Save Import VS Choice Selection

[MrHoot]

Hi guys, 

 

I know you will be able to go through a section during the prologue of Deadfire to set up the choices you made from PoE1 but my question is how in depth is it and how much does it affect the game?

 

For example, importing a ME2 save in Mass Effect 3 changes literally hundreds of interactions due to your actions in the first 2 games whereas in The Witcher 3, importing a TW2 save only controls the appearance of 2 extra characters across the entire 100 hour game, (and you can make those choices easily through an in-game scene).

 

I guess what I'm trying to do is discover if there is any point in replaying the entirety of PoE1 just for this save import feature. If all it does is change characters starting points and sets up the backstory then I'll probably just use the prologue choice thing in the new game as long as that covers it but if there are subtle nods or characters/quest changes throughout the entire game, ME style, then it might be worth it to replay the first game.

 

Any info on this would be much appreciated.

[TheisEjsing]

There will be small payoffs to the first game that is not possible to obtain in the editor. But Sawyer stated, that they will only be minor things. So the bottomline is, that it's a matter of your investment into the story. I personally played it again at christmas to be ready for PoE II. If you only want the major events, and important decisions, you'll be alright with the editor. That's atleast how most people here interpret what OE has said for now. 

 

Edit: Tried to find the tweet, but Wormerine is just too quick.

Edited March 9, 2018 by TheisEjsing

[Wormerine]

The most comprehensive answer from the main source:

https://twitter.com/jesawyer/status/966878774493986817

[Valmy]

I will be importing. I didn't run that PoE+WM1+WM2 marathon for nothing.

[Piero]

As said, ther will be minor variables not posible to set in the manual state interface, but i would be surprised if no one makes some final save file editor.

[VincentNZ]

I was wondering the same thing. Basically I did one playthrough with a barbarian, but I am not sure if I wanted to play one again in the second iteration. I also never touched the game again after I finished for reasons I do not really know, nor do I think I would do another playthrough until April 3.

 

Thing is I also do not recall the whole storyline at all, or whether there were companion interactions that are carried over. If it really is just small details there is no harm in doing either of the options I guess. However I did the endfight with the grieving mother and Hiravias, instead of my normal party that included Aloth and Kana/Sagani. Will Deadfire put me into the same party upon import?

I recall being really bumped out in ME1 where I did not import at first just to find out that a companion of mine was dead that (Wrex) that is rather hard to save on the first playthrough, while I accomplished this in my savegame. You also do not get to know this until you are halfway through the campaign.

BG2 in comparison did it well, which I played without having played the predecessor, and where no choices where carried over and you started as a clean slate.

 

Is there a good summary somewhere apart from a wiki where you can read up on the main story, a small lore background, as well as something that gives you the context for Deadfire?

[Wormerine]

I was wondering the same thing. Basically I did one playthrough with a barbarian, but I am not sure if I wanted to play one again in the second iteration. I also never touched the game again after I finished for reasons I do not really know, nor do I think I would do another playthrough until April 3.

 

Importing a save transfers choice, not character. Upon starting Deadfire you will have to create a character anyway, just as you would when starting new game.

 

Deadfire takes place years after first game. Whom you traveled with won’t matter, just their endings will. The only returning companions are: Eder, Pallegina and Aloth. Characters who died in your PoE1 playthrough, wont be resurrected for the sequel.

Edited March 10, 2018 by Wormerine

[VincentNZ]

 

I was wondering the same thing. Basically I did one playthrough with a barbarian, but I am not sure if I wanted to play one again in the second iteration. I also never touched the game again after I finished for reasons I do not really know, nor do I think I would do another playthrough until April 3.

Importing a save transfers choice, not character. Upon starting Deadfire you will have to create a character anyway, just as you would when starting new game.

 

Deadfire takes place years after first game. Whom you traveled with won’t matter, just their endings will. The only returning companions are: Eder, Pallegina and Aloth. Characters who died in your PoE1 playthrough, wont be resurrected for the sequel.

 

Well thank you for the info! So it is indeed more like the transition from BG 1 to 2, where everyone but a certain core moved on.

 

And good to know that you do not transfer the character, so I can rethink this or use my savgame multiple times! That was really helpful.

[Morrowless]

If I sacrificed a character for stat gain, would that transfer as well? It was my choice after all, even if the character is not imported.

[omgFIREBALLS]

If I sacrificed a character for stat gain, would that transfer as well? It was my choice after all, even if the character is not imported.

As far as I understand it, it won't immediately transfer the buff but it will transfer the choice. That means that at some point during Deadfire, this choice will have some consequence and maybe lead you to gaining the buff again. That however doesn't mean that making a different choice in PoE1 won't also lead to getting a buff, albeit a different one.

 

It was explained something like this with regards to Gift from the Machine (gained by hacking the animancy machine in the graveyard area).

[jf8350143]

I imagine it would be like ME 2, you can make most of the important choices, but import a save will give you little more than that. For example if you use the DLC to choose the decisions in ME1, several minor NPCs will be dead no matter what you choose, but if you import a save, they will be alive and actually show up in the game.

 

So I'd say import save is the better choice and actually worth an play through if you have time. But I'll start using the choosing section during my second or third play through, since I don't have 5 different saves to import.

[morhilane]

I imagine it would be like ME 2, you can make most of the important choices, but import a save will give you little more than that. For example if you use the DLC to choose the decisions in ME1, several minor NPCs will be dead no matter what you choose, but if you import a save, they will be alive and actually show up in the game.

 

It's going to be more exhaustive than ME 2, it only allowed you to pick the major main story decisions, that's why a bunch of people were dead by default.

 

Josh said there is very few things in an imported saves that you can't set manually via the UI in Deadfire.

[VincentNZ]

I have a question regarding the saves. I just read up on the storyline again and I have no idea what I did with the souls, or if I promised any god anything before. At the same time the last save obviously is the one before the fight against Thaos.

 

So where is that save actually that displays my ending? And if I reload the final fight again, and either complete it again or quite after the fight started, wouldn't that overwrite my previous progress? If you get my drift...

Is there a way to look up what I did in that playthrough without manipulating my savegame?

[Wormerine]

I have a question regarding the saves. I just read up on the storyline again and I have no idea what I did with the souls, or if I promised any god anything before. At the same time the last save obviously is the one before the fight against Thaos.

 

So where is that save actually that displays my ending? And if I reload the final fight again, and either complete it again or quite after the fight started, wouldn't that overwrite my previous progress? If you get my drift...

Is there a way to look up what I did in that playthrough without manipulating my savegame?

When you complete the game there is "gamecomplete" save in your save directory (%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Pillars of Eternity).

 

I can see only two "save complete" saves, even though I "replayed" the ending with my first character due to missing on Zahua's sidequest. So it is possible, that it creates only one "gamecomplete" save per character, and overwrites it when completed again. 

 

I don't know, if its possible to "read" the save file. Deadfire might list core choices when importing, but it might not.

 

Pfffff, a chosen one who decides fate of thousands of souls and can't even remember what he did. :-D

[VincentNZ]

 

I have a question regarding the saves. I just read up on the storyline again and I have no idea what I did with the souls, or if I promised any god anything before. At the same time the last save obviously is the one before the fight against Thaos.

 

So where is that save actually that displays my ending? And if I reload the final fight again, and either complete it again or quite after the fight started, wouldn't that overwrite my previous progress? If you get my drift...

Is there a way to look up what I did in that playthrough without manipulating my savegame?

When you complete the game there is "gamecomplete" save in your save directory (%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Pillars of Eternity).

 

I can see only two "save complete" saves, even though I "replayed" the ending with my first character due to missing on Zahua's sidequest. So it is possible, that it creates only one "gamecomplete" save per character, and overwrites it when completed again. 

 

I don't know, if its possible to "read" the save file. Deadfire might list core choices when importing, but it might not.

 

Pfffff, a chosen one who decides fate of thousands of souls and can't even remember what he did. :-D

 

Yeah, I know, right? It is really strange with PoE, I recall many details from my different BG playthroughs, and for Tyranny I recall a lot as well, mainly because you truly shape your own adventure there, but here I only remember some bits here and there, although I genuinely liked the story and the sidequests. I just read up on the ending screens, and mostly I have no idea what I did, I can only assume.

 

Normally I would just reload and watch it again, but I am hesitant because the playthrough was rather "pure", meaning that I finished it without looking at consequences in the Wiki, but with knowing the mechanics well enough that I know what I do. Also I read most things carefully and chose as I just thought I would. I guess I killed off Thaos and would have put the souls back into reincarnation, as this seems close to me, but I can not be sure, and I do not want to muck stuff up just to refresh my memory. :D

 

So maybe there will be a way to look at the choices in the menu for Deadfire, or to copy that savegame, replay it, and then put the old one in again, so I can see what I did beside the main quest, which might be referenced. I just really hate it when I play a game, and a guy comes up to me saying: "Man I hate you for the thing you did there!" and I have no idea what he is talking about... :D

 

Edit: And thank you for the quick answer!

Edited March 12, 2018 by VincentNZ

[DexGames]

Need some Insight, I'm not sure I fully understand how Import practically works :

 

[steam] : Whenever I wanna play the First Game, I just install it & all my Saved Game are here. [in some sort of a "Steam Cloud", I guess...]

But for the Secong Game, should I reinstall Pillars I, so Deadfire has "Access" to these "Hidden Saved Game // End Game States" ?

 

Do I have to Reinstall Pillars, then Look For // Copy // Paste the Hidden Save somewhere, then manually copy it in whatever Folder when Deadfire is out & fully Installed ?

I guess the main Question is :

• Does Deadfire automatically accesses Pillars I End Game Saves, when it's not Installed ?

The practical side of this bugs me out...

[Night Stalker]

Need some Insight, I'm not sure I fully understand how Import practically works :

 

[steam] : Whenever I wanna play the First Game, I just install it & all my Saved Game are here. [in some sort of a "Steam Cloud", I guess...]

But for the Secong Game, should I reinstall Pillars I, so Deadfire has "Access" to these "Hidden Saved Game // End Game States" ?

 

Do I have to Reinstall Pillars, then Look For // Copy // Paste the Hidden Save somewhere, then manually copy it in whatever Folder when Deadfire is out & fully Installed ?

I guess the main Question is :

• Does Deadfire automatically accesses Pillars I End Game Saves, when it's not Installed ?

The practical side of this bugs me out...

 

If you played PoE1, then it would have created a folder on your computer where the save games were stored. When you uninstalled PoE1, that folder, and everything in it, was not deleted. When you install PoE2, I assume it will look for that folder and try to find an endgame save.

 

This is however speculation, based on how other games tend to handle this, since I have seen no specifics on how PoE2 is going to find the save files.

[The Sharmat]

Does anyone actually expect these to have more but the most shallow of impacts on the actual characters and story of PoE2? I wouldn't be too worried about it.

[DexGames]

If you played PoE1, then it would have created a folder on your computer where the save games were stored. When you uninstalled PoE1, that folder, and everything in it, was not deleted. When you install PoE2, I assume it will look for that folder and try to find an endgame save.

 

This is however speculation, based on how other games tend to handle this, since I have seen no specifics on how PoE2 is going to find the save files.

 

Ok, Thanks for the info, I'll try to see if I can find this folder.

It's probable that I've made a Reset of my Computer since the last time I've played though.

[Wormerine]

Ok, Thanks for the info, I'll try to see if I can find this folder.

It's probable that I've made a Reset of my Computer since the last time I've played though.

It should be found under:

%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Pillars of Eternity

 

If you use steam or gog cloud service you can regain saves by reinstalling the game.

[PatrioticChief]

I just powered through PoE and WM for the sole purpose of a save import. Really glad to see you can create a new character because if I was stuck as a Barbarian I was just gonna create a new character from scratch. All in on my soul blade/devoted idea.