lackblogger
SasqWatch
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Ooops, did you mean to put that in spoiler tags?
- Joined
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Solasta - Released
- Thread starter HiddenX
- Start date
Oh, you think I should? Maybe, thanks!
N
Nereida
Guest
I'm fine with loot being accessible only through using certain non-combat spells, a reward for not minmaxing spellbooks for combat is something that PnP rewards highly, and videogames don't do often.
I find browsing through all the 5e rules endlessly fascinating. I was curious about the exact jumping mechanics. Assuming they are implemented faithfully in Solasta, here's how it works:
Jumping
Your Strength determines how far you can jump. For a long (running) jump you can jump a number of feet equal to your strength score.
Athletics is checked if you need to jump over obstacles or jump high, Acrobatics is checked to land on your feet on difficult terrain.
Example #1:
A character with 15 strength can jump a distance of 15 feet. A cell in Solasta is 5 feet wide I believe, so they can jump a distance of three cells.
I'm not sure how rounding works with this. Characters with 8 Strength can still jump across a single cell at least. So is 13 STR enough to jump over an additional cell compared to 10 STR?
Example #2:
A Thief with Second Story work making a running jump adds a number of feet equal to their Dexterity modifier. For this subclass, that makes STR > 10 twice as good as DEX for jumping purposes and that's why my Fighter can jump farther than my Thief. Other classes depend solely on Strength for jumping.
Climbing
Climbing is also Strength based, with an Armor Check Penalty applied, including, perhaps, encumbrance. The rogue subclasses Thief and Darkweaver can climb without much Strength, I suppose, due to their class features. Not sure about the specifics. Maybe it works with heights the way jumping works on the horizontal plane?
Jumping
Your Strength determines how far you can jump. For a long (running) jump you can jump a number of feet equal to your strength score.
Athletics is checked if you need to jump over obstacles or jump high, Acrobatics is checked to land on your feet on difficult terrain.
Example #1:
A character with 15 strength can jump a distance of 15 feet. A cell in Solasta is 5 feet wide I believe, so they can jump a distance of three cells.
I'm not sure how rounding works with this. Characters with 8 Strength can still jump across a single cell at least. So is 13 STR enough to jump over an additional cell compared to 10 STR?
Example #2:
A Thief with Second Story work making a running jump adds a number of feet equal to their Dexterity modifier. For this subclass, that makes STR > 10 twice as good as DEX for jumping purposes and that's why my Fighter can jump farther than my Thief. Other classes depend solely on Strength for jumping.
Climbing
Climbing is also Strength based, with an Armor Check Penalty applied, including, perhaps, encumbrance. The rogue subclasses Thief and Darkweaver can climb without much Strength, I suppose, due to their class features. Not sure about the specifics. Maybe it works with heights the way jumping works on the horizontal plane?
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Funny, in Pathfinder the distance is a DC on Acrobatics. It's also more complex, being Pathfinder.
In 5E the DC only determines how you land, either on your feet or prone (which I had a few times in Solasta). So you don't risk to fall in the void jumping from one of those high-perched paths, few players would have liked that
I'm not sure about climbing, don't Darkweaver get Spider on Wall that allows them to climb as if they were walking on a flat surface? I would expect that speed determines how far they can go but I haven't used it. To check
EDIT: Here's what I found:
- Shadowcaster guide, describes advantages in jumping and climbing, also mentions the other archetype Dreamweaver
- Spider on Wall (it's Fextralife's wiki FWIW, but other sites are still very bare)
Dungeon Maker could be used to test this, with some blocks and a character already at level 3 to benefit from the necessary archetype and feats.
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vanedor
Keeper of the Watch
I don't mind this.
Actually, the fly spell can be pretty useful in combat, especially if casted on your melee characters. They move at 12 (instead of 6) so they can easily reach all those pesky archers / spellcasters. Misty step can also be *very* useful in combat to put your mage in that right spot he needs to be. Otherwise, it's also possible to use those fly scrolls/potions you find/craft.
But I agree with the point that it's a little odd to see how my fighter in armor is the best jumper/climber of the group. It's made more apparent by how important the height is in this game. But here, I think it's more the DnD 5th Edition that is to blame than Solasta.
you guys are making it tough
I'm really trying to resist buying this for my backlog stack
I'm really trying to resist buying this for my backlog stack
Yeah, I don't usually play EA games and try to wait for the first few patches. Solasta was the exception because these are the crpg's I enjoy the most. I wasn't disappointed.
I'm coming back on what I said a few days ago, I think it's really worth waiting a little more for them to fix most of the current bugs and performance issues. It wasn't bothering me too much at the beginning, but the more I played, the more bugs I found. And when I was reporting them, I've also seen more serious ones being described.
It depends on your preferences. Personally I'm fine with some bugs or even if my save file is corrupted (as long as it's rare). The overheating problem, on the other hand, made me stop playing altogether, maybe it's avoidable by lowering the graphic settings. If those issues are not bothering you, go ahead, but otherwise wait a few weeks to get a better experience
I'm definitely going to wait now until the next patch. I'm thinking about doing a run through ToEE first because I think it would be an interesting to play them back to back since they're getting so many comparisons. I've played through ToEE once before, but that was shortly after release, and I've never played it since. I seem to remember it being fairly short anyways by RPG standards.
Meanwhile, I restarted the game for a third time because I wasn't happy with my character choices. Only made it to level 3 so it's no big deal.
I do have a fairly standard party that I'm iterating on for every RPG I play. For Solasta, it's now:
- Human Fighter, Mountaineer, Sellsword, Authority/Cynicism
- Sylvan Elf Rogue, Thief, Lowlife, Egoism/Kindness
- Human Wizard, Shock Arcanist, Academic, Pragmatism/Lawfulness
- Sylvan Elf Cleric, Sun, Acolyte, Altruism/Caution
Aside from the races there is very little overlap. I also moved away from the idea of having one single "Face" character with high charisma, preferring to have the fighter, cleric and rogue concentrate on a different skill each, i.e. Intimidation, Persuasion and Deception. So they all have 12 CHA now. I hope to be able to make up for the missing points with appropriate buffs.
The Sylvan rogue can use long bows, which I like, so she can stay very far away and stay hidden, which I also like. She still gets to do sneak damage. The Cleric wears medium armor but I play her as a caster.
The first fights went very well, not least of all helped by the fact that I now know what I'm doing. I'm keeping my distance with the ranged classes, which in this case means all but the fighter, and try to stay hidden. The "Ready" button is my new friend.
That said, I'm going to play a little further and then wait for a patch too, I suppose. Sadly, XBox games get their patches at least a week behind Steam, from what I've seen.
So -
ToEE you say? I never did try that one.
I do have a fairly standard party that I'm iterating on for every RPG I play. For Solasta, it's now:
- Human Fighter, Mountaineer, Sellsword, Authority/Cynicism
- Sylvan Elf Rogue, Thief, Lowlife, Egoism/Kindness
- Human Wizard, Shock Arcanist, Academic, Pragmatism/Lawfulness
- Sylvan Elf Cleric, Sun, Acolyte, Altruism/Caution
Aside from the races there is very little overlap. I also moved away from the idea of having one single "Face" character with high charisma, preferring to have the fighter, cleric and rogue concentrate on a different skill each, i.e. Intimidation, Persuasion and Deception. So they all have 12 CHA now. I hope to be able to make up for the missing points with appropriate buffs.
The Sylvan rogue can use long bows, which I like, so she can stay very far away and stay hidden, which I also like. She still gets to do sneak damage. The Cleric wears medium armor but I play her as a caster.
The first fights went very well, not least of all helped by the fact that I now know what I'm doing. I'm keeping my distance with the ranged classes, which in this case means all but the fighter, and try to stay hidden. The "Ready" button is my new friend.
That said, I'm going to play a little further and then wait for a patch too, I suppose. Sadly, XBox games get their patches at least a week behind Steam, from what I've seen.
So -
ToEE you say? I never did try that one.
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Never played ToEE either, sadly. They'll end up getting a second wind, being used like that as a reference in all those reviews
Jesus... and you people call yourselves crpg fans.
Do yourselves a favor and pick up a copy. It's only $6 on GOG.
N
Nereida
Guest
I enjoyed ToEE back then, but it is practically unplayable now (as per my standards anyway, which I admit are less tolerant than most). Would be great to have a remake though.
Already looking at the Circle of Eight Modpack.
*Ponders*
No. I can't. I just spent about two days planning my 5e characters for Solasta. I can't do the same again now for 3.5. It's a big can of worms. Productivity has been suffering enough as it is.
Edit:
By the way, what I really like about Solasta is that I can create my own party, that there is no "Chosen One" and that everyone still feels very much alive due to the party banter and voice acting. For most games of this kind ever since Baldur's Gate I had to pick and choose between fleshed out characters / companions that I never really cared about and silent husks that were mine but lifeless. I very much prefer this third option: full custom party with fleshed out characters and voiceovers based on class/background/personality.
Not sure how exactly it's done in Solasta, but so far it's been pretty neat.
*Ponders*
No. I can't. I just spent about two days planning my 5e characters for Solasta. I can't do the same again now for 3.5. It's a big can of worms. Productivity has been suffering enough as it is.
Edit:
By the way, what I really like about Solasta is that I can create my own party, that there is no "Chosen One" and that everyone still feels very much alive due to the party banter and voice acting. For most games of this kind ever since Baldur's Gate I had to pick and choose between fleshed out characters / companions that I never really cared about and silent husks that were mine but lifeless. I very much prefer this third option: full custom party with fleshed out characters and voiceovers based on class/background/personality.
Not sure how exactly it's done in Solasta, but so far it's been pretty neat.
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For those thinking about playing ToEE you should at least get the Co8 modpack with the fixes. I love the new content in the mod and also enjoy their Keep on the Borderlands. I've played through all the content a few times so I'm a bit biased with it being one of my favorites.
vanedor
Keeper of the Watch
TOEE is basically a pure combat engine. It's a great one but it's essentially just that. There is little to no story or dialogs. You just do one battle after another. Personally, I need more than that to really enjoy a game. I eventually grew bored of the game after fighting one more room of seemingly random baddies. I think Solasta is a much more complete game and with the addition of the editor, it's very promising.
The fact that it's single player only is a bit limiting, but hopefully it might eventually get a bit like what Neverwinter Night used to enjoy. A strong mod community that produced modules and stories far superior to the one in the original game.... but with a better and more complete engine.
The fact that it's single player only is a bit limiting, but hopefully it might eventually get a bit like what Neverwinter Night used to enjoy. A strong mod community that produced modules and stories far superior to the one in the original game.... but with a better and more complete engine.
Solasta is less complex and less deep than NWN, at least for now. And the editor is still quite limited with square rooms, flat floor and ceiling, and so on. Which on the other hand makes it easy to use.
And that makes me wonder how feasible it would be to make adventures for a Pathfinder, Baldur's Gate 3, and other modern games. If the tools were available, I'm sure some people would set out to build new maps and create the quests. But there's more and more refined graphics and models, and the maps themselves get very rich, the dialogues are voice-acted… If the result has to be more or less comparable to the original campaign to be attractive enough, wouldn't that require much more work than before?
Maybe that's partly why most of the developers don't even try to provide tools to customers anymore.
How easy is it to build a campaign for NWN? I've made some maps for Doom, Quake and similar action games, but I've never tried to build a CRPG campaign.
vanedor
Keeper of the Watch
You certainly raise some good points here.
I remember trying to use the NWN editor, back then. It wasn't overly difficult to use and it had a lot of flexibility. You could even do some programming. Solasta's isn't nearly as depth or complete. Still, if they expand it just a little more, I think it offers some great potential. The most challenging (and imo important) part might be to do a dialog editor.
I remember trying to use the NWN editor, back then. It wasn't overly difficult to use and it had a lot of flexibility. You could even do some programming. Solasta's isn't nearly as depth or complete. Still, if they expand it just a little more, I think it offers some great potential. The most challenging (and imo important) part might be to do a dialog editor.