Pillars of Eternity - Beta Build 435 Released

Originally Posted by blackcanopus
Anyway, I think intellect and resolve are the most useful non-violent attributes, so I'm picking a class that works best with them.

Just keep in mind that they changed last build and might change again before release.

Intellect is back to AOE size and Duration and Resolve is now Concentration and Deflection. Resolve is a stat you probably want a bit higher for characters that might get interrupted often. Intellect is build dependent, while some classes might not really get anything out of AOE increase (Rogue and Ranger), duration is useful to all.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Lots of people complained about NWN 2 being too flashy. And DA:I is too flashy, too. In both cases the effects were so much that you couldn't see or control things at times. It seems they erred on the side of caution, though a little more color would be ok.

Originally Posted by lostforever
To me,

Flash == bling, bling and the like seen in DAI.

umph == the weight of the combat. You can feel as though you are hitting someone and being hit on by someone one. Its really the animation. Have a look at a game called TERA, when a big monster hit, you will "feel" as though you are one taking the damage and you can feel the pain of the attack. TERA isn't flashy at all but they cleverly use animation to have that umph in the combat.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Meh, I don't really care about animation unless it part and parcel with gameplay (like the Batman games). It can be a putoff if it's too goofy, like too much handwaving as in Risen.

Maylander said the spells look dull. Flashiness is the same aspect in my mind, not umph. Non-dull spells can get in the way of gameplay. Non-umphy animations for this realtime with pause gameplay don't. Just saying…

Yes, exactly this. It's about impact more than flash. Also, distinct visuals - for example,if you have three different area damaging fire spells, they need to look different, so it's clear which spell is being used.

Damn, NWN2 was terrible when it came to spell effects. After just 2-3 buffs you could not see you character anymore and when you added offense spells you could not see anything.
Super awesome spell effects could work in a TB game.

So far PoE is less like NWN2 and usually when people complained about some effects in beta being too much, OE turned them down.
But we will see at release if there are still some left.

Also I will appreciate there not being over the top combat moves like in Dragon Age although in DAO I liked the finishing moves animations vs big enemies.

Originally Posted by Archangel
Also I will appreciate there not being over the top combat moves like in Dragon Age although in DAO I liked the finishing moves animations vs big enemies.

I never got to see any of those. One of the few reasons I would replay it (for Awakenings and a DLC or 2 I missed).

Originally Posted by Thrasher
I never got to see any of those. One of the few reasons I would replay it (for Awakenings and a DLC or 2 I missed).

There's no way you played through DA:O without seeing some finishing moves. They were very common, and some of them were scripted.. like the first time you kill an ogre.

Hmm. Really? I don't remember that particular finishing move. I know I never got one with a dragon. And found out about them too late.

DA:O ogre finishing move @0m22s