start of the game for melee characters is ass

[gristlethick]

melee characters are all going to take a beating. It makes it so that either the character is a full tank, or a glass cannon. I don't get the in between feel very much because if one character is a bit weaker than the others they take all the focus and get ass pounded.

 

coupling with the fact that the base weapon damage in the game was increased substantially makes it the early levels unbearable. You go from being able to take 2 hits to 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 and finally much, much later in the game you typically don't have to worry about your characters going into the red or nearly dying instant deaths because the health finally scaled up past the base weapon damages.

[gkathellar]

Not really? I don't get that feeling even on PotD.

 

If anything, melee characters have a much easier time of the early levels, just because they have a few more ability uses to start with.

[Tigranes]

Yeah, I don't really feel it, and I've taken various melee characters on solo, on party, in POTD with upscaling before & after the 1.1 changes.

 

If you're soloing, sometimes a character might be in a zone where they don't do enough damage to kill fast enough and don't have enough ways to stay alive long enough, but those tend to be temporary slumps that appear in different moments for different builds.

[anathanielh]

On my most recent playthrough all my starting characters were melee. (MC, Eder, Xoti)

I still had a good time of it., I just had to not forget about scrolls n poisons n stuff

[baldurs_gate_2]

melee characters are all going to take a beating. It makes it so that either the character is a full tank, or a glass cannon. I don't get the in between feel very much because if one character is a bit weaker than the others they take all the focus and get ass pounded.

 

coupling with the fact that the base weapon damage in the game was increased substantially makes it the early levels unbearable. You go from being able to take 2 hits to 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 and finally much, much later in the game you typically don't have to worry about your characters going into the red or nearly dying instant deaths because the health finally scaled up past the base weapon damages.

Brawler hardly dies and same with Herald.

[arkane83]

I would argue casters get the short end of the stick in this game due to the way martial subclass mechanics tend to benefit other classes more than caster subclasses. 

 

Devoted bonus pen works if you cross with any weapon user

 

Rogue and cipher bonus weapon damage works with any weapon user

 

Conjurer power level bonus does nothing for any other caster that summons

 

Lifegiver druid power level bonus does nothing for priests or paladins

[Big-Ben]

Lmao you want to start an RPG and have it be ass? Try the first Baldur's Gate as a Wizard (Or Sorcerer if it's modded or you have the Enhanced Edition.). Who among us doesn't like being slaughtered in one hit by a wayward arrow?

 

I think their is something to be said about being less powerful than others starting out but hoo boy it's certainly not ass in my opinion. But it IS frustrating to not feel good with the class. So that I understand.

Edited July 23, 2018 by Big-Ben

[knownastherat]

melee characters are all going to take a beating. It makes it so that either the character is a full tank, or a glass cannon. I don't get the in between feel very much because if one character is a bit weaker than the others they take all the focus and get ass pounded.

 

coupling with the fact that the base weapon damage in the game was increased substantially makes it the early levels unbearable. You go from being able to take 2 hits to 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 and finally much, much later in the game you typically don't have to worry about your characters going into the red or nearly dying instant deaths because the health finally scaled up past the base weapon damages.

 

The game, at least on higher difficulties, revolves around Armor and Penetration. If I take a guess, your party does not have enough Armor thus takes the mentioned beating. Solution; find better Armor or/and compensate by other means (spells, potions, abilities). 

 

If by "start of the game" you mean Port Maje, then yes some encounters there can be very hard. It has not much to do with melee imo though. 

 

---

edit: check the combat log to see how AR/PEN works as it's not very intuitive nor sensical.

Edited July 23, 2018 by knownastherat

[Boeroer]

The basic assumption (the relation between enemies' weapon damage and party's health pool) is correct though. You can withstand a lot more hits after some levels because your health climbs faster than enemies' damage does. Also healing options get added which are basically additional health. That's why you'll encounter more and more enemies in one encounter the further you go. That's also why high AR is more beneficial in the early game.

[rjshae]

Thread title reminds me of that classic documentary "Idiocracy".

[Boeroer]

Funny thing is that the start of the game for casters is even more ass - so I don't know what the complaint really is about. I think it should be "Start of the game is ass for low level characters". You can overcome this with Berath's Blessings (start with lvl 4) by the way.

[Bionick]

Just hire some mercenaries as soon as you hit lvl 2. There is no reason the start of the game has to be ass unless you want to make it more challenging, in which case you have nothing to complain about.

[thundercleese]

Funny thing is that the start of the game for casters is even more ass - so I don't know what the complaint really is about. I think it should be "Start of the game is ass for low level characters". You can overcome this with Berath's Blessings (start with lvl 4) by the way.

My Nature Godlike Evoker was the easiest run through Port Maje I have done to date. Granted I start all my games at lvl4 from Berath's Blessings, which helps. I also had the firethrower gloves from the merchant. It's fairly easy to get to lvl3-4 on Port Maje without any combat outside of the ship fight. And that fight really doesn't matter; if you die it just ends and you wake up on the beach.

 

If your melee is having trouble early game you'll just have to pop on heavy armour and live with the slow recovery speed. The brigandine from the boat should do fine.

 

Also try to make use of any gunpowder barrels you can, they can make some difficult early fights completely trivial (the ones inside the ruins especially). You will need to use either fire-based attacks or firearms to make them explode tho, otherwise it just breaks and leaves a pile of gunpowder on the floor.

[1TTFFSSE]

if you are a squishy low defelction thing like a berserker or helwalker it can be a pain at low levels until you get some defensives. for fighter/paladin/chanter types it should be no problem to be up front though.