Deadfire Dev Q&A, April 2nd!

[Mikey Dowling]

Hey everyone! It's been awhile and we miss you. So tomorrow, April 2nd, we'll be doing another Deadfire Q&A with Josh Sawyer! We'd love to answer your questions about general lore of the world of Eora, so let us know any that you may have (along with other questions of course!). We'll try to get through everything we can, but this won't be the last Q&A before release.

 

See you tomorrow at 4:00PM PDT!

 

twitch.tv/obsidian

[Matched]

0100 CEST. Countdown: https://a.chronus.eu/1833EC4

Edited April 1, 2018 by Matched

[Lamppost in Winter]

Are there any planned changes to the Black Jacket subclass? Most seem to agree that their bonus is quite small compared to their malus.

[GayLenin]

Are Faction relations from PoE1 going to have an impact in any meaningful way in Deadfire? I.e. supporting The Dozens, Doemenels et al.

[Guest]

Will all the PoE1 voice sets be available in Deadfire?

 

(“Male Noble” was changed in beta 4. I don’t mind it being called something else, but I’ll be a little sad if my imported character has to pick a new voice)

[dejarik]

Are there any planned DLCs (like WM part I/II). If so, are they planned to be played mid-game or after the game?

 

(I bought both WMs, didn’t catch that they were supposed to be played within the game, and was kind of gutted when I saw the end credits. Took me six months before reloading a save 40 hours in and playing WM I/II before completing the game)

[palinopsia]

can you tell us a bit more about the white that wends in general? what's life like there? what kind of houses do they live in? what do they wear? are there ice castles? why is there aristocracy but no mercenaries?

 

im just desperate for any information about the white really

 

 

or: how does aging work for elves in eora? (im kinda confused since aloth was 12 years old in human terms at 12, and seems to be in his 20s when he's 62 in pillars 1)

[Infinitron]

Will we get to see the non-beta content that was shown at GDC? (this question is for right now, not for the stream)

[Karkarov]

Eh I "should" be able to make it if I gun it home from work.  We shall see!

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

With the changes to single class talent/ability points, multiclasses are now slightly behind in terms of talents/abilities. Will multiclasses get more points as well or is the belief that multiclass synergy is enough of a benefit to consider multi and single balanced?

[bonarbill]

Lore Question

Can godless priests exist within the lore?  We know that Priests don't get their spells from the Gods, so perhaps a godless priest could get spells based on their own beliefs.

 

Game Question

Will fire godlikes get updated (or new) portraits?  They look completely different in PoE2, but they are still using the old portraits based on fire godlikes from PoE1.

Edited April 1, 2018 by bonarbill

[Kirschkern]

Game question:

Are they planing to give us access to the abilities overview screen at all times (the one you see when you level up). It would be really nice to plan out a build or quickly check what you are gonna get next level.

[SummerAnne58]

This may be too spoiler-y but will there be a lore friendly reason to completely change our character? (e.g. Eothas completely destroys us and there's only leftovers of our soul that finds some other vessel.)

[Breckmoney]

With the changes to single class talent/ability points, multiclasses are now slightly behind in terms of talents/abilities. Will multiclasses get more points as well or is the belief that multiclass synergy is enough of a benefit to consider multi and single balanced?

 

This is basically the question I was going to ask, so giving a +1 here

[omniknight]

1. If the penalty half of a subclass involves an affliction, is it possible to remove and/or become immune to that affliction? For example, Berserker Barbarians become confused while frenzied.

 

2. The latest Beta patch was huge and contained what seem like finalized versions of my biggest previously unresolved concerns: strength/might/resolve, armor pen, single vs dual class balance, extremely long cast times. Balance tweaks for many things are of course going to continue for a while, but are there any *major* mechanics or systems that you feel aren't going to be finalized until sometime post-launch? If so, what are they and when?

Edited April 2, 2018 by omniknight

[misterjimmy]

Gameplay Question

 

 

i'm glad you add more generic passives in beta update 3,but what about the subclass ? is there any more "special" passives for subclass ?

 

 

Music Question

 

 

More battle music and special boss fight music in deadfire ?

[gsrs1277]

--The magic system in BG2 was obviously unwieldy --with so many spells and counterspells and contingencies and triggers that didnt always quite work unless the game was modded.

I understand this messiness is probably something designers want to avoid in a new game of this kind. On the other hand, the complexity of all these immunities/counterspells, the use of time stop and improved alacrity, and the ability to store groups of spells in triggers and contingencies made gameplay incredibly fun and made wizard battles almost like mini puzzles in themselves. Would you consider adding future features to PoE 2 like this? I already notice some metamagic-type passive talents for wizards in the new Beta update, which is a promising sign. But I want high-level abilities that enable you to store and cast groups of spells.

 

--If there's no printing press, how/why are there so many copies of the same book? Scribes? Can people reproduce books by magic? Was there a narrative
reason to exclude the printing press in this world?

 

 

--Obviously loaded, but-- if Watchers weren't quite adequately distinguished from Ciphers in the first game, I also feel like wizardly magic in particular was not distinguished from magic in general which in turn was not distinguished from animancy. Does animancy require knowledge of magic to work? Why is animancy a "science" and not "magic"? Where does wizardly magic originate? What language are spells in?

[Binxi]

Even though they aren't in this game, will we be getting any indication about what our other companions have been up to in these few years we've been apart? Like Hiravias or Kana or Sangani?

[Binxi]

If you can't tell us anything about those companions, will we at least be learning more about godlikes in general and where they come from?

[Binxi]

Will we get any information about the other companions and what they've been up to the last few years?

Like Hiravias or Kana of Sangani?

 

If not will we at least learn a little bit more about Godlikes and how they came to be?

[Galagraphia]

1. Will we be able to determine what was our Watcher doing between Pillars 1 and Deadfire? Maybe like we talked with Calisca about why we came to Dyrwood. Or is there some kind of canon? ("Ruled Caed Nua for 5 years, it was boring")

 

2. Where did Cosmo come from and how long do the space mini pigs usually live if you care for them well?

 

3. Will there be a quest to turn the cutest cat into the animancy cat, or we just find her with the cone and the tube?

 

4. Can we have a parrot as a pet?

[AndreaColombo]

How do counters work in practice?

 

Could you show us an example in-game (e.g. a “keyword: Fire” spell countered by a “keyword: Water” spell?)

[esyvjrt]

To what degree are godlikes perceived as their original kith species on comparison to as godlike kiths?

[Nail]

Are you happy with current balance?

Edited April 2, 2018 by Nail

[Madscientist]

What were your intentions for changing the damage vs DR system from PoE1 to the penetration vs AR system of PoE2?

 

I like almost all other changes from PoE1 to 2, especially multiclassing, more exploration and more personality for companions.

But the damage system was easy to understand and I saw no reason to change it. Why did you change it completely instead of making some minor changes similat to Tyranny or DA:O?

 

EDIT: OK, in the other thread I just saw Joshs last something awful post, though I did not understand the arguments.

- Q: When should I change weapons?

PoE1 answer: When you do minimum damage most of the time.

PoE2 answer: When you underpenetrate most of the time.

Both systems seem quite clear to me.

 

- Armor is almost useless when fighting dragons in PoE1.

Well, since I assume dragons and other strong enemies have a very high penetration, armor will be completely useless instead of almost useless.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Madscientist