I find the combat confusing and frustrating.

[Mike Hawthorne]

I'm early in the game and win sometimes, but I don't get it.

It always seems to start me at a point where I can't reach the combatants while they can zap me. I don't seem to have the ability to choose who in my team I want to launch an attack.
The game seems to pick the least appropriate character.

It takes me several turns to even get into position to launch at the bad guys. In spite of this, I do end up winning most of the time but it isn't really any fun.

I remember other games with this type of combat, where I could place my team, send someone forward to provoke an attack and then run back drawing the enemy into an ambush, and strategies like that, I don't get enough chances to move to do anything.

Do I eventually get to have more than one turn to attack? It can take forever just to fight off a few trolls, and if I lose I have to go through the whole thing all over again.

I like the world, but I wish the combat was more fun.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Mike Hawthorne:

I find the combat confusing and frustrating.
I'm early in the game and win sometimes, but I don't get it.

It always seems to start me at a point where I can't reach the combatants while they can zap me. I don't seem to have the ability to choose who in my team I want to launch an attack.
The game seems to pick the least appropriate character.

It takes me several turns to even get into position to launch at the bad guys. In spite of this, I do end up winning most of the time but it isn't really any fun.

I remember other games with this type of combat, where I could place my team, send someone forward to provoke an attack and then run back drawing the enemy into an ambush, and strategies like that, I don't get enough chances to move to do anything.

Do I eventually get to have more than one turn to attack? It can take forever just to fight off a few trolls, and if I lose I have to go through the whole thing all over again.

I like the world, but I wish the combat was more fun.

The combat is lots of fun, but you need indeed to get used to that. Once you figure out the basics it becomes a breeze, even on the hardest difficulty.

[Cake for Mumm-Ra]

If you're not familiar with D&D rules, combat in this game might come to you as somewhat confusing. Check out a combat overview like this one to cover the basics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSLGMShwD-I

[Weird Grim]

At level 5 melee classes get an extra attack, also remember to use sneak to get close to enemies and use your potions and scrolls.

[zero]

turn order is at the top of the screen, it requires you to plan around who goes when.

as for reaching people: liberal use of jump, and dont be afraid to give everyone a ranged/thrown weapon for when you cannot reach in time.

martial classes get more attacks per turn (and you can use speed potions to increase it further)

D&D is a game about responding to situations as you are presented with them, half the fun, imo, is recovering from a rough start or surprised fight.

[Tyrendian89]

Originally posted by Mike Hawthorne:

I remember other games with this type of combat, where I could place my team, send someone forward to provoke an attack and then run back drawing the enemy into an ambush, and strategies like that, I don't get enough chances to move to do anything.

for this in particular, dont just run into your enemies. Instead, try sneaking - that'll allow you to pre-position your team somewhat, and attacking from Stealth even gives you Advantage on the first attack.

[Tingly]

Some elements are random, but you have a lot of ways to tilt things in your favor. You can un-group your party and have people sneak up close enough to do something before they're properly engaged in the battle. You can cast buffs before the fight has started.

A piece of advice that has ruined a lot of RPG players brains is 'conserving consumables'; if a battle seems at least a little bit tough, I recommend going ahead and using your resources.

[Baphled]

So there could be a lot going on here. The easiest thing to keep in mind is that the game follows the D&D 5E ruleset. At the start of combat, characters roll for initiative and proceed through their turns in order. So you can't pick who gets a turn when. You can look at the top of the screen for the turn order.

You can also use things like 'dash' or 'jump' actions to get closer to the enemy, or use ranged attacks. If none of those really help, just throw something at them. There's a lot of throwables in the game.

[gerald2]

Originally posted by Mike Hawthorne:

I'm early in the game and win sometimes, but I don't get it.

It always seems to start me at a point where I can't reach the combatants while they can zap me. I don't seem to have the ability to choose who in my team I want to launch an attack.
The game seems to pick the least appropriate character.

It takes me several turns to even get into position to launch at the bad guys. In spite of this, I do end up winning most of the time but it isn't really any fun.

I remember other games with this type of combat, where I could place my team, send someone forward to provoke an attack and then run back drawing the enemy into an ambush, and strategies like that, I don't get enough chances to move to do anything.

Do I eventually get to have more than one turn to attack? It can take forever just to fight off a few trolls, and if I lose I have to go through the whole thing all over again.

I like the world, but I wish the combat was more fun.

In DnD initiative plays huge role and it defines who moves first in combat,about reaching enemy use jumps .step thru fog ability ,flying teleports ,you can even throw smaller party members ie gnomes or halfflings up if enemy have higher ground.
Use spells ranged weapons ranged throwing items etc etc

[LeftPaw]

It took me ages and ages to get combat off, and I still don't really know what I'm doing, but I am much better at it now than I was a month ago.

[mi7spike]

Initiative is rolled when combat starts, this determines the order in which people can act. However, if you have a 'block' of characters who are yours which go after each other, you can click on the portraits to change to them and take the turns in any order you want. (you can even move one, switch to another, do action, switch back etc)

This may help you out in quite a lot of situations if you are having trouble.

[CountCapacollo]

Originally posted by Mike Hawthorne:

I'm early in the game and win sometimes, but I don't get it.

It always seems to start me at a point where I can't reach the combatants while they can zap me. I don't seem to have the ability to choose who in my team I want to launch an attack.
The game seems to pick the least appropriate character.

It takes me several turns to even get into position to launch at the bad guys. In spite of this, I do end up winning most of the time but it isn't really any fun.

I remember other games with this type of combat, where I could place my team, send someone forward to provoke an attack and then run back drawing the enemy into an ambush, and strategies like that, I don't get enough chances to move to do anything.

Do I eventually get to have more than one turn to attack? It can take forever just to fight off a few trolls, and if I lose I have to go through the whole thing all over again.

I like the world, but I wish the combat was more fun.

That's 5e baby. It's garbage compared to 4e.

[zero]

Originally posted by BirdOfBantz:

Originally posted by Mike Hawthorne:

I'm early in the game and win sometimes, but I don't get it.

It always seems to start me at a point where I can't reach the combatants while they can zap me. I don't seem to have the ability to choose who in my team I want to launch an attack.
The game seems to pick the least appropriate character.

It takes me several turns to even get into position to launch at the bad guys. In spite of this, I do end up winning most of the time but it isn't really any fun.

I remember other games with this type of combat, where I could place my team, send someone forward to provoke an attack and then run back drawing the enemy into an ambush, and strategies like that, I don't get enough chances to move to do anything.

Do I eventually get to have more than one turn to attack? It can take forever just to fight off a few trolls, and if I lose I have to go through the whole thing all over again.

I like the world, but I wish the combat was more fun.

That's 5e baby. It's garbage compared to 4e.

thats a very interesting take considering 4e is generally known as the flop of the editions.

[Rex is back, baby!]

Originally posted by zero:

Originally posted by BirdOfBantz:

That's 5e baby. It's garbage compared to 4e.

thats a very interesting take considering 4e is generally known as the flop of the editions.

yea. 3.5e is the golden child, so much so it spawned Pathfinder.
5e then came around, and grew insanely popular mostly due to Critical Role's significance. They brought DnD to the "mainstream." (even though it STILL is kind of niche).

I'm not an active tabletopper, but the DnDers at my local hobby store all hated 4e, like how Warhammer Fantasy players hate Age of Sigmar.

[zero]

Originally posted by Rex:

Originally posted by zero:

thats a very interesting take considering 4e is generally known as the flop of the editions.

yea. 3.5e is the golden child, so much so it spawned Pathfinder.
5e then came around, and grew insanely popular mostly due to Critical Role's significance. They brought DnD to the "mainstream." (even though it STILL is kind of niche).

I'm not an active tabletopper, but the DnDers at my local hobby store all hated 4e, like how Warhammer Fantasy players hate Age of Sigmar.

i will say i technically liked 4e, but im not gonna pretend my obvious bias was what the community at large enjoyed.

im not much of a P&P player anymore, as scheduling is hard, but man 4e was the hardest for that, combats were so health tanky and took forever.

[Mike Hawthorne]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'll try out these strategies.