Pathfinder: Kingmaker
I thought it would be pretty simple to get into this one, having completed Baldur's Gate , Neverwinter Nig […]
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Pathfinder: Kingmaker
I thought it would be pretty simple to get into this one, having completed Baldur's Gate , Neverwinter Nights and its first expansion, and several of the Gold Box AD&D games, but I found this game to be completely inscrutable. You only have to make a single character (like Baldur's Gate), but it throws more than a dozen classes at you, each of which has at least two or three subclasses. Then you get to pick several class-specific abilities and feats, for which you get yet another list of a dozen or so things to choose from. The game does provide you with detailed explanations of every single ability and feat, but there are so many mechanics and systems involved that I found it nearly impossible to figure out what would be some decent choices just at level 1!
For example, you can create a Sorcerer, which is a Wizard whose spells are powered by charisma instead of intelligence... but you can also choose a certain Sorcerer subclass that uses intelligence instead of charisma. What is the point of this? Maybe it makes sense in the pen-and-paper game, but it just seems like complexity for the sake of complexity in a computer game. Another example is that creating a Wizard forces you to select a specialty school of magic (which is fine), but then also makes you select two schools you are deficient in to make up for it. This seems like a major decision to make at level 1! No one who is not intimately familiar with the pen-and-paper game would be able to make an informed decision like this.
Well, I thought, if I am just playing on Normal difficulty, the game is probably pretty forgiving of subpar characters, at least early on. Surely, it wouldn't set a time limit on the main quest and push you in the direction of a ridiculously overpowered encounter in a straight line between your current position and the next area for the main quest?
Of course it does. So, if you believe what the game is telling you and head off in the direction of the second step of the main quest, you run into an encounter with a powerful group of level 3 slavers who will destroy your party of level 2 characters. Note that I created a full party of six by hiring mercenaries at the first inn; this would be even worse if you were playing the game "as intended" as you'd have only 3-4 characters at this point. The battle began with the enemy mage immediately casting fear on my entire party, causing my frontline fighters to flee and leaving my bard and mages sitting ducks for the three enemy fighters to run in and slay within seconds. I didn't even have time for my mages or bard to cast a single spell. You also cannot avoid the fight; you just stumble upon it on the map and there are you standing right next to the enemy who, after a couple lines of dialog, immediately attack you. I've read that if you are playing with the story characters, you have the option of allowing the enemy to abduct one of your characters as a slave, so that you can escape. I wonder if anyone actually chooses to do this?
So, the solution is to reload and just head to the next quest location in a direction that goes around this encounter. Or, ignore the fact that the game is warning you about the time limit, and go run around in the woods to gain a level or two. Either way, it's dumb.
