I admit that complaining about the barrels starts to irritate me a lot.
I would understand if the game forced you to use them, but it is not.
In order for the barrels to be effective, the player must use them deliberately.
I can bet that the game will be able to be played without much difficulty on the highest difficulty level without using a single barrel (which was true even in DoS2).
I don't really buy the "you don't have to use it" argument. You can apply that to everything. A specific subclass is way too strong? You don't have to use it. Some magic item completely breaks the game? You don't have to use it.
Feels like a blanket excuse for any balance issue...
Character abilities are currently inferior to environmental damage and push/fall damage. The focus of combat in BG3 is not centered around effectively using your character's abilities to overcome your opponents, it's centered around make the best use of terrain and surface effects. It's the literal antithesis of DnD combat.
I know. I'm suggesting a possible fix for that.
