The problem is NOT the amount of action points, but the stat system itself.
You can make an effective char by spending points only in the primary stat and speed. Since you attack first you can CC the enemy and often you do not take damage at all. Enemies are also not very intelligent in how they use their action points (e.g. they move too much).
In Pillars of Eternity they created a stat system where every stat has some use for each char. Sure, you can make effective chars where you dump some stats and max out others. But in D:OS some stats are completely useless to several chars. Players who know a little bit about character creation will use this and create completely overpowered chars.
solution: Make a system where the power of the skills of a "class" (skill tree) is NOT only dependent on a single stat. Maybe some skills are dependent on several stats or different skills from one skill tree depend on different stats. (or a combination of both) This makes sense especially for skill crafting, where you can combine skills from different trees.
arbitrary examples:
- You stab an enemy into the eyes (bonus damage and chance to cause blind). Your damage is based on strengh and the blind chance based on dex.
- A ranged attack that confuses the enemy: dex is used for hit chance and int is used for confusion chance.
- perception influences your hit chance when you aim at certain body parts or attack a target that is more than 10 meters away.
about 3 action points: Have you played shadowrun returns? ( I played dead man switch and dragonfall). There you have 2AP in the beginning and 3AP later. When you attack with a melee weapon, 1AP is used for going to the enemy and attacking it. Some attacks need more than 1AP. I liked those games.
Maybe having 3AP is a good idea and it makes the game more tactical, not less. At least you cannot use AP stacking as tactic to CC all enemies before they can act.
I will wait until I have played D:OS2 myself before I make my final judgement.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Mad S. Tist
World leading expert of artificial stupidity.
Because there are too many people who work on artificial intelligence already
