Combat in Jade Empire

[ATB]

Minor Spoiler

I'm at the Dam:

End Minor Spoiler

Does combat get any tougher as you go?  I've got something like 20 pts to allocate to my styles, yet I've not seen the need to do so at this point.

i know there's a slider to move from Master to....whatever the next difficultiy is, but my quesiton is...Does combat get tougher as the game progresses?  If not, time to change the slider


Major Spoiler

From the Foxy Spirit Mother quest:  Anyone else find defeating mother a piece of cake and anti climactic?

End Major Spoiler

[CeeKay]

There are some tough fights, but alot of them are easy.  Oddly enough the final fight is fairly easy, it's the second to last on that is a doozy.

*SPOILERS* (edited by naednek, please be considerate and give a spoiler warning)














And yes, the mother fight was a bit anti-climatic.  They gave away the solution to early.

[naednek]

you should at least give spoiler warnings ceekay

[Yossarian]

there are a couple combats that really pissed me off.  I'm near the end (I think) and I'm stuck at one now.  paralyzing palm is so overpowered I feel guilty using it.  some fights I can hit them with PP, do a thousand cuts combo, and repeat and they'll never become un-paralyzed.  hehehehe

[Roguetad]

There are definitely some tough fights later in the game, but they are the exception.  


Spoilers....















The 2nd to last arena fight is a bitch.  I thought it was the hardest fight in the game actually, with the last fight in Dirge tied with the pre-final fight for 2nd.  The final fight can be tough too if you don't use PP or any other stunning support style.

[Destructor]

The 2nd to last arena fight is a bitch.  I thought it was the hardest fight in the game actually, with the last fight in Dirge tied with the pre-final fight for 2nd.  The final fight can be tough too if you don't use PP or any other stunning support style.

You know, oddly enough, I never picked up (well, used) any stunning support style throughout the entire game. For me, my 'final four' were the single sword, one of the melee attacks (not Thousand Cuts, not the 'extremely powerful' melee, but one of the other two), Fire, and Ice. I minored in the spirit-regen strike, and one of the Demon forms.

I simply just jumped around like an idiot and swiped with my spirit-enhanced (black button) sword. I actually felt guilty doing this all the time, as it was overpowered to the extreme, so I stuck with my fists unless the baddies brought out weapons of their own.

Never stunned any of the bosses (or enemies in general) throughout the entire game. Just dodge, dodge, dodge.

[JLu]

I got annoyed with combat pretty early on and ended up setting it to the easy combat.  Once I did that, I was able to survive most encounters.  (I was getting my butt kicked in the ruins by the dam!  I knew I wouldn't make it too far otherwise without changing difficulty).

[Rob_Merritt]

It doesn't get harder but it takes longer. I had one battle take over 10 minutes. I was almost ill afterwards.

[ATB]

I cranked up the fighting difficulty to Grand Master and it is now at an adequate challenge level.  I'm actually burning through my Chi and have to use Spirit Thief in order to continue the battle.  This is more like it!

[Starshifter]

I cranked up the fighting difficulty to Grand Master and it is now at an adequate challenge level.  I'm actually burning through my Chi and have to use Spirit Thief in order to continue the battle.  This is more like it!

ATB (or anyone else) does cranking up the difficulty cheat for the AI?  I don't mind using higher difficulty levels but I absolutely hate it when I'm being cheated.  I haven't started the game yet (have to finish KoTOR 2 first).  What does actually happen when you increase combat difficulty???

ATB - is it similar to the combat difficulty in KoTOR 2?

[ATB]

As far as I can tell the AI is far more aggressive with the difficulty cranked up. They also block more frequently and at more appropriate times.  They also attack a bit better in groups- one baddie will use a ranged attack while one with a weapon equipped moves in on you.

As for combat being like KOTOR: It's not. It's real time, not turn based.  It's a little more 'fluid' if you will because you're reacting and planning on the fly.  Edit: I never changed the difficulty setting in KOTOR, so I can't address the difficulty similarity....

Overall, though, the game just doesn't seem to have the heart that KOTOR did.  There's just something missing....It's very good and I'm compelled to play it, but it's not 'I'll day dream about this at work good'...

I have been thinking about your gameplay style tho, SS.  "Hmm, I bet SS woudl be walking here instead of focus running." or "Hmm, now that that quest is over, I bet SS would go back and talk to EVERYONE to see what they thought..."  

[farley2k]

As far as I can tell the AI is far more aggressive with the difficulty cranked up. They also block more frequently and at more appropriate times.  They also attack a bit better in groups- one baddie will use a ranged attack while one with a weapon equipped moves in on you.

I agree.

In one fight I was having a terrible time and I cranked *down* the difficulty.  After that, in that same fight, the computer didn't use certain very tough spells, didn't block, and overall seemed much less agressive.

So I don't think the AI cheats on higher levels, I think it is just more agressive, and plays better.

Of course I bet they also have some cheats like more focus and chi which would allow them to use weapons for longer and spells more frequently.

[Starshifter]

I have been thinking about your gameplay style tho, SS.  "Hmm, I bet SS woudl be walking here instead of focus running." or "Hmm, now that that quest is over, I bet SS would go back and talk to EVERYONE to see what they thought..."  

LOL!  Man, you got that right!  That is exactly what I would do.  That is so funny.  Last night I finished up Nar Shaada and spent upwards of an hour just walking around and tying up loose ends on the planet and then, for a well-deserved rest, spent quite awhile just walking around the Ebon Hawk and talking with everybody on my team - multiple times (after the whole Goto affair was completed).

By the way, did I mention that I'm in love with Visus???  Scary.

As far as Jade goes, I know its real time combat.  I was just curious if the default combat difficulty was similar to the default combat difficulty in KoTOR2.

So, when I start Jade you recommend I use Grand Master difficulty?