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Notes -
I'll just ask this here because you're higher level than me, though anyone is welcome to answer:
I started the game on explorer difficulty because I wanted to reduce the amount of loading saves and retrying fights I'd have to do. But after getting to level 4 I felt confident. Turned it up to balanced right before a fight. Lost 1/3 of my hp on each character because easy-mode gives a huge hp boost (in addition to better hit rolls) and balanced doesn't give anything like that. Got my ass kicked in the fight. Retried and took the high ground and succeeded. But one of my characters got downed twice, and I had to use many potions. One time Wyll got taken from full hp to 0 in a single attack. Dang.
This was the gnoll/Missing Shipment fight with quite a few enemies and a boss gnoll with really high hp. Is this supposed to be a particularly difficult fight or do I just suck at the game? :)
It's not an easy fight, but it isn't one of the ones that felt particularly difficult (I've run into about 3 really rough ones so far).
Glad you figured out the high ground, though, it makes a big difference in a lot of these fights. Positioning and getting the drop on enemies is essential. Also, there's 1 fight in the first zone that I would very much not advise until you hit level 5, so heads up if you run into a brick wall.
One thing that may help-
While Warlocks and Wizards do not normally have shield proficiency, humans in BG3 get it as a racial. Great idea to slap a shield on Wyll and Gale, 2 AC goes a long way.
Approx where is this really tough fight in the first zone?
I will definitely be more keen on gaining high ground and stealth opportunities from now on. :) And I've got hex on Wyll so I'll examine the toughest enemies, hex an ability, and then target that weakness with a spell or weapon action to gain Advantage.
I've got a shield on Gale. The +2 AC seems to remain even though I've got his ranged weapon active. On Wyll I'm using the flaming greatsword (pact bound), so I'll have to find a decent one handed weapon for him first. He definitely got hit harder than the others due to only having 14 AC.
I also noticed the importance of Initiative. When I respecced Shadowheart I put her dexterity at 10 because I wanted her in heavy armour which rules out any dex bonus to AC. But every enemy gets to act before her, lol.
The northwestern corner of the first map. Bit of a doozy.
Assuming that's the gith gang. They wiped the floor with my party. I loaded and succeeded with dialogue checks instead. Got over 300 xp, but it would have been fun to kill them and get their stuff too. Maybe next playthrough. :)
Edit: I don't like how enemies get 3 attacks per turn. If that's a feature for the rest of the game... I'll be sad.
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