I think its a great game but it has some massive flaws, I might enjoy it more than DOS but DOS was definitely a more coherently and consistently constructed game.

The loot is terrible, just so much junk, I would not mind but actually being able to pick it all up makes the situation worse. Would rather have less carrying capacity, and if the player economy needs more value, put it in gems or the like.

I quite like the combat though, on hard I have a few wipes now and then that force a reload and a rebattle where I do have to adjust tactics, spell use, etc etc.

Anyone actually sided with Raderic (sp?) The lord of Hanging Treeville (can you tell Im good at remembering the names in the game yet?).

Can anyone confirm yes/no whether this makes any substantial differences?

You don't have to pick up all the junk loot.

Loot is a tricky area for this sort of RPG. That RPG codex review referenced unique BG2 items like the Flail of Ages and Crom Faeyr. Those items are iconic largely because they're OP. Your party's damage output in BG2 can be so high that anything weaker than a boss gets destroyed. But if the weapons are nerfed , they may cease to be so unique and memorable. There's a balance to be struck that's not easy to attain.

Another thing that needs drastic improvement is the combat furball.

Not being able to see a toon behind scenery is bad, not being able to really pick targets because everything is obscured by effects is bad.

I know you dont have to pick up that loot but its hard not to as might need that monies. Wish you had a sell all button.

Dont actually mind the itemisation, think the buffs are quite balanced and interesting. I think if they are going to throw in some really special uniques, those uniques should have there own quest line.

I just want another item background than blue for unique items.

I enjoy it but largely agree. Combat can get repetitive and annoying, especially on potd.

The armor system like you mentioned is awful. I only use plate armor or my guys are naked.

I killed raedric on my first play but sided with him and killed the priest in my second. I imagine I'll get a different ending but that's it. Fwiw even siding with raedric didn't cause my rating in the village to fall below good. Not that it matters.

I hope lot of awesome mods come out/extensions/add ons.

The game has a lot of potential. For it not to be better than BG2 is a huge shame but still a very difficult target imo for BG2 was jsut so damn good.

nostalgia is a hell of a drug

its way better than bg2

I also think BG2 (with expansion) is better, but BG has few huge advantages: deeper, pre-existing world and more "epic" story since you don't start lvl1. I think party members are also deeper in BG2 (to be fair I haven't really completed many NPC quests yet but I dislike some of them already (Durance) and am indifferent to most of the remaining ones).

BG2 has benefited from years of modding. The combat in the vanilla game actually becomes fairly straightforward once you understand what the most effective builds and spells are and get your hands on the OP equipment. There are big flaws in the mechanics such as the importance of pre-combat buffing and foreknowledge. One thing I like about PoE is that you can't buff your party to the max before combat and then steamroll the enemy.

Other BG2 mods have added a lot more NPC banter, tweaked some of the annoyances, restored missing quests and dialogue, etc. Maybe PoE will receive some modder love.

I definitely felt BG2 had more charm/wit to it, both in companions and general feel. PoE seems to compensate for this with TONS of lore, with every npc giving you a massive wall of text history. I'm all for immersing myself in the game but after a while it's tl:dr - move on.

I don't mind the characters too much, they definitely enhance the game for me by joining in interactions and talking with each other. Also if you want the game harder, don't play with a min/max superteam, try using the characters and their sucky stats

or play potd like a man

Meh I'm getting sick of potd. Making things difficult by throwing a million mobs at my team is getting lame.

potd boosts the stats on every mobs

hard adds the # of mobs

But there's no added strategy or anything. If before my strat was to tank the drake and have my ranged take it down now my strat is to tank the four drakes with more health and have my ranged take them down.

It's a lame way of adding difficulty. I enjoyed my hard run more than potd.

Eh, its hard that adds the mobs not POTD.

rekt

Point still stands. Potd adds no new challenges to the game. Every battle falls under two categories: cluster **** in an open area or cluster **** with a choke point. There's no new strat involved between potd and hard.

The phrase "ranged takes it down" encapsulates so many differing tactics that it seems a really nebulous criticism.

Cant think of many if any IE game battles that were not basically melee characters melee, ranged and magic characters range and magic. Its talent and skill use within those roles that win or lose the battle, along with positioning and equipment.

Maybe it's a critique of the engine then. Sure maybe there's different ways of solving how to beat the two different cluster ****s, but once you have devised your strat you are set for the entire game.

Im struggling to see the problem you are talking about.

The "strat" you are referring to is so broad, because its the tactics within those strats that can vary so much, if that variation was not there, then there would be a problem.

Melee guys goona melee and ranged/magic gonna ranged/magic seems to be your observation.

?

I don't really get what you're trying to say. Because there's plenty of different ways to deal ranged damage that there's a wide variety of strategy? There's not. You pick your preferred method of dealing ranged damage and get a tank and then you don't alter that strategy for the ENTIRE GAME.

My problem is that the two problems presented in this game, open cluster**** or chokepoint cluster****, are so easy that I can beat the game with such a broad strategy. I never need to do anything other than range dps do range dps and melee tanks tank melee mobs.

I never have to dodge aoe spells, I never have to find creative ways to get to their dps units, I never have to split my party up to deal with some flanking movement. I never have to change anything.

There is not a single curve ball thrown in this game. Just because there's a lot of variety on how I want to use the one needed strategy doesn't mean there's a lot of strategy needed.

Sure I could define my strategy more: abc ranged damage while the tanks tank is so effective it's all I need to do the entire game, and then someone could say "oh you do abc? Maybe xyz ranged damage would be more fun" but that wouldn't really change much.

I must be doing it wrong then because using the companions I find most of the time the mobs overwhelm the one dedicated fighter and I have to slowly change weapon sets from ranged to close combat to protect the two wizards (PC is a wizard) who simply cant afford to get into hand to hand. Obviously not so much if I can door cheese, which I agree there should be a way for the AI to overcome.

My fighter rarely misses a mob except ghosts but if he does my chanter and priest are both in plate with a shield to pick them off.

Even if ai had an ability to overwhelm the tank I'd still be complaining because it's still just the same 2 fights over and over.

So your non tank priest and chanter have to wear full armour and have relevant weapons so as to be situationally flexible, seems to contradict what you are saying.

Also are you saying you wipe every mob on first encounter using exactly the same positioning, equipment,skills and talents?

You never have to reload to beat a mob or boss using a variation within the strat of tank tanks and ranged range (but sometime range gota melee)?

No it does not. They wear them all the time. I use pretty much the same tactics. If my first encounter fails for some reason, I probably have failed in positioning, the tactic stays exactly the same. If it's really though fight, then take a couple of boosters before the fight, woo tactics.

None of the changes force any variation in tactics.