Better soulbound weapons for pillars 2?

[Gfted1]

Does that set come with high heels with pistols built into them? I'm in!

[hilfazer]

Anyone else wonder if Twin Sting was possibly Obsidian testing how something like dual wielding pistols (two shots before reload) would work?

Not me because Twin Sting has one reload animation and dual pistols will have 2.

[JerekKruger]

Guys, the Durgan enchantment doesn't count towards the limit. You can enchant any weapon, shield or armor including soulbound ones.

 

You can't Durgan reinforce soulbound items, at least you couldn't last time I tried.

[Boeroer]

No, you can't enchant soulbound weapons or armors - also not with durgan steel. There simply is no enchant-button.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Boeroer

[Abel]

Some say now that soulbounds are not powerful enough. Next time, some would argue that since soulbounds have been up, other stuff is trash and is disappointing, and so on... I wonder if it's the same guys who complain that PoTD is too easy? I don't think the problem is that soulbounds are not powerful enough. To me, the problem is more about itemisation, and that, aside from grey sleeper, the unlocls make me think of boring fetch quests (go kill 26589 rats, go get 1485636 flowers,...). I'm neither a specialist of builds nor a real power gamer (i need to write it before i explain my point).

 

To me, one of the problem of itemisation in Pillars is not the relative power of items, but rather than it's hard to have a clear idea what an item actually do. Too many little enchantments on the same item that don't really complement well each other makes it hard to figure out what is the best option for the type of gameplay you have planned for 1 character.

 

As an example, if i found an exceptionnal axe which made 20% hits to crits (along with its inherent +0.5X crit multiplier), i would be tempted to use it and to try this ability that allows better crits. With another exceptional axe that gives the marking skill, i will have to think hard while watching all the game items in order to find items which work welll with this axe and every other items in order to help me define a focus for my character. Same with abilities. There are gloves that give +2 con +1 str which does not stack with this item that gives 2 str and 1 res, so should i use this cape that gives 3 str instead and look for something else for the gloves and such?

 

I feel that BG items were more straightforward. Carsomyr barely overlapped the enchantments of other items. There were just a few complex items, like the unic katana or the wizard staff. Actually, i forgot one reason why i still haven't finished the game yet. It's that this itemisation gives me headaches. I would rather have an exceptionnal armor that provides a wonderful 50% hits to grazes bonus than an OP one with 3 random major spell binds, and +1 all attributes. At least i would have an idea what i will need to have on other pieces of equipment.

 

As for the nerf of the unlabored blade. I feel it would be a better idea to find a way for barbs and such not to proc the spells linked to items over and over again rather that nerf an item that will still be more useful to the said barb than to others. Since all abilities are different, this probably needs to be worked out early on in the development and etched in the game systems from the start.

 

I would say that i don't think that the problem is that soulbound weapons are underpowered. It's more than they lack clear focus and effectiveness on a particular role and that the game system managing the procs is unbalanced to its core. Given the obsession of Josh for balancing, i can't imagine him not doing anything about that for Deadfire.

 

Ah, and i feel like most of their visual designs are over the top. Too huge. Too much "in your face". That's why i love "grey sleeper" and i won't ever use "abydon hammer", especially on my tiny pale elf girl.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Abel

[injurai]

I would be able to slot an entire soul-bound item into my normal item that I've upgrade. Mmmhmm.

[Katarack21]

That's why i love "grey sleeper" and i won't ever use "abydon hammer", especiallyon my tiny pale elf girl.

But...that sounds *AWESOME*.

[Blades of Vanatar]

You could not Durganize Soulbound weapons....

[Blades of Vanatar]

Does that set come with high heels with pistols built into them? I'm in!

No.... Stillettos! Edited March 22, 2017 by Blades of Vanatar

[Murp]

That's strange, I have the option in my game. Could it be because I have the IE mod? that would be the only explanation.

[rjshae]

No, you can't enchant soulbound weapons or armors - also not with durgan steel. There simply is no enchant-button.

 

This kind of makes sense though, doesn't it? Plus it makes the weapon more unique.

[Blades of Vanatar]

 

 

I would like to see soulbound item groups. Gathering a combo of items would make them all better. A belt, Weapon and shield combo for example.

 

Ive always liked set bonuses and how they get progressively more powerful as you acquire more pieces to the set.

Even the unlaboured blade? Bigtime Level up BS for a 3% firebug pro?

Not in that way. UB was the one they screwed up. I mean a unique belt, sword and shield. Equipping more items in a set would make each open up more item abilities. TSR did this in the Ruins of Myth Drannor pop boxed accessory. The Arm of Valor had 5 pieces. Each made the others better. The complete set was powerful. Edited March 23, 2017 by Blades of Vanatar

[Aleh1811]

Some say now that soulbounds are not powerful enough. Next time, some would argue that since soulbounds have been up, other stuff is trash and is disappointing, and so on... I wonder if it's the same guys who complain that PoTD is too easy? I don't think the problem is that soulbounds are not powerful enough. To me, the problem is more about itemisation, and that, aside from grey sleeper, the unlocls make me think of boring fetch quests (go kill 26589 rats, go get 1485636 flowers,...). I'm neither a specialist of builds nor a real power gamer (i need to write it before i explain my point).

 

To me, one of the problem of itemisation in Pillars is not the relative power of items, but rather than it's hard to have a clear idea what an item actually do. Too many little enchantments on the same item that don't really complement well each other makes it hard to figure out what is the best option for the type of gameplay you have planned for 1 character.

 

As an example, if i found an exceptionnal axe which made 20% hits to crits (along with its inherent +0.5X crit multiplier), i would be tempted to use it and to try this ability that allows better crits. With another exceptional axe that gives the marking skill, i will have to think hard while watching all the game items in order to find items which work welll with this axe and every other items in order to help me define a focus for my character. Same with abilities. There are gloves that give +2 con +1 str which does not stack with this item that gives 2 str and 1 res, so should i use this cape that gives 3 str instead and look for something else for the gloves and such?

 

I feel that BG items were more straightforward. Carsomyr barely overlapped the enchantments of other items. There were just a few complex items, like the unic katana or the wizard staff. Actually, i forgot one reason why i still haven't finished the game yet. It's that this itemisation gives me headaches. I would rather have an exceptionnal armor that provides a wonderful 50% hits to grazes bonus than an OP one with 3 random major spell binds, and +1 all attributes. At least i would have an idea what i will need to have on other pieces of equipment.

 

As for the nerf of the unlabored blade. I feel it would be a better idea to find a way for barbs and such not to proc the spells linked to items over and over again rather that nerf an item that will still be more useful to the said barb than to others. Since all abilities are different, this probably needs to be worked out early on in the development and etched in the game systems from the start.

 

I would say that i don't think that the problem is that soulbound weapons are underpowered. It's more than they lack clear focus and effectiveness on a particular role and that the game system managing the procs is unbalanced to its core. Given the obsession of Josh for balancing, i can't imagine him not doing anything about that for Deadfire.

 

Ah, and i feel like most of their visual designs are over the top. Too huge. Too much "in your face". That's why i love "grey sleeper" and i won't ever use "abydon hammer", especially on my tiny pale elf girl.

I absolutely agree with your point that the main problem with items is lack of clarity. I made a thread about that before, but many posters pointed out that they enjoyed that level of obscurity.

 

One of the things of the game that bothered me the most was how enchantment stacking worked. I could never simply pick an item that I liked and give it to the character that I wanted. I always had to look at all of the character items. See which other items would overlap with that one and then start switching characters items until I reached a situation in which all of my characters had the least amount of overlapping enchantments.

 

I did that two or three times and theq got so bored by it that I decided simply not to use new items unless they were clearly much better than the ones I had already and even then I would not equip them immediately.

Edited March 23, 2017 by Aleh1811

[rjshae]

Yup. In the end I always just wind up looking at the price of items and choosing the more expensive, unless I particularly like the cheaper item for some reason. That was the great thing about the old HERO/Champions system; you could tell directly how useful and potent a power was based on its point cost.

[Aleh1811]

Yup. In the end I always just wind up looking at the price of items and choosing the more expensive, unless I particularly like the cheaper item for some reason. That was the great thing about the old HERO/Champions system; you could tell directly how useful and potent a power was based on its point cost.

Hahaha, I actually did the same a couple of times.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

That's strange, I have the option in my game. Could it be because I have the IE mod? that would be the only explanation.

It's the IE mod, it also allows companions to equip pets and any class to use grimores.

[Murp]

 

That's strange, I have the option in my game. Could it be because I have the IE mod? that would be the only explanation.

It's the IE mod, it also allows companions to equip pets and any class to use grimores.

 

I didn't have the option enabled, maybe it changed with a new version.

[Mygaffer]

Soulbound weapons gave interesting new builds to play with while not making other unique weapons pointless. They pretty much scream, "J. Sawyer" design and I like that.

[hilfazer]

 

 

I would like to see soulbound item groups. Gathering a combo of items would make them all better. A belt, Weapon and shield combo for example.

 

Ive always liked set bonuses and how they get progressively more powerful as you acquire more pieces to the set.

 

Even the unlaboured blade? Bigtime Level up BS for a 3% firebug pro?

 

Firebug is just one of its properties. If you want to see firebugs play/recruit a druid.

 

 

 

 

As for the nerf of the unlabored blade. I feel it would be a better idea to find a way for barbs and such not to proc the spells linked to items over and over again 

The nerf didn't happen because of barbs but because daggers are fast and this one has Speed enchant on top of that.

Too bad it was purely theoretical reason.

[Lampros]

I basically do agree with firkraag888.

 

One exception is Stormcaller. I think it's one of the best bows in the game because it has the -6 shock DR reduction on hit which is really good, it works with Heart of the Storm (weapon damage as well as the Returning Storm proc) AND it has two damage types. But the weapon is not OP. If you look at pure dps then Persistence might even be better, but many people don't know how powerful (and weird) wounding is. For CC Sabra Marie would be better. But still Stormcaller is one of the best overall, also because the shock DR reduction is very helpful for team members.

 

The Gyrd scepter is quite nice, too. Enormous acc bonus which is great for the everyday implement user, raw lash and domination are pretty nice features.

 

What I like about soulbounds is that they have an universal weapon focus.

 

What I dislike is that you can't give them a lash and also no durgan steel. That's the main reason they generally fall behind in the late game if their enchantments are not really awesome.

 

The "problem" with all spell chances (x% spell proc on of all hits & crits), spell striking (100% spell proc on crit) and overbearing and stunning (100% prone/stun process on crit) is that those are really powerful with all the abilities that help to generate several weapon hits or crits with one attack, namely Carnage, Heart of Fury, Torment's Reach, Blast, Twinned Arrows, Driving Flight. With those it's rel. easy to proc all the time while single target specialists like rogue or fighter are not able to do this.

The nerf of the Unlabored Blade was only done because barbs and monks would proc Firebug all the time. But now the weapon is useless for single target damage dealers.

 

There's one approach that doesn't have this problem and that's proc on kill (forgot the proper Name for that). But this was implemented in a way that it's too weak: 25% of all kills is bad. 100% like Inspiring Triumph would be appropriate.

 

Stat bonuses from weapons and shields always stack with everything by the way. Also most enchantments of weapons stack, for example herald (+5 to all defenses aura), wounding and so on. Exceptions are disorienting (-5 to defense on hit) and interfering (-5 to acc on hit) because it was too powerful to let them remain stackable. I partly blame one of my threads that showed the game breaking features of disorienting for that nerf. I reduced the defenses of whole mob crowds to below zero with a barb and made screenshots...

 

So anything else other than Gyrd Háewanes Sténes and Stormcaller I should rush to grab and level? Didn't you or someone say that the Redeemer is (at least situationally) awesome? What else?

[Boeroer]

The Redeemer is very strong on a barbarian with Blood Thirst - when it's used against groups of vessels. The reason is that with Carnage there's a big chance to destroy a vessel with every swing. Destroying a vessel with the Redeemer's enchantment counts a kill and Blood THirst will trigger, reducing your recovery to 0. This can lead to a situation where you can swing the Redeemer without recovery as long as there are enough vessels around.

 

The Grey Sleeper is ok for rangers (Twin Stones has an awesome sideeffect with Driving Flight) and also for barbs beause a barb can proc the spellchances a lot more often. It's also nice for any priest because it works with the priest's weapon talent (+10 ACC to certain weapons).

 

Nightshroud can be good if you want to stack as many uses of Shadowing Beyond as possible (for example for a Backstab based rogue). I would not use it as offensive weapon though.

 

Of course Abydon's Hammer is very strong.

 

The Dragon's Maw is great on barbarians with Heart of Fury.

[rjshae]

A soulbound club called "Trump Everything". It does irrational, erratic things during combat, lets you gain extra loot for screwing up, and gives you a massive glibness bonus during interactions with low Int creatures. +4 ego boost to Resolve; -4 ego penalty to Perception.

[MortyTheGobbo]

I like the idea of soulbound weapons, because I'd rather have one weapon that grows with me, instead of having to periodically replace them. But most of the soulbound weapons are close to the endgame, when you'd have settled on a particular weapon anyway.

 

As far as Durgan steel and X Lash edging them out, I'd say it's a problem with those enhancements being too good.