Scorchy Jul 15, 2006

Smug Statement: Elementary, my dear meatbag.







Reviews pretty unaminous - instant classic cRPG.



Newbie Guide - Some tips for starting out



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irx2T6ZIYL0



Pillars of Eternity (formerly Project Eternity) is an old-school cRPG from Obsidian Entertainment, makers of KOTOR2, NWN2, South Park: Stick of Truth, and Fallout: New Vegas. The goal was to create an experience reminiscent of classic Infinity Engine franchises, such as Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and Baldur's Gate. That means a 6 player party, with adjustable formations, and interesting companions to talk to. It's got an isometric view, Real-time-with-Pause combat, and hand-painted 2D backgrounds. Voice-acting is somewhat limited to important characters, and only the first few lines. There are lots of dungeons, puzzles, looting and crafting. There's no D&D license attached.



The story revolves around a fledgling colonial empire where scientific experimentation on human souls is undergoing a renaissance, and bad poo poo is happening as a result. It explores themes like ethics, religion, technology and reincarnation. There are elves and dwarves, drugs, incest, psychic detectives, big guns, small guns, magic missiles cast into darkness, trickster gods and god-killing bombs. The word "f**k" appears in dialogue.



It's built on the Unity engine and available on PC, Mac, and Linux. Since the backgrounds are 2D, the system requirements are very low, we've got people running it on 3 year old laptops. It's on Steam and GOG.com and even in physical outlets. There are no plans to port it to consoles. Playing this kind of game without a mouse would be a pain in the butt.



If you're wondering how a game this niche can get made in 2015, the answer is Kickstarter.



Is the expansion (The White March I/II) worth getting?



Yes! It's even better than the base game, has great areas and adds some neat items and companions.











There are 11 classes to choose from. There are the stereotypical 'standard' builds, but you can twist almost any class around into damage dealers, support, frontliners, or ranged if you want.



Fighters - Frontline stalwarts. High accuracy, high endurance, lots of knockdowns, lots of passives and an ability to lock enemies down around them.

For: People who want to face-tank 4 enemies at once and knock them all down with one sweep.



Wizards - Extremely flexible casters with Vancian magic casting. They memorize a mix of nukes, CCs, AoEs, and weapon fighting spells.

For: People who can't go without five different types of magic missiles to cast.



Priests - Group support casters, they have massive AoE support spells and some martial abilities. They keep your group fighting for way longer than they should.

For: People who want to make their allies more or less invincible without really trying.



Rogues - Murder specialists, probably highest single-target DPS, but fragile. Lots of ways to apply conditions and make sneak attacks, and also able to move in and out of battlefield positions and break engagements.

For: People who want to gib the enemy backlines before disappearing in a puff of smoke.



Barbarians - Melee AoE kings. They roid-rage and plow into the largest group of enemies they find, dealing AoE damage with every swing.

For: People who enjoyed the Hulk in Avengers.



Rangers - Ranged single-target murder machines, also has an animal companion to tank and run interference.

For: People who want to shoot arrows like a machine gun and perma-stun an enemy from across the room.



Monks - Barefist melee specialists with fun CC and self-buff abilities. The more wounds they suffer, the more abilities they can use.

For: People who want to punch their enemies clean across the map.



Ciphers - Martial casters with a litany of mental-themed spells. They are slightly more tactically dependent than other casters and need to physically attack people to restore their mana.

For: People who want set their enemies' souls on fire.



Paladins - A defensive support and command class, they provide allies with auras and beneficial effects, and they can also holding their own on the frontlines.

For: People who want to buff their friends to the gills while swinging a flaming axe.



Druids - The masters of the AoE nuke and CC. Can also shapeshift into animal forms and smash things.

For: People who want to turn into a giant were-stag and then call lightning from the sky.



Chanters - Bard equivalents, can chain together small continual buffs, while fighting normally. Also one of the only two summoning classes, somewhat like necromancers.

For: People who want to flood a battlefield with skeletons and ghosts while reciting poetry.



quote: If you want to create a wizard who wears plate armor and hacks away with a broadsword from behind a heavily-enhanced arcane veil, we want to let you do that. If your idea of the perfect fighter is one who wears light armor and uses a variety of dazzling rapier attacks in rapid succession, we want to help you make that character. So it's good to think of Project Eternity's classes as being purpose-ready but not purpose-limited.

Newbie Recommendations: Fighter, Paladin, Druid or Cipher







There are 6 main races (further divided into selectable cultures and backgrounds):



Humans - Boring old humans. Might +1, Resolve +1

Elves - Long ears and very fancy. Dexterity +1, Perception +1

Dwarves - Short and stumpy and beardy. Might +2, Dexterity -1, Constitution +1

Godlike - Crazy-looking descendents of the gods in the world. You can have flames for hair. Dexterity +1, Intellect +1

Orlans - Tiny, furry people who mostly live in the woods. Kinda like halflings or gnomes. Might -1, Perception +2, Resolve +1

Aumaua - Towering semi-aquatic race. Might +2



Each class is also divided into subraces, each with their own unique bonuses.











There's a 6 character party limit - your player, plus 5 NPCs. There will be around 8 fully written NPC companions to fill out your party; if you want more you can hire your own NPCs, and you can make them from scratch, ala Icewind Dale, but they will be personality-free.



Fighter - Eder, in Gilded Vale - rest at the Inn

Mage - Aloth, Gilded Vale - in front of Inn

Paladin - Pallegina, Defiance Bay - Ondra's Gift in front of Trading Company

Chanter - Kana Rua, in Caed Nua - across the west bridge

Cipher - Grieving Mother, Dyrford Village - Southeast

Priest - Durance, Magran's Fork - at the crossroads statue

Ranger - Sagani, Woodend Plains - at the crossroads

Druid - Hiravias, Stormwall Gorge - look for where the road forks south



White March Part I:

Rogue - Devil of Caroc - Durgan's Battery, under Galvino's cabin

Monk - Zahua - Stalwart, next to the Fishery after the initial attack



White March Part II:

Barbarian - Meneha - Stalwart, near Fishery after initial attack - exit map and come back











The ruleset is a brand new system designed in-house by Obsidian. Endurance is the tactical resource, expended during fights and recovered quickly. If a character loses all Endurance during a fight, they get knocked out for the duration of combat. Health is the long term strategic resource, it gets drained over time. If you lose all that you get maimed or even permanently die. Forever. Kaput. Heal effects or spells are rare or non-existent, health is recoverable only by Resting, so you have be careful with your health over many fights. The 6 character attributes are currently as follows:



Attributes







The game is designed so that all attributes can be useful to every class. If you want to play a high Intelligence Rogue or Barbarian, or a high Dexterity Wizard, that's a legit choice and there are (good) ways to play that style.



Each point in attribute gives a linear bonus, there are no trap thresholds you really need to pay attention to. Just make the character you want. Also bear in mind that all stats have some use in conversation checks as well.



Might - +3% Damage/Healing, +2 Fortitude

Constitution - +5% Endurance and Health, +2 Fortitude

Dexterity - +3% action speed, +2 Reflex

Perception - +3 Interrupt, +1 Accuracy, +2 Reflex

Intellect - +5% Ability Duration, +6% Area of Effect, +1 Will

Resolve - +3 Concentration, +1 Deflection, +2 Will



It's all very old-school RPG as hell. There's an in-game glossary explaining what this all is, and the game gives you recommendations for each class. Don't be intimidated, it's hard to screw up.



Abilities and Talents



You get new class abilities on odd levels, and a myriad of selectable talents on every even level-up, equivalent to D&D feats. It's where you can specialize your character into a particular role. There are like 100+ talents, I'm not going to list them all here, but the in-game descriptions are fairly clear, so it's not complicated to choose between them.



Some talents are class specific. Some you can use to specialize into a defensive role, or to up your weapon accuracy. Some allow you to gain extra healing abilities. Some let affect your speed and mobility in the battlefield. Pick the ones that cater to your playstyle.



Skills



There are non-combat skills; they level up separately from combat abilities. These skills govern dialogue interaction, world travel, and learning new things. Most encounters have alternate skill-checked solutions that let you avoid combat, without losing on experience gains.



Stealth - Sneaking past enemies

Athletics - Grants a small heal in combat

Lore - Learn about enemy stats faster, cast spells from scrolls

Mechanics - Disarms traps and open locks, spots hidden objects

Survival - Grants special resting bonuses



Classes can will get different bonuses to these, but none are locked out. You can totally make a stealthy, lockpicking Mage if you want.







This is not a turn-based game, rather it's 'Real-Time with Pause'. It's like an overhead strategy game like Starcraft, but at any time you can hit Spacebar and pause the game to issue commands. You will pause a lot. There are also like 18 different auto-pause options in the menu depending on different conditions.



If you want more real-time, there's also a slow mode - the game moves at 2/3rd speed so you have more reaction time. Conversely there's a fast mode - game moves at double speed, so you can use it to zoom around previously-traversed areas. You no longer need Boots of Speed for all your characters.



Engagement



The biggest change from Infinity Engine games is a new 'engagement' mechanic. When two combatants are next to each other, they'll 'engage' - if one combatant tries to back off or leave, their opponent gets a free attack at high accuracy. If the attack connects it'll bring the victim to a halt. It encourages positional stickiness and prevents units from running around the battlefield unhindered. For example your fighter can 'snag' enemies, to stop them from rushing your glass cannon mage in the back. You use engagement against enemies, and enemies use it against you. There's no aggro mechanic, so this is the main way to tank.



If you ignore this mechanic you will die very very quickly.



Weapon Style



Each type of weapon wielding you use has its own advantages and disadvantages:



One-handed Weapon - Increased Accuracy

Dual-wielding - Increased Attack Speed

One-handed Weapon and Shield - Increased Deflection, lowered Accuracy

Two-handed Weapon - Increased damage

Ranged - No engagement



grrarg has kindly created a table of all the different weapon types and their abilities:







Damage



Physical damage is dependent on what weapon is used:



Pierce - Ranged, spears, stilettos, etc.

Crush - Maces, staves, flails, etc.

Slash - Swords, axes, daggers, etc.

Raw - A special, rare damage type that bypasses armor and DR



Elemental Spell damage is divided into four types:



Shock - Lightning spells

Burn - Fire spells

Freeze - Ice and wind spells

Corrode - Acid and nature spells



The armour you find and the creatures you fight will have varying strengths and weaknesses to all of them - check the in-game cyclopedia for details.



Attacking



All attacks and spells are subject to an Accuracy check. Whether you hit the opponent is a calculation of the attacker's Accuracy versus the opponent's Defense. The difference is added to a random roll of 1-100 to see if the hit lands. See below chart for an example:







Miss - 0% damage

Graze - 50% damage/duration

Hit - 100% damage/duration

Crit - 150% damage/duration



How hard you hit (Damage) depends on the weapon/spell, the Might bonus, and any additional effects you have minus the opponent's Damage Reduction (DR).



Defense



Attacker accuracy is pitted against 4 different types of defense:



Deflection - Used against most physical attacks (most common)

Fortitude - Used as defense against stun/knockdown, poison, disease attacks

Reflex - Used against area of effect attacks like fireballs or traps

Will - Used as defense against mental, psychic attacks



So if an attacker casts Charm (a spell that attacks Will), this is treated much like any other attack with a sword or bow - the attacker's accuracy is rolled against the defender's Will score (instead of Deflection), and this will determine whether the spell is a miss/graze/hit/crit.



There is also a separate stat called Damage Reduction (DR) which subtracts a flat amount from incoming damage. DR is usually granted by the armour or clothing worn. A minimum of 20% damage will get through regardless, even if your DR blocks the entire attack.



Scouting and Stealing



Hitting Alt will put you into Scouting Mode. This mode combines Stealth and checking for hidden objects, but you will move slower.



When stealthed, enemies can see if you get too close. A yellow circle underneath your character means enemies are getting suspicious, a red circle means enemies will move towards you to investigate. When the red circle fills up, you are detected, and will probably start combat.



Traps show up in red (they hurt). You need points in the Mechanics skill to disarm them, or you can try to walk around them. Hidden objects show up in purple; they usually contain some bonus loot.



Stealing stuff from people's houses won't put neutral NPCs into combat, but it will incur a reputation penalty. Make sure you aren't detected if you try.



Resting



Resting replenishes all health and fatigue, and removes negative effects. It also restores spells for casters and resets per-rest abilities on other classes. You want to carefully manage how often you rest versus how often you get hurt.



You rest by either going to an inn, your stronghold, or by using up camping supplies. Resting at nicer places can get you significant combat bonuses.











The setting is a new fantasy world called Eora, where the technology is roughly at 16th renaissance era levels. Except with magic. The game takes place in a specific region called the Dyrwood. It's an area with a colonial history, where an empire overextended their reach and came to a stalemate with the native populace, and an uneasy peace has settled in.



There's two big cities in the game: Defiance Bay and Twin Elms. They're like Baldur's Gate or Athkatla - major quest hubs areas. You also get access to a player-owned stronghold about 1/3rd of the way through the game. You can rest there, there are timed fights and quests, and mild castle management elements.



Underneath the stronghold is a massive mega-dungeon in the game called the Endless Paths of Od Nua. Expect monsters and traps and puzzles. It's been designed to ramp up in difficulty faster than it hands out experience, so expect to leave and come back to it several times. The size and scope was determined by the number of backers of the Kickstarter campaign, and in the end it came out to 15 levels deep.











There's three separate game modes that can be turned on for increased difficulty:



Expert Mode - Turns off ease-of-use features like showing reputation gains, skill checks, and gameplay elements.

Trial of Iron - Ironman/Hardcore mode. You get one save. Once you die, the save gets deleted.

Path of the Damned - Spawns all enemies from across all difficulties, and combat difficulty is amplified.



There's an achievement called Triple Crown for completing the game with all three modes turned on. Also,











Obsidian Entertainment's an independent studio who specialize in RPGs. They sprang up from the ashes of Black Isle studios in the early 2000's, and they've been steadily putting out a lot of the deepest and most well-written RPGs in the last decade.



The developers who worked on this game is an all-star cast of old school CRPGs types, and they are nothing but the classiest people:



Josh Sawyer, Project Lead - led Fallout: New Vegas, Icewind Dale 1 & 2, Baldur's Gate 3 (cancelled), Fallout 3 (cancelled), Aliens: Crucible (cancelled)

Adam Brennecke, Executive Producer, Lead Programmer - Worked on almost every Obsidian game

Eric Fenstermaker, Creative Lead - wrote the best parts of Fallout: New Vegas, creative lead on South Park: Stick of Truth

Tim Cain, Senior Programmer - Father of Fallout, Arcanum, and Temple of Elemental Evil

Chris Avellone, Creative Director - wrote Planescape: Torment, Knights of the Old Republic 2, Alpha Protocol Scorchy fucked around with this message at 08:53 on Nov 27, 2016