Pillars of Eternity

I think that was me, and I was playing on Easy for most of it and Story towards the end, so…yeah probably it’s the combat.

Yeah, this. Eder and Pallegina are two companions that I always take to fill tank spots if my PC is a dps role. I’ve also developed a real appreciation for Durance’s and Kana’s abilities. And to be fair, you can significantly boost your stats (up to 3 points per stat) if you equip the right items. I don’t think it makes enough difference to be worth obsessing about however.

Depends what you’re playing on as well. On PotD the companions are generally regarded as “extra-hard mode” for the extra-hard mode because of how terribly stated they tend to be.

Which is often then case with these kinds of games for whatever reason. Most of the companions in BG/BG2 had terrible stats allocation as well (though to be fair for 1E D&D anything less than a 16 was practically a dead stat and casters almost universally needed 17-18’s because… reasons).

AD&D. Christ.

Str for fighters! Also roll d100 if you are lucky enough to have an 18, because sometimes it’s a shitty 18 and sometimes you are an unstoppable engine of destruction! Only if you’re a fighter, though. Only fighters can be that strong. Don’t be ridiculous.

Dex for everyone! It’s just free AC, which you absolutely need as much as possible because every time you get hit it’s the end of the damn world!

Con for everyone! Only to 16 for non-fighters, though, because it just wouldn’t be fair for a Con higher than that to apply to anyone else.

Int for…Wizards! Doesn’t mean shit to anyone else until they’re getting their brains sucked out by Mind Flayers (though if you’re fighting illithids it mostly means your DM hates you so you’re screwed anyway). But you better have an Int of 17+ if you want to not suck at wizarding.

Wis for…Clerics! God hates everyone with a wisdom under 17. You could argue that it’s also for Paladins and Rangers because they get “spells,” but only if you hate your paladin and ranger friends and want them to waste their turns casting shitty spells instead of doing anything at all that they’re any damn good at.

Cha for…christ, you’re not playing with a Bard, are you?

You forgot that paladins also needed a Cha of 17. Because you know, all paladins are either charming sexy ladies in chains or hunks in armour.

I could swear you get to add attribute points a couple of times, it’s just like, levels that are a factor of 5 or something.

Nope, you never get to add to attributes. Maybe some of them go up without your input, but you never get an option to spend points on them.

This is a thing in UnderRail, every 4 levels. I think you also get some in Wasteland 2 but don’t quote me on that.

People forget about 1st edition bards. Those were mofo’s you did not mess around with.

Mostly because they were actually Fighter-Rogue-Druid quad-classed monsters with 15+ in nearly every stat.

Been a long time since I even owned 1st ed books, but I thought they were triple classed. Start off as a fighter, put a handful of levels into thief, and then switch over to 1st-level bard that could cast druidic spells and had some poetic skills.

I had one back in 1979, wielding a vorpal blade. My DM, Schnegelburger (you can’t make that name up) hated him.

Yeah something like that. They were more or less 4 classes: Fighter, Thief, Druid, Bard, though the Druid and Bard parts were more or less combined in the Bard class. They needed no stat below 10 and like 3 or 4 at 15+.

Hah, Wizardry I was similar. Why make a fighter when you can reroll stats until you get to make a Lord?

I think. Or maybe you had to have xyz stats to upgrade to your advanced class.

It’s been a long time, and I was like 6.

Playing RPGs as a young kid is something else. I remember brute-forcing through the Xeen series with everyone in Obsidian gear, because I didn’t really grasp the idea of resistances (I was older than 6, mind you.)

(I don’t actually know how sub-optimal it is, I just remember dying a lot to various ranged attacks, and reloading.)

Just beat Concelhaut. Had to cheat it, leading a few of his mobs out per pull, kill them, repeat until only the lich was left, and then it was pile-on city. He still took out two of my party before dying though.

You said vorpal blade. Fucking BS things.

"Rolled a 19…ohh that was supposed to be the main badass that threatened our whole group with death?..Well so what loot did we get then?

Literally a 10% chance to instantly win against nearly anything. Per swing.

My bard tended toward evil. Killed a silver dragon with a 20 on his first attack. Schnegs was pissed.

Don’t hate the player, hate the game.