Alright, so after having played this to about level 7 now my thoughts are starting to formulate a bit better and here is my feedback:
There was concern about the previous skill advancement forcing people into thinking they had to stick to one set of skills, and hence, forcing people into a "class". I'm not sure the current scheme changes that much, it has mostly shifted from whence the incentive to do that comes. Now instead of skills driving your "class", it is your main stat. Since better skills are gated by level and main stat ability, the pressure of "I am a Ranger so I MUST learn all Ranger skills asap" has become "I am a Ranger so I MUST dump every stat point into dexterity or I won't learn the higher level skills I will need to make those skills worthwhile." We have a new class-based system and it is the strength class, the dexterity class, and the intelligence class.
For instance, this has made me wish that I never started with a Shadowblade. It is not really worth it to "dabble" in intelligence based Witchcraft when my other abilities are dexterity based. The reason why it hurts even more than before is because main stat increases come at a much slower pace than skill points, the latter of which come every level. Main stat allotments are too precious to spread out. It is much more effective now to have one of my intelligence based spellcasters invest a single, paltry skill point in Witchcraft and never have to worry about accessibility to higher level Witchcraft spells at the expense of others. They essentially come for free, given that my Wizard is walking around with 4 or 5 skill points he hasn't used and doesn't know what to do with them.
This predicament raised its ugly head especially so in the area outside the black cove with all the traps. In order to cast witchcraft spells, my shadowblade needed an intelligence of 7, which essentially took points away from perception, so no one in my party could do well detecting traps, etc. I've been playing since the beginning of the alpha and this was the first time I was tempted to rage quit the game. It wasn't very fun having my only recourse to cast a fireball spell before taking a step anywhere after the totems, wait for the cooldown, and repeat. Part of the problem is a lack of gear to raise perception. The gear seems very redundant right now. There are a hundred helmets and caps that I could buy to raise my perception by 1, and I have one now, but nothing available for purchase or coming from previous drops on other slots like gauntlets, boots, rings, or amulets.
In any case, I'm not suggesting we have to return to the old system and I'm not pretending that there were not some issues there as well. However, as far as the game being too easy with the old system, I think that is difficult to compare in like terms right now because, in my opinion, the increased difficulty now arises more from the improved enemy AI and adjusted loot distribution. My primary observation here is that the game continues to drive you into a particular class anyway due to the main stat requirements on skills and weapons, and this feels even less flexible because main stat allotments come at a slower pace than skill points.
Take the feedback for what it's worth, and I trust David and the rest of Larian to polish it up. Still love the game overall, and appreciate your continued work with the community to improve it.
