Does the combat get more interesting?

[Ezekeel]

Heard a lot of praise about this game as one of the best RPG. Just started it (found Pharoh) and so far the combat is unbearably boring. Click party, click on enemy , wait for party to autoattack enemy to death, click on next enemy, rinse and repeat. ♥♥♥♥ing hell. And I thought KOTOR's combat system was a yawnfest but this beats it by miles. Does that at some point move to a more complex combat like Dragon Age or something or does it stay that way?

[Stoibs]

This game was never really heralded for it's combat, moreso the writing, dialogue and storyline.

[EbonHawk]

But you can club your enemies to death with a severed zombie arm! What more do you want, man?!?! :-)

No, it doesn't change much, unless I'm completely mistaken. New & different weapons, different spells.. This game's focus is on the dialogue, the story, the lore.

[Ray tracing is faster]

It won't get more complex really, you'll find some enemies are immune to certain types of damage and will have to change your loadout appropriately. Mages get some really cool spells, I find it more interesting for that reason.

This game is referred to as one of the best RPGs, but it is never said that it has some of the best combat of any RPG. Planescape: Torment is one of the best RPGs because of how much role-playing it offers, and because of its unparalleled writing quality. RPGs more known for their combat include Icewind Dale II, The Temple of Elemental Evil, Neverwinter Nights 2: Complete (by far the best of any fantasy RPG I think), and Divinity: Original Sin.

With that being said, I don't find combat in this game tedious even though it is far from great. It is interesting that you praise Dragon Age (Origins I assume) but not KOTOR, since both are extremely similar only KOTOR has more to it via feats and a much more complete and useful skills system.

[strekalalex84]

That's pretty much how things work, at least for melee combat. Being a fighter is very simplistic. Pause to target enemies and let the autoattack do its thing, occasionally pausing to give an individual party member orders to target an enemy or sometimes withdraw out of harm's way.

But playing as a Mage, or making use of Dakkon as a Mage, does enhance things a little bit, as you can cast various spells during combat and sometimes tactical positioning does matter a little. Morte's Litany of Curses also presents tactical options, effectively making him a decoy.

I never found the combat to be much of an annoyance despite its simplicity.

And truth be told, in just about all D&D based video games I'm aware of, from the Gold Box games to NWN 2, being a fighter or melee combat type character never really is much more than auto-attack plus a few feats that are more likely to give passive and sustained abilities than activated ones. This is because of the nature of the design of classes such as Fighter and Barbarian. It just doesn't translate into a type of video game fighting system with a bunch of activated abilities, more like Dragon Age.

In some ways this is just a limitation of the ability of pen and paper D&D to translate to a video game system, and 2nd edition D&D and earlier is extra limited in the options it presents to players.

[EbonHawk]

I'm already hitting the frustrating parts.. early on in the Hive, my character is getting stomped because there's nothing much around to increase XP and grind to gain levels. I'm having to get TNO to run away from combat too much, and then trying to position Morte in between us so TNO doesn't die constantly. Guess I need to just concentrate more on quests to get XP at this time, but it's really aggravating dying constantly. TNO just can't resist anything right now and enemies do tons of damage constantly.

I did find a companion to help out, Hak'kon or Dak'kon. Having another blocker evens things out a bit.

[GAME GOD FLUENT]

@EbonHawk, try using buff items, too. Don't forget to buy new tattoos to help your character.

[Ray tracing is faster]

Originally posted by EbonHawk:

I'm already hitting the frustrating parts.. early on in the Hive, my character is getting stomped because there's nothing much around to increase XP and grind to gain levels. I'm having to get TNO to run away from combat too much, and then trying to position Morte in between us so TNO doesn't die constantly. Guess I need to just concentrate more on quests to get XP at this time, but it's really aggravating dying constantly. TNO just can't resist anything right now and enemies do tons of damage constantly.

I did find a companion to help out, Hak'kon or Dak'kon. Having another blocker evens things out a bit.

There is plenty around to increase XP, whether it is quests in general or just killing thugs. You must have low STR, DEX, and CON. Use Morte's Litany of Curses ability combined with fleeing just to separate one guy from the group, and you'll do fine regardless of your build.

[strekalalex84]

XP mostly does not come from grinding for the most part, it comes from completing quests. There are some areas to grind later on. But really, you should easily be able to quickly get to level 6 or 7 as a Fighter in the Hive early on just by doing all the quests in the area. By then, Hive Thugs should really be not too much of a nuissance.

[Ezekeel]

Originally posted by Mod or die:

fleeing

Try fleeing?

[Ray tracing is faster]

Originally posted by Ezekeel:

Try fleeing?

Always possible, or at least some retreating tactics. If you have a group of enemies you want to take out, have Morte use Litany of Curses on someone until it works, then fall back a bit to let that cursed enemy break formation and fight you alone. Easy.

[Stoibs]

Seriously, litany of curses combined with Morte's natural damage resistances/AC value is one of the most OP and easymode things to get you through most of the game.
Bind that thing to a hotkey quicksmart.

That it has no 'use per day' limitation and can literally be spammed on mobs of enemies over and over again makes it the most viable and broken strategy, the rest of your party shouldn't even be taking damage.

[Ezekeel]

Originally posted by Mod or die:

Originally posted by Ezekeel:

Try fleeing?

Always possible, or at least some retreating tactics. If you have a group of enemies you want to take out, have Morte use Litany of Curses on someone until it works, then fall back a bit to let that cursed enemy break formation and fight you alone. Easy.

It was a Dark Souls meme. :D

[ChildeOvTheSvn]

Originally posted by Ezekeel:

Heard a lot of praise about this game as one of the best RPG. Just started it (found Pharoh) and so far the combat is unbearably boring. Click party, click on enemy , wait for party to autoattack enemy to death, click on next enemy, rinse and repeat. ♥♥♥♥ing hell. And I thought KOTOR's combat system was a yawnfest but this beats it by miles. Does that at some point move to a more complex combat like Dragon Age or something or does it stay that way?

Frankly i always found the combat in this game ok except the pathfinding of the characters and enemies which is a little weird. Otherwise it is mostly like all Infinity Engine games. It's fine. It's not that kind of game. You like it or you don't.

[Ezekeel]

Originally posted by Skaal:

Originally posted by Ezekeel:

Heard a lot of praise about this game as one of the best RPG. Just started it (found Pharoh) and so far the combat is unbearably boring. Click party, click on enemy , wait for party to autoattack enemy to death, click on next enemy, rinse and repeat. ♥♥♥♥ing hell. And I thought KOTOR's combat system was a yawnfest but this beats it by miles. Does that at some point move to a more complex combat like Dragon Age or something or does it stay that way?

Frankly i always found the combat in this game ok except the pathfinding of the characters and enemies which is a little weird. Otherwise it is mostly like all Infinity Engine games. It's fine. It's not that kind of game. You like it or you don't.

Well. Having a simplistic and boring combat system is not something I can overlook in an RPG game. IMO combat is a central part of such games and if you take that away what remains is essentially just a glorified walking/inventory managment/conversation simulator with a story.

And there are enough RPG games out there that manage to have a decent combat system that enriches the gaming experience and does not get in the way of it. Modern games like Dragon Age which I really liked or even older games like the old SSI AD&D titles with a turn based adaptation of the rule set that features enough tactical depth to be interesting.

Heck at this point I even would take a glorified walking/inventory managment/conversation simulator with combat that resolves itself and just gives me a popup with the end results over this waste of time so I could at least enjoy the story. But I cannot even bring myself to start the game thinking of the amounts of super interesting memorable fights I have to slug through. Nah I think I rather give Divinity a try.

[ChildeOvTheSvn]

Originally posted by Ezekeel:

Originally posted by Skaal:

Frankly i always found the combat in this game ok except the pathfinding of the characters and enemies which is a little weird. Otherwise it is mostly like all Infinity Engine games. It's fine. It's not that kind of game. You like it or you don't.

Well. Having a simplistic and boring combat system is not something I can overlook in an RPG game. IMO combat is a central part of such games and if you take that away what remains is essentially just a glorified walking/inventory managment/conversation simulator with a story.

And there are enough RPG games out there that manage to have a decent combat system that enriches the gaming experience and does not get in the way of it. Modern games like Dragon Age which I really liked or even older games like the old SSI AD&D titles with a turn based adaptation of the rule set that features enough tactical depth to be interesting.

Heck at this point I even would take a glorified walking/inventory managment/conversation simulator with combat that resolves itself and just gives me a popup with the end results over this waste of time so I could at least enjoy the story. But I cannot even bring myself to start the game thinking of the amounts of super interesting memorable fights I have to slug through. Nah I think I rather give Divinity a try.

Good. That's the point of different games. For example i would pluck my eyes out with a spoon before trying to get into Dragon Age or Divinity. Lmao. And no it's not (exactly) It's the escapism factor and what this means to someone. What helps you escape from reality into fantasy. So it's a difference in taste and everyone has different tastes. As you can clearly see.