NOTE: This post is about Disciples 2. For some reason the 'View Forum' link on the game page dropped me into general instead of the game specific forum.


So, started a new game. Average difficulty.

Put together a party, start fighting bad guys. Get utterly destroyed within the first couple encounters. My party members are dropping dead in 2-3 hits, while it's taking 4-5 to kill one of them - when I'm not missing them, that is. My healer couldn't keep up with the damage being taken. I ultimately ended up retreating, with only my healer making it, and only barely at that.

I enjoy a good challenge, but that seems rather off to me. I don't think encounters right near the starting city, when you're still level 1, should be that difficult.

Am I missing something here? I'm fairly new to the series, so maybe I am. Please no "git gud scrub" remarks. Again, I enjoy a challenge, I don't even mind dying when it's a tough fight and I can see where I messed up. But this was far beyond "tough". It wasn't poor planning on my part. This was an encounter better suited for maybe level 2, or 3. But not for Green, level 1 characters.

Thanks.

You didn't mention which game you're asking about.

They didn't, but I'm totally down for it as a general topic.

I mentioned this about the Chapter 1 end boss for The Witcher. It's also true of Etherlords, which I find charming regardless.

Oh.. It's for Disciples II. I'd clicked on Forums from that game's page/dropdown, so I assumed it took me to its forum section.

I'll repost there. Thanks :) lol.. I got killed in Elex by an enemy right near the beginning as well. The combat in that game is... 'clunky' is one way to put it. Though that seems to be the case with all the games by that particular group/team. Gothic and Risen felt really clunky to me, too, though I didn't have as much trouble with them (well, Gothic 3 anyway).

I went by your profile. :P That should teach me.

It says the most recent games you have been playing are Bloodrayne 2 and Elex. Well, I know Bloodrayne 2 doesn't have parties, so I guessed Elex.

Ah yeah.. I guess it hasn't updated to include Disciples II in there, yet.

The chapter 1 boss fight in The Witcher felt somewhat annoying to me mostly because the rest of that game is fairly easy...it was unexpected. It's actually not that hard imo compared with many other games, but didn't fit with the general difficulty level of the combat up to (and after) that point,

(spoilers?) That demon dog boss at the end of the first story arc?

That took me a couple attempts.. But that felt like fair difficulty/challenge. I could see what I did wrong and work out how to change my strategy/approach to succeed.

My Disciples 2 situation, though, I just don't see any way through that with how early it is in the game. Literally am still level 1 and these things are right outside your home city.

I've been playing The Guardian Legend (NES) lately, and the boss of Corridor 3 is way too strong for that point in the game; even worse, unlike with some other bosses, you can't temporarily skip the boss and come back later, as you can do with the other two versions of this boss. It also doesn't help that there isn't anything you can shoot that can drop health restores.

That boss is a doddle with the right potion. The placement of the boss, now that is the issue.

I enjoyed Disciples 1&2 tremendously, and as far as difficulty goes, I don't remember it being that hard. At least the way I play it. In the beginning you're in scavenger mode. You look for easy fights, with 1-2 front line melee enemies, and you never start a fight with damaged front line units. After every fight you visit your capital/city to heal up to full. That's why the scout/flying heroes are the easiest to start a campaign/skirmish game. The mage/warrior heroes are slower, usually wasting an extra turn/day to heal up and get back to fighting. After you get a level or two you can fight most enemies, as your units have enough Heal/Damage to deal with pretty much anybody. Having said that, every level counts, and it isn't until you reach max level that you finally maximize your fighting potential, allowing you to consistently kill 5-6 enemy parties, before you need to use healing potions/cities to recover.

I actually found the game very well balanced, you gradually feel your power increasing from level 1 all the way to max level. You never get overpowered with 3-4 level ups more to go, which happens in most other games. I never understood why recent games, always feel the need to make the player feel like a badass, from the very start, when you are just a peasant picking up a sword for the first time.

Some of the fights are meant to be tougher, even close to your city. You need to learn what fights you can beat and which you can't quite yet. There are many other games like that, if not most. Heroes of Might and Magic 3, some fights are close to your cities but are too tough at the very start. You need to learn what you can handle and what you need a level uo for first. Disciples 2 is one of those games where the start can be tough, but usually gets easier as you level up.

I actually consider this sort of thing bad game design. When a player is new, the game should go easy on them, so they have a chance to learn the mechanics. Later on, when the player is more experienced with the game, it can challenge the player to make use of everything they've learned over the course of the game up to that point.

To add to what MadalinStroe said, don't forget about your spells and the thief's abilities. When faced with a difficult encounter you can: use your spells to bombard and later nuke the group on the world map before fighting them; you can use a summon unit like 'Summon I: Living Armor' to attack a the group and land 2 or 3 hits before being killed; you can use the thief to challenge the group's leader and get in 1 or 2 hits before being killed.

In the first level especially these kind of tactics are more necessary than in later levels where you have a strong hero unit.
And I also like to play as the Ranger unit, or perhaps Archmage unit when playing Empire. The usefulness of the Ranger especially is how far he can move on land in a turn, and his high initiative, which mean he'll often get to fire first in a fight and take out a troublesome unit (like a enemy spellcaster)

Man I really miss this game, easily the best fantasy TBS I've ever played :)