RNG is excessive

[The Nue]

I only really realized how much so when I died instantly from it, then went back to the loadout screen
Thought about it
Realized I was even more angry than I thought
Closed the game
Thought about it
Got angrier still
Uninstalled
Thought about it
Came here.

There's simply too much of it, given an utter lack of means to mitigate any of it.
I was in the middle of a run where all three of my Rook special upgrades in the shop were useful, which in hindsight excited me because that's literally NEVER happened before. Then I died in the 4th wave of the Graveyard (Ascension 5) when the game decided it'd be super fair to spawn about 8 Vampiric Sorceresses after offering me not one solitary AoE/Multi-attack upgrade or spell the entire game.

I had been super jazzed for that run, and it ended because it thought it was fine to throw a wave that was literally impossible because not once was I offered anything that could deal with it and there's no option to reroll ANYTHING ever during a run... and then I realized I may NEVER get offered that sweet Rook loadout I never even got a chance to play ever again because the shop is ALSO way too random, and it rapidly went from feeling salty over a "bad run" to feeling disgusted with what is, on contemplation, actively bad design to degrees I'm unsure I'll ever feel like playing it again.

I get that heavy RNG is necessary part of the appeal of Roguelikes is that they are "adaptive" rather than "strategic", that it's about reacting to what you're given rather than adhering to a tactical plan set out in advance, it's what I love about them too... but the sheer lack of control in this one is too much. It's ignoring a lot of obvious genre conventions.

Put in a reroll option. Make it finite, make it shared (across loot, shops, and level ups), it frankly scarcely matters just how scarce it is, it just needs to be there if there's no other control for the RNG... though frankly, that's not even what I actually suggest. What should REALLY be in here is a means to customize what is or is not in a pool, ala the custom setups in Dead Cells. It is honestly utterly beyond me why almost no other game offers that when frankly all of them should.

I spent a gemstone to unlock "Lightning Rod", only to find out it's actively worse than every other spell in it's class, but now it's just cluttering up my pool forever?
That's dumb.
That's dumb design.

I ain't planning to review-bomb the title or anything, but I went from a superfan to THIS close to doing so, so you really may want to consider how this might be affecting other/future consumers opinions and your subsequent sales... just food for thought as someone that doesn't like to get critical unless it's constructive... Too be honest, beyond that ideal, I've little concern about my own play-experience, because I'm likely washing my hands of the title, I'm so miffed right now.

[Warlok]

The rng can also turn out to be super-favourable to a player. I had a Sorceress and Samurai combo that wiped the floor with anything the game threw at me.

As long as that remains true, I can hack a few runs where the abilities and upgrades are less than. The rng makes the game fresh and engaging from play to play.

[Alkei]

Graveyard is the hardest part. It's battle 2, so you don't have many upgrades by that time. And waves are harsh there. So if you were not lucky with those few uprades, then you're pretty much screwed.

[.VM8RA]

Originally posted by Warlok:

The rng can also turn out to be super-favourable to a player. I had a Sorceress and Samurai combo that wiped the floor with anything the game threw at me.

As long as that remains true, I can hack a few runs where the abilities and upgrades are less than. The rng makes the game fresh and engaging from play to play.

I like it when you can turn RNG on it's head and get busted runs.

It just depends how often you can create these "busted" runs though.

The game does look very interesting, but if it's hard with very little ability to tip the scales, it will become infuriating after a while.

[Zyffrm]

If I get graveyard as a second battle I end the run before even starting the first battle. I hear that ascension 10 lets you pick the spells in your load out but I am stuck at ascension 7 just waiting for good loot RNG. It's not going well and is getting old.

[Psylisa]

Graveyard is simply busted, as are the Vampire Sorceresses. Teleport anywhere, then deal damage you can't possibly mitigate in a 2nd map scenario. Best advice: see GY 2nd, quit out and don't waste time on that run.

Lightning Rod I've found useful. It's better than the 3 damage ability that does little to nothing after the first map.

Back to the Vamp Sorcs - using Lightning Rod doesn't even work on them. They can still move while stunned and they still trigger their end of turn ability.

[OmegaDon]

This game is pure mean RNG. I'm stuck at Ascencion 10 for the past 30 hours... Literally painfull...

[Psylisa]

Originally posted by MegaRyodan:

This game is pure mean RNG. I'm stuck at Ascencion 10 for the past 30 hours... Literally painfull...

Just go all-in Sorc. She's soooo strong with level up enhancements.

The 2 damage on kill is very good, especially if you get unlimited range. It stacks, so you can start chaining things and 1 turn kills. Extra free attack, area attack, etc, etc. She turns into a killing machine.

Graveyard is still busted though, don't play that map. It comes far too early to be able to mitigate the enemy abilities.

[Lycanis]

I resonate so strongly with OP. I've been wishing for the ability to rerol hero upgrades especially--I maxed out the hero upgrade pool in meta progression and feel like I downgraded the whole game by doing so. Curious if it would go better if I reset the game (or just the upgrades if that's possible) and do things differently.

Would also have loved for a meta upgrade giving you gold and XP at the beginning of a run. Why even have the shop and skill buttons on the first battle when you can't have any XP or gold yet?