Rogues have more consistent ways to get sneak attacks in this game. Any attack that connects within the first 2 seconds of combat or hits a status effected or flanked foe gets the bonus I believe. So yeah a gun would still get you those bonuses but you might be doing less attacks overall.
-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Pillars of Eternity Beta - Torment: Tides of the Beetles
- Thread starter Labadal
- Start date
- Status
Rogues have more consistent ways to get sneak attacks in this game. Any attack that connects within the first 2 seconds of combat or hits a status effected or flanked foe gets the bonus I believe. So yeah a gun would still get you those bonuses but you might be doing less attacks overall.
Snapshot King
Member
There aren't any kind of AI scripts like there was in Baldur's Gate or the other IE games, nor like there were in Dragon Age Origins and 2. So yeah you have to control everything. they won't auto back up if they're ranged, or cast spells without being told, nor switch from ranged weapon to melee if engaged. They do autoattack to a certain degree I think, but I'm not sure what the conditions are. I've seen a lot of videos where the part is like 6 feet from an enemy and don't attack if only one member is fighting. So it might be if they aren't already engaged or being attacked they won't do anything.
They did say that was something they would look into adding for the expansion though.
Snapshot King
Member
That...huh. I usually let my character, Keldorn and Minsc mop enemies up on their own. I guess I'll have to be more active going forward.
It's important to note though the game has a crazy amount of passive abilities and talents, as well as modal ones, so you can certainly build a lot of your party to be very hands off for the most part. So depending on how the basic auto-attack works you might not have to really micromanage much at all if you don't want to for certain characters/classes.
terrisus
Member
That's a plus for me. I don't like characters doing things on their own, I like to be in control of what they're doing.
I also make use of many of the Auto-Pause conditions.
I'd have to look for the post or video, but I'm fairly certain they specifically said 2560x1440 was the native render resolution of their 2D backgrounds. Obviously they don't mean the whole "map" is that size, but likely the size of the on-camera area when zoomed out completely. Assuming they don't "lose" their data, they can probably re-render them at higher resolution in the future if needed.
terrisus
Member
So, played a bit of this since getting the Beta, and...
Yeah, this is quite possibly the most beautiful game I have ever seen.
So far, the look/aesthetic of it is reminding me of an ultra-polished Baldur's Gate 1.
Which, I thought that game looked amazing, so this is pretty much perfect.
I haven't even done very much yet (and probably won't do too much more than just poke around during the Beta)...
But, man, I could just wander around the areas, taking everything in. It's absolutely wonderful.
Yeah, this is quite possibly the most beautiful game I have ever seen.
So far, the look/aesthetic of it is reminding me of an ultra-polished Baldur's Gate 1.
Which, I thought that game looked amazing, so this is pretty much perfect.
I haven't even done very much yet (and probably won't do too much more than just poke around during the Beta)...
But, man, I could just wander around the areas, taking everything in. It's absolutely wonderful.
Sure... options though!
All I really wanted was the more basic options from Baldur's Gate. Auto attack nearest enemies, attack with a preference for range weapons and so on.
Ahh, yeah, I just read on their forum. The DPI for the images is set at 2560x1440p as native, with downscaling for lower resolutions.
That's not bad for today, but it's going to suck when we're revisiting this game 5 years from now on 4K monitors. It'll be BG2 all over again, with everything tiny, or everything blurry.
terrisus
Member
Yeah, true, I suppose options are a good thing.
Jon of the Wired
Member
It doesn't make sense to render out for 4k monitors when it would inflate the size of the download / installation several fold, and benefit almost no one. Hopefully in a few years they'll re-render everything and put out an UHD remaster
.
terrisus
Member
I mean, my username is based off a text-based MUD that I've been playing for like 18 years, so...
>.>
It's a 2D game with a UI that scales nicely. As for the play area, it's possible to manually specify the zoom level with a console command, and this allows you to zoom in further than the default. If you have a 4K monitor, you can set the zoom level to be identical to what you'd see on a 1080p monitor and you won't get any artifacting.
I hope they include better scaling options in the final game so you don't have to rely on a console command but at least the option is there.
As for BG2, I'd suggest running the game at 1080p and let the 4K monitor scale it. 1080p content scales to 4K with absolutely no scaling artifacs like blurring.
I'm sure someone will make a mod if they don't. From the vids I saw the IE mod that is already out for the BB adds in a number of nice touches like hitting tab to immediately bring up the description window on stuff to even totally changing the HUD itself. So zooming/scaling probably won't be too hard, especially if it's achievable already in the console.
OverturePT
Member
Hm, I was thinking of going with Paladin but the Chanter class looks pretty cool.
Shit, I hate this, I though I was ready to roll once the game came out.
Cheers for the link.
Does every class gain the same number of skill points now? Or at least have the capacity to do so via Intelligence or other stat?
Part of the reason why I always went Rogue in 3rd edition games is because I love having lots of skills.
EDIT: Also Rogue's can get two handed swords now? Hell yeah.
Part of the reason why I always went Rogue in 3rd edition games is because I love having lots of skills.
EDIT: Also Rogue's can get two handed swords now? Hell yeah.
LurkerPrime
Member
Oh my god why would Obsidian still use that terrible method of stat-tracking bonuses. Surely there is a better way... There has to be something better than the ol' D&D method of "YOU'LL HAVE TO LOOK IT UP YOURSELF!"
Well, iirc Sawyer said that 2/3 to 3/4 of the game is probably optional in one way or another, so there's a lot of content which is variable and simply there to have more exploration and reactivity for the game. That probably makes estimates hard, but in terms of world size it's between BG and BG2. It's a very large game.
texhnolyze
Banned
I think it'll also depend on reading speed of each player. Some like to read texts carefully, some like to skim through them, and some like to skip them all. But I guess people who like or tend to skip cutscenes/texts won't be interested in playing this game anyway.
decoyplatypus
Member
IIRC, one of the artists spent 40 hours during the team's mandatory playthrough, focused largely on the crit path, and did not finish Act II.
Oh man stuff like that gets me all excited all over again. Feel like reading through some old d&d books Now.
This game will truly be epic.
decoyplatypus
Member
I was wrong about the number. Here's the post I saw from Sean Dunny:
"[T]his game is really, really big. To give an idea (although I know it's been discussed by Bobby and others), when we did our team-wide play week, I didn't make it past act II of the game. I wasn't rushing through or anything, but I also didn't do everything, I completely skipped the Stronghold and Od Nua, and I didn't pick up every quest. In addition to that, I already know the layout of most of the areas and where everything is located in relation to everything else. Even with all of that, 40 hours was not nearly enough time for me to finish the game."
I fully expect that it will take me at least 60 hours to play the game, I'm very slow in RPGs. If that is true and I actually manage to finish it that will already be a huge mark of approval in my book -- I still haven't finished e.g. Wasteland 2, and I'm not sure if I'd have finished Divinity: OS by now were it not for coop.
The only 50 hour+ single-player game that kept my attention throughout last year was Might & Magic X.
The only 50 hour+ single-player game that kept my attention throughout last year was Might & Magic X.
terrisus
Member
I love wandering around and exploring and taking my time with things.
Exploring every inch of every map, talking to everyone, all of that.
I didn't actually finally finish Baldur's Gate 1 until a couple of years ago, after owning it for well more than a decade >.>
I may never actually finish this >.>
Exploring every inch of every map, talking to everyone, all of that.
I didn't actually finally finish Baldur's Gate 1 until a couple of years ago, after owning it for well more than a decade >.>
I may never actually finish this >.>
I'd wager the main story alone is probably ~20-30 hours long with then a completionist run being around ~60-80 hours depending on combat difficulty, reading speed and so on.
I'm sure there will be more than a few people to push ~100 hours. I wouldn't mind it at all if the game took me more than 80, but I have a feeling I'll land somewhere in the mid 60s, maybe low 70s if I really take my time. I don't rush myself in games, but I always seem to finish ahead of the curve more often than not.
I'm sure there will be more than a few people to push ~100 hours. I wouldn't mind it at all if the game took me more than 80, but I have a feeling I'll land somewhere in the mid 60s, maybe low 70s if I really take my time. I don't rush myself in games, but I always seem to finish ahead of the curve more often than not.
GasProblem
Member
Quick question. In the first video I ever saw of Pillars of Eternity, you saw the vegetation move, trees, bushes etc moved a bit. In the latest videos, all the vegetation, including bushes, are static. Is this just because of the beta?
They had to cut that but they are still interested in trying to have that in either the expansion or sequel.
The Illiterati
Member
I play every one of these games to the full if I can. I beat Original Sin at 101 hours, Wasteland 2 at around 60. I like the idea of multiple playthroughs with different classes but I never do it, I just have to do everything I can in one go. I bet this will take quite a while.
I am guessing this game relies heavily on story then?
I realize it is a RPG, but you don't always need to follow the story to play the game. Unfortunately I am one of those who never cares about the story in games so if this is the case I should probably skip the game. I always try in the beginning but quickly lose interest in any stories in game.
If you've played any of the previous IE games they've said the story is on the scale of BG1/2, a healthy mix of exposition and gameplay compared to Planescape Torment which was extremely story/dialogue based and Icewind Dale 1/2 which were heavily combat based.
As well they just stated that the majority of the game, 2/3 to 3/4 of the content, is side content. Outside of the main quest. So you shouldn't have trouble ignoring the main story if you feel like it's boring you.
I'd hope so. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
RenegadeXV8
Banned
Not so much story as dialogue. If you don't pay attention to that, then you won't really know what you're doing or where you're going.
I guess you could always follow a walkthrough, but that kind of defeats the purpose.
What kind of difficulty is every planning on? Especially anyone with Beta experience. Of the recent RPGs that have come out I've been play on Hard with much difficulty, but I feel like PoE will be a bit more challenging.
Definitely won't be choosing Trial of Iron and not likely Expert Mode either, at least on my first run.
Definitely won't be choosing Trial of Iron and not likely Expert Mode either, at least on my first run.
I will play on Normal on my first run. I will save Hard for a second playthrough.
terrisus
Member
Easy right now.
Possibly Normal later
I'm not much of one for a challenge, I just like to enjoy the game.
Same here. For an RPG, combat needs to just be functional for me as it's not the main draw. Plus I just really, really suck at strategic battling.
- Status