I never played the alpha or beta of this game. I hate reading tips/how to's prior to at least one run through of a game.
So far I am loving D:OS (just entered second level and fought some 12-14th level cultists w/2 10th level Lone Wolves).
I find that if you study the terrain and practice tactics (bottle necks, summons to block, terrain manipulation) the battles are usually fairly beatable on normal - I've had to reload a few (the only one I had to reload 4+ times was Braccus and his bunch - that was hard with 2 characters).
I think a lot of current games make you feel you should be able to rush in and have an average chance of winning - but many older RPGs expect you to see, for example, the burning twins and the giant altar and leave - go buy fire resist potions etc. and then return to kick butt. Tactics.
I personally find this to be a GEM of a game. Love it. Rough spots? Sure - but no more (and in my opinion less) than many games.....
I am getting tired of people assuming it's the game's fault when they fail at battles. I'm playing two characters on Lone Wolf - hadn't heard a thing about this game; I haven't read the forums regarding spoilers or how to spec a character and I'm doing fine so far...... I just had a fight with six level 12-14 cultists guarding a road in 2nd area (before meeting goblin trader) and though it was a hard fight (and about 20-30 minutes real time) it was an absolute blast and I beat them first time through......
Watch the terrain. Carry viable equipment for a variety of situations. Manage the crowd. This is definitely not Diablo or Skyrim - more like Jagged Alliance 2 fantasy style and I LOVE Larian for that!
