Insta death traps kill the vibe

[Murky]

Game has some potential for being an overall enjoyable roguelite, but there are two elements that kill any joy for me making it essentially a time waster:

1. Insta death by burial bugs that especially in caverns simply spawn without any warning pretty much anywhere and also during fights with othermonster killing my char almost in an instant - so no matter how well i play, i just run out of luck in this scenario (died 3 times in a row like this in 3 area). That's plain sadistic and makes takes all the fun away.

2. This could be mitigated by nerfing the enemy, giving some clear signal the that the bugs will arrive, so there is at least a split second for doing some evasive manoeuvre and even better adding an option for auto-use of potions that should serve as second-wind as there is virtually no time to drink the potion in chaos in that 1 second deadly event.

The unfair grind is real. Also would be nice to have after some time access to advanced areas without the need of going always from level 1.

[Jack]

If you keep moving the bugs generally don't spawn that close to you. They also quickly become weak as you level. Use a dash charge if you need to get out of the middle of a group quickly

About the second point - there is a way to do that. after you beat the caverns there's an npc you can find in the next area. Saving them will allow them to open the dark citadel doors in forest 1 where you'll be able to skip the earlier levels. How far you can skip depends on the highest area you've unlocked and resets with every NG+

[Murky]

Originally posted by Jack:

If you keep moving the bugs generally don't spawn that close to you. They also quickly become weak as you level. Use a dash charge if you need to get out of the middle of a group quickly

Thanks for your reply.

About the second point - there is a way to do that. after you beat the caverns there's an npc you can find in the next area. Saving them will allow them to open the dark citadel doors in forest 1 where you'll be able to skip the earlier levels. How far you can skip depends on the highest area you've unlocked and resets with every NG+

Thanks for giving me some hope on that level skipping, but the problem with the bugs is literally that they insta-kill me and come out of nowhere, taking potion or dodging is often not an option unless you have super-fast reflexes. The no-warning out-of-blue appearance is simply too discouraging - the amount of frustration this brings is unbearable.

Please devs either nerf their initial damage or give us some slightly more time to respond and/or for gods sake - allow auto-drinking of potions. I am glad i only played demo and didn't invest money in the game. But will be watching this discussion for some update/patch that would incentivise my return.

[Jack]

Originally posted by Murky:

I am glad i only played demo

The demo is a pre-release build of the game. It's possible they've already been nerfed and that's why I've never noticed a problem with them. Check the patch notes

[Cannable Dirt]

Just wait until you encounter the lightning mage skeltons or the purple wisp-ghosts later on. The game isn't supposed to be easy, you'll die a lot, but nothing you gain is wasted. You'll always get stronger in one way or another.

In one of my first few runs when I finally beat the first boss and got to the crypts, rng put a buttload of enemies all around me at the very start of the level. I tried to run and fight but I just kept pulling more and more mobs. Of course I died but I learned from that and next time I got further.

To me that's the beauty of these games. It's like how games used to be before you could save, always start at the very beginning and get as far as you can. Difference is, you're gaining xp to make yourself stronger and you're getting gold and mats to upgrade your town, also to make you stronger.

After 2 weeks of playing, I have all my characters at lvl 25 and those bugs are trivial to me.

Good luck adventurer!

[RopeDrink]

It's a non-issue simply by moving or listening for the audio cue. Much like the falling rocks have a visual trap-tile, you can hear a blatant rumbling sound for a whole second before bug-traps, and if you keep moving (which you should be in a bullet-hell-esque rogue), then bugs will appear while you're safe in the distance.

That's before you consider dashing, or the fact you will inevitably one-shot or face-tank them by default just by working on a little background progression - with various characters also having high health, armour, parry/block, life-steal, auras, and other elements on top to make life even easier than it already is.

This is typical stuff that doesn't require any form of nerf. To be killed in the way described requires you to be low-level, standing stock-still or barely moving, not hearing or reacting to the audio/visual cue, having no dashes, and having the damage-output of soggy tissue.

I wager you'll be waiting a very long time to be "incentivised" by "nerfs" when this sort of bog-standard thing has been present within all versions of Hammerwatch for a decade now. Such basic hurdles aren't a problem with the game - but the flaw of players inclined to quit over super early woes, seeking 'nerfs' instead of improving themselves in a rogue-lite all about background prog, where dying (at the expense of time and progress), growing stronger, and trying it all again until you succeed is standard fare.