I have successfully beaten all Larian games so far, from the original Divine Divinity to Original Sin, most of them on somewhat higher difficulty levels (where applicable).

With D:OS 2, all I get is frustration. I don't have three hours to figure out how to solve some impossible seeming fight, I have a live, too. The frustration level has risen to a point, somewhere on Reaper's Coast, that I have stopped playing. I doubt I will care for another Larian game - they only get more difficult without improving much of anything else. Inventory system and crafting is a bad joke, quests are buggy as hell. Story is meh. Perceived difficulty compared to D:OS 1: plus 250% - and judging by the release notes, they are still in the business of making the game more difficult.

Sorry, this is niche geek gaming only - for those that have unlimited time to invest to endlessly fiddle around with one unbalanced fight after another. I am out of here.

You need a good build. The game can be gruelling if you do not know how to build your characters but an absolute breeze with a well-optimised cookie-cutter build. Have a look around the forum - plenty of good builds being presented. Also, Explorer difficulty.

You know, you are just proving his point. A casual gamer will hardly check the forum for the best builds, he wants to skill his way.

Don't even need to check forums for "good builds". Just basic understanding of the environmental effects, combos and how combat and AI works really. A lot of the basic builds work in this game. Like just Knight/Fighter or Wizard with Pyro and Geo.

Are you playing on explorer?

It is sad this person chose to lash out in anger and disparage not only the art but the people who enjoy it. If he had not left permanently in a huff I would have simply told him the easiest way to progress is simply to walk away and find a less challenging encounter, of which there is at least always one.
Sadly that opportunity slipped us all by.

I teach at CS at a uni, here is what I tell students that simply cant seem to figure out concepts in certain classes.

People are not the same. Period.

What you might call hard, i call completely trivial. In fact, I cant play certain genres like 1st person shooters, and console games (generally speaking) because they are so easy that they might as well be baby books. To me, DOS2, is intermediate at best. Easy after the initial 5 levels of figuring things out (didnt need a guide except for boring stuff like figuring out recipes which I ended up not using anyway). This game does not throw any wrenches at you. The only difficulty was measuring when to shop for new gear. Once you figured out the scaling, it was just a matter of making adjustments.

Its simply a matter of how you problem solve. Not everyone thinks the same way. You can teach yourself to think differently, but if you dont want to, then that is fine since this is just a game. If this were a classroom, I would tell you to suck it up, study smarter (not longer), or change majors. For the record, I am not trying to be mean, in fact, I really care about students but sometimes the best advice is the cold hard truth. Not everyone is cut out for sciences (though I will argue that anyone with a healthy brain can do it with enough diligence). Also for the record I have very few drops even in hard stuff like algorithms and data structures.

Since this is a game, I would say "95/100 games are made for casuals...". there is no shortage in selection. Or play an easier mode. Or download some mods to make it easier.

Just play on the lowest diffuculty I did the same and still had fun.

Original Sin 2 on Classic Mode is easier than D:OS and D:OS EE (Classic), period.
Tacticians Mode - ye, there are some places where you have to absolutely cheese it through or die trying. But if you are playing on Tacticians, after all the warnings ingame, well, that's on you and you alone.

Have you tried the Explorer difficulty? Supposely Larian balanced it so that the player should be able to enjoy the story and complete the game without excessive straining.

I agree that there are some points where i "feel" there are some balancing issues, some fights are a breeze and others feels like you are at severe disadvantage, but that also depends on what build and gear your character is running.

Example: i got battered several times when dealing with the incandescent skeletons in act1 (increased in spawns from a mod) until they forced me to invest in fire resistant gear before i was able to clear these encounters.

And a question, are you dealing with a forced fight in that instance? If there is an area filled with enemies that i can't currently beat, i sneak or use alternative routes to get past them.

Just play on explorer if you are that much of a casual.

I tried a lot of builds since the release, and while I had a hard time at lvl 5 for a certain fight (the skeletons with the teleporting void mini boss in the forest), now I understand the game, and his new shield system.

So I tried full ranger, solo death knight, duo summoner, mixed team etc... no need to cheese a lot of fights really.
Even the famous worm/Alexandar fight : hard the first time I did it, but know it's a breeze (even if the worm attack pattern is a bit random)
But I'm on tactician, so I guess explorer is like "you can solo the game with solo dual wands build while watching Netflix".

Boring troll tbh.

Like something bad

You do not need to check forums for good builds, it was just a friendly suggestion to help him because he appears to be struggling. The information is all there ingame and it is just a matter of taking the time to read it and figure it out.

Also, I am not sure I have ever played an RPG that rewards "skilling your own way" over a well-thought out and synergised build. Given that you can respec everything after Act I, it really could not get any easier.

Clearly you aren't the target audience for the game, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm sure there are some awesome low attention span iOS games out there with your name on them.

Yes, this game is definitely not for point & click aficionados--it's not a Diablo II clone with nothing any more involved than clicking on things to kill them and automatically gathering loot. This is a real RPG in every respect. But if you finished OS 1 this game should be a breeze--I see very little in the way of fundamental differences between the two games, save that OS 2 is better in every way, imo. Something about your post doesn't ring true--because if you finished and beat OS1 on the "higher difficulty levels" (which don't increase the game's complexity but just make it easier for you to get killed and harder to kill things in a fight) you should have *no trouble* with OS 2.

None at all. Hopefully you didn't start this game on the highest difficulty mode...;) You sound like you should be playing in Story mode--and that you maybe are not following the story and completing quests and so on. I mean, doing those things is just like OS 1--just like it--so it's really hard to see you having these problems.

Now, you will from time to time invoke fights that you aren't advanced enough to win--and the way to handle them is to *go do something else* until you are strong enough to come back and win. I can say for certain that if you don't have the patience to advance your character in his skills then you never finished OS 1...;)

I can understand your complaint in a way, This game is not for casuals unfortunately and if you go into this thing expecting that then you are going to be very disappointed. And especially if you love the characters and the story which only adds salt to the wound. But I have to be honest here even if it pains me to tell someone this, if you don't like the game then simply walk away hell even get a refund and play something that you really would enjoy because there is no sense in stressing yourself out when you could be happy somewhere else. I have even had a hard time playing and in my opinion there is a thin line between enjoyment and frustration on this one, unless you plan to cheat but I would not recommend that becuase it takes away the excitement but hey it is your game.

Having just completed Honour Mode with a co-op partner, I can safely say the game is very difficult for novice or casual players.
It is, however, hilariously easy for players experienced with the first OS game or the genre and turn based combat as a whole; even a basic mastery of the mechanics and some preparation can allow you to complete every encounter without serious resource loss, and it only gets easier from there.

In order to challenge players that know what they are doing or exploit mechanics effectively, self-imposed restrictions must be created (thematic action restrictions, no source abilities, no civil skills, etc); the game itself does not have the encounter design or mechanical polish to really challenge players of high skill frequently enough.

i am a complete casual who managed to win on explorer and classical mode, and am now in act 2 on my first tactician run, all the while likely not doing ideal builds or playing completely strategically soundly

it is a difficult, punishing game, but nowhere near unplayable for "casuals"

Are you playing explorer mode? I only played tactician so far, but I imagine that explorer should be suitable for casual players.

Btw, I really don't get the amount of people complaining that tactician is too hard and that ruins the game. Just play an easier difficulty and don't feel so emasculated about a freaking video game.

Wow man. You should find a new line of work. If your student is stuck in a hole, asking for help, you need to reach out a hand and toss him a ladder. Saying "you're too weak to get out" or "you got yourself into this mess" is not in the spirit of education. I teach much younger students but even college kids still need help from a caring adult.

I'm in the same boat as OP-- I chose tactician due to the "special abilities" used by enemies. Now I'm 15 hours in and every single fight is a chore at level 5. I do not want to have to fail to learn, or search google to learn, or save scum to advance.

Bottom line: game attracts all types but the way it teaches certain types of players is just awful.

This game is, in practically all ways, extremely casualized. I have no idea how anyone can remotely fail on anything below Tactician. There's Explorer Mode for a reason. To call this game more difficult than D:OS1 is an insult to D:OS1.

You are implying the first game was hard? Where every boss gets hit by drain willpower and then get perma stunned from turn 1?

I'm pretty sure OP is a troll and everyone here's been baited into answering him. If he isn't, then well good riddance.

Im pretty sure this is a troll and he is now fapping on these baited answers or he is a rly bad player. Anyway i find this good that OS 2 is not for casual bobs like him. Casuals have destroy the game market and a game thats destroy casuals is welcome!

I think that's enough speculation about other forum members. Stick to the topic, please.

classic can be hard if you play the game wrong. Sad that explorer mode is to easy.
even if you are bad, blind and your cat is playing, you can not die in explorer mode.

This is my first larian game, it can be frustrating at moments but here is some advice which makes the game a lot easier (I play classic dif):

1) focus all members of your party on either physical or magical damage, dont mix them.
2) one level can make an enormous difference , a fight that is impossible at level 11 can be a breeze at level 12. Dont engage higher level enemies but search for enemies (or quests) of your level first.
3) If you go for a magic party then get the artillery plant skill ASAP, it feels like a cheat code at times.
4) any damage your summons take isn't on the rest of your party, especially in physical parties are incarnates and spiders great
5) in some battles (like alexander) can you split the enemies, lure some throught a gateway while others stay far behind
6) in act 2 can you refill source an unlimited number of times at a certain location, use this before hard battles

One nice thing about working in academia is you learn all sort of funny latin quotes like reductio ad absurdum, which applies to your example.

Its just a game and like college, is completely optional. If the game is not your cup of tea, and you do not want to take the steps to learn how to drink said tea, then there are many alternatives.

Another thing you should heed, is that teaching is a two way street. You have to put an effort and its unreasonable to expect others to cater to your needs (unless you pay insane amounts of money). I mean seriously... were in the internet age. You have forums, search engines, videos, full websites with guide, and the game itself offers tips. How much more does a person need?

I'm also interested in some help regarding how to build the characters. Is the tactic, whenever you are focusing on physical damage, to maximize warfare before maxing single/two-handed, ranged and dual-wielding any good?

What about magical damage as magic damage is not calculated from the weapons. For me there is 3 ways you could go:

1. Maximize the elemental trees as every level increases the damage it does with that type of spell? E.g. If you use mostly fire spells then max Pyrokinetic.

2. Maximize Scoundrel for crit, Huntsman for extra damage on high ground and two-handed for damage with staff?

3. Maximize Polymorph and put all attributes on intelligence?

Which way do you prefer?

I guess the OP needs an easier game, fair enough. But we didn't back DOS:2 to be that kind of game. Backers asked for a more difficult experience than DOS:1 and we got what we wanted. This game doesn't take the player by the hand showing around vistas and such. It's challenging and requires you to put some thinking into your actions.

So if you are not fit or if you don't have time, it's perfectly fine to look elsewhere. Just hope that kind of complains won't have the difficulty being dropped because this is not what the community as a whole wants.

I believe OP is just trolling around. My friend's wife almost never played games before and she was fine on normal. So come on.

@ Qunari:

For physical damage, focus on warfare in the early game on your warrior. It gives you the most benefits and you aren´t forced into one weapon type. For instance, if you aren´t able to get a decent two-handed weapon but good one handed, you can switch to dual wield and vice versa.
Ranged is a bit more complicated in my opinion, a lot will argue to go for warfare, but I had good results with a ranged crit build as well.
As a rule of thumb, don´t split to much early. Get memory only if needed and spent all other points into your main attribute. Same goes for talents.

About magic damage:

Go for two schools. In my opinion, you should focus on them. Scoundrel can be raised later to give your spell crits more punch, but you should avoid it early.

You can utilize crit on a wizard. And it´s fun, I ve done it myself. I don´t know if it´s the most optimal way to go tho, but if you want to do it, get Hothead right after Savage Sortilege. Beeing (Undead) Human also helps. 15 % crit right of the bat.
Donnot use staffs with this, wands are more preferable. You will find wands with +10 % critical hit pretty early in the game. Try to get two of them.
With some + crit and + wits gear, you should end up with ~ 40% critical chance around Level 5 - 6.

Avoid weapon skills on a caster, as you unlock more spells you won´t use your basic attacks later.

I consider myself as an average player so what i ve learned about this game is the following.
There are specific skills that allows you to make the game way easier. Teleportation is probably the most necessery skill that you must obtain to at least 2 characters in order to make your life easier. Positioning your team before a fight start is also a very good way to make you victorious in battle (you can also buff the team with a bedroll buff before the fight start). Save as much as you can. Physical oriented teams works well and its easier to win fights when you focus on the same guy and on the same type (physical or magical). If you face a difficult fight leave and come back later when you have more exp and better gear. I havent completed the game but from what ive read is that damage and items are scaling exponentionally so just 1 lvl can make such a big difference to a fight or to an item.

So, you chose tactician, which gives you a fair warning about the extra difficulty it brings. And now you're whining, hoping that the devs will make it easier, just cause you're struggling?

I often ask myself, how do self entitled people like yourself survive in the real world?

I'm hardly self-entitled and surviving just fine. But I really don't need to explain my life story. Who the fuck are you again?

personal insults aside

tactician difficulty is meant to be the hardest difficulty aside from honour (which is the same difficulty but with the added challenge of only having one save)

if you find it difficult just play on a lower difficulty. a lot of people will talk about how easy tactician is, but those are experienced players, and overall the game is still very hard

the game takes a while to get the hang of and there's no shame in playing on classic or explorer difficulty if tactician is making the game more hard than fun. the amount of fun you have is all that matters in the end

Bitter and twisted much?
I find it hard to believe you can't figure stuff out. I'm totally new to the whole franchise and doing great. Admitedley I'm playing 4 man classic to learn the ropes but having great success and fun at the same time.

I'll replay tactician next with LW or something when I'm better.

You came on one of the most elitist forum and post this, either you are trolling or you are asking to be insulted.

I was in the same boat the OP until I read about not mixing Magic and Physical damage. The game went from frustrating where I was cheesing every fight to kinda easy. I was also surprised at how nasty some of the posts here are so I thought I'd share too.

I do miss having a balanced party for loot drops, play style and feel of a traditional RPG group. I have magic users with high finesse and strength so I can use gear drops, and running around with 4 wand / shield spell casters is plain goofy.

I love the game, but I am surprised that systems as big as armor were not balanced better.

A friendly reminder that nobody is asking to be insulted; however, people may be uninvited if they choose to engage in that sort of behaviour. It's a friendly forum, let's keep it that way.

I think you can still have both, each build can dabble in areas so where they are stronger in one form of armor, they can at least revert to their secondary choice of damage and be reasonable. There are many enemies where they are strong/weak in each armor. Being able to attack either way also makes the game easier. Yeah what you don't want is a character that cannot due physical or magical damage, but why would one build so narrow?

Yeah thinking about armor got I this idea:
Items still give magic or physical armor but you only have a single armor pool(the sum of both) BUT the vulnerability of that armor pool depends on the the phys/magic armor ration. If 200 of your armor comes from magical armor and only 100 comes from physical armor then would physical attacks deal double damage.

You can still specialize in one type of armor but mixed parties are competitive again.

That is similar to what I suggested once. Not that it matters, because Larian hardly cares anyway.

Spoilers....




The game isn't impossible. But it does reward you with a much, much more satisfying and smoother experience if you do some basic research and preferably use well rounded builds from some guide.

My very first group I only played a few hours but it felt too weak. Changed it up and used a pure physical, classic build of tank/healer, melee dmg dealer/semi-tank, one ranger, one dual wield dagger assassin. And then I also use 2 good walkthroughs as a general guide as to where I should do quests with my current level.

That's it. I play on classic and I gotta say in terms of balance this game is a lot of fun on 'normal' difficulty. The Alexander fight at the end of Fort Joy was awesome, kinda hard but absolutely doable for me. I think I was unhappy with 2 casaulties 2 times and tried the fight a third time, completly repositioning and it was a good solid fight that all 4 survived.

Another fight I first thought very hard was the second encounter with the possessed dwarves in Driftwood. The dwarfes in that little castle like enclosure, right before you reach that cave where you have to find the deathsmoke bomb and proof for the cargo and all that. Forgot the name of the cave.

So I enter the little fortress enclosure and I get hammered and my squishy ranger and assassin take too much dmg. Try 2 more times but my position is not good down there in the doorway with all enemies on higher elevation raining down death on me.

So third time I actually retreat back through the doorway. My tank takes a few long range hits but nothing i cant handle. And then the enemies had to come one by one or two by two through the door way. had to climb down from their better positions and I didnt win completly easily but once again, if you figure out to not fight at severe disadvantages you get good, solid fights as a more or less casual player that arent too hard and not too easy.

The fight vs Murdock in the cave (shit...i think his name was Murdoc...the one who wanted to kill Lohar) was very nice. I lost one party member first try on classic and enjoyed the fight. once again, not too hard not too easy.

I followed very good class guides of a friendly guy with a channel called RPG division on youtube. He goes into detail with all kinds of classes or how to build pure physical or magical or hybrid classes.

Picked a polymorph knight (cause its just awesome to jump across the battlefield or bull rush everything or turn invisible and lash out with a big nasty tentacle), use an insanely tanky Beast as a tank and healer, use Sebille as a Ranger and Lohse as my awesome dual wield assassine. Very solid party and a lot of fun.

The only other difficulty I experienced - apart from initially failing with my own not very thoroughly planned party and realising that you either test around yourself a lot and plan your build or you roughly follow somebodys classes/guides - was that in driftwood I at first ran past Driftwood city and encountered high level monsters which just annihilated me.

Then I found a map where it shows which areas you can travel to with your current level.

Once I had that map and with my current party....came is perfect in terms of challenge. I get stronger all the time. I survive all fights mostly the first time but have to play well and sometimes I have to figure out an encounter with 1 - 3 tries but only cause I wanted to survive better and didnt want to spend so many resurrection scrolls.

So any new player I can give the following advice to make it enjoyable:

1. If you have no idea how to build your class....find somebody on youtube that showcases builds/classes/entire partys you like and follow those builds. Create a pure physical or magical party (i went with physical on my first playthrough)

2. I enjoy complex quests and exploring but I dont have so much time to talk to everybody for hours and do the research all on my own so I use walkthroughs but only to know the general direction. This is not necessary if you have a lot of time. The quests arent super complicated. With a little bit of running around and looking you dont need a walkthrough. But every 30 to 60 mins I glance at the next 2 quests and roughly know what to do.

3. Find somebody who can tell you (or a map) which area is suited for your level. Once I knew that it didnt feel at all anymore as if its too hard or unfair at all. Ant not too easy either. In fact, to me the balancing feels very nice.

4. Levels are so huge in Divinity 2 and gear makes jumps in terms of the provided physical and magical armor and dmg it can dish out. I upgrade all the time, sell everything and if you do that, invest all resources you have (and you will have enough most of the time or a short while after), realize how strong a good, solid, concentrated party is and know where to level and do quests.....then the game is absolutely not impossible.

In truth....theres so many games that are so ridiculously easy and user friendly that I always miss the good old days of system shock 1 and especially 2. This game doesnt take your hand 24/7 but rewards you right away as soon as you plan just a little bit and do a bit research. Good party and knowing where to do quests....only thing you need to not get dominated.