Through my extensive exploration of various builds within the Primalist class, with my most recent focus being on a lightning strike build, I have come to a realization that significantly impacts my enjoyment of the game. The primary concern at hand revolves around the lack of satisfaction and impact experienced during combat encounters. Despite the presence of visually impressive damage numbers, the auditory and tactile elements accompanying spellcasting fail to evoke a sense of gratification.
Allow me to draw a comparison to my experience with the Diablo IV beta, wherein I had the opportunity to play as a lightning strike druid. Despite the classâs initial difficulties, I found immense satisfaction in the audiovisual feedback of my attacks. The resonating crackle of lightning and the palpable sensation accompanying each strike provided a level of engagement that compensated for the rough starting point. The exemplary sound design and impactful execution of skills within the Diablo druidâs repertoire greatly enhanced the overall enjoyability of the gameplay.
In my assessment, the primary issue lies in the auditory representation of skills within the Primalist class (I can only comment on the skills I have personally utilized). In my current lightning strike build, despite the visually captivating display of electrifying bolts filling the screen, the accompanying sound fails to deliver the desired impact. This deficiency persists across a range of other skills I have employed, where the audio falls short in conveying the intended sense of power and efficacy. Notably, this inadequacy becomes more pronounced with the employment of heavy-hitting abilities, which undermines the experience of wielding these grandiose powers.
I have been thoroughly enjoying Last Epoch and hold a genuine desire to witness its improvement as it approaches its full release. The significance of audio, particularly concerning the skills that players employ incessantly, cannot be overstated in maximizing the pleasure derived from a game of this nature.
The strange thing is that I donât think I have seen this brought up too many times. Not that I even myself really thought about it. Now that someone said it, I do agree completely. Sounds of attacks and things donât really have that âimpactâ.
Not that I expect them to be fixed any time soon. I believe they have greater priorities atm as 1.0 is nearing unless sound upgrade has been in the works for a while already. This is a concern that I hope to get fixed in the future. Hopefully sooner than later.
Iâd also like to bring up the matter of music now that matter of stuff we are listening is brought up. The music isnât bad, but its not exactly memorable most of the time. In fact, my favorite music in LE is its main theme. Thatâs top tier music.
Iâd love to have that available in, say, Spotify??
Youâre absolutely correct, and its small details like this which make all the difference in the world regarding the satisfaction you get from playing. Fortunately, I think it is not that hard to rework the audio a little bit, so we could reasonably expect some developing time towards, or after, 1.0.
I would extend your observation towards all kinds of feedback⌠and to monsters as well as player characters. Player damage comes about very silently, no âummphsâ from your character or anything. And monsters do not announce their attacks by making noises either. At the same time, there are too few stun effects being delivered by the monsters to properly depict their own strength, little to no visual cues that youâre being heavily hit, no drops of blood or anything.
These feedback issues are not just cosmetic but also important for gameplay itself. With too many monsters on screen, there is a lot of chaos sometimes to figure whatâs exactly going on. So, more visual and audio feedback from combat would largely solve that.
Have you played druid lightning werebear, or shaman lightning storm totem builds yet tho? I find both incredibly impactful, satisfying, and exciting to play. The audio/visual elements of both builds are very satisfying to experience.
I hold a divergent perspective on this matter. Visually, I find LE to be quite impressive, although I believe there is room for general improvements, as is often my view with any game I play. However, when it comes to audio, in regard to the lightning effects, I find it to be lacking. Even when my screen is filled with lightning strikes, the audio fails to convey the impact that should accompany such power. The current audio design for lightning strikes is subpar, with only a faint electrical sound present, which does not represent the force and intensity that a lightning strike should have. This issue extends to other high-impact skills as well. For instance, when using Avalanche, which involves massive rocks pounding the ground, the audio falls short, lacking the weight and impact that should be conveyed. When lightning is present, it should resonate with a sound befitting its nature, rather than resembling a mere static shock.
I enjoy the combat, but it would be made so much better if the abilities I am casting every second felt (audio wise) as they should.
Donât think anyone can disagree with you here. EHG has made some strides in Music but in-game sounds and the timings thereof could definitely use some polish. Combat âfeelâ is a fairly regular topic here and sound definitely plays a big part.
Just wait till you find the weird sounds like the Monty Python inspired Void Knight - although I think Mike did that on purpose.
