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Divinity: Original Sin 2 |OT| Dragons & Dungeon Mastering

Kalentan

Member
Ah didn't know it doesn't work on that mode. =\

It's really dumb and honestly may put me off playing it more.

It didn't tell me that the difficulty couldn't be changed when I selected it.

It doesn't feel fun to play. It feels like you need to cheese EVERYTHING because every fight is against enemies with 100+ health, 50 armor and 50 Magic resist.

I've been told that the Tactician mode in Divinity OS was actually quite good with changed encounters and the such. But in OS2 they simply gave a 50% buff to damage, health, armor, and magic resist and called it a day, which is crazy considering the OS1 tactical mode only increased everything by 25%.
 

Burt

Member
It's really dumb and honestly may put me off playing it more.

It didn't tell me that the difficulty couldn't be changed when I selected it.

It doesn't feel fun to play. It feels like you need to cheese EVERYTHING because every fight is against enemies with 100+ health, 50 armor and 50 Magic resist.

I've been told that the Tactician mode in Divinity OS was actually quite good with changed encounters and the such. But in OS2 they simply gave a 50% buff to damage, health, armor, and magic resist and called it a day, which is crazy considering the OS1 tactical mode only increased everything by 25%.

Yeah, that sounds rough. The level 2-4 jump in this game really seems a bit out of sync. But, I really do think that if they just tuned down the Houndmaster they'd fix 90% of their difficulty curve problems. I'm playing on classic, but since that fight there hasn't really been much of an issue at all. I can see how it would be a 'hard-quitter' at tactician difficulty.
 
Stopping for tonight (oops it's 4am). I've never really played this type of game before so it's all very overwhelming and I feel so stuck. I can't beat the
Hound Master
, I failed the
Arena
without realising it was a one time deal (it still shows on the map), the quest marker still shows at
Stingtail
even though he's dead so I'm not sure how to continue. I feel like I've uncovered everything on the map that I can and I've tried to speak to everyone. My gear is woeful still but I managed to hit level 4. Overall I'm enjoying it though so I hope I can get past this.

At party level 4..

You should be exploring past Fort Joy to the East. If you haven't escaped the place, you can start doing so now. There are several ways to escape, and you can freely choose which path you want to take. Or, you can also tackle all the escape paths to maximize the exp/item rewards. Some paths are easier while others are way harder.
 

Chairhome

Member
Question regarding The Imprisoned Elf Quest (end of quest)
After beating Griff and his crew, I freed Amyro, but I immediately got sent to the dungeon since I ran into a guard and I had no collar. Everytime I go to Sahelia, she just says "You freed him! I sense he will come back to me", but he isn't coming back.
I once saw him walk into the cave, but later I saw him walk out again. Am I missing something, or did it glitch? He has some kind of Electric cloud over his head, not sure what that status is.
 

Ferrio

Banned
This game is *so* good with 4 players. It totally nails down the DnD feel. We just got done with the
Arena
at the fort.
The 4 player deathmatch was great, our healer ended up winning through regen and freezing people
 
Question regarding The Imprisoned Elf Quest (end of quest)
After beating Griff and his crew, I freed Amyro, but I immediately got sent to the dungeon since I ran into a guard and I had no collar. Everytime I go to Sahelia, she just says "You freed him! I sense he will come back to me", but he isn't coming back.
I once saw him walk into the cave, but later I saw him walk out again. Am I missing something, or did it glitch? He has some kind of Electric cloud over his head, not sure what that status is.

That quest seems bugged for me too..

I freed Amyro without having to resort to violence (except one part when Sebille did her thing). He did come back to the cave and made some banter with Sahelia. The quest is finished as I got the rewards from her, but it won't be marked as closed/completed in my journal.
 
So I'm trying to understand this correctly.

When you create a character, you have two choices. Either just create a custom person from the ground up, or pick one of the origin characters to have the ability to follow their storyline. If you pick an origin character, you are locked into their race and gender, but everything else you can customize?

As for your party members, you have the option of recruiting the rest of the origin characters. When you do, you can choose their class from any of the presets, but you are stuck with whatever the presets give you and you can't customize that? If you use them, you can do their stories as well?

Alternatively, you can custom create your other party members, but they give you no other story benefits or extra quests or anything like that.

Lastly, there is re-speccing right? Can you rebuild your characters from the ground up? Every type of point can be redistributed? Is there a cost to this?
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
God thievery is so good.

I can (with some gear) get it up to 6 points now. I just stole a legendary crossbow, an epic ring, an epic 1h axe and about 8 skill books and still had some room to grab some gold off of one merchant.

If you don't have thievery you're fucking up.

Hell put it on 2 characters.
 

Llyranor

Member
Sadly you can't on tactician. Is there any mods maybe?

Like maybe I'm not supposed to fight him yet but the Magister Houndmaster is my same level but he can destroy my entire party in 2-3 turns.

It's really dumb and honestly may put me off playing it more.

It didn't tell me that the difficulty couldn't be changed when I selected it.

It doesn't feel fun to play. It feels like you need to cheese EVERYTHING because every fight is against enemies with 100+ health, 50 armor and 50 Magic resist.

I've been told that the Tactician mode in Divinity OS was actually quite good with changed encounters and the such. But in OS2 they simply gave a 50% buff to damage, health, armor, and magic resist and called it a day, which is crazy considering the OS1 tactical mode only increased everything by 25%.
I played D:OS1 on Tactician and going through 2 now it feels like a similar difficulty level. As in, tough, but not impossible. I actually love that lots of fight require proper preplanning and reevaluation of tactics to succeed.

For the houndmaster fight,
if the fight is ultimately too tough, you could just come back to it later. At similar levels, it should be manageable, though it depends on the equipment and skills you have available at the moment. I found pickpocketing merchants for skillbooks quite a lifesaver. For the fight itself, for me the main trouble was finding ways to keep the archers from dealing too much damage, especially group damage. The melee guys and hound were manageable with proper cc/summons/environment manipulation. So for me, (how you do so depends on your party build) was finding ways to keep the archers busy for long enough to be able to dispose of at least 1 melee guy and neutralise the other.
 
How much strength is required so you can open the tomb at
the end of the Gargoyle Labyrinth
in Act 1? I would love to
get full Tyrant armor set
.

I have 15 Str.

Edit: Found out it was 18...

wait people actually want to wear any part of that set? i never bothered wearign a single piece
 
God thievery is so good.

I can (with some gear) get it up to 6 points now. I just stole a legendary crossbow, an epic ring, an epic 1h axe and about 8 skill books and still had some room to grab some gold off of one merchant.

If you don't have thievery you're fucking up.

Hell put it on 2 characters.

you can make up for it with having 6 or higher lucky charm

you'll get a luck pop as low as twice in 30 opens or as high as 7 times in 30 opens from my experience
 

Kalentan

Member
I actually restarted from a bit past that point but didn't take long to get back to where I was since I knew what to do and where to go.

After 9 hours of play... I don't want to redo stuff. That's just me with games though. It's hard to do replay of content I just did not long ago.

Yeah, that sounds rough. The level 2-4 jump in this game really seems a bit out of sync. But, I really do think that if they just tuned down the Houndmaster they'd fix 90% of their difficulty curve problems. I'm playing on classic, but since that fight there hasn't really been much of an issue at all. I can see how it would be a 'hard-quitter' at tactician difficulty.

I actually found a 'mod' on the Larian forums that allowed me to tweak the settings.

I brought down everything to 25% increase.

And you know what? The houndmaster fight felt challenging but fair. I still had to revive and it was close. After Fane's death I had multiple get quite low but I made the correct moves and won.

For now I'll keep it like this. Now it feels like the right amount of challenge.
 
I adored the first game but this far surpasses it for me. I've clocked over 48 hours and I'm still on Act 1! I'll definitely be double dipping when the PS4 version (pretty, pretty please!) eventually comes out.
 
Okay so I'm at Reapers Coast in Act 2 and just
had my party abducted and split up. I am so fucking lucky that the character being sent to the mob-infested area had a tanky summon for the mobs to immediately aggro on instead of the character itself

Assuming that I need to get the rest of the party together again but leave the one inside the death room still while the other three work their way towards to them yeah?

Edit: Omfg I'm so glad I picked up those
teleporter pyramids. I feel like I'm cheating but at the same time I don't. The game gave it to me and I had the thought cross my mind.
 

Unicorn

Member
So, I've been super curious about this game and the predecessor, but have no frame of reference as to what this game is like. What's the elevator pitch or blender-mix combination of games to distill it down to a selling point?
 

epmode

Member
So, I've been super curious about this game and the predecessor, but have no frame of reference as to what this game is like. What's the elevator pitch or blender-mix combination of games to distill it down to a selling point?

If you're familiar with old games, it's kinda like Ultima 7 if it had a good UI and the best turn-based around.

Really, Ultima 7 was doing fascinating stuff with environment interactivity and it seemed like the future of RPGs. ..but then game design moved in a different direction and the neat stuff from U7 was forgotten.



edit: I posted this on the last page if anyone wouldn't mind taking a look:

I've been playing through Dishonored before starting this for real. Just from reading impressions, though, I have a question.

I understand why Larian would introduce a magic armor mechanic. It makes sense to limit the more overpowered CC strategies from the first game. What I don't understand is why they'd also introduce a regular armor bar. It sounds like it needlessly penalizes parties that split physical and magic damage. Could anyone explain how it benefits the game design?
 
I understand why Larian would introduce a magic armor mechanic. It makes sense to limit the more overpowered CC strategies from the first game. What I don't understand is why they'd also introduce a regular armor bar. It sounds like it needlessly penalizes parties that split physical and magic damage. Could anyone explain how it benefits the game design?

My experience with physical armor is so that u can't cheese status effects right on the opening round to your opponents and vice versa. Id loose my shit if i got knocked down straightaway.
 

epmode

Member
My experience with physical armor is so that u can't cheese status effects right on the opening round to your opponents and vice versa. Id loose my shit if i got knocked down straightaway.
Well, yeah. But couldn’t that be solved if the designers scrapped regular armor and simply prevented most status effects from applying if magic armor is still up? What’s the game design benefit to implementing magic armor AND regular armor?
 

Sarcasm

Member
Well, yeah. But couldn’t that be solved if the designers scrapped regular armor and simply prevented most status effects from applying if magic armor is still up? What’s the game design benefit to implementing magic armor AND regular armor?

Not all status effects are magical.
 

Unicorn

Member
If you're familiar with old games, it's kinda like Ultima 7 if it had a good UI and the best turn-based around.

Really, Ultima 7 was doing fascinating stuff with environment interactivity and it seemed like the future of RPGs. ..but then game design moved in a different direction and the neat stuff from U7 was forgotten.



edit: I posted this on the last page if anyone wouldn't mind taking a look:

I've been playing through Dishonored before starting this for real. Just from reading impressions, though, I have a question.

I understand why Larian would introduce a magic armor mechanic. It makes sense to limit the more overpowered CC strategies from the first game. What I don't understand is why they'd also introduce a regular armor bar. It sounds like it needlessly penalizes parties that split physical and magic damage. Could anyone explain how it benefits the game design?
I've never played Ultima. Is this more like an isometric Elder Scrolls and then an x-com when you enter combat?
 

Shinjica

Member
Well, yeah. But couldn’t that be solved if the designers scrapped regular armor and simply prevented most status effects from applying if magic armor is still up? What’s the game design benefit to implementing magic armor AND regular armor?

Less fun for more strategy

Not a choose i like personally
 

epmode

Member
Not all status effects are magical.

Right. I don’t see how this distinction helps the game design though. At least when it comes to the armor mechanic. Why not just design the game so that there’s only one armor mechanic and restrict virtually all status effects until it’s stripped?

I should really play the game some more to make my own conclusions. It’s fun to theorycraft though!

I've never played Ultima. Is this more like an isometric Elder Scrolls and then an x-com when you enter combat?

At a very broad level, it kinda plays like Diablo or the first Dragon Age except it becomes turn-based when combat starts. Regular gameplay and combat take place in the same map so there’s no switch to an isolated combat arena like you see in JRPGs.
 
Are you able to go back to Fort Joy once you leave? Or should you clean up all the side quests there before leaving?

Do you meant the Act itself or the actual Fort/prison? For the former, you can't visit a previous Act once you complete it. For the latter, once you escape the Fort/prison you will be marked hostile by the magister guards. It's not impossible to revisit but expect some fights with the the local guard or get your sneak-fu on.
 

Euphor!a

Banned
Do you meant the Act itself or the actual Fort/prison? For the former, you can't visit a previous Act once you complete it. For the latter, once you escape the Fort/prison you will be marked hostile by the magister guards. It's not impossible to revisit but expect some fights with the the local guard or get your sneak-fu on.

I guess I don't know. I have some quests that I had not completed when I left and I'm wondering if I can go back and do them, or should I just reload a save and clear it out before leaving.
 

Unicorn

Member
Right. I don’t see how this distinction helps the game design though. At least when it comes to the armor mechanic. Why not just design the game so that there’s only one armor mechanic and restrict virtually all status effects until it’s stripped?

I should really play the game some more to make my own conclusions. It’s fun to theorycraft though!



At a very broad level, it kinda plays like Diablo that switches to turn-based when combat starts. Regular gameplay and combat take place in the same map so there’s no switch to an isolated combat arena like you see in JRPGs.

Does it feel cumbersome? I'm just trying to wrap my head around how it "feels" to play.
 

Sarcasm

Member
I guess I don't know. I have some quests that I had not completed when I left and I'm wondering if I can go back and do them, or should I just reload a save and clear it out before leaving.

If you just went to the next town, you can go back.


Does it feel cumbersome? I'm just trying to wrap my head around how it "feels" to play.

I don't find it. I am fighting more then setting everything up before the fight.
 

Reani

Member
I guess I don't know. I have some quests that I had not completed when I left and I'm wondering if I can go back and do them, or should I just reload a save and clear it out before leaving.
game makes it VERY clear when you are at the point of no return
 
I guess I don't know. I have some quests that I had not completed when I left and I'm wondering if I can go back and do them, or should I just reload a save and clear it out before leaving.

You can go back but the guards are all flagged hostile now. If the quests are along the beach areas then its not hard to avoid the guards and still do the quests. But if you have to go into the Fort itself then be prepared for a fight.
 

Unicorn

Member
If you just went to the next town, you can go back.




I don't find it. I am fighting more then setting everything up before the fight.

Okay, that's good to know.

Another thing. Does this feel like a clockwork game like Majora's Mask or even Way of the Samurai where there's charm in replays or learning the routines of characters? Or, are most characters stationary/mannequins waiting to be interacted with?
 

Sarcasm

Member
You can go back but the guards are all flagged hostile now. If the quests are along the beach areas then its not hard to avoid the guards and still do the quests. But if you have to go into the Fort itself then be prepared for a fight.

Why avoid when you can kill and loot.
 
I've never played Ultima. Is this more like an isometric Elder Scrolls and then an x-com when you enter combat?

It's like the love child of Elder Scrolls, XCom, and Baldur's Gate 2.

It has the environmental reactivity of the Elder Scrolls but taken to the next level (ie what Ultima 7 was doing in the '90s but everyone then forgot about).

Rich, turned based combat though the systems themselves don't resemble XCom at all.

And, just like Baldur's Gate 2, you are literally tripping over a constant stream of awesome unique content and quests which will take you to cool ruins with awesome puzzles and traps.

Why avoid when you can kill and loot.

Depends on the level. Guards can still be pretty tough at the point when most people first escape Fort Joy.
 

epmode

Member
Does it feel cumbersome? I'm just trying to wrap my head around how it "feels" to play.

I'm not sure what you're looking to avoid so I may answer this poorly.. I think the game plays very well. You have lots of options but the menus are nicely laid out and they don't fight you. There are useful tooltips all over the place too.

It may help to skim a gameplay video. Maybe this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7SOfHR6btk

Another thing. Does this feel like a clockwork game like Majora's Mask or even Way of the Samurai where there's charm in replays or learning the routines of characters? Or, are most characters stationary/mannequins waiting to be interacted with?

No, there's no scheduling system. Larian looked into it for Original Sin 1 but it made an already complex quest system exponentially tougher to design. They had to drop it.
 

Massicot

Member
Just going to ask this in case anyone further than me knows, but any insight one where the third and fourth teleporter pyramids are? I just have the first two from the ship.

I also still have this "Key of the One" I'm trying to find a use for..
 
Doing a lone wolf run as Undead Conjurer + Fane, so far things are going really well but I imagine stuff will become a lot more difficult down the line as the only physical damage I have comes from the Incarnate.

Granted, the Incarnate post Summoning 10 is a real beast, especially with infusions.
 

aravuus

Member
Fane + Conjurer + Poison Totems. Beautiful.

Will poison totems shoot Fane if there are no enemies nearby? Or any undead ally, for that matter.

My single-player avatar is a summoner, and I kinda love just spamming the totems everywhere. The incarnate has been pretty goddamn good too.

It's kind of nuts how I managed to play it all weekend, yet OS2 is still the only thing I seem to be able to think about on Monday lol. Long workday ahead.
 

Enduin

No bald cap? Lies!
So for sure end of Act 1 Chapter 3/4
those companions that are not a part of the fight with Dallis on the Lady Vengeance die no matter what? I've looked everywhere and found nothing definitive and gone back and tried a ton of different stuff, but no matter what the two not in my party always end up dead. Kind of disappointing and killing my mood.
 
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