What I love the most in the game is that they gave us so many choices and so many things to discover.
After 3 or 4 full playtrough + dozens of others, I'm still discovering new things on the maps and dialogs. I just found the entrance of the kuo toa's lair in my last playthrough... I've been spoiled but I know that I haven't done the full arcane tower yet... I just found for the first time the item to have 8 friendly spiders (I have interracted with the thing more than once)
This is amazing and they totally suceed with their will to offer us "choices/surprises"... Except for combats.
I guess every players that are interrested in the game because it's also a tactical turn based game are going to be dissapointed before the end of their first playthrough.
They won't be able to balance things arround D&D and arround their OP mechanics at the same time because one is way over the other.
D&D = many choices. Larian's homebrewed are probably made to create even more choices but it's a failure. They are LESS choices because they're now the only usefull choices. The game is balanced arround them and I also include things like dipping in the equation.
Dozens of D&D things are useless but we also have so many powerfull tools the AI won't ever use that hard encounters are unfair.
(Don't get me wrong, It would be horrible if ennemies were dipping/shove/backstab/use highground correctly).
That's why so many players find the game is too hard. That's why so many players find it too easy at the same time.
Play it how you want to play it and you'll be frustrated because it's hard. Play it how Larian wants you to play it and you'll be frustrated because you won't have any challenge.
Combats have all the components to be incredible but they aren't and it's not a matter of difficulty level.... It's 100% a matter of balance.
