frostling

It still doesn't make sense to me, because in turn based mode there is a real time clock ticking - for anyone not involved in combat. And this clock doesn't apply to combatants. So in those 6s an npc can walk up close and block my character from moving (happened a few times), but having to wait until that npcs moves again won't impact anything (beside my patience). Durations of spells might be standardized between real time and turn based modes using the 6s calculation, but unless in real time mode everyone gets only one attack every 6s, there is no such standardization for damage.

Tbh, this explanation is quite confusing to me. I'm not sure what you mean by 'turn is 6 seconds', considering the world, including npcs, is moving forward in real time during combat, while the combatants stand still.

My (very limited) experience is that the best dpt is a scroll of great maelstrom cast with high arcana.

For me the issue with combat is that the high level battles are not really designed for turn based. Early game was great, the Gorecci street for example was both fun & exciting. But the final area in Beast of Winder was such a chore to get through. It had this "rolling wind" that would periodically appear on the map and every time that happened, whomever turn it was (enemy or party) would have to wait until the animation played out before they got to act. This made the battle drag on and on. I actually gave up on the two "boss battles" that were not story related. Sigilmaster bugged halfway through and since the fight is lengthy, and there is no guarantee this bug won't occur again, I'd rather not replay it. Giant crystal spider I've quit because so many spiders started appearing, that the "wait your turn list" got too long. Large enemy groups is not something that works in turn based. So I have to agree with the op, albeit for a different reason. The battles in the dlcs are just not fun.

I'm on version 5.0 (I think it's the current one on gog) and I've had this bug happen against Sigilmaster Auranic too.

I'm new to PoE2 too and playing in turn-based the first time (veteran difficulty). I haven't really tried real-time, so I don't know how it compares, but here are my few impressions: - The "everyone gets one action, except for wizards" mechanics are a bit usunual. I'm not sure whether a "quick rogue", or "quick" anyone is even possible in turn-based, because it doesn't matter how fast or slow a weapon is, you get one swing with it (or two if dual-wielding). It also doesn't matter that e.g. firearms are slow to reload, because in turn-based reloading happens immediately after shooting, meaning you'll have your pistol ready for the next turn. - Wizards get an obvious advantage, because a lot of their self-buffs (such as mirror image) are free actions, meaning they can buff with everything they have in one turn. - Scroll spellcasting is very powerful, because spells from scrolls are cast immediately, while most offensive spells cast from spellbook take some time to fire. And since you can increase damage of scrolls with arcana... I've ended up retraining my party wizard, filled his book with self-buffs and weapon summon spells, and just gave him a bunch of scrolls. Including druidic spells my druid doesn't even have access to yet. I don't think I have enough of experience to recommend a build, but because of the above I'd not be surprised if a wizard/rogue is very powerful offensively in turn-based. You get a wide arsenal of abilities to use, provided you invest in arcana and craft scrolls. Whether you could consider them a glass-canon depends on whether you'd use wizard buffs, though.

I'm not sure whether it was so for the majority of players, but speaking for myself, I rarely leave reviews (which is not limited to games, just in general). I'd say it was pathfinding that was the biggest issue for me in PoE, to the point where I've found combat a chore. And there was a lot of combat in that game. Which is why I didn't pay much attention to the franchise and only got PoE2 recently (currently on my first playthrough). And I find combat a lot more enjoyable in turn based mode. I think if the advertising was more visible (especially that it has tb combat) when PoE2 came out, I'd have probably gotten it sooner, because it was a bit of a random winter sale buy.