Thanks for the good feedback.
I spent some time playing again today and here are some revisions to my statements:
The BIGGEST problem I feel is not entirely in design, but rather the depth of the game is not appropriately explained, then it becomes confusing.
For example, I did not know that poisoned enemies explode their fire. Maybe there was a blurb somewhere, but that is news to me.
My suggestion is that Larian make a "cheat sheet" on the tutorial that explains all the finer points. This is a game that does not spoon feed you and that is OK, but having to hunt and record simple information is a hassle.
The cheat sheet would include the following:
-What each status effect does and spells or abilities that can counter them
-Where to find merchants that will give you what you want
-Generalizations for enemies on their resistance/vulnerabilities (skeletons are immune to bleed and poison)
-Short guides on how to build a character: e.g. a guide for the archer would say things like (you can find skills for marksman at the fletcher in the town square. The archer skills provide mobility, damage, with a little support. When you are investing your skills, try not to invest between bows and crossbows as you will benefit much more from investing in only 1)
-Finer points of battle e.g. If you apply a continuous effect to an enemy, it will trigger on your turn, not the enemy's turn.
I realize this comes off as "noob-ish" but it merely brings new players and people less familiar with RPG's up to speed on how this works.
