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Divinity: Original Sin |OT| Sandbox RPG. Co-Op friendly. Bread.

Durante

Member
Do we know yet how big this game is, in terms of major overworld locations? I've only just now nearly finished exploring the first overworld map and I've seen a bit of the second.
There's 4 maps as large as the first one, and a few more smaller ones.
 

Zakalwe

Banned
Random loot combined with invisibility being broken beyond belief, along with thievery also being ~100% broken sounds a little rough, but all the other things really help those negatives.

I just hope there's not enemy scaling a la Oblivion though, that combined with completely unrestrained/wild random loot would seriously make the game a few notches worse for me.

Why do you consider stealing broken? It's a role playing aspect of the sandbox, and a seaoned adventurer with a mind for it is going to be able to outwit a few simple townfolk in order to rummage through their sundries.

The fact you can do this without spec makes it even better imo, with spec commitment making it more streamlined (less clicks, same outcome), a few more options (pick pockets), and access to chests in closed off areas, so the spec is still meaningful but isn't absolutely required to steal.

I dislike level scaling in general, but the areas in original sin are so small and level differences are so important in combat that they make proress in the game almost linear.

Except many encounters slightly above your level can be solved with a little thinking outside the box...

high level spells will cost more AP if you have a low level of its school.

For sure? I thought this was simply tied to the attribute that modifies them, ie: intelligence for spells, strength for man at arms, etc... with investment in the schools themselves just unlocking the ability to carry more skills at once.

Actually, what about the level of the books you need to read to learn the skills, is that tied to your characters level or the level of the school?
 

Minsc

Gold Member
Why do you consider stealing broken? IT's a role playing aspect of the sandbox, and a seaoned adventurer with a mind for it is going to be able to outwit a few simple townfolk in order to rummage through their sundries.

The fact you can do this without spec makes it even better imo, with spec commitment making it more streamlined (less clicks, same outcome), a few more options (pick pockets), and access to chests in closed off areas, so the spec is still meaningful but isn't absolutely required to steal.

Well, perhaps it's not quite as broken as Invisibility is said to be, but it still sounds a little busted from what I read. You're basically able to acquire more money than you'd ever need right from the start and there's very little checks and balances in place (you can steal a merchants inventory then sell it right back to them). I like it better when games have a proper currency, that is all the merchants carry a limited amount of gold to trade with, and you can't just hand them their own goods back to them for tons of money. The idea of stealing everything you want simply by having one person talk to a NPC then the other rob them blind is fun too, but also seems a little broken. Just my take on it, but I'll agree it's slanted a bit harshly towards a less fun model for a sandbox game.

Then again some of my first experiences of thievery in games were the Quest for Glory games, where there's like a grand total of 3 or 4 houses you can steal from, and it's very hard to do so, but also quite fun and rewarding.
 

HoosTrax

Member
There's 4 maps as large as the first one, and a few more smaller ones.
Oh damn. It's going to be a miracle if I manage to finish this game by next Monday, when I have to go back to work.

Still it's been well worth it. Haven't played an isometric RPG this good that wasn't a old-school Bioware one since...Arcanum? 13 years ago?

I do have some pet peeves / minor gripes though.

- There needs to be a better (ideally, dedicated) crafting interface.
- The Equipment tab of the inventory needs a sort-by-character-slot option.
- Need more hotkey slots in general.
- Two weapon setup slots would be nice (for a melee and a ranged setup), along with a hotkey that switches between the two.
- It would be nice if skillbook vendors would stock fewer duplicates and cover the bases better (to reduce the need for save scumming).
- Even the ornate chests tend to drop a lot of useless crap due to the random item generation.
 

ys45

Member
Whoa first boss fight was freaking hard for me
She summon 5-6 monster with her
we probably spent an hour trying different strategy I feel like we are under powered even thought we were lvl 6 the main issue is my rogue feels more useless the more we progress into the game he is not doing enough damage .

Really feels like we are doing something wrong here any tips would be appreciated .
 

Shahadan

Member
I don't think stealing is that broken considering the re-sell price and how expensive are some items you want to buy (gear and spellbooks notably).
I actually felt the game was designed around that.
 

Sarcasm

Member
Hint: virtually every NPC in this game is also a "vendor".
many of them sell spells.

All I find is fire and earth lol. On top of that the vendor don't heave anymore gold so I have inventory full of junk and books. Crafting is a bit much so I haven't touched it besides cutting up pillows to quills lol.
 

Durante

Member
I like it better when games have a proper currency, that is all the merchants carry a limited amount of gold to trade with
That's exactly how it is in this game. You can even find people talking about it on the previous page.

You should just play it.
 

aravuus

Member
There's 4 maps as large as the first one, and a few more smaller ones.

That's insane. Unless I get burned out on the game halfway through (which unfortunately happens a lot with long RPGs), it really might end up being 100+ hours for me. I've already spent almost 20 hours in the first town and I there's still a bunch to do
 

Santiako

Member
Whoa first boss fight was freaking hard for me
She summon 5-6 monster with her
we probably spent an hour trying different strategy I feel like we are under powered even thought we were lvl 6 the main issue is my rogue feels more useless the more we progress into the game he is not doing enough damage .

Really feels like we are doing something wrong here any tips would be appreciated .

I beat her with a level 5 party thanks to stun cloud arrows to keep the summons at bay, those arrows are amazing.
 

Shahadan

Member
Whoa first boss fight was freaking hard for me
She summon 5-6 monster with her
we probably spent an hour trying different strategy I feel like we are under powered even thought we were lvl 6 the main issue is my rogue feels more useless the more we progress into the game he is not doing enough damage .

Really feels like we are doing something wrong here any tips would be appreciated .

I had a hard time too, either go some other quests to level up of pick another strategy. You can manage to stun her before engaging battle so she can't summon, or kill the fire cats first because they explode.
Also get a scroll or spellbook for a summon too (one not weak to fire preferably) it will help a lot.
 

Minsc

Gold Member
That's exactly how it is in this game. You can even find people talking about it on the previous page.

You should just play it.

Oh good, glad to be wrong about that... I just remember reading some impressions earlier about people acquiring 10,000s of gold from stealing. I do have the game installed though and started it up briefly! I just want to finish M&MX first, plus I'm going on a vacation soon so it doesn't make much sense to start this til after.
 

pahamrick

Member
I decided to be crazy and start a dual lone wolf game just to see how far I can make it. Should be fun!

Oh good, glad to be wrong about that... I just remember reading some impressions earlier about people acquiring 10,000s of gold from stealing. I do have the game installed though and started it up briefly! I just want to finish M&MX first, plus I'm going on a vacation soon so it doesn't make much sense to start this til after.

Yeah, you can acquire pretty high amounts of gold but the merchants only carry so much. However, you're able to straight trade for items as well. So you can stock pile a lot of high value items, and instead of straight selling to the vendor you can trade for the items you need.
 

HoosTrax

Member
the main issue is my rogue feels more useless the more we progress into the game he is not doing enough damage
Really? I've really grown to like my Rogue. Buff, then shadowwalk behind the target and backstab multiple times in a round for criticals.
 

Shahadan

Member
I guess you can get around 10000 gold in total in the first city by basically selling stuff to every single vendor.

Also correct me if I'm wrong but gold you get by just selling loot or just by questing is definitely not enough to buy interesting spellbooks and gear. I really feel stealing is useful if you're not crafting (hell, even if you do)
 

Moff

Member
Oh good, glad to be wrong about that... I just remember reading some impressions earlier about people acquiring 10,000s of gold from stealing. I do have the game installed though and started it up briefly! I just want to finish M&MX first, plus I'm going on a vacation soon so it doesn't make much sense to start this til after.
you can get 10k gold fast by stealing, but not from pickpocketing, pickpocketing is very limited (by both weight and worth per npc)
but you can steal gold cups, paintings and stuff like that from houses that sell for a lot of money.

I wouldnt say the thievery part of the game is broken, its powerful, but still fun. some skills are even underpowered, it takes a crazy high amount of lockpicking to lockpick anything, I have a ranger that has most points in thievery skills and I havent been able to lockpick anything yet in the whole game, it always says my lockpicking level is too low. so I just bash everything in. so yeah, thievery is more or less fine.

but yeah, invisibility is totally broken on a non-fun level, as I have elaborated earlier.
 

ys45

Member
Really? I've really grown to like my Rogue. Buff, then shadowwalk behind the target and backstab multiple times in a round for criticals.

You know I think I'm gonna start using my rogue more as melee (currently using him as an archer rogue) the reason I changed to archery is because I have not found a single good dagger for him (or any dex based melee weapon)
 

Chaos17

Member
Thank you guys. That clears that up. That sounds about as good as it gets. I will invite my brother on character creation then and we will be playing together the whole time. Sounds good.

One last thing, if my brother is controlling the second main character and another party member, can he go wonder off shoping while I talk to people to finish a quest? Basically, can we do our own thing or has the party stick together?
Yes but be sure to be together when you advance the story or a quest because both heroes will (probably) have banters. Those banters can give you a personality stat that boost your normal stat. It's not necesseary, though.
 

Zakalwe

Banned
Well, perhaps it's not quite as broken as Invisibility is said to be, but it still sounds a little busted from what I read. You're basically able to acquire more money than you'd ever need right from the start and there's very little checks and balances in place (you can steal a merchants inventory then sell it right back to them). I like it better when games have a proper currency, that is all the merchants carry a limited amount of gold to trade with, and you can't just hand them their own goods back to them for tons of money. The idea of stealing everything you want simply by having one person talk to a NPC then the other rob them blind is fun too, but also seems a little broken. Just my take on it, but I'll agree it's slanted a bit harshly towards a less fun model for a sandbox game.

Then again some of my first experiences of thievery in games were the Quest for Glory games, where there's like a grand total of 3 or 4 houses you can steal from, and it's very hard to do so, but also quite fun and rewarding.

Well, I plundered the heck out of Cyseal and the surrounding areas. I took everything, pictures, cups, empty bottles, smelly pants... and sold it all, and I still need money to buy the gear I want.

I've not even been that frivolous, everything I've bought has had a purpose. I am running a ranger who likes to make liberal use of her arrows though, and constantly restocking those is probably quite expensive, but so far there doesn't seem enough to steal to make the game feel imbalanced in any way.
 

Sentenza

Member
All I find is fire and earth lol. On top of that the vendor don't heave anymore gold so I have inventory full of junk and books. Crafting is a bit much so I haven't touched it besides cutting up pillows to quills lol.

The legion captain has man-at-arms spells.
The lady on the second floor of the inn has scoundrel and witchcraft spells
etc.
 

Moff

Member
Also correct me if I'm wrong but gold you get by just selling loot or just by questing is definitely not enough to buy interesting spellbooks and gear. I really feel stealing is useful if you're not crafting (hell, even if you do)

I would say gold from selling loot is the biggest gold income, at least 60%.
even grays can sell for 1k and more.
 

Chaos17

Member
Well, I plundered the heck out of Cyseal and the surrounding areas. I took everything, pictures, cups, empty bottles, smelly pants... and sold it all, and I still need money to buy the gear I want.

I've not even been that frivolous, everything I've bought has had a purpose. I am running a ranger who likes to make liberal use of her arrows though, and constantly restocking those is probably quite expensive, but so far there doesn't seem enough to steal to make the game feel imbalanced in any way.

Not imbalanced but clearly stealing do make your life easier.
For example after stealing all the goods in the city I finished level 4 (quests included though) with 25K and also I had a lot of blue and green equipements on me.

So my archer instead of doing bewtewn 15 and 30 damages, he became Rambo and was doing between 45 and 64 damages and that doesn't count criticals.
That was LOL XD

Finally when I finished Cyseal area with all the quests I have 55k and I could buy all the books I wanted. Stealing do reward you and make your life easier at the begining of the game~

I wouldnt say the thievery part of the game is broken, its powerful, but still fun. some skills are even underpowered, it takes a crazy high amount of lockpicking to lockpick anything
Take mage with fire spell and you will be able to lock pick (almost) all in the city~
"Kill it with fire!!"
Hahahah
And no the good isn't lost if you burn a chest.
 

Durante

Member
Sure, but will cleaning out an entire town and strutting around like you're still a hero ever get old?
Not at all. But our characters had a talk and we managed to convince each other that what we're doing is not only ok, it's actually perfectly ethical. I mean, we are merely equipping ourselves to save the city, all its villagers and maybe even the world from a much greater threat.

In fact, not using any opportunity to be as well-equipped as possible would be unethical.

I love the conversations about stealing, and the choices that are offered in them
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
I don't think the random loot is bad at all (with one small catch). I mean that's straight up D&D. Seeing as that's the experience they were going for it feels absolutely authentic.

The one catch I mentioned was that D&D modules DID usually have a specific drop or two on static "named" encounters. I would hope that's the case here as even massive RNG loot-fests like Diablo have uniques and set pieces, etc.

But outside of that one thing I'm fine with random loot game wide. I mean it's what I grew up with :p "I open the chest." *DM rolls a D100* "A dagger!? Fuck!!"
 
Solid tactical play is paramount with this game's combat. I've beaten groups of level 6 orcs with a level 3 party on Hard through good position and proper use of elemental combinations and other skills.

I guess I just don't get it. Given my current frustration with this game I can only read that as 'cheesing' the AI mobs.

I've cleared out most of the area behind the town and am level 5, and right now the encounter I'm stuck on is 10 f'ing mobs, which are also level 5. 10 v 3 (one Lone Wolf). The Enraged Boars cause the most problems - poisoning and tons of HP. Even with ~80% hit percentages I still seem to miss a lot, all the while their archers are shooting me through the rocks (my poor attempt at positioning I guess). Poison resist scrolls are pretty worthless, as are most scrolls, since the only last 2 turns. Summoning my spider helps for a couple rounds since the AI seems to focus fire on that, but the 10 vs 3 steamroll is inevitable. I stun and freeze what I can, but pffft, their mage does the same. Which is kind of funny since it doesn't make my super-Source Hunter Adventure Party seem very special. Maybe these guys should save the universe instead. My gear seems alright guess - mostly of my level and blue with nice bonuses. That said I don't go around town stealing everything, so maybe I'm missing something better. Fighter, Wayfarer and Jahar Mage. Bums.

/rant
 

Moff

Member
another thing, since someone complained earlier about no one noticing your bad deeds like murder.

there is definitely some kind of general affection system in the game.
sure, everyone has seen that if you wrong somebody in a dialogue you will lose affection for that certain NPC.

but there is also a general affections for ALL npcs.
it starte with 0 for every npc, by the end I left the first zone it was 50, for every npc, and it carries over to the next system. so there is definitely some kind of reputation system in place. everyone greets me with " my friend" now.

in the beta, where I killed about 80% of people in the first town, my reputation was in -70, and 1 npc I tried to steal from was on -100 and npcs with -100 will attack you on sight.

now the big question is of course what exactly influences that general affection, doing quests give positive general affection I guess?
I doubt stealing give negative general affection, because I certainly woulndt be in the +50 then. killing gives probably negative general affection, but I killed 1 person (the mayor) and no one saw it, and 1 murder at least doesnt give you negative general affection, at least if no one saw it.
 
Whoa first boss fight was freaking hard for me
She summon 5-6 monster with her
we probably spent an hour trying different strategy I feel like we are under powered even thought we were lvl 6 the main issue is my rogue feels more useless the more we progress into the game he is not doing enough damage .

Really feels like we are doing something wrong here any tips would be appreciated .

You need to incapacitate the
lieutenant or else he is going to keep summoning scouts. I did this with rain + ice shards and just let him stay frozen for most of the fight while I took out everyone else.
 

Uthred

Member
I guess I just don't get it. Given my current frustration with this game I can only read that as 'cheesing' the AI mobs.

I've cleared out most of the area behind the town and am level 5, and right now the encounter I'm stuck on is 10 f'ing mobs, which are also level 5. 10 v 3 (one Lone Wolf). The Enraged Boars cause the most problems - poisoning and tons of HP. Even with ~80% hit percentages I still seem to miss a lot, all the while their archers are shooting me through the rocks (my poor attempt at positioning I guess). Poison resist scrolls are pretty worthless, as are most scrolls, since the only last 2 turns. Summoning my spider helps for a couple rounds since the AI seems to focus fire on that, but the 10 vs 3 steamroll is inevitable. I stun and freeze what I can, but pffft, their mage does the same. Which is kind of funny since it doesn't make my super-Source Hunter Adventure Party seem very special. Maybe these guys should save the universe instead. My gear seems alright guess - mostly of my level and blue with nice bonuses. That said I don't go around town stealing everything, so maybe I'm missing something better. Fighter, Wayfarer and Jahar Mage. Bums.

/rant

I banged my head against that for a while as well,
I found circling around and coming in (i.e. starting the fight) from the back made it easier to get to the archers and mages first
 

Zakalwe

Banned
Not imbalanced but clearly stealing do make your life easier.
Stealing do reward you and make your life easier at the begining of the game~

Yeh, that's kind of the point of stealing. :p

Not at all. But our characters had a talk and we managed to convince each other that what we're doing is not only ok, it's actually perfectly ethical. I mean, we are merely equipping ourselves to save the city, all its villagers and maybe even the world from a much greater threat.

In fact, not using any opportunity to be as well-equipped as possible would be unethical.

I love the conversations about stealing, and the choices that are offered in them

Yeh, you commented on this before and though I didn't reply I completely agree. Even if the actual dialogue is sparse between your characters, they pin-point the exact parts that need dicussing to make your interactions in the world feel like your'e a part of it, like your characters have weight and agency.

And even though I have justified my stealing as part of a higher nobel cause, I don't feel bad for getting a slight gleam of satisfaction when an arrogant NPC (see captain of the legion) lauds their position over me with no knowledge that I've just stolen every last thing they own from under their haughty nose.
 

Chaos17

Member
Yeh, that's kind of the point of stealing. :p
.
Well, I'm more a modern player who will have prefered quests that rewards me with loots and golds (instead of just exp) because I wanted to play a good guy :(
Though, maybe you were right. That game is imbalanced because in Baldur's gate, i din't need to steal to make my life easier.
 

v0mitg0d

Member
I'm just about to start the game but have a few questions since I've not played one of these kinds of RPGs in a long time.

1) Whats a good starter combo. I'm thinking Knight + Thief?

2) What abilities/perks are suggested?

3) Is there a moral route? Can you good or bad to people? If so, what're are some of the benefits you've experienced playing either way?
 

Santiako

Member
Very important: When you get to the church graveyard, read every tombstone, they are hilarious, haven't laughed that much at a game in a long time.
 

DSN2K

Member
just picked this up.

Installing now so add me if you want on steam for Co-op at some point, names dsn2k on steam as well.
 

Zakalwe

Banned
The one catch I mentioned was that D&D modules DID usually have a specific drop or two on static "named" encounters. I would hope that's the case here as even massive RNG loot-fests like Diablo have uniques and set pieces, etc.

Someone mentioned a specific boss
--- Rex
dropped a unique item
his axe
. So if this is true for everyone it looks like your hopes might be answered.

Well, I'm more a modern player who will have prefered quests that rewards me with loots and golds (instead of just exp) because I wanted to play a good guy :(
Though, maybe you were right. That game is imbalanced because in Baldur's gate, i din't need to steal to make my life easier.

Do you need to steal though? Or is it just to make your life easier? Can you get by without it by playing the good guy?

If so then it seems to be working as intended.

If people really are struggling choosing not to steal then that probably needs some attention.
 

Hastati

Member
I guess you can get around 10000 gold in total in the first city by basically selling stuff to every single vendor.

I stole practically every single thing I could in the city and sold/traded it, was probably over 10,000. The thing is, to buy things that you really need, that's not actually a whole lotta gold. I don't know about later sections of the game, but in the first map stealing is more of a side-attraction or fun way to pass the time and pick up a few extra spells you might need.

Honestly, the money and item systems feel secondary to the exploration and tactical aspects of the game, and in a good way. This doesn't feel in any way like a loot game, and I actually like the random element of item drops, since it can force you to be more creative with how you use your characters.
 

Zakalwe

Banned
I'm just about to start the game but have a few questions since I've not played one of these kinds of RPGs in a long time.

1) Whats a good starter combo. I'm thinking Knight + Thief?

2) What abilities/perks are suggested?

3) Is there a moral route? Can you good or bad to people? If so, what're are some of the benefits you've experienced playing either way?

1. Take what you want, and remember that even if you don't spec it there is almost always an option to do it.

Example: thieves make stealing more streamlined and open up a few more things such as pickpocketing and chests and locked doors, but everyone can steal effectively. And as character progression is open, you can start any class and put skills into the thieving stuff if you'd rather run something else at the start.

Same if you like the idea of burning stuff, no need to roll a fire mage as you can open the fire magic with any magic user, or use fire arrows on ranger, or scrolls for everyone else, or even ignite things by tossing a candle at them...


2. LIterally, whatever you want.

I would say that the only real talent that makes sense to get early on and seems obligatory to me is Pet Pal. Being able to converse with animals not only unlocks the (imo) funniest dialogue in the game, but opens up quest options and ways to solve quests you wouldn't have access to otherwise (you only need it on one character, and that character must be the one to speak to the animal).


3. It's not renegade/paragon. You get dialogue choices when certain events trigger, and your reaction to these level up things like Loyalty, Heartless, etc... these traits affect certain dialogue options.

You're free to go full out bad/evil of course, but the system allows for more grey areas if you want to explore those.
 
Well, I'm more a modern player who will have prefered quests that rewards me with loots and golds (instead of just exp) because I wanted to play a good guy :(
Though, maybe you were right. That game is imbalanced because in Baldur's gate, i din't need to steal to make my life easier.

There's also an issue with just how easy it is. Gold and equipment are strewn everywhere, and hitting your ALT key makes the whole room light up. It addition to how it doesn't take any skill, it's like Larian are begging you to rob every townsperson blind. Makes it hard to play the good guy - or almost makes you feel like you're playing the game wrong.
 
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