Pillars of Eternity, Deadfire: Sailing the Seas of Conflict

Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire:

Pillars of Eternity, Deadfire: Returning to the Wheel

Pillars of Eternity, Deadfire: Sailing the Seas of Conflict

Pillars of Eternity, Deadfire: Navigating Relationships

Pillars of Eternity, Deadfire: Ain't Nothin' But the Gods' Hound Dog

The Deadfire feels more contiguous than the Dyrwood of Pillars I. In the latter the world map contained icons. Traveling happened when the player clicked on an icon. Each icon represented a location; village, city, or a rectangular area with enemies to fight and terrain to explore. In PoE II The Watcher travels the Deadfire aboard ship and on foot. Starting after a shipwreck the player travels to a nearby town. Clicking on the world map moves the player and their companions. The map is scattered with icons. These are either small events, cities, or areas to explore. The areas are more unique compared to the repetitive rectangular areas of the first Pillars. They contain a greater variety of shapes, colors, missions, conversations, and enemies. The initial mission rewards the player with a ship. The ship frees the player to travel wherever they will, but NPCs offer advice and direction. While sailing the player clicks on a spot on the sea, and the ship moves there. Initially the map is covered in black. Exploring an area pushes back the darkness which covers the vast archipelago. Transitioning, whether embarking or disembarking is only possible at specific locations. The Deadfire includes dozens of islands, yet feels mostly empty. Most islands have a place to land, but many of these have only a singular event, unworthy of notice. The remaining islands can be split into two categories. Either they are the hub islands that the player visits repeatedly, or the few islands with an engaging, extended quest. The quest log helps keep track of what to do where, but I would still prefer the ability to write notes on the map. Sometimes events of note are not marked in the journal, like the location of the Mega Bosses. If I had wanted to return to battle them (I did not), I would have had to write their location down on a piece of paper.

Unfortunately the boating aspects are criminally underused. Sailing is as simple as clicking and pointing. There is no wind, barely any weather, and no ship status. It's possible to autosail to locations the protagonist has never visited, if some person marked it on the map. The sailing element is also a tiresome source of upkeep. The player hires a crew (distinct from the combat companions). Some of them tell engaging stories. They even feature in events on the high seas. The crew has morale, and I'm not even sure how it impacts the game, but I ensured it remained high. Sustain the crew with food and drink of reasonable quality. Upgrade the ship; sails, cannon, hull, and accessories. The redeeming quality of the sailing is; after acquiring a ship, the player is free to sail anywhere. There are no limitations except for enemy combatants. The player is free to explore the world in whatever path they desire.

The only oceanic threats are the privateers and pirates seeking to sink the Watcher. Their ships pursue the protagonist like darts. A collision results in a choice; fight ship to ship, board, or flee. Ship to ship combat is a miserable affair with no tutorial. It is overly complicated, unexplained, and illogical. It's much easier, and quicker, to board the enemy. Boarding battles are fun, because the Watcher and his chosen companions are joined by additional companions and crew members. Fighters start on separate boats and cross by a plank in the middle, or with abilities. Pirates may find traders easy prey, but the Watcher has faced the gods themselves. The pirates are idiotically suicidal! Low level pirate ships attack as often as elite corsairs. Level six pirates attacked my level fourteen crew! Even a single level difference is a disadvantage, and an eight level difference is impossible for even a player to overcome. Attacks with these disparities occurred regularly. Eventually I realized why pirates engaged in this disastrous course of action. I spent most Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire aboard the original Dyrwoodan Sloop, a tiny vessel barely capable of withstanding a storm. Near the end of the game I upgraded from the Sloop all the way to the best ship, the Junk. No pirates attacked anymore. So pirates were only using the ship quality to determine whether to attack. A significant oversight, but one that I appreciate, because pirates are a good source of income.

While the world is wide open, high level enemies deter the player from exploring certain areas. Pillars encourages the player to venture into easier locations first, but I deviated from the path, fighting enemies three levels lower, and higher. Combat seems easier than I remember from the original Pillars of Eternity. It's certainly simpler. The developer eliminated the health/endurance distinction from the first game. Heroes heal fully after every battle. The end of battle fully restores all abilities. In Pillars I spellcasters needed to rest to regain spells. Since the player couldn't afford to rest after every battle, they needed to conserve their spells. But in PoE II, spellcasters regain all spells after each battle, allowing them to cast them with abandon. In Pillars I the player could only rest with camping supplies, and they were only allowed to carry four at a time (on Normal mode). The purpose of camping was to restore spells and heal injuries. In Pillars II the player can camp at any time. A few rare abilities only refresh on resting. To heal injuries the player needs to assign a food to the injured character. Since food is abundant, and gives a buff depending on the type, everyone ate something every rest, regardless of their health.

Injuries are common irritants, because combat is never more than one tavern away. At its worst moments Pillars II feels like an endless two step. One, walk to a place. Two, persuade the opponent not to fight or kill them. Three, repeat forever. Sometimes Pillars feels like nothing but this. Then the story shines overhead, like a rainbow after the gods have killed off all humanity because they were evil (sounds a bit like Woedica), and the player is reminded of the joy in Eora.

When playing with real time combat with pause, Pillars pauses when the player sees an enemy. The player sets their initial orders and then enemies and allies run at each other. The AI personalities for companions seemed relatively competent. The AI used a combination of abilities and normal attacks. I wrote a deeper review of combat in the Pillars I than I intend to do here. Characters start combat with a number of ability points. Each class has its own name for ability points like Guile, Discipline, or Faith. Non-spellcasters have a collection of points they use for any ability. A rogue might have eight total points, which can be spent to use any ability, with abilities having different costs. Spellcaster's abilities each cost one point, but their points are separated into spell sets. A wizard might have two points for first level spells, two for second level spells, and one for third level spells. Real time combat is chaotic, which is why I almost selected the turn-based option (reviews online recommended real time). But pausing allows the player to make some sense of the disorder. Hovering over an ally or enemy shows Health, buffs, and debuffs. But the player can't see the details of buffs and debuffs. I can't see what the effect actually is! For buffs, at least I should see the effects of what I've cast. But with debuffs, the only aspect available to the player is how much longer they will last.

I found Normal difficulty exceedingly easy. I feel I barely learned any mechanics. I know there are four types of defenses, but I couldn't explain what each of them defends against. Here's how I know it was too easy (and yes, I could have changed the difficulty at any time). Divinity: Original Sin, used a system which prevented the player from defeating enemies even a single level higher. I hated it. In Pillars II areas indicate a relative difficulty. If the quest log, area, or enemy shows a gray sword, the enemies are the same level. If it shows a skull on the sword it indicates enemies a level higher. With three skulls and a red color the game insists “Failure Assured” because the enemy is more than three levels higher. But I beat “Eulogy for the Dead”, when I was level six, and the Pillars Wiki says it is a level eleven difficulty. I'm not bragging. I'm sure many people have performed similar actions with ease. If you are having difficulty, always try to pull one enemy away from his friends and then engage him alone.

While these are significant changes, the biggest change to combat, and most of the game, is the reduction of companions. Pillars I allowed a party of six, while Pillars II only includes the protagonist and four friends. I tried to always have a tank, healer, myself as a Rogue, and two people to stay in the back and inflict damage (spellcasters, gun users).

Pillars of Eternity I featured eight companions, plus another three with expansions. Pillars II includes seven companions, but adds six sidekicks. Sidekicks have less personality than companions. They will only join if the player completes a specific quest for them, but once gained, have no additional quests. They don't banter with other members of the party, and I never brought them with me, though they did fight in boarding combat on the high seas. The banter is an integral part of the story. It illuminates how the larger conflicts of the Deadfire have a personal impact. During the banter the companions display their character traits, such as Pride, Animal Cruelty, and Skulduggery. Companions debate issues and build friendships or rivalries. If two characters clash repeatedly they can demand the Watcher choose one of them to leave forever (this never happened to me, though Aloth was perpetually aggrieved by Tekēhu's pride). Their fight was a matter of principle, but others found conflict over personal interests. Maia and Pallegina supported rival imperial powers. Though no companion is evil, their beliefs and loyalties lead them to commit despicable actions. They are complicated, conflicted characters. Their insights and perspectives are varied. So I was disappointed by the limit on the party size. I wanted to hear them voice their thoughts. Helpfully, Pillars indicates the most relevant companion for each quest. Unhelpfully, companions can only be switched at the ship and at shops. In large cities or islands this limitation mandates multiple returns to the ship to ensure the right dialogue companion.

Even though some of the companions are despicable, I tried to complete everyone's personal quest. I was only stopped in my quest when I misspoke, angering a faction enough that they tried to kill me whenever they saw me. Oddly, the companion aligned with the faction stayed with me. The companion quests flesh out the characters. The player builds relationships with characters based on a different set of traits. These traits developed based on the player's dialogue choices. The player also develops relationships with different factions based on their actions. Pillars II also allows the player to romance a companion. This is a minor element that is very brief in terms of gameplay. Once I was in a full romance with my chosen character, the game never mentioned it again.

More on Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire soon.

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