My Dark Energy Feedback

[CombatWombat]

Wow, this sector took a while to play through. Firstly because it is a BIG update, secondly because I had to stop half way through out of frustration.

While I definitely enjoyed it, it is also my least favorite update and the most controversial imo.

- Power services is BEAUTIFUL! But we barely even stay there. It's just like a corridor. Big wasted opportunity.
- The music, as always, is fantastic!
- I overall enjoyed the change in enemy density throughout the sector but there could be a few more spots with enemies.
- Overall it seemed a bit rushed. And while I appreciate that an update doesn't take 2 years or longer like other games, the first impression is the lasting one. I'm sure I'd enjoy it more if updates took a bit more time and would be a bit more refined.
- The "rushed" feeling is supported by the lack of new furniture in the new sectors.
- The new spawning mechanism is fantastic! Drops need a bit more tweaking though, as some items are now harder to come by.
- My least favorite change is still the jetpack. It was an awesome item that got severely crippled. The biggest blunder they did imo. For me, the jetpack is an endgame item. One that enables you to go back and explore the facility in a completely new way. The jetpack should be restored to its original functionality and put close to the end of the game. There is no reason making it available so early only to severely cripple it and outright deny it in portal worlds.
- It was annoying to find out about digital ore only after finishing dark energy 😠. Some people avoid spoilers, I don't read updates or the wiki until I finished the new content. I never thought the ore hid behind a resource from the previous section :( Thankfully the new armor that requires it is garbage so I didn't miss much. (Apparently the email where you learn it said something about the Christmas portal world. :( So I just missed that )
- The radiation armor seems completely pointless 🤔🤔🤔 I run faster and have better healing with other armor combos AND do not have to deal with radiation constantly.
- The Exor armor is nice. Maybe we could get a pest companion as 2 piece bonus.

My biggest criticism

and the reason for my frustration and rage quiting half way though is the balancing. Exor Cha, Volatile Exor, Jotun all seemed extremely poorly balanced. The fix did some good, though. The exor cha seems to be over nerfed now, reducing it's teleporting frequency would have been enough imo.

But the general problem I see is this: Harder enemies must be a bit more tanky, which in itself is not a problem if: it ramps up slowly and everything else accommodates it. Neither seemed to be the case here.
My playstyle significantly changed from all the other sectors and I hated it. I love exploring. I would get my survival stats ready, my items sorted, my bullets packed and wander out until my backpack was full of stuff, night dropped or I wanted to craft that new recipe I just found. All previous sectors accommodated that. With the new enemies I was quickly out of ammo and healing and my playstyle diverted to constantly teleporting back and forth managing inventory farming bullets etc. The explorer feeling was completely gone and frustration kicked in. Add to that some bugs like the Jotun shield not showing correctly leading to him not being frozen and I had to stop before I started to hate the game.
The problem is, and this has come up on the forums a few times, bullet and healing stack/charges are way to small for no apparent reason. Bullet stacks do not make a fight easy or hard, magazine size does. But the small stacks mean that your inventory is constantly full or you need to shuffle back and forth. Add to this, that some bullets are hard to come by and the tanky enemies add a real layer of logistic frustration to the game.

But luckily the solution is easy. At least tripple bullet stack size and 1.5-2 times the amount of bullets recipes and drops give. More bullets in the same space doesn't make an enemy easier but it makes exploring enjoyable again.

I made a thread about this: https://steamcommunity.com/app/427410/discussions/0/600769761663604500/?tscn=1739131489
And a video that I think is worth watching: https://odysee.com/@CombatWombat:4/2025-02-10-20-35-31:5?r=5gxX2irf5YFB42uZziCBYyLg9v69DVij

Another telltale sign that bullets are out of balance is, that the deatomizer is still the best weapon by far and kind OP.
- It still kills faster than all other weapons even the newer weapons. Yes even the enemies that are supposedly resistant to it.
- You get one BIG stack of ammunition that can quickly be exchanged for a new one at base without the need for farming whatsoever. (Still the charges went quickly with the new enemies and constant teleporting was needed here, too. 👎)

The skink is going in the right direction though, a massive stack/magazin that is easy to refill. However enemies still die slower than with the deatomizer 🤷‍♂️
The Rocket launcher does everything wrong: expensive ammo, medium stack size. But it might have it's use for special enemies.

Overall this could have been a fantastic update but imo it was just a nice one. I'm interested in where the story goes but I likely won't do another replay or extensive farming this time around. (for the first time)

[Air Raider]

I believe they should move deatomizer above hydroplant tier, or straight up delete it because its hard to balance without turning it into a tickle gun.

[Jeffman12]

I've accidentally killed more of the Jotun guys with the Skink (by saturating an area with skink spit, and the Jotun hangs around until it pops) than I have intentionally killed them with anything else. I haven't used a rocket launcher on them, yet, but it seems a moot comparison if they have a full body shield. The rocket should probably come earlier by comparison.
Harder enemies don't necessarily need to be tankier, if they can seemingly coordinate. Two or more Cha could easily be formidable as their stats are now if they alternated between melee and ranged attacks with more intent. Say you had two or more on you, one (maybe per player) would be on melee while all others try to get ranged shots in, and then they rotate.

[Kaijudomage]

While I do agree the jetpack was introduced way to early, I feel like the nerf barely affected it when used with the grav cube trinket, and considering they do want to build areas that can't be snapped in half by the pack as well, but at least on a first run as the jetpack is only disabled the first time in a portal world until you finish it.
imo the new long jump pack is far better movement wise, and at least at present isn't affected by the lock and if I want to get high I can put a jump pad down or on a ramp etc.

[Palo Wagner]

I dont agree with the jetpack but i do with all the rest

[PAPIPATRIOTA]

I think the skink is a very broken weapon, it has a lot of bullets, does a lot of damage and barely sacrifices anything.
I think a good way to balance it would be to emit a constant dose of radiation, and it makes some sense since it is a bug that likes radiation.

[Undertaker Grim]

Originally posted by Kaijudomage:

While I do agree the jetpack was introduced way to early, I feel like the nerf barely affected it when used with the grav cube trinket, and considering they do want to build areas that can't be snapped in half by the pack as well, but at least on a first run as the jetpack is only disabled the first time in a portal world until you finish it.
imo the new long jump pack is far better movement wise, and at least at present isn't affected by the lock and if I want to get high I can put a jump pad down or on a ramp etc.

Yeah with the gravity cube (which is basically free) the Jetpack is still fine, I mean you can basically fly forever to get to the floating Easter egg in the digital area. Being unable to use it in portal worlds when they gave us the jump pack to fill the gap is fine imho.

[CombatWombat]

Originally posted by Undertaker Grim:

Yeah with the gravity cube (which is basically free) the Jetpack is still fine, I mean you can basically fly forever to get to the floating Easter egg in the digital area. Being unable to use it in portal worlds when they gave us the jump pack to fill the gap is fine imho.

No, it severely limits the jetpack from what it could be because of how early it was released. It got crippled to the level of the jumppack and the jumppack is garbage.

They probably were a bit shocked what people did with the jetpack otherwise the wouldn't have nerfed it into the ground.

I think most people never used the full potential of the jetpack to come to this conclusion.

[Undertaker Grim]

Well that is the nature of early access. It is super powerful, still, and really messed with any and all level design. Reactors feels very large and a little empty right now but you can traverse 90% of it with the jetpack and avoid most enemies and encounters until you’re forced to in the narrow hallways and such. Forcing players of all skill levels to engage with the content within portal worlds isn’t a bad thing in general, especially when you’re trying to craft a coherent story, and I don’t understand your argument against the nerfs besides “it hurts my own personal power fantasy.”

Also, unfortunate about the digital ore bits, but again we’re playing early access with content coming out in waves. I think the players that start over with the new updates have the right idea, as the game has changed on a fundamental level from a year ago, for the better.

[CombatWombat]

Even in early access you just don't do that. It pisses people of and rightly so. It's blatantly obvious how the jetpack could be used. My guess is that they were shocked how people used it to explore out of bounds and how they found content that should not be seen.

Anyway it has nothing to do with power fantasy. You could limit the jetpack in height and duration without making it ♥♥♥♥.

Few examples why it sucks:
- You are always walking on eggshells. If you hit the top you are toast, there is nothing you can do, you fall to your death. Beforehand you could recover just enough to break you fall most of the times. Trying to reach the higher ledge? Gamble for your life.
- This jetpack has some kind of AI that tells it when you are standing on solid ground because that is the only condition when it resets. Landing in water? Tough luck. Swim to sold ground first before you can start again.
- Immersion is a fickle thing, but I find it extremely immersion breaking that the thing doesn't cool while falling through the air but standing still on ground. Not to speak of the arbitrary rule of not working the first time in portal worlds. 🤡

At least make it consistent and let it work only in the facility/ our reality.

[Iraneth The Goat]

...did you make two posts just to complain about the jetpack?
jumppack is based, I love it alot.
also the Deatomeizerd was just buffed because people felt it was too weak, and I do agree it's alot better now but I disagree it's really OP, it has little ammo before you need to recharge, and to do so you need to have this very heavy laser battery on you. So yes it's a bit strong but you are still losing alot to use it.