Divinity Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition

[Haba]

It happens in several places, including when you try to venture outside Cyseal.

 

[Sodafish]

Spoiler

In Silverglen I think. When you are trying to infiltrate the Immaculates and you have to go to that cave in the spider/sandstorm section. The guards you have to pass to get there warn you that the area has stronger monsters and you can ask at least one of them if they think you are strong enough to do it. They will either caution you to come back at a higher level or they will tell you that they think you are strong enough to do it.

Don't know if it happens anywhere else though.

Spoiler

I think that's the only time it happens, and even then they're full of shit re: difficulty getting to the trial as you only need to kill a single spider egg/fledgeling on the way to the entrance

 

[Metro]

Yeah, the game gets sparser and sparser as you go along, though it's already a big game and I thought the stuff that was there in Hunter's Edge was interesting (the 'hub' is not as big as Silverglen but there is a similar amount of, or perhaps a bit more of, in-town stuff to do). Actually, I'd have preferred that to be the second big hub on a Cyseal level with lots of stuff to do given its theme. Don't know about what lies beyond that but I suspect it is the endgame.

This is true, and another one of my critiques. It seems like more time went into the first 'act' then the rest. While Silverglen, Sacred Stone, and Hunter's Edge are 'appropriate' for the setting/story they pale in comparison to Cyseal. Sacred Stone particularly seems almost pointless. Additionally the level of depth tapers off, too. With the second half of the third major area (dark forest) being extremely light on quests/story. You just slog your way through a ton of random enemies.

 

[Metro]

Spoiler

In Silverglen I think. When you are trying to infiltrate the Immaculates and you have to go to that cave in the spider/sandstorm section. The guards you have to pass to get there warn you that the area has stronger monsters and you can ask at least one of them if they think you are strong enough to do it. They will either caution you to come back at a higher level or they will tell you that they think you are strong enough to do it.

Don't know if it happens anywhere else though.

Spoiler

I think that's the only time it happens, and even then they're full of shit re: difficulty getting to the trial as you only need to kill a single spider egg/fledgeling on the way to the entrance

Spoiler

As Haba said the guards at the Cyseal gates will warn you of the difficulty you might have venturing outside the city dependent on your party/level.

 

[Canus]

I think a cool solution would be to do some sort of level check and change the quest giver's dialog a little bit... like, if the quest is intended for players at around level 10, but you're level 5, have the quest giver say "Well, you might not be up for this yet, but if you think you've got the nads for it..." or something along those lines. You don't have to specifically reveal what level the quest is meant for; you can just sort of imply it for the player

If I recall correctly the game does that at least once:

Spoiler

In Silverglen I think. When you are trying to infiltrate the Immaculates and you have to go to that cave in the spider/sandstorm section. The guards you have to pass to get there warn you that the area has stronger monsters and you can ask at least one of them if they think you are strong enough to do it. They will either caution you to come back at a higher level or they will tell you that they think you are strong enough to do it.

Don't know if it happens anywhere else though.

The guards on the gates of the first town do something similiar. If you tell them to open the gate when you're below a certain level they'll ask you if you're sure you're ready to take on undead of the strength the ones outside are, if you're above that level they tell you to crush them.
You also have the environmental cues; the path out of the city that leads to the easiest enemies, is the only path without a gate.

Edit: That's what I get for not refreshing the thread.

 

[J_C]

Sad part is, even with leveling up and getting better gear, I still feel hopelessly outmatched. Sigh. I'm guessing they did it this way to drag out the gameplay?

Oh for fucks sake Matt! You are ruining my image.

 

[Metro]

I don't know what he could be doing wrong. I went into the game totally blind and just said... uhhh cleric (since it was sort of paladin like) and ranger. I had no idea what any of the abilities did until I started playing and read them. Maybe he's not making good use of the environment hazards.

 

[Perkel]

I recently listened one of the podcasts with DOS designer and like i thought game was created in such way that upon reaching lvl 11-12 lvls won't mean that much anymore as you have ton of options (like stacking +hit chance, damage and so on).

edit:

for example they had to tell their QA that stacking several ouras for 7k damage is not a bug or design problem. This is how they intended to design it so that players from 11-13 lvl can pretty much take on much higher level foes which ultimately means that from that point there is no really points on map which you "should do first".

IT is especially visible in places like hiberheim and in Luculla after you will be back from hiberheim comparedto Cyseal where there is obvious : do stuff in cyseal first, then go west then north and lastly right.

 

[Gord]

Any tips for the Boreas fight?

I had him down to ~50% health when he switched to Air and almost my entire party got stunned.
Also he's immune to fire and water (dunno about air)? since he looks like a giant snowman I thought fire would help against him...

 

[Cyberarmy]

Any tips for the Boreas fight?

I had him down to ~50% health when he switched to Air and almost my entire party got stunned.
Also he's immune to fire and water (dunno about air)? since he looks like a giant snowman I thought fire would help against him...

Spoiler

Breaking the statues will negate his elemental immunties, you can also use statues for some resistance buffs but destoying them quickly will do much better. After that your mages and elemental weapons can damage him.
Use tornado against his elemental ground, that spell really shines in this battle.

 

[Roguey]

I recently listened one of the podcasts with DOS designer and like i thought game was created in such way that upon reaching lvl 11-12 lvls won't mean that much anymore as you have ton of options (like stacking +hit chance, damage and so on).

edit:

for example they had to tell their QA that stacking several ouras for 7k damage is not a bug or design problem. This is how they intended to design it so that players from 11-13 lvl can pretty much take on much higher level foes which ultimately means that from that point there is no really points on map which you "should do first".

IT is especially visible in places like hiberheim and in Luculla after you will be back from hiberheim comparedto Cyseal where there is obvious : do stuff in cyseal first, then go west then north and lastly right.

I usually think of the power creep that comes with mid-to-late-game RPGs as something unintended, but there's our cargo cult Larian.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I'm almost afraid to ask, but what exactly does 'cargo cult' entail

 

[Roguey]

Copying others without understanding the reasons why they made those decisions.

JRPGs were a cargo cult response to Wizardry and Ultima.

 

[Perkel]

I usually think of the power creep that comes with mid-to-late-game RPGs as something unintended, but there's our cargo cult Larian.

If you have trouble with reading:

It means that after that point game you are as good as your tactical skill and using every mean necessary to do things instead of grinding like idiot to meet quest power req.

If you still don't get it. It means that game system flattens itself so HP and DPS of primary weapon is second important thing and tactic aka use of skills, use of environment takes #1 place. IT also means it from that point plays more like mid level Fallout1/2, arcanum and more RPGs and if you are bad at tactics enemies will butcher you.

There is no problem with stacking skills because enemies can do exactly the same and by stacking auras you are risking whole party turn because that dude who you stacked auras on is as effective as his immunity to status effects. One stun arrow can anihilate whole party effort of that turn.

And if you would play actually game you would know that enemies don't fear to debuff you with slow or other curses.[[/QUOTE]

 

[Roguey]

Lots of people itt saying difficulty becomes a joke once you hit double-digit numbers.

 

[Loriac]

I usually think of the power creep that comes with mid-to-late-game RPGs as something unintended, but there's our cargo cult Larian.

If you have trouble with reading:

It means that after that point game you are as good as your tactical skill and using every mean necessary to do things instead of grinding like idiot to meet quest power req.

If you still don't get it. It means that game system flattens itself so HP and DPS of primary weapon is second important thing and tactic aka use of skills, use of environment takes #1 place. IT also means it from that point plays more like mid level Fallout1/2, arcanum and more RPGs and if you are bad at tactics enemies will butcher you.

There is no problem with stacking skills because enemies can do exactly the same and by stacking auras you are risking whole party turn because that dude who you stacked auras on is as effective as his immunity to status effects. One stun arrow can anihilate whole party effort of that turn.

And if you would play actually game you would know that enemies don't fear to debuff you with slow or other curses.

Just to expand on this: by those levels, you can max out a single skill say, and have 3-4 talents that hopefully you synergise with your primary skill selection. The additional levels to 20 then allow you to add/max other skills, and provide a bit of a dps boost via better item base stats, but for the things you focus on you can get good capabilities by level 11-13 or so.

Lots of people itt saying difficulty becomes a joke once you hit double-digit numbers.

Largely because the typical codexer has a lot of rpg experience and knows how to power build. The D:OS set up allows you to do this by maximising a smaller number of skills by those levels, so if you're able to successfully draw from that slightly more limited pool of tactical options, you can still beat a lot of higher level challenges.

 

[Roguey]

The impression I'm getting is that almost any kind of build (except outright-bad) becomes OP by double-digits, no min/maxing required.

 

[Onholyservicebound]

No, not really, you need to invest in the main stats like dex/str/int to have your spells/skills work right, as well as a lot into the skills to cast at the right AP, so spellswords and the like are always shit. As is almost anyone that doesn't pump points into the main attribute, since it's required to use weapons and armor.

But yes, any played straight build that focuses on their main attribute will get OP. There's still challenge though, anyway, you should probably play the game, or risk becoming a Daedalos centipede.

 

[Darth Roxor]

spellswords and the like are always shit

Bullshit. I've managed to effectively spread my character over single-handed waffen, scoundrel skills, bitchcraft, pyromancy and hydrosophy, and the result kicks ass. All you need to do is plan attribute spread properly and help with items where necessary.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

The impression I'm getting is that almost any kind of build (except outright-bad) becomes OP by double-digits, no min/maxing required.

JUST PLAY THE GAME FFS.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

The impression I'm getting is that almost any kind of build (except outright-bad) becomes OP by double-digits, no min/maxing required.

JUST PLAY THE GAME FFS.

There's no game like the metagame.

 

[Perkel]

No, not really, you need to invest in the main stats like dex/str/int to have your spells/skills work right, as well as a lot into the skills to cast at the right AP, so spellswords and the like are always shit. As is almost anyone that doesn't pump points into the main attribute, since it's required to use weapons and armor.

But yes, any played straight build that focuses on their main attribute will get OP. There's still challenge though, anyway, you should probably play the game, or risk becoming a Daedalos centipede.

That is not true. Imo you are approaching to spellsword wrong way.

In my first playtrough i had fighter/fire mage and it was awesome. I stacked ton of fire resists on him and soon i was able to do things like self immolation and probably if i would stick to it i would have soon explosion which would be awesome AoE for fighter. And from lvl 1 you can use wildfire that not only does speed you up but also protects you from freezing

 

[Cyberarmy]

I boosted my thief with witchraft spells mostly. Just pumped her dex and int with stat points from level ups and boosted speed/con with armor.
Death punching from sneak attack with OoD detroys most of them poor enemies.

 

[Onholyservicebound]

Wildfire requires intelligence to use effectively, otherwise you fumble on cast, warrior skills require strength to use, otherwise they rarely stun or have the effect they need to have, equipment for both classes require those same attributes. What huge pool of attributes are you pulling from? Because in my game there aren't many and every points counts. Madora outdoes my partner who is a spellsword and so does Jahan who is a pure mage, she often fumbles on wildfire and can't wear all the equipment, of course more levels will buff that, at the cost of health, ap, and initiative, whereas the pure builds will not suffer that and continue to outshine.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

That is not true. Imo you are approaching to spellsword wrong way.

In my first playtrough i had fighter/fire mage and it was awesome. I stacked ton of fire resists on him and soon i was able to do things like self immolation and probably if i would stick to it i would have soon explosion which would be awesome AoE for fighter. And from lvl 1 you can use wildfire that not only does speed you up but also protects you from freezing

Yar, definitely untrue. My best character by far is my main character who is a shadowblade, has aeorthurge, pyromancy, witchcraft, a ton of speed, ton of dexterity and most importantly...backstab. Cast haste, firefly, teleport enemy on to fire, spend one or two AP getting behind them and destroy them with backstab using my awesome dagger which my blacksmith/crafter mage made even better (just one example of course).