Reflected all spell damage back to the caster.Don't recall the Cloak of Mirroring (been almost a decade since last I played the BG games), but I agree that having some unbalanced stuff is more fun than too much balance and level scaling.
And no one has managed to do get to BG2 level, and you demand more?
If you think BG2 is an easy game you are delusional. It isnt exactly a very hard game but its hard enough to warrant a somewhat high skill floor. No average rpg gamer nowadays could hope to beat it without troubles. This before taking into account tactics mod.
They really went off the deep end with that one, whole game became easy after setting my CHA to 18.
I dont see a problem with this, not only do you need different classes and and specializations to take advantajes of them, but they are gamechangers, which automatically makes them a thousand times better than anything nowadays. Jesus fuck, the fact that you can name them from memory and that i actually remember what they are and where you get them makes BG2 itemization p. legendarily good.
They were p. fun to use, and kept non casters on the level, instead of merely increasing 3 hp per level.
This is nonsense, underdark is great, elven city is fairly good, and abyss trials is interesting. And then theres ToB, which is basically a gauntlet full of high level enemies and challenges to kill stuff, and it works as that. If you were expecting highly innovative gameplay and tons of optional content, then you didnt understand how expacs worked on the 90s/2000s. I had a blast beating the other bhaalspawns and found it fairly challenging, cant think of a bhaalspawn fight i didnt have to redo other than the first one. Sure, with full knowledge of every class, item and tactic the game is a cake walk, but so is every other rpg on existence, that or they are far too restrictive and not enjoyable to me.
Sure it is, expansions giving you more gameplay and little else is whats expected, and most DLCs nowadays cant even manage that.
Do try battle brothers tho, its actually better than AoD, SitS and underrail at this point.
Then you probably should quit the genre. As of right now the only game i can think of that could satisfy you is copper dreams, and at this point its little more than an idea.
Well, the BG games aren't that hard to mod yourself. I even modded parts of it myself, although not enough to make it a bona fide mod that I would upload.
Two very different beasts for sure.BG2 is arguably not even as good as BG.
Not in terms of combat.Also, Fallout, Fallout 2
Not an rpg.Jagged Alliance 2
Arcanum. At least, in respect to what the Codex traditionally values.
Again, not in terms of combat. And arguably a lot more as well, ive yet to try it.and Swordflight are better RPGs than both BG and BG2.
On its own terms BG2 stands alone. Itemization, encounter design (this is what the thread is about), high level magic system, and even its RtwP mechanics. This is commonly accepted as fact around here. Challenge it if you will, but please do offer examples.So there goes your "nothing is on BG2 level" statement.. it's opinions and assholes, as usual.
Blah blah blah, even fully rested a lot of encounters are designed for a fresh party, and if you dont know what you are doing you will get wiped. Its not an easy game by any means, you just know the system and can meta the shit out of the other elements of the game, so yeah, for you its cake, this is intended.Rest spam makes 90% of the encounters a faceroll. What's the difference between a full spellbooks and an empty one? The devs neglected to enforce restrictions, and the player should not have to impose their own as a result of their spinelessness or ignorance of dungeon mastering. Self-DMing is retarded. Anyway, the player can just rest after every trash pack because there is no AR-wide converging aggro, no scouting or patrolling foes, and no overall AR strategy. The foes are just huddled in pathetic packs waiting for the party to scout them out, kill them, and take their stuff. The other 10% are mostly trial and error encounters, where the player is just learning the ropes in arcane duels. After that, it's just about casting key spells at key moments, resting to replenish the I WIN repertoire, each time.
Nope, they arent, they are just one more element of high level forgotten realms schlock, and its great.In a six person party you will likely be able to take advantage of those items. I've got nothing against game-changers in a limited ruleset like AD&D, but those items are over the top.
This explains p. much how you approach BG2.I flat out don't like epic campaigns, though.
In some respects it is, but watchers keep fits BG2 tone a lot more.That's still a devolution on the second and third chapters in Athkatla. Watcher's Keep is just WEAK compared to Durlag's Tower, too.
It certainly gives us a new perspective to judge stuff from the past. You cant just ignore 30 years of gaming history and judge BG2 on a vacuum.So in the light of current gen DLC, ToB is decent. Doesn't say much, does it.
Oh boy, you never used the cloak of mirroring against them? its p. hilarious.
Yup. And maze cant kill you.Oh boy, you never used the cloak of mirroring against them? its p. hilarious.
The cloak reflects ALL the beholder rays? hmmm
Yup. And maze cant kill you.Oh boy, you never used the cloak of mirroring against them? its p. hilarious.
The cloak reflects ALL the beholder rays? hmmm
Age of Decadence has one of the best encounter designs in any RPG I know and it's certainly better combat-wise than Underrail. Almost all fights are challenging and are interestingly set up. In AoD you have 8 pure combat skills and each one makes your run different (playing as a spearman and playing as an axeman is quite different, it requires using different tactics and you get unique attack types, the same goes for a bowman/crossbowman and a throwing master). Also, there are always opponents that force you to change your tactics, e.g. if you fight Mack The Knife it's better to use a lighter weapon because even though your hits won't be as devastating you will make more damage due to higher chance of hitting a dodge master.
In UR you can use the same tactic for every opponent, there is no one that will force you to do things differently. The very first build I made was a gunslinger and I played a bit with it during EA. I knew what my mistake was when making this build so I took it into account and created my 2nd build once the game was released in 1.0 state and what do you know, every single encounter looked basically the same. And somewhere in the middle of the game I could one-shot any opponent (and I didn't even know that sniper would be so powerful). It's similar with other builds.
What's more in AoD the initiative, your positioning and the sequence of your actions matters more than in UR. Often moving away is the most optimal move because it's a proper turn-based game and the sequence of your actions do matter. Let's check this fight for example: http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/28482212341397668/EF4B7336AD21FCFA4B24174AD42449CF2C8EEA40/
Firstly, it matters who you kill first. Killing the wrong guy might make it easier for others to flank you (plus you can lose more HP because you left someone with high THC and damage per turn alive). Secondly, it matters what initiative your opponents have and in the case of the screenshot above if I go to the right square I can get rid of one opponent for a while because he has to take the long way since his comrades who had higher initiative blocked him passage so they could attack me. No such thing in UR. Sure, there are opponents that you should get rid off first (e.g. a sniper that can one-shot you or a psi-master that can make you think you're a vegetable) but these things aren't as important as in AoD.
Furthermore in UR there are way too many trashmobs or very annoying set-ups that aren't challenging but are tedious. Also, what's the point of having many different builds available if in the end every encounter looks basically the same? Every build is using traps, grenades and energy shield (if you don't you're either stupid or you want the challenge), these things make everything much much easier and you can use them at ANY level. Alchemy, crafting and nets/bolas make fights easier in AoD too but not every build can use them to their advantage due to limited amount of skill points (and in the case of alchemy, bolas and nets limited amount of them). In UR you can spam your enemy with traps and watch how retarded the AI is. But the thing that makes AoD much more enjoyable to me is that they're dynamic and fast contrary to UR ones where everything is in slow motion.
And this is where Underrail fails. It has still better combat than most RPGsbut not as good as AoD.Good encounter design force the player to change tactics from time to time. Not every single fights NEEDS to be unique or clever but the designers should think the most obvious tactics the player will use and throw something that disrupt that at frequent intervals: (...)
Gah, if what you say is true I will never play Underrail. I'm not sold on AoD, either. Does it have strict resource management and rest restrictions; f.e:
How hard is it to heal after a fight?
How hard is it to amass wealth and splurge on vendor items?
How necessary is the use of consumables?
How EZ is it to just walk out of a dungeon midway through, and restock?
I compare everything to Swordflight because it holds to its restrictions, campaign-wide. Oh, and it's free (assuming one already owns NWN).
Then the temple I could casually go after the long bow guys, the only threat with high block, good armour and a good shield, and then stand surrounded by 3 half-capable guys and however many peasants you like and smash their faces in one at a time, no other tactics than taking out the archers first needed at all.
I think a bit of trash mobs (encounters less than level 7 on a 1-10 scale) here and there is ok if you can vary and sprinkle in a bit of everything. Some tactics games feel like I need to take a break after 2 battles. Especially if they last long.
I don't mind smashing a few trash mobs here and there. Easy fights do have their applications... like in the early game when you are just learning the systems, after your characters get new abilities, or when new enemy types are introduced.
Those who like BG's non-existent rest restrictions are those who like binary game-play: hero to zero, rest rinse repeat. That is awful design that is embedded into 99% of RPGs.
I dont see a problem with this, not only do you need different classes and and specializations to take advantajes of them, but they are gamechangers, which automatically makes them a thousand times better than anything nowadays. Jesus fuck, the fact that you can name them from memory and that i actually remember what they are and where you get them makes BG2 itemization p. legendarily good.
Not overpowered compared to the enemies you face, save a couple exceptions. Even the strongest item in the game isnt even near the power of having a mage on your team, almost every cheese tactic in the game is about creative use of spellcasting spellcasting.You mean, BG2 items are legendary overpowered. I will concede though that the little histories and art of each weapon are tasteful.
So the game is easy because you are using cheese tactics. Great job destroying your argument.Oh my god. Only Carsomyr +5 is truly overpowered? Hueheuheuheuhue, the amount of rationalization in this thread. You mean, seriously, Lilarcor +3 with immunity to charm and confusion right off the bat, is not overpowered? You guys talk as if every enemy used a +3. Please, 90% of the game you are killing idiotic trash mobs with weak orcs, zumbis and shit. What enemies besides Kangaxx are overpowered? Even the dragons in this thing die like flies. Lhym posted a photo of Demogorgon. I killed him with a bunch of traps. What a joke. The FOs are easy, but they offer reactivity, skill checks, cool NPCs and a fresh setting. BG2 is all about awesum overkill adventures. One of the reasons why developers can’t make money with challenging games is because you all keep praising shitty broken games. Instead of dumbing down your standards to meet the industry you should demand the industry, or fund the developers, that can satisfy your standards.
You mean, seriously, Lilarcor +3 with immunity to charm and confusion right off the bat, is not overpowered?
Never mind your will probably use this “common weapon” to decimate the entire population of orcs, who only have regular bows and bastard swords.