aubergine
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I must get over myself
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Post by aubergine on Sept 15, 2022 10:04:33 GMT
I’ve finally come back to Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2 on my PS5. I bounced off the first game years ago very quickly, as the combat seems insanely difficult - or just complicated?
It looks like the second game has a turn-based option (more my style) but I’m trying to start with the first game for the background. Boy, is the combat a slog though. It’s probably more suited to PC, but it’s just odd to me that the game seems ridiculously hard on “normal” difficulty. Has anyone else played it on console?
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EMarkM
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Post by EMarkM on Sept 15, 2022 10:28:20 GMT
I’m partway through the first game on XSX and love it for its similarities to Baldur’s Gate, Divinity Original Sin, etc.
That said, I’ve not touched it for months, and it’s good old “Will I remember what to do, or even how to play?” that’s holding me back.
I never found it unnecessarily difficult: the learning curve seemed elegant enough.
Good luck, and let us know how you get on!
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Post by simple on Sept 15, 2022 10:59:48 GMT
I haven’t played the second but I loved the first. I don’t know why but I felt like it played more like the Icewind Dale games than Baldurs Gate. My only real gripe would be that (plot spoiler) the ending is a bit abrupt, both in how you enter the final section and in one the ending actually is but the rest was so close to what I like about this style rpg and was such fun I can forgive it. |
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askew
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Post by askew on Sept 15, 2022 11:07:36 GMT
I picked up PoE 2 (Deadfire?) a few months ago and haven't made much progress. I find the combat pretty tough too: one fight early one where I'm outnumbered and the enemy had ranged weapons took me several attempts to finally get lucky enough to win. Could be a party composition thing where I've got two magic users and one brawler.
That said, I recently bought Baldurs Gate 2 and suck at that: Minsc is already dead and I've not even escaped the dungeon.
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EMarkM
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Well, quite...
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Post by EMarkM on Sept 15, 2022 11:42:13 GMT
I recently bought Baldurs Gate 2 and suck at that: Minsc is already dead and I've not even escaped the dungeon. Boo! |
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Sept 15, 2022 12:13:28 GMT
There are some situations where you can go "the wrong direction" and end up somewhere "too early", and then combat will be very hard there. So if you went somewhere off the main path and get wrecked, just load a previous save and return there later, when you are more experienced and have better gear.
That said, the combat is VERY tactical, and the same fights can vary from almost impossible to piece of cake, depending on how you apply all the different tools you have available. It's tempting to just go for the damage spells when skilling your wizard, but a well applied charm or stun can be way more effective. Also, use the terrain to your advantage. Stay in a room with most of your group, send a single sneaking scout ahead, then let him reveal himself, run back and pull the enemies into the room and block the door with your tankiest warrior.
If it's still too hard, there are lots of different difficulty modes. Git gud or turn down the difficulty.
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aubergine
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I must get over myself
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Post by aubergine on Sept 15, 2022 12:50:03 GMT
I’m at what I assume becomes the stronghold once you clear it. I think I’ll backtrack through the game and see if there’s minor quests to level up with.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Sept 15, 2022 13:22:14 GMT
What's your party setup? If you are a second row character, and don't let Eder join you in Gilded Vale, it can become pretty hard to do the Stronghold just with Aloth, Durance and Kana. You could try to equip Kana for frontline fighting, Chanters can be good at it, if properly skilled.
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aubergine
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I must get over myself
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Post by aubergine on Sept 15, 2022 14:55:38 GMT
What's your party setup? If you are a second row character, and don't let Eder join you in Gilded Vale, it can become pretty hard to do the Stronghold just with Aloth, Durance and Kana. You could try to equip Kana for frontline fighting, Chanters can be good at it, if properly skilled. Okay, I don’t know who Edar is, so there’s a thread to follow up. |
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Post by Phattso on Sept 15, 2022 14:58:17 GMT
The first game can be bastard hard early on without a good team balance for sure. I remember banging my head against it for quite a while before it clicked. Smoother sailing to come after you get over the hump though.
I seem to remember kiting bad guys and picking them off was useful rather than just bundling everyone into a ruck.
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aubergine
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I must get over myself
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Post by aubergine on Sept 15, 2022 15:05:28 GMT
My character is a ranger, so it now makes sense that there’s a tank you can recruit early that I somehow missed. I’ve been eking my way through but it’s fucking tedious, and I don’t think I can take this boss guy in the Stronghold.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Sept 15, 2022 16:19:02 GMT
You can also try to keep enemy casters interrupted or prone. A ranger's pet can use Takedown (level 7 skill) to knock down an enemy, and both Durance and Aloth have spells for it. If you manage to lower an enemy's concentration or resolve (which concentration is based on), you can usually interrupt them with either weapon hits or the wizard spell "Thrust of Tattered Veils". As a ranger, it can also be really useful to have a high interrupt value (mostly through high perception), and high attack speed, because like this you can keep wizards sort of stunlocked at range. Could also try to give Kana a Morningstar and attack speed buffs to keep that wizard busy.
In general, it's more useful in the game to make sure you can actually hit, and then to increase hit frequency, than it is to try to increase damage per hit, because there are a lot of mechanics that apply per hit, and you can always scale damage with enemy debuffs.
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aubergine
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I must get over myself
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Post by aubergine on Sept 16, 2022 15:12:13 GMT
I managed to cheat death and backtrack to the starting village, tracked down the party member I was missing. Mystery solved. It wasn’t that the combat was beyond me, I was missing the tank! Now I’m mopping up the side quests around (Gilded Vale) to level them before heading back. Will go into the ruined temple there in the next session.
Bit different now that I have 6 party members. Also figured out how to change the marching order to something more useful.
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Post by Phattso on Sept 16, 2022 16:18:45 GMT
Eeeeexcellent. Sounds like you're properly on track now. Enjoy! After this point I found it didn't get frustratingly hard again until the DLC - it's challenging, but not maddening. I had to up my game massively for the DLC, however.  |
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Sept 16, 2022 19:02:52 GMT
Yeah, agreed, the early game when you don't have a complete party and not as many options yet, is probably the hardest part of the game.
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Sept 16, 2022 20:02:18 GMT
This thread made me get back into PoE 2 after a 9 months break. Was able to pick it up like I just dropped it yesterday. No idea why I avoided it for so long, it's still excellent.
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aubergine
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I must get over myself
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Post by aubergine on Sept 17, 2022 0:42:12 GMT
This thread made me get back into PoE 2 after a 9 months break. Was able to pick it up like I just dropped it yesterday. No idea why I avoided it for so long, it's still excellent. Yeah I actually bought both games. Was going to skip to the second game, but the start of it made it clear it’s a direct continuation of the first game. I guess it’s old school, but the first game does a really terrible job of flagging encounters you aren’t ready for. Eg lots of games these days will point out enemies that it suggests are too much for you with a red skull or something. that doesn’t stop me trying to engage them, but it does answer the question “is this me, or the game, fucking this up?” When I first bounced off it years ago, it was just in that temple in the Gilded Vale. Like really? Dungeon in the first village is too difficult? |
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lukasz
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Meat popsicle
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Post by lukasz on Sept 17, 2022 3:10:33 GMT
I am still on my 2 year long playthrough of poe1. Only recently reached act 3 with wm1 and wm2 completed in full. All characters are maxed level. Even with increased difficulty in act 3 I'm still overpowered. Can take on boss fights unprepared now. It's huge game and soo much lore. Don't know when I will ever play poe2. This thread made me get back into PoE 2 after a 9 months break. Was able to pick it up like I just dropped it yesterday. No idea why I avoided it for so long, it's still excellent. Yeah I actually bought both games. Was going to skip to the second game, but the start of it made it clear it’s a direct continuation of the first game. I guess it’s old school, but the first game does a really terrible job of flagging encounters you aren’t ready for. Eg lots of games these days will point out enemies that it suggests are too much for you with a red skull or something. that doesn’t stop me trying to engage them, but it does answer the question “is this me, or the game, fucking this up?” When I first bounced off it years ago, it was just in that temple in the Gilded Vale. Like really? Dungeon in the first village is too difficult? Yeah. The game can be unforgiving but I found out that in dungeon with 2 companions the issue is approach not just the game difficulty By using power ups and certain weapons over another fights can be so much easier. In early levels you dont have much options tough, and nor much info on what works or not so there is some try and fail before figuring stuff works I played as wizard so I gave crossbow to Edgar who engaged in sneak against enemy and then me and the other mage slaps enemy with range standard attacks. Then that magic attack one can use twice per fight while Edgar switches to sword and shield fighting all in short range. Magic to backup in case enemy is strong. Then sleep to get life back and spells. Very slowly step by step. |
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Sept 17, 2022 8:35:00 GMT
I guess it’s old school, but the first game does a really terrible job of flagging encounters you aren’t ready for. Eg lots of games these days will point out enemies that it suggests are too much for you with a red skull or something. I think part of the problem is that it can take a few tries to really "get it". Especially if you are not getting completely stomped.
Sometimes it's obvious enough, but if it's just some Lions or other enemies that you have fought successfully before, then you are basically conditioned to expect the more difficult encounters with a similar set of enemies to be beatable as well. |
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zagibu
Junior Member
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Post by zagibu on Sept 17, 2022 8:38:20 GMT
Who the fuck is Edgar?  I think all of the really hard fights in the first game are actually optional. The hardest one is against a legendary mage and his supporters, which include two dragons.
In the second game, they added a visual cue with skulls to enemies that are probably gonna be hard for you based on your progress. They also added this to the quests in the quest log.
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lukasz
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Post by lukasz on Sept 17, 2022 13:27:52 GMT
Who the fuck is Edgar? Edgar Allan Pillars of Eternity |
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aubergine
Junior Member
I must get over myself
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Post by aubergine on Sept 17, 2022 13:52:19 GMT
Now I want an RPG where you hunt a misogynist cult, Red Pillers of Eternity.
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Post by docrob on Sept 17, 2022 16:50:44 GMT
I recently went back to PoE 1, several years after I started it. Have managed to get more into the swing of things now. Party is about to be level 5. Only have 5 members though, so if you’re meant to have 6 then I missed someone.
I have the stronghold and I have beaten Raedric. (I actually thought that last fight was impossible at my level after my first try, but I just managed to get through it by pulling the enemies over to one doorway, which meant that a couple of them didn’t engage at first, and the fight was slightly easier. I had burned all my spells and abilities by the end though!
Now checking out the dungeon beneath the stronghold. This is easier because you can rest without using a camping supply if you go upstairs. I’ve spent most of the game fretting about the camping supplies running out.
Is it best to upgrade the gear the characters come with (armour especially) or equip new stuff?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2022 17:02:33 GMT
Now I want an RPG where you hunt a misogynist cult, Red Pillers of Eternity. Try the slightly lame reggae-ish spin-off, Chaka Demus and Pliers of Eternity. Quite chill. |
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Sept 17, 2022 18:13:25 GMT
Now checking out the dungeon beneath the stronghold. This is easier because you can rest without using a camping supply if you go upstairs. I’ve spent most of the game fretting about the camping supplies running out. I don't think I ever ran into much trouble with that on my first playthrough (on Normal), but if you feel like it would be useful, Field Triage on two or three characters can be nice to have. At least I thought so on the second playthrough on Hard. |
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zagibu
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Post by zagibu on Sept 17, 2022 22:26:14 GMT
Is it best to upgrade the gear the characters come with (armour especially) or equip new stuff? You have to consider four things: 1. The general item type (with respect to armors, look at general DR and recovery penalty, ignore individual DR for cut/slash/pierce etc.) 2. Few enchantments can be crafted by the player, most only come on unique items 3. Enchantments have a "size", which determines how much of the limited "space" they reserve on an item 4. Enchantments can in general not be removed. Some can be replaced with better versions of the same type That said, most of the unique starting armors are pretty good and quite fitting for their owners. Eder's is maybe a bit light for a front line tank, and Durance can profit more from Blaidh Golan, a unique hide armor that gives stun and prone resistance. But the rest of the starting armors can be kept and upgraded in my opinion. |
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lukasz
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Meat popsicle
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Post by lukasz on Sept 18, 2022 3:14:53 GMT
I recently went back to PoE 1, several years after I started it. Have managed to get more into the swing of things now. Party is about to be level 5. Only have 5 members though, so if you’re meant to have 6 then I missed someone. I have the stronghold and I have beaten Raedric. (I actually thought that last fight was impossible at my level after my first try, but I just managed to get through it by pulling the enemies over to one doorway, which meant that a couple of them didn’t engage at first, and the fight was slightly easier. I had burned all my spells and abilities by the end though! Now checking out the dungeon beneath the stronghold. This is easier because you can rest without using a camping supply if you go upstairs. I’ve spent most of the game fretting about the camping supplies running out. Is it best to upgrade the gear the characters come with (armour especially) or equip new stuff? Don't fret about them. They are everywhere on normal and you can buy them in inns for very little coin. I did that as well. Just adds to your annoyance. Also Durance for long was my main damage guy. His aura he can do once per fight can be upgraded to give damage to enemies and reduce fatigue on your guys. So he would do front line when surrounded by enemies and then do massive aoe damage. Then he would get knocked down. |
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Post by ToomuchFluffy on Sept 18, 2022 11:04:45 GMT
His aura he can do once per fight can be upgraded to give damage to enemies and reduce fatigue on your guys. I don't think I ever noticed the fatigue element on that. I guess I always just considered other options more directly helpful. |
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zagibu
Junior Member
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Post by zagibu on Sept 18, 2022 11:26:23 GMT
Holy Radiance is amazing against vessels, and later it can be turned into a very solid AoE buff that gives +2 to almost all stats.
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Post by docrob on Sept 20, 2022 20:49:12 GMT
Have just discovered the mechanic where the Stronghold gets attacked, and I have to pay a fine plus re-purchase an upgrade I already bought. FFS.
Yes, I know I need to buy more upgrades so it can be defended, but I don’t have that much money yet.
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