Tides of Numenera is the most well-funded RPG to come out of Kickstarter so far (at least prior to Pillars of Eternity II’s Fig campaign) and the one game, that the majority of old school players and backers, myself included, most counted on to, if not surpass the lyrical beauty of Planescape: Torment, at least stand beside that monumental. Numenera explorers are defined with a descriptor, a class (called a type), and a focus. For instance. Torment, the Torment: Tides of Numenera logos, and inXile. 25 New Upcoming PC Strategy Games in 2019 & 2020 RTS, Real-time, Turn-based, 4X & Tactics! - Duration: 25:40. GamerZakh Recommended for you. The original plan for Torment: Tides of Numenera was to have four companions, but the success of the Kickstarter campaign promised five others, for a total of nine. In time, this was cut down to six. Oom was latter brought back with the Servant of the Tides post-launch update. Companion writers include Patrick Rothfuss, Chris Avellone. A focus is a chosen characteristic in Torment: Tides of Numenera. Players choose a descriptor, a focus and a class. Each focus grants special abilities. The choice is made at Circus Minor.
Torment: Tides of Numenera is an epic, glorified choose-your-own-adventure-style computer RPG. Kind of. Through its mechanics and interface, it screams of CRPG elements akin to Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment, and Pillars of Eternity. The combat varies from its brethren and boasts praiseworthy new ideas. However, the central focus of the game’s design and how it plays out might be contentious for onlookers and fans.
…Torment offers a harsh world with imaginative people and technology, but not much else.
Torment opens with the lead protagonist barreling towards the ground from some absurd height. At around this time, the player decides who they want to be, and while the character creation asks fascinating questions, the combat-oriented choices don’t matter. Much. After blasting through the roof of a high-tech lab, the Last Castoff — our lead — meets two potential companions who ensured his relatively safe landing that basically destroyed the lab. Although intellectually aware and equipped with basic faculties, the Last Castoff enters the world as if a newborn, ignorant to any history or how this world functions. This is because he’s the creation of the Changing God, someone who frequently creates bodies to inhabit until he’s done with them and moves on to the next. Basically, he’s immortal.
The central plot focuses on the Last Castoff’s journey to finding the Changing God, which is essentially a macguffin to lead him down a path of gradual answers about who he is and why he’s just oh-so-special (More special than the other castoffs, anyway.) Who the Last Castoff is and how he conducts himself is up to the player, as players will immediately discover that the plethora of dialogue choices influence the color of tides dominant within him. Each color means something, which isn’t clear at all unless players pay close attention to the loading screens. Regardless, several dialogue choices change these tides, which alter how others regard the Last Castoff. What’s most impressive about this is just how much dialogue is in the game and the sheer amount of choices.
Torment is essentially an interactive novel. If the player wants, combat can be almost completely avoided, which turns Torment into a series of dialogue choices with a vast array of fascinating NPCs in a world full of imagination and strange occurrences. What makes Torment’s world so compelling is that it truly takes advantage of its sci-fi/fantasy setting. The denizens of the world call this the “Ninth World,” suggesting that eight other worlds existed prior to this one, each with their own incredible civilizations and artifacts. These artifacts, which litter the landscape and cities, are called “numenera.” Some numenera don’t do much, while others, called “cyphers,” have specific one-and-done uses.
The writers take full advantage of the fact that basically anything can happen in this universe. Want a ferocious general who’s been trapped in armor that keeps him alive forever, but prevents him from acting violently towards others? What if that same person was also forced to answer any and all questions asked of him? What do you think he would act and talk like? Well, Torment’s got you covered with a seemingly endless string of dialogue options and questions that characterize the wizard that enslaved him, how he ended up in that situation, and how he feels about it. It might take several minutes to go through every single question and option, but at least it forwards the plot in a significant way, right? Or does it? No, actually, it’s all just flavor for you to enjoy with little bearing on the actual plot. One might argue that this character’s story helps develop the world the player’s just found himself dumped into, but if one never spoke to the poor general, then one would be none the wiser.
Much of the game carries on like this. The first city will likely take over ten hours to completely explore if one chooses to talk to everyone and satisfies most of the quests, but, in truth, only a few need to be completed in order for the central narrative to continue forward. Though, in that case, why are you even playing this game if not for the world? Perhaps nigh-endless strings of dialogue and exposition aren’t what you bargained for, or perhaps you just wanted more combat to balance out the story. In truth, Torment is about the writing, and as excellent as the writing is, it can be a little rambly and excessive. I believe I read all or as close to all of the dialogue as I could with single-digit fights occurring in total. This was pure joy for me; I loved the world and the writing, even if I sometimes lost focus and had to read some paragraphs two or three times. Is this for everyone? Certainly not, but if a terrifying, strange world with a healthy helping of text is what you seek, then this is your bag.
If combat’s what you’re after, Torment has a unique system to experiment with. Although its enemies provide little in the way of challenge, the player has a whole host of toys at their disposal with which to dispatch them. Cyphers, as previously mentioned, are one-and-done big ticket items. These are meant to be used. Remember how old Final Fantasy games kept throwing elixirs at you, and many people never used them until the final boss (who totally wasn’t the final boss you expected), and maybe not even then? Not here. While that temptation exists, battles become exceedingly difficult, especially early on, if cyphers aren’t used. Furthermore, characters can only carry so many cyphers, or else suffer “cypher sickness,” which grants the wielder some small debuff for each cypher over their limit. The penalties were oftentimes just annoying enough to make me want to either sell some cyphers or make sure I used them in the next battle. This is an excellent system, as using cyphers makes battle so much more fun, and oftentimes the quirky abilities they have demand thoughtful consideration before use. What makes them even more exciting is that there aren’t any copies — that little rod you put on the ground that sometimes damages the nearest enemy? None like it. Of course, not all cyphers are that unique, but enough are to elicit intrigue.
I mention cyphers first before anything else, because they’re the best part about the battles. The way in which combat flows is turn-based wherein each character acts in the same order with a point of movement and action. Actions can involve generic hitting or shooting, spells or abilities, or items or cyphers. That’s about it. Hit the bad guys until they all fall down. Since cyphers are in limited supply and most characters can only hold less than four of them, players won’t be lobbing bombs or doing mass heals every turn, but every cypher use is pure dopamine.
However, if you’re planning on playing a tough guy who prefers to solve problems with violence, be prepared for a pretty simple system. Some story battles offer more fascinating objectives, like saving a village and escaping, or talking to the enemy to convince them to see the error of their ways without killing them, but these are so few and far between.
For the more loquacious character, might, speed, and intellect are finite stats players can use to solve problems. Oftentimes, dialogue will make these moments explicitly clear. Once a player begins one of these options, he can choose to expend a few points of a stat to have a higher chance of success. The loading screens frequently mention that failing can sometimes be more interesting than succeeding, and I ran into a few of these instances, but I rarely wanted to fail. I could have chosen a weak ally to address the challenge and expend fewer points, but choosing an option and then opting to fail was oftentimes antithetical to my goal, so I frequently gave myself a 100% chance of succeeding, or close to — and I was almost always content with the outcome. I do wonder what would have happened if I had failed on purpose during some dialogue, though. Maybe on a future playthrough.
The Ninth World is a beautiful hell of relics and broken technology. The people who live in it, less so. By that, I mean the character models are pretty gross. Unless one impractically zooms in all the time, the character models are difficult to look at. What’s more, they animate strangely as the developers tried to create a sensation of picking up speed as one goes from standstill to a gentle jog. However, this results in stunted movement and mild frustration, as getting anywhere takes seconds longer for each instance of movement. On paper, this doesn’t sound annoying, but, in practice, it grated on me initially. I eventually got used to this movement, but it took several hours. Musically, Torment doesn’t offer much in the way of grand, orchestral arrangements or emotional tunes. The voice acting, while capable, is insultingly infrequent. Of course, Torment’s about the writing and the pictures the words illustrate, not necessarily the presentation.
I could go on for twice as long about how Torment was a thrilling, engrossing 55-hour excursion for me. After exhausting this world, I still ended the journey wondering what I could have done differently, and what outcomes might have resulted from an entirely different mindset. Unfortunately, Torment will likely be inaccessible to many gamers out there, as even the most literarily-inclined friends of mine wince at the idea of this interactive novel. As a whole, Torment offers a harsh world with imaginative people and technology, but not much else.
It's only been an 18-year wait, but we finally have a successor to the groundbreaking CRPG Planescape: Torment. It may be set in an entirely different universe and shifted from one tabletop RPG ruleset to another, but there's no doubt developer InXile absolutely nailed the feel of Torment in this spiritual sequel.
Culling out all the facial feature reconstruction and overly large list of racial options from bigger name RPGs, Tides Of Numenera instead focuses on how your character approaches problems and faces the extreme oddity of the Ninth World.
Choosing The Best Class in Tides of Numenera
In Planescape: Torment there were multiple ways to play, but it was clear there was one obviously intended path over the others. Playing a mage with all your points in Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma resulted in experiencing the largest portion of the game in a single playthrough.
Your first inclination may be to repeat that pattern and play a Nano with Read Surface Thoughts – and that does offer some interesting insight into the game world – but it's not a strict necessity. Your first two companions will already be Nanos with high Intellect, and many of the game's early Skill tests require Might pools instead, so don't be afraid to put your points there in fear of losing out on dialog options.
Keep in mind can easily raise your Speed and Intellect Pools by 1 point for free by talking to Aidan in Cliff's Edge and O in the Fifth Eye Tavern, so it may be worth it to save those points for other Stats.
The Jack class actually has the widest range of options for picking your starting Exploration Skill (used very frequently in dialog choices) and strikes a balance between the Glaive and Nano on the combat/magic front.
When picking your class, keep in mind only the Glaive can take medium or heavy weapon training at the beginning unless you utilize a specific Descriptor, so you'll want to stick to a light weapon if playing either a Jack or Nano to avoid the -15% inability penalty (marked by two red dots).
https://herekfile542.weebly.com/minecraft-for-mac-1085.html. A Glaive, Jack, and Nano
Numenera Character Creation
Following the segment where you try to make sense of why you are falling from a moon to the planet below, Tides Of Numenera has you actually play through character creation, moving through a world of shifting living metal while recalling past lives of the Changing God.
Each conversation segment features three clear-cut options: the route of Might (Glaive), Speed (Jack), or Intellect (Nano). The options are incredibly obvious: physically moving something or using intimidating threats, deception/guile and fast reflexes, and finally using brains over brawn or outright magical abilities. Malwarebytes for mac portable.
Nocturnal
The final conversation option at the mirror will determine your Descriptor (which can be manually changed later and are described below). Don't worry if you want to change your mind on the class either -- that too can be manually changed after the mirror segment as you select your Stat breakdown.
Keep in mind that the maximum for any starting Stat Pool is 11, typically achieved by bumping that Stat to 9 and then taking a Descriptor that bumps that Stat up by a further 2 points.
Echoing the rules-light tabletop Numenera RPG, your character's Exploration Skills are much more freeform than in many other role-playing experiences and are very self-explanatory. For instance, the Smashing Skill gives you a bonus to any tests or conversation options involving breaking things, and it could come up in just about any scenario involving that concept -- even ones you don't quite expect. Empia technology usb 2861 device driver windows 10.
The only exceptions are Cypher Use, which lets you use additional cyphers beyond the normal maximum, Running, which lets you move further during a Crisis before or after attacking, and Endurance, which gives bonus Health.
Below we break down each class' Ability options and Exploration Skills available at character creation.
Choosing Might, Speed, or Intellect Options
Jack
Your jack-of-all-trades starts with the versatile Flex Skill, offering +1 training level in any Exploration Skill. After picking your Stats, you can then choose from an Ability and additional Exploration Skill.
Ability Choices:
- Trained Without Armor -- bonus 10% to evasion and willpower while wearing light armor
- Hedge Magic -- automatically succeed on the next Quick Fingers or Smashing task undertaken that day
- Sucker Punch -- deals weapon damage + 3 and dazes the target if they already have a negative fettle applied
- Infuse Weapon -- next attack deals damage of any type you choose
- Practiced In Armor -- reduces Might and Speed costs associated with wearing armor
Exploration Skill Choices:
- Anamnesis
- Concentration
- Cypher Use
- Deception
- Endurance
- Healing
- Intimidation
- Lore Machinery
- Lore Mystical
- Lore Natural
- Perception
- Persuasion
- Quick Fingers
- Running
- Smashing
- Stealth
Picking the Jack
Torment: Tides Of Numenera - Wikipedia
Glaive
Your fighter class starts automatically with the Opportunist ability, which lets you end your turn prematurely but then make an attack with a bonus to hit anytime an enemy moves within range, as well as Practiced In Armor https://ameblo.jp/heilunetve1988/entry-12634642393.html. , which reduces Speed and Might penalties associated with wearing armor.
Torment Tides Of Numenera Best Focus For Nano
Unlike the other two classes, a Glaive also chooses to be skilled in either medium or heavy weapons. After picking your Stats, you can then choose from an Ability and Exploration Skill.
Ability Choices:
- Unfailing Precision -- 10% bonus to critical hit chance with attacks
- Skill With Defense -- 10% bonus to Evasion and Willpower
- Taunt -- forces one target to attack you instead of any companions
- Hook -- snare a target and pull them towards you during a Crisis
Exploration Skill Choices:
- Endurance
- Running
- Quick Fingers
- Smashing
Picking the Glaive
Nano
Your spellcasting class begins with the Onslaught ability, an incredibly versatile medium range attack that lets you choose the type of damage to overcome resistance. More importantly, it also gets the Anamnesis Skill for free, offering a bonus to any task involving remembering previous experiences of the Changing God.
Ability Choices:
- Scan Thoughts -- surface thoughts of NPCs will appear during dialog
- Resourceful -- gain bonus training level to Cypher Use Skill
- Innvervate -- remove all negative fettles and heal 6 Heatlh
- Adaptation -- gain bonus to armor and resistance for 3 rounds
- Quantum Step -- teleport an ally a medium distance during a Crisis
Exploration Skill Choices:
- Lore Machinery
- Lore Mystical
- Lore Natural
Choosing Nano Exploration Skills https://coolsup532.weebly.com/the-4chan-serial-killer.html.
Character Descriptor
Finally, your Descriptor choice (which is the same list for all classes) offers a bonus to certain skills and stats while applying a penalty to others.
Your Descriptor will have already been chosen based on the dialog options at the mirror, but here you can change it if you don't like the specific bonuses and penalties you received.
Keep in mind what Exploration Skill you chose when picking your Descriptor, as you may want to go with a Descriptor that gives you a bonus Skill rather than raising the level of an existing Skill. You can even gain the normally Glaive-only heavy weapons ability with the Wrathful Descriptor.
Your Descriptor can also lower a Skill below the unskilled rank to the inability rank, which gives a 15% penalty to attempting anything associated with the Skill.
- Cautious -- bonus to Perception and Stealth, penalty to Initative
- Charming -- bonus to Persuasion and Deception, penalty to Willpower and Intellect
- Clever -- bonus to Intellect, Deception, and Willpower, penalty to Lore Mystical and Lore Machinery
- Graceful -- bonus to Speed and Quick Fingers, penalty to Smashing
- Intelligence -- bonus to Intellect and Anamnesis, penalty to Concentration
- Learned -- bonus to Intellect, Lore Natural, Lore Machinery, and Healing, penalty to Persuasion and Deception
- Mechanical -- bonus to Lore Machinery and Concentration, penalty to Deception
- Mystical -- bonus to Cypher Use and Lore Mystical, penalty to Intimidation
- Observant -- bonus to Perception and Concentration, penalty to Running
- Rugged -- bonus to Endurance, Lore Natural, and Resistance, penalty to Lore Machinery and Deception
- Slick -- bonus to Persuasion and Quick Fingers, penalty to Endurance
- Stealthy -- bonus to Light Weapons, Stealth, and Deception, penalty to Initiative and Running
- Strong -- bonus to Might, Intimidation, and Endurance, penalty to Quick Fingers and Intellect
- Strong-Willed -- bonus to Willpower, Concentration, and Intimidation, penalty to Lore Machinery and Perception
- Swift -- bonus to Speed and Running, penalty to Stealth
- Tough -- bonus to Armor, Resistance, and Endurance, penalty to Evasion
- Wrathful -- bonus to Heavy Weapons, Intimidation, and Smashing, penalty to Concentration and Stealth
Picking a Descriptor
Focus in Tides of Numenera
There is one additional aspect of character creation that isn't actually chosen until you've explored some of the Sagus Cliffs area and leveled up the first time: picking a Focus.
Your Focus option will be a more detailed description like Brandishes A Silver Tongue, Breathes Shadow, or Masters Defense, but will change based on your class and dominant Tide.
When you reach this point of the game, your main consideration is whether you want a Focus that provides a combat focused option, like Counterattack, or prefer something that makes more dialog options available, like Natural Charisma.
Choosing a Focus
With all your base options chosen, you are now ready to explore the Ninth World! Let us know: what class did you pick, and what Exploration Skills and Descriptors do you like best?