This weeks update finally opens the Gates of Despair… Beyond the gates are 50 more challenge levels. Each run pulls randomly from all 5 previous areas. The challenge starts building more and more, so as you advance, you’ll need to get increasingly broken in your build to survive.
And to that end, I’ve introduced a new rarity of item: Heroic, and designed 26 new items for this tier. These items are very rare, more rare than Legendary items, and they only start dropping beyond the Gates of Despair. These items are my take on “Set Items”. What I don’t like about Set Items from others games, is that they end up as the developers making your build for you. Where’s the fun in that? So while each of the 3 items in each set are very powerful, and are meant to synergize well, there is no explicit bonus for using them together. Some builds might use all 3, others might just want one of them. It’s all up to you.
This is my first stab at end-game content. Getting the balance right on all of this is hard, I’m sure you’ve had one of your builds nerfed at one point or another. That’s not exactly fun, for you or for me, but my long term goal with this game is to make it as deep and fun as possible, and that unfortunately does require some balancing.
If you feel the Gates of Despair is too hard, or too easy, or some item is overpowered or underpowered, please let me know.
Your feedback is my compass in this wilderness. I suspect that with this new level of challenge, a lot of items will prove to be too weak, and might need some buffs.
Anyway, there is more in store. Thanks for sticking with me and playing my game.
- CLYDE
Bugs
- Witch Trials map no longer shows at the end of runs in place of the regular map
Balance
- Each area no longer enforces a specific progression, you can tackle the levels in any order you wish
- The entrance fee for each area has been substantially increased
- Removed the gated doors from the Forge, Craftsman, and Alchemist in the Refuge
- The Intro section now leads to the Coffers or Cemetery, instead of the Sanguinary or Cemetery
- Lowered Coin scaling amounts in later areas
- Increased the Coins you get from the Coffers
- Improved the potential rewards for looting graves in the Cemetery