Josh Sawyer's tweets and teasers

[Boeroer]

If OBS can't do it, the fan base has to draw new icons then. What's this?

[CottonWolf]

Now I really want to try a monk/fighter and pick Monastic Unarmed Training - just to see if the universe collapses or something. 

 

Apparently you can't take it if one of your classes is Monk.

[Beyond The Sea]

I like passives. Though I wonder if a similar consensus as in PoE will be reached. It appears like almost everyone recommends to take Veteran's Recovery, almost all melee attackers are suggested to pick Vulnerable Attack and or Savage Attack. So I'm curious about variety. Will there be talents that are considered "must-have"?

[MortyTheGobbo]

I think it's entirely likely that a category of obligatory picks will emerge soon, so the variety will be mostly illusory or if someone doesn't care much about optimizing.

[Wormerine]

Hurray...? Curious how it will work out. Ideally, they will enable wider range of builds, not limit characters further (not you gotta pick an additional perk to be decent at anything).

[Blades of Vanatar]

I think it's entirely likely that a category of obligatory picks will emerge soon, so the variety will be mostly illusory or if someone doesn't care much about optimizing.

I agree though I feel that is a foregone conclusion in almost all RPGs, is it not? There aree always the best weapons, armors, abilities and spells that end being abused. Even in PnP game engines you pretty much see this universally. Power gamers (basically most posters who play the heck out of the game) will always dig them out as that is half the fun for some.

[MortyTheGobbo]

There's power gaming and then there's "I fight with two weapons so of course I have to pick the talent that helps me do it" and "stuns suck so I'll take the talent that makes me more resistant to them". They're not optimal options for dedicated players to find, they're just no-brainers.

[morhilane]

 

I think it's entirely likely that a category of obligatory picks will emerge soon, so the variety will be mostly illusory or if someone doesn't care much about optimizing.

I agree though I feel that is a foregone conclusion in almost all RPGs, is it not? There aree always the best weapons, armors, abilities and spells that end being abused. Even in PnP game engines you pretty much see this universally. Power gamers (basically most posters who play the heck out of the game) will always dig them out as that is half the fun for some.

 

 

RPGs usually don't put talents/abilities like "deal unarmed damage, but less than a full Monk" flavor skills for players who wants to play a Monk but don't want to pick the Monk class or multiclass into it.

 

In fact, most RPGs don't have much character customization outside picking a class and sticking to it. Even D&D, that people around here praise for its choices is way more restrained and going outside the class usually means penalties. The only end results is that POE1  (and soon POE2) classes are going to all feel seamy again. But Josh doesn't care, he prefer classless systems.

[Enoch]

Obsidian is having an internal play day, or possibly week. 

 

Josh is playing a "cheeky" (google translate tells me that his charname = this in Icelandic) Battlemage historian.

 

Carrie is happy that Megan is testing all of the "capriciously evil" reactivity with her Corpse Eater. 

 

Megan apparently likes this kind of thing.

[Blades of Vanatar]

 

 

I think it's entirely likely that a category of obligatory picks will emerge soon, so the variety will be mostly illusory or if someone doesn't care much about optimizing.

I agree though I feel that is a foregone conclusion in almost all RPGs, is it not? There aree always the best weapons, armors, abilities and spells that end being abused. Even in PnP game engines you pretty much see this universally. Power gamers (basically most posters who play the heck out of the game) will always dig them out as that is half the fun for some.

RPGs usually don't put talents/abilities like "deal unarmed damage, but less than a full Monk" flavor skills for players who wants to play a Monk but don't want to pick the Monk class or multiclass into it.

 

In fact, most RPGs don't have much character customization outside picking a class and sticking to it. Even D&D, that people around here praise for its choices is way more restrained and going outside the class usually means penalties. The only end results is that POE1 (and soon POE2) classes are going to all feel seamy again. But Josh doesn't care, he prefer classless systems.

Except for 3rd edition. That was very customizable. Still predictable though in the later level choices for warrior types.

 

Wizardry allowed for a nice mix of ‘dual-classing’. Wiz 8 allowed for lots of different combos. Priest-Lord, Rogue-Any other trap finding class, Mage-Samurai, etc.... one of my all time faves.

[Boeroer]

Did you guys see the text down left in his level-up-pic?

 

1 active ability point and 1 passive ability point?

 

I hope that doesn't mean you are forced to spend points on actives or passives - that would reduce the introduction of more passives or actives to absurdity.

 

Edit: stupid me - that's for the skill points only. Forget what I was saying. Sorry! I'm so eager to test this out. So. Eager.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Boeroer

[Lamppost in Winter]

Did you guys see the text down left in his level-up-pic?

 

1 active ability point and 1 passive ability point?

 

I hope that doesn't mean you are forced to spend points on actives or passives - that would reduce the introduction of more passives or actives to absurdity.

I tried to do that and it didn't work.

[Boeroer]

What exactly did you try?

[Lamppost in Winter]

What exactly did you try?

When it said "1 passive ability point and 1 active ability point", I tried to purchase both an active and a passive, but I only had the one point to spend.

[Wormerine]

There's power gaming and then there's "I fight with two weapons so of course I have to pick the talent that helps me do it" and "stuns suck so I'll take the talent that makes me more resistant to them". They're not optimal options for dedicated players to find, they're just no-brainers.

But that’s what people wanted, right? “Oh, why am I good with two weapons from get go, and can’t pick up two weapon fighting for my rogue” or “in PoE I could soft multiclass within one class and here I have to multiclass!” But we will see. Maybe they will be interesting ones.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Wormerine

[dunehunter]

So the new general talent design is to give every class extra passive abilities, instead of put all of them into a general pool?

 

I'm not sure if I'm a fan of it, we will see

[Gromnir]

Yeah, that twitter message is truly promising. Deadfire seems to deliver on fun galore, after all!

maybe am seeing a different twitter message, but as far as we can tell, there appears to be a return o' cross-class talents to poe.  is not quite as folks in this thread seem to be imagining.  the vast number o' such abilities will likely add little to deadfire save for level-up screen clutter.  converse, a smallish handful o' the new abilities will become essential for particular roles... but to a lesser degree than in poe as multiclassing will negate value.  am anticipating a deadfire tank build, regardless o' class, would (if is included) once again benefit from a fighter's watered-down constant recovery.  no-brainer choice. the deadfire difference being a tank will be able to actual take fighter as a second class making such an ability unnecessary and unavailable.  

 

am maybe seeming unnecessarily cynical, but am genuine surprised by the outpouring o' glee from so many folks regarding this anticipated addition o' cross-class abilities. is less the balance issue many are imagining, which is good.  is also offering less functional customization choices than imagined, in part 'cause o' the predictable essential nature o' a tiny fraction o' the possible cross-class talents.

 

that said, for folks genuine less concerned with builds and relative powha, the cross-class deadfire abilities will offer flavor options. hardcore role-players who is less concerned with dps comparisons and is more interested in crafting unique characters will see the most benefit.  for example, the number o' builds which we predict will benefit objective from the monastic unarmed training is relative small, but it would be kinda kewl to makes a streetfighter who relies on unarmed attacks to do damage.  

 

maybe am wrong and am looking at this all wrong, but  we cannot help but wonder what we missed in the tweet.  

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Enoch]

Happened to look at the SomethingAwful thread, and Josh has been on one of his more active streaks there over the past day or two, including some AFAIK heretofore unknown lore points.  Here's the thread, but SA sometimes makes stuff non-viewable to non-members, so I'll post the most interesting quotes. 

 

Eora lore stuff:

 

 

Saints are defined more clearly in Vol. II of the Guidebook (coming soon). They are individuals revered by the laity of different religions for their exemplary character and actions. Thaos would not be considered a saint because no one really knows he exists/who he is.

What is important to note is that sainthood is a popular conception. It is not conferred by the word of god nor by a religious authority's process and proclamation.

 

 

 

In many ways, contemporary animancy has already far exceeded what the Engwithans were capable of. Engwithans didn't have much knowledge about the finer points of animancy, i.e. what makes people tick. What they excelled at was large-scale soul manipulation: pulling souls out, putting them in objects, tearing them to pieces, and merging them together. All of the fine analysis and "treatment" (for better or worse) is all the result of contemporary animancy.

 

 

 

Though they operate in a much different way than the Leaden Key, the Hand Occult is also responsible for a lot of intentional obfuscation.

 

On ship battles:

 

 

A few things that will likely be changing:

* In the initial contact, the ability to Close to Board, potentially suffering a hailstorm of cannonballs if you just want to go to deck-to-deck combat.
* Removing the Full Sail x1 or Half Sail x2 style moves per round.
* Jibing being an immediate flip with few consequences.

E: There are not currently any wind/directional mechanics related to moving in the ship duels. Gaining advantage at the beginning of a round will allow you to move farther in that round.

 

 

 

One of the biggest elements that can change the flow of ship duels are ship events. In the current backer beta build, I believe the potential events are deck fire, sail fire, loose cargo, sailor overboard, and flooding. These can be triggered randomly by cannon hits and require "Report to..." assignments for crew members to deal with/put out. While crew members are dealing with those events, they aren't doing their normal jobs. The other, most common, thing that can disrupt the operation of your ship in a duel is a crew injury. A crew injury requires assigning the injured crew member to the reserves so the surgeon can patch them up. Otherwise, injured crew members are incapable of doing their assigned jobs.

There are three other actions we're looking at adding: surrender (player and AI), repairing sails, and repairing hull. The latter two would be battlefield (sea?) repairs to allow the player and AI to deal with sail and hull loss in the same way as other ship events. They would be superseded by events like sail fires and deck fires, since you can't really do repairs on things that are actively on fire.

 

 

Other:

If you don't import a save, you can either use one of our presets* or you can use an in-game interface to set up your Pillars I choices.

* Current presets include, but are not limited to, Benevolent Soul, Fair and Balanced, Survival of the Fittest, Dark Times, and Everything Bad. Descriptions are provided in-game, but I will let your imaginations fill in the blanks for now.

Edited February 4, 2018 by Enoch

[injurai]

Ship battles look cool, but also really need to be fleshed out a bit more. Especially wind mechanics and better conveyance of positioning. They have something really magical on their hands, they just have to drive it home. I'm glad they are still working on it.

[Sonntam]

I do wonder what "everything bad" would imply.

 

All companions dead, broke promise to a god, land ravaged by plagues/whatever, lowest possible reputation with all possible factions?

[Silent Winter]

Ship battles look cool, but also really need to be fleshed out a bit more. Especially wind mechanics and better conveyance of positioning. They have something really magical on their hands, they just have to drive it home. I'm glad they are still working on it.

While I'd like it to be engaging, my only worry is that the ship battles will become a tiresome but unavoidable mini-game (I haven't got the beta so can't comment from experience).

If it's something that happens every time you set sail, then it might become annoying (like too many random battles) - on the other hand, if it's something that happens infrequently (though enough times over the course of the game) it might be a really great addition to the travel mechanic.

So long as wind-mechanics etc is done in a way that's easy enough to grasp (one doesn't need to be a sailor to understand it) and there's advantage to certain kinds of craft and positioning, it would be cool to have.

[blotter]

There's a combat speed slider in the works.

 

Also, if you were wondering how the big head versions of Eder, Pallegina, Tekehu, Serafen, and Sawyer's pale Elf Watcher looked in the inventory screen, then today's your lucky day.

Edited February 6, 2018 by blotter

[Night Stalker]

Combat speed slider:

 

How would you feel about having a customizable slow mode, with a slider ranging from 0% to like 90% or something like that? I feel like every individual seems to have a personal combat speed preference.

We’re going to be implementing a combat speed slider that’s accessible from the HUD, so you can slow it down, speed it up, or leave it at the default game speed.

 

Edited February 6, 2018 by Night Stalker

[SkySlam]

This is like one of the best news ever! Can't wait to try combat at my own custom speed!

[Sedrefilos]

Combat speed slider was the obvious solution from the start

Great addition.