Grinding Deeds

[Hellbilly]

Anybody think upgrading the blacksmith costs too many deeds? At least the guild needs only one line to upgrade abilities. The blacksmith has two: armor and weapons.

I often find myself leveling up teams to level five but unable to match their equipment levels. It forces me to grind the Weald above all other dungeons or else I'll find myself with high level teams with crappy gear.

[Felix Krowe]

Yeah, I agree the deeds are a little too important right now, compared to the other resources, from what I've played/seen to date.

[nuther]

The way the game is now, you need to hit up the Weald early and often! Keeping up with gear is very important.

What do people think is the best Hero combo for Weald?

[Felix Krowe]

I feel like strategy games need interesting choices. Being forced to play it this way (hitting Weald early and often) isn't as interesting as if other dungeons were equally enticing early in the game.

[Baywatch]

I agree that hitting up the Weald so often early is a bit boring but, there is a reason we do it. The upgrades provided by deeds are some of the most game changing upgrades in the game. They are well worth their large price tag and simply lowering the cost won't change anything at all. I'll still be spending the first weeks almost exclusively in the Weald.

I'd prefer to see the deed upgrades have less of an impact or at least have everything else be just as meaningful early on.

[Daemonjax]

I agree that currently sticking to Weald is the optimal early game strategy to upgrade the stagecoach (and to a lesser extent the blacksmith). I don't think it's totally broken, but it could be better.


The strategy only works so well (too well, imo) because you can still accumulate a respectable number of busts and crests through random drops in any dungeon. A contributing factor is that it's also optimal to ignore upgrading the tavern, and now we can also delay upgrading the abbey due to free weekly stress relief.

So, I think, lowering the random drop rates of busts and crests in dungeons that reward deeds and paintings would make choosing which dungeon to dive into any particular week more difficult early on -- which would be a good thing, imo. I don't think the weekly stress relief should be free, either. Make that part of the tavern or something.

On the other hand, there will always be an optimal strategy... This is just the current one, and it only affects the early game. Also, it's arguable that talking about strategy in a game you can't lose is silly. But there's no reason for the optimal strategy to not also be the most fun one. And I think everyone would agree that going into different types of dungeons is at least slightly more fun than doing the same dungeon 7 times in a row.

[Peek]

I agree the the heirloom most sought after is deeds. I am constantly searching for a Weald crew because the other heirlooms you find, but deeds you need large quantities to really strengthen the recryuits.

Bleed/dodge/crit crews are my favorite, 2 hellions, a jester, an an occultist.

[Hellbilly]

It seems you might actually end up screwing yourself if you don't hit the Weald always. You end up with experienced characters with gear that doesn't fit the dungeon. There isn't a choice; you have to grind it above all others.

[monsoontide]

Then you get to the point where you have leveled up almost everything but the camping and the nomad wagon - then its a long grind for Crests....

[ttd]

Each stagecoach upgrade should require a random heirloom instead of deeds. Randomizing the stagecoach upgrades will give incentive to bounce around to different areas instead of always heading to Weald.

[Daemonjax]

I can't think of any downsides to randomizing it.

[_DarkSol_]

+1 to randomising deed/heirloom per dungeon. It would be a very small but much needed step to diversifying the grind.

[nuther]

Thematically, from the perspective of you as person in charge of restoring the town, wouldn't you want to secure the lands around the town first? You are clearing the lands, and can improve the coach, which allows more Heroes to access the town. You need more Heroes because there arfe 4 zones to explore. It all makes sense.

This means clearing out The Weald. I'm OK with a heavy focus on Weald at first.

I think 2 x Hellion is also good for Weald. I'm using that now, and its fun.

[Hellbilly]

Originally posted by nuther:

Thematically, from the perspective of you as person in charge of restoring the town, wouldn't you want to secure the lands around the town first?

This means clearing out The Weald. I'm OK with a heavy focus on Weald at first.

I think 2 x Hellion is also good for Weald. I'm using that now, and its fun.

Storyline explanations why deeds are important are nice but doesn't get rid of the fact that you need such an excessive amount. Maybe it should be toned down a little. You need about eighty four deeds just to get armor and weapons to level four. How many trips to the Weald is that? All your guys will be level five by then. There comes a point when the thematic explanation becomes a burden.

[GriP]

Agree, deeds and these heirloom things in general are another aspect of the game that deserves an improved balance pass. As it stands, players tend to accrue a lot of material for upgrading sanitarium and stress-reducing buildings in the early game - IOW precisely when they are going to make the _least_ use of these structures.

Meanwhile the improvements that are of most use - stagecoach and blacksmith - share the same material reqs. This is a good example of how player choice is limited by arbitrary mechanics in the early game.

[h0b0king]

I find upgrading the guild and pushing skills to higher levels is quite effective at toughening up my heroes, and really you can find deeds anywhere. If one is trying to take down all the green bosses prior to moving on to yellow bosses there's really no need to grind deeds or over explore the weald.

A party with one set of upgrades (cheapish) can kill any green boss and by the time they're all dead I usually have 4 or 5 full teams of 3rd level heroes and plenty of deeds. Maybe this isn't the optimal way to gain upgrades the fastest, but it does offer variety.