Blacksmith's gift

[Jamf]

I think it's interesting to change the blacksmith's gift which, currently, is a sword composed of the 3 elements that the game has (fire, ice and lightning). It breaks the rhythm of the game a lot to get a weapon of this level right at the beginning, rendering any other useless until the end of the game. I advise developers to change the character's gift to a ''project'' (Crafting), composed of the 3 elemental swords, thus forging the sword of the elements.

[Depressed Catfish]

It costs 3 meteor dust, the hardest thing to get. Buying it makes you a lot stronger in combat but it might mean someone dies. A major theme of this game is sacrifice, and having the strongest items locked behind people with loads of time left is part of that.

[Jamf]

Originally posted by Depressed Catfish:

It costs 3 meteor dust, the hardest thing to get. Buying it makes you a lot stronger in combat but it might mean someone dies. A major theme of this game is sacrifice, and having the strongest items locked behind people with loads of time left is part of that.

I still think the sword is too strong compared to the other npcs gifts, making it unbalanced in relation to them. A sword project as a gift could solve this problem.

[kajun]

Another thing to consider is that the elemental sword is NOT the strongest weapon in the game. So not only does it cost 3 portions of meteor dust, but at some point it becomes obsolete. So I do feel it is a fair trade.

One thing this game does well is the feeling that you will save more people if you do well and a lot of "gift items" are crutches for less skilled players like myself. In my case, I wasn't able to save, among others, the old cog lady (was it Teresa?), because I felt that I couldn't make it without a good weapon and an extra permanent syringe.

You know every gift is strong, but you don't know how strong. And there are no take-backsies! Once you get it, the dust is lost. So for me most of the game was trying to determine whether I need something or not, not knowing how hard the game will be - a very interesting dynamic that made every choice EXTREMELY meaningful for me (I applaud the developers). Will I be skilled enough to make it in time, or should I sacrifice some dust in order to progress faster?

In other words, apart from "sacrifice", the theme is "uncertainty" - will this sacrifice be worth it?

Last piece of opinion: like every game, this one contains stronger and weaker stuff, and if you know where to look for the stronger stuff, it'll be easier to progress. But that assumes you DO know where the best gear is, and that happens only if you read a guide or are playing for the second time - both are optional things that are known to decrease difficulty in games.

So please, do not nerf my sweet, sweet elemental sword <3