Yeah they did take away the outrageous environmental effects from the cantrips... maybe they might listen to more things too?
During the panel from hell 2, the strategies in combat were mostly without using higher ground or backstab.
I don't want to read into that too much. But I had vibes that Larian is very well aware how we feel about them and don't have a solution ready yet. It was smart to show strategies that have positive feedback on Reddit, like shove and using potions to solo a fight.
The solution to fix cantrips was more obvious. But for higher ground and backstab so much about combat is balanced around free advantage. (same for jump/disengage).
I've said it before and I'll say it again, it would be easier for Larian to use a homebrewed proficiency table instead of giving advantage out for free. Then the game could feel like DnD with Larian's sandbox ideas.
I've been actually looking forward to playing a game like that, I just haven't seen signs of it during patch 3 and I'm not sure I'll see that in patch 4. (We'd at least still need proper reactions TBH).
It'd still be nice to see advantage given out during the game. But it should be something that feels earned. Like if a character gets a natural 20 and takes out the enemy, a nearby ally within 15 feet gets advantage on their next attack. That would be less than 5 percent of rolls the player or enemy could get advantage.
