Thoughts on Save Anywhere OFF? Are Luck Stones consumed upon saving?

[Jamers]

I like the idea of limited options for saving as I appreciate the gravity it imposes on decisions and the extra layer of tension that comes with knowing that you might lose a substantial amount of progress by being killed, etc.

I'm able to start my first playthrough and thought to play on Normal difficulty with Save Anywhere turned OFF, but I just read something that gave me pause: apparently these Luck Stones that stand in for save points are consumed upon using them to save meaning, I would only have a finite number of uses to save my game throughout the whole playthrough.

Is that the case? I'm all for relegating saving to Inns and whatnot, but this seems like a bit more of a headache that I have time for these days.

Thanks!

[Chilkoot]

There are two types of Luck Stones: 1 static type, like inside the Adventurer's Guild, that allows unlimited uses/saves. These are never consumable, and are frequently found near the start of dungeons or before very tough fights.

The other type peppered around the world is consumable, and as of the November patch, they do *not* respawn anymore, which makes it a tough choice whether or not to gobble 'em up.

The amount of experience the stones provides does not really scale with game progress, so when you need 25k XP to level, and a luck stone gives you 200XP, it's hardly worth the trade-off. I still tend to play with save disabled for the challenge, but the min/max benefit *almost* becomes irrelevant in the big picture.

[Jamers]

Originally posted by Chilkoot:

There are two types of Luck Stones: 1 static type, like inside the Adventurer's Guild, that allows unlimited uses/saves. These are never consumable, and are frequently found near the start of dungeons or before very tough fights.

The other type peppered around the world is consumable, and as of the November patch, they do *not* respawn anymore, which makes it a tough choice whether or not to gobble 'em up.

The amount of experience the stones provides does not really scale with game progress, so when you need 25k XP to level, and a luck stone gives you 200XP, it's hardly worth the trade-off. I still tend to play with save disabled for the challenge, but the min/max benefit *almost* becomes irrelevant in the big picture.

Thanks for the reply!

So just to make sure: I can use the Luck Stones that are peppered around the world to save my game an infinite number of times, so long as I decide not to consume them? I'd likely rather have access to more permanent save points just for convenience's sake than to pop them as a one-time XP boost.

[Chilkoot]

Ok, think of the two types as single-use vs permanent.

The single-use ones you can either consume or use as a save point - *once* only. If you save, it becomes inert and can't be used again. If you eat it, it disappears entirely and never comes back.

The permanent ones, like in the Adventurer's Guild, can be used as many times as you want, but you can only save at those, never consume them.

Does that make sense? Not sure if I'm explaining that very well.

[Jamers]

Originally posted by Chilkoot:

Ok, think of the two types as single-use vs permanent.

The single-use ones you can either consume or use as a save point - *once* only. If you save, it becomes inert and can't be used again. If you eat it, it disappears entirely and never comes back.

The permanent ones, like in the Adventurer's Guild, can be used as many times as you want, but you can only save at those, never consume them.

Does that make sense? Not sure if I'm explaining that very well.

Yes, it definitely makes sense, and thank you for the clarification.

That said, yikes. It seems very limiting. It depends of course how many permanent ones there are, but if they're only in cities or something I could see this getting dicey. I kinda like it, but sight unseen I'm not sure if it's the setting for me.

Does the game at least feature a "save & quit" function whereby I can put the game down in the middle of a dungeon and pick it up again at the same spot?

Appreciate the input!

[Chilkoot]

The permanent stones are actually quite plentiful, and yes, you can save and quit at any time. Exit to menu or exit game creates an auto-save so you pick up right where you left off.

[Jamers]

Originally posted by Chilkoot:

The permanent stones are actually quite plentiful, and yes, you can save and quit at any time. Exit to menu or exit game creates an auto-save so you pick up right where you left off.

Beautiful. I'll be turning Save Anywhere off then. Thanks again!

[svdp]

Originally posted by Jamers:

Originally posted by Chilkoot:

The permanent stones are actually quite plentiful, and yes, you can save and quit at any time. Exit to menu or exit game creates an auto-save so you pick up right where you left off.

Beautiful. I'll be turning Save Anywhere off then. Thanks again!

I remember playing the original without the save anywhere as well. (Well, back then you had little choice anyhow, since it didn't exist ;-)).

As a nuance to what chilkoot said: the non-permanent stones (those you can consume) STILL (re)appear if you unload and unload into the area (aka, if you go elsewhere when loading a new area, and then came back).

Or at least, that was how it used to be in the original. Don't know if it's still like that in the DC.

Personally, I can live with the two systems. But I'm glad you like the save-totem system, because it got *a lot* of flack of the purists and FPS-kiddo's alike. The amount of whining that they would return the game and it was crap because it didn't have save everywhere... man, man, man... unbelievable.

The save everywhere has its ease of use, of course, but the totems were perfectly doable as well, and I liked the fact of the added choice you had to make: save or not? Return or go on?Save or consume? (since it gave you a bit of XP if you consumed). It both made the game a bit more restrictive (you couldn't do it when you wanted) and more dynamic (gave you another layer of choice), and it also made more sense for the totems to be there. Now, when playing with the "save everywhere" they're a bit superfluous and make less sense in the game, play-wise.

[Korgz]

"As a nuance to what chilkoot said: the non-permanent stones (those you can consume) STILL (re)appear if you unload and unload into the area (aka, if you go elsewhere when loading a new area, and then came back)."

I believe that was fixed in the November patch.

[svdp]

Originally posted by Korgz:

"As a nuance to what chilkoot said: the non-permanent stones (those you can consume) STILL (re)appear if you unload and unload into the area (aka, if you go elsewhere when loading a new area, and then came back)."

I believe that was fixed in the November patch.

That's possible. Didn't try out the stones/totems since quite some time..

[Chilkoot]

Originally posted by svdp:

That's possible. Didn't try out the stones/totems since quite some time..

I mentioned it in the first response to OP, and the patch notes are here:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1091980/announcements/detail/1607151615987550977

Gameplay

• Luck Stones will no longer respawn when transitioning levels

Tested and confirmed, for sure. It was one of the first things I noticed on my DC playthrough.

[svdp]

Originally posted by Chilkoot:

Tested and confirmed, for sure. It was one of the first things I noticed on my DC playthrough.

Ok, then! It's a good thing they did, because I found it a bit strange in the original one could re-consume a luck stone/totem once you went out there and then back in. Seems it lost part of it's purpose and appeal a bit, then. ;-) (well, as far as making a choice is concerned).

Weird as it was, back then, I wasn't quite sure if it was a bug or if it was supposed to be like that, though.