Greetings adventurous friends and lovers of the Forgotten Realms, I've been passionate about this universe for over 20 years and a big fan of the old Baldur's gate.
I'd like to thank Larian for the passion perceptible in his jewel and I hope we'll have more content later. I'll do a post about it later.
However, as indicated in the title, I'd like to add my 2 cents to the question of the game's difficulty. Let's face it, with some playing experience and a good understanding of the rules, it quickly becomes a walk in the park.
I've finished the game in Tactical mode with numerous difficulty mods, which gives me some idea of what needs to be corrected/improved.
I think we'll have an Honor Mod like Divinity 2, but I don't think this will represent an improvement in the intrinsic challenge; it's more a bonus that can be activated, rather than an improvement in the fundamentals.
My comments therefore concern an improvement in difficulty for a MOD HIGHER than Tactician, even if certain elements can be used in the lower difficulties.
In my view, there are 3 main areas of focus.
Let's go!!
I/ Enemies.- Well, it's a sensitive subject, but he's the ogre in the middle of the corridor, and I can't ignore him because he's drooling. There's clearly room for manoeuvre in the AI, particularly in its movements in relation to attacks of opportunity/ the management of area control spells (moving inside, bypassing, assessing the threat).
The rest is honest (targeting weak PJs, coordination), but the first battles of Act 1 are much more polished.
- A simple, basic improvement: better stats (HP, saving throws, CA, actions) as already offered by mods.
- New abilities, gifts, items and consumables for this difficulty level. For example, all Bhaal assassins and rogues should have the sneak attack. Every opponent should have the abilities of their class as a player, including gifts. Similarly, they should systematically have consumables (inducts, poisons, potions, elixirs, bombs) that they use in combat.
- Additional enemies during encounters in higher difficulty modes, to make combat even tougher.
- Additional phases for the main bosses. The fight against Ketheric is, frankly, a good model. The fight against Orin, on the other hand, is rather disappointing. I want to feel both our bodies covered in sweat, I want to see her shapely legs and murderous hands trying to eviscerate me. I want...
Okey I digress, basically a phase where we face her in her humanoid form in killer mode with unheard-of DPS.
I'll give you another example of possible improvement with the fight against Gortash:
Frankly, the fighting mechanics are good compared with Orin, but there's just one thing missing to make this confrontation really stand up to the test.
I'm thinking of 2-3 modifications to make this fight truly legendary:
- Remove the defective shield system in tactician+.
- Add Baine disciples, there are currently two consuls and a black gauntlet. I'm thinking two consuls + two black gauntlets and a black fist as captain. It would be logical for Gartosh to have a praetorian guard worthy of the name.
- During phase 2, make the Manifestations of Tyranny active, why not with a debuff or control spell (domination, for example).
II/ Character Building.You're still here? Okey I'm past the "2 cents" stage, I'm actually doing a full bank transfer.
The other real problem lies ahead of the confrontations, in the very construction of our characters. In all honesty, they're demigods, and at level 10 you can fraternize with Divine Chosen without batting an eyelid, and have a mind-boggling array of magic. My aim is absolutely not to frustrate, but to rebalance the walls of the system within which we can evolve and do as we please. Because at the moment, frankly, it's open bar, including with regard to DD5 rules.
- There are some real bugs to be ironed out, such as the absurd bare-hand and projection damage, or the fact that a priest can only learn mage spells at level 1.
Solution: a mage/priest multiclass must not be able to cast mage spells beyond the abilities of a mage of the same level.
- Unlimited use of scrolls by all classes. So it really hurts me as a wizard when I see a Barbarian with 8 Int casting a level 6 spell between two burps.
Solution: A class that doesn't master spells can't use scrolls (perhaps include a GIFT that would allow this up to level 3 scrolls, for example, but with a Stat condition for DD).
An exception is made, of course, for thief or warrior specialties giving access to magic, who could obtain this ability in addition to the rest of their gameplay.
How would the spell's DD be calculated? Simply like a normal spell: 8+associated char (SAG / INT / CHA) + mastery bonus ONLY if you have access to this level of spell.
It seems logical to me that a young magic student just out of his magical duffel bag party would have difficulty throwing Arręt du Temps.
- I know I'm going to make people cringe because we used to make crazy combinations, but Multiclassing without conditions has become crazy. We need to reinstate feature conditions as in the official rules.
Nothing insurmountable really, but it would already have a great control filter. I would remind you, of course, that this option only applies to the MAX difficulty.
- By the same token, there should be conditions for Gifts, either carac or race/class. This would make it possible to add missing gifts and give more unique personality to our choices. (Incidentally, I have a clear preference for unique racial bonuses as in EA, rather than the levelling Tasha rule we have, but that's secondary and another subject).
- The CA bonus when using a shield should not be applied passively when equipped with the ranged weapon.
- Regulation of the possibility of equipping magic items, at the very least the inability to combine items whose bonuses are cumulative or play on the same aspect.
- A time limit on the use of elixirs and potions, not a "duration until the next long rest".
III/ Gameplay.Yes, I know, it's long. It sounds like a lecture by an arch-mage historian... Good logic because it defines me very well!
The last point concerns the gameplay itself.
- There's clearly a problem with XP, I know it's debatable but the progression is too fast and the accumulation of this point with the rest makes the game like a walk in the park. What's more, it's strange to reach almost max level at the start of act 3. Personally, I finished the game with a surplus of unused XP. This also makes completing quests a bit empty. So either increase the levels or divide the amount. The ideal would obviously be to have more levels
and thus smooth out the game with, for example, a max level of 16. Okey Larian, it's my Christmas Wish
.
This would also make it possible to add DLC during the course of the adventure, even if it means reworking and readjusting certain high-level battles.
- The price of magic items is absolutely trivial, especially some MUST HAVE items sometimes selling for 80 or 140, while some armors are several thousand golden coins.
- Accentuate the limitations of Rest with a requirement of 120 provisions (as proposed by a Mod) or possible access only to teleportation points.
- Well, there's clearly a problem with two spells:
1/ Haste is totally abused, at the very least you should limit the number of turns.
2/ The greatest abuse concerns the Sphere of Invulnerability, which is objectively a God Mod and does not correspond to the spell in its original version. It should be a protection against spells, not a zone of invincibility where you can act on the outside world.
At the very least, you should be unable to impact the outside, the number of turns should be much lower (2 turns max) but ideally it should be like its paper version. A spell-absorbing zone with why not a quantity of spell damage hp that can be absorbed before it disappears, either at the end of its duration or through exhaustion of hp.
- Finally, higher-level summoning spells deserve an adjustment, either in the form of a duration limit or a concentration roll per turn for the summoning of Exteriors endowed with consciousness, such as Angels or Demons. Walking around Baldur with an unlimited Deva as if you were taking a poodle out for a piss is quite...surprising.
So this time my thesis is finished, I'm looking forward to your opinions and if you have any additional points to add. Hopefully a Larian member or Moderator will stop by
See you soon in the Kingdoms, I'm going to make a post almost as complete on a third-list of cut content.
Archmage Florian DaKatarn
