Cross post from Reddit, submitted via feedback to support as well;
https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/j75d6d/feedback_ea_early_impressions_gameplay_ui_etc/ReactionsAutomated reactions are not as bad as I first thought they would be. It makes sense for some things. AoO is fine, when it’s the only thing you have anyway, and stuff like “Shield” (Currently not ingame?) or even Riposte (battlemaster). The problem comes when a class has multiple reaction triggers, some more preferred or appropriate than others, or when an iconic and powerful reaction needs specific player agency and control to a) be used most effectively and/or b) to make the player feel powerful and like they’re having a key impact. Counterspell and Cutting Words would be my examples here. I don’t see any way of implementing these automatically, without nerfing them or changing them. Cutting words is a dice roll, and the caster is meant to know the attack result before they decide to use it. Moreover the caster might or would use this to prevent an attack on a key ally at a key moment, when an opportunity presents itself. Warding flare is another good example (improved). Impose disadvantage on a creature you can see attacking a creature other than you. Automatically this will just trigger on the first attack following the clerics players turn? I want to be able to save my wizard with it, or myself, or however I choose to use it. Choose being the key word. What about counterspell? Will I just stop some half-caster’s cantrip because it’s the first spell cast after my turn, leaving the party wide open for the fireball?
I’m not sure of the solution. But given that I feel like combat is already too fast, I’d honestly prefer interrupting the combat flow to present the player with a few seconds worth of “do you want to counter this spell?” rather than destroying these iconic abilities to make them work under the automated system. Please rethink this!
Encounter XP (non-violent resolution)There are already loads of encounters in the game where you can resolve a situation through dialogue, with nonviolent solutions. This is great, and is how D&D is supposed to be played! Awesome! However, a DM would also give you the XP for resolving the encounter. Probably the same as if you had defeated the encounter with combat. It makes sense to do this, but it doesn’t seem like Larian are doing this. There are a lot of guides for DOS/DOS2 where you simply kill everyone in sight for the “better” XP path through the game, and it’s a fundamental flaw. I’d honestly prefer milestone progression where the party levels up at key quest completions than have a situation where the best way is just always going to be murder your way through Faehrun, and all the other planes. Resolving a situation with good check rolls, using your out of combat skills should be just as rewarding as using your in combat skills to murder everyone! Switch to milestone progression, or just reward the XP for each encounter much more evenly. 100% parity isn't required, but at the moment I feel like you get WAY more for just doing murder death kill. If I am wrong, its not presented very well.
