Game News Solasta: Crown of the Magister Primal Calling DLC announced, releasing on November 4th

[NJClaw]

All in all, probably the best video game adaptation of 5e I've played so far, but I haven't tried BG3 yet.

Wait... how many other video game adaptations of 5e have you played so far?

Anyway, Solasta's biggest flaws were the underwhelming encounter design and the lack of classes. The addition of barbarians and druids somewhat fixes the latter (even though I'd still like to see bards), while the ability to create custom monsters might fix the former depending on how much freedom this creation tool actually offers.

 

[Tyranicon]

All in all, probably the best video game adaptation of 5e I've played so far, but I haven't tried BG3 yet.

Wait... how many other video game adaptations of 5e have you played so far?

Anyway, Solasta's biggest flaws were the underwhelming encounter design and the lack of classes. The addition of barbarians and druids somewhat fixes the latter (even though I'd still like to see bards), while the ability to create custom monsters might fix the former depending on how much freedom this creation tool actually offers.

Ah, bad phrasing on my part. I should've probably said instead that it's better than Sword Coast Legends, but it's been so long since I've played SCL that I can't remember why.

The only problem I have so far with encounter design is that it seems like the devs wanted to focus on verticality, which essentially is giving a big middle finger to any melee martial classes (which already suffer from being underwhelming in the tabletop).

 

[Mortmal]

All in all, probably the best video game adaptation of 5e I've played so far, but I haven't tried BG3 yet.

Wait... how many other video game adaptations of 5e have you played so far?

Anyway, Solasta's biggest flaws were the underwhelming encounter design and the lack of classes. The addition of barbarians and druids somewhat fixes the latter (even though I'd still like to see bards), while the ability to create custom monsters might fix the former depending on how much freedom this creation tool actually offers.

Ah, bad phrasing on my part. I should've probably said instead that it's better than Sword Coast Legends, but it's been so long since I've played SCL that I can't remember why.

The only problem I have so far with encounter design is that it seems like the devs wanted to focus on verticality, which essentially is giving a big middle finger to any melee martial classes (which already suffer from being underwhelming in the tabletop).

Sword coast legend is not 5e either, it's supposed to be 4E but one thing is sure is its complete shit. One codexer liked it because they offered him cherry cake at the game presentation , fucking shill...

 

[ERYFKRAD]

but it's been so long since I've played SCL that I can't remember why.

No barbarian, that's why.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

ETA for complete edition?

 

[Mortmal]

Infinitron fake news ? Bubbles clearly said it was the most fun he ever had in his life when playing sword coast legend, and also he ate cherry cake with the devs. I have a very good memory . So i trusted the guy and wishlisted it. Alas someone offered it to me and its an unmitigated disaster, complete shit.
I sure wont forget that one , ever ... Oh and you bought this dumbfuck a new camera for services granted. Great job codex staff , one step at a time closer to resetera .

 

[Infinitron]

Infinitron fake news ? Bubbles clearly said it was the most fun he ever had in his life when playing sword coast legend, and also he ate cherry cake with the devs. I have a very good memory . So i trusted the guy and wishlisted it. Alas someone offered it to me and its an unmitigated disaster, complete shit.
I sure wont forget that one , ever ... Oh and you bought this dumbfuck a new camera for services granted. Great job codex staff , one step at a time closer to resetera .

Actually I meant the fake news is that it was 4E-based.

 

[Mortmal]

It doesnt look like it's following any of the rulesets anyway, either 4e or 5 . It's a diablo clone abomination with cooldowns.
So yes solasta is the best 5E game so far.

 

[Dr Schultz]

All in all, probably the best video game adaptation of 5e I've played so far, but I haven't tried BG3 yet.

Wait... how many other video game adaptations of 5e have you played so far?

Anyway, Solasta's biggest flaws were the underwhelming encounter design and the lack of classes. The addition of barbarians and druids somewhat fixes the latter (even though I'd still like to see bards), while the ability to create custom monsters might fix the former depending on how much freedom this creation tool actually offers.

And here I thought that the encounter design was the best part of Solasta.

The only problem I have so far with encounter design is that it seems like the devs wanted to focus on verticality, which essentially is giving a big middle finger to any melee martial classes (which already suffer from being underwhelming in the tabletop).

The only problem I had with the encounter design is the final encounter.
Anyhow, I suggest you to use flying spells and scrolls on your melee characters like there is no tomorrow. You will start loving the verticality.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Anyhow, I suggest you to use flying spells and scrolls on your melee characters like there is no tomorrow. You will start loving the verticality

Hang on, are you saying the verticality is best enjoyed by making it irrelevant?

 

[NJClaw]

And here I thought that the encounter design was the best part of Solasta.

When it is at its best, the encounter design in Solasta is harmless and inoffensive, because your characters are so strong and you have so many options that the enemies don't stand a chance. Most of the content up to the vampire mini-boss in the dark castle is adequate, but as soon as you reach level 5 and unlock level 3 spells, the enemies stop trying and the game becomes a cakewalk. After that, only the green dragon can be considered a somewhat appropriate challenge. Maybe the encounter design could be considered ok in a vacuum, but the disproportion between your power level and the challenge posed by the encounters kind of ruins it.

When it is at its worst, it is just plain boring. The encounters with the "brood of blood" enemies outside of the tower are insulting: they're sacks of HPs that cannot harm you in any way and constantly use the Disengage action for no discernible reason, stretching the length of already long and boring copypasted fights.

The best part of Solasta is its slick implementation of the ruleset. The UI might be ugly, but everything about the combat system is almost perfect. Obviously, that's relevant only if you actually like D&D 5E. For someone who doesn't like this edition, this game has almost nothing to offer.

 

[Dr Schultz]

And here I thought that the encounter design was the best part of Solasta.

When it is at its best, the encounter design in Solasta is harmless and inoffensive, because your characters are so strong and you have so many options that the enemies don't stand a chance. Most of the content up to the vampire mini-boss in the dark castle is adequate, but as soon as you reach level 5 and unlock level 3 spells, the enemies stop trying and the game becomes a cakewalk. After that, only the green dragon can be considered a somewhat appropriate challenge. Maybe the encounter design could be considered ok in a vacuum, but the disproportion between your power level and the challenge posed by the encounters kind of ruins it.

When it is at its worst, it is just plain boring. The encounters with the "brood of blood" enemies outside of the tower are insulting: they're sacks of HPs that cannot harm you in any way and constantly use the Disengage action for no discernible reason, stretching the length of already long and boring copypasted fights.

The best part of Solasta is its slick implementation of the ruleset. The UI might be ugly, but everything about the combat system is almost perfect. Obviously, that's relevant only if you actually like D&D 5E. For someone who doesn't like this edition, this game has almost nothing to offer.

Except you can mold the difficulty of the game via options, or by renouncing to a min-maxed party, if your main gripe with the encounter design is the lack of challenge after a certain level (quite a common occurance among the CRPGs, by the way).

But having said that, the challenge of an encounter is probably the less important factor in determining its quality. Variety of enemies, terrains, winning conditions and tactical options (on the party-side) makes for a good encounter design. And Solasta most of the time is better than your average CRPG if you take into account all the above.

 

[Dr Schultz]

Anyhow, I suggest you to use flying spells and scrolls on your melee characters like there is no tomorrow. You will start loving the verticality

Hang on, are you saying the verticality is best enjoyed by making it irrelevant?

And why should flying make verticality irrelevant? Flying simply allows your characters to move on a third axis. It's not a dominant strategy. While flying your characters can't take cover and are subject to disastrous falls due to loss of concentration. Also, the character who cast a flying spell can't cast another concentration spell until flying is active.

In short: Flying is just an option that you may or may not have at your disposal during an encounter.

 

[Tyranicon]

And here I thought that the encounter design was the best part of Solasta.

as soon as you reach level 5 and unlock level 3 spells, the enemies stop trying and the game becomes a cakewalk

Honestly, this seems like a problem in the official tabletop modules too. The system has a hard time accounting for the huge power jump PCs get on level 5 (and same for 11). So the typical challenge in modules looks like this:

Level 1: lol you're gonna die to a goblin

Levels 2-4: hard but mostly fair (unless you're fighting a shambling mound)

Level 5: time to facefuck everything

Level 6-8: you're still riding high on those new extra attacks/spells

Level 9 and +: depends on the module.


This is why I assume so many modules end on level 5 or 11, so you can go around smashing things until a boss/scenario fight.

 

[Dr Schultz]

And here I thought that the encounter design was the best part of Solasta.

as soon as you reach level 5 and unlock level 3 spells, the enemies stop trying and the game becomes a cakewalk

Honestly, this seems like a problem in the official tabletop modules too. The system has a hard time accounting for the huge power jump PCs get on level 5 (and same for 11). So the typical challenge in modules looks like this:

Level 1: lol you're gonna die to a goblin

Levels 2-4: hard but mostly fair (unless you're fighting a shambling mound)

Level 5: time to facefuck everything

Level 6-8: you're still riding high on those new extra attacks/spells

Level 9 and +: depends on the module.


This is why I assume so many modules end on level 5 or 11, so you can go around smashing things until a boss/scenario fight.

I'd say it's a problem of D&D regardless the edition

 

[NJClaw]

But having said that, the challenge of an encounter is probably the less important factor in determining its quality. Variety of enemies, terrains, winning conditions and tactical options (on the party-side) makes for a good encounter design.

Sadly, nothing of that matters when you can win an encounter just by choosing a spell semi-at random. Basically any non-useless spell of level 3+ wins all the encounters in the game on its own. And Solasta's difficulty settings aren't really the right answer if you want a better challenge in a 5E videogame. This edition's math is so strict and precise that just jacking up the numbers completely denatures the experience. Also, avoiding min-maxing isn't really an answer, unless you're actively gimping yourself with completely unviable characters like a Wizard with 8 Int or a Rogue with 8 Dex.

But don't get me wrong, I loved this game. I spent hundreds of hours on it, playing the campaign multiple times and many custom modules, and I plan to play it again as soon as they release the Primal Calling DLC. It's just sad that they could have done so much more with the system they implemented, and I hope the creation tools will give enough freedom to prove that.

Honestly, this seems like a problem in the official tabletop modules too. The system has a hard time accounting for the huge power jump PCs get on level 5 (and same for 11). So the typical challenge in modules looks like this:

By finely tuning encounters, you can easily create very interesting challenges for characters of level 5+. Official modules usually fail to do that, but it isn't hard for a semi-experienced DM. Sadly, once characters reach level 9-11, they can basically face ANYTHING in the Monster Manual (and WotC designers know that, since they aren't afraid to put level 11 characters against CR 20 enemies), and after that it becomes hard to create an appropriate encounter.

 

[Tyranicon]

From a dev perspective, we should also keep in mind that a significant number of players are either completely inexperienced with 5e, new to it, or just casual video gamers. So it makes sense to tone the challenge down.

Even for people who have hundreds/thousands of hours in 5e, not everybody wants to play an entire party or spend 40 minutes per round to get the most efficiency out of their characters.

I mean, I do. And probably a lot of the codex, but we're the exception, not the norm.

 

[Grunker]

And here I thought that the encounter design was the best part of Solasta.

the fact that an actual human being thinks this is somehow comforting. existance can be extremely ambiguous, opinions even more so, so it's nice to identify one once in a while where you're just 100% clear on the fact that it is objectively wrong

 

[Dr Schultz]

And here I thought that the encounter design was the best part of Solasta.

the fact that an actual human being thinks this is somehow comforting. existance can be extremely ambiguous, opinions even more so, so it's nice to identify one once in a while where you're just 100% clear on the fact that it is objectively wrong

And what a coincidence, Grunker: learning that you think that I'm objectively wrong gave me the infallible conviction that I'm objectively right.

If I had doubts before, now I have none. Life is curious indeed, my friend .

 

[Dr Schultz]

But having said that, the challenge of an encounter is probably the less important factor in determining its quality. Variety of enemies, terrains, winning conditions and tactical options (on the party-side) makes for a good encounter design.

Sadly, nothing of that matters when you can win an encounter just by choosing a spell semi-at random. Basically any non-useless spell of level 3+ wins all the encounters in the game on its own. And Solasta's difficulty settings aren't really the right answer if you want a better challenge in a 5E videogame. This edition's math is so strict and precise that just jacking up the numbers completely denatures the experience. Also, avoiding min-maxing isn't really an answer, unless you're actively gimping yourself with completely unviable characters like a Wizard with 8 Int or a Rogue with 8 Dex.

But don't get me wrong, I loved this game. I spent hundreds of hours on it, playing the campaign multiple times and many custom modules, and I plan to play it again as soon as they release the Primal Calling DLC. It's just sad that they could have done so much more with the system they implemented, and I hope the creation tools will give enough freedom to prove that.

Honestly, this seems like a problem in the official tabletop modules too. The system has a hard time accounting for the huge power jump PCs get on level 5 (and same for 11). So the typical challenge in modules looks like this:

By finely tuning encounters, you can easily create very interesting challenges for characters of level 5+. Official modules usually fail to do that, but it isn't hard for a semi-experienced DM. Sadly, once characters reach level 9-11, they can basically face ANYTHING in the Monster Manual (and WotC designers know that, since they aren't afraid to put level 11 characters against CR 20 enemies), and after that it becomes hard to create an appropriate encounter.

By any means you can do that, but you have to ignore what the manuals tell you about the CR.
Creating challenging encounters is always possibile around a table, I'd say even easy, given the unlimited freedom you have as a GM.
The system, tough, remains not designed to scale with a consistent level of challenge. And with "the system" I mean D&D in all its incarnations.
And this could not necessarily be an unwanted effect, mind you. I mean: given what D&D is about, it could easily be a conscious design choice aimed to reinforce the power fantasy that the system is selling.

 

[NJClaw]

By any means you can do that, but you have to ignore what the manuals tell you about the CR.

Ignoring what manuals tell you about CR is the first thing everyone should do to become a functioning DM.

 

[Dr Schultz]

By any means you can do that, but you have to ignore what the manuals tell you about the CR.

Ignoring what manuals tell you about CR is the first thing everyone should do to become a functioning DM.

On this I wholeheartedly agree but, still, ignoring what the manuals tell you about CR equals to depart from the intended design of the game. Which is totally fine in a tabletop RPG, even encouraged, and it's what I've done with all the editions of D&D, but it's a departure nonetheless.

 

[The_Sloth_Sleeps]

Just got past the tutorial, really struggling with this one. I'll give it one more hour and hope it improves.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Just got past the tutorial,

really struggling with this one

hope it improves

Yo, I think it you got it a wee bit backwards.