Larian Studios Forums Beyond Divinity (English) Suggestions stating out at very beginning

Yeah the game is cool but something i found annoying is that you only start off with 14 stat points to put into strength etc i would have preferred 20 or 15 ( i like adding 5 to a stat each tiem instead of 1 in each) also why not have 1 free skill point to start with so u can have a little skill in a weapon for example? surely this isnt a overpowered idea

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" />any1 else feel like this or am i asking for to much?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" />

it's not hard to start with. just play on easy then

The beginning of the game bears some consideration.

Some combinations of character does not fit well. For example, two pure wizard may have a hard time to rough the opening combat sequences. Of course, maybe Larian is trying to encourage us to diversfy.

However, the extent of the freedom in character creation allow us to bypass that difficulty. We can create a warrior-wizard / wizard combo, with one of the wizard starting with higher consitution and agility to tank for the beginning, and the other wizard concentrating on Intelligence for increased mana output.

At any rate, a free skill point at the beginning will make the game more fun, and draws the player more into the game. Or give each of the skill-path a default ability that grows with level. Survivors have sneak and Warriors have whirlwind, so why not a default generic magic missile for the wizards?

yeah but i still would like to see 20 stats points and 1 skill point at the beginning of the game

a few more points would be nice yeah totally agree....but i think it would become a bit too easy if you have gotten some more points...don't you think??

Look at it this way. You are starting out as a zero level character and have not learnt enough yet to get skill points, so you have to go out and get some experience first.

yup they aren't the divine one so they should be a bit weaker in the beginning..

What, a bit weaker than a level 50 demi-god? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />

I'd appreciate a skill point or two to start with, otherwise your initial character is pretty much classless. And as a servent of the Divine One, and a servent of the Black Ring, you'd think they'd have some sort of training.

But if the game works well, I'm happy! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The Larians said they considered starting off with higher level characters, but that brought up too many balancing issues. The rationale for having both characters being low level with no skills is that the soul-forging (and subsequent torturing) was very draining.

i didnt mean have loads but im sure 1 skill point at the beginning so wizards can attacty do something at lvl 1 would be nice

ooooh.....how silly of me......1 skillpoint would be handy....but it would be too easy to kill the guards....

Not without much mana.

You could handle that by adjusting what type of skills you make available to the player with that first skill point.
E.g. by ruling out any too potent offensive spells in the Mage path! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

I have been thinking about it a while, and came to the conclusion:
"One small initial skill point shouldn´t hurt balancing too much."

If you recall the Warrior´s path for reference and which skills are at hand when starting, while bringing back the first level up of it you made in the demo and its effect.
It´s, i think, the Repair skill for one, and besides that augmentation of the main weapon skills (damage, accuracy etc. increase).
The first investments in that area hardly gave me a significant edge over the opponents faced then! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
On the other hand the early need actually for some points in Repair (first weapons easily wearing off!) or Identification (potent weapons are rare in the beginning, some promising found there, need higher ID, however!) cleverly seem to avoid too early and powerful specialization in offensive capacity of the chars in that first stage. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

And even despite any hypothetical drain through the ritual, it seems illogic and far fetched that a character should have really no skill entry at all, at start. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />
Moreover it would set a first highlight on the skill system (You already would have an entry there the player could get a first rough idea of its mechanics with the help of it).

You only would like perhaps to avoid that for not confusing the beginner overtly, bringing too many of the features upon him right at the beginning... That could be a valid point against it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />


Ragon

P.S.: All in all i have my significant gripes with <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beyond.gif" alt="" /> - `specially the interface <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ouch.gif" alt="" /> - but balancing at least seems already quite advanced, at least as far as we could see for now. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />

A wizard starting without magic, makes no sense.

Damaging the above mentioned guard with the lowly spell before finishing him off with some club is not unbalancing, since the wizard tends to have more in INT and less in AG, STR and CON.

Yeah, that's fair. While a wizard is less apt at combat, the right spell will halve the opponent's hitpoints giving the wizard the edge it needs. But I suggest that you don't deny yourself Agility, even as a wizard. In Divine Divinity, I was about level 30 before I spent any points on Constitution because my Agility was high enough to not get hit.

I almost solely got my CON out of items, hardly spent more than 3 levels on raising the attribute! (Survivor)
And yes, AG was my main focus in levelling.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />