I tried to get into it a few months ago but only made it a few hours in (when you're stuck on the island/prison). I found the game fairly difficult, as I'd get sent on quests that I had no chance at succeeding (like killing those 3 alligators near the beach...I tried lighting them on fire and still got owned quickly). Do you think this is just because I tried that quest way too early and needed to level up first?
I really want to love this game because the writing and lore seem fantastic.
It's a very difficult game and you can seriously shoot yourself in the foot if you're not prepared for certain battles (Be sure to save often). But this is what I love about it as well, it's not one of those games that holds your hands, and those battles can be won in various different ways which is why I said it's probably the best tactical RPG I have ever played, it really forces you to think.
Here are a few tips I recommend that helped me enjoy the game (I was in a similar boat as you):
- SAVE OFTEN (I can't stress this enough, it's a simple F5).
- Make sure you don't save your manual saves on top of those auto save files. The auto files save automatically and the game can save over your progress.
- If you're getting your butt kicked, don't hesitate to run away from the battle.
- Make sure you actually recruit a full party (Your main character plus 3 others). The game is hard as is, so don't skip out on this.
- Be sure to have a diverse party in terms of classes/skills.
- Don't fight enemies above your level (You can hover over them with the cursor to find out).
- Make sure you keep your gear updated as well, if you're level 10, wear level 10 gear, not lower.
- This is a huge battle tip, when you get the teleportation skill, be creative with it. You can teleport your allies, enemies, objects, etc. This game rewards creativity, and teleportation can give you a huge advantage in the battlefield.
- Another battle tip, when you notice a messy ground with things like oil, poison, etc, teleport your enemies there and then blow things up around that area, it will cause a big explosion and damage.
- Place your archer in higher grounds in the battlefield, they'll cause more damage to enemies.
- Resurrection scrolls/skills are huge in this game.
- Use a bedroll to heal your party (Only works in non-combat).
- Lower the game's difficulty level, even the story mode can be challenging enough, so nothing wrong with playing at that level until you gain more experience.
There are so many tips out there, but most importantly, have fun. There's no such thing as a perfectionist approach to this game. You are not going to finish or complete everything because this game is massive and has so much in it. It will take you like a million playthroughs and even then you will not finish everything. So it's ok if you skip on or screw up some quests.
The downside of playing an RPG this rich is I'm going to have a hard time going back to games like Dragon Age, because those games now feel like a kid's toy in comparison. So once I'm done with DOS2, I'm most likely heading toward games like Pillars of Eternity, Pathfinder Kingmaker, Tyranny, etc.