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inanedirkA few days ago I started playing a new game of Pillars of Eternity. I wanted to try to do things a little differently this time around. First of all I cranked the difficulty all the way up to *cough*normal. My first playthrough had been on easiest because I wanted to focus on the storyline (I do this quite a lot for RPGs since I easily get frustrated with games and give up if they're too challenging).
Anyway, I also decided to go with a monk character because I hadn't had one in the first playthrough. The mechanic here is to collect wounds (i.e. literally get wounded in an encounter) to unlock special abilities. The more powerful the opponent the more wounds it provides per successful attack, and more powerful abilities cost more wounds. So far I've only got one ability though which looks a lot like a roundhouse kick. Interesting mechanic anyway, since you usually do anything to avoid damage. Coem to think about it, I might have to get rid of some protective gear that reduces the chance of getting hit. Maybe look for damage reducing stuff instead.
Anyway. Playing on normal means being a little more careful in combat (e.g. choosing the right abilites), and choosing equipment a little more carefully as well. In my first playthrough I'd pretty much just equipped whatever armor had the best damage reduction. This time around I actually replaced a higher DR with a lower for my monk because it's got better recovery time, so my monk attacks more frequently. The weapon focus I chose during a levelup is called peasant. It includes a bonus for unarmed (the monks' preferred style) and hunting bow, so my monk's secondary weapon of course is a hunting bow as well, and not a heavier ranged weapon.
Anyway, I also decided to go with a monk character because I hadn't had one in the first playthrough. The mechanic here is to collect wounds (i.e. literally get wounded in an encounter) to unlock special abilities. The more powerful the opponent the more wounds it provides per successful attack, and more powerful abilities cost more wounds. So far I've only got one ability though which looks a lot like a roundhouse kick. Interesting mechanic anyway, since you usually do anything to avoid damage. Coem to think about it, I might have to get rid of some protective gear that reduces the chance of getting hit. Maybe look for damage reducing stuff instead.
Anyway. Playing on normal means being a little more careful in combat (e.g. choosing the right abilites), and choosing equipment a little more carefully as well. In my first playthrough I'd pretty much just equipped whatever armor had the best damage reduction. This time around I actually replaced a higher DR with a lower for my monk because it's got better recovery time, so my monk attacks more frequently. The weapon focus I chose during a levelup is called peasant. It includes a bonus for unarmed (the monks' preferred style) and hunting bow, so my monk's secondary weapon of course is a hunting bow as well, and not a heavier ranged weapon.
It's the little things ...
Oh and the first few hours felt quite tough on normal, but I think I really just misinterpreted how the game "is meant to be played". You get two characters in your group during tutorial, but then you're on your own until you reach the first town. Thing is, none of the difficult encounters before you reach town are mandatory. You can just go back later with a larger group. Also I thought that the game gave you new characters to add to your group at the same pace it got more difficult. So I tried playing with just the characters the game gave me. Turns out the Eothasian temple, for example, is quite tough with just your own character plus the two you've met up to that point. I almost changed the difficulty back to easy because I was having such a hard time. And I thought I was just pretty bad at games, but now I think you're actually meant to make use of the tavern and the adventurers you can hire there (i.e. create extra custom characters). I'd thought that was just an option to try out different character classes, but really you create whatever's missing from your early group to complement it. Once you meet more "proper" characters (i.e. those with dialogue and quest) you just send your custom made ones off.
And that's that. Off to bed now ...
Oh and the first few hours felt quite tough on normal, but I think I really just misinterpreted how the game "is meant to be played". You get two characters in your group during tutorial, but then you're on your own until you reach the first town. Thing is, none of the difficult encounters before you reach town are mandatory. You can just go back later with a larger group. Also I thought that the game gave you new characters to add to your group at the same pace it got more difficult. So I tried playing with just the characters the game gave me. Turns out the Eothasian temple, for example, is quite tough with just your own character plus the two you've met up to that point. I almost changed the difficulty back to easy because I was having such a hard time. And I thought I was just pretty bad at games, but now I think you're actually meant to make use of the tavern and the adventurers you can hire there (i.e. create extra custom characters). I'd thought that was just an option to try out different character classes, but really you create whatever's missing from your early group to complement it. Once you meet more "proper" characters (i.e. those with dialogue and quest) you just send your custom made ones off.
And that's that. Off to bed now ...
