So, squiking

[kotor_fan]

1.5k AOE?
2k dmg twice in a turn?

Seriously?
Why? Just... why?

I cruise through all enemies on that map, but barely scratch that bastard before getting wiped. Lvl 50 party, upgraded as much as can be based on gear available.

Worst part, why am I even bothering with combat...it was fun at first, it's only repetitive at this point, it is INSANELY time restricted and adds nothing but stress and frustration in an otherwise great VN.
Did you hire few guys from Owlcat to make this? Same ones that worked on crusade mode in WotR.

Anyway, that's my 2nd rant today related to combat, and I'm done. Lord help me, I hope lowering difficulty to easy makes a difference, but some inner voice tells me that battle will be same nightmare even on that.

[Studio Daimon]

Originally posted by kotor_fan:

1.5k AOE?
2k dmg twice in a turn?

Seriously?
Why? Just... why?

I cruise through all enemies on that map, but barely scratch that bastard before getting wiped. Lvl 50 party, upgraded as much as can be based on gear available.

Worst part, why am I even bothering with combat...it was fun at first, it's only repetitive at this point, it is INSANELY time restricted and adds nothing but stress and frustration in an otherwise great VN.
Did you hire few guys from Owlcat to make this? Same ones that worked on crusade mode in WotR.

Anyway, that's my 2nd rant today related to combat, and I'm done. Lord help me, I hope lowering difficulty to easy makes a difference, but some inner voice tells me that battle will be same nightmare even on that.

Hello kotor_fan,
As I said in my reply to your review, I'm really glad you enjoy the story and characters of Path of the Midnight Sun! And I'm sorry for the frustration you have with the game's combat in Classic Mode.

I will definitely make time less restrictive on some maps starting with v.2.2 which will be released soon.
In the meantime, if you need help with the Squinking boss battle, remember that he will throw up to 3 Golden Squinks at you and the damage will increase based on the number of Squinks thrown. So if you manage to KO the Golden Squinks before Squinking's "Tyrant's Massacre", you can reduce the damage output of the AoE (and even nullify its entire damage). Depending on your builds, it may be wise to use a lot of AoE attacks or just focus on one Squink at a time.
Also keep in mind that Squinking will raise its Atk stat, and it's important to keep it debuffed using Shiori's Candle Abra. The damage will be reduced considerably. Just pay attention because Squinking may buff its Atk again after you debuffed it, so your timing is important.
Aside from this, against those powerful single-target attacks it may be wise to invest in powerful healing skills and/or in Rya's Distract skill to redirect the attack to either Faratras (with her high Def and guarding skills) or Hellios (with his Evasion).
I hope this info helps!

Last but not least, keep in mind that you can change the Difficulty at any time from the Settings, even during a map. In Relax and Easy mode, enemies will deal less damage while you will deal more damage to them. The time spent in battle will also be less, so it should be easier to meet those deadlines.
And in Story Mode you can't lose in battle, so it might be ideal if you aren't interested in the game's RPG aspects but want to finish the story.
I designed these 4 difficulties to be enjoyable for different players with different tastes, so there's nothing wrong with lowering the difficulty. It's also why they're called "Relax" and "Story" instead of something like "Easy". Should you change your mind, you can increase the difficulty at any time anyway.

Thank you for your feedback and I hope you keep enjoying the story of Path of the Midnight Sun!
Have a nice day.
-Alfred

P.S. I'm the only dev but your comment about Owlcat made me chuckle haha

[kotor_fan]

Hi Alfred,

Thank you for your comment and sincere apologies if I came off as too harsh.
That fight just produced incredible frustration in a VN I otherwise enjoy (time limits aside).

I'll lower difficulty to "story" and enjoy the story (that's what I'm here for anyway).
In all honesty, didn't even know there is story difficulty, only saw relax.

Quick one related to story, I hope it doesn't affect relationship points "gathering". As in, does it also make relationship levels (I'd assume that's hidden, which is fine) easier to get, or nothing changed there?

While I'd rather not spend too much time on combat, I do prefer to have story and relationships as is, consequences and all.

P.S. For being the only dev, amazing work. Hope to see more in future.

[Exxod]

Originally posted by kotor_fan:

Hi Alfred,

Thank you for your comment and sincere apologies if I came off as too harsh.
That fight just produced incredible frustration in a VN I otherwise enjoy (time limits aside).

I'll lower difficulty to "story" and enjoy the story (that's what I'm here for anyway).
In all honesty, didn't even know there is story difficulty, only saw relax.

Quick one related to story, I hope it doesn't affect relationship points "gathering". As in, does it also make relationship levels (I'd assume that's hidden, which is fine) easier to get, or nothing changed there?

While I'd rather not spend too much time on combat, I do prefer to have story and relationships as is, consequences and all.

P.S. For being the only dev, amazing work. Hope to see more in future.

Difficulty doesn't change anything besides combat/map/hunger/healing mechanics, so no worries.

[Studio Daimon]

Originally posted by kotor_fan:

Hi Alfred,

Thank you for your comment and sincere apologies if I came off as too harsh.
That fight just produced incredible frustration in a VN I otherwise enjoy (time limits aside). [...]
Quick one related to story, I hope it doesn't affect relationship points "gathering". As in, does it also make relationship levels (I'd assume that's hidden, which is fine) easier to get, or nothing changed there? [...]

P.S. For being the only dev, amazing work. Hope to see more in future.

No worries at all, and thank you for your compliments and constructive feedback! :)

It's as Naato says, relationships aren't influenced by Difficulty. A lot of relationship points also come from Camp Talks so make sure to check them out whenever available. Have fun!