Combat is too damned hard

[BionicDance]

Look, I've been enjoying this game for the past three days, but now it's starting to really suck and the problem is combat.

My characters are level 4. They're actually pretty badass.
But the game keeps throwing these unwinnable scenarios at me, where we get swarmed and stomped into the dirt. There's four of us against twice as many hook horrors, for example. We just don't have what it takes against those odds.

But with no random encounters, I've killed everything on the map that won't utterly destroy me. I can't grind to level up, so I'm basically completely stuck.
And I don't want to switch difficulty modes because it seems too far in the other direction from the description; I don't want less emphasis on combat, I just want combat to be potentially winnable!

I want to like this game, I really do...but at the moment, it's pure frustration.

[✙205🍉🐆→]

Why your characters so low level?

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by BionicDance:

Combat is too damned hard
Look, I've been enjoying this game for the past three days, but now it's starting to really suck and the problem is combat.

My characters are level 4. They're actually pretty badass.
But the game keeps throwing these unwinnable scenarios at me, where we get swarmed and stomped into the dirt. There's four of us against twice as many hook horrors, for example. We just don't have what it takes against those odds.

But with no random encounters, I've killed everything on the map that won't utterly destroy me. I can't grind to level up, so I'm basically completely stuck.
And I don't want to switch difficulty modes because it seems too far in the other direction from the description; I don't want less emphasis on combat, I just want combat to be potentially winnable!

I want to like this game, I really do...but at the moment, it's pure frustration.

Share character sheets and details about the encounters you are talking about.

[Firecam]

I think i know where you are currently, try approaching the fight from a different angle, also you can recruit an npc in this area.

[Normie Hunter]

this game on tactician is actually extremely easy. Pathfinder on the other hand...

[Trolleur_Durden]

The first playthrough can be quite rough, you are free to go in a lot of directions, but some of them are quite deadly if you are underleveled. The most difficult thing is to reach lvl 5, after that, the difficulty goes downhill pretty steadily.

My general advice, without knowing your builds or anything, is to explore as much as possible in all directions and go another way whenever you encounter a wall, until your team is strong enough to tackle everything Act 1 has to offer.

[ChuckyDontCare]

You've cleared everything up top and now you're stuck in the Underdark at level 4? There's a lot of content there in the UD. Grymforge? Something seems off. Level 5 is a huge upgrade - Lae'zel gets an extra attack for example.

Positioning is something I think that isn't very well explained the in the tutorials. Like with Astarion or your Rogue, hold Shift to see the enemy lines of sight, put him out of it, bonus action Hide, then smack them in the face with a sneak ranged attack for huge damage.

Might need to change your party composition or swap out some spells; hard to tell without more info.

[hermit0wl]

What difficulty are you on now? Balanced is quite good if you're unfamiliar with DnD or just not into min-maxing, and switching difficulty doesn't change the amount of combat. Otherwise, you could look up builds and watch other people play to see what they're doing differently in terms of tactics and preparation.
Also, lvl 5 is a big shift in power with extra attacks and lvl 3 spells, hang in there :)

[Invisible]

There also some helpers you can call in for the massive fights.

Other advice: Use scrolls, potions and bombs. Respec the spell books depeding on the fight. High ground is mandatory for Archers and Casters.

If you don't know: you can save anytime during the fight. So you could try different tactics.

[BionicDance]

Originally posted by ✙205🍉🐆→:

Why your characters so low level?

Because there is nothing to kill!

You can't grind in this game.
I have emptied out every town and dungeon I can find that isn't a suicide mission.

What else can I do?

[Sardorim]

Originally posted by BionicDance:

Look, I've been enjoying this game for the past three days, but now it's starting to really suck and the problem is combat.

My characters are level 4. They're actually pretty badass.
But the game keeps throwing these unwinnable scenarios at me, where we get swarmed and stomped into the dirt. There's four of us against twice as many hook horrors, for example. We just don't have what it takes against those odds.

But with no random encounters, I've killed everything on the map that won't utterly destroy me. I can't grind to level up, so I'm basically completely stuck.
And I don't want to switch difficulty modes because it seems too far in the other direction from the description; I don't want less emphasis on combat, I just want combat to be potentially winnable!

I want to like this game, I really do...but at the moment, it's pure frustration.

Play on Explorer.

There's no shame in it.

Use this as time to learn the game and stuff. Also, go wild.

Like throw Grease Bottles on the ground near a bunch of enemies then aim a firebolt at at the ground. Light'em up.

Most players here have multiple playthrough going on. Using the first one to learn isn't a bad thing.

Also: Let the enemies come to you.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Normie Hunter:

this game on tactician is actually extremely easy. Pathfinder on the other hand...

Mathfinder: forgot to cast Mage armour before? Guess what. Your whole party wipes!

[BionicDance]

Originally posted by Firecam:

I think i know where you are currently, try approaching the fight from a different angle, also you can recruit an npc in this area.

There is no other angle.
What there is is too many monsters at once.

I could handle 1/2 or maybe 2/3 of what they throw at me, but there are just too many at one time and we get mobbed.

[BionicDance]

Originally posted by Trolleur_Durden:

The first playthrough can be quite rough, you are free to go in a lot of directions, but some of them are quite deadly if you are underleveled. The most difficult thing is to reach lvl 5, after that, the difficulty goes downhill pretty steadily.

Well, I can't get there.

My general advice, without knowing your builds or anything, is to explore as much as possible in all directions and go another way whenever you encounter a wall, until your team is strong enough to tackle everything Act 1 has to offer.

I have. There is nowhere left to go that isn't 100% a suicide mission.

[BionicDance]

Originally posted by Invisible:

There also some helpers you can call in for the massive fights.

Other advice: Use scrolls, potions and bombs. Respec the spell books depeding on the fight. High ground is mandatory for Archers and Casters.

If you don't know: you can save anytime during the fight. So you could try different tactics.

No, the enemy is just ridiculously overpowered.
And they're not even that; I can handle the monsters themselves. The problem is that they show up in packs.

When there are twice as many monsters as your party and each has twice as many hit points and hit twice as hard, that's just ridiculous.

[HEY]

Originally posted by BionicDance:

Originally posted by Trolleur_Durden:

The first playthrough can be quite rough, you are free to go in a lot of directions, but some of them are quite deadly if you are underleveled. The most difficult thing is to reach lvl 5, after that, the difficulty goes downhill pretty steadily.

Well, I can't get there.

My general advice, without knowing your builds or anything, is to explore as much as possible in all directions and go another way whenever you encounter a wall, until your team is strong enough to tackle everything Act 1 has to offer.

I have. There is nowhere left to go that isn't 100% a suicide mission.

Screen shot your map (Zoomed out) and character sheets and post it here, no one can help you if you provide 0 information.