Bloodmancer

[DurealRa]

This game is a real gem, and I am really enjoying it.

During my first run I found the Blood Band and it formed a lot of my strategy. Each time I played, I would look for that ring as an essential piece of equipment. I had seen that the Bloodmancer unlocked later in the game and what items it got, and I knew that the cultist specialized around Lifesteal would be my favorite class, so I was eager to unlock it. I unlocked it today, and I have to say, after trying it, I am disappointed that it seems totally unviable - the worst class at lifesteal, and the weakest overall by far.

I took it through Act I playing perfectly - never getting hit at all - and I spent the entire run on 1 HP. Whenever I did damage with Wave of Blood or something else, I would get a few HP. which would be sucked into the orbs within seconds, taking me back to 1HP. If the point of the build is to spend the entire run on 1 HP, that's fine, but that should be some kind of additional difficulty mode, not an unlocked class. Even the upgrades that you pay for - more Blood Orbs - make the class weaker if you purchase them. The issue is absolutely the Blood Orbs, which are not well-implemented.

As it stands, I would rather use the same rings and items on any other class - in fact, classes with high Crit make better Bloodmancers than the Bloodmancer.

The Blood Orbs

I'm not sure what the design intent was with the Blood Orbs, but the actual effect is that the Bloodmancer cannot raise above 1HP for more than a few seconds, meaning their core ability that all of their equipment centers around, lifesteal, is irrelevant. Lifesteal does allow more HP to be funneled into the Orbs, which makes them larger. Larger orbs means a larger explosion and more damage, as well as more lifesteal, but the lifesteal is always less than the life you paid into them. You could start at 50 HP, detonate your orbs into a bunch of monsters, and end up at 35 hp. That 35 HP will quickly become 1 as you continue to fight.

The idea behind a lifesteal based playstyle is that it is more forgiving - you can take small amounts of damage, and then recover. If the Bloodmancer is always at 1 HP, then the opposite is true. Currently the Geomancer is the best at ignoring small amounts of damage, and the Bloodmancer is the worst. If the idea of the Bloodmancer were instead to be a Glass Cannon class, that also is not well-implemented, as the Orbs don't increase your damage - you're better playing being a Pyromancer, who has tremendous offense power and zero health downsides - just a cannon, while the Bloodmancer is just glass.

Suggestion:

If you want to keep the Blood Orbs, the simplest idea is that they do not drain player life. Instead, they appear and accumulate based on *wasted* lifesteal. If lifesteal would take your HP over maximum, instead a Blood Orb is accumulated, which does exactly what it does now - grows larger and can be detonated with Dash.

This makes the Bloodmancer the best at a Lifesteal playstyle, without making them any better at all at stealing life. Making them better at stealing life runs the risk of allowing the game to be too easy - healing in a Roguelike has to be managed very carefully. They instead become the best at Lifesteal because they can make use of it in a way no other class can.

Additionally it means that they have cause to continue to use Lifesteal spells, even at full life. Another cultist that uses a Lifesteal ring would only use it when they need to recover - once they get to full life, they should switch back to fireballs or something that doesn't cost them life for missing their shots. A Bloodmancer with this change should continue to use it, and still cares about maximizing their lifesteal even at full health.

Lastly, this keeps parity with most of the cultists' main gameplay change being centered around a secondary Dash effect.

I really appreciate the game you folks have built. I am really enjoying it, your beautiful art style, and I love how responsive you've been to your community. I wish you all the success you can get. I wouldn't take the time to offer this suggestion if I didn't feel the game was something special.

[Superintendent Pemr]

Appreciate the feedback.