One thing I liked about the beta, is that even though I only hit level 3 (and only just hit level 3, not much play time after that with any save game) I saw a very wide variety of enemy types. I think if you pick the obvious stuff, like goblinoids or beasts, you’ll be fine if you want early game advantage with that ability.
I’m trying to decide on what to play, myself. I watched a really interesting video where one of the companions was leveled up from Magus to Dragon Disciple and that intrigued the shit out of me, but I could also do that with that very character, so for my own guy… not sure. I love pure-mage, and it’s my first play through for a lot of games like this, but I have a few other ideas kicking around I’d like to try, like a dual-wielding rogue or a half-elf monk. I’ll have to review the Pathfinder rules a bit this morning, maybe read up on changes to the classes - I’m only passing familiar with stuff up to level 3, after all.
He actually is an Eldritch Scion, which I don’t know anything about but I remember wondering what it did when this guy was going through the video, so that explains that! He mentioned he felt it was the direction the character probably goes by default (like if you have auto-level turned on).
Here is the video I was talking about. This guy is doing great work, as far as I’m concerned, and it’s worth watching some of his content as while it’s a pretty old build and he’s using cheats to level up past what the beta normally allows, it’s a good way to get some ideas and learn what is in the game at least at the time he recorded.
Gosh, I have a free afternoon and I’m considering nabbing this one - but I’m torn. POE didn’t really click for me, and I would get bored pretty rapidly. Conversely, I loved DOS I and II…
They advertise the ‘living kingdom’ thing. How interesting is that mechanic? Or is it just window dressing?
Could be you just don’t click with Real Time w/ Pause, which is fair. Consider playing on a reduced difficulty to offset some of the frustration/difficulty with learning what’s going on while you get used to it, maybe?
I think it’s a pretty big deal, but that’s based off comments from folks that played the PnP version as well as people in the beta that got much, much further than I did. I am hoping it ends up being pretty awesome, but I can’t say.
Yeah, you may recall I complained about that on the AMA and they said they had optimized it quite a bit. I also hate the animation with the candles lightning up and the book zooming into view - it takes too long, imo. But I haven’t had a chance to try it live yet so I don’t have an updated opinion yet.
Don’t forget this is Pathfinder! 3.5 is similar. . . but Pathfinder has a surprising amount of differences. I mentioned classes having more powers baked in (alternately, some of their powers just overall get stronger e.g. Paladin Smite Evil designates a target for the entirety of combat, the bonuses to hit/damage/ac/saves beingt present for the Paladin until one or the other dies. It’s massively powerful). I don’t mean to belabor this point but it is worth driving home for people with experience in 3.5 but not in Pathfinder. Not sure where your experiences lie.
Other examples:
PF characters get more feats over all.
PF Feat Chains don’t work the same way as 3.5. Later feats tend to be different. E .g. Iron Will → Improved Iron will (+2 bonuses for both in 3.5; in Pathfinder the former is a +2 bonus to save the latter is basically advantage on a save - with a caveat - once a day).
No cross class skills. Pathfinder characters get +3 in class skills as soon as they allocate a skill point. I think this bonus double sto +6 at level 10 or something.
Everyone can choose between +1 skill point and +1 hp at levelup as a bonus. But each race/class combo also gets other options and some of these are quite potent. E.g. Human spontaneous spell casters can take bonus spells.
Some differences in skills to boot (there’s a single perception skill for lots of stuff, one stealth skill, etc). And many classes get level/2 (rounded down) bonuses to to “class based skill checks”. E.g. thief and mechanics.
You can reference anything and everything Patfhinder at the online SRD.
That rule definitely does not apply in Pathfinder. I do not recall it from 3.5 but shrugs. But it’s absurd. D&D is and has always been filled with evil humans. I’m talking bandits in the wilderness, cultists, slavers, pirates, and such (never mind evil rulers and the like). There’s all sorts of cool stuff you can infer abouit the world in Gygax’s head just reading the entries for humans in the monster manual (Gygaxian society was basically pockets of civilization spread out between extremely dangerous, might makes right, wilderness).
