Divinity: Original Sin 1 and 2

[Sarafan]

As some of you probably know I'm currently playing Divinity: Original Sin 2. I criticized some aspects of the first game. My biggest problem with D:OS1 was that the game is too linear. You can theoretically do any quest that you like, but if you do so you'll encounter overwhelming enemies, which are nearly impossible to beat even on normal difficulty level.

Another issue was the difficulty level. During my playthrough of the first game I had to lower it to easy to have a smooth experience. In the later chapters the game was quite difficult for me even on easy! And I'm a veteran of RPGs. Maybe I made some mistakes in building characters? Maybe I missed some better gear? I really don't know what was the reason of my failures...

When I started D:OS2 I had hopes that it'll allow more freedom. Chapter 1 (The Prologue) was very linear, but that's not a problem. I enjoyed Chapter 2 (Fort Joy). The game allowed for more than D:OS1. It gave some freedom in the order of side quests. The difficulty level was high (on normal), but not unfair. Now I'm in Chapter 3 and it's not so fun unfortunately. Similar issues to those in D:OS1 showed up. You're basically flooded with side quests in this chapter. The problem is that most of them are out of my reach. If I try to do one, I encounter enemies, which take down the whole armor of my characters with one hit! What the heck?! Do I really need to find this one particular quest that is in my reach to level my characters and actually have a chance doing the next one?

I like the game in overall. The writing is great (the main plot is a lot better than the plot in D:OS1), graphics are marvelous and I even like the unconventional player dialogues (description of what you want to say, not the exact spoken phrase). I also love the tactical depth of combat system. But do I really need to lower the difficulty level once again, to give myself more freedom in how I want to play the game? Is there really no other way? Or maybe I'm doing something wrong?

 

[Zloth]

Yeah - kinda expected this topic to pop up. D:OS2 was what I was thinking of when I started that linear-RPGs-that-just-look-open topic. I played it on hard and gaining just one level would make all the difference, changing an encounter from "no chance" to "can barely make it."

It was at its worst trying to move out past Driftwood. If I remember right, I tried to head out west which started out OK but then I ran into a buzz saw in an old, outdoor ruin near the coast. Then it was a matter of trying north and east to pick off battles I could actually deal with. Then it was back and forth between east and west until both were done. After that point, it got a lot more straightforward - or maybe my character builds got good enough that I could deal with harder things.

Have you done Driftwood's quests as much as possible? There are quite a few right in town. Getting that Source point is a big deal, too.

P.S. Here's an old "areas by level" map. https://divinityoriginalsin2.vidyawiki.com/Areas+By+Level It's pre-definitive-edition, though. (As is all my knowledge.)

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I also remember there being a difficulty spike in Driftwood and struggling for a bit to find a way. I think it gets mostly easier after that, right up until the final battle. At least that was my experience.

I've been told since that its most efficient to focus all party members on either magic OR physical damage. I played through with a mixture as I have done in every other party based CRPG, although only on normal and I dont remember having too many issues. Apparently it gets rough on tactical(?) and above if you try and do that.

I still haven't finished a playthrough of DOS 1. I get annoyed by the obscure adventure game like puzzles that show up that require you to read the lore entries that I couldnt care less about. I just want to cast elemental spells and teleport things onto other things that go bang.

 

[OsaX Nymloth]

Never finished D:OS 1. Started in co-op with friend, and while few first hours were fun (discovering mechanics, how battles works etc.) we never even leave the first city. We kinda gave up on that just when we were supposed to move to another location (I think) and no one really wants to go back.

Dunno why, the writing and the world never "clicked" with me. Frankly I think I should give it a try solo, but at the same time I don't feel like doing it now. Or tomorrow.

 

[Zloth]

I had a ball with it solo - it was fun to really roleplay two different characters at the same time! I played the guy as a bit too trusting and the gal as a real hard-ass, looking for revenge. They got locked into fights pretty often so the rock/paper/scissors was handy to resolve disputes. The references to RPG Watch and Codex were fun, too.

 

[Sarafan]

Have you done Driftwood's quests as much as possible? There are quite a few right in town. Getting that Source point is a big deal, too.

I tried to do most of the quests from Driftwood. They usually need you to go out of town. But I managed to defeat the enemies in the ruins you described. My characters are currently level 10. I think that it's still not enough to defeat the enemies in the cave where Mordus is supposed to be. But I'll still try to play the game on normal and find places where I can move it forward. Switching it to easy is quite humiliating to me.

P.S. Here's an old "areas by level" map. https://divinityoriginalsin2.vidyawiki.com/Areas+By+Level It's pre-definitive-edition, though. (As is all my knowledge.)

Thanks for the map, maybe I'll try to put it to use.

I also remember there being a difficulty spike in Driftwood and struggling for a bit to find a way. I think it gets mostly easier after that, right up until the final battle. At least that was my experience.

I'm impatiently waiting for this moment. I hope that I won't give up my run on normal.

I've been told since that its most efficient to focus all party members on either magic OR physical damage. I played through with a mixture as I have done in every other party based CRPG, although only on normal and I dont remember having too many issues. Apparently it gets rough on tactical(?) and above if you try and do that.

This might be a nice solution given the armor separation on physical and magic. I'm playing with a mixed team. My main character is a Pyromancer and I have Red Prince, Sybilla and Ifan in my team. All of them have their default classes.

I still haven't finished a playthrough of DOS 1. I get annoyed by the obscure adventure game like puzzles that show up that require you to read the lore entries that I couldnt care less about. I just want to cast elemental spells and teleport things onto other things that go bang.

Yeah, that was also a problem in my playthrough. But you can get through these puzzles with a guide. It won't help you when it comes to combat however. The combination of classes and abilities is so large, that it's hard to write a good combat walkthrough.

Dunno why, the writing and the world never "clicked" with me. Frankly I think I should give it a try solo, but at the same time I don't feel like doing it now. Or tomorrow.

You should give D:OS2 a try. It's a lot better in almost every aspect. I'm struggling with the game, but it still provides a lot of fun.

 

[Sarafan]

A little update on how my playthrough of D:OS2 goes. I had a little break and after that I've decided to lower the difficulty level. At first it was fine. Lowering the difficulty level gave me some breath, but not for long. I'm struggling once again. My characters are heavily underleveled and it's hard to progress further. I'm clearly doing something wrong. I even found a guide which shows the best quest order. The problem is that the exp gains from quests was heavily rebalanced (mostly lowered) since this guide was released.

My characters are on level 13 and the remaining quests are for level 15 characters. On easy difficulty you can try to push through if your characters are 1 level behind, but 2 levels are too much unfortunately.

I have no idea why the game is so hard for me. I never had such problems in any RPG that I played in the past. For example I finished BG1 on very hard without any meaningful difficulties. Same goes for NWN1 and NWN2. Also finished BG2, PoE1 and PoE2 on hard and same goes for many other games from this genre. Even the more hardcore all time classics like Eye of the Beholder are easier for me. Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong in D:OS2? How can people finish it on tactician difficulty? It seems impossible to me...

 

[Frindis]

Hmm, from what I remember @Sarafan having both huntsman and summoner helped me a lot. The huntsman for CC/Charm/high DPS and the summoner for dominate mind and incarnate champion (amongst other useful skills that I can't remember) The Incarnate Champion buffed would be an extremely helpful tank, taking some of bigger punches. I actually started a new game going with only summoners, but have not yet completed that run as it is A LOT of summoning before getting to the champion.

One of the ways I would win a lot of matches was kiting the enemies out of a place that would be bad for me. I would place defense in an area in my favor and use one companion to get aggro and kite them towards the ambush.

 

[Sarafan]

Hmm, from what I remember @Sarafan having both huntsman and summoner helped me a lot. The huntsman for CC/Charm/high DPS and the summoner for dominate mind and incarnate champion (amongst other useful skills that I can't remember) The Incarnate Champion buffed would be an extremely helpful tank, taking some of bigger punches. I actually started a new game going with only summoners, but have not yet completed that run as it is A LOT of summoning before getting to the champion.

I have a huntsman in my party, but haven't tried summoning The Incarnate Champion. Maybe I'll respec some of the points on my main character to meet the requirements of this summoning skill.

One of the ways I would win a lot of matches was kiting the enemies out of a place that would be bad for me. I would place defense in an area in my favor and use one companion to get aggro and kite them towards the ambush.

That's a decent tactic. I tried it a few times. The problem is that my character usually won't live long enough to lure enemies into trap. I'm having a hard time with the game and I'm afraid it'll be the same in BG3 unfortunately.

 

[Zloth]

Well it sounds like you skipped over something somewhere. I'm afraid I can't really tell where (I played back before any enhanced edition stuff) but it isn't like you can get quests completed without getting the xp.

 

[Sarafan]

Well it sounds like you skipped over something somewhere. I'm afraid I can't really tell where (I played back before any enhanced edition stuff) but it isn't like you can get quests completed without getting the xp.

From what I've read Larian rebalanced the experience rewards in the Definitive Edition. Now it's harder to level up unfortunately. This was a strange move, because it makes the game a lot harder. Right now I'm a little discouraged to continue. Of course I can switch to very easy and see how it goes, but I wonder how long it'll take before I encounter another wall. Nevertheless game has provided me a lot of fun, even if I won't be able to finish it. It's great even with its steep difficulty level.

 

[Sarafan]

I've decided to continue playing and... managed to unblock my playthrough. I've done some changes in my main character. Shifted some points from Pyromancy and Geomancy to Summoning. With the ability to summon Incarnate Champions (thx @Frindis!) got through the harder parts of Chapter 4. Now after I leveled my characters the game is quite easy (as it supposed to be on easy difficulty level). Hurray! It seems I'll manage to finish it after all! Thanks for the help guys!