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[killatopak]

I wanted to play a crpg game since I've been missing out on the genre for so long and browsed through a few gaf threads about crpgs and everyone mostly agrees that PoE is the best game for beginners to start with. I also wanted to play it since I enjoyed Obsidian's work in New Vegas and South Park.

So I tried looking up guides and all I see are wall of texts that are very confusing. Everything is so technical despite being named "beginner's guide".

I guess I just want a standard guide that's easily understandable. Something like 4 resistances and health versus endurance just flies over my head. I would prefer something like what race or class should I start with, which difficulty should I go and other simple stuff.

Any help guys?

Also should I wait for the console release or is playing right now alright? I heard the console release has all expansions for significantly lower price compared to the pc.

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

I would wait for the console release and read reviews before deciding. I own the PC version and preordered the console version. I'll let you know what I think of it.

 

[Hektor]

I would prefer something like what race or class should I start with, which difficulty should I go and other simple stuff.

The point behind these kinda games is that you play whatever you wanna play.
Worrying about min-maxing takes the fun out of the game (imho) and isn't requried unless you wanna tackle the highest difficulty.

If you think being a mighty stag druid sounds exciting, go for it.

You can switch between easy, normal and hard any time, so i'd suggest picking normal for the start.

Honestly, the genre in its entirety isn't the most accessible, i think a bit of trial and error will be nessecary, a lot of things are simply easier experiencend than learned. Just be sure to save reguarely.

 

[gschmidl]

Pillars of Eternity is overwhelming and incomprehensible and I've been playing RPGs for 25+ years. I also personally found it to be a boring, tedious trash mob grind with a bad story.

I strongly advise you to try an easier game first, like Wasteland 2, Divinity: Original Sin, or Torment: Tides of Numenera.

 

[1upsuper]

CRPG is really an umbrella term for a lot of different gameplay styles. I'm not really sure that PoE is necessarily the best starting point. I'd recommend starting with something older, maybe Wizardry or Ultima, and then work forward until you get to stuff like Baldur's Gate and whatnot. "CRPG" means something different to everyone and the general gameplay styles have changed dramatically over the years, so I would recommend a chronological approach rather than starting with something recent.

 

[bizzarewars]

Honestly, I'd just look up a pretty strong character build and then play the game.

It's a little daunting at first, but it does a pretty decent job of teaching you along the way via tooltips and stuff.

 

[Cirruss]

Stop looking up guides and just play the game.

Create a character that looks interesting to you and play.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

Pillars of Eternity is overwhelming and incomprehensible and I've been playing RPGs for 25+ years.

I find that very hard to believe.

 

[Proat]

I strongly advise you to try an easier game first, like Wasteland 2, Divinity: Original Sin, or Torment: Tides of Numenera.

I would say that Wasteland 2 throws you into the deep end and is very overwhelming for the first couple of hours. I agree with you on Divinity it's pretty easy to get into but gets a little long in the tooth. Shadowrun: Dragonfall is really good if you don't mind the fusion of cyberpunk and fantasy.

 

[GodIsOnTheRadio]

as a veteran of the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games, I found PoE felt like home TBH.

Just play it and you will figure it out on easy or normal.

 

[Soulblighter31]

I would wait for the console release and read reviews before deciding. I own the PC version and preordered the console version. I'll let you know what I think of it.

Thats the last thing he should do. Why should someone wait on a game that controlls and plays hillariously bad and out of place instead of using a mouse, especially if he's a begginer. Remember this game was made completely and entirely for mouse and keyboard and is taking full advantage fo everything it has. Far more than the other recent ones.

 

[xealo]

Just go right into it with a character you think looks right, and start playing for a while before hitting up any guides.

Hands on experience with gameplay will provide a fair bit of context for any stats guide.

 

[120v]

sounds like you're being overly conscious with skill points and such, and isometric crpgs will always bombard you with walls of text so if it isn't your thing then give it up, no shame in it

not saying consulting guides is a bad thing but part of the fun is just doing whatever and seeing how it ends up. you'll probably be able to work your way out of any situation barring some intentionally ridiculous min maxing. such is the beauty of the genre

 

[Ordinaryundone]

First of all, don't min max. Obsessively following a guide your first time through will just cheapen the experience your first time through. Don't worry about making mistakes, the game isn't so difficult that you can't make a sub-optimal choice or two. And there aren't really any outright BAD ones.

For your starting class, if you are new to CRPGS I'd personally recommend a Fighter, or some other form of primarily melee combatant. Easy to play, easy to understand, and will be relevant at all stages of the game. Rangers are also a decent choice, but on the whole you should probably wait till you are a bit more familiar with the game to play a mage or priest. Fortunately, the game provides you with two companions early on in just those roles.

Speaking of companions, I'd recommend using the ones the game provides for you for story reasons but if for whatever reason you don't like them you can create and hire your own personal party members at any inn.

Loot everything you can, there is no carrying capacity in your item box so take everything that isn't nailed down to sell later. Item rarity is denoted by the color of the item's icon, with yellow being special rare gear that often has a bunch of bonuses attached to it.

You can improve weapons at any time via the crafting menu. Via some junk items and some gold you can add whatever stats and bonuses you want onto any weapon (higher quality gear gets more slots) so don't feel married to special weapons. Feel free to make your own to suit whatever situation you might find yourself in.

Skills are divided between per battle and per rest, with spells typically falling in the latter category. Try to use as many per battle skills as possible to maximize their value, but be thrifty with your per rests. That said, you can get all of your per rest spells back (and heal your party) via using camping supplies, which are cheap and readily available. A mage without spells with like a gun without bullets!

Mages can carry multiple grimoires on their person, with different memorized spells. Use this to have a huge arsenal at your fingertips, or swap between defensive and offensive options.

Crowd Control is super important! Anything that debuffs or roots/knocks down/slows/whatever is often more valuable than straight up damage. So don't skip that color spray or fog spell because they aren't as sexy as a fireball.

Position your melee fighters to physically stand in the way of as many enemies as possible. When you try to move out of a characters melee range they get a free shot on you, you can use this to discourage enemies from trying to skip your front line. Be warned, it applies to you too!

Spells have friendly fire, don't blow up your friends.

Against heavily armored targets, penetration is often a more valuable stat than raw damage.

 

[MisterShine]

For class, I recommend either Cipher or Paladin. They are both easier to roleplay than other classes or for cipher will go along with the story better. Race doesn't really matter, go with what you think looks cool. The game will recommend what to do with your stats, follow that or look up a guide if you want for the class you choose. An overall "beginners guide" doesn't really exist as far as I'm aware, and with how many systems are in the game you'd probably only get more confused.

For difficulty, since this is your first cRPG, go with easy. The game is pretty tough if you don't know what you're doing. You can turn it up later when you feel comfortable.

On console v. PC: the Console version is 50$ but does include the DLC. I can't imagine it would cost more than that for the PC version + DLC.

 

[Royal_Phalanx]

Go with easy to start with. The early game is really, really difficult IMO. I switched to normal later because the game got rather easy later on.

Also, guns do loads of damage, even though they fire slowly. I like to let off a single volley before sending my melee focused characters charging in. They're better than bows IMO. Best guns are the ones with better accuracy like Fine weapons or ones you enchant yourself. Boosting accuracy is crucial, because shots have to count since reloads are so slow.

 

[killatopak]

I decided to bite the bullet and a dozen of hours later, I'm still having fun.

A few things I don't like are so much info dump on characters that don't even matter. I'm talking about those people's souls who you see as a watcher while the screen turns purple. So far, they don't matter at all and it seems I'm wasting my time reading their backstories. Another one is bazillions of skills available right as you level up. Also, teleporting enemies are fucking dumb. They have the capability of instantly getting to my backline and their damage is high as well. Tutorials are barebones and don't even teach you some of the systems especially formations, grimoirs, and modal skills.

I can't quite figure out why I'm still playing the game despite the flaws but the amount of choices, storywise, available really makes me happy.

I can see myself double dipping on the console release provided they add and improve VO, add more character portraits, refine controls, better tutorials at the very least.

So far I'm only at the point where I need to cross a river since the bridge is broken. I just killed the tyrant at first town. It was so unbelievably hard and for a stupid mistake of mine since I haven't recruited that guy near the tree with hanged people. I finished the quest with only 3 people. I had to go sneaky a lot.

 

[duckroll]

There isn't really that much to worry about in PoE. Just build a character who can hit stuff or whatever else it is you like to damage enemies with, and the story characters will fill out the rest of the party nicely.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

PoE does have a lot of "different for the sake of different" mechanics, but after that it's really good.

 

[Dineren]

I decided to bite the bullet and a dozen of hours later, I'm still having fun.

A few things I don't like are so much info dump on characters that don't even matter. I'm talking about those people's souls who you see as a watcher while the screen turns purple. So far, they don't matter at all and it seems I'm wasting my time reading their backstories.

I don't remember what color their name is, but the vast majority of these NPCs are backer stories from the Kickstarter and can be skipped.

Edit: Looks like they are the ones with a gold background behind their name

 

[Caronte]

Do you really need to know every single detail about the mechanics before actually playing the game? Good luck if you ever decide to play a Paradox game.

Just play it and lower the difficulty if it's too hard for you.

 

[Jacobson]

Go with Dragon Age: Origins instead. The mechanics are less complex, imo.

 

[Dmax3901]

Pillars of Eternity is overwhelming and incomprehensible and I've been playing RPGs for 25+ years. I also personally found it to be a boring, tedious trash mob grind with a bad story.

I strongly advise you to try an easier game first, like Wasteland 2, Divinity: Original Sin, or Torment: Tides of Numenera.

Get good.

 

[Violet_0]

if you find something confusing, go to the wiki and read up on what the stats, ect. do
resistances aren't complicated, blunt resistance will add protection against hammers, piercing against arrows and so. The health / endurance thing is something you'll quickly pick up in-game. What race or class you want to start with is up to you. Going with the standard difficulty seems like a safe bet

regarding PC versus console version, there's a good chance you can pick the PC version of PoE for cheap during a sale. It's been out for a while
e: nvm I see you picked it up already

A few things I don't like are so much info dump on characters that don't even matter. I'm talking about those people's souls who you see as a watcher while the screen turns purple. So far, they don't matter at all and it seems I'm wasting my time reading their backstories

those are just kickstarter backer-created stories that don't have anything to do with the game. Same with the tombstones. There are even mods that remove them because most people don't like them much

 

[JustSomeone]

Pillars of Eternity is overwhelming and incomprehensible and I've been playing RPGs for 25+ years. I also personally found it to be a boring, tedious trash mob grind with a bad story.

I strongly advise you to try an easier game first, like Wasteland 2, Divinity: Original Sin, or Torment: Tides of Numenera.

D:OS is not easier than PoE