@1varangian I completely agree about the Sazza encounter. This would be a perfect place for a working knock-out/force surrender mechanic, where you show the tiefling that she shouldn't have messed with you and she stops trying to attack you.
@Zenith It would be extra work, but I think it's worth it to add additional dialogue options and conversation directions. Even if rng was completely removed, this wouldn't affect the binary and way-over-the-top nature of this encounter. Either you successfully persuade Kagha to let a child go or she kills the child. C'mon. What about the completely realistic scenario where Kagha just keeps the kid captive??
Surfaces and Barrels
Personally, barrels don't bother me that much. Yeah, it's dumb that characters can easily carry multiple barrels in their inventory, but enemies don't carry around barrels so its fine.
Surfaces, however, are used by enemies and their effects on concentration haven't been properly considered. This is part of the reason Shadowheart is so bad: if she gets hit with a single fire flask or fire arrow, she has to make 2+ concentration rolls (+ if she catches on fire) to not lose Shield of Faith or Bless or etc.
Also, personally, I consider the 8 free stealth actions a form of cheese because the AI doesn't properly respond to stealth. In order for this to be at all balanced, enemies should be able to hear you and not just notice you through sight cones. Even showing us the enemy's sight cones are a bit too much cheese imo.
For me the easier fix would be that once you engage a stealth surprise attack, the rest of your party is put in combat regardless of their stealth status or location. It's crazy I can open on Ethel with Lazael or my rogue/druid from stealth, and then pelt her with a Hex from Gale, open with Bless with Shadowheart, and this all gives me a free extra turn before I unleash my true barrage.
Of course, it would make aggravating fights like Bulette/Githyanki harder, but it is a necessary evil to fix these gamebreaking exploits and just balance the multi-actions of Bulette and AC of Githyankis and multi-actions of Minotaurs after fixing the exploits to make the fights manageable.
Most people also surprise Ethel because it's the main way to not be forced to kill the people with the masks, giving you the chance to free the Halfling that was entranced. Ethel's fight is also frustrating because of the way the cage is positioned, often the game does not let you cast conjure water on it to turn off the flames after Ethel sets the cage on fire. So, people save themselves the hassle of dealing with the annoying elements of her fight by just killing her before she teleports. I'll also say the companion pathing down the trapped trunks and vines until you reach her is so aggravatingly atrocious.
By this point with the amount of balancing they have to do just for the first act and lv1-4 range, I expect this game will stay in Early Access until 2023-2024, jfc. Assuming 3 total acts and 2-3 more classes that need to be tweaked.
