I’ve started to come around to the combat dynamics thanks to three things: Installing the IE Mod (which has the option to remove the recovery penalty from combat movement), playing for a few more hours, and getting to level 4. I still don’t like it, but it’s become tolerable and I’ve settled into a steady rhythm that minimizes the inherent annoyances.
The first and most important part of that is to always have both Scouting Mode and Fast Mode active, while the second is to make sure the ‘Switch to Slow Mode On Entering Combat’ option is checked. From that base state the party just roams around looting everything until they find an enemy. If it’s not guarding anything, usually I’ll just avoid it and continue roaming. If it is, then phase two starts. Phase two is very simple. Open combat with a hail of gunfire (which usually kills 1-2 enemies outright), have the Fighter and Chanter switch to melee and engage, have the Rogue retreat and then circle around to the side to flank, and have the Wizard and Priest just sit back and plink away with wands/scepters from a distance. Only with ‘boss’ fights do I ever bother casting spells (and the ‘autopause after a character finishes an action’ setting is very useful for those).
I’m quite fond of the lack of combat XP, since it means that combat is mostly optional. Whether you go through the front doors and murder your way through 30+ footmen, or go over the wall and through a secret passage killing no one, you get the exact same amount of experience points once the destination is reached. It’s quite refreshing.
Class-wise I really like the Rogue so far, the Fighter is kind of boring but does a solid job of tanking, the Chanter is phenomenal with the auto-chanting and essentially free spells, the Wizard blasts right through DR when necessary, and the Priest… well, the Priest is underwhelming so far. The healing is useful in certain circumstances, but I’d rather have someone that I A) Don’t have to babysit as much, and that B) Doesn’t have a limited number of ability uses per rest. Healing isn’t needed very often, and when it is potions/scrolls should be able to suffice.