Good evening (or night),
I'm not sure all of this message is in good place in Larian forum but as its a suggestion, why not ?
I played to DD when I was young and in a way I liked the game, in some other ways, I disliked it. The difficulty is sometimes ahm... Excessive ?
For example, you start the game, just explore, find a heavy ork or archer ork -end of story-... You can reload ans save but its less immersive when you can just "redo and redo". If you go to the bad position at bad moment, you just die... More ability to flee shall be welcome and come again when you're levelled enough. Then you shall explore and flee if required. Many encounters are "at the first time you go there" and so, reload is, I find too much essential to the game. But I think there's nothing to be done after 18 years ? :P
But I'd like to finish the game many years later. And as I read there may be a remake, I just give ideas... And maybe shall it be possible to change some of existing skills ? I have seen here some hex editing "tips" to change heroes skill points and stats but maybe there is a way to change/equilibrate some of skills are "too weak" or "too strong" ? The things who made me upset were some points of equilibration in game skills mainly and other things (like freezing weapons). There is the list if it may be of use :
I'll first list the overpowered one (IMO) :
- Trap skill (deadly gift) and scorpions : You can have this skill very soon and making level 100 scorpions is just game breaking... Nothing more or less to say they can just kill all the field of ennemies all by themselves. The only ennemies could kill them were spellcasters (some kind of wraithes who cast lightning)...
- That's not really OP but elven run at level 5 may decrease greatly but not totally the consumption ? Maybe 1/6 per level (so max to 5/6 decreasing ?)
- Heaven's gift ? I never tested it but a skill who instantly give you good items may not be a bit gamebraking ? In other way if it just gives bad items, that's just usless... Hard to make it a "good" ability, no ?
- Spirit (or elemental) arrows : When you get one level, you do INSANE damage at start for 1 mana. Then the bonus is less and less intresting... I find giving 4 abilities to get bonus in shoot who don't "stack" and gives a so huge bonus at level 1 is not very fun. I remember when I tryed ranged hero and had just that, I was saying... Wow, I bash all enemies whithout difficulty... Not fun to have "so soon" a "so powerful" abitity who makes all other "useless". That means all points given in other ability of this kind are useless... Why use poison arrow in this game ? It does less damage and "on the time"...
- Repair level 1 : 60% repaired and for every other level +10%... Why on earth having not let a 20% per level ? So increasing the level shall be of use... Here just having the skill is enough...
- Death strike : A passive for 5% instant kill ennemy ? Maybe some heavy damage bonus but instant kill ? Just take sword, fast attack and well... Add more the OP frost ability on item and that's quite game breaking. As soon as you have a decent freezing item, game become quite "broken", no ? Maybe just make a slow effect of freeze and not "stun"...
- Spellbooks : For mages, don't use any skill in spell... Just be patient and find mearchants (like Kristandalus) who sells you spellbooks... That increases your spell level not taking care of heroe's requirements in level to get the skill... So very soon in game you can have all spells at max level. In a way that's fun in some other, its game breaking... I'd suggest some bonus level given by books (5 levels) who're different of level given by skills. So you couls (for spells), get "10 levels". So skill points shall be of use for mages and books too !
Skills I find a bit weak/useless :
- Know creatures : That's fun to know what you fight but this skill don't really help you to kill them... I'd find fun a little bonus on ennemies you killed many times - and know well ?
- Necroshift : Well, that's fun but being for a short time the ennemy you kill don't look that intresting ?
- May survivor's instinct help you to regenerate a bit faster ? Or maybe you shall have a basic regeneration (increased by this skill) ?
- Item expertise : in a way they are "too strong" : you boost fast your damage and with few levels you get it to max skill level. In some other, its point consuming to have all skills and useless as "the best weapons are sword so take sword skill and that's all"... If the bonus shall be a little less good but may stack (for example, one decreases the time rate, one increases damage, one give hits bonus...) so warrior shall need many of those skills and not "just one" ?
- As elven sight gives +2 sight and +1 for ranger sight... What's the use of making two skills who does the same and the other is two times weaker ? And as I remember, when I get too much levels I had problems because I see more far than windows shows... So I thought I visited some aeras but not really... Quite bad : a skill gives you problems when you get too much levels ^^
- Feign death ?! Ennemies stand around so doing that will not have any use, no ?
- Flash attack : Maybe less cosful at start and more at end ? 80%-65%-50%-35%-20% of stamina ?
- Deathly disks are fun but quite inefficient... As many spells, they are not very strong and the skill points you spend are a lost...
- WORST OF ALL SPELLS : Vermine... Serious !? An ability to make a rat... Is that a joke ? Maybe a minion who helps you shall be fun but this...
- After summon vermin, summon skeleton... Very bad skill compared to summon scorpion level 100, no ?
- Master summoner : a bit weak for same reasons... But nice to get skills who improves other. Maybe do somehting other for damage spells ?
- Polymorph : If you can use this spell you could also freeze unit... So have no problem to kill it...
- Spell levelling : Example : meteor level 1 cost 2 MP and 8+20 damage. Level 2 cost 3 MP and 16+36 so half more mana and half more damage... Knowing that spells can be cast "instantly" (there is no incantation time), if you doble damage and doble mana costs, that don't really bring any advantage... So giving skill points in meteor is "pure waste"... Maybe increase the ratio damage/mana cost ? Samely for heal...
- Exactly the same in worst for lightning. As ennemies don't have mana, they don't care but you...
- Maybe freeze does its damage "at start" or "over time" but not "at end of freezing" ?
- Elemental bolt costs a very huge amount of mana, no ? Compared to the OP shooting skill who does better for 1 mana point...
- Poison cloud : it requires very huge level but is quite weak no ?
- Banish shall have a "zone effect" maybe ?
- As far as I remember, the knight you invoke don't follow you very well...
Some other things who disapoint me :
- When you are levelled up, starting ennemies don't give you any XP point. I understand a decreasing but when you explore and have difficulties to hit on musquitoes, if they don't even give you just some ridiculous points of XP in reward, I find this hard. As you require tons of XP to level up when you're advanced in game, the few 1000XP shall not change too much things but you'd be pleased to still have "won something". Could the decrease of XP be changed ?
- When you've 5 levels in a skill and level up (because of quest or spellbook), you go to level 1 ! Will it be possible to fix it to level 5 ?
- The many "element damage" (poison, fire, ...) are "all the same" and ennemies are simultaneously burned and poinsoned and... I'm not fond of so much skills who does quite the same...
- I find strange a "reflect missile" skill, if it just help you to be missed, yes, cool... But how to throw back some arrow on launcher ?! Not very logical...
- Game is quite easy with warrior and ranged hero but with mage its very hard... The main problem is mana requirements... And I like mages ! Give a mana regeneration over time (depending of intellignence maybe ?)
- Some skills does "quite the same thing" like "enegy cage" and "freeze" (and blind)... Why making so much skills doing the "same effect" ? I'd suggest freeze just do slow ennemies and do damage (over time ?) and enegy cage blocks ennemies. But here it will be quite the same than "slow" (limb of lead) who again does quite the same... Maybe the last skill shall have more duration ?
- Hell spikes is fun when you level it up but you're so fast at max level (for all spells) and have not any way to get better mage... Maybe some mage's skill who increase damage of other spells shall be welcome to make some "bad spell" be of use at some moments in the game...
- Burning wall is very fun skill but maybe call it "lightning wall" ?
Suggestion skills :
- Skill who decreases the needings for equipping items/armors (two skills) and maybe increases the efficience (for example diminishing the effects of wearing a heavy armor ?)
- Regenerating mana skill ! (passive)
Anyways the game has still many very nice story, is quite immersive in world, I had many fun in "making a home" with items I found all over the world but some of these things really made me find the "mage way" a bad one and I regret it. The mana is really a problem and going to sleep after killing 10 skeletons is not very fun... So if there is a way to improve the "weak skills" and make "all of them" potentially "of use" I'll be more pleased to begin again my way in Aleroth.
So if there are "mods" of Divine Divinity (made by fans or Larian studios), I'd like to see them. I hope there is but I haven't found. Thanks for making a good game, for reading my long post and I hope my english was not too bad.
Have a good knight (it helps to sleep well).
FfuzzyLogik.
