Kingmaker and WotR are super fun and well balanced... On normal. I have had no issues whatsoever on that setting.
So even though it says Challenging dif is normal damage done to my characters, the game isn't balanced for those harder levels. It is meant for those who either super know the game, or they are just crazy,. So I don't think Owlcat sucks at encounter design. I just think they balanced it for the 20% damage reduction setting instead of 0%. Maybe they did this to have more enemies, or tougher monsters, in combat.
But then, isn't that what Larian is doing? Intellect Devourers and imps are WAY too tough for level 1. So, they nerfed um.
Seems like they're doing the same thing to me. Nerfed enemies on Normal. If they implement 5e, enemies would become way too tough.
Too be fair, even the random stunted devourers can kill a level 1 fighter in one lucky slap, so they still remain a threat. They definitely should have some explanation as to why the ones on the Nautiloid are so weak compared to their "real" counterparts, though.
And I agree about the Challenging balancing, having beaten Kingmaker on exactly that difficulty (Normal's settings seemed weirdly condescending). Taking the scripted fireball from Tartuccio in the face at the end of the Old Sycamore dungeon is an exercise in saving/loading until you get a less devastating result. And later on you get enemies who have double digits of extra damage on their attacks just added there for the heck of it. Having played a bit through the rogue-like version of the dungeon DLC, I ended up having a monk with ~50 AC whom most enemies couldn't really hit (them all becoming Wild Hunt about 30 floors in) but who also could barely land an attack, let alone any attack after the first one once the penalties set in. In the main game it's kinda offset by the game drowning you in +5 cold iron keen whateverelse weapons and +8 to all physical/mental scores accessories in the last third or so, but with randomly generated loot it turns into something even more miserable.
People have been saying that WotR basically relies on you re-specing on a regular basis on above Normal, and that most of your end-game power comes from the absolutely bonkers mythic path abilities. Honestly, the whole mythic path thing actually puts me off, personally, because it invalidates your original character? In BG2 or NWN: Hordes of the Underdark you ascended to practically godhood still remaining your own self, in most aspects (mileages differ, but still). I liked the epic character stuff and going past level 20, and as a shifter in NWN you got a bunch of cool forms to transform into on a whim, picking whichever fit the situation better. To each their own, obviously.
