God DAMN Divinity II is addictive

[Kashrlyyk]

ok so been playing divinity 2 having alot of fun i got to a place with a mine and a guy screaming about get away from the mine we are gonna blow it up well i saved here but i try to reload my game and all i get is a black screen but my mini map shows i am moving if i try to move there has to be a way to stop this as its my only save aside from auto save but auto save was 6 levels ago

Did you try to load the autosave and then load the other savegame?

ya but same thing happens i dont kno wat to do

http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads ... ber=395840

Tried that?

 

[Mangoose]

of course i did returd

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

But no reaction from anyone in the world....

There's at least one quest I had to change into a woman for.

 

[Murk]

of course i did returd

And to think, the guy was trying to be helpful. My oh my, what a world.

 

[Frau Bishop]

of course i did returd

And of course you didn't manage your savegames like an idiot. Good choice.

as its my only save aside from auto save but auto save was 6 levels ago

That sounds awful. Have you tried turning it off and on again?

 

[WarHamster]

WarHamster, care to share with us some of the details of your character's build?

Sure. If for nothing else, then for the general amusement of the ...

First, I have to remind you that I was building a melee fighter up to around level 8, until I got tired of the way melee combat worked in Div2 (as I said above, I find it clunky and not what I particularly like) and found out how ranged combat was much more effective compared to melee. So the points are spent around a little, but I've never been much of a min-maxer and tend go with my gut feelings more than calculator-crunching when building characters. I guess it shows. The reason I haven't bought any weapon expertise skills is that, at first I wanted to see how the combat works before deciding on which way to go and then afterward was moving away from melee altogether.

Also, I noticed a definite easing of difficulty around lvl 12. Like I had gotten "over the hump" all of a sudden. I was under the impression Larian had dropped level based combat calculations from DKS (they were in ED), but now I'm not sure. I hadn't improved *that* much in two levels to make combat become this easy again. I noticed the stats *seem* to go up automatically on level up, in addition to your selected stat increases, which might be one reason for this. I might be wrong about this, though. However, e.g. for my STR to go from 18 to 32 in three levels (see below), when I was not investing in it, sure points the way of automatic increases (not having gotten gear that would boost STR that much either).

I dug up an old save from when I was just going to Maxos' Temple to be confronted by Rhode, Marius and the two nameless extras. I was at level 10 and cheking that Marius is lvl 12, I see that I might have been undelevelled and over my head on this. Then again, Talana keeps on urging you to Maxos' Temple several times when you're doing side quests in the BV, so I'm blaming her ("OK, I'm going already!"). That bitch, she wanted me dead! *shakes fist*

STATS and SKILLS at Level 10

VIT 12, SPI 1, STR 18, DEX 12, INT 6; HP 199, Mana 107.

Magic Missile: 1/5, Whirlwind: 2/5, Jump Attack: 2/5 (a mistake, should never have gotten this, but was too far ahead when I noticed how crappy this was to go back to an earlier save), Fatality: 1/5 (another mistake of my early warrior spec days, p. useless skill), Ranger Strength: 1/5 (starting to go ranged at lvl 9-10), Stun Arrows: 1/5 (ditto), Lockpicking: 2/5 (the early game was so easy combat-wise, that I decided to get this to open all those inviting locked chests littered about - gots ta have juicy loot).

So, I dragged myself through most of Maxos' Temple with that character. Amdusias, however, was waaay too hard to beat at that level (which, in hindsight, is just as it should be!), so I took the teleporter and went to side quest in the BV for a few levels. Exploring the whole area and doing (nearly) every quest I found and killing every enemy I came upon (but not the rabbits or the like, wabbits aren't my enemies and I doubt they would yield much XP anyway). During this time I got myself the Summon Undead skill which I found immensely useful. So useful, in fact, that I increased that skill exclusively for the three level ups I got while side questing. The 3rd increase was a bit too much, I guess. Got a bit carried away with my undead minion, who I call Bob. Bob is just so very useful as a distraction. While he's running interference and taking potshots at the enemy, I can Stun Arrow one enemy (if even for a few seconds) and drop his buddy before he recovers. Then turn on him, all the while Bob is pounding someone else to pulp and keeping him off my tail. Very effective.

Anyway, this is my character right after defeating Amdusias (which is my latest save).

STATS and SKILLS at Level 13

VIT 26, SPI 5, STR 32, DEX 13, INT 16; HP 340, Mana 147.

Same skills as above, plus Summon Undead (Bob): 3/5.

There! Now go have a field day tearing that apart.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

For me, level 12-14 was about the hump difficulty-wise as well. I was playing a pretty different build - battlemage - and things only really changed when I found a weapon enchanted to boost my magic damage, but I had to turn it down to Normal for a few hours because mobs were just raping me. I had a fair amount of trouble in the Maxos Temple - think I was about level 13-14? - especially with the band of Black Ring bros. Amdusias was fine as long as he didn't use explosive arrow, which killed me in one hit. He did use it. With depressing frequency. After that, the game pretty much nosedived in difficulty to the point where I killed the final boss with a single Way of the Battle Mage/rush attack/thousand strikes combo.

It's not the best-balanced game in the world, but I've said it before and I'll say it again: fuck balance in single-player games. To me, it just renders the experience sterile and lifeless. Give me the tools and give me the motivation, and I want to find all sorts of colourful ways to break the shit out of your game; I expect disgusting difficulty spikes and near-impossible encounters in return.

Then again, Talana keeps on urging you to Maxos' Temple several times when you're doing side quests in the BV, so I'm blaming her ("OK, I'm going already!"). That bitch, she wanted me dead! *shakes fist*

 

[WarHamster]

Also, cliched? - my impression is that Divinity 2 is the kind of game that dons idiotically elaborate armour, grabs cliche by the balls, hops on its back and rides it around while dual wielding Epic Glowing Magic Swords of Many Prefixes and spouting witty one-liners till the cliche drops dead from exhaustion. Then it finds itself another cliche...

Accusing Divinity 2 of cliches is like accusing Wiz 8 of having campy villain or accusing Anachronox of being goofy and having goofy loser and jerk for a protagonist.

I'll have to concede a point on this. You're right. I was taking Div2 way too seriously. With all its jokes and tongue-in-cheek stuff, cliches and campiness aren't what should be critisized, but taken as part of the package. Oh well, as they say, everyone thinks they've got a good sense of humor, while very few actually do. My bad.

 

[WarHamster]

There's no way you did very many side quests in BV if you were only lvl 10 by the time you got to the temple.

Correct. I found out that I was underlevelled, had plenty of side quests still to do and admit I tackled the temple too early. As I said above, I just got my wires crossed or something by the constant urging to go to the temple by Talana. Never listen to woman! Sheesh, should've learned that by now...

Sounds to me you'd be better off playing Oblivion where everything is scaled to your level.

Oh please! That's not what I want. Much of Div2's early game plays like a single-player MMO or something. Very easy fights, dumb mobs in clumps to pull and slaughter, random loot drops and choosing of quest rewards from a list, quests themselves like in MMOs (go get me goblin hearts, plz, they drop at about 30% rate), melee combat which plays just like in MMOs and so on and so forth. If I got railroaded, I got railroaded to the idea what this game was about based on the early impressions, only to find out later that it wasn't quite so (and good for that!). That's what threw me off and prompted the semi-rant before. Sure, my own fault, but I was fooled by that early game experience to expect a balanced, almost levelled areas, progression and finding out Div2 was different (while still acting very MMO-like) was perhaps "the hump" I needed to get over.

Games, like the Gothics I mentioned above, which are "uneven" and not scaled to your level do not bother me. Games that trick you do. But enough of this. My bad, yeah, yeah. Still not going to praise Div2. There's so much I would have wanted done differently (like the melee combat), but it's an OK game, I'll give you that. Different strokes all that shit.

 

[dr. one]

I noticed the stats *seem* to go up automatically on level up, in addition to your selected stat increases,

they don´t, only hp and mana go up automatically.
the increase must be from gear, or maybe you drank some potions before dealing with Amdusias.

i think level difference still plays some role in combat calculations, just not as significant as in ED.

wabbits aren't my enemies and I doubt they would yield much XP anyway).

killing about 25 of them might yield something... (do at your own risk, though)

got myself the Summon Undead skill which I found immensely useful..

if you do a certain side quest you can also obtain a second summon for which you don´t need any skill investments. i´ve used it all the time as a distraction when dealing with those Black Rings at lower levels.

 

[DraQ]

ok so been playing divinity 2 having alot of fun i got to a place with a mine and a guy screaming about get away from the mine we are gonna blow it up well i saved here but i try to reload my game and all i get is a black screen but my mini map shows i am moving if i try to move there has to be a way to stop this as its my only save aside from auto save but auto save was 6 levels ago

So, to sum it up: you relied exclusively on your autosave and quicksave for many hours, saved in the middle of a scripted scene which is known to sometimes break stuff in many different games running on many different engines, predictably ran into a problem, whined about it on a forum using all lowercase and no punctuation, then called a person trying to help you a "returd".
My, my, what a consoletarded thing to do.

*BUILD*

I wouldn't whine about your build too much. The first thing I do is maxing out lockpicking, so you're still several points ahead. Still:

1. If you are going to use any amount of melee, let alone have a melee build, you need at least one point in rush attack. Seriously, what the fuck were you thinking? This is one of the two skills that gives you any chance at approaching enemies launching barrages of arrow or spells. Not taking even a single point in this skill is equivalent of bringing a knife to an artillery fight. One point is enough, unless you plan to specialize in turning yourself into supersonic ITZ incarnate, but you need at least this one point.

2. Magic missile is one of the skills that need heavy point investments to remain useful, high int and powerful magic based weapons also help.

3. Jump attack is a matter of taste and tactics, at high level it yields some nice boosts, the best thing is that it needs no hotkey. I don't really like that skill, but can imagine it being quite deadly.

4. Whirlwind remains useful with just one point, but you may want to pump it up if it's your main way to keep crowds at bay.

5. Fatality is of limited utility, but far from useless - basically it's a boss killer, when maxed out (and you can get about +9 bonus from non-random items alone in DKS) it instakills anything around 50% of health. Ever brought some boss down to last HPs only to have him heal all the way up again, then repeated this several times? Fatality.

6. Weapon expertise skills are very, very nice, but far from essential, even if you melee.

7. Summons are nice, but there is no excuse for not having creature. It doesn't require any point investments, it's completely independent of build and it can be customized to suit variety of builds and play styles. It also soaks up damage very nicely, which can be important if you face Amdusias and he decides to explode your ass with an arrow.

8. The other skill that is very useful against ranged attackers, and can be very tactical with about any build is Hide.

One or two points are enough, main use is to buff yourself (WoTR, WoTBM or Berserk, depending on build), hide, approach, RAPE, run!
-as a ranger you will want to use Split Arrow shotgun point blank to take out a single target
-as a warrior, Whirlwind against group, or Thousand Strikes to murderize single target
-mage will do best with firewall, though a fireball on exit won't hurt either
-any build may benefit from using Curse as part of the combo, but this skill requires constant investments to remain effective.

In any case, DKS seems much easier at some points, while I was playing ED, then the beginning of Sentinel Island subjected me to Dragonelf rape squads and it was ITZ. Good thing that this was also the point where Firewall and Explosive Arrows became available or I'd have no choice but to submit and die screaming.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

... killing every enemy I came upon (but not the rabbits or the like, wabbits aren't my enemies and I doubt they would yield much XP anyway).

NO NO, you MUST kill rabbits! Kill at least 25 a soon as possible, you get an awesome..... um.... achievment.

At least you sound like you're enjoying more than before. The game definately grows on you and does get better as you go along.

Don't worry too much about skill selection at this stage, when you get your battle tower you can re-spec (for a price).

Also, go get Junior (your creatur) ASAP, he's a better summon than the ghost. If your going to put points into summoning, put them in the demon - he's a great tank.

I found a charm/summon combo to be extremely enjoyable. With your creature + summon + charm, you can have your own little army fighting alongside you.

 

[Satori (original)]

It's 20 and I suggest killing the 20th when you're next to a big rock.

 

[Multidirectional]

Also Charm. Extremely useful skill for any build to have. You can even charm enemie healers. They seem to use healing less when charmed but will save your ass a lot nonetheless. Between creature and Charm I didn't need a summon with my mage.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

Everything in this game only really shows you how useful it is a bit after you start investing in it. Jump attack starts off at like +10 damage, then the progression is something ridiculous like +17,+25,+33,+100. +100 is not a typo, it really does triple in strength over the course of one level. Whirlwind attack is similar, up to level 3 it gives like +20 damage, but then I found a +2 whirlwind amulet and it suddenly gave +110 AoE damage and my less than lvl 10 character became a raping whirlwind of death. Anyone wanting to know whether a skill scales well should take about 5 mins to start up the expansion and see how everything pans out when you push the initial character points around.

 

[DraQ]

Everything in this game only really shows you how useful it is a bit after you start investing in it. Jump attack starts off at like +10 damage, then the progression is something ridiculous like +17,+25,+33,+100. Whirlwind attack is similar, up to level 3 it gives like +20 damage, but then I found a +2 whirlwind amulet and it suddenly gave +110 AoE damage and my less than lvl 10 character became a raping whirlwind of death. Anyone wanting to know whether a skill scales well should take about 5 mins to start up the expansion and see how everything pans out when you push the initial character points around.

That's actually my main complaint about Div2. Skill progression is not linear and each skill progresses along different curve, yet, you don't have any indication how given skill will develop.
Also, one of the big problems is that some skills become completely useless without constant investments - see curse or charm.
IMO such situation should never take place. Skills should be much more scalable, with lvl1 skill remaining consistently useful throughout the game, but not really powerful. There should be more percentages, less fixed values, more chance to affect, less fixed levels.

 

[Mangoose]

ok so been playing divinity 2 having alot of fun i got to a place with a mine and a guy screaming about get away from the mine we are gonna blow it up well i saved here but i try to reload my game and all i get is a black screen but my mini map shows i am moving if i try to move there has to be a way to stop this as its my only save aside from auto save but auto save was 6 levels ago

So, to sum it up: you relied exclusively on your autosave and quicksave for many hours, saved in the middle of a scripted scene which is known to sometimes break stuff in many different games running on many different engines, predictably ran into a problem, whined about it on a forum using all lowercase and no punctuation, then called a person trying to help you a "returd".
My, my, what a consoletarded thing to do.

trollolol

 

[DraQ]

ok so been playing divinity 2 having alot of fun i got to a place with a mine and a guy screaming about get away from the mine we are gonna blow it up well i saved here but i try to reload my game and all i get is a black screen but my mini map shows i am moving if i try to move there has to be a way to stop this as its my only save aside from auto save but auto save was 6 levels ago

So, to sum it up: you relied exclusively on your autosave and quicksave for many hours, saved in the middle of a scripted scene which is known to sometimes break stuff in many different games running on many different engines, predictably ran into a problem, whined about it on a forum using all lowercase and no punctuation, then called a person trying to help you a "returd".
My, my, what a consoletarded thing to do.

trollolol

Sorry, my bad, let's try again:
My, my, what a consoleturded thing to do.

There.

 

[WarHamster]

Also, go get Junior (your creatur) ASAP

Summons are nice, but there is no excuse for not having creature.

Eh, I must've missed something pretty major as I haven't got a clue how/where to get that creature. Am I supposed to have found/made one by now? I'm currently in the Maxos Temple still, having only just defeated Amdusias and haven't yet returned to Lovis. I've done the Temple of Doom, but didn't find no creature or creature magics there, nor in the Lovis' Tower (been at the top with the undead smith and at the bottom with the angry ghost). If I'm to have a creature by now, at lvl 13, care to give a hint where/how to get one to a fellow Dragon Knight? A hint only, no outright spoilers.

Note: If it has something to do with ZixZax and the pieces of parchment or the mysterious three sleepers, then just nod and I'll keep on looking (haven't found all the parchment pieces yet, nor did I mindread the sleepers yet). I seriously doubt the sleepers have anything to do with this, however.

turning yourself into supersonic ITZ incarnate {snip} subjected me to Dragonelf rape squads and it was ITZ

Me dense. Me not get the reference. ITZ??!

Also, what the hell's the deal with the parrot here? This one -> "Don't hit me with a mallet! I'll give you the cordinates without violence, OK. Polly just wants a cracker."

 

[Admiral jimbob]

First area of Broken Valley, the bit that's available before you start/go on with the main quest.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

First area of Broken Valley, the bit that's available before you start/go on with the main quest.

Yeah, you need to explore more (hint->caves). Also, check your quest log - should be a hint on where to go in there.

You can get the creature almost from the start.

 

[DraQ]

First area of Broken Valley, the bit that's available before you start/go on with the main quest.

Pretty much. You need to visit distant part of the BV to actually complete the quest, so it requires completing the very first part of the MQ (fighting the ghost), but otherwise can be completed early and gives you access to powerful follower.

 

[hoverdog]

You even get hints from people in the village, AND on the loading screens. Surprisingly, necromancy isn't forbidden in the world of Divinity at all.
Shame that by the end of ED the creature is finished. I haven't found a single better limb during fortress hunting and the whole of FoV. Another area Larian can improve in.

 

[DraQ]

You even get hints from people in the village, AND on the loading screens. Surprisingly, necromancy isn't forbidden in the world of Divinity at all.
Shame that by the end of ED the creature is finished. I haven't found a single better limb during fortress hunting and the whole of FoV. Another area Larian can improve in.

Well, you do get pointed to the necromancer when you ask the priest about Lovis, so I find missing the necromancer entirely baffling at the very least.

 

[Data4]

I can't play this game more than 10 minutes before I start getting motion sickness. No other game does this to me, and I play a variety of 1st and 3rd person games. The last time I had this problem was when the original Doom first came out, but I eventually got over it.

Anyone else have this problem or am I some kind of freak?