What's exactly the Sceptre of God?

"

CharanJaydemyr wrote:

Like I said. This is where GGG fucked up. Lunaris should not be more awful or scary than the Sceptre, but since Lunaris was the end dungeon for so long, it had to serve that role.

Act 3x overall pales in comparison to act 3 up to Piety, to a point where even Dominus and his end area just seem...random. The whole thing was handled poorly.

Blasphemy! As a huge Dominus fan (see sig) I must strongly object to your assessment.

It doesn't take copious amounts of gore and corpses to evoke an atmosphere of dread, in fact one could argue that Lunaris is way over the top to the point of ridiculousness (endless pools of blood everywhere?)

SoG was more subtle but every bit as ominous, not least thanks to the excellent soundtrack. As soon as you entered you knew some serious shit is going down here. Coupled with the fact that it threw some the toughest mobs at you (until they were all nerfed) and the most complex boss encounter to date it made for a worthy final dungeon and conclusion to the game.

Whatever the SoG was originally, Dominus effectively turned it into one big lightning conductor to harness the "Wrath of God" (a metaphor, essentially) to grant him the one-shotting power he ultimately wields. Chances are, before his experiment he was a relatively weak freezing bond Templar and thus, quite sensibly, opted to avoid the chimera and other horrors that populate the tower.

They're afraid of Caliga.

"

CharanJaydemyr wrote:

Because she's fucking insane and his second in command. If anyone should hold the key to such a terrible place, it's her.

Like I said. This is where GGG fucked up. Lunaris should not be more awful or scary than the Sceptre, but since Lunaris was the end dungeon for so long, it had to serve that role.

Act 3x overall pales in comparison to act 3 up to Piety, to a point where even Dominus and his end area just seem...random. The whole thing was handled poorly.

I hope Act IV fits into the overall game better.

Well first I see a problem, why is there machinery in the scepter that I presume dominus put there, if he was afraid to go in.

And then I see a possible justification of it not being as bad as lunaris. Maybe he just wanted piety to think it was a horrible place? And/or grigor incorrectly assumed it was horrible.

It's a loose reason for it, and I don't think it justifies it enough.

The places has a more epic feeling, but still, it's more dangerous than Lunaris.

Feels right. That place punched me too many times already.

The fucking lore in this game is cryptic as fuck It's like Dark Souls lol

"

Holocaustus wrote:

"

CharanJaydemyr wrote:

Like I said. This is where GGG fucked up. Lunaris should not be more awful or scary than the Sceptre, but since Lunaris was the end dungeon for so long, it had to serve that role.

Act 3x overall pales in comparison to act 3 up to Piety, to a point where even Dominus and his end area just seem...random. The whole thing was handled poorly.

Blasphemy! As a huge Dominus fan (see sig) I must strongly object to your assessment.

It doesn't take copious amounts of gore and corpses to evoke an atmosphere of dread, in fact one could argue that Lunaris is way over the top to the point of ridiculousness (endless pools of blood everywhere?)

SoG was more subtle but every bit as ominous, not least thanks to the excellent soundtrack. As soon as you entered you knew some serious shit is going down here. Coupled with the fact that it threw some the toughest mobs at you (until they were all nerfed) and the most complex boss encounter to date it made for a worthy final dungeon and conclusion to the game.

Whatever the SoG was originally, Dominus effectively turned it into one big lightning conductor to harness the "Wrath of God" (a metaphor, essentially) to grant him the one-shotting power he ultimately wields. Chances are, before his experiment he was a relatively weak freezing bond Templar and thus, quite sensibly, opted to avoid the chimera and other horrors that populate the tower.

I think the problem with Dominus is that there is all this build up to fighting Piety, multiple encounters with her and quite a bit more lore than Dominus. You kill Piety and then its like, "Oh, the game keeps going... Who is this Domino guy?" It feels a bit lackluster, like there isn't nearly enough build up to Dominus to give him the credit he deserves.

I get that Piety is the muscle and the one you are going to deal with most often but it would have been nice to see a little of Dominus before the battle with him at the top of the Sceptre of God.

"

CharanJaydemyr wrote:

Like I said. This is where GGG fucked up. Lunaris should not be more awful or scary than the Sceptre, but since Lunaris was the end dungeon for so long, it had to serve that role.

Act 3x overall pales in comparison to act 3 up to Piety, to a point where even Dominus and his end area just seem...random. The whole thing was handled poorly.

I hope Act IV fits into the overall game better.

Why not? I think it's done quite decently.

First, the game theme aspect. There is only so much you can do to go into one direction. If every thing is dark and sinister and evil with little diversity, I'm sure you'd loose interest over a time. Monotomy isn't really good, and PoE has diverse envrioments. People get tired of it at different levels, but it's much more pleasing having overall diversity.

About the thematic aspect in regards and lore and suspense: I think it's fitting, lunaris temple made you see the horrors of the present and the scepter of the god gives you a sense of the horrors of the past, and the remains of a lost empire.
I guess one could argue it's bit wierd ot have boss fight slapped on top of it, but it's kinda how it had to work out, the music and suspense in the scepter (and ascension) pretty much leads up to it.

I guess there is a point that piety had much more build up (as you track her around the island), but on the other hand, dominus isn't a lacky and wouldn't do such tasks himself. Maybe some more mentions of him if there as something to be done to improve it?

"

CliveHowlitzer wrote:

I think the problem with Dominus is that there is all this build up to fighting Piety, multiple encounters with her and quite a bit more lore than Dominus. You kill Piety and then its like, "Oh, the game keeps going... Who is this Domino guy?" It feels a bit lackluster, like there isn't nearly enough build up to Dominus to give him the credit he deserves.

I get that Piety is the muscle and the one you are going to deal with most often but it would have been nice to see a little of Dominus before the battle with him at the top of the Sceptre of God.

There is a bit of lore in the audio files that I don't think is used anywhere in the game, a letter Dominus writes to the Empress that explains pretty much what he's doing there and why. It would be cool if hints about it could be scattered throughout act 3 for players to piece together, with the final revelation (that he was actually a good guy, relatively speaking) unveiled only after his death.

"

I_NO wrote:

The fucking lore in this game is cryptic as fuck It's like Dark Souls lol

That's the beauty of it.

Sceptre would be a better place with some plummeting ursas.

"

CliveHowlitzer wrote:

I think the problem with Dominus is that there is all this build up to fighting Piety, multiple encounters with her and quite a bit more lore than Dominus. You kill Piety and then its like, "Oh, the game keeps going... Who is this Domino guy?" It feels a bit lackluster, like there isn't nearly enough build up to Dominus to give him the credit he deserves.

I get that Piety is the muscle and the one you are going to deal with most often but it would have been nice to see a little of Dominus before the battle with him at the top of the Sceptre of God.

Have you played Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones?

That game adressed criticisms against Warrior Within weak writing.

I bet GGG will flesh out the story better for act 4 (look at the comics; they have the talent, God knows why didn't they do it better from the beggining).