Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Beta Tutorial Cave Thought

As I was playing the new build and entered the tutorial cave (yet again), I didn't have any characters that had any lockpicking skill. So when it came to the point in the tutorial where tries to show you how to lockpick a chest, there's nothing for the me (the player) to do.

My thought would be to have temporary tutorial "henchmen" if you will, that will have these abilities to show the player how it can be used. While I did have a character with crafting abilities, if I went in with characters that didn't, there wouldn't be a point in the tutorial for those characters. Having "henchmen" not only would let the player learn but maybe it might help with the tutorial plot. When you get to the cave, it's just some cultists attacking the source hunters for no reason. Then at the end, they get away an nothing else was learned about them. it didn't make sense to me.

There might be temporary henchmen that would be going after these cultists too and joined with the source hunters to enter the cave. (I dunno, just trying to brain storm here...)

ya know~ I have issues the cave also. like breaking the door..more like breaking your weapons! most new players will not know to pick lock picking and the durability talent just for the tutorial.

You can lockpick that chest with 0 Lockpicking skill. You can craft the helmet from the hammer and cooking pot with 0 Crafting. Try it! That is entirely intentional and not a bug. I don't think Tutorial Henchmen would add much to that dungeon. It could also distract from the focus on the Source Hunters.


My own Tutorial Thought: The ending is anticlimactic.

You put a couple vases on the two-pressure-plate door to open it, and after that there are just a few bone piles and empty vases, and a comment that you've reached the end. It feels limp.

Suggestion: At the end, before the comment, add in Ragequin, the boss which the mummified skeletons mention. He auto-initiates dialogue, and you can either try to fight or talk your way out, and this serves as a Dialogue Options tutorial, which teaches you about persuading people to solve some quests without killing, and how situation bonuses work.

If you pass the test, he runs off and vanishes or something (and you get the same XP from the dialogue check as you would from killing him, but attacking him after winning dialogue gets you no XP for killing him).

If you choose to attack or fail the test, he initiates combat and it's a mini-boss fight.

Is there anything in the tutorial that actually teaches players HOW TO craft?

I cant remember anything about it myself.


These features of the game are not clear by themselves. Most of RPGs i know of use separate additional windows for crafting, so the second you see those you know what to do: put elements her and here - click a button. - kind of a thing for dummies.


OS does this completely differently.

Therefore, the tutorial should teach all this to the players - quite literally.

1. What to use for crafting and exactly how,

2. How to cook something and exactly how, using what kind of items

3. How to repair equipment, exactly how and with what items.

4. Teach players they can drag items from their inventories to or onto specific places, such as filling cups with water and putting medallions on some pedestals

5. ... lockpicking... something else im forgetting right now, etc. (how to make spells from lank scrolls!)


And this needs to be quite literal, in your face - take this, put it right here, click like that or like this - kind of a thing.

Thats what a tutorial needs to do.

I realize that this might seem like spoiling these mechanics and revealing what players should get by themselves... but... well,...

I think the problem is that all these things use very similar but somewhat different mechanics, so figuring out one doesnt automatically make clear how to do others. (either that or im getting too old)


Either that or make the NPCs in Cysael give lessons about it.
Maybe even charging some relatively low amounts of gold for the lessons, so its not all just free for nothing.

At this point i would pay money for someone to teach me a few of the features mentioned above. :P

There is a mini crafting tutorial in one side area near the end, it tells you to drag a hammer over a cooking pot and you can make a helmet. You also get a couple arrow shafts and an arrowhead or two.

I got that popup as well.. although I was like "what pot.. what hammer?" I never noticed them laying around.

eeerrrghh... that isnt enough, really. Figuring out how to make arrows is relatively easy.

But other crafting features have some specifics about them that are not that clear.
And a tutorial should explain those in detail - because it is a tutorial.

Or, some npcs at the start should be doing these things, or explaining them or teaching them for some relatively decent amount of cash. If you want to keep the explanations behind the fourth wall.

- plenty of different and very appropriate NPCs at the market in Cysael for that. Each of them can teach you some specific crafting or repairing or blacksmithing feature for... 50 gold? -


For example, i figured out i can grind some plant into ingredients... but then what?

Should i cook them? Just try to push them into each other? Use a hammer? something else?


Also, the anvil ? How am i supposed to know i can drag some item from inventory onto it - before i do it for the first time?
Im not telepathic but also...the game up to that point didnt even hint i can do such things.

And its not like other RPGs have that kind of mechanic, which is quite unique for OS.


-edit-

Then later i can bring stuff to Jakes dog to sniff but suddenly its not about dragging stuff from inventory and dropping it onto the dog but using dialogue... and you must have each item in the inventory of the character that has Pet Pal and is trying to talk to it....


- so, its kind of easy to mix up all these different things and ways to do something.

At least in the start, as a new fresh player of this game and its specifics.