Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Beta BETA 1.059 Skills/abilities change thread

From a fairly new player to D:OS, I'd like to start off saying this: I LOVED this game when I first tried it. The feeling of absolute, ABSOLUTE freedom was something unattainable in any mmo or rpg game I have ever played. And I'm a player from beta of Mabinogi, the mmo that encourages doing anything you want. After this patch though, I felt an extreme lacking, even disappointment.

-The talents being separated from "the Way of" makes having to spend a precious talent point and force certain other requirements for them where previously we had more control over it.

-The skills drastic changes are less favorable now. I understand other people's points from both sides in favor of Old and New but I have to say while I want the Old system, it isn't for the reasons I've seen so far. I want it BECAUSE I want to use those higher tier skills. Summon Elemental? Yes please. Throw in Storm at level 9? Also cool. And yes, I DID grind a specific Element to 5, but after reaching 4 and slapping on a staff to get that last ability pt, I went straight for the complementary Element. And the whole time I did this, I wasn't unbalanced. I had equal time breezing through fights as I did being challenged on Normal difficulty. Why? Because you had already given mobs the tools innately for countering players in different ways. In my duo mage playthrough I had Water/Air on one mage, Earth/Fire on another. I ran into the Fire immune mobs and said "Crap". What do I do now? Im healing them. It took me turn after turn to realize I could start buffing my other character with the Fire mage, throw down some oil to slow the enemies, and continue to make my way through the fight this way. The same situation happened in reverse with my Ice mage. "Oh Crap" that boss is immune to freezing, I can't take him out of the fight! It made it a challenge, but after a couple reloads from party wipe, I managed to get through it. All of this at the appropriate levels, and this was before you gave a buff to enemy AI too.

-Regarding skill access. It seems like with the spirit of this game, any skill should be available to a player if they want to go for it. But also in the spirit of this game, everything is dynamic, randomness is EVERYWHERE. NPC's should keep their essence of randomness and sell any book of their field (Limiting only 1 of each copy however instead of 5 copies of Minor Charm). This way, each playthrough is different. It would also encourage players who want certain skills to CRAFT them, like intended (though the methods of crafting skillbooks should be slightly easier than currently is).

-The one benefit of this NOT being an MMO is balance should be a heck of a lot easier. You have absolutely no worry about an economy between a community of players. Not being an MMO you have the freedom of throwing in more than one game mode for those who want better challenges, or a little easier time cruising through the story and enjoying the ride. Why not use such a solution you already have at your disposal? Make a Hardcore Mode where even one death becomes permanent for a Follower, give added skills to enemies who wouldn't normally have them (or even randomize the skills an enemy has in such a mode!)

I'm not trying to criticize what is going on, but I am saying I liked the old system enough that I did not stick to your current patch. I restored the previous version and continued playing it as such. Heck, maybe that could even be an option! Give players the option of playing the game with the old OR new skill system!