Too Hard (cont'd)

[ZenithQuasar]

This is my group on my third (THIRD!) playthrough. The first to make it to Act II, only to die in the first road encounter... not even a boss fight.

Outlander L13; Stats 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, 3; Skills Blades 10 (15), Leadership 1, Lore 5; HP 384; SP 118; Talents Stoneskin I, Crushing blow I, Savage sweep 5, Natural mastery 4
Savage sweep is the most reliable way to hit, drains blue. 2H blade.

Sorcerer L13; 4, 7, 5, 5, 7, 7; Blades 4, Sorcery 7, Conj 7, Lore 3; HP 253; SP 258; Ltng spear 5, Energy storm 1, Frigid air 2, Flash freeze 1. Dex blade.

Cleric L13; 4, 6, 6, 5, 7, 6; Hammers 4, Invoc 3, Conj 5, Lore 8; HP 287; SP 312; Tears 3, Anguish 2, Shield 3, Purifying breeze 2. Hammer & Shield.

Thief L13; 5, 12, 5, 4, 4, 4; HP 269; SP 195; Farsight 2, Pick 1, Disarm 1, Torrent of steel 4, Deadly intuition 3. Thief greatly preferred over the other option d/t Torrent of steel's debuff + AoE damage option. I use 1 AP throwing daggers, 2 AP bow.

I omitted a lot of the basic skills that remain unadvanced.

Buffs: I generally don't bother with buffs because they don't last long enough. I don't want a game with constant re-buffing - that's not my style. When I bother, it's Natural mastery on the warrior, deadly intuition on the rogue, thundering blades from the mage and shield from the priest.

Debuffs: Warrior has none. Sorcerer has frigid air, if enemies clump enough to make it worthwhile, Cleric has Anguish, Thief has torrent of steel.

Equipment: The best of what has dropped or could be bought, as far as I can tell, avoiding SP drain items. Tool tips and or color coding would be a nice addition here.

With respect, forums are for use after you've mastered, or come close to mastering the game, or help defeating a specific monster/hazard. If your game requires a forum to succeed, then, again, I have no interest in playing. The game should be more intuitive than that. Same applies for potions & scrolls. A few is fine, for emergencies, but this game puts them out like candy.

If this game style is not to my liking, what alternate suggestions do you have? I've played Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate, Dungeons of Dredmore, some of Avadon and some of Avernum series.

[Trese Brothers]

Originally posted by ZenithQuasar:

Buffs: I generally don't bother with buffs because they don't last long enough. I don't want a game with constant re-buffing - that's not my style. When I bother, it's Natural mastery on the warrior, deadly intuition on the rogue, thundering blades from the mage and shield from the priest.

I imagine this is a big part of why you are struggling. Hit 'b' shortcut key to Auto-Buff between combats. All buffs, including AoE group buffs are cast automatically. You have spent many valuable Talent points in buffs, they are worth using. I'd suggest more Talents points in Buffs as well.

To be successful, you should consider your team's strategy, not individual heroes.

Sorry that you didn't like the suggestion to check out the forum. Since you were asking for help, it seemed like a valuable resource to share.

I would suggest not thinking about gear as "best" but considering more what attributes you need from it. Why are you dying? Lack of ability to dodge, lack of armor, lack of HP? Any of these issues can be mitigated by picking the right gear and buffs. Especially if Vraes is dying, then really consider Stone Skin higher. Or, if Vraes is dying, pick up a shield?

[mg979]

Originally posted by ZenithQuasar:

This is my group on my third (THIRD!) playthrough. The first to make it to Act II, only to die in the first road encounter... not even a boss fight.

Outlander L13; Stats 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, 3; Skills Blades 10 (15), Leadership 1, Lore 5; HP 384; SP 118; Talents Stoneskin I, Crushing blow I, Savage sweep 5, Natural mastery 4
Savage sweep is the most reliable way to hit, drains blue. 2H blade.

Sorcerer L13; 4, 7, 5, 5, 7, 7; Blades 4, Sorcery 7, Conj 7, Lore 3; HP 253; SP 258; Ltng spear 5, Energy storm 1, Frigid air 2, Flash freeze 1. Dex blade.

Cleric L13; 4, 6, 6, 5, 7, 6; Hammers 4, Invoc 3, Conj 5, Lore 8; HP 287; SP 312; Tears 3, Anguish 2, Shield 3, Purifying breeze 2. Hammer & Shield.

Thief L13; 5, 12, 5, 4, 4, 4; HP 269; SP 195; Farsight 2, Pick 1, Disarm 1, Torrent of steel 4, Deadly intuition 3. Thief greatly preferred over the other option d/t Torrent of steel's debuff + AoE damage option. I use 1 AP throwing daggers, 2 AP bow.

Some thoughts about your party (mostly advices found in the other forum). As a general rule I wouldn't spread too much the talents:

Outlander: Natural mastery 4 is a waste, max 1. Savage Sweep is good but 5 is too high as a start. Invest in some defensive talent (I prefer 1h + shield, and I get Phalanx Shield up to 10 asap, others may prefere something else).

Sorcerer: get Lightning Spear to 10 ignoring everything else (really not a point), then put points in Flash Freeze (at least 2 I'd say), then your choice (if go all attack or give some good curses).

Cleric: I didn't play her too much, but I would get her ward (dodge+parry), then Banishment. Ethereal Anguish is very strong but very expensive, I'd leave it at 1 just for the strong enemies, then develop it later. I think there are many ways to play the cleric, but I usually play with the plaladin so I don't really know. I would not put points in healing talents (maybe 1 point each or just 1 in Purifying Breeze for curses), use potions. The paladin is a much better healer I think.

Thief: I also focus on Torrent of Steel (up to 5 to start) then Deadly Intuition. But Farsight 2 is a wasted point in the beginning (imo).

And always use auto-buff, unless you know it's an easy area.

[brown29knight]

Sorry to hear that you are not enjoying the game. I personally am having great fun, however, the game can be quite hard if your party does not synergize well.

I would suggest trying a party where each character supports each other with buffs/curses that help an overall theme. A few quick examples: Torrent of Steel lowers resistance of foes hit, which means they take more damage from magic. following that up with lightning spear will cause it to do more damage than using the lightning spear first. Choaking ash (skill of the wizard) will lower foes armor and evasion chance. Using that before a warrior steps up will let them mop up a lot faster.

Also, SP Drain items are a good thing. They drain SP from foes and add it to yours based on the damage you do. (the SP Drain % is the % of your damage that you gain as SP, so if you do 50 damage with 14% total SP drain, you would gain 7 SP for that attack.)

I completely agree that they need a tool tip about that.

But yes, this is a game where you are re-buffing every couple of fights, and either knocking potions back like candy, or resting at campsites every 3-4 fights (and sometimes backtracking a ways to do so.) So if you do not like that playstyle, you likely will not like HoS.

Based on the games you have played, I would suggest trying Divinity: Original Sin. Fun, requires some stragety, but not the kind of thing where you need to constantly be buffing/drinking potions every fight. I liked it a lot.

Good luck, and Have Fun!
-Brownknight

[Trese Brothers]

Originally posted by brown29knight:

I completely agree that they need a tool tip about that.

Can you clarify? Would love to improve!

[brown29knight]

I had to look up what SP drain did on forums. Before that, I had no clue if it was a positive attribute, a negative one, or even how it worked. (SP drain sounds like it drains SP from you for using the item, or drains the SP needed to use skills, lowering the cost of the skill by a %, or somesuch.)

The actual effect it has was not clear to me at all, and judging by a couple of threads on your forums asking how it works, not clear to others as well

I hope that answers your question.

Thank you,
-BrownKnight

[Trese Brothers]

@brown29knight - yes, that is really helpful. I thought we were talking about something else altogether :D I will work on improving the promptly!