Thoughts on improving the game (combat)

[swings]

The only games similar to this I have played is Never Winter Nights 2 and Dragonage so I am definitely not some veteran of this genre.  The story and lore is excellent and I think Pillars is an excellent game with a lot of potential.  After about 2.75 playthroughs, 1 on hard and rest on potd, 150 hours + played in game, I've come to the conclusion the combat is simply too easy and often uninteresting.  There are however, interesting creatures that are done right and occasionally causes the players to change strategies and be reactive.  Its important to look at those abilities to see what might be done wrong in other cases where its completely uninteresting.

 

Done right:  Teleporting,  Summoning, Aoe Dots,  Aoe Paralyse, Mind control

 

Done wrong:  Aoe 200 dmg wipe party right from the start,  A lot and I mean a lot of melee encounters where they circle your tank with 130 deflection, Adding in more stats more mobs not smarter mobs with more potent spells casted by them as the game progresses.

 

It has been mentioned before that the AI simply needs more tools to get into the back line and I agree.  What hasn't been mentioned is why the AI seems unable to do this.  Wizards when controlled by the AI are completely ineffective because most spells have friendly fire.   The developers took a shortcut here and just made them cast single target spells (often targeting deflection once again). 

 

Imagine if enemy wizards landed some slickens, aoe blinds, expose vulnerability on your tank, and used a long range chain lightning to punish clumping together.  Ciphers using amplified wave and prenerfed mind blades that targets reflex or will.  Druids using the worlds maw.  You have will and reflex in game but rarely does anyone cast aoe.  The solution is simply allow the AI to cheat a little.  Allow the AI to cast those spells as foe only with longer range.  You have engagement to protect the AI back lines from getting instantly killed when players uses narrow corridors.  Give them tools to actually do something.  

 

Then give the players some reactional skills to counteract what the AI is doing.  Give rangers a per encounter 25% of weapon dmg and increased range instant shot that targets concentration and if it interrupts, lock the caster for 2-3 seconds from casting.  The weapon must be loaded and ranger suffers from 200% remaining recovery time applied to the next shot.  Something like that to involve the player and to challenge them to know what is actually going on at any given moment.

 

A quick note.  Tanks are too strong probably because everything targets deflection, but also you simply get too much of it compared to late game accuracy on mobs and AI doesn't debuff properly. Make flanking stack.  10 base + 5 for every mob over the character engagement limit or something like that.

 

I hope they make some of the changes here in the expansion.  Even through the game is good overall and it very solid as a base.  I don't know if i can go through another 100 hours watching enemy casters spam neurotic lance and arcane missle.