Surprise is terribly used in many encounters.

[Picklefather Nurgle]

In this game, I have consistently (sometimes in Act 1 but mostly in Act 2) been "surprised", despite the fact that I knew the fight was coming, summoned a unit/threw a party member in on purpose only to send the rest of the group (who is often hiding well away from the site of the attempted ambush) in with the aim of ambushing the ambushers, only to have the "Surprised!" condition forced upon my party as soon as we enter combat.

In a game where there are a myriad of ways to deal with combat encounters, being forced to cede an entire round to enemies despite the fact that I knew they were there and purposefully sprung it in such a way as to give myself the ability to react properly is borderline idiotic. I've got a few other issues with the game, mostly interface issues and the like, but none of them have been truly huge aside from this one.

[Cryptic]

My party has been surprised literally one time and I'm a good portion of the way through act 2. And when they got surprised, it definitely made sense. I wonder if something else could be the cause in your situation. If anything, we often surprise the enemy, even sometimes when I would argue that the enemy really wasn't or shouldn't have been

[Vixziค็็็็็n]

Agreed. Not a fan of inescapable surprise events.

[Settings]

Just because you see the fight coming doesn't mean your characters did.

[mitchincredible]

I only had one time where I got surprised when I attacked first - think it's a bug or perhaps if you, say AoE and they all resist or something

But if you're talking about because you 'see' an ambush - if you're hardcore roleplaying the characters only sense an ambush, they don't actually 'see' anything unless it's implied by you attacking

[Picklefather Nurgle]

Originally posted by Cryptic:

My party has been surprised literally one time and I'm a good portion of the way through act 2. And when they got surprised, it definitely made sense. I wonder if something else could be the cause in your situation. If anything, we often surprise the enemy, even sometimes when I would argue that the enemy really wasn't or shouldn't have been

Nah, its either the intended design or a bug. The current fight I'm save-scumming (cus feck having to take almost half the entire party's health in damage before we're even allowed to take an action) is the Living Armor ambush in the Acid Pit under the Morgue in Act 2. I summoned a Guardian of Faith with Shadowheart into the center of the acid pit and sprung it.

After that, I had the other three party members hiding a few feet away so that they wouldn't be pulled into the fight immediately. Mission accomplished too, until I try to get them into the fight. Shadowheart is, of course, surprised, since she had to break her stealth to summon the spirit, but the others are not. Yet the moment I, lets say, use Wyll's Eldritch Blast on the enemies, he gets "Surprised". I shoot at them with Lae'zel, she gets "Surprised". I have my MC cast a spell at the enemy, he gets "Surprised".

If this is intended, its garbage. I'm hoping this is a bug.

[Picklefather Nurgle]

Originally posted by ᛊᚨᛁᛚᛟᚱ ᛗᛟᛟᚾ:

Just because you see the fight coming doesn't mean your characters did.

Read my above comment.

[Heu, Iterum Id Feci]

Just get the alert feat and never be surprised again, and almost always be top of the initiative.

[Picklefather Nurgle]

Originally posted by Dαятн Wαfflεmαncεя:

Just get the alert feat and never be surprised again, and almost always be top of the initiative.

Having to sacrifice a Feat to get around bad design and/or bugs is something I refuse to do, though I had forgotten about the Feat, so I might very well use it in future runs if this is never patched out.

[Cryptic]

Originally posted by Picklefather Nurgle:

Originally posted by Cryptic:

My party has been surprised literally one time and I'm a good portion of the way through act 2. And when they got surprised, it definitely made sense. I wonder if something else could be the cause in your situation. If anything, we often surprise the enemy, even sometimes when I would argue that the enemy really wasn't or shouldn't have been

Nah, its either the intended design or a bug. The current fight I'm save-scumming (cus feck having to take almost half the entire party's health in damage before we're even allowed to take an action) is the Living Armor ambush in the Acid Pit under the Morgue in Act 2. I summoned a Guardian of Faith with Shadowheart into the center of the acid pit and sprung it.

After that, I had the other three party members hiding a few feet away so that they wouldn't be pulled into the fight immediately. Mission accomplished too, until I try to get them into the fight. Shadowheart is, of course, surprised, since she had to break her stealth to summon the spirit, but the others are not. Yet the moment I, lets say, use Wyll's Eldritch Blast on the enemies he gets "Surprised". I shoot at them with Lae'zel, she gets "Surprised". I have my MC cast a spell at the enemy, he gets "Surprised".

If this is intended, its garbage. I'm hoping this is a bug.

I would agree in this case it definitely sounds like a bug. I guess it could be reasoned that maybe they don't understand the severity of the situation so when they see what's transpiring, they get shaken and surprised, but if so, that's pretty weak

[Picklefather Nurgle]

Originally posted by Cryptic:

I would agree in this case it definitely sounds like a bug. I guess it could be reasoned that maybe they don't understand the severity of the situation so when they see what's transpiring, they get shaken and surprised, but if so, that's pretty weak

Yeah, this has happened a few times before, but since that was mostly in Act 1 or with easier encounters it didn't really matter. Here though, its a small, enclosed space with enemies that don't hit terribly hard, but aren't exactly weak either. If the enemy gets lucky on damage rolls I either end up with half my party at half health or 1 or 2 people downed on turn 1.

[Quillithe]

Huh I did act 2 and I thought I explored pretty well but I guess not

[Picklefather Nurgle]

Originally posted by Quillithe:

Huh I did act 2 and I thought I explored pretty well but I guess not

To be fair, the area I'm in is easy to miss. Its off to the side of the map of the town, and even then its a dark hole in the ground covered in roots with a big set-piece like the army of the Absolute over the horizon. Easy to miss if you don't mouse over it, or just don't think to check at the bottom of a staircase that goes into a seemingly empty pit.

[Shyba]

surprise is a weird mechanic in this game tbh.. sometimes it's FORCED on you (even if you say attack mid dialog if the combat was meant to "surprise you" you get surprised) and othertimes you try to surprise the neutrals who you NEED to kill (i.e. the game will make you kill them later anyways)? you get "assault" dialog which removes the surprised state <_> like it arbitrarily gives/removes surprise in some cases (yes i know there's like 12 guys here.. we are talking to them.. why am i suddenly surprised? I STARTED THE FIGHT)

[Picklefather Nurgle]

Originally posted by Shyba:

surprise is a weird mechanic in this game tbh.. sometimes it's FORCED on you (even if you say attack mid dialog if the combat was meant to "surprise you" you get surprised) and othertimes you try to surprise the neutrals who you NEED to kill (i.e. the game will make you kill them later anyways)? you get "assault" dialog which removes the surprised state <_> like it arbitrarily gives/removes surprise in some cases (yes i know there's like 12 guys here.. we are talking to them.. why am i suddenly surprised? I STARTED THE FIGHT)

Yeah, its definitely some BS. Found a workaround though: if you summon a disposable enemy like a Magehand or something, then let the enemy kill it and reset/exit combat, you can then reengage them with sneak attacks without getting forcefully surprised.

[Lamp]

There's a workaround to being surprised: Separate your party, have most of them sneak and then send in one durable character well ahead. Then, once the meatshield gets ambushed, have your party come join the fight/roll initiative and not be all surprised about it.