Shove can be fun, but it is also incredibly cheesy and often feels cheesy. And, Larian knows this hence why they give many enemies way to block it. At least make it like dnd. This us also why an actual dnd core rules would be awesome additional optional setting. Imagine that, the option to play legit dnd rules in a dnd game. PERISH THE THOUGHT!
If that happens, a D&D 5e RAW-ish toggle, it will come from the modding community. Larian may "adopt" a mod that has been proven to run relatively bug-free into a future Patch or DLC, but they've made it very clear throughout the EA process that adjusting their game to be more in step with 5e rules is not even on their list of things to do.
Larian's version of Shove is broken and absolutely dictates save-scumming at times. With how long the loading screens are, that's extremely disappointing. Anecdotally, on my first play through, where I am just about to finish Act 2, I've only had anyone in my party use Shove twice, and the number of enemies that have successfully Shoved any party member has got to be five or less. Does the game adjust itself to the player's playstyle? What I mean is, is it possible that the game monitors how often or little a player uses Shove and moderates itself accordingly?
I ask for a rather intriguing reason that must be spoiler hidden due to game specifics.
In the Gauntlet of Shar's Self-Same trial, wherein the party must fight "shadowy" versions of themselves, I was absolutely beside myself watching how the shadowy versions of the party acted. I've NEVER had Shadowheart cast the spell silence. Not once. Yet, her shadow version did it no less than three times during that combat. Each shadow character had the same equipment and seemed to have the same prepared spells as my party, but they acted completely differently than I've made the party act throughout the game. Initially when I entered that combat I thought, oh, we'll see how well my own tactics can be used against me, but in actuality, the shadow versions tactics were nothing like how I've been playing the game.
Since that's the case I can't imagine that the game is actually monitoring and self-adjusting, even so, I rarely if ever use Shove, and so far my enemies have basically followed suit. Not sure if there's a correlation there or not.
Edit: Wanted to clarify that "first play through" meant first play through since full release. I played through a few times during EA, but the game has changed quite a bit since then.
