Yeah. In theory, I agree. However, like I said, in practice this does get frustrating. Trying to maneuver 4 characters one at a time into positions I want them to be in is VERY frustrating when the enemies are constantly on patrol, etc. Then you THINK you have someone in place so they won't be spotted only to have some enemy turn and BAM! They spotted the person you just got into position. Then suddenly you have 1 person in place but 3 others still sitting where you left them. You were about to try to get them in place, but now they've all been sucked into combat.
However, if you trigger 1 character and the enemies are frozen, you can still maneuver your others into advantageous positions more easily. This can be VERY helpful. Yes, it isn't perfect, but It definitely makes it a LOT less frustrating.
I've tried this numerous times. Seriously. It's frustrating as heck trying to maneuver 4 characters, 1 at a time, into place while a group of enemies are constantly moving. And I can't tell you how many times I thought someone like Astarion was in a spot where he wouldn't get spotted only to have an enemy somehow spot him. If the entire party got pulled into combat as soon as 1 character was spotted, I'd be stuck with only Astarion in place while the others are in some weird positions because I wasn't able to get them into place before Astarion got spotted.
Why is this a bad thing? There should be some risk in trying to get the perfectly advantageous position, and it's perfectly sensible that that risk is "you're discovered while you're still positioning your guys, and thus start in a suboptimal position." The whole reason that enemies patrol is to catch intruders trying to sneak around! Also, can't you just enter TB mode to make it easier (not necessarily guaranteed) to avoid patrols?
Of course, trying to position your characters is probably frustrating in part due to the chain mechanic. So I can understand an argument "given that we have this Chain Mechanic, we should not need to do any complex positioning because it's agonizing to fight with the UI."
Originally Posted by Flooter
It occurs to me that the map design may prevent Larian from increasing the radius of the combat bubble. Quite a few zones have distinct encounters seperated by a couple dozen feet. It could be that tweaking the combat bubble system would create a chain reaction, merging every encounter in an area.
Damn, if only there was a solution to the problem of areas and enemies being too close together! :P
