Current Events > BG3's combat is so frustrating

(+) Yeah! (+)

I like the high strategy aspect, but its soo frustrating not understanding why things happen. Like why do I keep failing so many attacks. Why does Gale and Shadowheart suck so much at the beginning? His spells miss half the time and same with SH. And leizel used to hit 95% and now its 50-60. Why why why? This sucks.

Im too dumb for this game.

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

I like the high strategy aspect, but its soo frustrating not understanding why things happen. Like why do I keep failing so many attacks.

You failed a hidden roll.

Yeah I ended up not enjoying it as much as I hoped I would, D&D combat just isn't very fun to me

Shadowheart isnt meant to be an attacker; shes meant to be a support. You need to respec her into a life domain cleric when you can

Shadowheart is never allowed to hit anything at any point in the game, it's the law. Not sure why.

Take a look at what saving throws the enemies need to make for each spell. If you're using one that has a WIS check and are using it against enemies with high wisdom you're going to fail.

R_Jackal posted...

Shadowheart is never allowed to hit anything at any point in the game, it's the law. Not sure why.

she Hit me if you catch my drift

SimulationSwarm posted...

Shadowheart isnt meant to be an attacker; shes meant to be a support. You need to respec her into a life domain cleric when you can

On top of this you can give her that one potion that sets strength to 21, it's sold by one of the merchants in the fungus colony and it restock per long rest. I gave her that mace that blinds the undead and she was able to hit things.

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

Take a look at what saving throws the enemies need to make for each spell. If you're using one that has a WIS check and are using it against enemies with high wisdom you're going to fail.

This. You're not doing your research well. Need to match your attacks and what stats they target to what the enemy's stats are.

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

And leizel used to hit 95% and now its 50-60. Why why why?

What you're fighting probably has higher AC now than when you started...

R_Jackal posted...

Shadowheart is never allowed to hit anything at any point in the game, it's the law. Not sure why.

Thats why I just gave her all my grease bottles so on turns when I don't really need her support/out of spells, she can throw grease bottles onto my Flaming Sphere... Been the most helpful she's been outside of support...

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

And leizel used to hit 95% and now its 50-60. Why why why? This sucks.

Did you take the great weapon master feat? It has a thing where it gives you a -5 to hit, but +10 damage. It can be toggled off on the passives bar.

Try gitting gud

Irony posted...

Try gitting gud

It's hard to be better than Mystara when it comes to D&D combat.

I got stomped by the first real fight in the dank crypts, but then I gave it another shot and realized how to use the terrain to your advantage and it just clicked.

EckyThump posted...

Did you take the great weapon master feat? It has a thing where it gives you a -5 to hit, but +10 damage. It can be toggled off on the passives bar.

AHHH! I thiiink I did...trade off sounded good on paper LOL. Ok thats one mystery solved.

SimulationSwarm posted...

Shadowheart isnt meant to be an attacker; shes meant to be a support. You need to respec her into a life domain cleric when you can

R_Jackal posted...

Shadowheart is never allowed to hit anything at any point in the game, it's the law. Not sure why.

Another one solved

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

Take a look at what saving throws the enemies need to make for each spell. If you're using one that has a WIS check and are using it against enemies with high wisdom you're going to fail.

Aahhh...get it now. Does..the game tell you this at some point? But got it. TY people. See, I can deal with it as long as I know WHY.

Play Kotor

Jerry_Hellyeah posted...

Play Kotor

I love Kotor

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

I love Kotor

Then why go out looking for a downgrade? Kotor is a ride-or-die bad bitch with 20 pounds of ass muscle and yoga pants three sizes too small

Shadowheart starts wrecking shit once she gets Glyph of Warding

It's one of those games where you need a wiki open at all times if you're not familiar with it

I respec everyone, it only cost 100 gold. Shadowheart initial stats are weirdly distributed and trickery domain ain't great imo, she is better as light or life domain.

.

Most overrated game ever. Combat is garbage.

faizan_faizan posted...

Most overrated game ever. Combat is garbage.

Sorry bro, but I'm here to tell you that your personal opinion is objectively incorrect.

Smashingpmkns posted...

Shadowheart starts wrecking shit once she gets Glyph of Warding

Or that one that causes her to create a ring of AoE DoT around her. I forget its name, but I essentially had her use only that concentration spell for every encounter once she got it.

faizan_faizan posted...

Most overrated game ever. Combat is garbage.

Combat is D&D, you just don't have to do the math yourself.
It's...an acquired taste.

I don't get what's so difficult... they literally give you the percentages up front. If you don't like the style of combat, that's chill, but for what it is, it's excellent.

MC_BatCommander posted...

Yeah I ended up not enjoying it as much as I hoped I would, D&D combat just isn't very fun to me

It lost its charm for me some time ago. I've found a new home in fiction-first games that take a big step back from tactical combat simulations.

Xenogears15 posted...

Or that one that causes her to create a ring of AoE DoT around her. I forget its name, but I essentially had her use only that concentration spell for every encounter once she got it.

Spirit Guardians. Basically one of the key spells that brings clerics from "pretty cool" to "fucking incredible" once you hit level 5.

Any AoE spell that doesn't hit friendly targets is amazing in D&D, and one that lasts multiple turns and moves with you is even better. Just take the war caster feat at level 4 for advantage on concentration saves, then pop spirit guardians at level 5 and you're cooking.

The combat became much better for me after I watched some guide videos. The game doesn't do a good job of teaching you how it works.

Once it clicked for me, it's the most fun I've ever had with turned base. I'm actually craving for more battles now to really test my party.

As far as your dilemma goes, you can kill two birds with one stone. Use Shadowhart's turn to cast bless on your party to raise your team's hit chance.

Squall28 posted...

Use Shadowhart's turn to cast bless on your party to raise your team's hit chance.

This also, if she's not running spirit guardians (which is also concentration so don't try to overlap) she should be blessing the other members of the party. It doesn't always make a big difference if your initial roll is low, but it definitely reduces borderline cases where you miss by 1 or 2

Also since you're new, its probably best to play on easy mode which isn't terribly easy but its helpful. You don't have to worry about death saving throws at least.

Remember the Gold Box games were poison would insta-kill you if you didn't save?

You can see the dice rolls in the combat log and all the values contributing to those checks and attacks.

faizan_faizan posted...

Most overrated game ever. Combat is garbage.

You probably just don't understand how it works.

Yeah with my shadowheart I start off casting sanctuary on herself so she can run around without getting hit and then I cast bless on everyone. Then her next turn depends on what I need from her

IfEmbraceOfDeath posted...

You can see the dice rolls in the combat log and all the values contributing to those checks and attacks.

Yeah just do this if you ever get confused, it'll tell you exactly why things happened. Everything is based on dice rolls.

Honestly, the biggest problem for me early on was not taking advantage of Bless and Sanctuary, but most importantly, I kept forgetting to inspect the enemies for their weaknesses, resistances, saving throws, etc.

If you take time to research and prepare for every fight it becomes a lot easier and super fun.

hitokoriX posted...

I don't get what's so difficult... they literally give you the percentages up front. If you don't like the style of combat, that's chill, but for what it is, it's excellent.

I like the combat. Its not knowing the REASONS behind the %

TBF I like the game. The open ended aspect to approach combat and progression makes it fun. The characters are nicely written and the VA performance is great for most. Its totally my type of game. Just that its way more complex than any other game Ive played before and it hinders my enjoyment at times. Also some stuff like paying to revive I find it a bit too much, but I understand how it plays into the gotta take it seriously aspect.

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

I like the high strategy aspect, but its soo frustrating not understanding why things happen. Like why do I keep failing so many attacks. Why does Gale and Shadowheart suck so much at the beginning? His spells miss half the time and same with SH. And leizel used to hit 95% and now its 50-60. Why why why? This sucks.

Im too dumb for this game.

You fail at attacking because high AC on an enemy means they have a higher chance of not getting hit.

There are many ways to circumvent this. One of the best is to either create a situation where you have advantage (flank the enemy, knock them prone, blind them, etc) or use spells and abilities that have a Saving Throw, so you bypass their AC entirely and force them to rely on their stats to avoid damage.

faizan_faizan posted...

Most overrated game ever. Combat is garbage.

The combat is a blast, as someone who was already very familiar with DnD 5e.

pretzelcoatl posted...

One of the best is to either create a situation where you have advantage (flank the enemy

Unfortunately, flanking doesn't give advantage in BG3

Gobstoppers12 posted...

Unfortunately, flanking doesn't give advantage in BG3

It does for Rogues.

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

I like the combat. Its not knowing the REASONS behind the %

TBF I like the game. The open ended aspect to approach combat and progression makes it fun. The characters are nicely written and the VA performance is great for most. Its totally my type pf game. Just that its way more complex than any other game Ive played before and it hinder my enjoyment at times. Also some stuff like paying to revive I find it a bit too much, but I understand how it plays into the gotta take it seriously aspect.

The percentage is based on the chances of your attacks hitting and that's mostly due by the type of armor your enemies are wearing. The higher their armor class, the harder it is to hit them. The same is said for saving throws.

Basically someone might have an armor class of 19 and you're rolling a 20 sided dice. You have an attack bonus which increases the chance of you hitting.

So say that you have an enemy that has a 19 and you roll a 20 sided dice. Laezel might have a +8 bonus. You roll a 12. It would normally miss but that +8 makes it a 20 so you hit the opponent.

The game rolls for you so the rolls are hidden but there are other ways of getting around this such as increasing your chances with advantage. There are spells and skills that give you advantage which means you'll roll two 20 sided dice and automatically use the higher of the 2 dice.(Its the same with disadvantage but you'll choose the lowest)

I forget which spells help but I think dancing lights gives advantage to attack rolls or there's Karlach's barbarian ability which allows your attacks to be at advantage(while giving the opponents advantage on their turns) The higher your level, the better your chances are at attacking and sharpshooter and Great Weapon feats will cut down at your chances of hitting for better damage but you can toggle those. Its much better to go with chances of attacking at higher levels because I' had a lot of issues with hitting opponents later on.

Some enemies are easier to hit if you use saving throws like Sacred Flame. Armored characters don't necessarily have great dex saving throws so its easier to hit them with that. There's also spells like Hold Person or Hold Monster and many other spells that can make annoying enemies easier to deal with.

it really is a big deal to have a working understanding of 5th edition since your characters can be easily modified by different armors, spells, weapons, and feats. increasing their abilities helps too, even just a minor change. That +1 modifier can be the missing piece to turn the tides since this is a numbers game.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

Unfortunately, flanking doesn't give advantage in BG3

Yeah, that really bums me out...

lolife67 posted...

It does for Rogues.

Sorta. Only for sneak attack but not in the way that is normally used for everything else. It used to be a big deal to have a familiar flanking the enemy for that big ole advantage. That's how I played my Eldritch Knight.

dameon_reaper posted...

Yeah, that really bums me out...

Sorta. Only for sneak attack but not in the way that is normally used for everything else. It used to be a big deal to have a familiar flanking the enemy for that big ole advantage. That's how I played my Eldritch Knight.

Flanking is an optional rule in 5e. Besides, BG3 has a lot of homebrew rules that are good in their own ways. Drinking potions is a Bonus Action and you can shove as a bonus action.

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

I like the combat. Its not knowing the REASONS behind the %

TBF I like the game. The open ended aspect to approach combat and progression makes it fun. The characters are nicely written and the VA performance is great for most. Its totally my type of game. Just that its way more complex than any other game Ive played before and it hinders my enjoyment at times. Also some stuff like paying to revive I find it a bit too much, but I understand how it plays into the gotta take it seriously aspect.

Another great thing to do on Shadowhart's turn is to cast healing word on downed teammates. You'll bring them back before they die for real. Only a bonus action too

Squall28 posted...

The combat became much better for me after I watched some guide videos. The game doesn't do a good job of teaching you how it works.

Once it clicked for me, it's the most fun I've ever had with turned base. I'm actually craving for more battles now to really test my party.

Same. There's definitely a learning curve but once it clicks it's so much fun. And I'm not one who normally enjoys tactical style RPG.

Avirosb posted...

Remember the Gold Box games were poison would insta-kill you if you didn't save?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/7/1/AABnAUAAE4WL.jpg

Tmaster148 posted...

Flanking is an optional rule in 5e. Besides, BG3 has a lot of homebrew rules that are good in their own ways. Drinking potions is a Bonus Action and you can shove as a bonus action.

I know, but it would definitely be useful here.

Also jump being used as a bonus action is weird since its technically a part of your movement.

Shadowhearts stat distribution along along with her main offensive cantrip being a save spell makes her super shaky early.

Her strength isn't great so she has bad accuracy with most weapon attacks. She actually has higher dexterity so bows and finess weapons will be better on her, though it's still not good.

Firebolt runs off her bad Int, so it has really bad accuracy.

She gets much better fighting once she gets stronger combat spells, in particular Spirit Guardian. Then she basically doesn't need to attack at all. Just run into people.