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This is a pretty common balancing method in CRPGs that keeps you using lower level abilities at lower levels. While the cost keeps going up, you also get more points at higher levels. Ultimately the trade off is powerful hyperspecialization vs weaker generalist. Consider looking at character building guides if this makes you nervous, as it does take some getting used to.

Retreat isn’t very viable and is a costly punishment for not saving often. You’re almost always better off reloading and reassessing the encounter.

Correct. Think slow Baldur’s Gate-style resource management. If a zone is too taxing you may be out of your league and might want to reassess your supplies and equipment and your usual tactics, maybe change up your recruits, possibly start chatting up NPCs looking for side quests.

Uh, that one’s probably a remnant of it originally being a mouse and keyboard game so I have no advice there.

 

Thanks for the tips, much appreciated.

 

Just had a much better session including decking the demon at the Lighthouse.

Ended up occasionally being a quite cunning bastard, like setting fire to an exoplodoskeleton in a poison cloud!

Started to work out how some of it operates too - like electrifying water.

 

Even on its easiest setting, D: OS EE is a conniving, underhanded utter bastard of a game - but it also permits you to be equally conniving and underhanded! Yesterday wasn’t such a good session, but today? Oh yes, today was a good day to die - for everyone else!

This is something I really got my head around today with one fight in particular:

Some enemies are sources of poison. Poison can be set fire to, so if I shoot a zombie with a fire arrow, the poison leaking from it will ignite, so inflicting far greater damage. I also stunned an undead archer by electrifying him and the water he was standing in!

There was also a first boss fight whereupon, after I took out the boss’ pack of dogs one by one, the bastard resurrected each as a poison-sodden zombie hound! After a second killing they stayed down.

I also did a strategy where I let the enemy come to me, so once they drew close I had enough moves stored up to inflict a very deadly offensive.

I still feel I’m nowhere near close to really understanding this one yet - starting to get my head around the crafting and inventory management, which is very different to other games I’ve played. It offers an awful lot of options - which is true of combat too and some of those can really be used, or should that be abused?

 

I finally got PUBG. Loving it so far; best has been a 2nd place finish in a solo round and 2nd in a duo round. @PointGiven if you ever wanna see if Aussie lag is an advantage...

As for DOS2 - yes, be a bastard, @Jedi Ben. Use every element of the environment to your advantage. Surrounded by fire? Bless it - it costs source, but you'll get access to that either from a source fountain or later, source vampirism. But it becomes a healing holy fire and that's the bee's knees.

 

Holy **** Monster Hunter World has become addictive as hell.

My Xbone is FINALLY getting some love. Began to fear it was gonna be a $554 dust collector. Only took 4 months.

 

Sheesh, I had fun on Divinity: Original Sin EE tonight:

• Had Roderick and Scarlett packing bows, Jahan armed with a fire staff and Madroga in reserve to kill anything that got too close.
• Teleported a zombie boar that was already poisoned to the other side of the map.
• Fire missile'd another zombie boar, igniting the poison that it was covered it
• Have been more attentive to gear - gave Madroga poison defence as she'll get hit by it more often.
• Realised Jahan's magic missile has no cooldown so abused the hell out of that on zombies.

Combining these tactics saw my lot smash the crap out of 2-3 enemy sets with ease.

 

Just an FYI for those who are interested. It's really the only time I play the game. It's a fun game, but unless it's the only game you play, it's just not worth over $30 retail.

https://www.thumbsticks.com/overwatch-free-weekend-02162018/

 

By this logic basically any big multiplayer game is only worth if it's the only game you play. I have no problems playing Overwatch almost every day while playing through other games as well.

 

I'm not a huge fan of FPS games. And I already have Paladins, which is essentially a free-to-play Overwatch Clone. And I hardly play that game either.

 

So, big Divinity session today:

• Killed Engldaer - vengeance-obsessed fool that he was.
• Killed Dietmer and all his goons
• Killed a sun-bathing sorcerer
• Killed Diederik in a very close fight
• Killed a pack of wolves
• Killed a pile of bandits
• Killed a flaming archer and then legged it
• Gave Cecil his staff

Yeah, today has been a whole lotta o' killin'. But in so many stylish ways - for Diederik, I laid down a flame field and the sucker had to walk through it to get to me!

 

So, I tried to do the stage quests, I really did.

Except, I go to the library and the 'stage material' that is supposed to be there.. isn't. I try it several times and nope, it ain't there. Without it, the quests are blocked, forever. So, expecting the game to stop me, I opted for the full Anakin Skywalker solution.

That arrogant stage master Chaucer? Dead. Katharine the Fair? All she had to do was stay out of it, but nope, so dead. That fraudster Gallagher? Dead and I got my 100 gold back off his corpse. Those Citizens who decided to intervene? Dead. Those few Legionnaires who decided to protect these wastes o' space? Dead. That other arrogant arse Reginald? Also dead. The theatre ground is an absolute charnal house that'll be stinking to high heaven in a few days.

I didn't really expect to get away with it - I expected infinite waves of super-bastard guards because that's pretty much a given on most games now, you're not allowed to do anything that bad without consequences. Here? If you play it right, you might do.

 

I've gotta admit I was a little harsh when I was talking about Overwatch. The game really is addicting lol. Every time I take advantage of the Free weekend I play it almost too much. I think what makes it so addicting is that it's very easy to play. Just pick a hero; train with him/her for a little while, and jump in. My current "main" is Pharah. She's the one with the rocket launcher and jump pack. Extremely effective against turrets.

 

You can just sort of kill everyone if you're so inclined; the devs clearly have some love for Ultima.

 

tfw your first ultima was Pagan.

 

I'd say it could've been worse but then I remembered there never was another Ultima after that so, yes, Pagan was definitely the nadir.

It's a pity that they never resolved the cliffhanger but oh well, they never did, they never made a ninth mainline Ultima game, no such title was released, no sir.

 

Had fun on Divinity:

Took out a load of crabs and an abominations, some pirate assassins, plus wait for it.... Pontius Pirate! Fecking excellent name. He thought himself a bad-ass, came storming forward and got his arse handed to him. Killed the rest of the mobs, the last one standing was the Pyromancer... Right next to an oil barrel! I had Jahan send one fire missile, expecting a minor to moderate boom. Yeah, scratch that! The entire area went up in flames! Instant kill. Then an Ornate Chest picked a fight...

Before that I also killed a load of orcs.

Went back to town, found the gravedigger and, since he decided to be an uncooperative piece of crap, killed him too. I am bringing law to Cyseal - one corpse at a time. Joe Dredd would approve.

 

Reading your gleeful journal of your homicidal rampage is a little disturbing.

jk

 

I haven't killed everyone... yet. Just rude, obnoxious loud gits.

 

Took out the old Wii two days ago and started playing Super Mario Galaxy.

 

I've been wanting to do this for a while now, just can never find the time between new games or more pressing backlog titles.

 

Currently going back and forth between the original Half-Life and Morrowind.

 

So, today's session was far less homicidal with far more deserving targets of fatal doses of violence being inflicted upon them.

Notably:

• Twins-by- Fire-Joined - Say hello to my little friend! That is to say.... Freezing arrows.
• Evelyn - Damn, did she have it coming
• Granite Statues - Turns out they don't like being frozen!
• Plus assorted undead.
• The funniest were a quartet of Pirate Boomers standing in oil.... How can I refuse? One fire arrow and massive boom later and that fight was a one-shot multi-kill!

Now, there's the tricky matter of taking out Braccus Rex (the Biggus Dickus of this section) and all his friends.

 

Heavy Rain. Going to play it on weekends when I am home. Done the first chapter, and so far it seems pretty good, well...at least interesting. The controls are weird though.

 

Just bought Nier Automata. I had a $25 gift certificate to Gamestop, and saw that the game was on sale. I played the demo when it was available several months ago; maybe around the Summer. It's a really cool game; you play in several different point of views, going from 3D to side-scrolling, to top-down, to almost first person (behind the character).