Feedback [Alpha 0.5.2.3]

Feedback and Suggestions
1

Dear all,
here is a little summary from my gameplay. I will expand this list over time when I gather more experience from game

[Alpha 0.5.0.1]
Classes:

  • Skill points allocation should be confirmed (f.e. like in Grim Dawn)

  • Necromancer’s skelies die rather fast even with nodes for more hp (by design i presume)

  • Primalist’s totems are also pretty underwhelming.

  • Tempest knight gameplay feels smooth

Gameplay:

  • Life leech sucks, really. It’s rate is low and it is not possible to keep character alive in some situations.
  • Minimap is often confusing and cannot be enlarged which sucks
  • Area design could be not that linear as is
  • Striking barels is not intuitive. I found that I need to punch 'em quite late in game and still not feel good
  • Menus on NPCs still don’t contain [X] button in right corner to dismiss it.
  • The precipice minimap is not displayed properly

Typos:

  • On Primalist tree, major 25 points node is named Spell Blade in Shaman class

Overal experience:
Combat overall feels clunky. Responsivity of actions could be better, more fluid. I take fluidity of combat from f.e. Grim Dawn or Path of exile as golden standard (from feeling point of view). Melee range skills are punished by void aura with no other way to mitigate damage. Also enemies hit quite hard which I have no problem with but manual dodging is somehow not feeling good (maybe it is caused by responsivity of actions, or effects like slow that enemies apply on you and you can’t effectively see them).

I would like to see some bar with actuall effects on character : buffs / debuffs

Skill trees on the other hand look very promising. It will take some time to find some good combinations but it is almost there!

I kinda like also new mastery system yet there’s lot of work, mainly in wording of skills. We’ll see where it grows.

Monsters have weird death animation which is not looking good. Attacks they use are also not visible sometimes.

Other experiences:

  • One piece of music (with strong acoustic guitar theme) really reminds me Asturias. Quite nice! :slight_smile:

[Alpha 0.5.2.3]
Game design:

  • The last refuge outskirts - there’s bridge made from fallen pillar. One is standing next to it. From logical point of view why would anyone build two such a big pillars next to themselves?
    It grinds my gears.
  • The armoury - how is that the forges downthere are still running? It seems void creatures have no interest to forge anything.
  • Locations layout has been overall improved. I appreciate it but also some kind of rewards for exploring side ways would be nice. (f.e. Enderal supported exploration by adding mushrooms here and there which increased small amount of weight capacity. In this game it could be like permanent +1 resistance / + 1 health … )
  • I think player should be able to cleanse void sources in area. How can I continue through map if there’s danger (I know about and leave behind) that can kill my people?

Gameplay:

  • Melee is still really dangerous compared to range (Auras, swirling blades, being hit/against not beeing hit in distance)
  • Poping up enemies from void source could be faster.
  • Life leech still sucks
  • Precipice map bug remains
  • Breaking barrels is still not intuitive
  • FPS drops when killing more enemies at once (Erasing strike)
  • Minimap can be enlarged now - good :slight_smile:

Forum:

  • The best forum editing I have ever witnessed! Really good job! :slight_smile:
2

Thank you for the extensive feedback!

 
A few issues - Precipice’s map, for example - have been fixed in 0.5.0.2 and 0.5.0.3.

3

ignore this i put it on the wrong thread

4

Hello all,
Really enjoying the game and how it is at the moment and can’t wait to see what is added in the next 2 years going on year.

Though I have come across an issue that doesn’t happen all the time but is a problem:

  • Where my guys locks out and only dose one skill over and over again this only as happened in the Arena (which got me killed).

Keep the good work up and I hope this helps.

5

I’m pretty much with you on all these points.
@Pajingtonn One thing with the Necromancer I learned is that you need high mana regen. Yes the skellies die pretty quick so be ready to spam spawn em back into existance! LOL You’ll find that the later skills offset this as you raise dead from mob corpses. These are much stronger!
My favorite so far is the Void Knight. Smooth animation and awesome survivability in large mob count areas. (Arena)
While I do agree on pretty much everything you said, I do realize this is an Alpha build and there’s lots to come yet! The linear maps, lack of proper drops for whatever class you’re playing, no drops at all from crates, etc. This is like a testing phase. Work on the lag issue first and get that wrapped up before adding more content. Just my $.02 :smiley:

6

+1. a few other ideas:

  1. buyback tab at vendors, or at the least a Sell tab where you can view what you sold and confirm sale. I accidentally clicked on a few items I would have rather kept and no way to cancel that oopsie.

  2. Knight

  • Tempest feels a bit weak, but it could just be the lower levels. I’ll update as I gain more experience with the skill, but at low levels (10-ish) shield skills do more damage, have more mobility, and have better defense on top of it all. it also has a delay before you start swinging that needs to go away. the whole point of something like Tempest is mobility, and the delay before initiation sort of defeats that.
  1. Melee
  • Mob Auras either need to be reduced in damage, or Melee based classes need higher base defenses. Improving life leech mechanics may also help resolve this, but right now its just too punishing to stay in melee range.
    -I may be lack of experience, but it’s also tough to get off skills when in close range. It may be due to stun mechanics, and I may need to focus on more stun resist on my gear, but at the same time it’s another mechanic that punishes melee more then ranged…ranged don’t have to deal with it simply due to how their class works. Again, Melee should have a higher base stun resist…if that is the issue. If not, then there is an issue with execution of melee skill at close range when the mobs are hitting on you.

Now, all this could change as you level and gain more powerful gear, So I’m adding that as a caveat, but at the same time I feel that a properly balanced class feels solid though challenging at lower levels, and simply more powerful at higher levels. Right Now playing melee just feels punishing at lower levels.

Ill add more as I go along too. But so far I’m enjoying the game! Keep it up, and looking forward to the changes over the next few months!

1 Like
7

I’m sure we’ll have a buyback tab at some point; it’s just a matter of Alpha™ and it being hard to prioritize QoL stuff with the need to add more content relatively quickly. This might be something we don’t get in 'til beta, but it’ll definitely be added at some point.

 

This early in development, balance is going to be fairly approximate due to how much will be changing later in alpha as well as during beta. That said, I will definitely make sure the team discusses the delay you mention as it’s important that skills feel good to play.

 

We’ve been talking about the ranged versus melee issue recently.

Some baseline - or easily accessed - stun resistance might be a good call. I’m not sure about it being class-based, since you’ve Rogues becoming Bladedancers or Marksman and whether they’re considered melee being a bit up in the air. Adding stun resistance to certain nodes and have it not counting against their stat budget - or counting much less than it ordinarily would do - could be one solution. I’ll see what the team think.

 
Appreciate the feedback!

8

Hi @Temjiu,

Just following up;

Due to animation requirements we likely won’t totally remove Tempest’s delay. In the next patch we’ll reduce the delay by half, see how that feels, and then go from there.

For melee characters we plan to have stun avoidance readily available in low level nodes to help them become more resistant to stuns. No ETA on this just yet.

9

Thanks for the replies Sarno! I was wondering if skil animation was playing a part in the execution of tempest. I understand how that can impact the execution/delay time. Looking forward to seeing the improvements!

And in regards to the stun avoidance…I am honestly pulled in 2 directions with it. One one side, I enjoy the concept of it being a mechanic (a.k.a. something you can build towards to have an effect on the battle, and I like the idea that my melee character can wade into melee combat shrugging off (eventually) blows from the enemy that my caster would be knocked around like a rubber ball in the same situation!

On the other hand, especially at those low level, it simply feels right now as a hindrance to enjoyable gameplay. I think the balance is somewhere in the middle, where in normal fights it’s not really an issue, and in tougher fights, you have to be prepared for it rearing it’s head once in awhile. tackle something too difficult for your level and gear, and you should expect to be dazed half the battle! :slight_smile:

I need to get in game and test some more, but to be honest at the current level, I just feel frustration. I regularly have to press a skill button 2-3 times or more just to get it to go off once. I’m assuming this is the fact that I’m getting stunned and can’t get off skill executions (it happens more often when I’m getting mobbed by larger groups).

So right now I feel that it’s at an extreme state. with normal encounters, stuns should be (for a class built around melee, and heavy armor at that) rare instead of common. I understand how class can play a role in this too…I agree that perhaps adding the resist to skill growth as a class (Pending what roles you pick) is one of the better places to put this. a rogue who chooses marksman shouldn’t have a ton of it, while one choosing a melee option (bladedancer?) should have more. Another idea could be to add passives based on class that boost the stun resist on your gear…that way you’d still have to build towards it (tanky vs. glass cannon), but your class choice would have an impact on it.

Not sure how that would help early levels, since it all revolves around getting the stun resist ( on gear and in passives), but it sounds good mechanically. perhaps just easing up a bit on the stuns at lower levels. Not sure what Calc you use to determine a stun, but perhaps starting it off lower, and scaling it faster at higher levels? or perhaps lowering it overall, but scaling it more severely based on level difference? Just brainstorming at this point.

But I do feel that right now melee is something I avoid…even on my sword and shield character, when in fact I should look forward to it on that toon. But instead, I’m dashing back and forth with shield charge to avoid melee. Doesn’t feel very good :smile:

1 Like
10

I understand the frustration of being stunned. It’s definitely possible that it happens too frequently at the moment, especially early in the game when you haven’t really had a chance to get stats to mitigate it.

We can reduce the stun chance of individual enemies, so I’ll do that with some of the early game enemies for now, and we’ll review the situation in our next meeting.

Thanks for all the feedback.

11

Very well written feedback.

I’d like to add on to this point:

The larger groups are usually the “weak” mobs, but their ability to get in a large number of hits (even if the damage is low) and stun lock makes them feel uncharacteristically deadly.

12

Thanks for the response Trasochi! Not sure if you made those changes, but in my play-through today, melee feels much smoother and more responsive. I’m still seeing the stuns, but they feel like they are where they need to be…larger packs and bigger mobs. They are frequent enough that I feel the impact, but not overly done. I can actually spend time in melee now!

It does feel better balanced where it is atm with lower mobs. So far I’ve played up through the Armory (just started lower Precinct), and it has felt good. trash groups feel like trash groups now, and I only worry about them when they are in much larger packs.

A groups of trash + a big mob is concerning, and 2+ big mobs I have to watch out for (a.k.a. I’ll die if I don’t play it safe). It feels exactly like it should feel (to me at least) as a lower level character, and I just hit lvl 14, and have 2 points in relentless (stun avoidance). So whatever you did, made those lower levels enjoyable to play! So In my humble opinion, where it’s at now is a good starting point, and it should scale from there pending of course skill acquisition and gear focus.

SIDE NOTE: Precipice doesn’t seem to have a map. May already be aware, but figured I’d mention it. No mini map or overlay map when you press Tab.

13

We haven’t put out a new patch yet, so I suppose you’re just experiencing the power of positive thinking :smile:

The Precipice min-map bug is known, and tenacious.

14

I updated feedback to current build of game.

15

Just to add on to Pajingtonn,

Playing a Knight, I have noticed the double-tap delay too, especially using Erasing Strike, it just doesn’t drop instantly, also even though I can see by the animation, what the next Mob attack will be, I don’t seem to be able to move out of the way quick enough. even with 44% movement increase.

Maybe its just a lag problem, I am in the UK and I am not sure where the server is. However it could become a real problem at later stages, in D3 you have to be able to react very quickly, something that I feel isn’t happening here on last Epoch.

16

I’d strongly recommend submitting new posts instead of editing old ones.

17

Other than chat and Arena leaderboards, everything is local in the current builds.