I'm very upset about Div 2's combat

[Aothan]

Mind Reading should have a natural limit to overall or, by some means, periodic usage. Maybe by level and/or proficiency resulting from Intelligence or rather Spirit, as Intelligence appears to be a more useful attribute. And of course anyone that really wanted to make full use of the ability would need to share skill points in the Mind Reading skill to better discern an individual's more guarded thoughts.

I have just reached Laiken and for the first time have resorted to looking on youtube for examples of how others act in this battle. Needless to say nothing displayed really shows much in the way of how I could go about this encounter. A single Master Abomination can reduce upwards of 80% of my character's health in about 1.5 seconds from a single casting of Firewall. Surely enough I try to avoid these attacks as much as possible, the best method being to charge, slash and evade in advance of any possible casting.

now for Laiken there is at least one Master Abomination (possibly two), Razakel (also casts Firewall), and three or so other Abominations. All of the examples on youtube are either a character using one attack to clear the room (..Firewall) or simply standing there whilst everything in the room focus attacks them and multiple castings of said overpowered spell leave them largely unscathed.

it is probably not that hard to stupefy the AI into isolating Razakel so that he can be removed with ranged attacks, it's just not something I really want to employ for this type of game.

maybe I missed the point of the soul forge, in theory if I attacked Laiken directly (as someone on youtube did) he would still undergo a mortal death. Does the demon need to be on the same plane..otherwise it just made for two particular ways (as opposed to one more difficult possibility) in which Laiken can be destroyed.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Mind Reading should have a natural limit to overall or, by some means, periodic usage. Maybe by level and/or proficiency resulting from Intelligence or rather Spirit, as Intelligence appears to be a more useful attribute. And of course anyone that really wanted to make full use of the ability would need to share skill points in the Mind Reading skill to better discern an individual's more guarded thoughts.

I have just reached Laiken and for the first time have resorted to looking on youtube for examples of how others act in this battle. Needless to say nothing displayed really shows much in the way of how I could go about this encounter. A single Master Abomination can reduce upwards of 80% of my character's health in about 1.5 seconds from a single casting of Firewall. Surely enough I try to avoid these attacks as much as possible, the best method being to charge, slash and evade in advance of any possible casting.

now for Laiken there is at least one Master Abomination (possibly two), Razakel (also casts Firewall), and three or so other Abominations. All of the examples on youtube are either a character using one attack to clear the room (..Firewall) or simply standing there whilst everything in the room focus attacks them and multiple castings of said overpowered spell leave them largely unscathed.

it is probably not that hard to stupefy the AI into isolating Razakel so that he can be removed with ranged attacks, it's just not something I really want to employ for this type of game.

maybe I missed the point of the soul forge, in theory if I attacked Laiken directly (as someone on youtube did) he would still undergo a mortal death. Does the demon need to be on the same plane..otherwise it just made for two particular ways (as opposed to one more difficult possibility) in which Laiken can be destroyed.

I just focused on Razakel and took him down with a combination of exploding arrows and magic missiles till he was at about 25% health, then I did the warriors charge and conveted some of my damage to health with my twin swords. Once he was dead, so too was Laiken.

You've got to keep on the move the whole time though to avoid Laiken's attacks. I kept running around behind the throne. Luckily, the demon is faster than the other enemies, so he was easy to isolate that way.

Just a bit of mopping up afterwards. On the hardest difficulty, this wasn't that tough of a fight - what's your build?

On the subject of difficulty, the new 'Nightmare' difficulty introduced in today's patch has made the game quite a bit more challenging (and fun).

 

[desocupado]

So, I discovered my fried video card was not fried, just a bad PSU. How is performance in this game? I could run Oblvion fine here, it uses the same engine, right?

Also, should I get that Dragon Saga (or Wars?) thing? The changes improve the game?

 

[AlaCarcuss]

So, I discovered my fried video card was not fried, just a bad PSU. How is performance in this game? I could run Oblvion fine here, it uses the same engine, right?

Also, should I get that Dragon Saga (or Wars?) thing? The changes improve the game?

Yeah, I think if you can run Oblivion fine, you shouldn't have any problems with this. They just realeased a new patch which removes the frame cap too, which has smoothed things out quite a bit for me.

Definately go for DKS (Dragon Knight Saga), it includes the expansion and a ton of graphical and gameplay improvments (some of which you also get when you install the expansion over ED - but not all). You'll save yourself $20 over the ED+FoV option.

EDIT: Regarding your PSU problems - you'd be surprised how many PC faults can be rectified by installing a decent PSU. Especially the intermittent variety. As a computer tech (25yrs), It's always struck me how people can spend thousands on MB/CPU/GPU/RAM/HD etc.. and then stick a $50 PSU in the box to power it all.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Just a question, given Lesi's comments. I usually STRONGLY prefer playing a diplomat (if low-combat-characters are an option) or a mage (if it's a fighter/mage/archer type choice). Is this a game where I should make an exception? Is the mage build sufficiently screwed that I should abandon my normal preference and go melee instead?

 

[Admiral jimbob]

What's the magic system like?

It's, uhm, nothing special? You get skill points at level-ups, and you distribute those in skills. It's not a skill/talent tree, so there's no prerequisites. Many of the skills are useless, and most are on ten+ seconds cooldowns, so there's only one skill that'll be your bread and butter spam-spell, being magic missile. Damage doesn't scale with level, so all you can do is put ranks in the "+x% to your magic damage" and hope for the best. Primarily you'll be casting just two spells: magic missile (for range) and firewall (when enemies get close). Every other offensive spell is useless, and I don't think much of the crowd control spells, and I understand the summons are shitty compared to your zombie anyway.

Well, that sounds fun. I've been going melee in most action-RPGs I've played over the last year or two (mainly because it's been games like Gothic with really good melee combat), so I wanted one with a somewhat interesting magic system to play a mage character for a change. Ah well.

 

[desocupado]

EDIT: Regarding your PSU problems - you'd be surprised how many PC faults can be rectified by installing a decent PSU. Especially the intermittent variety. As a computer tech (25yrs), It's always struck me how people can spend thousands on MB/CPU/GPU/RAM/HD etc.. and then stick a $50 PSU in the box to power it all.

It was not a cheap one, but I live 100 meters from the sea. The salty water corrodes everything, but it seems especially damaging to PSU's. They don't last more than 6 months here.

 

[Raghar]

Just a question, given Lesi's comments. I usually STRONGLY prefer playing a diplomat (if low-combat-characters are an option) or a mage (if it's a fighter/mage/archer type choice). Is this a game where I should make an exception? Is the mage build sufficiently screwed that I should abandon my normal preference and go melee instead?

You won't be able to play diplomat, and don't forget every mage is using sword to dispatch some easy opponents. Even one of the most powerful mages in DK has a sword on his back. Of course when you find something that would improve magic missile, or magic blast things would become brutal. However some opponents can jump quickly to you so expect you'd be fighting hand to hand often, or roll around often. (It's more interesting as combination of several abilities than using only one.)

 

[Raghar]

I have just reached Laiken and for the first time have resorted to looking on youtube for examples of how others act in this battle. Needless to say nothing displayed really shows much in the way of how I could go about this encounter. A single Master Abomination can reduce upwards of 80% of my character's health in about 1.5 seconds from a single casting of Firewall.

Yes after I dispatched him, the rest of the combat was relativelly simple as long as I didn't allowed that fast one to come close.

Laiken is problem because of fear/confusion.

There are two ways how to end it reasonably. That person before general Stone is a larger problem when you destroy that field by an accident.

Spoiler

(There are about 4 seconds to change yourself into dragon or run.)

So far DK is similar to first game. It starts nice, however at the end it devolves into a lot of combat.

 

[Murk]

So how do you liked to fight Zagan?

Oh right, found and killed Him. First 2 times I died before I could even see wtf was going on because of the attacks clouding my screen and me not knowing which way to go (ended up hitting a barrier and just not moving).

Third time I summoned my Wyvern ally (level 5) and he accidently killed Zagan before I realized what was up.

Fun! I must admit, I was about level 33 or so when I did this.

As for Laikan - I used a lot of side rolls to avoid his powerful magic as at the time that was my greatest weakness in regards to armor and focused on Razakel, I ended up kind of luring him away and slashing him up with a single combo then using 1,000 strikes then dodging then rushing him to slash him up some more then dodging then coming back in and if 1,000 strikes had cooled down I used that.

I died once or twice because of Laikan's rather powerful magic. Though that was nothing compared to one of the Black Ring commanders you face off with later who was pulling 1150 damage with a single fireball on me - had to completely dodge that and close in with melee.

Looking at my creatures stats as of now, motherfuckers a veritable killing machine. So far I have him casting level 10 fireball but I think I'll switch him to a warrior build and see how that works out.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Just a question, given Lesi's comments. I usually STRONGLY prefer playing a diplomat (if low-combat-characters are an option) or a mage (if it's a fighter/mage/archer type choice). Is this a game where I should make an exception? Is the mage build sufficiently screwed that I should abandon my normal preference and go melee instead?

When the respec became available, I spent an entire day trying out different builds. Most fun by far was a hybrid fighter/mage/archer/summoner.

Going with any single class skills, while viable, is pretty boring. Single class mage is particularly tough. There's quite a few worthless skills in each tree.

At lvl 24, my build goes somthing like this:

Priest
----------------------
Summon Demon x 1 - (good meat shield - only summon worth a damn)
Life Tap x (2) (from gear)

Mage
----------------------
Magic Missile x 6 (only spammable spell)
Mana Efficiency x 3 (2)
Confusion x 1 (2) - (chance of stun from spells)
Mana Leach x 1 - (with Mana Efficiency, 1 pt = no mana probs ever)
Way of the Battle Mage x 1 - (increases all magic damage - see note)

Warrior
----------------------
Rush Attack x 1 (1) - (essential, 1 point is all that's needed)
Regenerate x (1) - (health regen - not necessary with life tap)

Ranger
----------------------
Potion Efficiency x 1 (good if your gonna rely on potions)
Evade x 1 (1pt give 10% - not worth it after that)
Exploding Arrows x 4 (best nuke in the game - maxing this)
Ranger Strength x 5 (good for spamming arrows at no cost)

Dragon Slayer
----------------------
Dual Wield x 5 (DW allows more charm + enchantment slots)

NOTE: +magic damage from gear/enchantments/charms and Way of the Mage skill, works on both weapons (with magic damage component) AND spells. Making it at least twice as good as +ranged and +melee damage modifiers. So always give it top priority and make sure your weapons have a magic component (most do anyway).

At the moment, on the new 'Nightmare' difficulty, I'm relying on potions a bit too much, so I'm going to put more points into Life Tap.

A fun skill I tried in another build was having 3 points in Charm. With my Creature, Demon and charmed enemy, I had three companions fighting along side me. If you charm an enemy healer, he'll even heal you. It's fun, but not necessary and you don't get any exp from the kills the charmed enemy gets. Also with a point in Hide in Shadows, I could just sit back and watch the show for a while lol.

I know I keep saying it, and at the risk of sounding like a fanboy, I'm enjoying the hell out of this game. I feel a bit guilty about it actually, because the combat/character progression and skill trees definately could use a bit more depth and that's really the only thing holding it back from being a classic in my eyes. Still, if you compare it to only other ARPG's - then it probably is a classic. It's only because it's got so much RPG goodness in there as well, that we tend to compare it to more in-depth RPG's too - where it falls a little short.

Easily the surprise of the year for me (maybe longer).

 

[Aothan]

Just a bit of mopping up afterwards. On the hardest difficulty, this wasn't that tough of a fight - what's your build?

melee orientated with a mostly equal skill distribution in Whirlwind (thankfully nothing like Whirlwind in other hack n slash games), Dash and Fatality. Four points in Lockpick, even though my character is not a 'thief'. Fatality can be powerful, moreso with additional levels yet has become a regrettable choice simply because of how boring the skill is to use and likely how potentially overpowered it might become.

a single Master Abomination can beat me within four seconds if it manages two physical attacks and a firewall if I do not evade the spell quickly enough. Conversely I can beat the same creature by standing at one end of a corridor whilst firing with ranged attacks when using a relatively low level bow without points in the Ranger skill set. In part this speaks to the consequence of no intrinsic class advantages where close ranged fighters will take just as much --more in this example-- damage from close-range concentrated magical attacks. I also would wonder about the general utility of the Vitality attribute once a sufficient base has been met, compared to health additions from items and the advantages of focusing on damage mitigation from passive resistances.

either way, I think the best course for me at this time will be to return to Broken Valley area or the Fjords and work on developing a magic resistance set of armours. I don't wish to overly exploit the AI to progress, especially if the same challenge will continue to present itself.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Just a bit of mopping up afterwards. On the hardest difficulty, this wasn't that tough of a fight - what's your build?

melee orientated with a mostly equal skill distribution in Whirlwind (thankfully nothing like Whirlwind in other hack n slash games), Dash and Fatality. Four points in Lockpick, even though my character is not a 'thief'. Fatality can be powerful, moreso with additional levels yet has become a regrettable choice simply because of how boring the skill is to use and likely how potentially overpowered it might become.

a single Master Abomination can beat me within four seconds if it manages two physical attacks and a firewall if I do not evade the spell quickly enough. Conversely I can beat the same creature by standing at one end of a corridor whilst firing with ranged attacks when using a relatively low level bow without points in the Ranger skill set. In part this speaks to the consequence of no intrinsic class advantages where close ranged fighters will take just as much --more in this example-- damage from close-range concentrated magical attacks. I also would wonder about the general utility of the Vitality attribute once a sufficient base has been met, compared to health additions from items and the advantages of focusing on damage mitigation from passive resistances.

either way, I think the best course for me at this time will be to return to Broken Valley area or the Fjords and work on developing a magic resistance set of armours. I don't wish to overly exploit the AI to progress, especially if the same challenge will continue to present itself.

Yeah, you need a good mix of ranged and melee skills. Actually, the charge is the only melee skill I have, but I still melee quite a bit due to good damage from my DW mastery. Though I mostly only use charge+melee when I need health from Life Tap and/or to finish off an enemy.

If you can manage to get through this fight, you'll gain the Battle Tower straight afterwards, with access to a full respec at a cost of 5000 gold.

 

[Murk]

I played a full melee build using two-handed swords and I've yet to come across a basic enemy that even has a chance at beating me one-on-one.

Are you taking advantage of properly enchanting your gear and making sure you have a decent set to begin with? What are your stats like?

Flames of Vengeance is proving to be quite a bit more enjoyable so far, but given the amount of quests in Aleroth alone I'm assuming the entire expansion is focused to this city and I probably won't see much else. It is in many ways reminding me of the Witcher and I'm quite enjoying it over all. Quests also got more complex and intricate often many tying in together.

Also, lol@ some of the subtle references in the game - like Dr. West the necromancer (Herbert West, reanimator).

 

[AlaCarcuss]

I played a full melee build using two-handed swords and I've yet to come across a basic enemy that even has a chance at beating me one-on-one.

Agreed. I just found it a bit boring as a pure fighter (or pure anything else).

Flames of Vengeance is proving to be quite a bit more enjoyable so far, ... Quests also got more complex and intricate often many tying in together.

Great news! Good to know there's even more to look forward to.

 

[Aothan]

as I understand there are very few options for enchantments prior to the tower. Not that I care to over-enchant. Attributes are principally in Strength and Vitality (which I think is probably questionable beyond present levels), with half as much in Dexterity and at least ten or so in Intelligence. Whether those choices reflect character concept integrity can be left to speculation.

if there is some reasonable discrepancy between characters, say about 200-250 damage from a firewall spell on a level 17 character I would be intrigued.

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS I AM PLAYING EGO DRACONIS ON THE HARD LEVEL ON THE FAGBOX

IT IS FUN SO FAR THE LARIAN BROS ARE RIGHT ON NO HAND HOLDING AND ACTUALLY SHIT IS KINDA HARD AND THERE IS A NICE PROGRESSION IN CHARACTER STRENGTH

BRO I AM SORTA TRYING A PURE MAGE BUT YOU NEED A LITTLE MELEE TO MOP UP ANYWAYS ENEMIES MY LEVEL ARE TOUGH AND I RAN AROUND FOR A WHILE WITH FIREBALL TO FUCK UP A GHOST A LEVEL ABOVE ME

 

[AlaCarcuss]

as I understand there are very few options for enchantments prior to the tower. Not that I care to over-enchant. Attributes are principally in Strength and Vitality (which I think is probably questionable beyond present levels), with half as much in Dexterity and at least ten or so in Intelligence. Whether those choices reflect character concept integrity can be left to speculation.

if there is some reasonable discrepancy between characters, say about 200-250 damage from a firewall spell on a level 17 character I would be intrigued.

That's the thing. There really are no classes, only skill categories.

Intelligence is by far the most important stat as it increases magic damage. As noted in one of my previous posts, magic damage affects both weapon magic damage and spell damage. Even a melee focused build, should focus on Intel.

The rest of the stats (and the attributes they affect) are easily boosted by gear. At level up, I always put 2 or 3 points straight into Intel and the remaining 1 or 2 into whatever I think needs a boost at that time.

This is assuming of course, you have weapon/s with a magic damage component and at lest one damage dealing spell. I'm not sure if magic damage affects other skills like poisen arrow - I doubt it though, that would make it a little too OP.

Also, I just noticed that the new 'Nightmare' difficulty (or it may be just the patch - they talked about a rebalance) has reduced a lot of my +damage enchants. The +70 normal damage enchant I had on one of my swords is now only +50.

I'm currently taking on Stone's flying fortress at lvl 25 and it's pretty fucking tough!

 

[Murk]

Kay, finished Flames of Vengeance - pretty short as well but very good. The ending Dragon fight scene was pretty friggin' badass and shit was getting all heroic and epic.

The cinematics stuttered on my crappy pc (weird, game works fine but movies don't, ehh) so I looked them up on youtube since the ending of FoV is all cinematic.

Found this mashup as an alt ending for Ego Draconis (has major spoilers, but only for Ego Draconis not for FoV): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we2Lopx2WUM

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Priest
----------------------
Summon Demon x 1 - (good meat shield - only summon worth a damn)
Life Tap x (2) (from gear)

Mage
----------------------
Magic Missile x 6 (only spammable spell)
Mana Efficiency x 3 (2)
Confusion x 1 (2) - (chance of stun from spells)
Mana Leach x 1 - (with Mana Efficiency, 1 pt = no mana probs ever)
Way of the Battle Mage x 1 - (increases all magic damage - see note)

Warrior
----------------------
Rush Attack x 1 (1) - (essential, 1 point is all that's needed)
Regenerate x (1) - (health regen - not necessary with life tap)

Ranger
----------------------
Potion Efficiency x 1 (good if your gonna rely on potions)
Evade x 1 (1pt give 10% - not worth it after that)
Exploding Arrows x 4 (best nuke in the game - maxing this)
Ranger Strength x 5 (good for spamming arrows at no cost)

Dragon Slayer
----------------------
Dual Wield x 5 (DW allows more charm + enchantment slots)

here are my experiences, bros:

-Fireball was by far the best damage spell, 3500+ dmg to a great area when maxed at 15 in FoV
- Firewall was very helpful too, had it maxed, just jump in the fray and unleash it
- Magic Blast was good in ED but in FoV at high levels it sucked a bit
- Blind! very very helpful in disabling of tough enemies, ie a Goblin chieftain who fucks you badly? Blind him, problem solved. Kill at your leisure. Bosses are immune though.
- Explosive Arrow, really good, not so much for the damage but also for the knockdown effect
-summon demon, had it maxed too, they get better and better
- Evade, had it maxed in FoV for a total of 50% iirc, bros this is like permanent displacement bros
- there was a skill that increases all magic damage, was it Mana Efficiency? Or was that something else? Anyway I had it maxed obv, plus Way of the Battlemage for another 80% on top of that
- I only had 1 or 2 points in regenerate since healing auras are the only enchantments which are worth it for your rings/amuletts etc

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Priest
----------------------
Summon Demon x 1 - (good meat shield - only summon worth a damn)
Life Tap x (2) (from gear)

Mage
----------------------
Magic Missile x 6 (only spammable spell)
Mana Efficiency x 3 (2)
Confusion x 1 (2) - (chance of stun from spells)
Mana Leach x 1 - (with Mana Efficiency, 1 pt = no mana probs ever)
Way of the Battle Mage x 1 - (increases all magic damage - see note)

Warrior
----------------------
Rush Attack x 1 (1) - (essential, 1 point is all that's needed)
Regenerate x (1) - (health regen - not necessary with life tap)

Ranger
----------------------
Potion Efficiency x 1 (good if your gonna rely on potions)
Evade x 1 (1pt give 10% - not worth it after that)
Exploding Arrows x 4 (best nuke in the game - maxing this)
Ranger Strength x 5 (good for spamming arrows at no cost)

Dragon Slayer
----------------------
Dual Wield x 5 (DW allows more charm + enchantment slots)

here are my experiences, bros:

-Fireball was by far the best damage spell, 3500+ dmg to a great area when maxed at 15 in FoV
- Firewall was very helpful too, had it maxed, just jump in the fray and unleash it
- Magic Blast was good in ED but in FoV at high levels it sucked a bit
- Blind! very very helpful in disabling of tough enemies, ie a Goblin chieftain who fucks you badly? Blind him, problem solved. Kill at your leisure. Bosses are immune though.
- Explosive Arrow, really good, not so much for the damage but also for the knockdown effect
-summon demon, had it maxed too, they get better and better
- Evade, had it maxed in FoV for a total of 50% iirc, bros this is like permanent displacement bros
- there was a skill that increases all magic damage, was it Mana Efficiency? Or was that something else? Anyway I had it maxed obv, plus Way of the Battlemage for another 80% on top of that
- I only had 1 or 2 points in regenerate since healing auras are the only enchantments which are worth it for your rings/amuletts etc

Cool thanks VoD, another build to try out.

The skill that increases magic damage by percentage is 'Destruction' and yeah, I've been putting points in that and anything else I can that increases magic damage (charms, enchantments etc). 'Mana Efficiency' is good too, it lower's the mana cost of spells.

I wasn't sure how good 'Evade' would be later on, so that's good to know - I'm about to respec again soon so I can put some points into 'Lockpick' and go back and get all the chests I couldn't open (may not be worth it though, it's not like there's a shortage of loot).

I finally cleared Stone's FF. Fuck me, took forever on 'Nightmare' - and it's supposed to be the easiest fortress. At leaset I've gained a few levels, now at 29.

EDIT: Also, I totally underestimated the value of having at least 1 point in Hide. I even forgot to put it on my hotbar. But I discovered during the first part of the fight with Stone and his henchmen (before teleporting to the arena), I kept getting cornered and slaughtered. But if you pop hide, even while cornered and surrounded, all enemies immediately sheath their weapons and walk away. Gives you a bit of breathing room to heal up and get yourself...er...un-cornered.

If Stone had any brains, he'd have kept me in the confined space of the dungeon instead of luring me to that big-assed arena. Maybe he'd still be alive today.

Then again, poor bastard didn't have the advantage of quick saves either.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

I wasn't sure how good 'Evade' would be later on, so that's good to know - I'm about to respec again soon so I can put some points into 'Lockpick' and go back and get all the chests I couldn't open (may not be worth it though, it's not like there's a shortage of loot).

Totally uncool bro. Maxing lockpick was the first I did in ED to the detriment of other abilities/spells because I can't stand leaving loot behind, plus I'm certain you missed out on the some of the best gear. Lockpick 5 is enough for all chests in ED, in FoV you'll need 7 so you have to train it to unlock it, but you can mindread someone for 1 free point.

 

[Lesifoere]

@guy who had trouble with Laiken--eh, were you on highest difficulty or something? On normal difficulty I just firewalled the lot, jumped away, magic-missiled Razakel to death, done.

Just a question, given Lesi's comments. I usually STRONGLY prefer playing a diplomat (if low-combat-characters are an option) or a mage (if it's a fighter/mage/archer type choice). Is this a game where I should make an exception? Is the mage build sufficiently screwed that I should abandon my normal preference and go melee instead?

Mage build's not so much screwed as very boring. Diplomat character is no go, you'd have better luck diplomacy'ing your way through swamps in the Witcher.

 

[BLOBERT]

OKAY BROS IN ED HARD DIFFICULTY IS JUST KILLER IT WAS TOO MUCH FOR ME

NORMAL IS ABOUT THE PERFECT BALANCE WITH FULL HEALTH AND MANA I CAN TAKE ALMOST ANY GUY MY LEVEL OR LOWER WITHOUT POTIONS OR DYING BUT A GROUP OF THEM I REALLY HAVE TO WORK THE SPELLS POTIONS CHARMING OR I GET RAPED

 

[Aothan]

@guy who had trouble with Laiken--eh, were you on highest difficulty or something? On normal difficulty I just firewalled the lot, jumped away, magic-missiled Razakel to death, done.

I've come to avoid magic, or magic systems, in rpgs over the course of a decade. Mostly because it seems to me that the usual arcane practitioner (as distinguished from other forms or systems of magic) becomes vastly overpowered in relation to the nexus of computer AI, homogenised challenge (i.e. same mode of encounter for rogue, archer, warrior etc) and that of player strategy and skill. This difference in magnitude may match the theme of magic coming to dictate the elements, defy metaphysical limits and more pragmatically slay hordes by glancing in their direction, but it also tends to make for boring hack n slash games. A genre I actively seek out for a sense of stimulation from (quasi-) tactical reflexive (and perhaps innovative) gameplay.

so, in other words, I have been avoiding magic in Divinity II.. as such no firewall.

I went about returning to Broken Valley and the Fjords to focus on preparing a magic resistance set of armours and to advance in levels. Fate proved inordinately favourable bequeathing a +10 to magical resistance shield from a one of the remaining quests, which in conjunction with a few minor pieces of jewelry combined to an additional +17 resistance.

as with the encounter being difficult in a peculiar way beforehand, the battle with Laiken was now almost too casual. I have to admit to barely trying, often simply standing ground to trade attacks with the majority of the Abominations, Razakel and Laiken focus firing. Looking at my character's defensive values and the sheer amount of damage which could now be endured with indifference I would chance a guess there is a fairly exacting level bonus and penalty system in place.