Very little new in this game. Would expect more in a sequel.

[Cybersquidz]

Fewer classes (Witchhunter and Priest missing), fewer Tavern options, no challenge modifiers, fewer active skills, fewer relics, no puzzles, no keys. One new mechanic - dodge rolling. Otherwise, it is all the same but with less effects and variety.

HOH1 launched with 130 Relics, HOH2 launches with 98, but most are just copies of HOH1 relics (some are the same effect, some literal copies). From comparing them, I'd say 21 are actually new effects - usually tied to the dodge mechanic.

HOH2 Relic | HOH1 Relic | Effect

• Amulet of Health | Heavy Gauntlets | HP Up
  
• Amulet of Mana | Mage Robe | Mana Up
  
• Apothecary's Antidote | Amulet of Resistance | Resistance Up
  
• Apothecary's Flask | Apothecary's Flask | Potion Charge
  
• Apothecary's Sickle | NONE | Chance to gain Potion Charge on hit
  
• Apothecary's Tincture | Apothecary's Sphere + Dash Charge | Buff on potion use
  
• Arachnoid Legacy | NONE | Periodically summon pets
  
• Arctic Step | Searing Sabatons | Leave behind trail of elemental damage
  
• Assassin's Mask | NONE | Reduce detection range, damage increase to unaware enemies
  
• Belt of the Brute | Curio's Coffer | HP and Damage
  
• Bent Knife | NONE | weapon crit damage per curse
  
• Blackjack | Giant Boots | Stun on collision
  
• Blue Dragon Scale | Any Armor + Resist (Curio's Coffer, etc) | Armor and Resist
  
• Book of Arms | Sword of Kings | Damage up
  
• Book of Enlightenment | Book of Enlightenment | XP up
  
• Book of Spells | Scepter of Kings | Spell Damage up
  
• Caltrops | Bomb Pouch (Similar) | Drop damaging thing when dodge
  
• Cauldron of Fire | Chaos Wand (Similar) | Periodically shoot things
  
• Chain Undershirt | Great Helm | Armor
  
• Champion's Medal | NONE | Parry from all directions, Parry+
  
• Chaos Orb | NONE | Random Elemental Damage to spells
  
• Closed Circuit | FlameTongue/Frostbrand | Add Elemental damage to attack
  
• Codex of Power | Curio's Coffer | Attack and Spell Damage
  
• Coiled Serpent | FlameTongue/Frostbrand | Add Elemental damage to attack
  
• Crest of Courage | Broad Sword | Damage up
  
• Crest of Triumph | NONE | Damage to Elites
  
• Crest of Victory | NONE | Damage to Bosses
  
• Crowning Achievement | Curio's Coffer, | Damage and Spell damage up
  
• Crude Whetstone | Serrated Scimitar | Crit chance up
  
• Decaying Hand | NONE | Weapon Damage per curse
  
• Discordant Fiddle | EarthSplitter (Similar) | Physical AOE to Spell Hit
  
• Divine Lantern | Medusa's Charm (Similar) | Cone of effect, debuff
  
• Dragon's Claw | NONE | Crit Damage
  
• Dragon's Heart | Ring of Health, Heavy Gauntlets | Regen, HP up
  
• Drums of Battle | Elven Ruby (Similar) | Buff when casting spell
  
• Ectoplasm | Frostbrand | Add cold and freeze to attack
  
• Elemental Prism | NONE | Summon damaging entity on casting
  
• Exceptional Whetstone | Serrated Scimitar | Crit Up
  
• Feather Talisman | NONE | Dash Charge
  
• Fire Salts | Flametongue | Add fire/burn to attack
  
• Gambeson | Great Helm | Armor
  
• Girdle of Might | Elven Bow | Damage
  
• Greater Amulet of Vigor | Adventurer's Garb | HP & Mana
  
• Greater Ring of Rejuvenation | Greater Ring of Rejuvenation | Regen
  
• Greater Ring of Resistance | Amulet of Resistance | Resist+
  
• Greater Ring of Speed | Bracer's of Quickness, left boot of speed | Att speed, move speed
  
• Hallowed Bone | Monster Pamphlet : Undead | Damage to Undead
  
• Headhunter Contract | NONE | Damage to Elites
  
• Hypnotic Flute | Mask of Bewilderment (Similar) | Debuff Chance on Spell
  
• Infused Amethyst | Robe of the Archmage | Resist + Damage
  
• Infused Aquamarine | Robe of the Archmage | Resist + Damage
  
• Infused Peridot | Robe of the Archmage | Resist + Damage
  
• Infused Topaz | Robe of the Archmage | Resist + Damage
  
• Kyras Quiver | Wand of Chaos | Every x seconds, shoot
  
• Life Stone | Life Stone | HP on Kill
  
• Maggot Gland | NONE | Periodic AOE attack
  
• Mana Crystallizer | Essence Collector | Chance for MP on kill
  
• Mana Stone | Mana Stone | MP on Kill
  
• Markham's Amulet | Markham's Amulet | stats per # of relics
  
• Markham's Mace | Markham's Mace | stats per # of relics
  
• Markham's Purse | Markham's Purse | stats per # of relics
  
• Markham's Stone | Markham's Stone | stats per # of relics
  
• Markham's Wand | Markham's Wand | stats per # of relics
  
• Masonry Chisel | Shaftlocke Pickaxe | More resource gain
  
• Mining Pickaxe | Shaftlocke Pickaxe | More resource gain
  
• Moonstone Pendant | Gloves of Warding | Shields X damage, y second recharge
  
• Orb of Restoration | NONE | Heal per Mana Spent
  
• Pendant of Prowess | Spell Book | Spell damage
  
• Phoenix Feather | Phoenix Feather | Auto-Use-Potion
  
• Pickled Eye | NONE | Spell Power per Curse
  
• Pristine Focus Crystal | Staff of Unstable Casting, Spell Book | Spell power and Crit Chance
  
• Protective Charm | Dragonscale Mail | flat % damage reduction
  
• Rabbit's Foot | Slippery Cloak | Evasion
  
• Red Dragon Scale | Any Armor + Resist (Curio's Coffer, etc) | Armor + Resist
  
• Ring of Health | Ring of Health | HP
  
• Ring of Mana | Ring of Mana | MP
  
• Ring of Rejuvenation | Ring of Rejuvenation | Regen
  
• Ring of Resistance | Amulet of Resistance | Resistance
  
• Ring of Speed | Left boot of Speed | Move Speed
  
• Sacred Cross | NONE | Less Curse Gain, Debuff Duration down
  
• Sanctified Water | NONE | Temporary remove curse on Potion use
  
• Sands of Time | Ring of Arcane Power (similar) | Spell Cooldown down, chance to reset
  
• Scroll of Earthquake | Blowgun/Chakram/Magic Missile | When Casting, do X damaging thing
  
• Scroll of Hellfire | Blowgun/Chakram/Magic Missile | When Casting, do X damaging thing
  
• Scroll of Magic Missile | Scroll of Magic Missile | When Casting, do X damaging thing
  
• Scroll of Meteor | Blowgun/Chakram/Magic Missile | When Casting, do X damaging thing
  
• Scroll of Swiftness | NONE | Gain Dash Charge on Spending Mana
  
• Searing Torch | Blowgun/Chakram/Magic Missile | When Casting, do X damaging thing
  
• Skull Talisman | Blackjack (Similar) | Chance to Stun on Spell hit
  
• Spider Web | NONE | Periodic AOE attack
  
• Spiked Pauldrons | Mail of Thorns | Armor up, thorns up
  
• Splintered Focus Crystal | Staff of Unstable Casting | spell crit up
  
• Splitting Axe | Shaftlocke Pickaxe | resource gain up
  
• Throwing Stars | Judgement/Skullsmasher | every x attacks, shoot a thing
  
• Thunderbird Feather | NONE | Dodge Charge
  
• Torc of Alacrity | Bracers of Quickness | attack speed up
  
• Trader's Coin | Cloak of Many Pockets | gold up
  
• Wicked Hooks | Bloodletter | Bleed stacks

[Lord Cantbeatme]

So firstly, the witch hunter was a DLC. I do miss the priest class personally. However, I wouldn't say that there isn't much new:

Totally new gear system where you can play with a dozen or so different weapon types. These weapons all also have secondary attacks. And if you're dual-wielding some options (shield, tome, 1h), then you can really mix things up.

Attributes affect which gear you can utilize. These attributes also contribute to your stats like mana/health regen, or crit chance/damage.

When your class hits level 10, you unlock specializations which give you a trio of options. Each has an active and passive skill. There's a good amount of variety here.

You can skip through levels after beating bosses. The new teleport mechanic lets you skip further and in a quicker amount of time rather than having to jump through multiple portals.

You already mentioned the dodge, but failed to mention that some classes and items add effects to that dodge as well.

There's new resources to collect rather than just stacking ore alone. So that adds some additional challenge.

Progressing different classes not only gives increased stats like in the first game, but also increased attributes as well which gives you another way to stack power.

-

All of that said, I would like to see them bring back the modifier fountain because that added some additional variety and I don't always feel like grinding resources to fund my runs. There were also more modifiers to play around with.

The puzzles were also fun and I liked how they remained a challenge even when you knew how they worked.

I personally don't mind them copying the relics and trinkets because I think they were already very good. And they're more or less balanced. But I would also like the option to buy from a random assortment before a run like we used to be able to.

-

I do think the devs will do a good job moving forward. Some improvements might end up as DLC, but the game itself is very fun already even if some things from HoH1 are missing.