Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - General Divinity Progression/Combat Overhaul

I will just toss 2 respectful cents in this conversation, because I feel strongly about RNG myself.

Basically, if you want a good game combat experience, RNG must die. It will make a more complex combat system inevitable; one that will be harder for the player to learn, but it will be more rewarding in the end.

The reason behind this bold little statement of mine is: there is no tactical or strategic insight in RNG. You are not rewarded for your effort. This sounds incredibly bold, I know. But as a seasoned RPG player myself, I have been in scenarios on hard modes where I have had my sniper take 3 consecutive aimed shots at somebody at 85 % hit-rate each and have all 3 miss. I have had 2 consecutive strikes at a max hit chance at 95 % miss(multiples of these), and I have had critical status effects fail multiple times at probabilities of about 90%. I assure you that in all of these cases we are talking about A.I. having a considerable advantage over me in numbers, cover being already taken or superior stats in terms of level or equipment, while my advantage is my human intellect(as far as that will ever get me ;D).

To cut the long story short--look at Pillars of Eternity. I am not giving a hard example here, but rather one that takes a more deterministic approach towards status effects. Over there, instead of 50/50(hit/miss), which most other cases fall into, or 0/100(armour/no armour), which is the case of OS2, you have 25/25/25/25, which is a miss/reduced effect/effect/critical effect. It's a neat little way of doing things and it's based on your skill accuracy and their defences. There is a dice roll, but if you're focused and make an effort to increase a particular type of accuracy, it is rewarded, by ATLEAST falling into reduced effect/effect types. There are also more types of defences which makes for greater diversity in approaching combat and how you use your skills(skills that hex enemies, skills that buff allies, ect.ect).

The idea that you gradually erode a defence and/or gradually stack a status effect is GREAT. RNG kills your tactics. It is always 50/50! A system not unlike the one already discussed, if well implemented, will reward your tactics.

I am not saying it's the only way of doing things and I really hope this serves well to those who have the passion of making such systems, and if somebody wants to chat about it with me, please don't hesitate.