Hi. I’m an ARPG enthusiast since Diablo (1) and have picked up Last Epoch in July (Beta 0.8.2I). I think the game shows a lot of potential, and since it’s still in early access, I’d like to provide my two cents. It’s a mixed bag of things I noticed, big and small.
Things to keep and watch over
- No visual overload like PoE
- Skill mechanics are not overly complex
Things to add
- Subtitles for all cinematics and NPC lines
- DPS for skill of choice in item comparison
- Show status icons below target’s HP bar. (Current stack of bleed for example.)
- Zooming in/out on the full screen mini map
Things to improve
- Items need a more distinctive rarity glow in inventory.
- The in-game Game guide is not comprehensive at all. Examples: missing haste, doesn’t mention that bleed stacks. A possible solution might be to just integrate the wiki instead.
- The quest log should clearly state in which epoch the next quest step takes place.
- Quest reward dialogue: display the relevant quest title.
- Early game experimenting is discouraged because switching skills causes xp loss. That’s a shame, because every class offers a lot to discover.
- Long term: more build complexity/options. I was expecting more based on what was advertised. In terms of complexity, right now I feel the game is above Diablo III, but way closer to that than to PoE. (Which I realize is not a fair comparison at the moment. Hence, long term.)
- Quest ‘An Ancient Hunt’: plunges one into a prehistoric world. Afterwards, Lerinne mentions that the player went to “a time before civilization”. On the map however, we can clearly see a floating city. Maybe obscure (that portion of) the map until a later point.
- Unique items’ usage should not be limited by limited stats like damage. They should offer unique mods that complement or even alter builds, and shouldn’t be not viable just because they can’t compete with highest tier items. Allow players to upgrade the “core” stats of a unique, such as damage or armor.
EDIT - I forgot to mention my thoughts on the upcoming Cycles. I’m actually not knowledgeable on the plans for this, but I assume it will be similar to PoE’s leagues or Diablo II’s ladder seasons, which I generally enjoy. I’d like to request two things:
- Please, please, please don’t make us play the campaign every time a new Cycle begins. This gets old quickly, at least for me. Please provide an alternative, such as the option to simply skip the campaign and start in the end game environment with a pre-leveled character and basic gear. Or (even better) extend the end game mechanics to lower levels. Personally I’d be fine with gating these options behind the requirement of having completed the campaign at least once. Also, I’d like to stress that this can and should be made optional, for example by launching variants of the same cycle, much like PoE’s HC/SC/SSF leagues.
- If Cycles will include (cosmetic) rewards, please ensure they are obtainable by players that have a limited amount of time to invest. I realize this is subjective, but I’m sure stats like average (median!) play time per player could help. Also, this is not an appeal to not cater to players who do have a lot of time to invest. Rewards like (incremental) titles or PoE’s totems are a good way to reward longer grinds.