I mean in a video game powergaming or rather minmaxing is a necessity for challenging combat at higher difficulties. There has to be a threshold for optimal builds else no build choices end up mattering.
There are tradeoffs obviously because it's a game and there's always going to be best ways to solve constraints regardless of how anyone feels about it. But how you feel it about it is important because it's a fantasy game. The optimal builds are just based on the arbitrary constraints of the game. That's the two competing forces. But creating characters more further grounded in reality and then beating the game properly within those constraints is way more interesting.
I agree but that’s difficult to design in a game. Anyways I’m not optimistic about BG3 being challenging at all nor requiring any interesting minmaxing due to a combination of the game being made by Larian and based on 5e and that’s is likely going to fundamentally be the reason why the game feels boring to play.
The game will not be challenging, it can't possibly be. There are unlimited rests and unlimited resources with a vancian magic system. I've read more about the tactician mode, which features more enemies, increased HP, and better chance to hit, along with... Surprise! Explosive barrels. I'm almost certain it will end up being more tedious than challenging, with damage sponge enemies and a boring slog. The explosive barrels don't add much tactical depth to it.
Combat in CRPGs has always been poorer compared to tabletop games, and BG3 will not change that. But why would they bother when no one cares about it?
We will encounter exactly the same problems as with Solasta, no attrition, no sense of danger, but how can we blame them when they are delivering exactly what their customers expect from them, precisely what the old fans of Bioware have always wanted, but better.