Equipment not rewarding...

[Krypticrooks]

Anybody else feel the equipment in the game is not very exciting? Never got a game changing piece of equipment that you're excited to try out like nearly all other RPGs. Kind of turning the gameplay into a chore that I have to finish the game. Disappointed in that aspect of the game immensely. Thinking back to the glory days of Diablo 2 when I'd nearly have a heart attack for an item that would have an impact. In this game it's just all monotonous and not very exciting no matter what sort of "good" new equipment I get.

[Sulfuras of the East]

I feel your comparing the wrong type of games, Diablo is a hardcore kill, loot, grind repeat type of game. A major amount of your power curve had to do with what items you were able to obtain. Divinity is not that type of game in the slightest. However i will agree the games power creep is low. By the third act you have access to all tiers of spells and equipment in fact you can get the best tier of equipment if you slog through a troll fight or tow.Your power in the late game is largely based on either how well you play or how well you built.

[Sulfuras of the East]

Like for me when in act 2 me and my friend got access to the last tiers of spells we absolutly were so fing estatic.

[jack_of_tears]

I dunno, there are a couple pieces of armor which give you fire immunity, or lightning immunity, and those are incredibly useful in the game - I was certainly excited to find them. Not to mention the granted Spells/Abilities some items could give you, or the increase in skill ranks.

You could also get weapons that had chance to stun, light people on fire, bleed, and more - sometimes chances to do several of these things.

I agree, nothing is quite as cool as a the Talking Sword in Baldur's Gate 2, or a Sword of Sharpness, but I could usually find a weapon I was happy to have.

For the kind of game this was, I was fine with the item design.

[Chaoslink]

Eh, but I even the items giving a free skill or adding an immunity aren’t that exciting. Once you hit a certain level threshold, just about any vendor will have items like that, sometimes many. The issue I see is that item level and character level are so huge when it comes to item scaling that the rarity tiers don’t mean much. By level 15-16, legendary items are the most common items you acquire and equip. They’re not rare, just necessary. Blue “rare” items are more rare at that point and have such poor stats that they’re not worth using if you do have them.

Basically, you’re more likely to get excited at an item’s randomized stats lining up with your build or an item of high level than actually how “rare” it is. Many games get you excited when that shiny “purple” drops. This one... not so much. About 80% of that tier and higher are trash drops.

[Nibbie]

One main difference is that there are only 20 levels between the start and end of the game. Most other games you are talking about have 50+, so each level matters less. A 1-2 level higher weapon in this is equivelant to 5-10 levels higher in many games, especially with how the equipment curve works.

Another is that most to all of those games also have respawns, so they can afford to have lower chances for good stuff because you can repeat the drop chance over and over, this game doesn't have that luxury. Once you get the drops from an enemy or chest, you can never get their drops again, so if rare and legendary drop rates were like other games you would be running pretty bad equipment for pretty much the entire game unless you got super lucky, creating a pretty high power disparity that could be a pain to try to balance.

[raubrey]

We're talking about different approaches to balance and different sub-genres.

Diablo = arpg (hack n slash)
Divinity 2 = crpg ( old-school model mostly)

The game is actually too focused on gear for many tastes in that you need to keep up with it (particularly weapon damage) readily.

The challenge is relatively consistent until mid-late game. Another pro of no I-win armor, such that tactics and build matter.

[Texus]

Maybe I can ask it here, shouldn't everything around 100% be able to hit the enemy? Then again they probably also got a good amount on evasion huh? Then I probably should maybe level up the weapon skills up to 4 or something to hit better I suppose. Most of the time I only use skills anyway.

[Chaoslink]

Hit chance is base 95%. Dodge is generally only changed as a buff on enemies if I’m not mistaken so your hit chance should be about that. Weapons that are a higher level than the user will have reduced hit chance however. Only weapon skills that explicitly state higher hit chance (one handed only I think) actually affect your chance to hit.

To increase your hit chance, or counter enemy dodge, you want to use slow effects from oil or frost, roots like entangle or spider legs or accuracy buffs like that from peace of mind.

Weapon based skills should also have a chance to miss, spells however, do not. Though wand or staff attacks can miss as they’re still considered weapon attacks.

[PK_Ultra]

Originally posted by Krypticrooks:

Anybody else feel the equipment in the game is not very exciting? Never got a game changing piece of equipment that you're excited to try out like nearly all other RPGs. Kind of turning the gameplay into a chore that I have to finish the game. Disappointed in that aspect of the game immensely. Thinking back to the glory days of Diablo 2 when I'd nearly have a heart attack for an item that would have an impact. In this game it's just all monotonous and not very exciting no matter what sort of "good" new equipment I get.

divinity 2 isnt a lootbox grind game where you farm bosses and pray to RNGjesus for a perfect roll on a drop. The real challenge is using the set list of Unique items in the game and trying to create a build around them.

[Krypticrooks]

Originally posted by PK Ultra:

Originally posted by Krypticrooks:

Anybody else feel the equipment in the game is not very exciting? Never got a game changing piece of equipment that you're excited to try out like nearly all other RPGs. Kind of turning the gameplay into a chore that I have to finish the game. Disappointed in that aspect of the game immensely. Thinking back to the glory days of Diablo 2 when I'd nearly have a heart attack for an item that would have an impact. In this game it's just all monotonous and not very exciting no matter what sort of "good" new equipment I get.

divinity 2 isnt a lootbox grind game where you farm bosses and pray to RNGjesus for a perfect roll on a drop. The real challenge is using the set list of Unique items in the game and trying to create a build around them.

Yeah I get that, and respect the approach; but just feel like that's such an exciting part of any RPG game. Shocking the concept devoid of value takes away such a gratifying part of any RPG.

[OntologicalWeevil]

This game would've been far better if there were pre-made weapons and armor. Having to keep on swapping out older equpment for something better is tedious. Divinty really fell flat on its face for making levels and equipment make such a vast difference in combat.

[PK_Ultra]

Originally posted by Krypticrooks:

Originally posted by PK Ultra:

divinity 2 isnt a lootbox grind game where you farm bosses and pray to RNGjesus for a perfect roll on a drop. The real challenge is using the set list of Unique items in the game and trying to create a build around them.

Yeah I get that, and respect the approach; but just feel like that's such an exciting part of any RPG game. Shocking the concept devoid of value takes away such a gratifying part of any RPG.

idk man, id rather have set uniques than grind for loot. But if thats your playstyle Id recommend you spec into Lucky Charm. Lots of RNG loot that way. And dont forget to get the drunk buff before opening chests to get the +2 Luck boost. Cheers.

[OnkelTem]

Kind of an old thread, I know. But I feel actually the same regarding the equipment: it just sucks.

Visiting traders is so frustrating, as you can't find something good there. Yet, you have to do this chore every level. Game options generator is as dumb as merciless

I'm currently on level 15, and I cannot find a replacement stick for my 9 lvl wand. It's a joke. My DMG stat is 21, while there are wands now that hit at 47. But I can't afford them, they all suck in options! And the same with my shield, belt, and boots.

As for reward items, they're no better. It seems like I'm destined to wear this low-level things till the end of the game.

It's sad that such a beautiful game has to be so boring in this respect. Why there are no items sets? I'm aware of just two: one for a fighter (the Devourer Set) and another one for a earth-mage (the Contamination Set).

I think I would even have preferred to wear some auto-scaling modest but appropriate set for my character, than this unsatisfying running around.

[Janthis]

There are a few unique items like the craftable Eternal armor or Duna's vulture armor (loved it on my ranger) but yeah, overall not too many memorable pieces. I can't help but think back to Baldur's Gate 2 and its awesome weapons like Celestial Fury or Carsomyr. What compounds the problem, I think, is that they chose to go with a random loot system meaning you'll be spending a ton of time just comparing weapon/armor stats. Plus you need to get new stuff every 2 levels or so... not a great system, I agree. Anyone played BG3 and knows if it has the same loot system?

[Yojo0o]

Originally posted by OnkelTem:

Kind of an old thread, I know. But I feel actually the same regarding the equipment: it just sucks.

Visiting traders is so frustrating, as you can't find something good there. Yet, you have to do this chore every level. Game options generator is as dumb as merciless

I'm currently on level 15, and I cannot find a replacement stick for my 9 lvl wand. It's a joke. My DMG stat is 21, while there are wands now that hit at 47. But I can't afford them, they all suck in options! And the same with my shield, belt, and boots.

As for reward items, they're no better. It seems like I'm destined to wear this low-level things till the end of the game.

It's sad that such a beautiful game has to be so boring in this respect. Why there are no items sets? I'm aware of just two: one for a fighter (the Devourer Set) and another one for a earth-mage (the Contamination Set).

I think I would even have preferred to wear some auto-scaling modest but appropriate set for my character, than this unsatisfying running around.

Why are you looking at wand damage at level 15? If you're using your wand to attack at any point past like level 4-6, something has gone terribly wrong.

I've never really had this problem. There are so many vendors, and they refresh their stock so often. As long as you're using your civil skills to earn money, you should be able to afford to replace old gear when it's no longer doing the trick.

And there's five armor sets in the game: Tyrant and Captain sets in act 1, Vulture in act 2, and eventually you can complete the Devourer and Contamination sets by act 4.