Fortunately, a detailed hotkey system has been programmed into the game, allowing you to select characters and skills/actions/spells quite a bit more quickly. This streamlines the interface and allows you to save valuable seconds during combat. However, there is a quite a bit to memorize, as you have multiple hotkeys that apply to each of your six characters—but it does make the game manageable without forcing you to “freeze” the action, which would ruin the real-time aspect.

I do think that it is worth pointing out that building up enough familiarity with the system to react quickly and effectively in a combat situation takes quite a bit of effort. Although people familiar with Baldur’s Gate and/or Icewind Dale will already have this knowledge, players jumping on during Dale II, even those familiar with D&D, will face a fairly steep learning curve to master the interface. This is not to say that the interface is badly designed—rather, it is simply that there is a lot there to master.​