"My point is that AoD combat is not difficult enough to actually get the player to actually employ strategy and tactics."
This is blatantly false though, and just a sweeping generalization like most of what you are saying, because I used strategy and tactics to overcome certain fights in many of my playthroughs. Play an assassin and most of the time you will be out-geared and have to rely on using alchemical items, not just bombs to do high damage and knockdown but also using fire vials to funnel or impede enemies in larger fights, poison to gradually weaken tougher enemies, as well as think about positioning, use nets and bolas etc. All of that counts as tactics, and if you are thinking about it before going into a fight then that's strategy. Especially after many playthroughs you are able to plan accordingly before going into a fight because you know enemy equipment, placement, movement routines, and so on, that is all strategy. Thinking about gear and stats is also strategy. The only occasion where I can basically stop thinking about tactics in combat is when I play an IG who gets the maxed out power armor. However in that case I have meta knowledge of how to acquire the power armor, a sufficient number of energy cells, and how to distribute my skills points so that I can do all this. Again, strategy. This is true even after 100 hours of playing the game by the way.
"When people discuss AoD combat, 99% of it is builds or equipment. Almost never do players actually discuss specific tactics."
Again, false. Although I would also say that 99% of the discussion of any given RPG revolves around character builds, so I'm not sure how this is a specific criticism of AoD. Beyond what I already described above, here is a concrete example that I already posted in the screenshot thread. In this fight against Faelan taking some mushroom during the pre-fight dialogue causes him to split into 4. So in order to take down 3 copies I used nets, bolas, fire vials, bombs. After doing this I was left with 1 hp and still had the real Faelan to kill. Before getting here I had acquired cellular regeneration (which I knew how to get because of meta knowledge, and also getting it required me to use tactics in the fight against the mercs because I was outnumbered 3 to 1), so I proceeded to run around the shelf until I had sufficient hp to attempt poisoning him, and did this until I won. I think this goes far beyond your supposedly bullet proof tips of:
"- If you have trouble hitting, increase your weapon skill.
- If you have trouble staying alive, increase your defense skill.
- Wear good armor and use the best weapon you find/ buy/ craft.
- Drink potions.
- Use nets and bolas like the in-game tips tell you to."
(Also it's incredibly retarded to say "Here use these strategies and tactics to make the game easier. Oh by the way this game doesn't require any strategy or tactics.")
There would be plenty of other examples as well. As an assassin it took me something like a dozen tries to get past the ambush that the Forty Thieves set up in Maadoran. That fight takes place in an alleyway with 1 against 5, including two crossbow users, there are no natural chokepoints to take advantage of, and if playing a dagger assassin the enemies have far stronger weapons than you. It took a lot of experimenting on my part before I was able to get past that fight, and it made me realize how useful the Feint option in combat is, because it allowed me to basically use enemies as chokepoints against other enemies. And again this was after about 90 to 100 hours spent in AoD.
I swear you get stupider by the day.
