Is Book II Easy or Hard??

[CrazyBernie]

I've already seen a huge variation in difficulty comments about Book II, so I'm interested to see where the majority lies.

I only wanted three or four options, but I figured I should mix it up a bit, considering the challenge options. I'll leave the poll on no-expire for data collection purposes.

*** Attention Guest Users ***

If you've played/are playing Book II, I would heartily recommend that you register and take the Book II Polls. The more voices heard means the more input that will be available when the time comes for Basilisk Games to embark on the next project, which obviously a lot of people hope is Book III. This is your chance to make a difference!! Let your voice be heard!!! Scream it from the rooftops!!! Okay, that last part might be pushing it a little... I don't recommend that you get on top of your roof... especially during inclement weather. 0_o

[geishaboy]

I find the game to be a bit challenging. You kind of have to take it slow, it's almost impossible to just charge through the game hacking and slashing

[CrazyBernie]

Oh and personally, I use the Food/Water and Repair rules. I didn't vote, since I was a tester. My first playthrough with a pure melee Fighter was fairly challenging though.

[Farwalker]

Can I have an option for "this poll is more difficult to answer than the game is to play"?

Because:
My fictional two year old would rather throw cheerios at the screen than play it if awake, and would rather count sheep or kitties or other cute critters jumping over some miniature picket fence if sleeping.
I didn't think it was difficult at first.
I don't play with all the rules on.
The difficulty is not just right (but the challenges are a nice touch).
The game is not tougher than I thought it would be (easier actually).
No bloodspots on the mousepad that I can see...

I suppose I could play with all the rules on at some point - that will make it slightly more tedious, still relatively easy. I am using food/water and repair rules, but not the anti-random rules at the moment (I'm keeping track of which containers have fixed content and which random again...)

My custom response would be something like "I invented my own challenges even the first time playing to make it interesting".

[sirdilznik]

[ ] This porridge is too hot.

[ ] This porridge is too cold.

[x] Ahhh, this porridge is just right.

The game is somewhat challenging but that's exactly how I like it. If I'm not saving my game really often and reloading at least once in a while then a game is too easy IMHO.

On a side note, I better get out of this house before the bears find out I've been sampling their porridge...

[CrazyBernie]

Can I have an option for "this poll is more difficult to answer than the game is to play"?

Because:
My fictional two year old would rather throw cheerios at the screen than play it if awake, and would rather count sheep or kitties or other cute critters jumping over some miniature picket fence if sleeping.
I didn't think it was difficult at first.
I don't play with all the rules on.
The difficulty is not just right (but the challenges are a nice touch).
The game is not tougher than I thought it would be (easier actually).
No bloodspots on the mousepad that I can see...

I suppose I could play with all the rules on at some point - that will make it slightly more tedious, still relatively easy. I am using food/water and repair rules, but not the anti-random rules at the moment (I'm keeping track of which containers have fixed content and which random again...)

My custom response would be something like "I invented my own challenges even the first time playing to make it interesting".

So it's basically "too easy" which was what I was going for with that first option. ^_^

[Nevermore]

I play with all of the rules on, and I'm having a bit of difficulty.

But with hardcore rules i have more fun

[BasiliskWrangler]

I'm stickying all of CBs polls because they are very helpful in plotting our path forward with updates to Book II and planning for future games.

Everyone should take a moment to cast a vote.

[MaximB]

It's hard to answer...
First of all I'm not even near finishing the game (just started).
Then if it's like Book1 it all depends on the character you choose to play.
In Book1 the fire throwing mages were overpowered and almost invincible while playing a warrior was challenging and frustrating.

Now in Book2 I'm playing a Cleric which is basically a warrior with some healing and boost spells- and with the "right" stats it's not hard - but then again I've just started and it also depends on where you choose to go.

P.S
But then again, I've deselected the "food" and "save" rules.
(still got the other two rules selected).

[KillingMoon]

Don't make the game harder, and don't make it easier; it's about right.
But different things in the game have a different difficulty.

• Combat isn't too difficult if you don't stretch too far too early and have set up your character well.
• Puzzles I find impossible to solve; whenever I come across one I almost immediately look for help in the forums - something like that bronze poem leaves me clueless.
• Magick is too easy to come by. A small investment in magick will have huge benefits immediately. Other skills are more difficult to get a good return out - spot hidden, disarm traps and such.

The rules have been an improvement over book I. Challenges as well, I don't care for most of them and would have made different choices, but it's all optional, so if you don't like them, ignore them.
I vote that the difficulty is just right. It'll probably be too difficult for new players without Book I experience, and also if you don't make a fairly thorough study of what those stats and attributes are doing you're probably heading for trouble.

[Antigrav]

I think the level of difficulty is just fine. There's plenty to do around Eastwillow to beef yourself up before wandering further. Gaining levels throughout the game is fairly quick.

[quasimodo]

Overall I think the difficulty is just right.

I've played around enough now that I can design a character who has a fairly easy time with the game, but it took quite a bit of FUN experimentation to figure that out.

I'm currently playing with a no magic and no alchemy fighter (I'm using rings and amulets). I've used trainers and books to get all my weapon skill up to 10 for the special attacks. With all the various weapons, special attacks, cool down times, damage values and too hit chances to consider, the combat can get pretty interesting.

[Slarty]

This is a good poll, that reminds me that "easy" and "hard" are not just two endpoints on a continuum. There are a whole lot of ways that "difficulty" can vary, that mean different things to different people. For example, it's clear that some people here find that the optional rules make the game both more difficult and more enjoyable; others don't think they impact difficulty in the slightest and only affect tedium.

CORROLLARY: It seems clear that Basilisk got the general difficulty level right; it doesn't seem like any customers turn away because they think it's too hard, and those of us who think it's too easy play anyway. The next step, it seems to me, would be to improve the "coverage" of the customer base so that more people are very satisfied with the difficulty, and fewer just tolerate it. This can't meaning changing the general difficulty level, since that seems to be right on. It CAN mean adding wrinkles and improving the balance of existing rules so that the people who chose options 1 and 2 will be more satisfied. That's the kind of adjustment that boosts sales indirectly by increasing word-of-mouth among that top 23% (as of the poll above right now).

[IJBall]

I answered that it's a little more difficult than I thought it would be (though I don't have "all" of the challenges on - just 3 out of 4).

But in my first playthrough in Book II I've done in it what I also did in my first couple of playthroughs in Book I - I raced through the game to get to the end section, and then found the end section too hard for my character to handle.

But I definitely think Book II is "harder" than Book I (not "impossible" by any means - just more challenging):

1. You start with fewer Skill points in Book II than in Book I - that essentially costs you a "starting Skill" right off the bat, which means you're likely going to have to burn level-up Skill points on something later on, rather than using those to buff up your primary Skill.
2. More Skills are a requirement in this game. I started with a Fighter, and not only is the Lore skill a must, but so is Repair, and likely Foraging, and you probably want Move Silently and Spot Hidden and Hide in Shadows (and, yeah, you can wait on some of those for the Trainer Book, but sometimes you just can't wait!)... Yada, yada, yada.
3. You now have to take Skills to higher levels for them to be truly useful. Alchemy is the best example of that - in Book I, just getting Alchemy to Level 5 usually set you up nicely, but in Book II you apparently need to get it to at least Level 7. Etc.
4. Closely related to the above is the fact now that magical items like Rings offer much lower bonuses - in Book I, the Ring of the Hawk was Spot Hidden +6; in Book II, the Ring of the Hawk is only Spot Hidden +2. Again, the net effect of this is that putting a Skill-set together is harder.
5. Food and weapons/armor management, especially the former, can get a little tricky. (And food now adds to Encumbrance & inventory issues meaning you now can carry less "stuff" than you could in Book I, I feel...)
6. Finally, Tauraxes seem to be a lot tougher in Book II. It's not that they were "easy" in Book I, but it got to the point in Book I where I could take on a Taurax "mob" without too much worry; but in Book II with this first Fighter character, I can only take Taurax on one at a time, or I get wiped out!

I'm sure there are other examples, but this list at least gives a sampling of why I think Book II is more challenging than I expected it would be.

[CrazyBernie]

I answered that it's a little more difficult than I thought it would be (though I don't have "all" of the challenges on - just 3 out of 4).

But in my first playthrough in Book II I've done in it what I also did in my first couple of playthroughs in Book I - I raced through the game to get to the end section, and then found the end section too hard for my character to handle.

But I definitely think Book II is "harder" than Book I (not "impossible" by any means - just more challenging):

1. You start with fewer Skill points in Book II than in Book I - that essentially costs you a "starting Skill" right off the bat, which means you're likely going to have to burn level-up Skill points on something later on, rather than using those to buff up your primary Skill.
2. More Skills are a requirement in this game. I started with a Fighter, and not only is the Lore skill a must, but so is Repair, and likely Foraging, and you probably want Move Silently and Spot Hidden and Hide in Shadows (and, yeah, you can wait on some of those for the Trainer Book, but sometimes you just can't wait!)... Yada, yada, yada.
3. You now have to take Skills to higher levels for them to be truly useful. Alchemy is the best example of that - in Book I, just getting Alchemy to Level 5 usually set you up nicely, but in Book II you apparently need to get it to at least Level 7. Etc.
4. Closely related to the above is the fact now that magical items like Rings offer much lower bonuses - in Book I, the Ring of the Hawk was Spot Hidden +6; in Book II, the Ring of the Hawk is only Spot Hidden +2. Again, the net effect of this is that putting a Skill-set together is harder.
5. Food and weapons/armor management, especially the former, can get a little tricky. (And food now adds to Encumbrance & inventory issues meaning you now can carry less "stuff" than you could in Book I, I feel...)
6. Finally, Tauraxes seem to be a lot tougher in Book II. It's not that they were "easy" in Book I, but it got to the point in Book I where I could take on a Taurax "mob" without too much worry; but in Book II with this first Fighter character, I can only take Taurax on one at a time, or I get wiped out!

I'm sure there are other examples, but this list at least gives a sampling of why I think Book II is more challenging than I expected it would be.

Perhaps Book II is more challenging than you expected because you played it expecting an identical experience as you got from Book I... ? As BW stated, the baseline Book I experience would be to not use any of the optional rules. If you're using the extra rules, then the game is suppose to be more difficult. (Not trying to argue or anything, just making an observation)

I disagree with the "must have lore" statement. My fighter (which was the first character I played, therefore I knew not what to expect) didn't have/use Lore, Move Silently, HiS, or any other "peripheral" skills. Swords, Heavy Armor, Shields, and Foraging was it. For repair, I scored a pair of gloves that took care of that aspect. But not having Lore meant being a lot more frugal about what I had identified... of course I didn't race through the game either... so perhaps by being more nosy (and maybe by luck of the loot roll) I naturally had more resources...

The Taurax have actually been toned down somewhat from the initial alpha/beta testing. They were a good bit tougher when I first ran into them. Considering their role/location, they are supposed to be difficult.