Eternity Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire + DLC Thread - now with turn-based combat!

[frajaq]

He said it's larger than Bastards Wound

That's.... still not much

 

[aweigh]

Thank goodness it's "larger than Bastard's Wound" because B's Wound was less content than, say, Temple of Eothas.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Why the fuck would you want an even higher level cap when level 12 party trashes the entire game.

 

[Barnabas]

Just did the Overgrowth quest in Sayuka and it won’t let me turn it in. It’s bugged

 

[Glaucon]

I've just gotten to Port Maje and the actual sentence by sentence writing has improved on PoE I. Less soul-nonsense, less purpley prose goop, and NPC dialogue has some real character and subtext.

Fuck, I just started my playthrough yesterday. I only made it to Neketaka on launch and then decided to wait for patches. Codex, what do you think? Should I keep playing or wait for 2.0 + expansion?

I'm planning on just playing through the critical path and doing a more complete play-through with the DLC in a year or so.

 

[Immortal]

I mean, why raise the level cap at all? It's already level 20, and there's no content in the base game for post level 15 anyway.

If anything what they need to do is add late-level encounters tuned for levels 15-20, not necessary to raise the cap.

This.. I wanna see extremely hard battles.. Adra Dragon on Crack.. as encounters just hanging around.. Either as Mods or DLC content.
The work involved is pretty light.. reskin a dragon and jack up it's difficulty.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Fighting another archmage would be cool

 

[Lacrymas]

I have a feeling the last DLC will be about archmages, so we'll get to fight them then. If every DLC adds a big dungeon and high level encounters, the game will grow up to finally be a real RPG and I'll be somewhat satisfied. It seems like the dungeon is a forgotten artform these days.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Deadfire is shit, far short of what your heightened tastes can tolerate, but its DLC is too small :D

 

[Safav Hamon]

I have a feeling the last DLC will be about archmages, so we'll get to fight them then. If every DLC adds a big dungeon and high level encounters, the game will grow up to finally be a real RPG and I'll be somewhat satisfied. It seems like the dungeon is a forgotten artform these days.

I think one of the reasons Deadfire has better encounter design than the first game is because there is no pressure to fill large dungeons with trash mobs.

 

[Haplo]

They should've added katanas and nuchakus if they really want this to sell.

Nunchakus are in already. They're called flails.

 

[Haplo]

I always forget, which one is the one that doesn't have reach? Pollaxe? Completely useless.

There's an awesome soulbound Pollaxe that deals Slash/Shock and you can get it right after Port Maje. Max it out before reaching Neketaka. It's capable of aoe damage on a Barbarian.
Plus another unique Pollaxe available early with an awesome aoe attack effect, currently bugged to be crazy OP.

There might not be many of them, but there are actually pretty awesome ones.

I found most of those only useful in fully realised builds on highest levels where you already overwhelm enemy with accuracy. On low/mid level PoTD they actually don't do anything fancy. Like Mohai Poranga trick which requires Heart of Fury to fully work. That's ability you get during endgame (with xp cut mod, that is). And at that point, everything goes - your level and quality of weapons simply breaks enemies. Uniques break enemies in a slightly more awesome way.

Lol, how is having a Superb weapon at level 5, that can deal Slash/Shock and also has multiple other useful effects (like significant aoe damage + Distracted on crit in an aoe for a Barbarian plus powerful Ball Lightning spell) only useful on the highest levels?

 

[Lacrymas]

I have a feeling the last DLC will be about archmages, so we'll get to fight them then. If every DLC adds a big dungeon and high level encounters, the game will grow up to finally be a real RPG and I'll be somewhat satisfied. It seems like the dungeon is a forgotten artform these days.

I think one of the reasons Deadfire has better encounter design than the first game is because there is no pressure to fill large dungeons with trash mobs.

There are no big dungeons in PoE1, except Od Nua, yet it's a garbage dump from all the trash, so that really doesn't hold water. Deadfire isn't filled with trash because they didn't fill it with trash, not because of lack of dungeons.

 

[Parabalus]

I have a feeling the last DLC will be about archmages, so we'll get to fight them then. If every DLC adds a big dungeon and high level encounters, the game will grow up to finally be a real RPG and I'll be somewhat satisfied. It seems like the dungeon is a forgotten artform these days.

I think one of the reasons Deadfire has better encounter design than the first game is because there is no pressure to fill large dungeons with trash mobs.

There are no big dungeons in PoE1, except Od Nua, yet it's a garbage dump from all the trash, so that really doesn't hold water. Deadfire isn't filled with trash because they didn't fill it with trash, not because of lack of dungeons.

Durgan's battery? 3 levels isn't really that short.

 

[aweigh]

for the final dlc obsidian should sneak in cloud's sword.

 

[TT1]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/pillars-of-eternity-2-deadfire/beast-of-winter-dlc

4 ways the Beast of Winter DLC subverts Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire


Pillars of Eternity II is already a brave sequel - it pulls the series away from its nostalgic roots in the temperate woodland of Baldur’s Gate, and replants it in the Southern-Pacific-style island chains of the Deadfire Archipelago. That displacement had a knock-on effect on the rest of the game, which reimagined the isometric RPG as a swashbuckling adventure.

Beast of Winter, the first of three planned paid DLC packs for Deadfire, flips the formula once again. The idyllic, Polynesian white sand and blue seas have been covered by snow and ice. A new vein of dark comedy has opened up in the writing. And you, the heroic Watcher, are being celebrated once again - but this time by some pretty unpalatable types.

We consider the original Pillars of Eternity to be one of the best RPGs on PC.

“One of the real rewarding things about working on DLC is that the groundwork is done,” Beast of Winter narrative designer Alex Scokel tells us. “We don’t have to worry about making sure that every weapon has an animation associated with it - we can just make new stuff.

“In DLC we’re able to stretch those legs a little.”

You’re under the spyglass

Beast of Winter begins with a letter. You are cordially invited to an island at the very bottom of the map made home by the worshippers of Rymrgand. Rymrgand, the beast of the DLC’s title, is the god of collapse: famine, plague, and disaster. The locals call you Duskspeaker - they’ve seen the way death follows in your wake, and they’re really into it.


“The people there throw a feast in your honour,” Scokel says. “Because they respect the way that you go about messing things up.”

When asked whether Beast of Winter’s story is commentary on the player as a destructive force in the Archipelago, Scokel phrases it another way.

“There’s certainly a recognition of the destructive nature of a protagonist in an RPG,” he says. “The world spins around the player, and these cultists have recognised that and placed you within the context of their own myths.”

The cult says you’re the harbinger of the end. Frankly, they can’t wait for the cataclysm. Whether or not that’s who you want to be is a question you’re encouraged to start pondering in this DLC.

There’ll be blizzards at the beach

While Pillars of Eternity II took us to lots of different environments, its defining images were of verdant jungles and sandy beaches. As the title suggests, Beast of Winter changes all that.

Rymrgand shares the title of god of death with Berath, so they split up some of the responsibilities. While Berath deals with more palatable ideas like passage and rebirth, the Beast of Winter is very much about the switch from warmth and life to stillness on a cold slab.

The Beast manifests as a huge yet emaciated auroch, fur flecked with ice and snow. Wherever he goes, he brings bitter winds and is shrouded in squalls. Sure enough, his influence over the island on which the DLC takes place extends to the weather - frost has crept into the land of the living. If left unchecked, the villain of this new story threatens to spread the ice across the entirety of Eora, local climate be damned.

“A lot of it is frost and snow and ice early on,” Scokel says. “And polar bears.”

It’s driven by dark comedy

“There’s certainly a mood that the DLC has,” Scokel muses. “All the Rymrgandian things - the inevitability of darkness and of endings. All things that decay end.”

He laughs. “Which is an interesting note to kick off our DLCs on.”

Throughout the quests and writing of Beast of Winter, dark humour has emerged as a consistent feature. It’s something of a surprise: while there are dashes of dry comedy in the Pillars of Eternity series, it rarely feels as if it could indulge in a Fable-style slapstick aside.


For the DLC, though - a story about the ways people fight back against the inevitability of death in a world with magic, gods, and immortals - comedy became necessary.

“We obviously don’t want to make an incredibly depressing piece of DLC,” Frey says. “It’s definitely an opportunity for us to show how people feel about this sort of thing, but also show the humour of it.”

“One of the reasons we wanted to be funny,” Scokel adds, “was to lighten what could otherwise be a really [miserable] experience.”

You’re stepping outside the Deadfire

The world design of Pillars of Eternity began with Obsidian designer Josh Sawyer flipping over a map of the Forgotten Realms’ Dalelands. But over the course of two games, his team have fleshed out Eoras with unique lore - some of which we only ever read about in books or told by NPCs. Realistically, we’ll never see all of the places referenced in its stories.

“Scale-wise, Pillars is similar to the Infinity Engine games,” Scokel explains. “It’s not really a globetrotting game, it’s more a region-trotting game. And so we look for opportunities to bring in these other areas of the world.”

One example of this in Deadfire is the Valian Trading Company - a colonising influence in the area that allows you to see the culture and architecture of a people from faraway lands. Beast of Winter goes further, taking you to The Beyond, a strange dimension stuffed with devious challenges and shared by ancient souls. There will be some revelations there.

“We’re trying to find opportunities to take the player places that have been mentioned before in lore but haven’t been pulled into fruition,” executive producer Alec Frey says. “It digs into the history of Eora in some ways we haven’t done so far.”

 

[TT1]

Somebody posted this on SA forums:

I dont have any idea if its official, but the art is consistent.

Zombie dragon/ Dracolich is coming.

 

[Immortal]

Gotta reuse those animation rigs.. Why do you think the old god boss in Dragon Age Origins was a dragon for no reason?

 

[Lacrymas]

The High Dragon and Flemeth in DA:O used the animations of the final dragon boss, not the other way around :p Although, who knows, but since everyone refers to the old god as a dragon, I'd think they had settled on that idea before animating anything. This dragon being undead might be Concelhaut's doing, who else has that power? Inb4 "gods, lol". Is necromancy even a thing in PoE?

 

[Immortal]

The High Dragon and Flemeth in DA:O used the animations of the final dragon boss, not the other way around :p Although, who knows, but since everyone refers to the old god as a dragon, I'd think they had settled on that idea before animating anything. This dragon being undead might be Concelhaut's doing, who else has that power? Inb4 "gods, lol". Is necromancy even a thing in PoE?

Well a Dragon is a Dragon.. I don't know if Flemeth was first... or the darkspawn boss.. Then you had the Storm dragon in the DLC.
TL;DR Animation / Rigging is a lot of work.. and Dragons make good Generic Boss enemies.

It did seem weird though that this old god was just a dark tinted dragon but who knows.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I dread the narrative designers' understanding of dark humor more than I do the god of entropy.

 

[Sherry]

Hi.

Our family camping trip was so much fun and we all got back yesterday so in the evening it was relaxing time and so I continued off but omg at least with the street gang I used smarts to get out of that jam and avoid combat but down below in the old city that is not so. Oh this has spoilers okay? Tubing was a lot of fun and for 3 hours you float down the river and hit a few rapids and bounce around or try not to get stuck along the edge of the bank and it even flows through the site we stayed on so if you wanted to get out of your tube and visit the camp before going on like getting some snacks or a refreshment you could. We all loved it and will be going back again for a full week. Last night it was the old city I explored but I kept on dying in a lot of places with wraiths and shadows and those big ugly water blister looking things and got fed up with it I am now playing on relaxed but it did not go into effect until I found a new map so everywhere in the old city is still on veteran with so difficulty combat.

Today is laundry so just visiting before heading back to the game but I was able to find my way out of that place sneaking around undead and walking blisters lol and got back to the gullet.

okay, Okay! How do people do this right? how? I could not even do anything just used spells and barbarian yells and cipher attacks but wtf right? I just got swarmed they kept coming this is not veteran this is abuse! I won't be heading back into the old city until the party is at least level 14 or more to clean this mess I spawned.

Spoiler

Thanks,
Sherry

 

[Lacrymas]

Sherry, there is an explicit warning that something like that is going to happen if you pick up the figurine. I just used stealth to pick up the item and get out before they rose, didn't even try to fight them.

 

[frajaq]

Just bootleneck them lmao

 

[santino27]

Obsidian dropped a bunch of detail on its first paid DLC pack for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire earlier today. While that DLC’s coming within a month, there’s lots more on the horizon - and Obsidian spoke to us about what those future plans will entail.

There are two more paid DLC packs coming after Beast of Winter next month. “We have those, and we’re continuing to release some free DLCs - we’ve already released some,” says executive producer Alec Frey. “There’s more of those in the pipeline. And we’re obviously continuing to support the game - we have a lot of quality of life improvements, a lot of things that we’re adding and changing.

“We’ve got a still somewhat active beta community which is really great, so we can test things out and get a lot of feedback. We definitely want to keep making the game better for everybody - it’s a really big passion project for us.”

Response to Obsidian’s past DLC expansions for its throwback RPGs has been a bit mixed. The White March for Pillars 1 was well-received, but Bastard’s Wound for Tyranny got a largely negative response for its slim content offerings. Beast of Winter will be somewhere in between those two releases in scope, and the team at Obsidian is taking those responses to heart.

“I think there’s definitely things to take when we look at what people like and what we can do differently to other DLCs we’ve done in the past,” Frey says. “It definitely comes up in meetings. I don’t think there’s any one specific large thing that we take away from them, it’s lots of little ideas.”

Alex Scokel, game director for Beast of Winter, adds “White March reflected a desire to be the 1990s expansion experience - that was what they were trying to capture and I think that has a lot to do with why it was packaged the way it was. Deadfire isn’t as rooted in that as the original game was, so that leaves us a little more room with which to play.”

We spoke to Obsidian about the Beast of Winter DLC in-depth, so follow that link for much more detail on what to expect. As for Pillars 2 itself post-release, Frey says “We’re really happy with how the community feels about it. Inside the studio we’re really excited about everything we’ve made so far. We’ve got a lot of great ideas. It’s done so great, and we also think we can make it even better with the stuff we’re adding.”

Whole lot of nothing in that interview.