White March a must Play?

[thevlasicdillpicklestork]

I'm nearing the end of the campaign and I'm having a lot of fun, but was wondering if the white march is considered a must play for this game or not. Can I play it after I complete the base campaign, or do I need to reload a save after completing it? I'm at about the 40 hour mark and was hoping to move onto some other games soon, but if the White March is great I will probably pick them up.

[Armanz]

It's tied into the main game so you need to play it before finishing the game (or start a new run).
If you enjoyed the basegame, White March is a must imho, it fixes some of the main games issues like memorable loot and trash mobs, has an amazing story and is just a really amazing experience.

[Du-Vu]

You do need to play it first if you don't want to reload. Best part of the first game imo.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

It is NOT a "must play" expansion, but indeed it is integrated into the base game and enhances/changes it in several ways - even including changes to base game areas.

You learn about the expansion around level 4-5 at the end of the Temple of Woedica quest in Defiance Bay. Most players travel to the first expansion village around level 6-8 depending on difficulty and party members. Afterwards, you can travel forth and back quite freely between base game and expansion areas.

[psychotron666]

Many people say white March is better than the main game. I disagree, I find white March mostly a chore of 90% combat with a little bit of cool lore near the end of the DLCs. And in context of the main story it doesn't make much sense to be going off on some side adventure that has a very weak connection to the story, especially with no obvious reward or advantage or incentive for doing so. (At least the forgotten sanctum from the second game offers you something that can stop the walking god and gives you a reason to do it).

But if you really like the combat in this game and want more of it, white March is definitely recommended. If you don't like excessive combat, then it's not essential.

[Du-Vu]

The combat in White March is more interesting, I think. More interesting encounters, more tactical. But that's not actually my favourite thing about it. I'm not really a huge combat fan. I played a diplomatic character my first time through, and I felt pretty well-accommodated. What I actually like is how many quests have non-combat solutions, how many fights you can talk or puzzle your way through. The two big dungeons in the first half are fairly combat-heavy, and Cragholdt is specifically all about combat, but overall I found it a good mix, especially when you can go through much of the Vithrack caves and the Abbey by a mix of skill checks and light stealth. And if you're worried the combat is going to be too grindy, you can always just leave the challenge setting low.

But there are a lot of NPCs with pretty robust dialogue trees and side quests with multiple outcomes. The added companions are interesting and the lore is actually scattered throughout, if you're kind of person who reads the various documents, plaques, plinths, etc. And the ending, the big reveals, the worldbuilding, those kind of made the game for me, not unlike like the main game.

But that's just me. Like, I find the midgame of the base storyline, most of what comes after Caed Nua up to the final dungeon, to be a bit of slog. I really like the opening, Emerald Vale, and Raedric's Hold. I love the ending. And I do like Lady Webb. But I just like White March's pacing and structure better, and it's a pretty big DLC.

[thevlasicdillpicklestork]

thanks for the replies, i picked up both parts and having fun so far with part 1

[PseudoNymNZ]

I'm 120 hours in, have just finished White March parts 1 and 2, and am about 5 hours into Act 3 (Twin Elms area). I wouldn't say White March is a must play, but I've highly enjoyed it and would definitely highly recommend it if you enjoy the game. The White March is bigger than it first appears and I reckon there's a good 40 hours at least in the expansions, and when you start them, if you start with a high level party you can choose whether to play on standard (which it warns you may be a bit easy) or scaled, which increases difficulty.
Others are indicating you should play them before finishing main game, for me White March was a major series of side quests that added a lot to the game and was highly enjoyable. I've just leveled about 4 of 12 characters up to max level (level 16 or 120,000 XP). I understand you can load your characters into POE2, I reckon I've got 15-20 hours to go, and am definitely going to carry straight on to the sequel.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by PseudoNymNZ:

I understand you can load your characters into POE2,

You can't.

PoE 2 only offers importing a savegame as to cover past choices and events in PoE, which with regard to companions may include death of companions. Not even the player character is imported, but you must recreate the Watcher at level 1 because of PoE 2's different rules and gameplay mechanics. The alternative to importing a savegame file is the "history editor", a list of Q&A where you choose how you have (or may have) acted in PoE.

[Diomedes]

For me no.. The DLC throws entirely too many obnoxious fights at you with little chance of respite.. Retaking the Forge dungeon for instance, felt like 10 levels of Endless Path fights combined, only much more annoying.. Where you fought battles where things like ghosts for instance spawned all around you, surrounding your entire party. It gets even more annoying that this specific one for instance were chalk full of enemies with aoe paralyze abilities.
I seriously think the first DLC throws more enemies at you, then the entirety of the base game. To me it just became tiresome and a chore to get through, the only worthwhile thing out of it was the items you got from it.
It also felt like it detracted from the narrative.. You're slowing losing your mind due to your awakening, and you decide to go completely out of your way to a different region because you heard rumors of Leaden key being there... When you had much closer leads here.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by SmashStomp:

It also felt like it detracted from the narrative.. You're slowing losing your mind due to your awakening,

Which is not the narrative. There is a risk that you may go mad like Maerwald. You don't know. And you also don't know how long it would take. It could also go well. DLC's Adaryc manages to maintain sanity as a Watcher:
--> https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Adaryc_Cendamyr

Originally posted by SmashStomp:

and you decide to go completely out of your way to a different region because you heard rumors of Leaden key being there... When you had much closer leads here.

Dealing with Raedric, going down the Endless Paths of Od Nua and various other quests only serve as major distraction, too. CRPGs like this one are a big abstraction. Effectively one can rest for weeks if not months without spending time on any main quest business.

[Du-Vu]

I don't think Adaryc is Awakened, is he? It's the combination of both being a Watcher and also Awakened that's the problem for you and Maerwald. But yeah, it did take Maerwald years for madness to overtake him completely. The main deadline in the main game is the Leaden Key plot, but the many sidequests didn't bother me in Baldur's Gate and they don't really bother me here. That kind of thing just comes with the territory in these kinds of CRPGs.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Story telling and external documentation are kinda vague about it.

All Watchers suffer a lot from passively observing other people's souls.

An awakening is the worse problem, apparently, since it confronts a person's soul with memories from past lives or even with manifestations of past-life personalities, possibly leading to loss of control - as in Maerwald's case.

[Silverquick]

I like White March a LOT,

BUT... it really should be an actual expansion, not something that triggers through the normal course of the MSQ.

Its more like something you should play after beating the main quest, but the game doesn't really allow that. So you have to play it during the main adventure. And YES, failing to complete the White March after starting it, you will get the Bad Ending in the Main Quest.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Silverquick:

BUT... it really should be an actual expansion, not something that triggers through the normal course of the MSQ.

That's a reoccurring albeit controversial topic. PoE is not the only game that has integrated extra content.