Great game ruined by un-balanced combat

[oddeyedl]

What the actual fyck? Why is combat such a ♥♥♥♥♥ show? If your on normal the whole game is one giant face roll save a few fights. So you up it to hard and those few fights become impossible unless for perfect luck. Theres an area just past the sulfer pools area with some giants and drakes and druid guys. Seriously theres an encounter on that map that is so un balanced its almost comical. You have 2 tree ent things 1 drake 2 lesser drakes 4 druid casters and 2 greater casters. I feel like i have 6 zerglings vs a full protoss stack. 2 characters auto melt in the first 3 seconds? How are you supposed to plan around that??? I just want this heap of garbage of a game to be done so i can move on to deadfire.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Which area would that be?

"sulfer pools area" could be Searing Falls, so perhaps you refer to Pearlwood Bluff. There are no druids in that area, though, at most Xaurip Priests. Perhaps you should eliminate them as quickly as possible.

Drakes should not be any threat to you at that point of the game anymore. The only dangerous thing in that area is that it's optional, small and crowded with groups of enemies. The way the game is implemented, you can start a fight against more than one group of enemies and even draw the attention of further groups, if you move too much during combat.

[oddeyedl]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Which area would that be?

"sulfer pools area" could be Searing Falls, so perhaps you refer to Pearlwood Bluff. There are no druids in that area, though, at most Xaurip Priests. Perhaps you should eliminate them as quickly as possible.

Drakes should not be any threat to you at that point of the game anymore. The only dangerous thing in that area is that it's optional, small and crowded with groups of enemies. The way the game is implemented, you can start a fight against more than one group of enemies and even draw the attention of further groups, if you move too much during combat.

thanks for responding yeah thats the area, and yes drakes are kind of not a problem, no one single mob is the problem. By druids i mean tree creature casters best way to describe them, they have a swarming bug dot. Its the cobination of the caster guys and the drakes AND the tree ents thats just a pocket of no.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Perhaps one of these?
-> https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/M%C3%AAnp%C5%B5gra
-> https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/P%C5%B5gra

Adragans are worse in case you haven't met any before:
-> https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Adragan

If you get caught in the AoE of devastating spells, oh well, possibly you need to move more during combat and take countermeasures.

[Noir]

only problem I've had was with White March and that difficulty bump option. It said I was overleveled. According to the enemies you meet there and the level they have, I really ,really wasn't. Quite the opposite. Started combat. One ae spell. Everyone died. The spell was instant, can't even react, can't do anything, just die. Have to come back when I don't get literally oneshot by a single spell. Never mind there were about 10 other enemies in there and those usually take me 10 of my hardest hitting spells to kill anyway. I don't understand the difficulty in the White March, nothing so much as grazes most enemies and fights take forever. When I entered there, the sidewinder enemies shot at my Cipher and she died. One attack. Not even a crit. Even the siege battles against the mercs at lv 7 weren't this ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up - and they were ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Noir:

only problem I've had was with White March and that difficulty bump option. It said I was overleveled.

It doesn't say that. It says your party is considered high level for the village of Stalwart when you are level 10 or higher already. It asks you whether you want to continue with "Standard" enemies or with "High-level" enemies as to keep being challenged? The village of Stalwart and the next areas, Russetwood and Durgan's Battery, can be done at levels lower than 10. The are so many XP to get in The White March 1 that you will quickly be level 12 or higher, and when returning to the base game, you would get a similar content upscaling option at Twin Elms. However, with high-level upscaling, you may need to fight carefully and watch out for more side-quests, too.

Originally posted by Noir:

According to the enemies you meet there and the level they have, I really ,really wasn't. Quite the opposite. Started combat. One ae spell. Everyone died. The spell was instant, can't even react, can't do anything, just die.

Where exactly was that? Hopefully you didn't travel to Crägholdt, because your stewart warned you about that area. It is endgame content for high-level parties. Stalwart, on the other hand, can be done at level 6-8 depending on what your companions can do and what consumables and other bonuses you use. It's Ogres you will be fighting, and I doubt the few Ogre Druids can one-shot you with a spell. If it was Ogre Druids that have done it, you would run into similar issues with them in the base game areas even before Twin Elms.

Originally posted by Noir:

When I entered there, the sidewinder enemies shot at my Cipher and she died. One attack. Not even a crit.

That's not at Stalwart, but later. If you followed the main quest, you would look into entering Durgan's Battery.

Lagufaeth Sidewinder is a level 10 ranged attacker, who uses Sneak Attack,
https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Lagufaeth
and that they targeted your Cipher - possibly a highly fragile one in poor armor - could mean that either you've explored not carefully enough or that they've had the choice between targeting an overly defensive heavy armored frontliner and your squishy characters instead. They would prefer hunting your more fragile characters, and if you let them do it, have fun!

That's the price you pay for attacking everyone and everything on sight. Lagufaeth in the Russetwood area can be avoided. In the Ogre caverns they are few and can be practiced with. At Durgan's Battery they are optional, too, unless you are into side-quests. At Longwatch Falls they can be a pain, but you should be level 11-12 then already and choose the right tools to throw at them.

[Noir]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Originally posted by Noir:

When I entered there, the sidewinder enemies shot at my Cipher and she died. One attack. Not even a crit.

That's not at Stalwart, but later. If you followed the main quest, you would look into entering Durgan's Battery.

Lagufaeth Sidewinder is a level 10 ranged attacker, who uses Sneak Attack,
https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Lagufaeth
and that they targeted your Cipher - possibly a highly fragile one in poor armor - could mean that either you've explored not carefully enough or that they've had the choice between targeting an overly defensive heavy armored frontliner and your squishy characters instead. They would prefer hunting your more fragile characters, and if you let them do it, have fun!

That's the price you pay for attacking everyone and everything on sight. Lagufaeth in the Russetwood area can be avoided. In the Ogre caverns they are few and can be practiced with. At Durgan's Battery they are optional, too, unless you are into side-quests. At Longwatch Falls they can be a pain, but you should be level 11-12 then already and choose the right tools to throw at them.

I drew the group to a narrow bridge and positioned my heavily armored guys up front. The sidewinder stood a whole lot behind the front line of the enemy and my front line and shot across the entire distance, hitting my ranged Cipher, killing her. That was a standard attack as well (log said Blunderbuss, first time I ran into them carelessly half my group was insta paralyzed and wiped out consequently due to their blunderbuss apparently always having that effect, no matter what). What would you have me do? If I'm in range to slicken or do virtually anything else, he already has been in range to shoot me. I can't burst him down either, because I barely scratch him - or scratched him, Im managing alright now with level ups, using the same tactics, bui I've done all I can in the village and the areas prior to defiance bay 'final' events and I've barely gotten to lv 10 when I ran into the Alpine Dragon.

I went in their being level 8 btw and got the prompt, so, yeah, it sucked. The Ogres right in the beginning sucked as well, but they were manageable, even if their ranged guys were really hard.

And I did go into that siege you mentioned, just to see what was up and I understood I had no business being there yet as well - but yeah, the game did tell me that. Entering White MArch the game told lv 8 me I was too high lv (though I might've just gotten to 9 also) and I didn't want to breeze through it, upped the difficulty and now wish I could take that back, cause I'm just playing PoE 1 because I really wanted to play PoE 2 and wanted to get through the story - and I do not see the need to bump the difficulty and I do not see how I could've been too highlv, unless the enemies are usually lv 6 or 7.

It just didn't make a whole lot of sense to me and I simply don't feel motivated to actually go through with it, will return to base game, finish it and be done with it I guess.

[Teut]

There is a weird difficulty spike after you leave the big city (after Thaos kills the Duc), where you run into a handful of Ogres, some Ogre Druids and a Matron, in front of the cave of one of the 'Bounty' missions.

I'm playing on normal, am pretty far into the game and no fight gave me a challenge even close to that random encounter. It is pretty strange, I agree with OP.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Noir:

I drew the group to a narrow bridge and positioned my heavily armored guys up front. The sidewinder stood a whole lot behind the front line of the enemy and my front line and shot across the entire distance, hitting my ranged Cipher, killing her. That was a standard attack as well (log said Blunderbuss, first time I ran into them carelessly half my group was insta paralyzed and wiped out consequently due to their blunderbuss apparently always having that effect, no matter what).

Nah, they don't use fire arms. They are wilders and use quick blowguns.

Originally posted by Noir:

What would you have me do? If I'm in range to slicken or do virtually anything else, he already has been in range to shoot me. I can't burst him down either, because I barely scratch him - or scratched him,

It's always the same basics. You would need to tell a lot of details about your party and what your six companions can do. Remember, the game can be solo'ed at highest difficulty level with various classes. Most likely you are much too passive during combat. Be creative with spells and abilities and tactical movement during combat. Simply moving forward with your "heavily armored guys" won't be enough, if they are toothless cowards in heavy armor and possibly hiding behind shields.

Originally posted by Noir:

Im managing alright now with level ups, using the same tactics, bui I've done all I can in the village and the areas prior to defiance bay 'final' events and I've barely gotten to lv 10 when I ran into the Alpine Dragon.

That's Longwatch Falls. What are you doing there? A side-quest? Exploration out of interest? Why not avoid fighting then and returning to the main quest from Stalwart? You've done everything else around Stalwart and have opened Durgan's Battery, too?

Originally posted by Noir:

went in their being level 8 btw and got the prompt, so, yeah, it sucked. The Ogres right in the beginning sucked as well, but they were manageable, even if their ranged guys were really hard.

Then don't stand and wait. Disable them quickly.

Originally posted by Noir:

and I do not see how I could've been too highlv, unless the enemies are usually lv 6 or 7.

Once more, you've misunderstood the content scaling question. It did not suggest that you are overleveled. It offered you an optional challenge. It's something they've added in v3 of the game. Afterall, some players complain(ed) endlessly about combat being too easy.

Level is not everything. Sure, you get a few permanent bonuses per level, such as +3 Accuracy, but the game doesn't know what you can do with your team.

Brynlod in The White March 2 is level 21, for example. Optional, since there is a bounty on his head - but you get the picture. If an enemy is higher level than you, that does not imply you cannot defeat him. You've got access to spells, food and drugs, enchantments and more options.

[Yosh]

I just got to the white march on hard expert mode with 0 knockouts. Havn't had much trouble, although the fish blow dart dudes and the "cannoneer" ogres do noticeably more damage than everything else. Now I'm slamming my head repeteadly against a wall called the alpine dragon. I'm sure it would be easier if I didn't take the new npcs to experience their dialogue. The stun lock with paralyze scrolls tactic doesn't seem like its going to work like it did on the Adra. I was about lvl 13 party wide when I went into The White March part 1, and I chose to upscale the difficulty. The only fights in the game I had trouble with were the 3 dragons, and that pack of ogre druid/matrons in the ravine area.

I would recommend that the OP look up some popular/effective tactics, team compositions, and perhaps revisit the main game to level up more. It doesn't seem like your group is as leveled and geared as it could be.