Pillars of Eternity - Beta Build 435 Released

[Couchpotato]

Obsidian shared information on the forums for Pillars of Eternity that backers can now download a new beta version. Make sure to read the link for the huge changelog.

Hey, everyone. A new backer beta build is live on all three platforms.

Our major focus over the past few weeks was reducing in-game memory usage and other optimizations. We are still optimizing, but things are coming along nicely.

You will also notice that Josh has been doing lots of balancing throughout various systems in the game. For example, traps should be extremely deadly now. If you weren't on the lookout before, you should be. Hope you enjoy the fixes.

More information.

 

[Couchpotato]

So no comments from anyone yet?

Well if anybody has played the new beta version please share your impression. As I'm very curious to see what has changed, and if the game is ready for release next month.

 

[Deleted User]

I contacted Obsidian and hopefully they will get back to me. I'd like to preview the game, so we'll see.

 

[Drithius]

Specifically staying away from the beta and any previews. I want my $150 experience to be unbiased.

 

[azarhal]

I played it for like 5 minutes, no comments from me yet.

 

[Corwin]

I don't pay to beta test either, so Im just waiting for my regular release copy!!

 

[Carnifex]

As per usual, I'll not only be waiting for the official release, but several patches afterwards. I'm certainly keen to play it at some point.

 

[ChaosTheory]

I've had the beta loaded for months but can't seem to get the courage to peek. Fluent, if Obsidian doesn't get back to you, let me know. I'll give you my Steam login info or something...

 

[azarhal]

Alright, I put more time into this new beta (I play on normal). Most of my comment might not mean much because I'm mostly comparing to previous builds. This have gone a long way in 6 months, that much I can say.

Backgrounds are less washed out so characters stand out more. I really like the look now.

Combat still need a bit of balancing (and bug fixing, dev already fixed some of the issues internally though), but I'm really liking it (doesn't mean everyone will). Character don't die as fast as before but fights aren't dragged out either, the annoying ability queuing issues seems to be gone (characters finally do what you tell them to do yeah!) and casting is faster so you can actually respond in a emergency fashion now. Stone beetles are still a pain the ass but that's apparently by design. People will probably pause->order a bit more than in the IE games though (more actives in general).

Picking stuff *cough*stealing*cough* from certain contains now lower your reputation with the locals. I think you need to be spotted, but it's a nice touch that wasn't present before. I know that some people can attack you too because it happened to me before.

VO and sound have been improved, now in combat you can actually use the audio cue for issues instead of always having to keep an eye on the log for not working weapons or stuff like that. Also, orchestra makes everything sound better.

I only tried a Chanter and Barbarian so far as characters (but BB party has a Wizard, Rogue, Priest and Fighter). Fighters are very flexible now, people are probably going to wonder what they are going to take each levels. Since the fix to damage calculation, Rogue probably need a little buff…poor Rogues they used to be OP. Priest are now much better with the new casting/recovery speed (and DEX working), this mean you can have them do other thing than stand back in case you need to cast something. Some people are complaining that Chanter go a nerf this build, but I personally think they got a buff compared to the last build. Barbarian don't die as fast as before which makes them proper frontliners now. Last build I tried a Monk and they were pretty fun too in the "punch things in the fast super fast" sense.

For the first time, I used potions because they now have useful buffs and I could craft some because the BB characters come with crafting mats. Oh and I talked about "emergency action", drinking "health potion" now it works very well. BB Fighter was almost downed but he was able to drink his cool-aid and survive the Stone Beetles.

Now I'm probably making the Stone Beetles sound more crazy than I should. What happened is that I went full on a the first one spotted and there were 3 wood beetles and two other Stone Beetle and got swarmed without much planning a tactic. I lost two characters, but the rest managed to win the encounter. In previous build, everyone would have died in a few seconds if I had played like that. So this is an improvement, in both character responsiveness and in how you can turn a losing encounter into a winning one by using your resources (potions, spells, etc).

 

[Moriendor]

Personally, I think it's insane that stone beetles are such a huge challenge on 'normal'. For fuck's sake, they're freakin' beetles. They should be push-over trash mobs that require minimal micromanagement, if any.
Wood beetles don't seem to be much easier by the way. I got my entire party wiped by those as well when I tested being lazy and only did a little micromanagement.
As it stands, beetles require full concentration and full micromanagement if you want to walk out of the fight with all party members alive.
Or you have to sneak around the map with a rogue all the time to uncover the fog of war and kite enemies one by one but I'd say that will get old REAL fast if you have to do that with every single beetle.

If they want to keep it like this, they definitely should have made the combat system turn-based if they want to offer this kind of challenge for every fight including trash mobs because you will be forced to pause all the time anyway. There's currently no point to real-time with pause because if you just let things run in real-time, you'll die. A lot.

All I can hope for is that the beetles are placeholders for tougher mobs in the beta and that in the full game things will be much better balanced. If not, then the first reviews are going to be funny as hell.

 

[azarhal]

I think the beetles are supposed to be the BG1 spiders...which were nowhere close to "trash mob" difficulty.

 

[TomRon]

Personally, I think it's insane that stone beetles are such a huge challenge on 'normal'. For fuck's sake, they're freakin' beetles. They should be push-over trash mobs that require minimal micromanagement, if any.
Wood beetles don't seem to be much easier by the way. I got my entire party wiped by those as well when I tested being lazy and only did a little micromanagement.
As it stands, beetles require full concentration and full micromanagement if you want to walk out of the fight with all party members alive.
Or you have to sneak around the map with a rogue all the time to uncover the fog of war and kite enemies one by one but I'd say that will get old REAL fast if you have to do that with every single beetle.

If they want to keep it like this, they definitely should have made the combat system turn-based if they want to offer this kind of challenge for every fight including trash mobs because you will be forced to pause all the time anyway. There's currently no point to real-time with pause because if you just let things run in real-time, you'll die. A lot.

All I can hope for is that the beetles are placeholders for tougher mobs in the beta and that in the full game things will be much better balanced. If not, then the first reviews are going to be funny as hell.

Pausing often is my idea of fun in a RTwP game, although I can agree that Kiting every single enemy is more abusive than tactical, and shouldn't be required. Still sounds like fun though.

 

[Necrosis]

Does anybody know if they carried through on The Endless Paths mega dungeon?

 

[Sacred_Path]

Personally, I think it's insane that stone beetles are such a huge challenge on 'normal'. For fuck's sake, they're freakin' beetles. They should be push-over trash mobs that require minimal micromanagement, if any.

That's what difficulty levels are for, I'd say.

I agree that tough battles are better served by a grid and turn-based sequence, but there's really nothing weird about having to pause frequently. It's what I did most of the time in Icewind Dale.

 

[azarhal]

Does anybody know if they carried through on The Endless Paths mega dungeon?

Old Nua is under your stronghold, they showed some part of it in a recent stream too.

 

[blackcanopus]

Alright, I put more time into this new beta (I play on normal). Most of my comment might not mean much because I'm mostly comparing to previous builds. This have gone a long way in 6 months, that much I can say.

Any comments on how the dialog/conversation/non-violent problem solving works now?
The PE wiki is not very helpful and I haven't been able to figure out the best class for a non-violent approach that does not suck in combat.
I usually go with backstabbing rogues, but it seems intellect only works for AoE attacks which is not a rogue specialty. Too bad!

 

[Archangel]

Non-violent solutions will not be dependent on class but on your stats and reputation.

 

[JDR13]

That's what difficulty levels are for, I'd say.

I think that was his point. Some of the battles shouldn't be that tough on "normal" difficulty. The difficulty seems a bit off right now.

 

[azarhal]

I think that was his point. Some of the battles shouldn't be that tough on "normal" difficulty. The difficulty seems a bit off right now.

They aren't that hard in this build if you compare them to the previous ones. I think many player have a problem with the damage resistance though. Use fire and crushing damage and they go down fast or my new favorite tactic: bring a Druid and charm the Stone Beetles and let them clean the rest of the beetles.

 

[DArtagnan]

How much better is the game now, compared to 4-5 months ago?