I mean, the game is amazing, has amazing dialogues, atmosphere and all that, but damn… the combat is surely a downer. Feels like theres no “real” tactic to the game other than just keep on (mindlessly) trying until the battle is won. And yes, I’ve done all quests, sidequests, with a “non-meme” party on the balanced difficulty and I’m -still- having lots of “please don’t use (x) skill or else my whole run is done for” moments.
Hmm I don’t agree… I felt like that before I completely understood how combat works but now I actually wish there were more “random” encounters because I’m really enjoying combat: when you manage to master the combat system and the tactics involved the game really shines. What I suggest is this: if you fail a fight don’t just do whatever you did the first time: approach it from a different perspective, analyze the battlefield and your strengths/weaknesses, and those of your enemy. Also, being rested and having all the tools of your characters at your disposal is extremely important for the more challenging encounters. Also, advantage is very important for a lot of classes: my avatar is a rogue and this made me appreciate how important the concept of advantage is: without it a rogue can’t use sneak attacks and this taught me how to exploit the concept is. This is also why I love characters like Karlach (barbarian) and that attack that gives you advantage.
I’m on Act II in balanced difficulty and haven’t suffered a total party wipe yet. I also don’t use any of the cheese bombs, arrows or poisons but I have no issue with those being an option in the game.
If you’re not using Bless or gaining advantage in combat you’ll have a harder time.
I think we should just deal with the consequences. Make a plan, go for it, and deal with whatever happens. The only time you reload is when you die. Or when something REALLY bad happens.
Save scumming kinda spoils the fun and removes a lot of the tension.
And if poor rolls meant I had to murder La’Zael at the start of the game so be it. She was obviously meant to die like all those poor innocent deep gnomes.
I reloaded there because I was expecting more dialog options along the line that didn’t result in my Paladin breaking his oath. Oh and non-lethal damage seemingly still broke my oath?!
I can’t think of any other moments Ive had to reload due to braindead conversation options but I have been frustrated a few times.
That certainly hasn’t been my experience, though perhaps my rolls have been more fortuitous. I’ve been finding the combat challenging, but not overly unforgiving. I do sometimes have to try an engagement more than once to try out different strategies, but most of the time I don’t have to do that. I do have a fair amount of experience with this type of game though, and that makes a big difference.
I catch myself getting frustrated with bad luck more in BG3 than I did in D: OS2. Hit chances seem lower and many abilities are once per rest (and I’m trying to minimise long rests for immersion), so a miss ends up feeling more punishing.
I’m also playing as an Assassin, so basically centered around a high impact surprise round from stealth, and I swear I’m missing more 80%+ sneak attacks than I’m hitting. I guess frustration is part and parcel on a build that gambles everything on one big attack, though.
I wanted to try playing “pure” first, but maybe I need to turn on Karmic Dice. Missing a 94% chance to hit Sneak Attack twice in a row did not feel good. I guess I am too unlucky to just trust the dice.
As someone who is notoriously the worst roller at the table, having your well-built character flub a crucial move they’ve carefully planned feels SO very authentic.
Also spells and cantrips that grant advantage or add dice to the attack roll have felt more impactful in the game than they have at the table.
It’s good to meet a fellow lowroller.
I think AC is higher across the board in BG3. Bless is great, but concentration is a bigger issue here than PNP I feel like - lots of ranged attackers and grenades. I also am forced to take on many encounters without spell slots since I’m trying to lean into the roleplay and so only Long Rest when I’m absolutely forced to.
I just started using Karlach as a Wolf Heart Barbarian recently and that has been great for easy advantage. I might need to respec some NPCs to short-rest classes, too, if I keep getting frustrated. Maybe intended behaviour (on this supposedly time sensitive quest) is to Long Rest every other encounter, and I’m just being stubborn for finding that immersion breaking.
You’re playing it wrong.
BG3 is a role playing game. You gotta play it like real life. In real life, if things don’t go your way, you drink strong alcohol. I highly recommend tequila or whisky.
Charisma too low? Tequila. Dexterity too low? Whisky. Enemy with 1HP dodges 3 attacks in a row? Tequila.
The game is easy as pie.
