turn based vs. RTwP

[Beaghan]

I just want to see if I'm missing anything.

RTwP - is better for having AI which you can set the script for. Quicker and if you're not familiar with a class the AI might do it better. Can still pause and micro as needed.

Turn based - Better due to even very slow heavy armored guys will get a turn each round. So it's more tactical?


I've read the threads where many people swear by one or the other but I'm trying to make sure that I understand the differences. So did I miss anything above as far as advantages or disadvantages? I'm currently playing turn based but I'm having difficulty micro managing the classes that I never play in any game, so I was thinking of restarting and letting the AI help out with that. I normally love turn based but I think it'd be nice to just play my guy mainly and let the computer do some work.

[Fendelphi]

The AI having control in RTwP does not help much, if your issue is picking a good set of skills for your characters during level up.
Also, AI combat are only adequate in easy encounters where you dont need to do much of anything. In harder battles, you would want to pause a lot to set up your own commands(to avoid friendly fire, focus targets etc.), so you would need to know what the class can do regardless.

Look at it this way. In Turn Based, you have the time to read your abilities and see the impact of your choices. In RTwP, everything happens so fast, that unless you constantly pause, you dont know what your characters are doing or the impact it has, unless you are already familiar with your characters.

If you want Turn Based to go faster, you can set the combat speed to max with the slider at the bottom of the screen during combat. This makes all animations and effects go much faster.

[Sick Boy]

In PoE, RTwP is a mess since every class has got tons and tons of skills that they can use. It is almost impossible to micromanage them perfectly even if you pause a lot. I don't like the idea of an IA managing my team. Also, there are a lot of cheesy tactics associated with RTwP, like pulling, skipping monsters and prebuffing.

Turn Based Combat can be tedious and it is not very well balanced in PoE, but I prefer it over RTwP.

Ideally, I would like to switch between the two, RTwP for easy combats, and turn based for harder ones.

[psychotron666]

The AI sucks unless you spend many hours honing the AI scripts and know exactly what you want them to do. So if you don't know the classes with turn based, you'll be worse off with real time

[0422]

Originally posted by Fendelphi:

In RTwP, everything happens so fast, that unless you constantly pause, you dont know what your characters are doing or the impact it has, unless you are already familiar with your characters.

You can adjust the speed of RTwP to virtually a crawl, allowing you to read and react easier. I honestly think a lot of people don't know that you can adjust the combat speed of RTwP.

With that said, like psychotron said if you're having difficulty micro managing turn based you're going to have an even rougher time with RTwP. The AI is actually pretty decent but you have get a good grasp of the mechanics.

The main advantage of RTwP is that the game was built on and balanced for it. Enemies react differently and there's a much more fluid and dynamic combat flow.

[Beaghan]

Originally posted by warbox:

Originally posted by Fendelphi:

In RTwP, everything happens so fast, that unless you constantly pause, you dont know what your characters are doing or the impact it has, unless you are already familiar with your characters.

You can adjust the speed of RTwP to virtually a crawl, allowing you to read and react easier. I honestly think a lot of people don't know that you can adjust the combat speed of RTwP.

With that said, like psychotron said if you're having difficulty micro managing turn based you're going to have an even rougher time with RTwP. The AI is actually pretty decent but you have get a good grasp of the mechanics.

The main advantage of RTwP is that the game was built on and balanced for it. Enemies react differently and there's a much more fluid and dynamic combat flow.

I think I'm going to try RTwP. It's not so much having trouble micro'ing in turn-based it's that I don't enjoy certain classes that are very helpful so I'd like to be more hands off with them, like chanters as an example, not for me, I've never played a bard in any RPG yet, but I love their buffs/debuffs, I'd think Ranger script would be pretty simple too and not have to mess with them again, etc. The game seems to have ok AI on the enemies, or AI for ship crew during fights, so I was thinking it's be similar. Being able to slow it way down for tough fights seems like that might give it the edge.

[Mors Avis]

Turn-based combat is what sold me on PoE2.

As others have already said, with RTwP there are simply too many abilities, modifiers, etc. to manage that you end up just slowing everything down anyway. Constant pausing just ruins the immersion completely, and the game suffers for it.

In turn-based, the game is more tactical, has an "x-com like" feel, and, while it is much slower, it is also a lot more rewarding to be able to plan for and react to combat situations without the constant need to fight the natural rhythm of the game.

[Dixon Sider]

I couldn't imagine playing this game in turn based. RTwP is the way to go. Its harder to be tactical in RTwP, but I wouldn't consider turn based to be more tactical because its easier to be tactical. To me that means the opposite. Playing RTwP is like driving stick while playing turn based is like driving automatic. It sucks until you get good at it then there is no turning back. Now if only there were 6 party members along with the difficulty balance for 6

[0422]

Originally posted by Dixon Sider:

Playing RTwP is like driving stick while playing turn based is like driving automatic. It sucks until you get good at it then there is no turning back.

that driving stick vs automatic analogy is on point.

[juanval]

I think people prefer turn based combat mode in games, but I love to play PoE as I played Baldurs Gate more than 20 years ago. Long life to RTwP!!!

I recognize RTwP combat is chaotic but it's fun in my opinion.

If someday Obsidian releases PoE 3, 2 combats modes should be avaiable.

[mainer]

RTwP always (for me). Kudos to Obsidian for taking the time and costs to develop the TB options for those who prefer it. I don't know of any developer that has ever done that for a game.

[Mors Avis]

Originally posted by warbox:

Originally posted by Dixon Sider:

Playing RTwP is like driving stick while playing turn based is like driving automatic. It sucks until you get good at it then there is no turning back.

that driving stick vs automatic analogy is on point.

Not really. There's nothing difficult about combat in PoE2, whether RTwP or turn-based. For me, it's not a question of "ease" or "difficulty"... it's just boring and frustrating having to continually pause and fight the real time rhythm of combat to ensure you're getting the most out of your character's abilities.

Sure, you can just dive in, go full steam ahead in real-time, and easily mop up most encounters--but you end up missing many of the finer points of managing afflictions/inspirations, the timing of spells, etc. This is because there are many nuances that aren't readily apparent in PoE 2's combat mechanics.

It's just more immersive, to me, to keep everything on one turn-based "time-line", and deal with everything--all of the stats, modifiers, etc.--as a complete experience, instead of pushing the encounter through a few seconds of real-time click-mashing.

[kaymarciy]

All of this is merely a matter of taste though while the topic was supposed to be about the objective advantages / disadvantages. For example, in RTwP you can re-target your AoE spells or even cancel an ability (something you can't do in TB).

I do like the driving stick analogy however.

[mckracken]

you got it all wrong:
driving automatic = realtime: because you have to use the AI so much.
driving stick = turnbased: because you are fully in control.

[Beaghan]

One thing that I've noticed on my turnbased play through is that skills and spells with durations aren't as effective in turnbased mode. An example is knockdown. It's still effective as an interruption but the people stand up on their turn. In realtime you get at least a few hits on them before they get up. DoT and heals over time, etc also appear to wear off much faster in turn based. Just my observation.

[Dixon Sider]

Originally posted by mckracken:

you got it all wrong:
driving automatic = realtime: because you have to use the AI so much.
driving stick = turnbased: because you are fully in control.

How does less control mean you have more control? lol... Turn based automates aspects of control (time) for you, just like an automatic transmission automates things for you. Hence the analogy.

Also if you are using the AI in RTwP then you are doing it wrong. You should never enable AI in a RTwP game.