Offer two choices from upgrade chests.

[gienekman]

Why?
Half of the characters have a skill that you hate getting as the first/second/any chest.

Diamond has Strong Will. Without bulk up/berserk early what's the point of Diamond?

Lilith has Necrophile(seriously, why is it even there?)

Scarlet has Lasting Flame. It's kinda ok, but if you need burn to last so long, your build sucks.

Shana has the Halo which is ok, but for wasting 3 levels to get it other choices are way better. Maybe make each part of the halo also give a bonus?

It's that, or making those skills into something more useful.
Diamond is the only exception, i think the only way to make Strong Will compare to other choices is turning it into another growth skill, but i have no idea how.

[Knax]

Why bother presenting only 4 upgrades, just present a tree and choose upgrades as you go. That's the whole point, there wouldn't be any challenge left when you can always choose the optimal path.

[superginger]

its not just about challenge, why is an item in the game if the best move is to always decline it?

[gienekman]

Originally posted by superginger:

its not just about challenge, why is an item in the game if the best move is to always decline it?

Exactly, when i play diamond and get Strong Will, the whole run is spoiled, since you can't beef her up properly.

[carp]

Yeah, the other problem is, some of the upgrades are clearly meant to be applied to characters in a particular order, but they come out in random order. Raven makes no sense unless you get Flock of Crows first. Lilith needs to get a boost to her speed from killing only after she's already able to kill lots of enemies with Necromancer.

It's a big ask, but I think this has to be treed. Each character has two or three different ways to be built, which you select, but for each path, the upgrades come out in a particular order that actually makes sense.