explorer mode needs a nerf

[Tħĕȷeśťăħ]

i've been playing strategy games 27 years now , and i hate to break it to you but giving me more hp is not making the game easier , explorer mode should be designed so that people who arent good at strategy games can figure out how to get better i am playing in explorer mode to enjoy the story , but instead im on the verge of quitting the game because if an avid strategy gamer such as myself cant even handle explorer mode , then what is the point of continuing farther if im barely getting by on the easiest difficulty???

[Mojo]

You just said you have played strategy games for 27 years. So you shouldnt have any issues. Look up a few guides if needed, but the game isn't that hard even on higher levels / difficulty settings.

Not trying to be a jerk, even though sounds like I am.

[Draknalor]

Honestly the only respec i did on my first playthrough was shadowheart into life cleric.

I managed to beat it on balanced with Fighter lae'zel, Barbarian Karlach, Life shadowheart and Paladin Tav.

3 Melee fighters were a struggle at times, but even i managed on my first run :D

[savage.valentine]

Dude I am TERRIBLE at strategy games (never play them because of this fact) and even then the first battle to give me trouble was against Kethric. Now, I do have D&D experience, so I like to think I know how to character build fairly well... Anyway subclass Astarion as an assassin, give him a bow and sharpshooter, and watch your enemies fall before you. Monks pretty much break the game entirely with tavern brawler. Wyll as a coffeelock? Forget about it.

[ReBootXD]

The way this game works makes it difficult to create truly distinct difficulties. Considering the game relies on RNG (dice rolls) for practically any action.

Other than playing with hp, the only real way to make easy modes easy and hard modes hard, would be to rig the dice. Which kind of defeats the point of the game imo.

[Kuro]

Originally posted by ReBootXD:

The way this game works makes it difficult to create truly distinct difficulties. Considering the game relies on RNG (dice rolls) for practically any action.

Other than playing with hp, the only real way to make easy modes easy and hard modes hard, would be to rig the dice. Which kind of defeats the point of the game imo.

Well in explorer everyone get +2 mastery, so both you and your ennemies hit more reliably and for an 'easy' difficulty I think that's a bit odd, for the player + 2 hit is good but for the ennemies? That make no sens

[jonnin]

there are a few common causes of difficulty even on explorer mode.
- in spite of the name, exploration may be bad. The game is a fixed map / fixed encounters game, so you can very, very easily do what you are told by your friends and find yourself in a fight against 'better than average' level 5 enemy .. at level 2. So the first thing is to make sure you are not getting into it with enemy that are too strong by nature of their level or quantity. You can also just as easily find yourself pitted against 20 goblins at level 2-3. If the enemy seem too tough, look around somewhere else to do stuff for a bit.

- even explorer mode requires a little bit of understanding of game mechanics. you need to understand advantage and disadvantage (respectively, roll attack twice and take best/worst result). You need to understand how to create and remove those effects in combat (can't see in dark is fixed by casting light, for a very simple example). You also need to understand whether you have on gear you should not (no proficiency, big warning on the item when try to use) and just a little bit about the magical system (mostly that you get a few spells per rest & long rest depending on class, and how to budget them so you have what you need in hard fights, and which ones are effective).

- specifically for you: this isn't grand strategy, its battle strategy. (Grand strategy is an overall plan, like taking over the world vs colonizing the moon (civ example)). Battle strategy is "me kill those guys now". For this kind of strategy, you just need to check out the area where a fight will happen and find high ground, observe explosives and useful environmental stuff, size up the threat (look at the enemy: what are they, how hard will they be) and get an advantageous position then strike. If you end up in battles while taking, you will be in the worst possible situation, as by nature those fights favor the enemy due to where they will talk to you at.

A quick example... the fight with the looters at wither's dungeon outside: there is a big rock on a rope above 2 of the 4 enemy you can see. If you shoot it, it will kill 1/2 of your enemy instantly. After that, going inside, the enemy are clustered around an exploding barrel. A little spark and here again 1/2 the enemy will either die or be very badly hurt and one hit kills to finish them.

- all explorer mode does is weaken the enemy a little bit. its not 'can I play daddy' mode (old folks will remember that one!). You will not be walking thru it and everything fall over dead in awe of your presence.

-a balanced party is a big deal. less on your difficulty, but you still might like to have
* one person who can talk to people and convince them to not fight or give you stuff etc
* at least 2 good melee characters
* at least 2 good ranged characters (includes magic)
* 4 ranged characters will work as well, if you have a plan to handle enemy getting too close (eg casters with point blank spells, archers who can fight OK hand to hand)
* at least one person with good buff spells
* at least one person with good crowd control spells
* at least one person who can open locks with minimal effort. This does not need to be a rogue.
* people who use a mix of weaponry (esp melee weapons) so you don't find yourself with 4 greatsword users and only 2 good greatswords.

---------------------
if you missed it, bunch up your group and throw potions on the ground to heal all 4 at once. This is such a big deal in this game, and so easy to miss.

[Defilar]

Originally posted by the.jestah:

i've been playing strategy games 27 years now , and i hate to break it to you but giving me more hp is not making the game easier , explorer mode should be designed so that people who arent good at strategy games can figure out how to get better i am playing in explorer mode to enjoy the story , but instead im on the verge of quitting the game because if an avid strategy gamer such as myself cant even handle explorer mode , then what is the point of continuing farther if im barely getting by on the easiest difficulty???

Put it on custom mode and make it the way you want to play. I know it can be frustrating though and that's understandable.

[Chroniver]

Which fights are you having difficulty with and what is your party composition like? Maybe people here can give some tips.

[Notright]

I think having an understanding of D&D mechanics helps (i.e. how to build a character in order to build synergism between characters in your party). Also, the usual RTS option of agro doesn't necessarily work well with this game. Certain characters/classes are more of a support role. Learning action economy is also imperative.

If you haven't played D&D, the learning curve can be a little steep. The one negative I have is that the game does not explain a lot of the mechanics well and actually have a lot of hidden mechanics, like combining items or spell effects descriptions being a little thin.

I would suggest looking up some guides on YouTube, but understand that there is a high risk of spoilers.

[Razorblade]

Devs can only spend so much time designing difficulties. If you're one of the few people flunking out of the easiest difficulty in an already easy game, you can't expect to be uniquely catered to.

Sorry, but at that point, you have to realize that you are the problem. You either need to figure out what your hangup learning the game is, or just give up and play something else.

[Jeron]

I think the main reason is the difficulty switch at lvl4/5.
At lvl4 you get a feat, which when taken a good one makes the game alot easier. But at lvl 5 martial classes get an extra attack which changed the game completely for me.
It gives you more room to learn the game faster as well.

At the beginning of the game I was getting frustrated as well. I don't mind difficult games, but really hated missing so much, especially with spells.

Same for casters as well. They become demi gods at later levels. You just gotta persist and not give up. Go to the lowest level quests first and move up.

And don't be afraid of resting. I always full rest after significant battles, and still have hundreds of supplies left.
Don't be too conservative with spellslots and abilities, use them. Especially the short rest ones, use those basicly every battle, then short rest.

[skOsH♥]

I have had the same issue as OP

My problem arises from lack of strategy. Approach the game with the idea of gaining the high ground and basically positioning all your characters to fulfill a role in each fight.

Sometimes it helps to make one entire member of your party with a ton of hp, give them the ability to make the enemy only attack them, put your archers up high, a rogue close by to get surprise damage, etc.

Chess is hard for me to beat, purely from a strategy point since it's fairly straightforward

This is kind of like chess, just more complex. Still not as complex as online multiplayer fps objective based games that are on a timer

I mean you get all the chances you want in a battle. I save a lot because this is a new type of video game for me, but I am familiar with d&d

[big sword stoner]

I've never had any problems with difficulty. I have 4 saves on tactician. All feel a tad too easy still.

[φ( 0 ▽ 0 *)♪]

Originally posted by the.jestah:

i've been playing strategy games 27 years now , and i hate to break it to you but giving me more hp is not making the game easier , explorer mode should be designed so that people who arent good at strategy games can figure out how to get better i am playing in explorer mode to enjoy the story , but instead im on the verge of quitting the game because if an avid strategy gamer such as myself cant even handle explorer mode , then what is the point of continuing farther if im barely getting by on the easiest difficulty???

Starting 3 months ago with this game's first newbie, I started in balance mode without looking at any guides (because this is a spoiler). Naturally, I played the game story as well as the battle, skills, the battle of Act1 Druid-Goblin without knowing anything about it.As a result of finishing it, I raised the difficulty level to tactician mode. After that, until the end of this game, I ended it without changing once in Tactician mode. As a tactician, the difficulty felt difficult. On the contrary, the balance felt easy. However, the tactician mode was fun for me.But you say explorer mode is difficult. It's also talking about 27 years of gaming experience.. I cannot agree with this opinion.