Summary
- Corruption System: Highly successful endgame layer with diverse, impactful outcomes for items.
- Respec Friction: Current skill point recovery and gold costs for full respecs create unnecessary barriers, especially for casual players.
- UI/QoL Improvements: Urgent needs for stash tab management (saved structures), loot filter organization (dividers/collapsible rules), and search functionality within the Woven Echoes UI.
- Inventory Management: Harbinger Needles are a step backward in design; they should be integrated into the UI like Stability.
- Endgame Depth: Constant updates to graphics, combat “punchiness,” and boss variety (like Aberoth) are vital to maintaining player retention.
The Good
- Corruption Mechanic: This is a fantastic addition. Taking inspiration from other ARPG systems and adding a unique spin works well. Outcomes like “+1 to all skills,” max-rolling an item, or entirely changing its properties keep the endgame fresh even after dozens of attempts.
- Monolith UI: The new five-point system for reaching the endgame is an improvement over previous iterations.
- New Masteries: The Blade Storm Rogue and Shadow Rogue appear to be successful targets for this season’s balance and design.
- Graphics and Combat Feel: There are noticeable season-over-season improvements. The game feels more “punchy,” and the graphics are steadily closing the gap with triple-A competitors.
- Omen Windows: These function similarly to Path of Exile’s Breach mechanic; they are rewarding and challenging. Feedback: Avoid spawning these against walls to allow for better movement.
- Hideout QoL: Moving the treasure chest to the loot filter area and updating the loot filter rules (increasing the cap) are great changes.
The Meh
- Echo Chains: While rewarding and challenging, the concept of doing five identical tasks in a row for more rewards isn’t particularly exciting. However, the “instant portal” to the next echo is a great functional addition.
Needs Improvement
- Skill Point Respeccing: The penalty for respeccing skills during the campaign is too punishing. It discourages experimentation. While it is not an issue in the endgame where XP gain is high, low-level players feel defeated when they cannot quickly regain points to try new nodes.
- Respec Costs: Gold costs for full respecs at high levels (e.g., 700,000 gold at level 91) are too high for casual players. Friction is necessary, but it shouldn’t be so high that a player quits because they can’t afford to fix a build they don’t enjoy.
- Loot Filter UI: Duplicating a rule currently scrolls the view to the top of the list for no reason. This is a frustrating UI bug that needs fixing.
- Woven Echoes UI:
- Visibility: It is difficult to see which echoes have been completed. A green “plus” sign should be added to the icon for unearned points, rather than relying on gray flavor text.
- Searchability: Players have not memorized the symbols for every Woven Echo. A search bar is needed to find specific nodes like “Temple” or “Lost Folly.”
- Stash Management: When duplicating a tab, it currently moves to the left and loses its color settings. It should stay to the right of the original and retain all visual formatting.
- Idols: Acquiring specific class-specific idols with correct stats is significantly harder than acquiring other gear. Cemeteries are currently the least fun mechanic to grind, yet they are mandatory for idol progression.
- Harbinger Needles: This mechanic forces players to carry items in their inventory to buff timelines, undoing the progress made with the Idol/Charm slot system. These should be integrated into the Monolith UI, similar to the Rune of Stability.
- In-Game Guide: The guide is excellent but needs more detail on scaling specific sub-mechanics. For example, the guide should explain exactly how “Spreading Flames” scales (tags, damage over time, etc.) within the tooltip or guide entry.
- Lagan Boss Fight: In the endgame, if you reduce Lagan’s health to zero instantly, the game still forces a 30-second tentacle phase. This should be skipped if the boss is already defeated.
- Runes of Shattering: These feel poorly placed in the game’s economy. They are too expensive (2,000 gold) for new players to use as a teaching tool during the campaign, and they become a meaningless overflow currency in the late game.
- Circle of Fortune (COF) Lenses: Managing lenses across four different telescopes is tedious.
- Suggestion: Replace the four telescopes with one large telescope and a UI that allows you to select unlocked lenses directly from a menu.
- Clarification: Remove “double negative” language in tooltips (e.g., “Reduced chance for… events that are not…”).
- Merchant’s Guild: Community feedback suggests that having to relist an item entirely to edit a price is inefficient. Granular search functionality also needs fixes to prevent the search bar from accidentally opening passive/skill trees.
Wish List
- Saved Stash Structures: Allow players to save a “template” for their stash (e.g., specific tabs for Uniques, Exalteds, Rings) that carries over between seasons or can be shared via strings, similar to loot filters.
- Default Stash Tab: Provide an option to set a “Default Tab” (like a Dump Tab) that the stash always opens to, rather than just returning to the last used tab.
- In-Game Mouse Options: Build cursor size and color options directly into the game settings to eliminate the need for third-party software like YoloMouse.
- Pause Functionality: Allow the game to pause in solo play, particularly when interacting with the Nemesis/Egg UI, to prevent off-screen monsters from killing the player while they are menuing.
- Echo Indicators: Add a small checklist or indicator on the map overlay to show if an Echo contains an Exiled Mage, Loot Goblin, or specific shrine to alleviate “FOMO” (fear of missing out).
- Aberoth RP Skip: After the first completion, subsequent attempts at regular Aberoth should skip the cutscenes and dialogue to allow players to go straight into the fight.
- Target Dummy DPS Meter: Provide a functional UI element to track DPS on the training dummy rather than requiring players to manually calculate health regeneration versus damage.
- Skill Point Persistence: Swapping gear with “+Skill” affixes often forces players to re-assign points even if the total skill level remains the same. The game should perform a logic check to keep points assigned if the gear swap results in an equal or higher skill level.
- Loot Filter Dividers: Add the ability to create “Chapters” or collapsible headers within the loot filter UI for better organization and for guide creators to explain their filters.
- Dynamic Filter Rules: Implement rules that check inventory counts (e.g., “Show this shard only if I have fewer than 50 in my materials bank”).
Key References