Hard mode is too easy.

[Lazarus]

i just hit dyrford on level 8 and i feel really overpowered as well (i did a lot of sidequests but didnt do any bounties)....i am actually scared to do sidequests at this point so i can have some challenge further and it pi*ss me off because i love this game so far....

[Mazisky]

I think the best thing would be to  have a super-tough critical path so that you're kinda forced to do lot of side content in order to grow up and beat the main story.

 

Critical path on hard and pod should be extreme and you can reach  level 12 only at the end of the game and after doing  ALL side content.

 

This is what i call a challenge

Edited April 8, 2015 by Mazisky

[Atheosis]

You won't reach level 12 before reaching the halfway point of the game's crit path unless you're doing a LOT of sidequests. You certainly won't do so if you just stick to the crit path. Could XP be tuned better? Yes. Is it as dire as you're stating it to be? No.

 

Again I'm wondering how many of these lvl 12 at halfway point people have been doing lots of bounties. I want to know how they're getting so ludicrously overleveled, because so far I'm not seeing it.

 

Bounties are a huge part of it.  Each bounty gives what?  20k xp total?  And there are a ton of bounties.  Since they already reward the player with money and loot it seems to me that their xp rewards should be 1-2k xp total. 

[Atheosis]

I think the best thing would be to  have a super-tough critical path so that you're kinda forced to do lot of side content in order to grow up and beat the main story.

 

Critical path on hard and pod should be extreme and you can reach  level 12 only at the end of the game and after doing  ALL side content.

 

This is what i call a challenge

 

Not really.  Being forced to do tons of side content is oppressive game design.  The better route is to scale back bounty xp rewards and possibly scale back xp rewards on minor (read easy) side quests and side quests that you have massively out-leveled. 

[Mazisky]

 

I think the best thing would be to  have a super-tough critical path so that you're kinda forced to do lot of side content in order to grow up and beat the main story.

 

Critical path on hard and pod should be extreme and you can reach  level 12 only at the end of the game and after doing  ALL side content.

 

This is what i call a challenge

 

Not really.  Being forced to do tons of side content is oppressive game design.  The better route is to scale back bounty xp rewards and possibly scale back xp rewards on minor (read easy) side quests and side quests that you have massively out-leveled. 

 

 

Forced to do tons of side content in order to beat critical path with low difficulties so that if you wanna rush it, it will be very hard.

 

Actually, even doing only critical path, is too easy (i skipped WHOLE Caed Nua and WHOLE Twin Elms),

I wonder how it is when doing also all side content.

[Atheosis]

 

 

I think the best thing would be to  have a super-tough critical path so that you're kinda forced to do lot of side content in order to grow up and beat the main story.

 

Critical path on hard and pod should be extreme and you can reach  level 12 only at the end of the game and after doing  ALL side content.

 

This is what i call a challenge

 

Not really.  Being forced to do tons of side content is oppressive game design.  The better route is to scale back bounty xp rewards and possibly scale back xp rewards on minor (read easy) side quests and side quests that you have massively out-leveled. 

 

 

Forced to do tons of side content in order to beat critical path with low difficulties so that if you wanna rush it, it will be very hard.

 

Actually, even doing only critical path, is too easy (i skipped WHOLE Caed Nua and WHOLE Twin Elms),

I wonder how it is when doing also all side content.

 

 

What difficulty are you playing on?  And are you using death over maiming?  I've been playing on normal and I definitely see the inverted difficulty curve (going to play hard next, then PotD, and then mess about with trials of iron and death instead of maiming), but I have to wonder how people are having such an easy time with hard or PotD without xp grinding, or cheesing and/or min/maxing.  And I have to wonder if they are using death over maiming. 

Edited April 8, 2015 by Atheosis

[View619]

 

 

 

I think the best thing would be to  have a super-tough critical path so that you're kinda forced to do lot of side content in order to grow up and beat the main story.

 

Critical path on hard and pod should be extreme and you can reach  level 12 only at the end of the game and after doing  ALL side content.

 

This is what i call a challenge

 

Not really.  Being forced to do tons of side content is oppressive game design.  The better route is to scale back bounty xp rewards and possibly scale back xp rewards on minor (read easy) side quests and side quests that you have massively out-leveled. 

 

 

Forced to do tons of side content in order to beat critical path with low difficulties so that if you wanna rush it, it will be very hard.

 

Actually, even doing only critical path, is too easy (i skipped WHOLE Caed Nua and WHOLE Twin Elms),

I wonder how it is when doing also all side content.

 

 

What difficulty are you playing on?  And are you using death over maiming?  I've been playing on normal and I definitely see the inverted difficulty curve (going to play hard next, then PotD, and then mess about with trials of iron and death instead of maiming), but I have to wonder how people are having such an easy time with hard or PotD without xp grinding, or cheesing and/or min/maxing.  And I have to wonder if they are using death over maiming. 

 

 

Death over maiming doesn't really matter if your units are never at risk of losing all hp. Acts 2 and 3 are just tuned badly, no matter what difficulty you play on; I hit Dyrford at level 6 on Hard twice and it feels like I'm over-levelled both times, even more-so the second time since I know what I'm doing in combat now. It just gets easier as you progress, even without xp grinding or cheese.

Edited April 8, 2015 by View619

[sparklecat]

I'm not min-maxed in the slightest.  I don't know any cheesy tactics.  I've never had anyone maimed because I have plenty of camping supplies, even on Hard, to rest if anyone's health is getting low.

 

I'll also be finishing my game without touching the endless paths or any of the bounties.  It's still too easy, even at level 9 in Act 3.  Though the drakes south of Defiance Bay made for an enjoyable fight at this level, at least.

[Atheosis]

I guess I'm just not as good as you guys because I have my squishier characters focused and taken down every once in a while (even when doing everything possible to keep them safe).  What's funny is I beat the old IE games on higher difficulties so I don't feel like I suck at this kind of game, but apparently I do compared to you guys.  The game has definitely gotten easier as I've progressed and that shouldn't happen, but still tend to feel like death instead of maiming would make it quite a bit more challenging for me (especially at higher difficulties), but I haven't tried it yet.   

[ComplyOrDie]

My playthrough was PoTD, expert mode, death over maiming doesn't feature too much as you tend to get knocked out first, Eder can easily do 5+ battles before his health is low.. As seems to be the case with everyone else, the game was much harder - and felt really really good by the way - near the start, with the exception of some random encounters like trolls, which can't do anything (they hit hard and fast on BG games), and the human parties which suck throughout the game (raedrics hold is decent though for lvl 3/4, except raedric who is no harder than some of the bigger groups in there). I hit defiance at 5, there is one fight in the city I missed and found on second playthrough (forge Knights) which is far far far far harder than anything else close to it. While this is cool, it shows up the rest of act 2, nothing else in Act 2 is hard for lvl 5-8 parties on path, with the exception of Spore room and potentially the lle la rhemen optional boss (I didn't do this fight but it looked decent if you don't cheese and begin the fight through dialogue). Pwgra Druid combos are tuned ok, the rest of the crit path is really really under tuned as in you don't even need to use abilities. Got to say it again, human opponents are comically easy.

 

I did one bounty quest just to try the difficulty, chief xaurip guy, looked scary but xaurips and their friends can't really hit you. Was Lvl 7 for dyrford and the places around it which is still too high probably.

 

I think on path you should be expected to do some side content to keep up, not avoid it to keep a challenge which I ended up doing, I just used the in game characters and didn't min max, I had many normal pieces of equipment still on by end game, Eder is more than good enough to tank the lot on his own and Aloth can blow most enemies up. I waltzed into the final battle with a half arsed level 9 party really a bit disappointed with it all. The last battle certainly doesn't disappoint at least, you need to bring your A game, have buffs and good equipment etc. but barely any of the rest of the game prepares you for that. I'd guess they play tested the last battle at least.

 

I admit I can't comment on any other Act 3 content as I didn't want to experience all the brilliant content for the first time when over levelled.

Edited April 8, 2015 by ComplyOrDie

[ComplyOrDie]

I guess I'm just not as good as you guys because I have my squishier characters focused and taken down every once in a while (even when doing everything possible to keep them safe). What's funny is I beat the old IE games on higher difficulties so I don't feel like I suck at this kind of game, but apparently I do compared to you guys. The game has definitely gotten easier as I've progressed and that shouldn't happen, but still tend to feel like death instead of maiming would make it quite a bit more challenging for me (especially at higher difficulties), but I haven't tried it yet.

 

Well this is true in shadow fights, Aloth and durance can get perma deathed pretty fast by these guys who are some of the more fun opponents. Other than them though there aren't too many fights you get forced out of position and to adapt are there?

 

I'd say that sadly a lot of the other fights rest on your initial angle of attack, if the enemies all run towards Eder, it's already pretty much done.

Edited April 8, 2015 by ComplyOrDie

[durbal]

I guess I'm just not as good as you guys because I have my squishier characters focused and taken down every once in a while (even when doing everything possible to keep them safe).  What's funny is I beat the old IE games on higher difficulties so I don't feel like I suck at this kind of game, but apparently I do compared to you guys.  The game has definitely gotten easier as I've progressed and that shouldn't happen, but still tend to feel like death instead of maiming would make it quite a bit more challenging for me (especially at higher difficulties), but I haven't tried it yet.   

 

Maiming is a pointless mechanic since you have infinite opportunities to rest (camping limitations are pointless) and no real threat outside of fights.

[ComplyOrDie]

I disagree on that, I liked the camping limitation, trying to stick to it as far as possible makes the harder modes more challenging if ultimately nowhere near enough. I think the only time I didn't finish a dungeon without returning was raedrics because it's massive and I couldn't find a way in to the priests room.

[durbal]

Why do people pretend there's a camping limitation?  There is absolutely no limitation.  That's one of my biggest gripes with the game.

[ComplyOrDie]

There is a camping limitation. Everything can be abused, if you really want to, I think it's pretty clear that it was intended you don't abuse it. Stark Contrast to baldurs gate where you can pretty much rest anywhere and many classes have nothing to do if not rested.

[Atheosis]

 

I guess I'm just not as good as you guys because I have my squishier characters focused and taken down every once in a while (even when doing everything possible to keep them safe). What's funny is I beat the old IE games on higher difficulties so I don't feel like I suck at this kind of game, but apparently I do compared to you guys. The game has definitely gotten easier as I've progressed and that shouldn't happen, but still tend to feel like death instead of maiming would make it quite a bit more challenging for me (especially at higher difficulties), but I haven't tried it yet.

Well this is true in shadow fights, Aloth and durance can get perma deathed pretty fast by these guys who are some of the more fun opponents. Other than them though there aren't too many fights you get forced out of position and to adapt are there?

 

I'd say that sadly a lot of the other fights rest on your initial angle of attack, if the enemies all run towards Eder, it's already pretty much done.

 

 

Let me think.  Banshees (not bothering with their crazy in-game name) also teleport and have an aoe paralyze that is quite nasty.  Mind control effects can be real trouble as well, though if they don't mind control your cipher you can flip it rather easily.  AOE attacks can do quite a bit of damage to your whole party, especially the squishies.  I've lost a few fights due to the insane raw damage of plague of insects (which seems to hit a lot harder than other enemy aoe attacks).  I've figured out counters to most of these issues as I've played, and leveling gives protection spells against mind control and paralysis, so again it does seem to get easier as you level up.  I do get what people are saying and I do think there's some validity to it, but again it wasn't until I got past level 9 that things became "easy", and that's on normal.  Then again for me almost losing a fight or having one or two people drop feels challenging.  I don't need to party wipe and reload to feel challenged, and I think that's what some people are looking for.  I've probably only party wiped four or five times, and most of those were the result of being caught off guard by an attack that I didn't expect (plague of insects and the final boss in endless paths' aoe attacks account for pretty much all of them).

[Atheosis]

There is a camping limitation. Everything can be abused, if you really want to, I think it's pretty clear that it was intended you don't abuse it. Stark Contrast to baldurs gate where you can pretty much rest anywhere and many classes have nothing to do if not rested.

 

I think changing the camping supply capacity depending on difficulty would actually be a really good way to up the challenge on higher difficulties.  Make it 3 on hard and 2 on PotD. 

[durbal]

There is a camping limitation. Everything can be abused, if you really want to, I think it's pretty clear that it was intended you don't abuse it. Stark Contrast to baldurs gate where you can pretty much rest anywhere and many classes have nothing to do if not rested.

The point of having rules in a game is to actually limit available actions.  With no real enforced rules, there isn't much of a game.

 

I mean, I could pick up some toy soldiers and make up my own game too.

 

And I don't see how supply limitations can be 'abused'.  There is no clear point when resting should be allowed and when it shouldn't, no way to judge how much resting is appropriate, etc.  How can I abuse a system with no real restraints?  The game allows me to buy camping supplies and rest at every inn.  It even mentions doing such in one of the loading screen tips.

Edited April 8, 2015 by durbal

[Zorfab]

There is a camping limitation. Everything can be abused, if you really want to, I think it's pretty clear that it was intended you don't abuse it. Stark Contrast to baldurs gate where you can pretty much rest anywhere and many classes have nothing to do if not rested.

Both games have a the same flaw just done differently. In Baldur´s Gate you would/could save scum until you did not trigger a random encounter in dangerous areas. In PoE you run back to your castle or whatnot, rest to get statistics boost and full endurance and pick up two more field rest kits. Then you run back and take on the next fight.

[NoQuitt]

i just hit dyrford on level 8 and i feel really overpowered as well (i did a lot of sidequests but didnt do any bounties)....i am actually scared to do sidequests at this point so i can have some challenge further and it pi*ss me off because i love this game so far....

I feel exactly the same way I actually feel a little guilty when gaining side quest exp! I find that amusing :D

 

My playthrough was PoTD, expert mode, death over maiming doesn't feature too much as you tend to get knocked out first, Eder can easily do 5+ battles before his health is low.. As seems to be the case with everyone else, the game was much harder - and felt really really good by the way - near the start, with the exception of some random encounters like trolls, which can't do anything (they hit hard and fast on BG games), and the human parties which suck throughout the game (raedrics hold is decent though for lvl 3/4, except raedric who is no harder than some of the bigger groups in there). I hit defiance at 5, there is one fight in the city I missed and found on second playthrough (forge Knights) which is far far far far harder than anything else close to it. While this is cool, it shows up the rest of act 2, nothing else in Act 2 is hard for lvl 5-8 parties on path, with the exception of Spore room and potentially the lle la rhemen optional boss (I didn't do this fight but it looked decent if you don't cheese and begin the fight through dialogue). Pwgra Druid combos are tuned ok, the rest of the crit path is really really under tuned as in you don't even need to use abilities. Got to say it again, human opponents are comically easy.

 

I did one bounty quest just to try the difficulty, chief xaurip guy, looked scary but xaurips and their friends can't really hit you. Was Lvl 7 for dyrford and the places around it which is still too high probably.

 

I think on path you should be expected to do some side content to keep up, not avoid it to keep a challenge which I ended up doing, I just used the in game characters and didn't min max, I had many normal pieces of equipment still on by end game, Eder is more than good enough to tank the lot on his own and Aloth can blow most enemies up. I waltzed into the final battle with a half arsed level 9 party really a bit disappointed with it all. The last battle certainly doesn't disappoint at least, you need to bring your A game, have buffs and good equipment etc. but barely any of the rest of the game prepares you for that. I'd guess they play tested the last battle at least.

 

I admit I can't comment on any other Act 3 content as I didn't want to experience all the brilliant content for the first time when over levelled.

Since I am trying to gauge what I should and shouldn't be doing in order to keep a challenging experience for myself, this post has been very helpful. 

 

My party just became level 6 in Act2 in PotD/ToI - have only done a couple of the Act2 side quests so far. Would you suggest sticking to the main path from here on out in order to maintain a good challenge?

[ComplyOrDie]

 

 

I guess I'm just not as good as you guys because I have my squishier characters focused and taken down every once in a while (even when doing everything possible to keep them safe). What's funny is I beat the old IE games on higher difficulties so I don't feel like I suck at this kind of game, but apparently I do compared to you guys. The game has definitely gotten easier as I've progressed and that shouldn't happen, but still tend to feel like death instead of maiming would make it quite a bit more challenging for me (especially at higher difficulties), but I haven't tried it yet.

 

Well this is true in shadow fights, Aloth and durance can get perma deathed pretty fast by these guys who are some of the more fun opponents. Other than them though there aren't too many fights you get forced out of position and to adapt are there?

I'd say that sadly a lot of the other fights rest on your initial angle of attack, if the enemies all run towards Eder, it's already pretty much done.

Let me think. Banshees (not bothering with their crazy in-game name) also teleport and have an aoe paralyze that is quite nasty. Mind control effects can be real trouble as well, though if they don't mind control your cipher you can flip it rather easily. AOE attacks can do quite a bit of damage to your whole party, especially the squishies. I've lost a few fights due to the insane raw damage of plague of insects (which seems to hit a lot harder than other enemy aoe attacks). I've figured out counters to most of these issues as I've played, and leveling gives protection spells against mind control and paralysis, so again it does seem to get easier as you level up. I do get what people are saying and I do think there's some validity to it, but again it wasn't until I got past level 9 that things became "easy", and that's on normal. Then again for me almost losing a fight or having one or two people drop feels challenging. I don't need to party wipe and reload to feel challenged, and I think that's what some people are looking for. I've probably only party wiped four or five times, and most of those were the result of being caught off guard by an attack that I didn't expect (plague of insects and the final boss in endless paths' aoe attacks account for pretty much all of them).

Funnily enough you've basically named the things I mentioned, I include phantoms and banshees with shadows as they're often together on path at least. Insects comes from pwgra/ogre Druids mind control comes from spores. Theyre pretty much the main fights with a bit of challenge to them on path.

 

You already only get 2 supplies on both I believe hard and definitely path.

 

For me part of the fun is stocking up supplies at an inn, food potions, resting bonus etc. then going off on the quest to get it done before you come back, I just wish it was necessary but it really isn't. Sure you can return at any time but in lots of contexts such as raedrics hold that doesn't make any sense, I would say it's pretty cheesy to go back for supplies all the time, i have no problems with an attempt to stop you using all cool downs every fight and for me it's worked because I make sure I Don't. Got this from mods for BG where you can't rest in many places such as starting dungeon more than once and illithid lair for example (youre trying to escape you can't spend 3 days napping) I totally get that it feels a bit metagamey But prefer it to nothing.

Edited April 8, 2015 by ComplyOrDie

[Atheosis]

 

 

 

I guess I'm just not as good as you guys because I have my squishier characters focused and taken down every once in a while (even when doing everything possible to keep them safe). What's funny is I beat the old IE games on higher difficulties so I don't feel like I suck at this kind of game, but apparently I do compared to you guys. The game has definitely gotten easier as I've progressed and that shouldn't happen, but still tend to feel like death instead of maiming would make it quite a bit more challenging for me (especially at higher difficulties), but I haven't tried it yet.

Well this is true in shadow fights, Aloth and durance can get perma deathed pretty fast by these guys who are some of the more fun opponents. Other than them though there aren't too many fights you get forced out of position and to adapt are there?

I'd say that sadly a lot of the other fights rest on your initial angle of attack, if the enemies all run towards Eder, it's already pretty much done.

Let me think. Banshees (not bothering with their crazy in-game name) also teleport and have an aoe paralyze that is quite nasty. Mind control effects can be real trouble as well, though if they don't mind control your cipher you can flip it rather easily. AOE attacks can do quite a bit of damage to your whole party, especially the squishies. I've lost a few fights due to the insane raw damage of plague of insects (which seems to hit a lot harder than other enemy aoe attacks). I've figured out counters to most of these issues as I've played, and leveling gives protection spells against mind control and paralysis, so again it does seem to get easier as you level up. I do get what people are saying and I do think there's some validity to it, but again it wasn't until I got past level 9 that things became "easy", and that's on normal. Then again for me almost losing a fight or having one or two people drop feels challenging. I don't need to party wipe and reload to feel challenged, and I think that's what some people are looking for. I've probably only party wiped four or five times, and most of those were the result of being caught off guard by an attack that I didn't expect (plague of insects and the final boss in endless paths' aoe attacks account for pretty much all of them).

Funnily enough you've basically named the things I mentioned, I include phantoms and banshees with shadows as they're often together on path at least. Insects comes from pwgra/ogre Druids mind control comes from spores. Theyre pretty much the main fights with a bit of challenge to them on path.

 

You already only get 2 supplies on both I believe hard and definitely path.

 

For me part of the fun is stocking up supplies at an inn, food potions, resting bonus etc. then going off on the quest to get it done before you come back, I just wish it was necessary but it really isn't. Sure you can return at any time but in lots of contexts such as raedrics hold that doesn't make any sense, I would say it's pretty cheesy to go back for supplies all the time, i have no problems with an attempt to stop you using all cool downs every fight and for me it's worked because I make sure I Don't. Got this from mods for BG where you can't rest in many places such as starting dungeon more than once and illithid lair for example (youre trying to escape you can't spend 3 days napping) I totally get that it feels a bit metagamey UT prefer it to nothing.

 

 

Fampyrs too.

 

I do feel that human spell casters need more stuff like confuse, paralysis, etc.  They aren't very scary in PoE, and they were always scary back in the BG games.  I also feel that most melee bruiser types need to hit harder.  Adra Animats are big and tanky but their damage is piddly.  Same goes for trolls and forest lurkers.  Ogres are the only big bruiser enemies that feel like they hit appropriately hard (plus they have that aoe prone attack).

[ComplyOrDie]

 

i just hit dyrford on level 8 and i feel really overpowered as well (i did a lot of sidequests but didnt do any bounties)....i am actually scared to do sidequests at this point so i can have some challenge further and it pi*ss me off because i love this game so far....

I feel exactly the same way I actually feel a little guilty when gaining side quest exp! I find that amusing :D

 

My playthrough was PoTD, expert mode, death over maiming doesn't feature too much as you tend to get knocked out first, Eder can easily do 5+ battles before his health is low.. As seems to be the case with everyone else, the game was much harder - and felt really really good by the way - near the start, with the exception of some random encounters like trolls, which can't do anything (they hit hard and fast on BG games), and the human parties which suck throughout the game (raedrics hold is decent though for lvl 3/4, except raedric who is no harder than some of the bigger groups in there). I hit defiance at 5, there is one fight in the city I missed and found on second playthrough (forge Knights) which is far far far far harder than anything else close to it. While this is cool, it shows up the rest of act 2, nothing else in Act 2 is hard for lvl 5-8 parties on path, with the exception of Spore room and potentially the lle la rhemen optional boss (I didn't do this fight but it looked decent if you don't cheese and begin the fight through dialogue). Pwgra Druid combos are tuned ok, the rest of the crit path is really really under tuned as in you don't even need to use abilities. Got to say it again, human opponents are comically easy.

 

I did one bounty quest just to try the difficulty, chief xaurip guy, looked scary but xaurips and their friends can't really hit you. Was Lvl 7 for dyrford and the places around it which is still too high probably.

 

I think on path you should be expected to do some side content to keep up, not avoid it to keep a challenge which I ended up doing, I just used the in game characters and didn't min max, I had many normal pieces of equipment still on by end game, Eder is more than good enough to tank the lot on his own and Aloth can blow most enemies up. I waltzed into the final battle with a half arsed level 9 party really a bit disappointed with it all. The last battle certainly doesn't disappoint at least, you need to bring your A game, have buffs and good equipment etc. but barely any of the rest of the game prepares you for that. I'd guess they play tested the last battle at least.

 

I admit I can't comment on any other Act 3 content as I didn't want to experience all the brilliant content for the first time when over levelled.

Since I am trying to gauge what I should and shouldn't be doing in order to keep a challenging experience for myself, this post has been very helpful. 

 

My party just became level 6 in Act2 in PotD/ToI - have only done a couple of the Act2 side quests so far. Would you suggest sticking to the main path from here on out in order to maintain a good challenge?

 

 

Well if you're doing Trial of Iron that's a tough one. Have you finished the game before? I wiped 40+ times on the last battle at level 9 and didn't get close, beyond that, I died a few times in Act 2 in Cliaban Rilag (Spores) and a few times on Burial Isle at level 8. Bet you'd have a great time in Od Nua at lvl 6.

Edited April 8, 2015 by ComplyOrDie

[ComplyOrDie]

 

 

 

 

I guess I'm just not as good as you guys because I have my squishier characters focused and taken down every once in a while (even when doing everything possible to keep them safe). What's funny is I beat the old IE games on higher difficulties so I don't feel like I suck at this kind of game, but apparently I do compared to you guys. The game has definitely gotten easier as I've progressed and that shouldn't happen, but still tend to feel like death instead of maiming would make it quite a bit more challenging for me (especially at higher difficulties), but I haven't tried it yet.

Well this is true in shadow fights, Aloth and durance can get perma deathed pretty fast by these guys who are some of the more fun opponents. Other than them though there aren't too many fights you get forced out of position and to adapt are there?

I'd say that sadly a lot of the other fights rest on your initial angle of attack, if the enemies all run towards Eder, it's already pretty much done.

Let me think. Banshees (not bothering with their crazy in-game name) also teleport and have an aoe paralyze that is quite nasty. Mind control effects can be real trouble as well, though if they don't mind control your cipher you can flip it rather easily. AOE attacks can do quite a bit of damage to your whole party, especially the squishies. I've lost a few fights due to the insane raw damage of plague of insects (which seems to hit a lot harder than other enemy aoe attacks). I've figured out counters to most of these issues as I've played, and leveling gives protection spells against mind control and paralysis, so again it does seem to get easier as you level up. I do get what people are saying and I do think there's some validity to it, but again it wasn't until I got past level 9 that things became "easy", and that's on normal. Then again for me almost losing a fight or having one or two people drop feels challenging. I don't need to party wipe and reload to feel challenged, and I think that's what some people are looking for. I've probably only party wiped four or five times, and most of those were the result of being caught off guard by an attack that I didn't expect (plague of insects and the final boss in endless paths' aoe attacks account for pretty much all of them).

Funnily enough you've basically named the things I mentioned, I include phantoms and banshees with shadows as they're often together on path at least. Insects comes from pwgra/ogre Druids mind control comes from spores. Theyre pretty much the main fights with a bit of challenge to them on path.

 

You already only get 2 supplies on both I believe hard and definitely path.

 

For me part of the fun is stocking up supplies at an inn, food potions, resting bonus etc. then going off on the quest to get it done before you come back, I just wish it was necessary but it really isn't. Sure you can return at any time but in lots of contexts such as raedrics hold that doesn't make any sense, I would say it's pretty cheesy to go back for supplies all the time, i have no problems with an attempt to stop you using all cool downs every fight and for me it's worked because I make sure I Don't. Got this from mods for BG where you can't rest in many places such as starting dungeon more than once and illithid lair for example (youre trying to escape you can't spend 3 days napping) I totally get that it feels a bit metagamey UT prefer it to nothing.

 

 

Fampyrs too.

 

I do feel that human spell casters need more stuff like confuse, paralysis, etc.  They aren't very scary in PoE, and they were always scary back in the BG games.  I also feel that most melee bruiser types need to hit harder.  Adra Animats are big and tanky but their damage is piddly.  Same goes for trolls and forest lurkers.  Ogres are the only big bruiser enemies that feel like they hit appropriately hard (plus they have that aoe prone attack).

 

 

Can't say I've discovered Fampyr's, as I said, I did avoid a lot of side stuff due to finding things a bit easy. Animats and Lurkers are good examples of impotent enemies (bad accuracy), big packs of ogres can be really nasty when they have druids around, half the problem is that the encounters are extremely up and down in difficulty, just with a large tendency towards down. I wouldn't claim for a second every encounter is too easy, just the majority and it's that that kind of ruins the feel for me.

Edited April 8, 2015 by ComplyOrDie

[Atheosis]

 

 

 

 

 

I guess I'm just not as good as you guys because I have my squishier characters focused and taken down every once in a while (even when doing everything possible to keep them safe). What's funny is I beat the old IE games on higher difficulties so I don't feel like I suck at this kind of game, but apparently I do compared to you guys. The game has definitely gotten easier as I've progressed and that shouldn't happen, but still tend to feel like death instead of maiming would make it quite a bit more challenging for me (especially at higher difficulties), but I haven't tried it yet.

Well this is true in shadow fights, Aloth and durance can get perma deathed pretty fast by these guys who are some of the more fun opponents. Other than them though there aren't too many fights you get forced out of position and to adapt are there?

I'd say that sadly a lot of the other fights rest on your initial angle of attack, if the enemies all run towards Eder, it's already pretty much done.

Let me think. Banshees (not bothering with their crazy in-game name) also teleport and have an aoe paralyze that is quite nasty. Mind control effects can be real trouble as well, though if they don't mind control your cipher you can flip it rather easily. AOE attacks can do quite a bit of damage to your whole party, especially the squishies. I've lost a few fights due to the insane raw damage of plague of insects (which seems to hit a lot harder than other enemy aoe attacks). I've figured out counters to most of these issues as I've played, and leveling gives protection spells against mind control and paralysis, so again it does seem to get easier as you level up. I do get what people are saying and I do think there's some validity to it, but again it wasn't until I got past level 9 that things became "easy", and that's on normal. Then again for me almost losing a fight or having one or two people drop feels challenging. I don't need to party wipe and reload to feel challenged, and I think that's what some people are looking for. I've probably only party wiped four or five times, and most of those were the result of being caught off guard by an attack that I didn't expect (plague of insects and the final boss in endless paths' aoe attacks account for pretty much all of them).

Funnily enough you've basically named the things I mentioned, I include phantoms and banshees with shadows as they're often together on path at least. Insects comes from pwgra/ogre Druids mind control comes from spores. Theyre pretty much the main fights with a bit of challenge to them on path.

 

You already only get 2 supplies on both I believe hard and definitely path.

 

For me part of the fun is stocking up supplies at an inn, food potions, resting bonus etc. then going off on the quest to get it done before you come back, I just wish it was necessary but it really isn't. Sure you can return at any time but in lots of contexts such as raedrics hold that doesn't make any sense, I would say it's pretty cheesy to go back for supplies all the time, i have no problems with an attempt to stop you using all cool downs every fight and for me it's worked because I make sure I Don't. Got this from mods for BG where you can't rest in many places such as starting dungeon more than once and illithid lair for example (youre trying to escape you can't spend 3 days napping) I totally get that it feels a bit metagamey UT prefer it to nothing.

 

 

Fampyrs too.

 

I do feel that human spell casters need more stuff like confuse, paralysis, etc.  They aren't very scary in PoE, and they were always scary back in the BG games.  I also feel that most melee bruiser types need to hit harder.  Adra Animats are big and tanky but their damage is piddly.  Same goes for trolls and forest lurkers.  Ogres are the only big bruiser enemies that feel like they hit appropriately hard (plus they have that aoe prone attack).

 

 

Can't say I've discovered Fampyr's, as I said, I did avoid a lot of side stuff due to finding things a bit easy. Animats and Lurkers are good examples of impotent enemies (bad accuracy), big packs of ogres can be really nasty when they have druids around, half the problem is that the encounters are extremely up and down in difficulty, just with a large tendency towards down. I wouldn't claim for a second every encounter is too easy, just the majority and it's that that kind of ruins the feel for me.

 

 

Yeah I get it.  Having not played on the harder difficulties it's hard for to understand how people find them so trivial, but I guess I'll experience it myself in future playthroughs.  I do feel that Obsidian needs to be careful and not be too heavy handed in how much they increase the difficulty.  If they address bounty xp and reduce side quest xp a bit while buffing the underperforming enemies (kith, trolls, lurkers, and both varieties of animat come to mind) I think they can make great strides without turning the game into a masochistic nightmare only a small portion of players can enjoy.