Pillars of Eternity is rightfully considered one of the most “old school” RPGs of recent years, a sort of return to the roots. And what about additions to such games? Icewind Dale, what to Baldur’s Gate — always focused primarily on battles, making the passage even more hardcore. AND Obsidian Entertainment did not change this tradition.
Transition to pain
Add-on content The White March built into the main game. You can get access to two new locations, the Cliffs of Kregholdt and the White Passage, already after the start of the second act, that is, when the players are not yet “swinged” to their swords. However, the release of the addon was delayed, and most had already managed to get to the final evil.
This is where the confusion arises. On the one hand, the journey through the White Passage to help the residents of the fishing village of Stalwart is designed for mid-level characters. On the other hand, in reality, players of at least level 10 come here, who specifically load old saves for this purpose and return from the Burial Island in search of new adventures.
When you first visit the White Transition, you will be carefully asked: they say, this content is considered low-level for you; maybe you want to raise the level of locations? So, we want to warn you – do not trust insidious developers. Unless, of course, you want to turn your life into hell and pain.
With a slight movement of the hand (“perception” now gives a plus to “accuracy”, the bonus from “physique” is 2% more) the authors have increased both the dynamics and complexity of battles: both opponents and you now hit more accurately, deal more damage, but also take more of it. Accordingly, the enemy AI was improved for this (the adversaries learned to use their skills and spells more competently) and the class balance – new multi-class skills appeared, the roles and meaning of some classes (for example, warrior and paladin) were revised.
The game has “spiritual” https://trapcasinocasino.co.uk/ weapons – they can be tied to a specific character and “pumped up” by completing special tasks.
Time for the dragon
At first, however, you notice the increased difficulty only on the Kregholdt Cliffs; this is a separate location, specially designed for high-level adventurers, where we need to kill everyone and get to the final “boss”. But the northern journey through the White Passage at first seems like an easy tourist excursion. Especially considering that recently it has become possible to delegate the behavior of the characters in your party to the AI - depending on the chosen style of behavior, they themselves will use different skills and attack enemies or defend themselves. That is, imagine the situation: your heroes themselves, without outside help, are chopping crowds of huge snow ogres and winter wolves into cabbages, you are sipping tea and biting your elbows because you haven’t raised the level of locations.
But once you step outside of Stalwart, “the evening ceases to be languid”. In addition to the still harmless ogres and wolves, you will constantly come across enemies that look stronger than most of their counterparts from the original. More than once or twice they will force you to turn on to the fullest and switch to manual control of your squad, look for some tricks, set traps, pull out several evil ones, drink potions and eat pies before the battle, and so on. New types of lizards are especially powerful – four-armed lagufets trained in spells, and golems from the final stronghold of the dwarves.
Well, the Alpine dragon, as the apogee of this hardcore party for its own people, will make you remember the times Throne of Bhaal and will plunge you into the abyss of neurosis, frustration and self-flagellation: what did I do wrong from the very beginning and should I even play such RPGs?? At first, he seems generally immortal – in order to still cope with the ice lizard, you will need all your experience, more precisely, knowledge of the pros and cons of each class, and, most likely, party level 14 (this is exactly how the “level cap” has increased in the add-on).
Why do we need a blacksmith??
However The White March – it’s not just hard battles and a new challenge. It’s also an interesting story. Of course, in general, in terms of ingenuity, intrigue and depth of questions raised, it is inferior to the original. Yes, and you won’t have to conduct investigations or participate in showdowns between different factions, as in Defiance Bay.
At first, everything seems as simple as shelling pears – you repulse the ogres’ attack on Stalwart and, as a liberating hero, receive an order from the mayor to reach the ancient gnome fortress, Durgan’s Arsenal, in order to find and launch the legendary forge. They say this will allow the supply of the famous Durgan steel to be established and will lead the abandoned fishing village out of the economic crisis.
However, the devil, as usual, is in the details. Gradually you will find out very interesting details about why the entrance to the Arsenal is tightly sealed, as well as about the very unpleasant past of some village residents. You will have to read their souls, and with some you will even have to fight to the death. The final scene leaves more questions than answers – I want the second part now.
In addition, there are a lot of side quests in Stalwart and its surroundings. Even in seemingly simple tasks (find special pearls, kill the legendary wolf, bring the heads of two dangerous enemies) there are interesting details. Of course, there are always situations of difficult moral choice. For example, one day you will have to decide whether to save a runaway slave from the hunters pursuing him or, conversely, punish him – after all, he killed a teenager while escaping. And the very first text quest found in Stalwart forces you to choose who to save from a burning house – a man covered in logs, or an unconscious woman. By the way, text quests in the add-on have become more interesting and varied.
Of course, there were some colorful personalities. I especially liked the two new party members who can join you. The first is a crazy philosophizing monk who, when you first meet him, sits in a barrel of fish offal and thus saves himself from the sin of vanity. The second is actually a golem girl, more precisely, a serial killer sentenced to execution, whose soul was placed in a mechanical shell. She doesn’t speak often, but sometimes she makes very cynical and sarcastic remarks.
First addition to Pillars of Eternity, like the game itself, made according to classic patterns – even more difficulty, challenge, more hardcore and interesting characters. Well, we, accordingly, like it all together even more.
Pros: more complex and dynamic battles; interesting changes in balance and role system; new charismatic characters.
Cons: Compared to the original, the plot of the add-on may seem too primitive.