Black Ring soldiers and rangers are a lot tougher, at the same level, than goblins or skeletons, etc.
Exactly. This went on to the point that when my character entered the Orobas Fjords at level 10 or 11, I felt that fighting a level 18 goblin felt the same as fighting a level 14 black ring. So naturally I preyed on the level 18 goblins, swam to the other side and cleaned up the mine. When there's nothing left I was at level 21. Looking back this felt quite wrong.
I'll be blunt: I'm accusing Larian of making enemy templates that doesn't obey a level progression. In other words, the enemy creation system (even at the minion level) doesn't have limiting rules that the player is subject to. Again if someone points that I'm wrong then I'll gladly accept that this is not so.
If Larian already has an automated enemy system that governs their templates then I'm afraid to shift the argument there since it will appear that the gameplay problem is worse... a lot worse.
The system I'm describing is not new and was even implemented by Blizzard in Warcraft III (years ago) to the extreme. IIRC there, one can pick a level for an enemy template and the stats automatically follow (everything, even the health regen, resistances). They were able to do this because of the existing "enemy level system" I'm talking about. I think that customized bosses is also a given.
IMO the enemy creation system that I described above will prevent the unexpected spikes in the difficulty. Not because I invented it (cause I didn't) but because it is done in Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, and by Blizzard among others. If you look at their users there is not much issue about difficulty spikes compared to the forums here.
I'm not picking a fight with larian
The only reason why I'm spending this MUCH TIME posting here and suggesting improvements is because I feel that Divinity II is supposed to be a great game.
There are a few scattered threads in the forums about members getting frustrated with the unexpected spikes in difficulty. They seemed a few but don't underestimate them, there are probably hundreds in the background that just quit the game and didn't even bother to post here.
As for me personally, I didn't have much problem with the spikes in difficulty even in (nightmare). But I do feel sad for the cases I read in the forums and wonder: is this the reason why this game isn't the blockbuster I think it should be?
