Playing on Normal & Charon and Shops are terrible.

[Tzuede]

I'm only in double digit deaths right now... Most all trinkets unlocked.

Why does gold and the shops / pools feel so terrible.

It got a new patch and "fixes" but I'm not using any challenges or heat and things aren't scaling up right.

If feels like a mild rework is needed. Too many things that don't synergize and you can't do over.

Transistor and Bastion did not have this problem.

I feel like I need to write an essay for the amount of things that don't add up.

tl;dr it is TOO DAMN GRINDY. If they wanted a grindy why didn't they add a time trial mode for Hardcore players.

[Capron Denim]

What does the grindy part have to do with shops? Gold is per run, you can't grind it.

The real grind is on gems.

And, as with a good roguelike, not everything synergizes. The whole strategic part of the game is trying to take your options to cobble together something either effective or singularly strong.

[Nyx]

Originally posted by Capron Denim:

The real grind is on gems.

Ain't that the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ truth.

[Arbitrator]

Shops are actually quite powerful. If you have the gold they are great rooms to run across, and there are trinkets that give you some nice bonus gold. Alternately saving your gold until after Elesium is also a viable strategy but it can make things a bit tough

[Fingusa of the East]

Yeah I have noticed that shops in this game tend to be on the weaker side. Especially when compared to the excitement of shops in lets say, Enter the Gundeon or Binding of Isaac.

Bosses are also much MUCH tankier than in those games, means boss fights take longer than Hollow Knight boss fights. Which says a lot.

I have only played 4 hours of the game by now, but I have not really seen any OP synergies so that goes against the fun aspect of roguelikes as well. So far. I may have just been unlucky.

[Cyiel]

Shops are not a deadly place and that's already a boon itself. Now i only go in a shop if i have 175 gold at least and if alternatives are not appealing me much.

[FreddyTheMonkey]

Breaking the game isn't the only way to make a roguelite fun, especially if it's so focused on tight mechanics. Not every game needs to be Isaac.

"Transistor and Bastion did not have this problem." because they're completely different games.Also gold isn't "grindy" and regular prices are super affordable. Also, pools don't have boons in them so I wonder why you'd want "synergies" from them. There are plenty of synergies between boons and weapons.

[Wintermute]

Originally posted by Abhorash:

Originally posted by Capron Denim:

The real grind is on gems.

Ain't that the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ truth.

Gonna make that lounge comfy.

[Vengyr]

Originally posted by Fingusa of the East:

Yeah I have noticed that shops in this game tend to be on the weaker side. Especially when compared to the excitement of shops in lets say, Enter the Gundeon or Binding of Isaac.

Bosses are also much MUCH tankier than in those games, means boss fights take longer than Hollow Knight boss fights. Which says a lot.

I have only played 4 hours of the game by now, but I have not really seen any OP synergies so that goes against the fun aspect of roguelikes as well. So far. I may have just been unlucky.

Don't worry, there are plenty of possibilities to break the game. I've just had a run where my special dealt from 550 to 1760 single target ranged damage, depending on how lucky I got with crits. Last boss just melted.

The best shop in the game is the last area's shop. So if shops have nothing exciting, just keep the gold for the last area. Mini-shops (the ones you get in normal rooms on occasion) can be particularly helpful. I always refresh death defiance / hp if I need, and buy the "increased rarity of the next boon" nearly every time.

[Mr.Door]

Shops aren't difficult to afford, especially if you aren't going to every damn shop you find. Waste of rooms.

You should be looking for priority rooms (typically Daedalus, God Boon, Key (for Fate+), NPC Rooms, Gold, Charon, Others) unless you're farming/aiming for something specific.

It helps if you upgrade your house to contain golden urns that drop 5-15 gold ea. That's an easy 100+ gold per biome.

But essentially, you should be able to afford Charon shops once per run, maybe twice if you've saved up a lot.

Shopping is nowhere near a priority in this game unlike other rogue-likes. And the final shop is usually the best as you get 3-4 boons easy if not a diamond (though that'll cost you most if not all your savings)

[itssirtou]

They're weaker than most roguelites for sure, but thats because the game is so much more generous with Room-to-room items than the likes of Isaac. You get something meaningful from almost EVERY room, not twice per floor. Why would I pay 175g (which is a lot really, you don't find a lot of cash in-game) for a boon when I can just... find one later? Or take the other door that probably has one.

Mostly I use gold for healing. Charons Wells almost always have a healing item, and that pretty much keeps me going.

The problem is just in the way the game is built. Gold is so rare outside of cash rooms and your starter kit. Basically nonexistant until you've done the proper renovations. If you take the cash rooms you need to find a shop to spend it, so you're using up 2 rooms for one boon. When instead you could take the other options and get 2 boons. Shops would be much better if there was a bit more gold from enemies.

[Vengyr]

Originally posted by itssirtou:

They're weaker than most roguelites for sure, but thats because the game is so much more generous with Room-to-room items than the likes of Isaac. You get something meaningful from almost EVERY room, not twice per floor. Why would I pay 175g (which is a lot really, you don't find a lot of cash in-game) for a boon when I can just... find one later? Or take the other door that probably has one.

Mostly I use gold for healing. Charons Wells almost always have a healing item, and that pretty much keeps me going.

The problem is just in the way the game is built. Gold is so rare outside of cash rooms and your starter kit. Basically nonexistant until you've done the proper renovations. If you take the cash rooms you need to find a shop to spend it, so you're using up 2 rooms for one boon. When instead you could take the other options and get 2 boons. Shops would be much better if there was a bit more gold from enemies.

Chaos boons help a lot with gold. I try to get as many early on, and having bonus gold is probably one of the best you can get early on, when you don't have a specific build already. They stack and sometimes end up being ridiculous, like getting 40 gold instead of 15.

[Capron Denim]

Originally posted by Fingusa of the East:

Bosses are also much MUCH tankier than in those games, means boss fights take longer than Hollow Knight boss fights. Which says a lot.

First floor rag man would like a word with you.

[Fingusa of the East]

Originally posted by Capron Denim:

Originally posted by Fingusa of the East:

Bosses are also much MUCH tankier than in those games, means boss fights take longer than Hollow Knight boss fights. Which says a lot.

First floor rag man would like a word with you.

As long as you are not playing as Maggie (may whatever god-like thing be with you if you do) he goes down quickly enough. I for one tend to play Judas or Aza so my perception might be a bit biased, yes.