Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

[JadedDM]

I just picked it up today. I haven't made it very far yet, but I did transfer my character over from the first game. He's a human priest of Eothas...so this should be pretty interesting.

Anyone else playing?

[Sajiri]

I am! I havent got too far yet either (damn work) but I love it.

I played a dualwield cipher in the first game, this time playing a dualwield spellblade instead. It's hilarious sneaking up behind something, hitting them with a dagger then watching them explode with one sneak attack.

I've been really enjoying what little I've seen of it so far.

[Cespenar]

I didn't keep my save game, and the ways you can arrange the past events of PoE1 for PoE2 is so detailed that I realized I wasn't remembering maybe 80% of it. I don't know if that speaks about my early senility or the blandness of the lore, but eh, it's an Obsidian game so I shouldn't complain much.

Anywho, created a Priest of Berath, which chimes well with the dead-seeing aspect of the Watcher, as well as the spoilery first mission briefing at the start of the game.

There are some nice ease-of-use upgrades they put in, but overall I'd enjoy the combat more if it were a tiny bit slower. Closer to Infinity Engine, maybe.

[Morty]

I just bought it yesterday, but I just fooled around before properly importing my save, since they're supposed to release a patch fixing save import bugs today. The apparently inevitable fate of Obsidian games on release aside, it's been great. Of course, I followed the backer beta closely so I knew a lot of what to expect.

[houlio]

There are some nice ease-of-use upgrades they put in, but overall I'd enjoy the combat more if it were a tiny bit slower. Closer to Infinity Engine, maybe.

I think you can modify combat speed with the dial down below. I think there's a slider along the bottom for adjusting it.

I've also been playing. I messed around a little bit with a Mindstalker (cipher/rogue), but I decided to go back and run through the first game and actually do White March this time. I love the dual classes and subclasses. They add a lot of variability to the game and are super fun to use. I also love that you can now dual wield pistols/blunderbusses.

[NRSASD]

I am! Freaking loving it so far. I'm actually listening to the Deadfire sea shanties as I type this haha. Currently playing a Rauatai Coastal Amauma Soulblade (cipher variant), wandering around Neketaka and picking fights with those bobbit worms (caution: scary worms). I like the combat system a lot better than Pillars 1, because they managed to make fights both slower tactically and quicker in duration.

I'm very curious to see where it goes!

The only thing that I've disliked so far is the narrator's voice, which is quite a pity. I loved reaching chapter points in Baldur's Gate because the narrator was so awesome.

[Aotrs Commander]

I just bought it yesterday, but I just fooled around before properly importing my save, since they're supposed to release a patch fixing save import bugs today. The apparently inevitable fate of Obsidian games on release aside, it's been great. Of course, I followed the backer beta closely so I knew a lot of what to expect.

They released the beta patch over the weekend, which supposedly fix the import patch for Edér (so I started!), but apparently didn't. Oh well. (Edér's backstory wasn't so unreconcilable with my end-game that I was dragged out, so...) No ETA on patch according to the forums.



I've finished the first island and after a bit of fracking around, made it to the next story-island.

Like it so far, save for the niggles about feeling skills are especially short and wizards and priests feel a bit low on spells (though grimores seem to fix that for wizards).

Multiclassing is jolly, though, after a LOT of debate, I kepy my cipher single class, even though I barely ever used any powers beyond Amplified Wave in PoE.

I think you can modify combat speed with the dial down below. I think there's a slider along the bottom for adjusting it.

I found in PoE 1 I had to dial the combat speed back so I could be cognisant of what was going on - it was either that or "pause on completion of action."



By-the-by everyone, a few FYI for everyone I picked up myself:



That little diamond above the dialogue box that looks like it should open up the cpnversation history? Actually DOEs, but it's a bit erratic and you kind of need to click towards the top. I say this, because I sturggled until someone else told me.#



Now, seeing as there seems to be a number of people completely baffled by the ship's rations thing on the Obs forums, I suppose I might also say it. Ship rations need to be equipped in the ship screen (.e. "h" or the ship icon) in the dobule row at the top out of your stash. (Just like equipping anything else.) The crew will eat/drink the slots right to left.



Vis a vis Ship combat:

Upgrade your starting cannons (entering all the Seafarer's Scavenger hunt codes gets you some nice starting gear for your ship, plus Cutthroat Cosmo's party boost is pretty darn good!) and hire on some extra crew from the first island (from the port store), so you have enough dudes to fill the slots and man your cannons before tangling with enemy ships.

Grapeshot and Chainshot's effects (as described) may currently be reversed, not sure.

If you do a "hold position" before firing, you get an accuracy bonus; if you do a jibe, you get an accuacy penalty.

Unclear so far if you can disable a ship entirely with ship combat (i.e. knock out the sails and all wound the above-deck crew), or whether sinking the ship has more or less rewards than boarding; also unsure how or even if you can actually maneuver to be on a specific facing to an enemy ship (i.e. how you manage to get, say, behind them once you've shot their sails off so you can shoot unimpeded), other whether you'd I dunno, just have to get lucky or something.

[Cikomyr]

Is the story more engaging that the start of PoE? I felt completely remote from the events of the world in the original. Has the early writing improved?

I ask because i dont doubt for a second that PoE overall writing was great. Its just that it didnt grabbed me

[Morty]

They released the beta patch over the weekend, which supposedly fix the import patch for Edér (so I started!), but apparently didn't. Oh well. (Edér's backstory wasn't so unreconcilable with my end-game that I was dragged out, so...) No ETA on patch according to the forums.

I've heard it was supposed to go up today, but it hasn't yet. God dammit, Obsidian.

I guess this gives me more time to decide if I want to take Devoted and Streetfighter with my Fighter/Rogue. Together they provide a lot of critical damage bonuses, which would work with my plan to use a single one-handed weapon... but only if I'm flanked and bloodied, so it's basically an exercise in living on the edge.

[Cespenar]

I think you can modify combat speed with the dial down below. I think there's a slider along the bottom for adjusting it.

Yep, thanks. Apparently there is one.

Is the story more engaging that the start of PoE? I felt completely remote from the events of the world in the original. Has the early writing improved?

I ask because i dont doubt for a second that PoE overall writing was great. Its just that it didnt grabbed me

It's a bit more engaging, because in this one the antagonist starts off by directly messing with your stuff and then wandering away, instead of being an unconnectable nobody villain like in PoE1. Still a bit early for me to tell, though.

[houlio]

Is the story more engaging that the start of PoE? I felt completely remote from the events of the world in the original. Has the early writing improved?

I ask because i dont doubt for a second that PoE overall writing was great. Its just that it didnt grabbed me

Act 1 in PoE honestly felt like an extended tutorial. You have way more clear of a goal straight out of the gate, although you still have to figure out all the steps to achieve it in Deadfire. Also, you get a lot more of the choose your own adventure text-based interludes, which were some of my favorite things in the game in general.

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My favorite quest so far has been blowing up Benweth, the pirate who attacks you right away, by sabotaging his harpsichord.

[Sajiri]

So already a free dlc is announced for next week. Nothing huge, but hey, rum!

[Cikomyr]

Act 1 in PoE honestly felt like an extended tutorial. You have way more clear of a goal straight out of the gate, although you still have to figure out all the steps to achieve it in Deadfire. Also, you get a lot more of the choose your own adventure text-based interludes, which were some of my favorite things in the game in general.

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My favorite quest so far has been blowing up Benweth, the pirate who attacks you right away, by sabotaging his harpsichord.

Act1 of Tyranny also was an ex tutorial, but i felt engaged already...

I think i only really got PoE when i finally got the setting: you are in Fantasy america that had a massive religion-based civil war between the colonists.

At the start, you are camping on Fantasy Native American sacred land.

[Cespenar]

Act1 of Tyranny also was an ex tutorial, but i felt engaged already...

Tyranny was better almost in every sense other than NPCs. PoE1's biggest strength was its NPCs, in my opinion.

[Cozzer]

I recreated my sarcastic, good-hearted Cypher and his history (since I didn't bother re-finishing PoE1 after doing the White March, but I wanted my White March choices to carry over to Deadfire) and I'm having quite a bit of fun with the game. I'm exploring the main city after having finished the quest of the first island, and I think I just got all the main characters in the team. Now for the hardest part: who will be in my main party?

I'm not a fan of RTWP combat, but Deadfire seems to have evolved it to the point where I find it fun. Let's see if it keeps being fun as I go on...

[The Hellbug]

I think i only really got PoE when i finally got the setting: you are in Fantasy america that had a massive religion-based civil war between the colonists.

At the start, you are camping on Fantasy Native American sacred land.

I also think that one of the weaknesses of the first game was that it didn't do a great job of showing that this is a society on the brink of collapse. This is a country where no children have been born for years, and what do you see? One crazy lord (who seems more motivated by xenophobia and religious hatred than the aforementioned societal collapse) and one riot that gets cleaned up before you get back into the city. This is especially true in act 2--I think that the game tells you that things are dire, but doesn't do a very good job of showing it outside of Thaos's weird meddling.

I do agree, though--I love the setting, mostly because it takes something cool with its souls and whatnot and really does something with it. It makes the world's unique cosmology very important to the way the world operates.

[NRSASD]

I admit I've been a little disappointed by the quality of the questlines, at least compared to the former, but I just wandered into a batch of really good quests that restored my faith in their writers.

Just out of curiosity, how did you guys resolve the Tikawara fruit theft storyline? Or Poko Kahara? Please respond in spoiler tags for everyone who hasn't reached those islands yet!

[JadedDM]

I finally left the first island, and was quickly attacked by a pirate along the way. And...I'm a little confused.

The pirate ship in question was weaker than my own (less hull points, and only 4 crew members). I have a full crew, plus my party members, plus the two custom party members I made, giving me a full complement of 15 people.

So rather than blowing the ship out of the water, I decide to board them...and am completely overwhelmed with the 20 dudes that just rush us. I'm completely unable to win this fight, and have to reload several times, then finally give up and just revert to an older save and avoid the ship entirely.

Why did the game tell me the ship only had 4 crew members then?

[Chen]

I admit I've been a little disappointed by the quality of the questlines, at least compared to the former, but I just wandered into a batch of really good quests that restored my faith in their writers.

Just out of curiosity, how did you guys resolve the Tikawara fruit theft storyline? Or Poko Kahara? Please respond in spoiler tags for everyone who hasn't reached those islands yet!

Fruit

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Found the real thief, blamed the ******* instead. The guy didn't actually kill the ******* though.

Poko Kahara

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Re-ignited the Ardra pillar. Let the VTC know they could come harvest it.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Is it easier to build characters in this game than it was for the first game? I've never even gotten past the very beginning of the first game because I can't figure out a way to build a character who can get the best outcome of each quest and conversation and stuff so I'm not locked into a failure state because a conversation option is locked since Stat X isn't high enough.

[Sajiri]

Is it easier to build characters in this game than it was for the first game? I've never even gotten past the very beginning of the first game because I can't figure out a way to build a character who can get the best outcome of each quest and conversation and stuff so I'm not locked into a failure state because a conversation option is locked since Stat X isn't high enough.

I think it is. There are of course some interactions you wont be able to get based on things like your character class and background, but what I've seen with skills is that in many interactions your party members' skills/stats will give a boost to your own.

[Cespenar]

I finally left the first island, and was quickly attacked by a pirate along the way. And...I'm a little confused.

The pirate ship in question was weaker than my own (less hull points, and only 4 crew members). I have a full crew, plus my party members, plus the two custom party members I made, giving me a full complement of 15 people.

So rather than blowing the ship out of the water, I decide to board them...and am completely overwhelmed with the 20 dudes that just rush us. I'm completely unable to win this fight, and have to reload several times, then finally give up and just revert to an older save and avoid the ship entirely.

Why did the game tell me the ship only had 4 crew members then?

Yep, had the exact same fight in the exact same spot, tried like 4 times to win, to no avail. At last I reloaded and when encountering the same guys the second time, just chose the "sail away" option like 10 times.

Bit misleading there.

[Aotrs Commander]

Is it easier to build characters in this game than it was for the first game? I've never even gotten past the very beginning of the first game because I can't figure out a way to build a character who can get the best outcome of each quest and conversation and stuff so I'm not locked into a failure state because a conversation option is locked since Stat X isn't high enough.

I think it is. There are of course some interactions you wont be able to get based on things like your character class and background, but what I've seen with skills is that in many interactions your party members' skills/stats will give a boost to your own.

Stats are you only, you get party assist on (most, but not all) skill checks.

That said, you also get far less skill points (one each in two categories), so the skill checks you have to make yourself without party assistance you are likely to only be able to pass if it happens to be one of your two skills. Those are less frequent, though.

But, I think, by design, they didn't want you to be able to get all of the conversation options. Indeed, without some sort of character editor (dunno if you can do it with the console), you basically can't (well, early game anyway, you might have more chance if you can pick up lots of plus stat items).

If you're really bothered about it, somewhere about, someone did a full breakdown of the number and minimum and maximum magnitude (i.e. what you need) to pass the checks for all of the skill checks in the game. If you don't mind light spoilers (it doesn't tell you what the events are only how many, say, Perception-based dialogue options there are, and the min and max of range of them), you could look it up an attempt to optimise your skill choices to maximise your chances. (Of course, early game, you'll still be missing the options outside of your chosen strongpoints.)

Otherwise, you pick your stats, pick your skills and try and cover your bases with your party for the party-assist skill checks.

[Morty]

Ability checks are less common now, replaced by skill checks. Which the party can help you with. I'm not sure what the logic is behind picking what's checked, like Perception versus Insight. But I am glad not to see a Resolve check in every other conversation.

[NRSASD]

Fruit

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Found the real thief, blamed the ******* instead. The guy didn't actually kill the ******* though.

Poko Kahara

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Re-ignited the Ardra pillar. Let the VTC know they could come harvest it.

Fruit

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As did I, though the Metaru warrior just sacrificed the innocent by throwing him into the harbor. I agonized over that quest for a good minute or so IRL, and still feel a little bad how it turned out.

Poko Kahara

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Smashed the Pillar. For Rauatai.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Stats are you only, you get party assist on (most, but not all) skill checks.

That said, you also get far less skill points (one each in two categories), so the skill checks you have to make yourself without party assistance you are likely to only be able to pass if it happens to be one of your two skills. Those are less frequent, though.

But, I think, by design, they didn't want you to be able to get all of the conversation options. Indeed, without some sort of character editor (dunno if you can do it with the console), you basically can't (well, early game anyway, you might have more chance if you can pick up lots of plus stat items).

If you're really bothered about it, somewhere about, someone did a full breakdown of the number and minimum and maximum magnitude (i.e. what you need) to pass the checks for all of the skill checks in the game. If you don't mind light spoilers (it doesn't tell you what the events are only how many, say, Perception-based dialogue options there are, and the min and max of range of them), you could look it up an attempt to optimise your skill choices to maximise your chances. (Of course, early game, you'll still be missing the options outside of your chosen strongpoints.)

Otherwise, you pick your stats, pick your skills and try and cover your bases with your party for the party-assist skill checks.

Where would I find this guide? The wikis I've found are frustratingly incomplete. (Honestly, this is an issue I've been having with a lot of games lately. The most thorough and in-depth guides on GameFAQs seem to be exclusively for games that came out before 2010.)

How do party members help with persuasion? My experience with these kinds of games is "Only the PC has access to Diplomacy, Bluff and Intimidate as skills. All NPC party members can't even take those skills."

The only time that wasnt true was the Storm of Zehir expansion for Neverwinter Nights 2 , since you designed all four members of your party and spoke to NPCs at the same time, allowing everyone to contribute to the conversation. Still, it was always more effective to have 1 person just be the "face" of the group, and I was under the impression that Pillars of Eternity forced you to be the face anyway...

[Keltest]

Where would I find this guide? The wikis I've found are frustratingly incomplete.

How do party members help with persuasion? My experience with these kinds of games is "Only the PC has access to Diplomacy, Bluff and Intimidate as skills. All NPC party members can't even take those skills."

The only time that wasnt true was the Storm of Zehir expansion for Neverwinter Nights 2 , since you designed all four members of your party and spoke to NPCs at the same time, allowing everyone to contribute to the conversation. Still, it was always more effective to have 1 person just be the "face" of the group, and I was under the impression that Pillars of Eternity forced you to be the face anyway...

All characters have access to the same skills. Party members can "assist" you with checks, so if somebody has a bunch of points in athletics, you can benefit from a portion of that even if you don't have any yourself. It shows you what your functional total is when you level up.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

So, how does that work for persuasion checks? If a party member has a higher Diplomacy score than your Watcher, can you "let them do the talking?"

[Keltest]

So, how does that work for persuasion checks? If a party member has a higher Diplomacy score than your Watcher, can you "let them do the talking?"

The same way as it works for every other check. They "assist" you, giving you a bump to your score based on how high theirs is. It doesn't have to be higher either, you can still be assisted if you have the higher skill rank.

[Psyren]

I'll be playing this, but later on for a couple of reasons:

1) I'm still finishing up DOS2
2) Waiting means that walkthroughs and optimal runs will get fleshed out more so I don't miss content
3) I haven't beat the first one, which I definitely need to do now that I know you and some of your party members come over from it - including as (same-sex) romance options.

So yeah, I'm boarding the hype train! Just at a different station.