts quite weak but gains more and more power with every level. Resting is no problem: there are cheap inns all over the place and you can use camping supplies in the wilderness which cost nearly nothing. YOu can even rest in your own stronghold. Travelling costs nothing but time and fatigue from travelling doesn't exist any more.

 

2.: Rogues are different from wizards: they start as a strong, but squishy damage dealer but then don't gain as much power per level than a wizard or some other classes. However, their starting ability "Sneak Attack" is very powerful. But as you already mentioned they are (and stay) squishy as long as you don't build them to be more sturdy (and loose dps potential in that process). A good compromise is a ranged rogue because he will not get beaten to death that often. Rogues are not the number one dps character in the game though. Not even for single target melee damage, because the druid does that better when he is spiritshifted. A ranger does more ranged damage, barbs and casters do more AoE damage and so on. Plus: the rogue can only be awesome if he has a party which supports him with afflictions. So wizards, druids and such are good friends of every rogue.

What they are really good at (and this can be a game changer) is to take out dangerous enemies very quickly before they can do harm. They have some abilitites which support that.

 

3.: Who said that monks are horrible (in terms of power) should pack his things and go. Seriously - for me the monk is the number one melee class - and I don't think i'm the only ine who thinks like this. He combines sturdyness, high defenses, awesome AoE and single target damage, CC, speed and even ranged damage to a powerful class. The only thing is: he's micro intensive because of his wound system and his special attacks if you play him traditionally. But beides that he's very powerful.

Fighters are very sturdy and solid single target damage dealers - not as good as rogues, but not bad either. They keep on hitting even if under pressure. When a rogue falls over a fighter just laughs. I find them to be quite boring but they are solid.

Barbarians have a higher damage output than most melee classes (only second to monks when he has wounds to spend) because they always attack in an AoE. However, their single target damage is not very special. They start with low ACC and defenses and seem to be squishy at lower levels because of that. In fact at first they seem to be a totally useless class, because they go down all the time and can't hit a barn door, but with every level they gain ACC (like everyone else) and like monks they gain tremendous amounts of health and endurance which let them become sturdy warriors. They just need time and are dependent on good weapons. You can play them defensively, offensively and also as AoE-Crowd-Controllers. As rogues they do profit a lot from buffs, debuffs and CC, so a wizards, druids and priests are good for them.

Paladins combine very high defenses with great support and healing abilitites. They can also deliver high burst damage which can take out dangerous foes quickly, but they only can deal great damage twice per encounter until later when they get something called "Sacred Immolation" which is an AoE burning aura. Besides that they can turn any mediocre character into a great defender or dps guy just by buffing their ACC or their defenses. Besides that they are the best tanks in the game if you need something like that.

 

4.: He is a bit like a Mesmer, yes. Mind Control is abig part of his portfolio. Like an inversed monk (who needs to get hit in order to fuel his abilities) the cipher needs to hit foes in order to get focus with which he will pay for his spells. He does nearly as much single target damage as a rogue at the beginning, so he's not only a caster but also a good autoattacker. His low- to mid-level powers are not as powerful as the spells of wizards and other casters (in general), but he can use them as often as he has focus. Late on he gets some really good spells though. He is also a good supporter. His mind control spalls can turn really difficult fights into easy ones. Against tough foes he can become a bit useless - because if he can'tdeal a lot of damage he will run out of focus soon. So be sure to alwys target weak foes with a cipher in order to get as much focus per hit as possible.

 

What's left are chanters, druids and priests. Those can all be build into great characters as well. Look into the build index, there are good inspirations for what you can do with every class.

 

If you want to play a wizard then pleas do it. It's a wonderful class. You just need a bit of knowledge about the game machincs and what each spell does. But I think it's most fun to just go and find out yourself. Basically you can't go wrong with a wizard in the back row who uses implements with Blast for autoattacks and cast a spell every now and then. Secret tip: Envenomed Strike is an offensive talent that everyone can get. Pick it up as soon as you have Blast and an implement. It works with the blast and will poison everybody in blast range. That is superpowerful in the early game and will outbalance the weakness of the wizard in the first few levels until he gets more spells.

Edited July 20, 2016 by Boeroer

[Kaylon]

The problem with resting isn't the cost, it's the time spent on useless travelling and loading times. Also a party without big resting needs can keep up to 3 resting bonuses (inn + wilderness + brothel) active for a long time, which isn't possible if you have to rest after each fight... As an anecdote, some people even got stuck in a dungeon and had to cheat because they finished their camping supplies and weren't able to fight their way out of the dungeon...

[Dr <3]

The problem with resting isn't the cost, it's the time spent on useless travelling and loading times. Also a party without big resting needs can keep up to 3 resting bonuses (inn + wilderness + brothel) active for a long time, which isn't possible if you have to rest after each fight... As an anecdote, some people even got stuck in a dungeon and had to cheat because they finished their camping supplies and weren't able to fight their way out of the dungeon...

Lol, that appened to me too, damn shotcuts!!!

[Boeroer]

The problem with resting isn't the cost, it's the time spent on useless travelling and loading times. Also a party without big resting needs can keep up to 3 resting bonuses (inn + wilderness + brothel) active for a long time, which isn't possible if you have to rest after each fight... As an anecdote, some people even got stuck in a dungeon and had to cheat because they finished their camping supplies and weren't able to fight their way out of the dungeon...

 

 Yeah, it mainly costs time. That's why I said: 

 

 

 

Travelling [to your stronghold] costs nothing but time [...]

...where you can rest for free and get +3 bonuses, too.

 

The one stupid case in the Endless Paths where you could get stuck because you took a shortcut and jumped into the pit is neglectible. It's a bad situation though. But it also could happen without casters - like when your health is low, your figurines are empty and so on.

 

I wanted to point out that spells per rest are not so bad because resting doesn't cost that much (except time). Stacking resting bonuses is nice, but also neglectible in a party compared to the raw power of wizard's/priest's/druid's spells which they can spam if they need to. In easy encounters you can do without spells - and in the tough ones you rule and rest afterwards. Resting is a very small price for this kind of power.

So, saying that the necessity to rest a bit more often makes wizards/priests/druids weak is wrong. That's what I wanted to point out.  

Edited July 21, 2016 by Boeroer

[Kazuma]

Ah, yes. I wasn't thinking about the endless paths. That's one exception but then again if you really can't make it back to the surface then maybe your going too soon? But taking the shortcuts are optional iirc, right? So.. slow and steady would be my preference.

 

Another thing that changed my opinion on per rest vs per encounter is health. You're going to have to rest often soloing just because your health gets whittled down fairly quickly. At least when you're tanking for prolonged periods. So I don't bother saving my per rest abilities like I did at the start. Rest and save often, imo.

[NeoSoul]

Thanks for all the replies.  A lot of the info I had was from this quick guide to picking a class here:

http://www.gamerevolution.com/features/a-guide-to-choosing-your-class-in-pillars-of-eternity

 

It's just that as I'm a hardcore gamer myself as well as being a QA video game tester for a living right now, I know that those guides often times are either outdated or flat out wrong (written by people who don't have extensive experience with the game) so that's why I asked in here.

 

I think that I would enjoy about any class in the game but that Wizard and Paladin might be the most appealing to me after having read the comments.  I also do not plan on trying to solo the game just yet, I'll probably try to do a full party run at least for a first playthrough in order to see how it feels like.  Fighter also seems interesting.  I might keep monk for once I'm more familiar with the game and encounters since his mechanic sounds harder to use if you're not soloing (if you solo, I'm guessing it's a non-issue).  Cipher might be fun too but I dislike when my main character becomes weak on boss fights.  As for the Wizard's strength, this game seemingly being strongly based off Baldur's Gate (D&D), I can see how some classes like the Wizard could start out very weak and become extremely powerful late game.

 

One last thing, I haven't bought the 2 expansions yet.  I wanted to go through the main game first.  Will I be missing out on anything for right now by not having them?  Are the expansions extra ''linear'' story that follows or is it more like side quests and expanding the current universe (if that's the case, then waiting to get them after I'm done completing the main game could be a mistake)?  I'm almost certain that I will get the 2 expansions no matter what as the game looks amazing so far, I love the graphics, love the music, love the way the encounters happen like stories that you have to read, the combat feels very fluid after having been on Baldur's Gate for the last year when playing this type of RPG and so on but I'd still normally wait until I'm done the main story before buying it.

[Clerith]

You can play the game just fine without the expansions. They start as a sidequest that unlocks a new area in the world map. White March is its own region. They included level scaling with them, so if you go there after, say, beating the main story, you can, and upscale the levels to be appropriately challenging. The rewards are great, so try to go there as early as possible, but it's fine to do later. It's sort of its own story that only loosely connects to the main story but it does expand the world a great deal. Story-wise, they're meant to be done around halfway through the game and a bit later.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Clerith

[Boeroer]

I would strongly advise to buy the two expansions first (install them) and then start a playthrough. Else you will miss a lot of talents and abilitites even in the main game without the expansions - you will also miss three possible companions who are fun. Also, you don't have to play the expansions seperately. In fact it's not a good thing to do. The expansions are embedded in the main game - not like Baldur's Gate and other games where they are an addition AFTER the main game. The first part of the expansion is played best when you're around lvl 8 (of 16). So completing the main game first will make WM I so easy that it's no fun at all. You can always go to the expansion areas (White March) and come back to the main game. It's lust like the expansions expanded the main game's world and added some maps, companions, loot and quests. And the loot is balanced for mid to endgame - it's not endgame only stuff.

 

The guide you linked is outdated and was also written by a guy who wasn't very experienced with the game. I would throw it in the trash bin. Especially the pros and cons of classes are ridiculously wrong in some cases. I mean the statement "Monk: is outclassed in every major category" is so wrong that it hurts. Paladin: can't tank as well as a fighter. Ouch. Fighter: low damage throughput. Chanter: low damage throughput... (I'm crying now) and so on. It seems like the author wrote this after playing Act I on version 1.0 and then stopped.

 

This game isn't anything like Baldur's Gate - I mean under the hood when it comes to the game mechanics. But there are parallels in the development of a class like you said, that's true.

 

Wizard and Paladin are fun classes and relatively easy to play with the conventional approach which you will know from Baldur's Gate. For the first playthrough I would advise to take official companions over hirelings. They are fun, they give you lore and quests and they are not weaker than hirelings over the whole game (at the beginning  - where the game is hardest - they start a lot stronger because they have +1 level compared to hirelings. At the end of the game - when it's becoming easy anyway - they tend to be a tiny bit weaker because of suboptimal stat spread). They also get special abilitites which only they can have. 

Edited July 21, 2016 by Boeroer

[NeoSoul]

I think I'll try with the Wizard and see how it goes for a few levels (past lvl 3 as I understand lol) but am tempted by paladin as well (now that I think of it, I had the same hesitation with BG2 last year between a Sorcerer and an Inquisitor and my new playthrough for BG1 and the new expansion and heading into solo BG2 is a Monk).

 

BG1 expansion was more or less expanding the world as well while the BG2 one was linear but thanks for clearing it out about PoE.  They both need to be installed before I start my game right?  I couldn't say get to lvl 4-5 and then add them to the game I believe?  I'm just trying to make sure since I'm 95% sure that I'll like the game enough to get them but being busy with work and trying to work on a portfolio to become a level designer (I have other education background in teaching, hair dressing, etc. as well), that ends up making it so if I take out the time I spend testing games at work, trying to make maps or mods at home, that doesn't leave me as much time to actually play the games in the end.  Having many good ones that I accumulated since last year, I rather avoid stockpiling them and buy them as I get to play them

 

Yet, from what I've seen so far with PoE, Obsidian certainly caught my attention as being one of the most interesting game development teams I've seen recently.

[Abbzug]

Of the four tanky types you mentioned (fighter, paladin, monk and barbarian) I wouldn't say the monk is the strongest, but they definitely have the easiest time in act 1 and the early game because good equipment is kind of scarce and monk fists are awesome. And those parts of the game are probably the most challenging for a new player. It's really a class that hits the ground running and just gets better and better. I never liked the theme of them so I avoided them a long time, but when I finally tried them it really opened my eyes. They're not my favorite class, but they're still a hell of a lot more interesting and engaging than fighters imo.

 

And the game is kind of inspired by Infinity Engine games and 2nd edition D&D, but the balance is very different. In 2nd edition wizards started very weak but ended up making other classes obsolete at a certain point. That just doesn't really happen in this game. Low level wizards in Pillars are really strong and you can start a nuker build, a control build or a gish build very early. If you're looking for a late bloomer that has a rough start and then just has jaw dropping performance later in the game I'd look elsewhere. Like a barbarian or chanter. But even that is a stretch. No class really peaks so soon they stop being fun and no class peaks so late and so great that they make everyone else superfluous.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Abbzug

[Boeroer]

Wizards have very few spells at lvl one and their starting stats for endurance, deflection, ACC and so on are the lowest of all classes. That's why I said they are a bit weak at the start compared to later when they have tons of spells per rest and powerful self buffs which neglect those low stats. They can have blast very early which makes them good at ranged combat, but they don't hit a lot in PotD with auto attacks at first because their ACC is so low. You can use Concelhaut's Staff early on which is awesome for low levels though.

 

Chanters are powerful at the start (good starting values, damaging aura, AoE healing aura, White Worms), are great CC guys during midgame (Killers Froze Stiff) and turn into good dps guys when they hit lvl 9 (the dragon thrashed) or 10 (Seven Nights) while maintaining their tankyness (if they want to). Inf fact, all the bounties (which some people consider to be the hardest part of the game) are easy with a chanter who runs fast and has The Dragon Thrashed.

 

Monks have some tricks in combination with Torment's Reach (has a huge, huge range with high INT, works with on-crit effects and so on), Turning Wheel (works with retaliation) and the Long Pain (look at the Witch Doctor build) which makes them top of the melee classes when it comes to dps in my opinion. No rogue, fighter or barb can compete to this as long as you know what to do. However, they are the melee class that usually is most micro intensive because you have to spend wounds manually in order to get the best out of them.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Boeroer

[dambros]

When you guys say resting wastes time, you are talking about in game time (like day of the month and so on) right? Why is it a bad thing?

 

Maybe I am missing something really basic, but unless some rp thing, time means nothing, right? I have slept over 15times in a row inside raedric's keep to get to the correct day for the mechanics gloves.

[Kaylon]

It's not true that ciphers are weak vs bosses, in fact I would even say ciphers are the best boss killers because of Disintegration. Replenishing your focus is never a problem if you play smart and when you reach lv15 they can make your party invincible and the focus problems disappear completely.

 

 

 

When you guys say resting wastes time, you are talking about in game time (like day of the month and so on) right? Why is it a bad thing?

Maybe I am missing something really basic, but unless some rp thing, time means nothing, right? I have slept over 15times in a row inside raedric's keep to get to the correct day for the mechanics

 

We weren't talking about the time in game, but about our time. Wasting your time in game is nothing of course... 

Edited July 21, 2016 by Kaylon

[Boeroer]

Let's say they can make the impression that they are weak against bosses when you're not an expert with ciphers. I also think that Bod Attunement, Tactical Meld and Borrowed Instincts for example are absolutely great against bosses with high defenses or deflection. But for real spell spamming you still need some weak targets.

 

Yeah, resting only costs you time in real life, in the game it's of no importance (other than picking your "random" loot).

[dambros]

Random question, but it always bothers me: which item do you usually use the legendary enchant on?

[Clerith]

Main dps weapons (if I have a dual wielder, usually Bittercut or something) - if I'm unsure, check the character records, see which character has done the most damage and has a non-soulbound weapon, and enchant that guy's main weapon. As for armor, my tank's, of course.

[dambros]

I usually end up using on little savior/drawn in spring often. It is a shame by the time you can use the enchantment there is only Thaos left. The tank armor is by far the hardest choice for me, but He Carries Many Scars seem to be the best.

Edited July 22, 2016 by dambros

[Boeroer]

Do you even need it? I feel the game is so easy at the end that I seldomly enchant anything to more than exceptional (if it doesn't come superb or better).

[dambros]

Do you even need it? I feel the game is so easy at the end that I seldomly enchant anything to more than exceptional (if it doesn't come superb or better).

Being honest? No,it is not needed but it is always cool to walk around feeling like a boss (afterall you used a kraken eye to enchant that weapon!)

I started chapter 3 at lvl 16 on my solo playthrough, so it is definitely not needed.

Edited July 22, 2016 by dambros

[Boeroer]

Ok, walking around like a boss is a legit reason.

[mundanesoul]

I would strongly advise to buy the two expansions first (install them) and then start a playthrough. Else you will miss a lot of talents and abilitites even in the main game without the expansions - you will also miss three possible companions who are fun. Also, you don't have to play the expansions seperately. In fact it's not a good thing to do. The expansions are embedded in the main game - not like Baldur's Gate and other games where they are an addition AFTER the main game. The first part of the expansion is played best when you're around lvl 8 (of 16). So completing the main game first will make WM I so easy that it's no fun at all. You can always go to the expansion areas (White March) and come back to the main game. It's lust like the expansions expanded the main game's world and added some maps, companions, loot and quests. And the loot is balanced for mid to endgame - it's not endgame only stuff.

 

The guide you linked is outdated and was also written by a guy who wasn't very experienced with the game. I would throw it in the trash bin. Especially the pros and cons of classes are ridiculously wrong in some cases. I mean the statement "Monk: is outclassed in every major category" is so wrong that it hurts. Paladin: can't tank as well as a fighter. Ouch. Fighter: low damage throughput. Chanter: low damage throughput... (I'm crying now) and so on. It seems like the author wrote this after playing Act I on version 1.0 and then stopped.

 

This game isn't anything like Baldur's Gate - I mean under the hood when it comes to the game mechanics. But there are parallels in the development of a class like you said, that's true.

 

Wizard and Paladin are fun classes and relatively easy to play with the conventional approach which you will know from Baldur's Gate. For the first playthrough I would advise to take official companions over hirelings. They are fun, they give you lore and quests and they are not weaker than hirelings over the whole game (at the beginning  - where the game is hardest - they start a lot stronger because they have +1 level compared to hirelings. At the end of the game - when it's becoming easy anyway - they tend to be a tiny bit weaker because of suboptimal stat spread). They also get special abilitites which only they can have. 

 

Quick question about something you mentioned here, Boeroer. I just started playing Pillars in earnest a few days ago, and am planning to buy WM 1&2 this weekend. Am I missing anything in the first few hours of the game without the expansions installed? It took me several tries to get a character I was totally happy with, so I'd hate to run through those opening bits yet again, but I'll do so if I've missed out on anything major.

 

Also, thanks for all your advice on these forums! I've been lurking and reading lots of your helpful posts. 

[Boeroer]

You're most welcome.

 

You might miss some new abilites which were introduced with WMI & II and are accessible from lvl 7 on - even in the main game. But you can always take them ona later levelup of course, when you installed the expansions. The expansion maps should be entered from lvl 8 on I'd say. So... if you don't play beyond lvl 7 you're save. 

Edited August 4, 2016 by Boeroer