I suppose most of you here have all somehow got over this...but i am in the first dungeon and finding it very tedious. One is faced with multiple monsters that one cannot melee because they can one hit kill you - so you are obliged to kite...and since ones skills are so low it takes forever to kill one of these things...I mean like 15 or 20 mins each...constantly saving because one error and you're dead.
As I said...a very tedious and unbalanced beginning to the game...not fun at all.

With my first melee character I had trouble with a couple of the stronger opponents in the catacombs, but didn't have to kite very much.

Did you explore around town, loot everything, cure both the soldiers and learn a level of Restoration, check back with George once in awhile for possible equipment upgrades (merchant inventories reset about every 10 or 15 minutes, depending on the NPC), etc?

You can leave town and level up a bit with the orcs outside, though there are a few stronger orcs if you head to the south (areas to the east, west and north of Aleroth have smaller groups and would be easier to clear).

Early Starter Tips (NON-Spoiler Version)

You are always free to leave and return to the catecombs. Go out and collect a level or two and improve your weapons. Then return.

lol and they always say wizard is the hardest...

I would not recommend any of these games. They are set with a slow movement rate, the game is real time and more or less just a click fest. There is no strategy in the game other than clicking on different monsters to attack.

So Siddham and myself had very different experiences with combat in the catacombs because we clicked differently???

The only time I found movement 'slow' was going back over areas I had already cleared, which can be sped up by teleporter stones/pads or using a frog statuette.
How is being real time a negative? There are a lot more people that prefer real time combat to turn based (other than indie games, I don't recall a lot of recent RPGs with turn based combat), and in either case it is a matter of opinion.

I have a pretty good computer that can play all of the other more demanding games such as vampire bloodlines and others that have much more demanding graphics. When playing this game divine divinity, the character is slow when running anywhere above ground and fast underground.

Thats a majority of it, but the rest gives credence to little to no strategy in combat. The only real strategy there is is if you draw enemies away so a large group doesnt destroy you easily. Other than that, It was a waste of my money.

The problem with realtime is not so much as when its done right but more or less that its ALMOST never done right. These are a list of games Ive played and bought from here that are terrible-

-Lionheart legacy of the crusader
-Divine Divinity
-Nox
-Vampire The masquerade redemption
-Arcanum

Of those games listed, the only one that I barely managed to complete was Arcanum and that was because it was a pretty good story.

These games really do suck, no offense dude. I played this game a while back and it was buggy as shit. Your better off with baldurs gate series than this crap. Its more fun too.

There is a difference in speed in the direction you run (diagonal is faster, presumably due to a difference in the animation, or the way the world is drawn), but there shouldn't be between above and below ground.

I have a pretty poor computer, and the only issue I have with with slow running is sometimes near the edges of the map, if there are lots of trees and vegetation around (west of Aleroth can be slow, north is fine, as are the far north east edges of that map), and the odd temporary slowdowns in areas with lots of NPCs, etc (especially if I have stuff running in the background).

Press the R key to toggle always run Key map

The way you install and where you install can cause some odd things to happen in DD. Check out this post concerning the install of DD. I have no other suggestions beyond these two.

I am shocked and appalled sir! You mean to say you actually played Arcanum in real time mode!?

Arcanum is a great game, and fun to play in turn based mode. The real time mode is... well the less said about it the better.

Get a half-decent bow and just kite a lot.

If you hate real-time combat so much, then maybe Arcanum would have been more enjoyable if you played it in turn-based mode. Just sayin'.

Alright. I gave the game a second chance. I made a survivor and it was rough at the beginning, but not so bad now. So far Im taking creatures out one at a time with my sword. The build im using is a finesse fighter build that relies on my sword skill, a high agility to defend from attacks, and a little luck. One thing i really need is to find more equipment that adds to agility and defense.

I think the reason i couldnt play the game before was because i played the mage for my first character. Bad mistake that i made. It really was stupid for me to choose mage as a character as i usually like classes that show alot of finesse.

I'm glad you didn't list Gothic 3! people always hated Gothic 3, and aside from it's difficulty i always found it to be very fun!


ah well. lets just agree that you'll play your games, i'll play mine, and if we should ever find one that is multiplayer that we both like, we shall play one together.