Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - General More dynamic and reactive turn-based combat

I was wondering, if combat were to be made more reactive and less static, more dynamic in other words, would asynchronous turns help?

What? More dynamic is real-time and this one is turn based.

Not entirely true. A system like FFX, FFVIII or a certain space game (Frozen synapse) feature either ATB or Asynchronous turns, in which there is more variance to party-enemy-party-enemy. Depending on a certain stat, like speed, parties (or enemies) might get 2 actions in a row (eg, in FFX by using Quick Attack).

In XCOM 2, certain abilities activate during the enemies' turn (Overwatch, Bladestorm).

So I'd hope for DOS2 to have something similar to avoid too much repetitiveness.

Abilities activating during the enemies' turns would be cool, but we already got something like that in D:OS with attacks of opportunity, ground effects and such, am I wrong?
Apart from that, I think that the turn-based system of the first game was fine as it is, and it was also very well received by fans and casuals (one of the highlight of D:OS), therefore if something is not broken...

I noticed that you mention XCOM quite a lot; personally I don't think Divinity should borrow much from that series, both in turns' organization, timers and dynamic battle cams (nooo!).

Well to me, the static combat was one of the factors that broke DOSEE, preventing me to finish it. So, to me it is broken.
Ground effects are one thing, but staying "in cover" with your archer character and shooting a passerby enemy is something different.

I do quote XCOM 2 a lot, because it is the game that saved turn-based for me. Before trying that, I had given up on the genre.

Ideally, DOS2 would be "real time with pause", ala Neverwinter nights. But that is not going to happen, so I am trying to see how it can be spiced up.

The majority of us do want this game to be in that way in which we think it would be the best.

But it is vastly opinion, as the closest thing to facts are statistics.

As is generally in life, there is no "One way" to go about things and therefor no absolute best way to make this game.

So, now that we're clear on the matter than we're peddling opinions, I just want to say that the XCOM 2 camera was superfluous to me. All those things done in the name of eye candy when I don't care for eye candy at all.
Isometric is the way I want it to go in my turn based strategy or RPG.

I have the feeling you wanted to post this somewhere else :P The thread is more about asynchronous turns.

I feel that it's quite safe to say that no, D:OS 2 is not getting an ATB bar. There was no indication during the Kickstarter and development of D:OS 1 or the kickstarter of D:OS 2 that Larian was exploring any other options than pure turn-based combat.

Such things cannot just be added into a game midway through development, as the balance for turn-based, real-time, real-time-with pause, and ATB-based combat systems are quite different and contradictory. You can't just take skills and enemies designed for pure turn-based combat and switch it up to ATB combat without doing a complete rebalance.


If you hated the turn-based combat so much that it kept you from finishing D:OS 1, I have to wonder why you backed the kickstarter for D:OS 2.

Apparently it didn't ruin XCOM, so I suspect there's also another option? Although the XCOM solution (all units on a team have their turn simultaneously) certainly wouldn't work for D:OS.

Personally, I'm not a fan of round-based systems, where everyone has one turn per round and initiative simply determines the order. Generally, the importance of initiative is overplayed. High initiative simply means getting a free turn at the beginning of battle (and for this you just need to be one initiative faster than the enemy -- anything more or less is a waste). This has limited usefulness. The trade-off of having that one extra move is that unless you give every one of your characters a high initiative, it just means missing out on the opportunity to move your team simultaneously so you can coordinate your attack. What matters is that you attack together and that you attack in the right order (so that warriors get buffed before they attack). And of course, investing in initiative takes points away from other stats.

With an ATB-style system (which I am not suggesting for D:OS2), high initiative means getting extra turns on a regular basis, so it provides a stronger payback for high initiative characters.

I'm sure you wonder it, let me explain it to you.
It was not the turn-based combat ALONE: there were plenty of things, topped by the general silliness-filled atmosphere (the biggest factor, I'm a grimdark person) that ultimately ruined the experience for me.

Of course I'm not expecting an ATB bar in DOS2! BUT, but, something like THIS could work very well for DOS2:



Why I backed DOS2? For very simple reasons.
First, affection value: despite not being a huge fan of the original DD/BD, I have very fond memories of it. I also was very impressed with DKS and DC - despite the ending.
Second, I like Larian and Swen especially - I still own a 2002 game magazine in which he gave an Interview about DD, and he specified how much of a Tolkien fan he was (probably still is) - I was very impressed, even as a kid. In addition to it, I met him at EGX (even asked a question out loud) and I found him a very pleasurable individual, even in light of his... peculiar stance about expansion packs.
Third, this time I hope to be a more active part of development. I already have been part of developer teams for 2 critical success games (by small firms, tbh), and I am fully referenced. So I believe I can contribute.