14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Obsidian has just announced that it was working with publisher Paradox Interactive on the launch of Pillars of Eternity, but its focus remains on its fans, with a new developer diary designed to show off the impressive abilities of two classes, the wizards and the druids.
Josh Sawyer, the project director, explains on the official forums that the two sets of characters are designed in part to deal with big numbers of enemies, but they can also become very powerful when it comes to taking out individual powerful creatures.
He explains, “wizards rely on special tools to achieve their effects. Specifically, wizards use grimoires, arcane books made with rare materials that can absorb and temporarily hold fragments of ambient soul energy. Unlike priests and druids, wizards do not personally shape the magic that is released.”
Basically, in the fictions of Pillars of Eternity, the pages of the grimoires do most of the work as the wizards specialize in making sure that they keep the magic flowing in and out of the book without doing any collateral damage.
The development team offers an extensive list of the kind of spells that gamers can use, with names like Minoletta's Minor Missiles, Thrust of Tattered Veils, Kalakoth's Minor Blights, Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage, Citzal's Spirit Lance and Ninagauth's Freezing Pillar.
The forum post gives clear descriptions for them all while also offering more insight into the lore of Pillars of Eternity.
Druids can be used to achieve similar effects during combat in the role-playing game, but they draw their strength from a very different place.
Sawyer explains, “Much like priests, druids draw ambient fragments of soul energy toward them and shape their effects through practiced concentration. While druids do not have the diverse spell repertoire of wizards, they have more than enough to handle most problems that come their way.”
This means that their spells tend to be based on natural phenomenon and to be a little more offensive than wizards, even if their defenses are more limited.
Gamers will be able to use, among others, Nature's Mark, Winter Wind, Insect Swarm, Twin Stones, Overwhelming Wave, Wall of Thorns, Garden of Life and Rot Skulls.
Pillars of Eternity aims to offer a classic turn and party-based experience, with a deep universe created entirely from scratch by Obsidian and a series of combat mechanics that will take inspiration from Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale.