I accidentally posted this in the general chat without seeing this. Sorry for any repetitions, but i spent so long on it already that i feel pretty done with it and dont feel like going over it a fourth time.
First of all id like to say thanks for a great game! I have really been enjoying diving into your world, and right now i have just over 40 hours played. This said, i came here to give you some feedback on things i think can be improved in the game.
Gameplay
1) More information about what things acctually do. For instance, right now magic missles does 1d4+int/cha score of the caster. This information is nowhere to be found and this stretches across alot of different spells. I get that the simplicity is helpful for new players, but i think there should also be an option to right click the spell to get more details on how it acctually works.
Once you hit level 3 you also get the option to spend a second level spell slot to cast an improved version of the spell, instead of some spells just naturally becoming better with level. With levels i think the current system is limiting the usefullness of some spells going forward. I dont see myself casting 5 magic missles over a fireball at level three pretty much ever, for example. It will also make my castbar become way overcrowded going forward.
Another example is mage armor. I get the option to cast it as a level 2 spell, however i have no way at all of knowing what is acctually improved with it, which makes me want to use the first level instead so i can keep the few level 2 spells i have. Just make it improve with level, and if you right click it you can find out how - with a simple tooltip for the new players when just hovering over it.
3) Same goes for AC ingame. I couldnt find anywhere describing how it acctually works. Perhaps being able to right click pretty much everything in the character sheet should bring up a popup window explaining it.
4) Concentration. There needs to be ways around only being able to concentrate at one spell at a time. Sure, it works right now - but once my cleric is level 9, what are the odds im going to want to spend my one and only concentrated spell on keeping bless up? Alternatively, fewer spells should be concentrated spells. As a ranger, i start with "true strike", but very quickly get another spell which improves hit rate - with the added benefit of it being a bonus action on recast. I am also only able to keep one of them up because both demands concentration.
5) Jumping. I really enjoy being able to jump around in combat or in the world, but when going across somewhere i have to select every single character and jump one at a time. Make the other characters follow what i do. This applies to stealth as well. And please let me know if my character is going to hurt itself jumping, cause sometimes its really hard to tell how high up i am.
6) Dualwielding for warriors is practicly useless right now. I get to chose between option a) having my warrior use a greatsword doing 2d6 with the added benefit of having cleave, as well as being able to jump around on the battlefield - or b) having 2 weapons dealing 1d6 each and expending my bonus action. I dont think a regular hit should expend the bonus action for the offhand.
7) I feel like alot of balancing needs to be done to spells overall. There is no reason id ever want to cast melfs acid arrow dealing 4d4+1d4 next round over the firespell that deals 2d6x3 spread out however i want. Another example is familiars. Some of them are practicly useless. As i go with the beastmaster class for my ranger, the familiar spell i get initially with the ranger is also redundant as i cant both keep a familiar and an animal companion. I think it would be better to get to chose class at level 1 already, and having each class tailored to avoid overlapping.
8) Animal speaking / Detect Thoughts / Charm person castable in dialogue. Pretty much self explanatory.
9) Renaming familiars / animal companions. Some people really do enjoy that RP feeling in the game, and if youre playing a ranger having travelled with your bear companion your entire life - i feel it is logical for it to have a name.
10) More cutscenes. Just short ones are enough. An example is when you enter the blighted village, and goblins are on the rooftops. Imagine just a short cutscene with the party walking in, and an arrow hits before their feet. "not one step further" -> into dialogue. Just a few more, too many could take away from repeated playthroughs.
11) Level cap. I found myself hitting level 4 when i had played about half the act. The later parts can also be quite challenging. Most things in the underdark were really hard. Upping it to 5 in the first act seems to be an easy fix.
12) I really wish there was a way for me to add another cleric to my party without having to play with the super annoying Shadowheart. Perhaps this will resolve itself when more characters enter the game, but i think there should be way more playable NPCs than there currently are.
13) Iniative. Id really like to see a small window with initiative being rolled for. Alternatively, add it as an option to the combat log for players interested. I also couldnt find anywhere to see my actual attack rolls, something i really enjoyed about BG2.
14) Fast travel shouldnt be possible from everywhere. After killing the goblin leaders i just fasttraveled out of there, completely avoiding the rest of the camp.
15) Traps. My clumsy characters keeps running over them even though another character has detected the trap and i know its there. Perhaps once a trap is detected, game should automaticly go to turn based mode.
16) Pathing needs to be smarter for my companions. Sometimes characters seem to get stuck in spots for no reason. During the owlbear event my character started talking to the owlbear, but got instantly interrupted by Astarion randomly coming from the other direction - somehow triggering hostility and breaking the dialogue.
Glitches These are the glitches i can remember that i came across. In no particular order.
1) Critical hits. All i can see is a dice splitting, i cant even see the number or the actual hit. Sometimes the character hit with enough damage spins out of control and its model seems to stretch out over... well different things.
2) Basilisk in underdark wiped 3 characters with its roll before turn based mode kicked in.
3) Sometimes my character gets stuck, completely unable to take an action. I solved it by saving and reloading the game.
4) I eldrich blasted a minotaur in the underdark and it got stuck in a position on a bridge where it could do nothing. No ranged spells or attacks could hit it, and instead seemed to hit the air behind it. I ran up and hit it with melee weapons, but it never did anything back.
All in all, despite the huge list of prefered changes above, i absolutely loved every minute of gameplay and i really think the game is in good hands. Thanks alot!
