I agree, that was a staple of D&D 3.5, luckily the usefulness of low-level mages was improved in 5e. I think it was a reaction against the overwhelming power of casters in AD&D and 2e that end up backfiring in the end =D. 5e made a good job reaching the classic D&D feel but updating the ruleset to make it more easily playable. In Pf1e you get feats every 2 levels so the basic caster will need "spell penetration" and "greater spell penetration" pus "point blank" and "precise shot" if you plan to use ray spells and maybe a mythic feat (that you get at level 6 and you another in Drezen at 7-8) so that puts you in level 6-7 instead of level 12, if you are playing a class/archetype or race that does not give you extra feats ( Elves and half-elves could have a natural bonus to overcome SR, and humans, wizards, sorcerers, skalds,... and many archetypes give you extra feats) but, even if you have useful spells before that, you reach your true potential much later than martial classes
Originally Posted by ash elemental
Originally Posted by _Vic_
A pity you do not have spells that ignore enemy spell resistance in the videogame or feats and race or class features to improve your chances to ... hey wait!
Compared to all the spells that don't? It's the same as with attacks, there are fewer attacks and abilities that target touch ac vs.normal ac. Not every spellcaster class is a wizard with multiple pit spells. So you either stack the numbers youtself, or use the few abilities & spells that don't require excessive number stacking. Because the underlying issue is that enemy design in WotR is very repetitive; there is no variation to this "bloat the stats" theme. I'm in act iv and combat has long gotten stale.
Yeeeah... because only wizards have spells that ignore SR and it´s only the pits. You have grease, acid arrow, ice ball, glitterdust, web, entangle, to name a few very good low-level spells ...and you do not have tons of ways to improve your chances to overcome the spell resistance even if you don't (the same as the ways to use tactics to improve your chances to land a hit or to deal damage) You can check all the spells that ignore spell resistance, most of them are in the game (they are over 30, many are available for many classes) https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/tools/spells-db Add to that all the hexes and supernatural abilities, that by definition ignore spell resistance.
You also have a mythic feat that allows you to ignore energy resistance ( I miss one to ignore poison resistance for druids and Hunters, I think there´s a mod for that), something not usually available. Maybe it´s because I´m used to tabletop but that helps the spellcasters a lot. You reach a point in the game where you can overcome the spell resistance of most enemies ( unless the dice god is in a srewd mood).
That doubles in the case of normal combat: you can use normal attacks just fine unless you are playing core and above besides against some enemies, and if you are not enjoying yourself for some reason, that´s a thing you can tweak in the options, it´s not even a cheat. It´s a single-player game, you can play as you want. My sister played on Story mode to enjoy the story and roleplay and she did just fine. People play the game for different reasons, all valid.
I do not say you are not in the right, and I am not going "Git Good" in a single-player game where you can play as you want; but (and I am assuming you are discussing in good faith not over-exaggerating on purpose) I think you and I have very different standards about the impact that it has in the game. Games where you can hit the enemy with any attack at any level with any class in the way of Skyrim (otherwise a great game),Dungeon siege,Castlevania, Amalur, etc... where all the enemies have only a total of 4 or 5 abilities and combat tactics, etc are not really my cup of tea. Those have stale combat. In this game, not so much for me.
