Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - General Action Point Resolution

Sorry, but I do not understand what you want. What should be changed in order to make the game better?

There are only a few things that influence the combat system:
- The amount of action points you have (fixed or variable, if variable what does it depend on)
- What skills can be learned?
- How many skills can a char learn?
- How many AP costs each skill?
- How far can you move for 1 AP?
- Can you take AP from one turn to the next (if yes, how many)
- cool down (how long for what skill, fixed or variable, if variable what does it depend on)

What do you think how to set these parameters?

regarding my example: Shadowrun ruturns is as close to D:OS2 as a game from a different developer can be. Its a classless and turn based system, you have several party members, you have 3AP and you have the usual RPG skills (melee and ranged attack, CC, summons, . . .). The mayor difference is that in shadowrun a char can only have up to 3 weapons, 6 skills and 6 items in combat.

You can hardly improve an existing system without comparing it with other systems.

EDIT: updated my list of parameters

The way I understood this conversation, some people have been discussing old system vs new system as a whole instead of these parameters madscientist mentioned. You can design a 20-ap-system where no character can ever do more than 3 actions per round. And a a 20-ap-system does not inevitably include speed as it was implemented. That's why Larian does not need to reduce the amount of ap to these low levels. Erasing speed from the stat list would have been sufficient.

Speed as a stat was omnipotent and it has gone with the new system, which most probably will be for the better.

Now why do some folks deem a 3-ap-system problematic?
- movement
- RNG
- spell design

Spending 1/3rd of your DPs sounds too costy for melee classes. Especially if you have some "normal" hit chances like 70%. This would mean that, in most situations, a melee combatant had to move for 1 ap, and then a 30% chance to deal half damage each round. The chance of dealing none is rather realistic.
I find this spectrum of possibilities too diametrical and the outcome too chaotic.

Some reasonable system would allow for each character to
- move freely over short distances without heavy punishment (I don't mean free of charge)
- attack up to 5 times per round
- cast up to 3 cheap spells per round (mind the cooldowns, though)

Such a system could be alike the following:
- 10 ap per round, (with carry over, maximum is 15 points)
- a normal attack costs 2 ap
- few, the cheapest and least useful, spells cost 3-4 ap; most spells cost 6-8 ap

Now to address whether a system that has more AP could easily take the place of the 3AP system.

Yes of course. Really all it is, is numbers. What the 3AP system introduced that needed to be addressed was AP inflation, Limiting the number of actions in a turn, as well transforming AP cost into how useful the skill is on the battlefield (and Nothing else!), And to boot putting the enemy and the player on a similar playing field without destroying the action economy.

Don't get me wrong, low cost but highly effective skills have their place. Heck 0ap skills are essentially class features you activate (and often essential to using that character).

Heck I was open to the idea that someone could get a talent or ability to later have 4ap a round. Yet ultimately the amount of AP the player should have access to NEEDS to be constrained.



This is basically the opposite of what I want. Especially since the game itself couldn't handle enemies with as fruitful turns as you have, often needing to kite enemies as a full attack turn could kill you in one hit.