I understand this probably isn’t the best time to provide suggestions as you’re all probably focused on ensuring a really good launch of season 2. But if I don’t get this down now, I’ll just forget!
So in some earlier feedback on the state of the game, I said that EHG should lean more into the gimmick for each dungeon. I didn’t provide any suggestions at the time, but a general idea of what might work popped into my head today.
First, I think it should be possible to clear dungeons via normal play, i.e. killing monsters and getting to the boss, without any reliance on the gimmick. Players generally don’t like being forced to engage with mechanics they don’t like (see reaction to ascending in PoE 2 as an example), especially if they just want to reach the boss quickly. I think players should instead be incentivised to engage with the gimmick via rewards.
So what could that look like? One example I thought of was to have one or more Champion enemies locked away in Temporal Sanctum that have abilities that can/should be avoided by using a time jump, similar to how one deals with Julra’s slam, although it should probably be tuned so that well-geared characters can tank at least one attack. It might also be cool to have a skeleton of the champion visible in the ruined era and switching to the divine era would see you face the champion itself.
I’m also wondering about having reward chests that can only be accessed via skillful or well-timed use of the time jump. I just haven’t come up with any solid ideas for that. Perhaps a doorway has an explosive trap attached that needs to be avoided via a time jump when you open the door? Perhaps a gauntlet of traps along a corridor that requires you to time the era switches to dodge them? You’d have a one set of traps in the divine era and another one in the ruined era.
I couldn’t really come up with any ideas on the other dungeons as I haven’t run Soulfire Bastion, and the Lightless Arbor gimmick just doesn’t seem engaging at all.
Anyway, I wish you all the best of luck for the season 2 release!