Party formation at the start of battle

[Swimfan]

There's another post here that isn't well worded in my opinion but asks a really important question: Why is there no strategic way to enter into combat without knowing what is about to happen (especially on your first run)?
The main flaw as I see it comes from players playing main characters that don't belong into the front row (my sorcerer for example). It doesn't feel intuitive to basically detatch your rogue all the time during your first run, sneaking around and scouting for encounters. It also doesn't really help because a huge amount of encounters happen depending on dialogue choices.

I could be wrong here but this basically screams "Put that melee character in the front" which basically kills the purpose of my main characters being the "center of my story" as the melee character then gets to do all the talking.

My ideas would be
a) Let players put the tank in front but toggle one character who gets chosen for the start of every conversation (even if he/she is in the back of the party)
b) let party members form some kind of pre-chosen formation at the start of every battle (only the ones not being detatched of course)

But Larian are anything but stupid so I bet that there is a reason for this not being the case. Anyone knows?

[fulf]

dos2 had formations and the option to force a specific one on battle start, it's not unreasonable to hope that'd be present in bg3 on release

but yes, it is an issue- especially with the large amount of either "ambushy" or dialogue-initiated fights. dos2 at least had the workaround of not forcing you into cinematic dialogue, even if that ended up letting the player cheese their setup by effectively freezing your enemies

[Swimfan]

fulf lähetti viestin:

dos2 had formations and the option to force a specific one on battle start, it's not unreasonable to hope that'd be present in bg3 on release

but yes, it is an issue- especially with the large amount of either "ambushy" or dialogue-initiated fights. dos2 at least had the workaround of not forcing you into cinematic dialogue, even if that ended up letting the player cheese their setup by effectively freezing your enemies

Right? It's kinda mysterious.

I have a very high opinion of Larian and seeing how they love to pick apart and re-arrange every detail of their games (up to re-writing entire characters such as Wyll) this looks like a super strange oversight unless I'm missing something obvious.

[PandoraWolfCrow]

if only they did just for what was supposed to be the next episode of Bg 1&2 (specially the combat and the choices of mellee and what the hell about of everythings goes to some sort of a Chtulthu game here?!!!!!!! there isn"t anymore as to be the third episode of BAldur's gate but an another game here.

[cire87]

i dont remember my EA playthroughs but was there no formations ?

[Terron]

solution? play a beefy barbarian and make him your primary controlled character. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha.......jk but seriously I do tend to make my mc a physical up close heavy hitter. I guess if you are a mage you would need to choose one of the more melee focused characters when exploring around?

[ash0787]

Seems like you cant pause just before combat and have a look around like in old Baldurs Gate, you just get sucked in ( or not as some chars further away or in stealth stay out of combat then later can join battle ), the whole turn and movement system confuses me but I understand its a holdover from Larians other games.

[Swimfan]

Yeahh ... I thought so :-/

I mean I can roll with that (explore dungeons with a melee character and run around in cities with my main) but just as I said in my original post: It feels somehow "half baked" which is strange coming from Larian (especially since it's a really important detail).

[EricHVela]

Was "formations" in DoS2 from the start or was it added later? I honestly don't know, but I seem to remember mentions of the same problem as all fights starting with the wrong character in front in DoS2, but I do know that there were formations when I played it.

I mean, on many D&D tables, the DM will set a map and the players will place themselves for the start of the encounter. One table I watch who is rather rules-strict does it like that: let players set the characters up for the fight (within reason, no immediately surrounding the enemies or other cheesy scenarios).

So, it makes sense for Larian to have it, even if not at launch but eventually.

[Swimfan]

EricHVela lähetti viestin:

Was "formations" in DoS2 from the start or was it added later? I honestly don't know, but I seem to remember mentions of the same problem as all fights starting with the wrong character in front in DoS2, but I do know that there were formations when I played it.

I mean, on many D&D tables, the DM will set a map and the players will place themselves for the start of the encounter. One table I watch who is rather rules-strict does it like that: let players set themselves up for the fight (within reason, no immediately surrounding the enemies or other cheesy scenarios).

So, it makes sense for Larian to have it, even if not at launch but eventually.

I played DOS2 for 220hrs and I honestly don't remember a formation feature ^^"

Yes, I think so too. This not an unreasonable request since many conversations (in which I might want my CHA-heavy sorcerer talking) can end in combat and it honestly blows to start with magic wielders in the front - especially because your melee units then awkwardly need to navigate around them (+they loose out on a LOT of distance). It's no fun wasting every first turn with your tank sprinting ...