"Ode to Castlevania" stage really light on EXP...

[MaChao]

Getting a character off the ground in this stage takes ages.
I get that it is probably meant to be played in endless given its size and gimmicks, but still, the EXP amount feels incredibly low overall.

[henryhunhk]

charm is not working; obvious when compared to other stages

[UmbreonMessiah]

To all the people saying "just use Darkanas, lol":

1) Not everyone wants to use these things. They shouldn't be REQUIRED to have a good play session.

2) Darkanas were stated to be EXPERIMENTAL and may change in the future due to balancing. If your favorite cheese strats stop existing, where does that leave the balance and EXP curve of the Castle?

3) Your anecdotal, busted play sessions are not important to the discussion. Please humble brag elsewhere.

[The Fool]

Originally posted by UmbreonMessiah:

To all the people saying "just use Darkanas, lol":

1) Not everyone wants to use these things. They shouldn't be REQUIRED to have a good play session.

2) Darkanas were stated to be EXPERIMENTAL and may change in the future due to balancing. If your favorite cheese strats stop existing, where does that leave the balance and EXP curve of the Castle?

3) Your anecdotal, busted play sessions are not important to the discussion. Please humble brag elsewhere.

Also, the DLC stage unlocks at the same time as inlaid library, which says to me that it should be balanced in at least a roughly comparable way. Needless to say, that's well before you get even regular arcanas, much less darkanas.

[Frostea]

Originally posted by The Fool:

Originally posted by UmbreonMessiah:

To all the people saying "just use Darkanas, lol":

1) Not everyone wants to use these things. They shouldn't be REQUIRED to have a good play session.

2) Darkanas were stated to be EXPERIMENTAL and may change in the future due to balancing. If your favorite cheese strats stop existing, where does that leave the balance and EXP curve of the Castle?

3) Your anecdotal, busted play sessions are not important to the discussion. Please humble brag elsewhere.

Also, the DLC stage unlocks at the same time as inlaid library, which says to me that it should be balanced in at least a roughly comparable way. Needless to say, that's well before you get even regular arcanas, much less darkanas.

Inlaid Library has crazy good EXP gain though.

[Kali]

it's really not hard to pass 100 if you build right. My weaker runs do tend to end around 100 which is lower than usual for me but 200-300 is very doable. above 300 with a "god setup" is not hard.

for those who might have some kind of reading comp issue, yes I did agree the xp is a little low, but that you can still reach high levels

[WZ]

+1 definitely xp stingy vs other stages
I typically end up in the 50-80 range tops, way lower than in other stages
even in the last few minutes, barely anything ever drops any red gems

[Supernatural Cookie]

Just did a run, I have maxed out all upgrades and maxed the weapons and yeah, run ended at level 50. No crown, no EXP increasing stuff outside of what you can get from basic upgrades outside of runs. Considering most runs in other levels are double that, I think they may be right that something isn't working as intended.

I think it MAY be because theres so many bosses in the stage that you get an abundance of chests, so that might be how they're balancing it, but its definitely odd.

[Boshea]

Originally posted by Iipeikousmith:

Maybe make a containment thread for the people who use lifesign scan or darkanas so we can have a proper discussion here. We already know they trivialize all stages, the point is that some people don't like being forced into taking them to break over lvl 60.

Here is a run without either of those. By comparison I can hit 1.7K with Darkana's but the game becomes almost impossible to navigate the map aroung the 20 minute mark. There are so many Arma Dios on the map just grab Korma, Skull, and/or Crown out of them and you'll have more than enough XP.
https://imgur.com/a/CIaT2vV

[Griffith]

First attempt of the stage right now and I'm lvl 500, probably going to leave since I don't think I can die

The EXP rate is fine if you make use of the Arma Dios and max your growth

[Frostea]

Originally posted by Griffith:

First attempt of the stage right now and I'm lvl 500, probably going to leave since I don't think I can die

The EXP rate is fine if you make use of the Arma Dios and max your growth

We’re not talking about endless mode.

[Ven]

what i have found helpful is to run the crystal tears darkana, each kill of a frozen enemy makes them drop hearts that give +hp +maxhp +growth

[zero254]

I have no idea what you guys are talking about, things give a lot of xp in the starting area and I often end up zooming through it with the right setup.

[MaChao]

Originally posted by Iipeikousmith:

Maybe make a containment thread for the people who use lifesign scan or darkanas so we can have a proper discussion here. We already know they trivialize all stages, the point is that some people don't like being forced into taking them to break over lvl 60.

I find it absolutely fascinating just how many don't even seem to be able to parse the topic of this thread...
Just the amount of "My build can reach 9 gorillion levels in 12 femto seconds!" posts...that's all fine, but nobody is talking about it not being possible...

But "Ode to Castlevania" is the only stage with a significantly lower baseline EXP amount.
The baseline becomes relevant if you *don't* want to play meta builds, if you want to do gimmicks or challenges or heck, even for casuals who just pick what they think is cool.

And i just found it interesting that what this stage did... nothing more, nothing less...

[MaChao]

Originally posted by Splat ♥:

Originally posted by MaChao:

Getting a character off the ground in this stage takes ages.
I get that it is probably meant to be played in endless given its size and gimmicks, but still, the EXP amount feels incredibly low overall.

Replace exp with killing bosses and grabbing the chest they drop?

But you are aware that chests don't make a build, right?
An abundance of chests are great to level what you already have, not so much to get your build off the ground.

[Xersin]

"I shouldn't have to take EXP items to gain levels!" has the same energy as "I shouldn't have to evolve my items to do damage and survive!"

The game gives you tools to get more power, your refusal to use them is not the game's fault.