Balance regarding Keys and unlocks

[Dinjoralo]

Something I've noticed with Keys is just how rare they are. As of now in my current save file, I feel like I shouldn't bother with getting Darkness at all, because I've already maxed out most of what I can now, and all the unlocks from the mirror will take a very long time to unlock, especially with me prioritizing getting new weapons early on. I feel this could be better balanced to keep unlocks unlocking more smoothly, even if I'm not sure exactly how.

[Mr Pants]

I see you're 5h in? What do you have unlocked? I'm 22 hours in and close to unlocking the final bit of the mirror. Going through the early game, I felt very stressed for keys in the beginning, since they were a shared resource between the weapons and the mirror, but after reaching the 12+ key perks, the progression has felt more smooth. Raising key spawn rates seems like a bad idea, unless applies to no heat runs. Weapon unlocks could be made a bit less costly perhaps?

[Dinjoralo]

I have precisely half the mirror unlocks, and all the weapons.
Maybe if I spent some other resources on Keys at the broker, that'd make things go by faster. But every other resource seems to have more use and more smooth progression than Keys, aside from Darkness, which is dependent on Keys.

Thinking about it, that'd probably be my solution, a way to turn Darkness into Keys at the broker.

[Aedwynn]

Originally posted by Dinjoralo:

I have precisely half the mirror unlocks, and all the weapons.
Maybe if I spent some other resources on Keys at the broker, that'd make things go by faster. But every other resource seems to have more use and more smooth progression than Keys, aside from Darkness, which is dependent on Keys.

Thinking about it, that'd probably be my solution, a way to turn Darkness into Keys at the broker.

Don't worry, some quests reward you with 20 key bundles, that helps a lot. So be sure to buy Unfinished Deeds at decoration vendor to access those quests.
My priority is Titan Blood > Ambrosia > Diamond > Nectar > Key > Gems > Darkness.
Later, with some early Chaos + 200% Darkness boon you can haul around 1000 Darkness in a run, if you focus on it, so don't focus on Darkness at all. Plus, it's a dead weight once you've got all mirror upgrades - deals with it appear quite rarely at Wretched Broker and it has no other uses.