Pillars of Eternity II - Update 39

Myrthos

Myrthos

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Here is a new update for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, which contains a summary of things that have already been reported before, via blogs and social media.

We're back with another episode of 'From the Feed of the Director.' This time we have a few surprises for you, as we look into our internal Obsidian blogs and pull out only the juiciest insights. You'll also get some information on some of the things that Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Game Director, Josh Sawyer, has shared on social media as well, for the gadfly-types among you.In this video (all footage is work in progress) :

  • "This ship's wheel is too damn big!"
  • Bombs of the Deadfire - to throw or not to throw?
  • Guns Work Best When You Line Up and Everyone Shoots at Once, by Ulysses S. Magran
  • Dancin' and barfin'
  • Yes, Josh's cat is in the game again
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More information.
 
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^ super useless post *Edit: and it seems luj removed his post that I was referring to*

I like the idea of having bombs as they give non-caster classes some AOE options that the scrolls in POE1 just didn't cover. Maybe we'll even get a subclass (rogue maybe) that specializes in bombs.
 
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Nephologist said:
^ super useless post

I like the idea of having bombs as they give non-caster classes some AOE options that the scrolls in POE1 just didn't cover. Maybe we'll even get a subclass (rogue maybe) that specializes in bombs.
Click to expand...

I kind of feel the opposite. I don't think grenades added much to DOS for example. I like the classes to be specialized (although it's nice to be able to choose a couple of different routes of course).

Seriously looking forward to this game, I'm currently replaying PoE and it's so damn much better that I remembered it to be. Might be the changes with the expansions, but I'm currently having a blast where on release I thought it was just ok.
 
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Just for the record I used bombs/gernades all the time in divinity up till the third area or so. Mostly either frozen, fire or posion. My casters dropped fire/earth in later play throughs.
 
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Good stuff.

More variety in animations = better immersion.

I'm glad to see grenados as well, especially since they didn't go overboard with them.

That cat looks very steampunk.
 
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Loved grenades/arrows/scrolls in D:OS. It would be interesting, I think, if they took grenade throwing/using scrolls and made it more of a stat-based/skill thing. They'd have to get creative, like something in the lore that makes the "grenades" (or their equivalent) need to be figured out before throwing them, etc., but that would be cool. Because one complaint I'd render is that everyone throwing grenades/using scrolls is a bit cheesy. Every turn you end you can throw a grenade or use a scroll all the same, it's too much, IMO.
 
I think it's good to have some options to do some AOE and crowd control, outside of the magic users.
 
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Ripper said:
I think it's good to have some options to do some AOE and crowd control, outside of the magic users.
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Sure, so do I. I just would prefer if RPGs in general toned down the availability of some of the items/skills/abilities needed to do that.

Throwing a grenade/using a scroll at the end of every turn for any character outside of normal attack range was just too much, IMO. It also made the game a lot easier, although I'm sure harder difficulty levels would help that.

We two-shot killed the end boss in D:OS:EE with a grenade and a scroll, essentially.
 
Yeah, and I put that down to an unrefined combat design. Given the amount of post-release tweaking that went on (infamously rendering your strategy guide moot!) it seems clear that they hadn't really worked out their gameplay properly.
 
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Ripper said:
Yeah, and I put that down to an unrefined combat design. Given the amount of post-release tweaking that went on (infamously rendering your strategy guide moot!) it seems clear that they hadn't really worked out their gameplay properly.
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After doing a lot of release management stuff myself, I know that sort of thing is unavoidable. There's only so much testing of the cases you can do before release; the end users can be very cunning in their usage, and they'll think of approaches and combinations that never occurred to you. Plus I think Josh has the mentality of an engineer -- he likes to keep fiddling with the knobs so that he can get it "just so".
 
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rjshae said:
After doing a lot of release management stuff myself, I know that sort of thing is unavoidable. There's only so much testing of the cases you can do before release; the end users can be very cunning in their usage, and they'll think of approaches and combinations that never occurred to you. Plus I think Josh has the mentality of an engineer -- he likes to keep fiddling with the knobs so that he can get it "just so".
Click to expand...

I do agree that this sort of thing is unavoidable, to some degree. It must be the case that the richer you make the RPG system, the more complexity must arise, and it quickly becomes infeasible to ensure perfect balance. That's why I don't fault compelling RPGs for having balance issues that are eventually discovered and shared. I think every one I've really enjoyed could be cheesed, if you know what to do.

That said, I think POE was quite seriously flawed in its gameplay design, to a somewhat unusual degree. There's a bit of a quandary where I give them great credit for fixing it over time... but also it should have been a bit tighter at launch.
 
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I'm a hoarder, so I don't use consumables at all. I end games with 800 potions, 400 grenades and 500 scrolls. To be perfectly honest, they might as well skip consumables completely and it wouldn't make any difference for me, as my "I MAY NEED THIS!!" mentality is just way too strong.
 
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Maylander said:
I'm a hoarder, so I don't use consumables at all. I end games with 800 potions, 400 grenades and 500 scrolls. To be perfectly honest, they might as well skip consumables completely and it wouldn't make any difference for me, as my "I MAY NEED THIS!!" mentality is just way too strong.
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You pretty much described me... accurately :biggrin:
I always save everything for "later", thinking I may find myself in a worse situation.
I really need to change this habit.
 
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I hoard, too - but I've learned to use the occasional consumable here and there, instead of reloading because something didn't go absolutely according to plan.

Especially in modern games that are designed around using what you find sooner rather than later - I tend to do this during challenging encounters.

Also, I often start to lose interest towards the end of a game, even when they're really good - and so I start spending consumables during the later stages without much care.

Even so, I still end up with a significant surplus of resources in most games.
 
Scrolls and grenades are usually my "last effort" in boss fight. I turn to them when I exhausted everything else.

Well beside BG series, where scrolls and "grenades" exit so I can sell them.
 
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I have the same problem with resting. I like to be able to do as many encounters as possible before I have to rest and heal up. Even reloading when an easy mob hits one of my characters one time too many. If I recall correctly, in PoE resting consumes a consumable, but I would even try to do it if that wasn't the case.

I just wished designers thought of my mental health and leave out those mechanics completely. I have a similar thing with loot, finite backpack space (weight or slots) , and inventory management. I consider those things tedious, cumbersome, and completely useless. Even if I can't resist looting ever single useless garbage item :(
 
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There's a fine line for me. I like having some inventory management. Making the occasional decisions about what to carry, what to leave behind, etc.. But you don't want a complete overload of that either.

Then again, PB's games have unlimited inventories and those are fun. I do think loot and inventory management is a bit of an overlooked element in modern RPGs. But I also realize that no one besides me and maybe 3 other people in the world are really clamoring for that element though. :)

Xulima has great item management, IMO. I enjoyed that. It's more like an RPG management sim in a way. Just a different type of experience.
 
ilm said:
I have a similar thing with loot, finite backpack space (weight or slots) , and inventory management. I consider those things tedious, cumbersome, and completely useless. Even if I can't resist looting ever single useless garbage item :(
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Ha, I feel the opposite. With inventory and/or weight limits I actually have to choose what to carry around, and stop picking up every single dagger worth 5 gold. In my current playthrough of PoE the most annoying part is selling all the gear I keep picking up. I'm swimming in in gold and yet I can't help myself, I pick up everything that's not nailed to the wall.

If I had carry limits I would only pick up magical gear, and I'm pretty sure the difference in gold woukd be negligible. I know, I COULD just stop taking everything from every single dead guy lying around. But... it's hard.
 
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I may be the only guy that plays RPG's and collects a ton of scrolls, potions and grenades and never uses them....I think maybe I need a new UI system that encourages their use more or whatever.
 
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