God DAMN Divinity II is addictive

[Volourn]

*sigh* I wanted to finish the game ebfore commenting and read this whole thread (I'm on p30 now). hwoever, the game has seriously pissed me off.

First off, background for those who don't know, I LOATHED DD1 and haven't tried the other games in the series. I saw the combo of DD2+ expansion ffor $20 so I said WHY THE FUCK NOT and picked it up. And, lo and behold, the game was HELLA fun. All the way up untill...Dragon Form. EPIC FUKKIN FAIL. Now, the whole questing things is fukkin' ruined.

Trying to get around in the Fjord is silly 'cause even after I dealt withe dragon barrier removal lever and reactiveted the portals I cna't reach certain areas either. I see hwat looks to be civilization but the screen will block me off even in human from so it seems like a bug. NothinG i've read anywhere tells me I'm missing something. *fart* And, even if I was, it wouldn't fix the UNFUN GAME KILLING dragon form. FCUK.

The character system is flawed by fine, the atmosphere is fantastic, the music is awesome, the story is solid if not spectacular and the writing while not award winning has its moments. The quests have soime alright C&C, and some of the abilities are cool. the combat is alright, I feel like an explore, and seems worth it. Till 'end of Sentinel Island, this game was a 8-8.5 on the volournian scale.. now, it';ll be lucky to get a 7. I dunno if I'm gonna bother finishing it. Too bad too. This had an outside shot of making my top 10 or at worst top 20 list.

Gah.

 

[ManjuShri]

Push on, there's no dragon form in the expansion. I take it you've reloaded from an earlier point to get past the barrier bug? Which barrier is it, can you take a screenshot?

 

[abnaxus]

Err, there is one dragon form part at the end of the expansion, and it is so terrible it nearly ruins it completely.

 

[ManjuShri]

Oh yeah, I thought that section was in the main game. It wasn't too bad though, just put the difficulty to easy.

 

[Volourn]

Inbetween the two major islands. where all the anti dragon artillary are. On the left side where you have the cave with imps. If you go furtehr than that the game blocks you off from going forward and if you take dragon form you can fly high on the mountain and there's some sort of community there. There's land to change into human form but when you do and try to push into it the game won't let you you go forward. Not truly a barrier ala the shimmering of th anti dragon circles.

I reached the bandit camp/hideout and flicked the lever on the anti dragon barriers and turned on and used the various portals I can reach. There's no reason why i can't simply walk into village/camp/whatever in human form. It is not logical but I'm constantly pushed to the left there. L0L

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Inbetween the two major islands. where all the anti dragon artillary are. On the left side where you have the cave with imps. If you go furtehr than that the game blocks you off from going forward and if you take dragon form you can fly high on the mountain and there's some sort of community there. There's land to change into human form but when you do and try to push into it the game won't let you you go forward. Not truly a barrier ala the shimmering of th anti dragon circles.

I reached the bandit camp/hideout and flicked the lever on the anti dragon barriers and turned on and used the various portals I can reach. There's no reason why i can't simply walk into village/camp/whatever in human form. It is not logical but I'm constantly pushed to the left there. L0L

From memory:

- Dragon Barriers don't prevent you from entering them in human form.
- When you enter the Fjords there are some Imps to the left near a cave under the waterfall. The cave has too strong enemies for now. Straight ahead is an island with a tree involved in some quest. In this direction (straight ahead) there's a big barrier with lots of breeding towers and flying enemies inside (over the water). After you fireballed them all you can drop into the water and swim to the beach in human form. Somewhere up that rock wall is a small outpost with a boss fight. You can disable the barrier there.
- A lot, but not all, barriers in the fjords can be disabled.
- On the left of the water (when entering the fjords) there's a path which leads to Champion Harbor. It's full of Imps you need to kill though. It roughly 3-4-7-8 etc on this map (champion harbor is at 12):

Where is the community you speak of? 8? 11?

 

[Gord]

I don't remember any parts of the Orobas fjords that have been blocked off by the game when you are in human form.

Some entrances are locked until you do some connected quest, but that's it I think.
The only thing I can think of are a few buildings/gates that serve only decorative purposes (like inside the main harbor building) and the toxic fumes in Broken Valley after reaching Orobas Fjords.

 

[DraQ]

There are some full-blown magic forcefields that stop both forms. First cuts off the access into the fjord around #7, preventing access before you get your dragon form (which is necessary to be able to disable it). Anti-dragon fields are best accessed using dragon-drop method - fly above, then revert to human and drop into the field.

Also, mind the z-axis - many locations can be spread vertically throughout the fjords.

 

[Volourn]

I believe itn would be situated at 8. I can fly in DF up the mountain to a landing area and change into human form. The civilization (a fort of some sort) should be easily reachable. But, the game (bug? barrier?) will literally push to the left. It doesn't seem to be an actual barrier (as I believe I lifted the barrier as I fought those black ring goofs in the tower and pulled the lever). If I am on the beach down below past a cave there is also a point where I cna't pass. The only thing i cna think of is that there is something I'm busy though I checked everywhere (including the net lol) to see what's up.

I've found multiple cases, the guy asking for gems, one of the robbers, at least 3 portals that I reactivted (and changed destinations too thinking that would help).

I have game on 360 so I can show you pics. I think it woudl explain things better.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

That's really weird. The community at 8 are just some dragon worshippers. "O mighty Dragon Knight, let us worship you" etc
Normally you can just fly to the landing platform and drop down in human form. They have a few merchants there. There shouldn't be any barrier there either.
If you go down the path I've mentioned towards 12 and you pass by 7 (should be a goblin cave or something) there's a barrier down there too and you can't just follow the path?
Sounds like a bug. As DraQ mentioned, there are some barriers preventing further access into the fjords, because technically you can enter the area at any time even at the beginning while strolling through Broken Valley. Once you get the dragon tower and become a dragon knight and get the quest to go the fjords those bariers should disappear. Sounds like that never triggered. Did you talk to everyone in the tower, all your trainers etc?
Is the game patched? Do you still have a savegame on sentinel island? Definitely sounds like a bug or something. Never had that on PC. Afair the only thing you have to disable is at 6, then you should have access to the rest of the fjords.

 

[DraQ]

Also, make sure it's the right lever.

 

[Volourn]

It's the lever in the tower with the black ring lieutants and the two who are traders.

My version is the xbox combo pack of main game + expansion so I presume it's up to date with patches.

Yeah, if I continue along the path past the gate I get blocked off (again, I keep getting pushed to the left). No matter human or dragon form.

I'll probably try again to see if I'm misisng something but I dunno. I don't think that's the case. Very weird. I really hope it's not a triggering issue as all my saves is post sentinel island plus I've explored a lot of caves now in the fjord's. And, i'd hate to do a few them again. Damn jumping puzzles. L0L

 

[Roguey]

Volourn you're supposed to blow up the tower-things to get rid of the other barriers.

 

[Volourn]

Aren't the anti dragon tower things supposed to be stop dragons so wouldn't logically that stop your dragon form and not your human form? I'll kill them to see if it works but if so that's silly. I hate dragon form. But, anything to get back to playing a real rpg not a fake dragon shit.

btw, P.S. The answer to BIO's question of 'do you want to be a dragon?'.. DD gave me my answer: 'NO I DON'T WANT TO BE A FUKKIN' DRAGON!"


p.s.s. I also thought the anti drgaon barriers had a shimmering glow to them as well. Eh. Ah well..

 

[Oriebam]

I have this game. What's supposed to be good about it? when I was planning what games I was going to install(and when) I checked out some videos and found it a bit off-putting, would like to know more

 

[Volourn]

Despite my above ranting, it's a billion times better than DD1 (or the parts of DD1 I could stomach before I threw it in the trash). It's so good, I kinda am reconsideirng retring DD1 on GOG 'cause how could any sequel be 100x better than the original/ WTF!

Dragon Form is BY FAR the worst part of the game. Jumping puzzles are #2.

Best parts is the sense of exploration, the character system is solid, the story while not spectatular is reasonably done, and the writing is usually good with some awesomeness in it. The combat - for the most part - is fun.

 

[Wordwyrm]

I'm trying to get through it but it's brutally difficult. In order to survive most fights I have to be constantly jumping around/away from my opponent, firing poison arrows at him every so often and letting them wear him down. Whenever I get into a head-on melee fight I come out of it nearly dead and have to wait for my health/mana to recharge.

Somehow I got to the point where I can now transform into a dragon but it hasn't gotten any better.

So the question is, is the game imbalanced, or am I just doing something wrong with my character's build/equipment?

 

[Hobo Elf]

Melee will get your ass handed to you in this game. Not sure about archery, never really tried it that much. From what I saw I did lots of damage, but at the cost of high mana which I couldn't keep up with. I played full Magic User. Never had mana problems and I did massive damage. The game was too easy for me.

 

[ManjuShri]

If you're firing arrows then I take it you're going the ranger route? If so get explosive arrows, splitting arrows and Way of the Ranger and the rest will be a cinch, it's the most powerful class. You shouldn't being going into melee with him.

 

[Phelot]

The game is pretty imbalanced I'm afraid. While equipment obviously makes a difference, a fight can suddenly become easy when you level up once. I've also found it much easier to just stick to one build, that is, put all skills into either Fighter or Mage or whatever. My first playthrough I tried something of a hybrid and it was much more difficult.

Also, you can end up becoming invincible after enough levels, at least in vanilla. I gave up grinding through all the flying fortresses again despite them being easy. It's just too tedious and my OCD doesn't allow me to simply skip them

Also #2, spend money on potions and start brewing them, at least the health ones. Spamming potions is a big part of the game and all that money isn't good for much more beyond your tower upgrades.

 

[hoverdog]

The base game (pre- DKS) was indeed punishing, especially for melee characters. The newer version, however, had completely revamped difficulty. The beginning is still hard and requires a lot of resting in between fights, but the game gets progressively easier with time, and by the time you get dragon transformation on will it's more or less a cakewalk (except for a few boss fights).
Sword-fencing is still the least easy way to play, but come on, it's not that bad. And archery is the cheese path. A few pointers:
- put some points into charm, it works wonders whatever weapon you use; fear is OK too, but less useful
- don't spend any points in wisdom or mindreading, XP is structured in such a way you'll end up at 34 lvl no matter how much experience you lose on reading
- intelligence is the prime stat for each and every style, due to most weapons having magic damage; the rest is secondary
- (combines with above) always look for a weapon with both normal and magical damage; and look for +damage mods - they make dual wielding much better than fighting with shields or two-handed weapons
- way of the ranger + multi-arrow is a motherfucking shotgun massacre

 

[Volourn]

Well.... i had to load from a save a few hours earlier to fix whatever the issue was. L0L Now, the game is back to noraml.. except, fukk dragon form. I really fukkin' hate it when I'm spelunking than I am fukkin' FORCED into lame azz dragon form.

 

[Wordwyrm]

I'll keep your advice in mind. Thanks much, guys.

Volourn: Why do you hate Dragon Form so much? Seems like the most unique thing the game has going for it in my opinion.

 

[Volourn]

'Unique' (even though it isn't as multiple games have allowed you to be a dragon) isn't always a good thing. i don't like it because it simply isn't fun. I much prefer to be my adventurer not some silly dragon.

 

[DaveO]

Despite my above ranting, it's a billion times better than DD1 (or the parts of DD1 I could stomach before I threw it in the trash). It's so good, I kinda am reconsideirng retring DD1 on GOG 'cause how could any sequel be 100x better than the original/ WTF!

Dragon Form is BY FAR the worst part of the game. Jumping puzzles are #2.

Best parts is the sense of exploration, the character system is solid, the story while not spectatular is reasonably done, and the writing is usually good with some awesomeness in it. The combat - for the most part - is fun.

I'd advise against DD on Good Old Games. Looks like Larian is pulling the 'pay-to-patch' thing again with Divine Divinity. Steam users get version 1.006a while the GoG version will permanently stay on version 1.005a

Applicable larian forum information is below:
http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=456404#Post456404