Why am I dying all the time

[Porous Johnson]

This is my first turn based tactical RPG. I am playing on Classic difficulty and I feel like I am encountering much more difficulty than others . I feel like its because three out of my four party members are more geared towards close range, and / or I did not allocate skill points correctly.

Am I dying all the time because of the reasons above, or am I just bad at turn based tactical RPGs?

[Crouching Cracker - Hidden Weabo]

there is a difficulty below classic, it is the panel Above it while starting a campaign and it's the one that describes itself as being focused on the story and a casual experience. If this is your first turn-based it's the mode you should be using probably. Many builds and combos work well in the game, but it could be overwhelming if you're new to the genre as well as the game so a trip through the storymode easier difficulty would let you become familair with the environmental mechanics and how to exploit them so you could then do a classic playthrough afterward much more easily. you could appraoch parts of the game differently in a followup playthrough, making that work out very well for you.

[Revolucas]

The game is pretty difficult if you do not have at least some experience with it already or haven't already played DoS 1. I strongly recommend you lower the difficulty setting.

[Megatherius]

Originally posted by Panera Bread®:

This is my first turn based tactical RPG. I am playing on Classic difficulty and I feel like I am encountering much more difficulty than others . I feel like its because three out of my four party members are more geared towards close range, and / or I did not allocate skill points correctly.

Am I dying all the time because of the reasons above, or am I just bad at turn based tactical RPGs?

Close ranged is fine, you have to focus on stripping down one type of armor and applying crowd control (knockdown, stun, slow, polymorph, etc). Have some way to heal/buff for increased survivability. Try to target one enemy at a time rather than spreading damage. Use the environment to your advantage (use barrels to block pathing or to set environmental effects). Lower difficulty. I'm not sure how you allocated points/skills so can't comment there.

[Porous Johnson]

Ok I will try playing on a lower difficulty now

[Bugs]

You'll need to also focus on HOW your party build will look like in regards to individial roles they play. A close up two handed Knight should be a good melee character, build specifically to his strength because points that you can distribute by leveling aren't as many as you'll like. Someone that can do Theivery for you should be a 2nd character, whether he be a ranged rogue or a dual daggering damage dealer is up to you. You just have to make sure you put your points into the correct abilities. Magic users are a nessesity for healing (water magic) and being able to do cool stuff. You have to remember though that no one character can do everything, you have to pick just a few (2-3) branches to specialize in, in regards to combat abilities. So a Mage could be specializing in Pyro, Water and Summoning and have to build focusing on building a few skills higher, rather than spread them all over being a 'jack of all trades and master of none' which is death as the game progresses. Even in the later stages, you should really just be focusing on 2 that really matter. I recommend 2 mages in your party that focus on different spell sets, have one with summon because when you get that skill up to 10; your summon will get a big bonus and actually be a menace on the battle field, essentially making it a 5 person party.

Do a bit of research into character and party builds to better focus your party. When playing, don't be scared to save often and right before where you think a fight will happen, or when it's quest inducing dialogues. When getting skill books, look for skills that knock down or hinder enemies when armor is depleted/or magic armor deleted. Tactical use of skills that freeze, knock down, charm and essentially hinder the enemy are the key to taking them out of the fight fast. Also try to get a feel for tactics that start you on higher ground or your party behind some cover to make the enemy come to you, don't waste your turn just running to the enemy so they get their full movement beating you. Eventually you'll learn to recognize elements and use them to your advantage, see a puddle of water or blood? Electrify it if an enemy is standing on it. Poison gas cloud with undead in it got you down? Use a fireball to light it up. This part of the strategy takes time to learn but when you get it used on you enough, you'll learn it.

Also not to ruin anything, part there's a part of the game where you'll be on a ship. You'll have a chance to redistribute your attributes, skills and abilities and such; all your party members will be able to do this. This is huge when you get a better idea of what you want your individual party members to acomplish.

I know that's a lot to take in, and I probably left you with more question than answers; but sometimes it'll be trial and error before you know what to focus on.

[Nibbie]

Worth noting that levels scale hard, by the end of the game you will only be about level 20, so each and every level matters a lot. If you are fighting enemies even one level higher than you you are going to have a rough time. Similarly your equipment should idealy be no lower than 2 levels below your current level. Try to complete areas with enemies your level and below, and make sure to talk to everyone for quests, and explore everywhere for extra loot and occasionly free xp. There is a button (alt by default) to show loose objects around you, which can help a lot in finding goodies.

[JimNightshade]

Classic is difficult at first but later on it's too easy... no middle ground it seems