Larian Studios Forums Beyond Divinity (English) Suggestions skill points: too little?

Ofcourse they can! Don't forget that there is no levelcap, and you can access the fully random Battlefield for extra experience at the end of the game.

@HandEFood: True, you had to choose your weapon specialty in DD up front... but if you chose any one-handed weapon, you could use a shield without losing your expertise. It appears not to be the case in BD, but I may be misunderstanding that.

Also, you are correct about experimenting with spells. But the cost of experimenting with spells is severe in BD, since you have to open each skill tree, then put points into them before you can "experiment." Also, there were only four main stats in DD to control, whereas there are six in BD... but you still only get 5 stat points per level.

I think my main concern is the restricted ability for cross-skills that was easily available in DD, but not in BD. For example, I wanted a warrior that could pick locks and make poison. Easily don in DD... but in BD I'd have to find a way to open the lockpick skill and open the alchemy skill BEFORE I could even put puts into them. Also, my characters started DD with two valuable skills. BD characters start with no skills at all.

It just seems to me that skills are going to be pretty stingy in BD, and that disappoints me because I enjoyed mixing/matching the various skills in DD. Time will tell whether the new skill system works well for my style of gameplay or not. As I've said, I'll buy the game in any case.

I wouldn't worry too much about that. In the demo, you only started with two skill trees available. The skills you could learn in the demo had no relation to your initial class, so one can assume that all three classes will develop equally through the game.

There may be times when you can only select one of a few skill trees to learn. Example:

This would make skill development more interesting.

In DD you also had to meet the requirements for learning a skill before you could put points into them. In BD the requirements have just changed from reaching a certain level to finding an appropriate book or teacher. This is much more realistic. Why would killing dozens of orcs, etc suddenly allow you to learn lockpick? It also has the potential to let the role you are playing have more of an impact on the game. Help someone out, and maybe get taught a skill as a reward; take advantage of the situation, and you could have to wait a few levels to find another teacher or book with those skills.


You don't have to worry about cross-class skills, since there are no classes, just recommended stat distributions when starting a new game. The only influence your selected skill class makes is in initial skill availability.

With a warrior/warrior skill combo you have the initial skills;
Warrior, Melee Specialization, One handed / Two handed / With Shield
Warrior, Craftmanship, Repair

For a wizard/wizard combo, it would be;
Wizard, Elemental Attack, Focused, Missile / Instant
Wizard, body magic, Defensive, Individual, Healing / Cure Poison / Remove Curse / Cure Disease


It only takes 4 or 5 fights to go up a level and get your first skill point. For a 100 hour game, this is not a huge difference from starting with 2 skills as in DD.

Well in theory you can offcourse, I knew that.
But like all other game I have ever played that are sinlgeplayer only, it will practically be inpossible to achieve it.

I knew one fool who decided to level up to level 99 in Diablo. The only creature that gave him any experience anymore was Diablo himself. I think that surpasses dedication and borders on boredom.

So I think that that is the level cap in Beyond Divinity, when no creature is worth experience any more. Are Battlefield monsters scaled to be difficult enough for your level?

IIRC due to an interview - they won't be as difficult as the enemies in the major plot but they will be higher according to the act you're in - and if I understood the mini quests in there => there will probably be boss monsters, too. The BF were meant for leveling up and surviving the enemies in these acts - so, they should be a tad easier.
Kiya

a 'tad' easier will prolly also mean a 'tad' less XP points, not ??

The game might not be easier if they can't level up as quickly. Now-a-days, difficulty ratings tend to mean just that: difficulty. For a greater challenge, make the game harder, more biased to the opposition. Although they may certainly reward those who play the harder levels...

Then it'll be time to give it a good RE-going over! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/badsmile2.gif" alt="" />



we've never met........have we?
true it is......i played that game over and over
three times through with each char..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ouch.gif" alt="" />

and then i found <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> ....


my life has improved since then!.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

I finished the game with Level29. (With some use of the Battlefields)
It's hard! I had to use my twohanded Sword from Akt2 because I never found a better one and I don't had the money to change the skills.
And I use an hexeditor to level up to Level 38, because the last fight was to hard for me (I play: "very easy", all other fights are o.k. but the last ist very very hard, maybe if I had more skillpoints I don't need an hexeditor.)

my thoughts on the skill system are about the same
Also I think it's all a bit complicated now

My own experience has shown me :
the best skill system I've ever seen in a game is the UO one

the reason I totally loved DD, was because it brought me te UO feeling on a singleplayer basis!
in UO there are 700 skillpoints , which you get to divide over different skills, by using them
the higher you get in skill, the harder it gets to raise

Imo best system ever

Maybe a matter of taste - I like the skill system. I don't have a super-uber hero at once - but have to think, decide and specialize - and have enough money if I made a bad decision <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
Kiya <nostalgic>

There are too many simple so-called RPG on the market (thanks to Diablo) - again, just a matter of taste. BD reminds me of the more complex classic RPG (the ones I really really miss).

And having playing for a few hours with the retail version of the game, I must say I don't like it at all. I do not feel any progress leveling my chars and I'm affraid to use the skills because I just do not know what will be needed.
Right now I just focused 1HS and 2HS for the DK and fireball 5/detect traps 2 (damn citadel traps)/self-heal 1 for Zero (my "hero"). Having a "low" 31 int, my caster just use it's poker to fight (Magic is too weak and too expensive).

If I had to ever play again (I don't want to, never, ever) I would build two warriors with one pickpocked and one detect trap specialisation (one for each)
I guess player with that combo would enjoy the game better.

Actually, I don't think I will play again with BD at all if it stays like that. I just don't feel the same fun as in DD. That's a shame because I liked DD so much.

You can unlearn skills (which requires an amount of gold based on your level).
In act 2 there are much more effective spells. I played my hero as a warrior for the first half of act 1, though always intended to develop an archer.

More skill points wouldn't be a problem if there were maybe more strict caps on how many can be put into certain aspects of the super concentrated skill you choose. The main problem I see is you're missing out on a lot of fun using the various skill possibilities in the game. If a skill becomes useless because you find a better weapon, you shouldn't have to unlearn your old skill just to be efficient in the new one. You don't become more powerful by having a bunch of skill points lost in one handed slashing if at level 20 you find a great 2 handed weapon and want to switch to that. Basically early in the game, you essentially rule out 90% of the weapons based on your choices in the first 45 minutes of the game. Yes, you can unlearn, but that can only been done so often due to major gold restrictions. And like I said, it doesn't hurt to have skills in multiple weapons. It's not like they are cumulative and make you more powerful, they just allow you the freedom to wield a weapon you may find.

Which begs the question about why such ineffective spell skills were created, in the first place. Don't get me wrong: I know how difficult it is to balance a complex game. (I used to work on one.) But certain things are pretty obvious--like dead skills such as Embellish, Wisdom, and the Fire Missiles that my archer/mage invested 5 points in. Gods, she had to shoot 6 of those at a low level guard (who had no resistances) to just kill the guy! Paying the amount necessary to regain those skill points is nice, but why add the skill in the first place if it simply doesn't come near to working?

Please excuse my frustration. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

To be able to put "more than 290 skills available" ont the box as a marketing ploy ?

No, I don't accept that, nor does it make good sense. Larian has demonstrated a willingness to please traditional RPG audiences in DD, and they're not about to add things to a product that will diminish their reputation and lower their popularity. I think it's a matter of oversight. I hope it will be corrected.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> had a SCAD of broken skills as well - either they were complete crap (Ranger's sight did twice the effect of Warrior's sight), broke the game (Aura of Command), or made the game incredibly easy based on errors in the skill (abandoned Reanimated monsters became alive and hostile once you teleported away from them, allowing you to treadmill; reflect missiles bounced EVERYTHING off of you and back at your foes, carrying with them poison charges on your weapon).

As far as I'm aware, these were never fixed.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beyond.gif" alt="" /> doesn't have broken skills that I can tell... but it has a lot of garbage ones. The mana cost on spells is ludicrous for its effect; a spell used to cost like 8 in DD and do incredible damage. And if you're not a mage, you have no fun combat skills whatsoever, making you a passive tank. Not my idea of fun play.