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I made two tanks, both with seven constitution. During the orc raid on the beach (start of game) that orc caster cast a single spell and killed both of my fighters instantly, while they were both at full health. This was after my first turn.

The game is full of cheap one shots. It's obvious that who ever came up with the balance has very little experience with gaming in general and less experience with no death rule sets.

Dying in two shots is acceptable, but constantly dying to one shot is lame. I can understand a mage going down in one shot in some cases if poorly equipped, but not two fighter tanks.

Larian should put their money where their mouth is and do a live stream of Divinity Original Sin on Honour mode, then they'll see how imbalanced and broken it is.

I've beaten the following games in Honour mode, also known as dead is dead, trial of iron, ironman.

Xcom
Dragon Age 1,2
ME 1,2,3
Orcs and Men
Game of thrones RPG
Deus Ex HR
Witcher 1 & 2
LOTR WINT
Fallout 3
Skyrim
Kotor
Fable
VTMB

So trust me, I don't say it lightly when I tell you that Honour Mode in Divinity Original Sin is broken, unbalanced and full of cheap one shots.

Last edited by luzariuslive; 12/12/15 12:55 AM.
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My friend, you are.... absolutely correct. I beat it after 17 tries or so but only because I knew the game well. Early on there are a lot of cheap shots and near the last 1/3 of the game there are a few more.

Unless you've played the game before and you use somewhat cheesy tactics (like splitting one of your mains in the back), you are NOT likely to beat it on honor mode the first try through, sorry.

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My wife is a big fan of this game and she finished (well, almost, there's a bug in the end of the game) Honour mode without any problems. Well, this is her fourth playthrough so she knows the game very well, so... All you need is to know the game better and Honour mode will be beatable. Divinity is not your usual Bioware RPG.

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Hisoka, that is the issue he is addressing; if you need to know the game "very well" to beat it in ironman there is a problem. Patience and character building should allow you to do it if you are so inclined, however the cheap 1-shot, whole party kills in this game, many of which are outside of combat (forced single file walking over land mines in the middle of nowhere that even a high perception doesn't detect, watchful eyes always getting first attack and doing more damage than your party can withstand by multiples and a few more).....those are unacceptable in any game that has an ironman mode. Games that do this properly have no 1-shot whole party kills AND have much more challenging combat....think X-com or its copycat, Massive Chalice.....very tough (much tougher than the combat in this game), but very fair.

Don't get me wrong, I love this game, but, like all games, it isn't without its flaws.

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I think you are mistaken assuming that the role and 'fun' of honour mode is to finish the game. The goal is not to beat the game, the goal is to survive as much as possible. After all, just 0.1% of the players finish the game in this mode. Those are the very experienced player who will also benefit from considerable luck. I, for one, am almost at the end, a 60+hrs run after having lost 5-6 times previously. Hopefully I will be able to complete it by this week. If not, I still have had so much fun with it. The thrill and fun should be in the run, not in the end game.

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luzariuslive, do you remember the "scorpion trap" from Divine Divinity? If so - simply imagine that orc-shaman used it against your characters :)
In other words, Divinity is not about balance or something. It is about "fun and imps". In my opinion, of course.
But at the same time, I think that Enhanced Edition made a little step aside from "fun and imps". What does it mean? New tendency? Who knows... Anyways, D:OS 2 will explain it to us.

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I agree with the dissenters.
If people have beaten the game perfectly well without cheating.
It just comes to show you - it is perfectly beatable and what ever strategy you have used is flawed.

The only problem is your own Hubris thinking your tactic is invincible and would work without fail. Honor mode by design is meant for people who know what to expect before hand to plan each tactic before the battle even begins.

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Yikes, when your first language is obviously not English, you probably shouldn't be throwing around words like hubris....just sayin.

Look, for the noobs defending Honour mode blindly, get a grip, get out there and play more games. Until you have a better appreciation for how gaming works and/or some semblance of common sense you just sound like fanatics.

Go play X-Com, Enemy Unknown on Ironman or Massive Chalice on Brutal, then come back once you couldn't do it and talk to the people who can. Knowing exactly where every mine is or the exact opening tactic of every opponent does not make a challenging ironman mode; it makes an tact-on mode to make the game seem something it is not.

Again. I love this game, but I am not a noob fanatic; this mode shoud not be in this game as it is NOT about tactics, it is about memorization.

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Honor mode is not broken.

You can complete honor mode easily, without memorization, simply by applying those 3 generic advices through the whole game.

1°) Do every missions you find, to ramp up experience points and overlevel ennemies. If you know the game, you can do the opposite and skip almost everything and be severely underleveled, and perform what is called a speedrun.

2°) In combat, use cheap CCs and summons. When you have access to master skills, fights become cheesy: the "hardest" is the beginning.

3°) Outside of combat, have a dedicaced explorer character (high PER and/or high fire/poison resistance and/or a selection amongst the following scoundrel skills: light feet, invisibility, cloak and dagger) wander alone.


I beat honor mode in one try, and it wasn't difficult at all. Honor mode could be said to be broken for the opposite reasons mentionned: game's easy to be made trivial, especially starting lvl 12 (when you have access to some master skills). I agree there are some deadly traps here and there (if there weren't, it would be plain that the Honor mode is easy), but nothing that can ruin your game if you follow the three simple tactics listed above.

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I agree with the OP, I think it's pretty dumb.

I'm currently playing on Tactician, and the number of times my crew has been wiped because my character with 12 Perception moved a barrel that had an invisible mine under it is at least 5...

The fights aren't hard, but if you don't have the traps memorized, it doesn't matter what your Perception level is, you're going to die.

Honour Mode is about trap memorization and cheese tactics, period.

Last edited by CharityDiary; 19/12/15 11:15 PM.
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The entire point to honor mode is to go slowly and make good decisions. The orc at the beach is not an issue because you dont even need to fight him. You can sneak by and let the guards engage him while you take them out from long range. I did exactly that the 1st time I played the game and I had no points in sneak.

Most issues however can be solved by simply getting fire and poison resists up. Yes, traps are cheap, but for the most part they are easy to avoid IF you are not rushing. They can also be made near trivial with correct itemization. For instance, the only real deadly traps are fire based... so stack fire resist. Its not that hard. Poison is almost entirely trivial because of the zombie talent.

It can be done, but the game is long... and sometimes, patience is your worst enemy (at least its mine).

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Just made a account to agree with OP, reached Bracus without big problems doing all quests before that (being lv9), he won initiative and killed my party with one shot even with my main characters being a safe distance from each other.

Me and my brother thought that it was part of the story at first, we were wrong.

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You guys are pathetic, that's it. You remind me of those spoiled brats who enroll for and advanced course since they think they are so smart and then complain at the first sign of failure - not realizing that the only thing really broken is their IQ.

CharityDiary, if traps send you to 'game over', you are not qualified to even start Honour mode. Did you ever think about scouting ahead with a single, high perception level, character? If you have to 'memorize' where the traps are... oh my gosh. Again... not qualified.

Daelus1, you are the most pathetic of all. Did you even read your post? And you could not see how many time you contradicted yourself? Your list of life long accomplishment includes playing XCOM and Massive Chalice, how nice. Do you write that down in your CV when applying for a job? And yet, you cannot complete an easy peasy game like D:OS EE without looking for guidance and complaining....

If you need to think Honour mode is broken to feel better about yourself, go for it. But at least don't try to negate the facts that people need just an above average IQ and interest for the game to do so without cheese tactics, first time, no memorization necessary. Now start complaining about my post, I know you want to....


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Originally Posted by mbpopolano24
CharityDiary, if traps send you to 'game over', you are not qualified to even start Honour mode. Did you ever think about scouting ahead with a single, high perception level, character? If you have to 'memorize' where the traps are... oh my gosh. Again... not qualified.


Traps that can be detected by high perception are not the problem with Honour mode. Like you said, it's easy to avoid traps on Honour mode.

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If you need to think Honour mode is broken to feel better about yourself, go for it. But at least don't try to negate the facts that people need just an above average IQ and interest for the game to do so without cheese tactics, first time, no memorization necessary. Now start complaining about my post, I know you want to....


In the beginning of the game I made two fighter tanks with high hit points and armor. When the orcs raid the beach in the start of the game, they have an orc shaman among them. That shaman cast a single fireball and killed both my TANKS in one shot when they were both at full life. What does this mean? It means the game was not tested for balance on Honour Mode. If the developers knew this, they would've fixed it, UNLESS they think that tanks getting one shotted makes sense by an enemy of equal level.

Based upon your logic, you think that any class should be one shottable, including high hit point tanks of equal level to the enemy?

After reading your post, you're basically ADMITTING that Honour mode can't be completed without cheating, aka meta gaming which is similar to remembering the answers to a test before taking the test. You're basically saying that it's okay to take an advanced college course test over and over again until you score an A+.

What I'm saying is that if the game is properly balanced, you can embrace all the challenges of Honour mode without getting constantly one shotted from cheap scenarios that are impossible to predict or prepare for.

Last edited by luzariuslive; 06/02/16 03:27 AM.
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I recently started Honour Mode too (I just completed Hiberheim) with a Lone Wolf Mage and a Thief with 7 CON and I don't remember any trouble with the first fights in terms of damage input, I just play it safe like everyone is saying: I use the thief to scout alone places that I remember to be dangerous, get the best equip every 3~ levels, in fights cc the ranged and destroy the melee (and use those choke points), in scripted fights (Braccus Rex, the madman near the church, etc.) do what you are expected to do. So far I risked to be wiped only once and was in the fight near the river, before the cave with the Sparkmaster, because I wanted to end that fight fast.. bad idea!

And agree with Crest's post, but.. a speedrun? That would be cool smile

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I recently started to play honour mode and on the contrary , i found it too easy. Well, first time i died at the first fight, second at lvl 4 to a trap, then i started to play carefully. If you plan your fights and choose the spot where you want to do it instead of rushing head on , there should be no problem.
Quite soon you start fighting mobs under level and the game gets too easy, which is a bit of a problem, at lvl 16 i was getting bored already , didn't use almost any scroll, food or special arrow, crafting was only to get some quick cash.
Then i died in the north of Luculla forest to some immaculate who summoned an arcane vortex that teleported three of my chars into lava in the same turn... That was shocking but rather funny and i have to admit i could avoid it, after seeing the aeromage doing it once, i could flee and rethink my strat.
All in all, it would be nice if we got fewer xp from fights so that the game doesn't become a stroll , fights are awesome and full of adrenaline if you meet mobs of the same lvl or one level upper than you. That being said i restarted with a lone wolf in order to increase severity, but surprisingly i am at lvl 9 and again the game feels too easy.

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Originally Posted by luzariuslive
I made two tanks, both with seven constitution. During the orc raid on the beach (start of game) that orc caster cast a single spell and killed both of my fighters instantly, while they were both at full health. This was after my first turn.

The game is full of cheap one shots. It's obvious that who ever came up with the balance has very little experience with gaming in general and less experience with no death rule sets.

Dying in two shots is acceptable, but constantly dying to one shot is lame. I can understand a mage going down in one shot in some cases if poorly equipped, but not two fighter tanks.

Larian should put their money where their mouth is and do a live stream of Divinity Original Sin on Honour mode, then they'll see how imbalanced and broken it is.

I've beaten the following games in Honour mode, also known as dead is dead, trial of iron, ironman.

Xcom
Dragon Age 1,2
ME 1,2,3
Orcs and Men
Game of thrones RPG
Deus Ex HR
Witcher 1 & 2
LOTR WINT
Fallout 3
Skyrim
Kotor
Fable
VTMB

So trust me, I don't say it lightly when I tell you that Honour Mode in Divinity Original Sin is broken, unbalanced and full of cheap one shots.


Have you considered the possibility that you may not actually be that good at the game? Just because you're having a hard time doesn't mean that everyone else is.

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Larian should put their money where their mouth is and do a live stream of Divinity Original Sin on Honour mode, then they'll see how imbalanced and broken it is.


Would you be interested in seeing a livestream of Honor mode from anyone other than Larian? Because that I can do.

Last edited by LudicSavant; 08/03/16 11:26 PM.
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When I saw this person establish authority by listing the games they've beaten on the hardest difficulty, I was really surprised that none of the recent FROM software games were on the list (Demon Souls, Dark Souls 1 and 2, or even Bloodbourne). Although I admire their guts in coming right out and saying that these independent developers didn't put enough work into fine-tuning their survival mode, I would suggest playing a game that is more built around survival that autosaves your character with every death, loss or wrong move. Completing other survival-based games, like Don't Starve (if you are looking for an easier one), or Darkest Dungeon (if you are looking for more extreme difficulties) could help to establish authority on this topic more easily.

Good luck and enjoy gaming! Big shout out to Larian as well for their hard work and contributors in developing the Enhanced Edition.

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Originally Posted by tr4nsience
When I saw this person establish authority by listing the games they've beaten on the hardest difficulty, I was really surprised that none of the recent FROM software games were on the list (Demon Souls, Dark Souls 1 and 2, or even Bloodbourne). Although I admire their guts in coming right out and saying that these independent developers didn't put enough work into fine-tuning their survival mode, I would suggest playing a game that is more built around survival that autosaves your character with every death, loss or wrong move. Completing other survival-based games, like Don't Starve (if you are looking for an easier one), or Darkest Dungeon (if you are looking for more extreme difficulties) could help to establish authority on this topic more easily.

Good luck and enjoy gaming! Big shout out to Larian as well for their hard work and contributors in developing the Enhanced Edition.


I don't play single player games primarily for challenge. The only reason I play ironman is to preserve immersion since save scumming breaks immersion. I want to feel the same pressure the characters are going through when faced with danger.

Games like Dark souls and bloodborne are severely broken and take zero skill since you're constantly reloading, reloading, reloading, reloading until you figure out a very precise formula that can't be discovered through natural game play and cautious planning. These types of games are broken and are for the extreme casual gamer. They require massive, extreme forms of meta gaming to a point I find sickening.

Don't starve and darkest dungeon have zero story and no emotionally driven content. What is the point of even playing ironman then? For the challenge only? If I want challenge I'll play multiplayer.

My main point is that Honour mode was NOT tested by Larian studios. It's painfully obvious.

I would love it if Honour mode could be turned on for normal difficulty, but even then the game is filled to the brim with cheap one shots. Until this is fixed, I can never bring myself to play this game.

Last edited by luzariuslive; 12/03/16 04:09 PM.
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Dude want to avoid challenge but chooses honor mode in D:OS.

Dude want to have honor mode work for normal mode aswell and instead of starting a normal mode with personal rule and use a little bit of self-control, prefers whining about how the game was not tested and swears off the game.

Says Dark Soul is for extreme casual gamers (what does that even mean?) and takes zero skill.



It was nice hearing your opinion.

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