Pillars of Eternity – Rogues and Rangers detailed

Obsidian Entertainment have revealed a few details of two of the classes in their upcoming RPG Pillars of Eternity; these two are the damage-dealing characters who employ powerful and precise attacks to cut down their enemy, and also share a common trait outside combat in their emphasis on Stealth. However, while Rogues specialise in Mechanics (setting/disarming traps) and attacking the weak points of an enemy, the Rangers rely on Survival (longer duration of several consumable items) and organise their attacks in conjunction with animal companions.

Unlike traditional RPG’s the Rogue class gets its name due to the characters focus on offense and their vicious fighting style, which stems from three basic abilities: Finishing Blow is an active ability does +50% damage and is more deadly in inverse proportion to the targeted enemy’s status), Reckless Assault is a mode which lowers deflection but enhances accuracy and damage, while Dirty Fighting changes 10% of hits dealt out into criticals (Sweet!). These guys can also employ various tricks such as Sneak Attack (bonus damage if the enemy is in one of several negative states), Escape (allows for quick disengagement from combat to a designated point), Crippling Strike, Blinding Strike, Coordinated Positioning, Adept Evasion and Deathblows.

Moving on to three primary abilities of the Rangers who are masters of ranged combat: Animal Companion means the player starts out with said choice of creature which shares Health and Stamina pools; the Wounding Shot active ability is used with ranged weapons and hobbles the opponent, while Swift Aim mode decreases accuracy but makes up for it in improved rate of fire and reload with ranged weapons. Other abiltie4s and modes announced are Defensive Bond (between the ranger and animal companion), Marked Prey (bonus damage against chosen target), Predator’s Sense, Stalkers’ Link, Takedown (animal companion knocks down opponent), Defensive Shooting ( +20 accuracy) and Master’s Call.

Furthermore, both classes can also attain class-specific abilities called Talents, which differentiates the character from others in the same class; for example, a ranger may enhance their marksmanship and special attacks or choose to improve the capabilities of their animal companions instead. Check out the gameplay teaser for Pillars of Eternity right here (formerly known as Project Eternity).

Tags: Obsidian Entertainment, PC, Pillars of Eternity, Project Eternity, RPG