Knoyleo wrote:It's been a long while since I played BG2, and I'm unfamiliar with D&D as a game, but I'm wondering how frequent or essential combat is in this? The last TTRPG styled game I played was Disco Elysium, which had zero combat, which was pretty refreshing, so I was curious if this was the kind of RPG where its possible to play without actually having to do much fighting, or is it like The Witcher, where even though everyone says it has a great story, the resolution for every quest or side quest still involves you fighting a monster or a bad guy or whatever.
I noticed no-one really tried to answer this. I'm not very far in, but here you go.
A lot of encounters can be resolved by talking to people, and some of your companions do encourage this -- at least, I've personally noticed that you get positive comments from both
Shadowheart and Gale for avoiding unnecessary combat. You can also sneak around encounters (there's a stealth mechanic, and an early game spell "Invisibility").
However, you will still end up in fights -- that's just D&D. The combats you do end up in can be quite "immersive sim" depending on how you play. It's possible to shove monsters off cliffs, fashion impromptu explosive traps by moving oil barrels around, make pools of water and then electrify them, and so on. Stealthing to an advantageous position and surprising the monsters is also really strong and a good way to finish combats quickly.
The game isn't very much like Disco Elysium to be honest. The writing is fine, but it's supposed to be an epic swashbuckling adventure, not a communist manifesto (
).
If you do play, I would suggest playing a Bard. You'll have good charisma (for talking) and dexterity (for stealth), and Bards are good at a wide variety of skills. At character generation, don't choose proficiency in Arcana (magic lore), Intimidation, or Sleight of Hand (thieving) because you'll pick them all up at level 3 (still early) by choosing the College of Lore option. Then it's just a matter of choosing spells and cultivating companions that complement your play style as you progress.