So I got to level 50 and now my Victor feels super gimpy

[Dragon]

I leveled my Victor up to 50 and since that's the max level for the main game, my Victor should be feeling super powerful right?

Except he doesn't.

Instead, he feels more gimpy than ever. The reason is because the monster power scales much higher than Victor's power does, which leaves him much weaker relative to their huge, vastly disproportionate increase in strength.

I know I'm not the only player who noticed this, because I've read other posts on this board from players who say things like they were unable to progress in the game because they grinded out too many levels before completing the story, and therefore the monsters became too powerful for them to deal with.

In my case, I can barely survive most encounters if I equip Vanguard outfit with no hexes on. If I turn hexes on, then I die constantly, and can only progress by killing a few monsters, then dying, coming back, killing a few more monsters, dying again, etc.

Is the game really unbalanced in the ways I've mentioned? Or am I missing something?

Is making Victor super gimpy at level 50 a dubious ploy to cause people to buy the Fractured World expansion, since then they can level up 10 more times to level 60? I'm presuming level 60 Victor wouldn't be nearly so gimpy as level 50 Victor is?

[Venuminostrates]

So here's a quote from their FAQ.

Originally posted by Mnementh:

Q: How does mob leveling work?
A: Mobs don't level up in the traditional sense. A Frostcrawler (the nasty ranged blue spiders) is always the same mob - same health, damage, everything. If you get better gear you will naturally kill them faster. However, to keep all areas interesting, mobs get additional modifiers. At some point you will start meeting Deadly Frostcrawlers. Deadly mobs have more damage and a bit more health. Later on you will meet Crippling Frostcrawlers. Crippling monsters do even more damage and cripple (slow down) your character on hit. Each monster has its own progression that is true to its core idea - not all monsters become crippling.

It's pretty common to hear people say that they feel weaker at higher levels. Mostly it's just learning what new trick the monster has to offer you. Almost every attack in the base game can be avoided or timed for deflection by a well placed dodge.

If you don't feel like you're killing fast enough, then I'd advise stacking as many wildcards as you can and using the vampire blood consumable. By now, you should also have a barbarian card. It's pretty important for end game builds since it has the potential to reset all of your cooldowns every 10 seconds. Let your overdrive bar max out before using your demon powers.

You can use pretty much any weapon combination with a build like this, although you don't want to have Sanguine Aura or Berserker Aura, since they stop Barbarian from happening. I'd also suggest something like the Adventurer's outfit for increased overdrive gain and an extra card slot.

If you feel like you're taking too much damage, it comes down to knowing your monsters. I'd advise experiementing with each monster that seems to be giving you trouble and learn what attacks you can avoid and how those monsters telegraph them.

You could also try the vampire's blood as a consumable with one oak card equipped. 1 oak will allow you to keep it up 100% of the time, and that might also help mitigate the damage you are taking.

As for expansions, level 60 will feel just as gimpy as level 50 since the game scales to 55. Fractured Worlds does make the game easier by helping with Talismans for sure, but you're probably not going to get a useful one for a long time, since they drop very rarely. Motorhead helps with a couple of its demon powers though, like death machine and heartseeker. I would argue motorhead is the more helpful expansion in the short run. Solo guitar as a off weapon is amazing as well, since it allows you to keep 20% life drain up 100% of the time.

Something else you might try: I have a level 31 build that is 1 barbarian and the rest tower cards or barbarian and the rest obelisk cards (I switch out depending on the group) and 2x aether vials. It's cavalier's outfit and a Mikkey's revolvers, although only for the increased overdrive gain and healing for 80 health per hit (this works off your demon power hits). You might have to make a custom weapon and transmute Zealous and Vampirsm on it. Meteor / Blink for demon powers.

Super simple build, and I can outkill most level 60s with it. Most of the time, I hold back using weaker demon powers so that I'm not the only one killing stuff. It does burn through aether vials if you're playing with level 60s though. But it allows me to survive with them because I don't ever have to engage with the monsters, I can just run away and hit them with demon powers.

[Dragon]

I feel gimped because:

a) the monsters can take me from full health down to zero in less than a few seconds.

b) I cannot do the same to large mobs of monsters.

c) armor seems almost completely useless.

d) the cooldown to use potions - even though using them constantly is vital - is ridiculously long.

e) demon powers that cause damage are too hard to use, i.e. with Meteor I can't see the cursor 99%+ of the time. The poison cloud is a good skill for escaping, but it's too weak because its damage is way too low. With the moving pillar of flame, it forces me to stand still and it instantly cancels the flame as soon as anything hits me --- how is that good design?!

As for "dodging attacks," that's easy when there is only one or two attacks on the screen. But what about when there is a huge cluster**** of enemy attacks everywhere all over the screen, and no matter where you move, you are going to be hit by something? How does one dodge that?

Yes, the FAQ says that the monsters get more powerful...but it what it doesn't say is how they become overly powerful whilst Victor becomes underpowered.

Another example of an OP monster: I was fighting an epic vampire monster and if you run past a certain range away from where he is, then he magically gets all his health restored to 100% for no reason. Thus, it's impossible to use hit & run, recuperating tactics against him.

I've also found that a lot of bosses magically get their full health back if you die. This happens to me sometimes, and other times it doesn't. So far it's definitely happened to me with the demon that attacks the castle, and also with the second spider boss (not the broodmother). I still have no idea what is going on there. Is it a bug that they got all their health back?

[Venuminostrates]

I'm not sure about the bug. I figured if you die then health resets.

What is your current build, if I might ask? Weapons / Demon Powers / Outfit / Consumables / Cards / Wicked & Divine Properties

[Venuminostrates]

Also, I'm under the opinion that armor is pretty useless... There are those that disagree with me, but I don't stack it.