Josh Sawyer's tweets and teasers

[injurai]

Speaking of "hide" I hide cloaks a long time ago in PoE1 and have no clue where the option to turn them back on is. I thought it was on the paperdoll. Unless my game is bugged.

[JerekKruger]

Kind of looks like it's an exceptional quality axe as the model is similar. Could be an unique axe since some of the unique axes use the same or similar model.

 

I am hoping it's a hatchet. I didn't like most the hatchet models in Pillars.

 

Oh, and, evidently we can now 'holster' the weapon while in the character/inventory screen rather than just hold it all the time. Though the holstered weapon is new for PoE2.

 

 

If you can sheave weapons in game a lot of people are going to be very happy. I'll be even happier if the sheaved mode for two handers is resting them on the shoulder and not the awkward back sheaf that is so common.

[smjjames]

 

Kind of looks like it's an exceptional quality axe as the model is similar. Could be an unique axe since some of the unique axes use the same or similar model.

 

I am hoping it's a hatchet. I didn't like most the hatchet models in Pillars.

 

It looks identical to an exceptional battleaxe to me, or one of the unique ones which use the same or slightly modified model.

[draego]

Here is a new update on enchantments for josh. https://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/161718781511/hi-josh-talking-about-the-revised-weapon

Edited June 12, 2017 by draego

[smjjames]

Oh, he worked on Icewind Dale, didn't know that. Also, he COMPLETELY avoids the enchanting question, or at least leaves it really ambigous, IMO. The description of the unique rapier is interesting though.

Edited June 12, 2017 by smjjames

[injurai]

Here is a new update on enchantments for josh. https://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/161718781511/hi-josh-talking-about-the-revised-weapon

 

 

"I requested abilities that grant bonuses when threatened by three or more enemies, abilities that trigger when the wielder is flanked, and a short-range teleport that leaves a blinding black cloud behind."

 

:bow:

[Katarack21]

Sounds like there will be a lot of flavorful and unique items with interesting abilities and a total inability to custom enchant a useful weapon for specific needs or uses.

So look forward to hording early-game items with crap stats just in case you need that damage type (fire, water, etc.) against an enemy later.

[Doppelschwert]

I prefer hording unique items over generic crafting materials.

[Katarack21]

Suit yourself. I prefer having the choice of which weapon to have which enchantment in which situation, rather than just take what the developer plans out and hope they predict my choice of weapon type and playstyle correctly.

[Boeroer]

Both would be cool. Why not both?

[JerekKruger]

Both would be best. I like the uniques appearance, lore and excitement of finding unique items, but I like the flexibility that enchanting provides.

The rapper* rapier Josh describes sounds great though. No complaints on that front.

 

*Bloody phone!

Edited June 12, 2017 by JerekKruger

[Baltic]

I get why they don't want you to be able to use a weapon from the beginning of the game to the end but I don't see why you can't be allowed to enchant every weapon with dragon slaying or flaming or whatever if that's your thing.

[Doppelschwert]

Whether you hoard enchanted items or hoard the means to enchant them yourself makes ultimately no difference, in the end the developers will still limit you to what they deem appropriate for where you are at the game. I also highly doubt that it will be necessary to carry crap around; josh already said that old equipment just won't cut it anymore once new stuff is around, so there won't be a point to keep stuff around forever, and I highly doubt that it will be necessary to complete any part of the game; I neither used unique weapons nor crafting in PoE and was able to complete the game just fine.

 

There is a sliding scale in customization - PoE also limits you in what you can craft just by existence of crafting materials, and a lot of unique enchantments were not available as options either. Deadfire making the crafting options more limited is the natural reaction to all the complaints that crafted weapons were superior to soulbound ones. I get that this is annoying to people who like to min/max their game, but personally, I think making unique items actually desirable is more than worth it.

Edited June 12, 2017 by Doppelschwert

[Katarack21]

When you build elemental paper/rock/scissors into your games combat, you are basically building min/maxing into your game from the ground up. In that situation, having the ability to enchant elemental damage types as needed is much more important and, I would argue, an necessary aspect of player choice.

[MortyTheGobbo]

I really, really do not care about unique items. Equipment are tools, I can't be excited about them. What I want is to have options. When I build my character, I also want to adjust their tools. Not... use whichever the best unique item for their chosen category happens to be.

[JerekKruger]

Perhaps we can keep the enchantment discussion in the enchantment thread, it doesn't need to happen in two places.

[JesseN13]

I think a lot of folks have been spoiled over the years with having the ability to enchant items. Unique items were always what drove many an adventure in D&D and the older D&D computer games (SSI games, Baldur Gates, etc). Usually only a renowned mage would be able to enchant an item. . . but lately it seems Joe the Thief can enchant anything he wants assuming he has the materials. It takes away from the allure of truly bad ass treasure. 

[smjjames]

I don't know if this counts as a teaser, but he's posted up a photo of the PoE2 Deadfire shirt, which I guess are being sold at E3.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVP-eqPl0pG/?taken-by=jesawyer1975&hl=en

[Quillon]

SomethingAwful said:

Josh said:

Units of time for attack speeds, recovery, and effect durations are displayed in Deadfire.

Will we get an in-game DPS calculator?

Josh said:

It's possible but it hasn't been a priority for us. DPS should be easier to calculate even without an in-game aid because of how the armor mechanics work in Deadfire. If you're in the main Penetration range, you're doing 100% listed damage. Using the listed Attack Speed and Recovery times, it's pretty straightforward to figure out.

There are a lot more effects than just attack speed and recovery though, presuming that weapon lashes, weapon -based DoTs, etc., all remain part of the game.

Josh said:

Those are all still elements of the game, but the mechanics governing most of them are more straightforward, again especially because of the Armor System. We had to do a bunch of weird adjustments to get things like lashes to be effective against armor, but that's not a concern anymore. Whether a flaming weapon does 2 or 12 additional points of damage on a hit, the Burn Penetration defaults to the same value as the attacking weapon, meaning adding it in is more straightforward than it was in PoE.

Those elements are also not things that just go on any ol' weapon anymore. Weapons can be enchanted up from what they start as, but you can't add something where there wasn't something to begin with. E.g. a weapon with bonuses against Kith can have that enchantment increased/modified, but you can't just add Kith Slaying onto a weapon you find.

With all due respect, you should never overestimate your audience's willingness to do math.

Josh said:

The people who aren't willing to do basic arithmetic probably aren't likely to even look at a DPS value if we provided it. We heavily modified the DPS value from F3 in F:NV (and provided a separate DAM value). The people who cared about those values looked at them, thought about them, discussed them, and made choices based on them (and their own theories) but there are hundreds of let's play video series out there that show people scrolling past AMRs and brush guns to use lever-action shotguns with buckshot against NCR heavy troopers.

Josh said:

One internal argument against providing a DPS value is that the people requesting it the most stridently are also the ones most likely to criticize its specific implementation for not including every conceivable input that could adjust its output, even when those values are target- or circumstance-dependent.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3807509&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=196

[MaxQuest]

Here is a new update on enchantments for josh. https://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/161718781511/hi-josh-talking-about-the-revised-weapon

In PoE1 we had unique and soulbound items. Were uniques had a unique set of basic properties 'designed ahead of time' (e.g. borresaine: draining and stunning), while soulbound stuff had a set of really unique properties, but could not be durganized and lashed.

And in Deadfire this difference seems to be getting blurred or eliminated.

 

Whether a flaming weapon does 2 or 12 additional points of damage on a hit, the Burn Penetration defaults to the same value as the attacking weapon, meaning adding it in is more straightforward than it was in PoE.

Hah)

If in PoE1 I was asking myself when lashed a weapon for the first time: does fire lash go against burning DR or the one targeted by weapon?

In Deadfire, if I would start with it, I would ask the same question.

 

I mean it's not really more straightforward, as the question will be asked either way, unless there is a detailed tooltip. Imo improved transparency is the key to making stuff less confusing.

 

One internal argument against providing a DPS value is that the people requesting it the most stridently are also the ones most likely to criticize its specific implementation for not including every conceivable input that could adjust its output, even when those values are target- or circumstance-dependent.

Well yes, one would expect attacker's and defenders current, i.e. realtime stats (DR, acc, defences, damage modifiers, etc) taken into account. Edited June 15, 2017 by MaxQuest

[AndreaColombo]

https://twitter.com/jesawyer/status/875439243396435968

[smjjames]

You forgot the one from two hours ago: https://twitter.com/WorldofEternity/status/875412289960026113

[injurai]

https://twitter.com/jesawyer/status/875439243396435968

 

YES! I've been wanting this feature. I rarely used item switching for anything other than melee vs range because this wasn't available.

[smjjames]

Showing off the barbarians sundering blow effects: https://www.instagram.com/p/BVaRlQDl4m7/?taken-by=jesawyer1975&hl=en Also, that cape looks unnaturally stiff, looks like it's trying to go straight ' vertical down' when the character is in a combat crouch, but physics wise, only the part coming off the back would actually be 'straight and vertical'. Just to be clear, when the character does the action, it looks fine, it's just when the cape moves to neutral position that it seems to defy gravity.

 

edit: Palleginas cape looks fine, though I can't tell for sure whether she is leaning forward a bit. Could just be that particular cape model.

Edited June 16, 2017 by smjjames

[injurai]

Didn't they have to write custom custom cloth simulation for reasons? I'm forgetting those reasons. But it was a work around that Adam was proud of.