D:OS2 on the other hand has been completely sterile. With the addition of magic and physical armor that prevent any and all statuses, the combat in the first half of any battle has been completely reduced to a 1980's style hack and slash arcade game.
It sounds like you are only using basic attacks or staff of magus until all enemy armor is gone. It's actually better to use more powerful attacks at first to get enemy armor down, because the cooldowns will have expired by the time the armor is gone and you can use them again. Only using basic attacks until armor is gone just makes the fights drag on for much longer.
I realize that won't solve all your issues with the combat system, and it does have many, but it would make the fights less boring if you don't hold back on skills until armor is gone.
