1. You can click on an attack, and then mouse over to your target, to see the chances to hit. And while you're doing that, see if there is a green or red arc around the circle. A green arc means you have Advantage (more on this below), or Disadvantage. You want to have Advantage when attacking.
Example fight: Walked through a transition door, straight into a fight. First character (Gale) is stood next to a standard Goblin. 55% chance to hit, red circle. For once I'm first in the pecking order so the Goblins have cast no buff spells. Why is a swordsman disadvantaged standing next to a bowman who has no opportunity to defend against a sword strike, let alone have a 55% chance of hit? That should be a high percentage to hit and I should have the advantage. Not a single goblin in the attacking party has a green circle.
Alright, step by step.
Please note that the red or green thing is just an arc, not the whole circle. If the whole circle is red, then you're looking at something else.
Regardless, assuming you're seeing a red arc and it says 55%, it means you have Disadvantage. There are a few possible reasons why, given the situation. By swordsman, did you mean a Fighter? What is your Fighter's race, and are you in a room with dim light? Are you attacking with your melee weapon or with a bow/crossbow?
Also, what are your Fighter's stats? What weapons is he using?
- Despite having a 55% chance to hit, I still miss.
Missing on a 55% chance to hit is to be expected, as it's almost like flipping a coin. This is why you do not want to be put in a situation where you have Disadvantage.
Goblin fires a fire arrow, rolls a miss, still sets me on fire, each character has around 30% damage. That's from a single hit from a non-boss enemy. Whoo boy. I've written a thread on this. Enemy goblin throws something at you. He misses, but the item still sets you on fire and takes out 1/4 of your HP. If you think this is ridiculous and incredibly dumb and unfun, you'll have many here who agree with you, myself included.
Goblin's turn, miss. My turn, Cleric, Mace, 50% to hit, miss. By Cleric, did you mean Shadowheart? Shadowheart has more Dex than Str now, so the mace that is part of her default gear is actually pretty bad. Give her a dagger instead. Larian really didn't think this through, as with many other aspects of the game.
Goblin's turn, hit. My turn, Swordsman, 50% chance to hit, miss. Goblin turn, hit.
So after one round where each character has had a go, I've hit once, missed three times. The AI missed once, hit three times. This is a typical fight and is the issue I keep saying. It's not that I miss a lot, it's that the AI is confined by the same rules. The AI rarely misses, the player rarely hits. I have a total of three potions, I've used some of my spell slots and all my characters are between 50-60% damage and I've got to go up against a three bosses and dozens of Goblins. Either the numbers are looked at, the spell slots are looked at, or the health potion availability is looked at. The AI rarely misses because the enemies, guided by the algorithm, know how and where to get Advantage and do the most damage to you. So, to counter this, you need to learn how to gain Advantage and avoid Disadvantage. I've given you a list in my previous post that should help you with this.
Here are a few steps you can take that should improve your hit chance right away.
1. When it's your Fighter's turn, carefully walk to the enemy's back without triggering an Attack of Opportunity and then hit it from behind. If you're not sure how to walk behind it without triggering an Attack of Opportunity, you can jump behind it.
2. When it's Shadowheart's turn, DO NOT use Sacred Flame. Get to high ground and use a crossbow to attack instead. Or, cast Bless on the party.
3. When it's Astarion's turn, make sure he has short swords in both hands and attack the enemy from behind as well. And when attacking, click on the skill for Sneak attack instead of attacking normally like you would for the Fighter.
4. When it's Gale's turn, get him to high ground and attack with Fire Bolt, or Magic Missiles, if he has learned the spell.
Follow the above basic steps and you'll be back in a couple of weeks, wondering why the combat in this game is so easy and dumbed down.
