Putting the game down for now

[MarkK79]

I am putting the game down for now because the hard difficulty setting is too easy and the Supernova setting is ruined by terrible companion AI and no save on quit.

I love everything else about the game - the look, the quests, the setting, the companions.  Those things are fun.

But when I lowered the difficulty setting from Supernova to hard (because the companion AI is terrible and they always got killed),I could just plow through every combat encounter without any thought or strategy or tactics.  The combat was just mind-numbingly boring and rote.  Far, far too easy.

I am hoping that they patch this game some time to either fix Supernova or make the hard setting more difficult.  Or add a difficulty setting between hard and Supernova.

Combat is not the main point of a game like this but at least make me think a little, challenge me to take the right approach in order to succeed.  Just pointing any gun at any enemy using no strategy or tactics is too boring for me.

[Hurlshort]

So why not just play it for the story first and then mess around on Supernova afterwards?

[fxluk]

You can bypass save/fast travel/sleeping limitation with this mod:

https://www.nexusmods.com/theouterworlds/mods/8

At the moment there is no workaround for dieing companions, but with normal quick save it is less intrusive.

As already many mentioned here and on reddit, some kind of bleedout time would be a nice solution for Supernova.

 

Nevertheless supernova definitely need a rework. Everything should be toggleable (and also added to other difficulties).

Would be nice to also have some kind of slider for additional modification of:

1. How much damage you deal

2. How much damage enemy deal

Everybody could adjust it to get rid of sponge enemies.

3. Maybe turn off automatic regeneration ? We could actually make use of food.

 

Additionally, I just played like 2h maybe and what also struck me that after going out of first city i exploring a bit, I was already swimming in ammo (200 - 300 units EACH type)

and additional weapons.

I was like WTF, a Granade Launcher, Light machine gun, Heavy machine gun, dozen of revolvers and pistols also a lot of melee weapons... 

 

I hope Obsidian is listening and will implement some of those ideas that are floating around.

[thearmourofGod]

good grief people:  the autosave feature is everywhere

as for, companion ai?  yes, i had to reload and reconfigure a few times and now, like many others, my  companions  can now rip through enemies-( i love watching an enemy die while i attack another)

they do great companion stuff and i get to do my thing

this is supernova:  appropriate stat allocation, buffs and skill

it plainly told us (shouldnt have perhaps) what to invest in and the consequences

Edited October 29, 2019 by thearmourofGod
words

[Ommamar]

If you spec for companions and equip them they become strong (still not to smart but at least they can survive better) if you don't put any skill point to them they are weak. 

I do agree they could of done the application of survival elements a lot better but decent chance someone will mod it there is already they one mod linked addressing some of the frustration caused by SN draw backs. 

I have found that I can set traps and kill zones with my companions if I choose to or I can just rush things usually resulting in a victory.  What your complaint reminds me of is complaints I use to hear about an old game called Arcanum of steamworks and magick obscura there was tons of ways to play that game and build out a character yet their became one "best" way to build that made the game very easy.  So everyone complained how easy the game was while ignoring the systems in place.

Anyway I hope you at least got some enjoyment out of getting to the point you did, maybe it will seem enjoyable again if you come back after a break.  That is one nice thing about single player games their isn't the pressure of keeping up with people like there is with online games.

[stiven]

7 hours ago, MarkK79 said:

I am putting the game down for now because the hard difficulty setting is too easy and the Supernova setting is ruined by terrible companion AI and no save on quit.

I love everything else about the game - the look, the quests, the setting, the companions.  Those things are fun.

But when I lowered the difficulty setting from Supernova to hard (because the companion AI is terrible and they always got killed),I could just plow through every combat encounter without any thought or strategy or tactics.  The combat was just mind-numbingly boring and rote.  Far, far too easy.

I am hoping that they patch this game some time to either fix Supernova or make the hard setting more difficult.  Or add a difficulty setting between hard and Supernova.

Combat is not the main point of a game like this but at least make me think a little, challenge me to take the right approach in order to succeed.  Just pointing any gun at any enemy using no strategy or tactics is too boring for me.

You sir absolutely right. Even more so, since you CAN make you companions not to die on Supernova if you pick "Second Wind" perk for them. It's far in past mid game, when you can pick it, but you can. And you CAN trigger autosave at will, anyway. So what the bloody point?  As it is Supernova is just ineffective contraption which add nothing to the game, except forcing you to solo first 6-10 levels. And makes game less fun. 

[Mister Holdout]

So you're saying that combat was an absolute cake walk? There was no challenge to it whatsoever?

That's pretty remarkable because I played on hard difficulty and there were moments where I got absolutely shredded, even though my build focused on combat. 

As for companions, there are commands and settings you can tweak. But since you were playing on supernova, I probably would have just traveled solo. That way you can explore without having to baby sit companions. 

[Criimson]

Combat difficulty in Hard and Supernova is the same iirc.

I play supernova and my companions are doing fine. They struggled a bit at first, but after changing their settings and equiping them with the right weapons they do just fine now.  It took some time and testing, but that is why a player would choose Supernova: they want a challenge, they want to think, they want the occasional death. If they didn't they could play on story mode.

[SGTROCK117]

IMO early game was difficult  but once I hit about lvl 18 I found the combat quite easy and was steam rolling eveything from there on.  Fell the combat scalling was bit off  so it didnt feel well balanced to me  either early or end game?

[stiven]

2 hours ago, Mister Holdout said:

absolute cake walk? There was no challenge to it whatsoever

I guess it depends on what weapon you using and how you play. The only hard part in my game on Supernova was first levels on Emerald Vale, when you have no armor or weapon, and first encounters on Monarch. And only because i was trying to keep companions alive. Once i ditch them away - game became manageable, and later - easy-peasy. To describe the "difficulty" of the game...well i beat entire Monarch with a Ultra Assault Rifle. with a plasma mod, and only THEN i read about plasma being weak against one of two types of enemies on the planet. I had NEVER, not ever once, had to buy healing items from the vendors. At the end of the game, my char had 70+ medpacks, 4000+ energy/heavy ammo(i stop buying them after a while) and something around 10000+ light bullets which i has never used. There was only one fight in which i relayed on buffs (under the bridge in Cascadia). So on scale from 1 to 10, OW is solid 5 on Supernova. But then again - what if you want to play with companions on Supernova, without leadership AND in melee? I dunno, but i guess it would be x100 times more harder than long guns+sneak playthrough.

Ah, also my char had minimal social attributes and minimal strength, so very low on HP, no HP regen from food whatsoever, and minimal carry weight. But it case no big troubles and in late game my char still had 60+ leadership despite having low social attributes. So yeah, this game is a bit forgiving, even on supernova.

Edited October 30, 2019 by stiven
also

[VaultHunter1212]

Completely agree with OP. I don't care about some perk at end game and drilling 100 in companion based skills just so they don't die as easy.

All they have to do is disable perma death for companions in a hot fix. Problem solved. 

And enemy AI is laughable. If I can see an group of enemies they should hear my gunfire.  The first 2 camps on Emerald Vale are perfect examples. You can take guys out and their buddies just watch until you get "close enough to detect"

 

[Mister Holdout]

1 hour ago, stiven said:

I guess it depends on what weapon you using and how you play. The only hard part in my game on Supernova was first levels on Emerald Vale, when you have no armor or weapon, and first encounters on Monarch. And only because i was trying to keep companions alive. Once i ditch them away - game became manageable, and later - easy-peasy. To describe the "difficulty" of the game...well i beat entire Monarch with a Ultra Assault Rifle. with a plasma mod, and only THEN i read about plasma being weak against one of two types of enemies on the planet. I had NEVER, not ever once, had to buy healing items from the vendors. At the end of the game, my char had 70+ medpacks, 4000+ energy/heavy ammo(i stop buying them after a while) and something around 10000+ light bullets which i has never used. There was only one fight in which i relayed on buffs (under the bridge in Cascadia). So on scale from 1 to 10, OW is solid 5 on Supernova. But then again - what if you want to play with companions on Supernova, without leadership AND in melee? I dunno, but i guess it would be x100 times more harder than long guns+sneak playthrough.

Ah, also my char had minimal social attributes and minimal strength, so very low on HP, no HP regen from food whatsoever, and minimal carry weight. But it case no big troubles and in late game my char still had 60+ leadership despite having low social attributes. So yeah, this game is a bit forgiving, even on supernova.

Stealth builds tend to be the safest way to play in most RPGs. I set out to create a super soldier/tank character who is proficient in heavy and long range weapons. Early on, my build was working out pretty well. When I got to monarch I started encountering some issues. I had to beef up my weapons to take out the tougher enemies. The sulfur pits was the first really hard place I encountered. It was absolutely crawling with boss monsters. Eventually, I cleared it out with the use of my shrink ray. That weapon allowed me to shrink the tough enemies while my companions finished them off. I couldn't rely on my normal weapons because those creatures would absolutely murder you if they got close enough. Keep in mind, my approach to combat was to go in guns blazing. 

The best weapon I ever got was the mind control ray/rifle. I had both science weapon perks, so the weapon was extra effective. Basically, you can make enemies fight each other and if there are no more hostiles around, your target simply will not attack. 

[SturmChurro]

2 hours ago, stiven said:

I guess it depends on what weapon you using and how you play. The only hard part in my game on Supernova was first levels on Emerald Vale, when you have no armor or weapon, and first encounters on Monarch. And only because i was trying to keep companions alive. Once i ditch them away - game became manageable, and later - easy-peasy. To describe the "difficulty" of the game...well i beat entire Monarch with a Ultra Assault Rifle. with a plasma mod, and only THEN i read about plasma being weak against one of two types of enemies on the planet. I had NEVER, not ever once, had to buy healing items from the vendors. At the end of the game, my char had 70+ medpacks, 4000+ energy/heavy ammo(i stop buying them after a while) and something around 10000+ light bullets which i has never used. There was only one fight in which i relayed on buffs (under the bridge in Cascadia). So on scale from 1 to 10, OW is solid 5 on Supernova. But then again - what if you want to play with companions on Supernova, without leadership AND in melee? I dunno, but i guess it would be x100 times more harder than long guns+sneak playthrough.

Ah, also my char had minimal social attributes and minimal strength, so very low on HP, no HP regen from food whatsoever, and minimal carry weight. But it case no big troubles and in late game my char still had 60+ leadership despite having low social attributes. So yeah, this game is a bit forgiving, even on supernova.

Lmao! So true! Like you find so much ammo it doesn't matter, and actually I ran through emerald vale with just 4 armor rating. Once you find a sniper/assualt rifle (not light) enemies are a joke. Emerald vale you can also just use a plasma rifle or whatever and kill the primals like nothing, plus the mechanicals. It's hilarious how the game tries to nudge you into using the electricity weapon type when plasma gets the job done faster. It's ridiculous the balance of this game. The actual gameplay is probably the worst aspect of this entire game. In my opinion, they utterly failed at making it dynamic. 

[thearmourofGod]

supernova

companion attributes

that wuz hard