Solasta be like: Big window telling me "Enemy is going to run away from you and you can do an attack of opportunity. Would you like to do an attack of opportunity?"
Lots of words. Big window.
I was saying something more like as the enemy is trying to run away, the game pauses and the UI flashes, showing your melee button.
I see. Well, it that case I think that the window is better because you can place all reactions there at the same time in case of several characters reacting. In the case of UI flashing, highlighting the melee button, you'd have to switch to other characters to see if they have AOO available and choose to use it or not if so. Imo Solasta system is functionally perfect and can be just visually imporved that's all.
Don't get me wrong. I like Solasta. However, the paladin Smite popup is WAY too frequent. I put up with it, but it is a bit much.
I do very much enjoy the faster combat of BG3, but it really does make Reactions difficult to implement and still keep the fast pace. I mean, already we have people complaining about how slow combat is. Imagine if they implemented a choppy Reaction system that is pausing the game every few seconds because your Paladin could use AOO with Smite, Astarion can use Uncanny Dodge, Lae'zel can use Maneuvers for AOO, and Gale could use Counterspell, Shield, Featherfall or whatever. Astarion's Uncanny Dodge would be EVERY turn if someone hits him.
Oh man. Imagine Cutting Words popups. It'd be like every single time an enemy hits. That would be brutal.
I am now thinking that a blending of the two is probably what is best. Uncanny Dodge would use simple presets based on HP. You set the preset. If you take less damage, it doesn't trigger. If you take the damage you set or more, it triggers.
AOO could be preset pretty easily based on target selection during your turn or presets based on enemy current HP. Any enemy with 10 HP or more, something like that, would trigger AOO.
Shield could be done similarly with presets like Any Attack or Magic Missile. Smite Reaction could trigger based on HP presets.
Battlemaster maneuvers could be set easy enough. Activate it as a reaction on your turn. If someone triggers AOO, they also trigger the maneuver you selected.
But then spells like Counterspell should probably still pause game and ask. I just don't know how you'd preset that one well.
Cutting Words would need a more complex preset system. I'm not sure how that one would work, tbh. Maybe a Select Target(s) that would apply preset and if one of them hits, it simply triggers a "React" thing like Composer posted above
For most Reactions, though, I think presets could work well and really cut down on pauses.
