Game Difficulty needs adjustment

[Moforkus]

Dear Devs:

I think the game difficulty needs tweaking. I have unlocked a few of the other classes and honestly...dying after getting to my second fight is not fun. The archer specifically seams like total weak sauce, even on easy he is way too soft. This game gives you no choice on your starting deck and by the second fight i was fighting 3 enemies at once (one of which had 150 health, 50 armor and had two minions that healed him and did crazy high damage to me (one hit me for 39 dmg...just one of the 3 enemies).

If you pick "easy" it should actually be pretty easy so people can learn the game mechanics for each class and actually have a chance to see what the game has to offer. I am all for difficult games based upon challenge (i.e. you have some strategy that you can use and if you are smart you can win). This game though is very much RNG dependent and your starting deck is pretty weak as well. Having to die a dozen times just to incrementally push the story forward is too slow of a grind...i get it the game wants you to die...but i would prefer my runs last longer than 5 minutes...especially when i choose easy so i can learn about the new character i chose...

some additional modifiers for people to be able to use/control on their individual runs, etc. literally anything that you can choose to help you actually experience the game and learn...vs dying in the first few battles repeatedly would make this experience a lot more fun....

I get that there will be some who disagree with my perspective, which is why i am asking for either increased difficultly slider, additional options we can individual tick off to give the player more of an advantage or some other change that would enable people to pick the options they want (rather than a blanket change that makes anyone elses game easier or harder). I only want to tailor my experience and would appreciate some additional tools to do that...as i am sure there are those who like the difficulty as is.

[Rip Wheeler]

only the blood mage is semi-useful, other classes are just plain ♥♥♥♥

[Madcowdizeez]

i'm on difficulty 4 right now, difficulty 5 next time i log on, and i've found both the sentinel and zealot to be on the weaker side unless i'm just playing them wrong. the apostate however, absolute monster. same with the berserker and pathfinder, they both seem like monsters compared to the wyrdhunter. i've only played the summoner so idk about the other 2 mage classes.

what exactly does easy mode do aside from making you start a new file? how far have you gotten also, do you have some villagers unlocked? the blacksmith lets you buy runes at the start, and the seamstress you can buy a passive skill and permanent stat upgrades. i have yet to unlock the master at arms but i think he has deck management stuff? idk but i'd like to find out sometime if the thing ever spawns for him

[Misguided]

What you are struggling with isn’t game difficulty, it’s understanding the systems: Which fights to do first (like recognizing the solo enemies), how to mitigate damage, which targets to prioritize, etc. this is a complex game with a lot of elements. It is very much like an old school roguelike in the sense that player knowledge has a major impact. Likewise, until you get a build really rolling, it requires more thoughtful play than many games of this type.

Keep at it, you will get there. I get why you are asking for this, but if they tune it down too much, it won’t really prepare you for the rest of the game.

Have you rescued the blacksmith? Try a wyrdhunter run and buy a gar tune for an armor slot before you head out. What this will do is hit all enemies at the end of each turn, which will charge your ultimate very quickly against encounters with multiple enemies.

[Jean]

I agree that the game can much very hard in some context. It seem to assume that you "know the drill by, go get them tiger!" which tend to make the game potentially much harder than it has for some. It's relatively easier that the games it compare to, which in itself is absolutely no use of course.

Easy mode when it works (bug galore), only gives a small -25% malus to enemies and reduce *some* encounter in size. It's hard to discuss class as a culprit when there's so many factors to consider and some classes will shine in different situation and playstyle. When I started out it was the archers which I found overpowered thanks to their solid barriers.

The game should have a story mode which limit encounters to a single monster per fight for the first tier. Maybe 2 on tier 2 and 3.

If it's any comfort as noted the game gets much easier once you learn the ropes and bash your head against failures to earn unlocks, which in a way is sort of what roguelikes are about.

Originally posted by Madcowdizeez:

what exactly does easy mode do aside from making you start a new file?

Not so much a new file as a new run within a save file... but it's buggy and the dev intention as to the bonuses it gives[taintedgrail-conquest.fandom.com]VS what it does is unclear.

[Moforkus]

Originally posted by Madcowdizeez:

i'm on difficulty 4 right now, difficulty 5 next time i log on, and i've found both the sentinel and zealot to be on the weaker side unless i'm just playing them wrong. the apostate however, absolute monster. same with the berserker and pathfinder, they both seem like monsters compared to the wyrdhunter. i've only played the summoner so idk about the other 2 mage classes.

what exactly does easy mode do aside from making you start a new file? how far have you gotten also, do you have some villagers unlocked? the blacksmith lets you buy runes at the start, and the seamstress you can buy a passive skill and permanent stat upgrades. i have yet to unlock the master at arms but i think he has deck management stuff? idk but i'd like to find out sometime if the thing ever spawns for him

yes i have most of the villagers unlocked by now. I just think that "easy" should actually be a bit easier. My second fight in the game was one guy with 50 armor, 150 health, and two minions who had 40 health and did upwards of 38 dmg to me or healed the main guy for 15 health or more...i was an archer with 60 health...regardless of getting the plus 2 weapon dmg buff from the blacksmith...this is just stupid from a difficulty perspective. To me this is like a baby bird coming out of the nest on its first flight and then the game says..here fight this eagle off with your tiny beak....maybe to some people that is fun...to me it could not be farther from fun.

[Moforkus]

Originally posted by Misguided:

What you are struggling with isn’t game difficulty, it’s understanding the systems: Which fights to do first (like recognizing the solo enemies), how to mitigate damage, which targets to prioritize, etc. this is a complex game with a lot of elements. It is very much like an old school roguelike in the sense that player knowledge has a major impact. Likewise, until you get a build really rolling, it requires more thoughtful play than many games of this type.

Keep at it, you will get there. I get why you are asking for this, but if they tune it down too much, it won’t really prepare you for the rest of the game.

Have you rescued the blacksmith? Try a wyrdhunter run and buy a gar tune for an armor slot before you head out. What this will do is hit all enemies at the end of each turn, which will charge your ultimate very quickly against encounters with multiple enemies.

i find it funny that you are telling me what i think...I am pretty sure as i described above my issue is with difficulty. Having my first few matches be against enemies with 4 times my health and they can kill me in 2 hits is not "easy"...it is way too hard a barrier for entry into the game. I like games that allow me to learn, not constantly punish me and make me start over and make me face impossible fights right at the start. Gaming to me is meant to be fun, yelling at my computer because i was murdered within the first 10 minutes is not an enjoyable experience and only masochists are going to stick around to see what the game has to offer.

I am not asking to make the whole game easier, just asking to have either easy mode tweaked or to have additional modifiers that individual players can tick off to make the game less punishing so we can have a chance to actually experience the game and its story.

There are a lot of games that are generally difficult but have mechanisms in place for people who are not "hardcore"...this game claims to have an easy mode but that doesn't actually reduce the overall difficulty of the game to any measurable extent.

I appreciate games that let me choose my experience, not force me to play a certain way or at a certain difficulty. When i get to the point i want to play super hard difficulty, that should be my decision. Devs can do whatever they want of course, but if this game stays as is, i won't be playing it and i won't be taking a chance on any of their future games either.

[OlMaltelO]

Originally posted by Moforkus:

Originally posted by Misguided:

What you are struggling with isn’t game difficulty, it’s understanding the systems: Which fights to do first (like recognizing the solo enemies), how to mitigate damage, which targets to prioritize, etc. this is a complex game with a lot of elements. It is very much like an old school roguelike in the sense that player knowledge has a major impact. Likewise, until you get a build really rolling, it requires more thoughtful play than many games of this type.

Keep at it, you will get there. I get why you are asking for this, but if they tune it down too much, it won’t really prepare you for the rest of the game.

Have you rescued the blacksmith? Try a wyrdhunter run and buy a gar tune for an armor slot before you head out. What this will do is hit all enemies at the end of each turn, which will charge your ultimate very quickly against encounters with multiple enemies.

i find it funny that you are telling me what i think...I am pretty sure as i described above my issue is with difficulty. Having my first few matches be against enemies with 4 times my health and they can kill me in 2 hits is not "easy"...it is way too hard a barrier for entry into the game. I like games that allow me to learn, not constantly punish me and make me start over and make me face impossible fights right at the start. Gaming to me is meant to be fun, yelling at my computer because i was murdered within the first 10 minutes is not an enjoyable experience and only masochists are going to stick around to see what the game has to offer.

I am not asking to make the whole game easier, just asking to have either easy mode tweaked or to have additional modifiers that individual players can tick off to make the game less punishing so we can have a chance to actually experience the game and its story.

There are a lot of games that are generally difficult but have mechanisms in place for people who are not "hardcore"...this game claims to have an easy mode but that doesn't actually reduce the overall difficulty of the game to any measurable extent.

I appreciate games that let me choose my experience, not force me to play a certain way or at a certain difficulty. When i get to the point i want to play super hard difficulty, that should be my decision. Devs can do whatever they want of course, but if this game stays as is, i won't be playing it and i won't be taking a chance on any of their future games either.

The easy mode IS easier. All enemy stats are -25% (armor, damage, hp, healing), they have reduced numbers of enemies pr combat and you gain +50% xp (to compensate fewer enemies).

[Moforkus]

Originally posted by Thomy013:

Originally posted by Moforkus:

i find it funny that you are telling me what i think...I am pretty sure as i described above my issue is with difficulty. Having my first few matches be against enemies with 4 times my health and they can kill me in 2 hits is not "easy"...it is way too hard a barrier for entry into the game. I like games that allow me to learn, not constantly punish me and make me start over and make me face impossible fights right at the start. Gaming to me is meant to be fun, yelling at my computer because i was murdered within the first 10 minutes is not an enjoyable experience and only masochists are going to stick around to see what the game has to offer.

I am not asking to make the whole game easier, just asking to have either easy mode tweaked or to have additional modifiers that individual players can tick off to make the game less punishing so we can have a chance to actually experience the game and its story.

There are a lot of games that are generally difficult but have mechanisms in place for people who are not "hardcore"...this game claims to have an easy mode but that doesn't actually reduce the overall difficulty of the game to any measurable extent.

I appreciate games that let me choose my experience, not force me to play a certain way or at a certain difficulty. When i get to the point i want to play super hard difficulty, that should be my decision. Devs can do whatever they want of course, but if this game stays as is, i won't be playing it and i won't be taking a chance on any of their future games either.

The easy mode IS easier. All enemy stats are -25% (armor, damage, hp, healing), they have reduced numbers of enemies pr combat and you gain +50% xp (to compensate fewer enemies).

the situation i described should not have occurred..you should not have to fight enemies with more than 4 times your hp and who take more than double your hp after only 2 hits...it is literally impossible to win...hence the need for some adjustment. Agree or not, i don't care. I wrote what i wrote for the devs.

[Misguided]

@moforkus I’m just trying to help. I completely understand why you think a fight like that seems inappropriate. But once you recognize that enemy and know you need to wait until you gain a couple of levels before you take that on, then it isn’t so bad. That’s part of the learning curve in this game. While I get where that can be frustrating, I personally think it makes it that much more rewarding when you start to make progress.

Having said all that, more options are always good. I loved Hades because it had god mode, for instance.

> if this game stays as is, i won't be playing it and i won't be taking a chance on any of their future games either.

I hope you don’t give up. I really think the game is so unique and interesting. But I get it: it’s a game. Games are supposed to be fun. If you aren’t having fun, why play? If I can do anything to answer questions or try to give advice, please ask.

[PRETTYBOYSWAG]

Originally posted by MARIO:

only the blood mage is semi-useful, other classes are just plain ♥♥♥♥

Found the noob, summoner is amazing.

[Zirkumflex]

Originally posted by PRETTYBOYSWAG:

Originally posted by MARIO:

only the blood mage is semi-useful, other classes are just plain ♥♥♥♥

Found the noob, summoner is amazing.

imho the best class.

[snuggleform]

this game needs prompt balance tuning, but it seems like the developers have been resting on their laurels since the last hotfix.

[Moforkus]

Originally posted by snuggleform:

this game needs prompt balance tuning, but it seems like the developers have been resting on their laurels since the last hotfix.

Well making games is likely pretty complicated...math hurts my head and programming requires lots of it. I don't expect things to be "fixed" right away but i would like things to start moving in that direction or even a statement from the devs saying they are "working" on the issue and will have something in place for people like me...otherwise this is just a game that will sit in my steam library collecting dust.

[OlMaltelO]

Originally posted by snuggleform:

this game needs prompt balance tuning, but it seems like the developers have been resting on their laurels since the last hotfix.

Nope. There are lots of things in preparation, next update is gonna be HUGE :D but I think the team has been cycling through their well deserved vacation in the past weeks, thats why there were no updates in the past two weeks :)

[Kman]

Only thing I would say on difficulty is how often bosses can one shot you with full HP.