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''Dungeon Siege II'' (DS2) is a Computer Role-playing Game and is the sequel to 2002 's popular '' Dungeon Siege ''. It was developed by Gas Powered Games and released on August 16 2005 , one year delayed from original projections. STORY The player plays a ''. The game's website states it has a more complex and varied storyline as compared to ''Dungeon Siege''. GAMEPLAY Unlike ''Dungeon Siege'', ''Dungeon Siege II'' takes a more varied approach to its Gameplay . The original game was criticized for being too automated and lacking Replay value. Developer Gas Powered Games improved the old system into a more versatile one that incorporates additional elements of Strategy . Combat Automation By default, the new system turns off much of the original game's combat automation and requires players to click once for each individual attack of their selected character. Fortunately for people who liked the combat system of the previous version, the new system can be made to behave more like it. Clicking on a monster and holding the right mouse key makes the character continuously attack until the monster dies; this is similar to the attack system in the '' Diablo '' games. There are also options that allow the player's characters to automatically defend themselves and/or automatically continue to attack their targets, much like in the old system. Specialities & Skills In the original ''Dungeon Siege'', the four character specialities (also known as '''classes''') differed only in the items and spells they were allowed to use. In ''Dungeon Siege II'', each speciality (Melee, Ranged, Nature Magic, Combat Magic) has a unique set of skills, arranged in a skill tree reminiscent of those in Diablo II , that determines a character's particular strengths. For example, melee-oriented characters can get better at using a shield to defend their allies or they can improve their two-handed weapon skills to more effectively attack opponents. As in the original game, multi-classing (distributing experience and skills to more than one class) is possible, but it is best to do so with caution: A character learning skills in too many different areas may find him or herself spread too thin and unable to perform any role effectively. Powers Another change in ''Dungeon Siege 2'' is the addition of the Hero Powers system. Powers are special abilities that characters can use when normal attacks do not suffice; they include abilities like Invincibility for the entire party and the power to summon a lightning strike that damages all enemies in the area. They are acquired when certain skills are trained to a certain level. Each power has 3 levels, each requiring more skill points to get. Like the skills in the skill trees, Powers increase in potency as characters level. Parties and Pets Like its predecessor, ''Dungeon Siege II'' is a party-based RPG. Players can have up to 4 characters in a party under the first difficulty setting (Mercenary), 5 characters in Veteran difficulty, and 6 in Elite difficulty. Aside from being able to recruit Non-player Character s (NPCs) that function much like the player's own character, players can also buy Pet s that grow after being fed items. However, unlike its predecessor, the hirable NPCs have unique personalities and can converse with the player and each other at certain points in the game; they even have their own personal side quests. Pets start off with a basic attack (and Spell if applicable), gain a Power upon reaching the 3rd level of growth, and finally gain an emanation upon becoming Mature. Emanations are special pet-only auras that emanate outwards from the pet; they provide beneficial effects to friendly characters within range (such as increased mana regeneration). Spells The magic system in ''Dungeon Siege 2'' remains largely unchanged. Combat Mages and Nature Mages still have access to separate spell lines that increase in power as the character levels. Parties are limited to a maximum of two concurrent Buffs . Pets' ''spells'' count towards this buff limit, but their ''emanations'' (see above) do not. Each enemy may only have one Debuff placed on it at a time. All negative effects count towards this limit, including curses and stuns. Death and Unconsciousness ''Dungeon Siege II'''s " Game Over " system is similar to that in many other games. When a character loses enough health, he or she usually falls into a state of unconsciousness. The character falls to the ground, unable to move, and must wait for his or her health to slowly regenerate itself or ask for magical healing from another character. If a character is hit hard enough by an enemy, or if an enemy is persistent in attacking an unconscious character, the character may eventually be killed. Once death occurs, the character can no longer be healed and must be ''resurrected'' by another character or by a special NPC in town. If the entire party is slain, it can respawn back in town, but all equipment is left at their corpses. The party must then find a way to retrieve its fallen equipment, either by adventuring back to the characters' corpses or by having them summoned to town by a NPC for a small charge. Multiplayer ''Dungeon Siege 2'' supports Multiplayer cooperative gaming over LAN , the Internet , and a GameSpy network. Multiple people can play together in separate-but-allied parties. There is a total limit of 6 characters, regardless of whether they're player-controlled or NPCs. Purchased pets count towards this limit but summoned creatures (from spells) do not. For LAN and Internet play, saved games are stored on the players' own computers. For GameSpy play, saved games and characters are stored on GameSpy's Server s. The GameSpy environment limits the amount of online Cheating that can take place, but as of late Beta , the possibility still existed. GameSpy characters can be downloaded from the GameSpy servers to players' computers, where they can then be used for Internet, LAN, and single-player games. The reverse is not true: GameSpy characters can only be created and leveled on the GameSpy network itself. GS network supports only original games; Pirate copies are blocked due to CD-KEY control. Online play may therefore also not be possible with a second-hand game. EXPANSION In the end of 2005 , via the GDP official Newsletter , they announced that an expansion pack is currently in development. In March 2006 , accompanying the announcement that Take-Two Interactive acquired the full publishing rights of the Dungeon Siege series {Link without Title} , the expansion pack name was revealed: Dungeon Siege II: Broken World along with some details of the planned features; an all-new campaign mode, a new playable race, more items to discover and a brand new multi-class character development system. BUGS Like many PC games, Dungeon Siege II has seen patches released to address a variety of bugs ranging from minor to major. As at January 2006 there are still a number of bugs in version 2.2 that can prevent completion of the game. Examples: Choose a character who wields one-handed sword with shield and remove the that sword. Then change his(her) "attack mod" to a magic. You will see that the character's hands are empty. Equip the character with a two-handed weapon, and the character will be able to wield two-handed weapons with shield. This bug works even in the newest version 2.20. After the above bug, there is another bug: click on the two-handed weapon you equipped with the shield, but do not put it back into the inventory, click on the weapon again. The game will tell you that you cannot equip this weapon with the shield. Now put it back into the inventory, you'll realise that your character is still wielding the weapon, so you can sell the other one in the inventory. Note: Does not work in latest patch, the sword disappears from your character aswell as the sword in the inventory when you sell it. Thus, no actual "dupe" of the sword is created. Not a bug, ''per se'', but an annoyance to players. At certain points during gameplay, in-game conversations between the player and his/her hired NPCs can (and sometimes do) get interrupted by attacking enemies. Unfortunately, there's no patch for this as of now. The best way to counter it is to draw the enemies to a certain location and once they're dead, ''then'' enter the "conversation area". 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