Which items do you feel offer the best value or appeal, and why?
I’ve only bought the Lizard-themed Bear companion for the Primalist, and I feel that it’s good value since I see it every time I play the character - I do not regret it at all! I’m also interested in the cosmetics for skills that I use.
Are there specific themes, styles, or item types you’d like to see more of? Less of?
It’s probably difficult, but altering the skins for transformations (Druid) would be really interesting to me!
Make it so that the portal doesn’t disappear as soon as we use it, so we can still see it during the loading time.
1st - Skills - need a ton more of them, and they need to actually “feel” impactful. Big issue with the game is the feeling of combat - and MTX that have a pop to them can help solve that (even if people will cry about P2W)
2nd - Stop undercharging for your MTX - #1 reason the studio is in trouble is because you literally ran out of things for anyone to spend money on. You tapped out your Whales without making them even think about cracking the wallet.
3rd - Way more themes. Pick ONE and lean the fuck in. Go Void Caster/Void Melee/Void Pets - just go HAM on one theme. Then start another one.
The only cosmetics I have are those included in the ultimate edition, and the purple wings I bought from the cosmetic store. I would be interested in armor (set or individual pieces), wings, weapons, that have some kind of special effects. Nothing over the top. Just a small part that has glowing effect or something, and visible on the regular gameplay camera view.
Another I can support would be battle pass for seasons that rewards cosmetic. A checklist of acomplishments that would reward players. Rewards for early part could be simple weapon / armor skins, and then the final reward something with special effect maybe.
I’d like to see more overtly silly cosmetics. Something like a teddy bear skin for Werebear/Summon Bear. Maybe Reaper Form could have a “magical girl” transformation effect. I’m not a fan of the grimdark aesthetic that other people in this thread are calling for, but I’d be okay with it if there was some goofiness to balance it out.
The only reason i haven’t bought anything is that i can’t see paying more that $1-$2 on any one cosmetic in a game.
Some of the things that influence my decision is if there is a full set or not, or if an individual weapon/accessory/part doesn’t match anything. I go for the overall look.
Also what build I am playing. If I am playing build that changes its appearance, like the spriggian, than I don’t buy one.
But I would also be interested in different versions of transformations, as well as the different summoned minions. It would be even better if there was a full set that matches a full set of different minion cosmetic.
I’d like more weapon, armor, skill skins
but I have no care for pets, portals, back attachment
I have bought the primal and woven legend supporter packs
Thank you guys so much for doing this! I’d probably spend more on cosmetics except that there hasn’t been much that’s been terribly appealing.
Honestly, I feel item bundles offer the best value. Especially full armor sets. If there is a theme or overall look you’re going for, these seem to offer the best bang for your buck.
I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a fan of the deep sea monster or ooey gooey void cosmetics. I don’t mind dark and gritty. In fact, I feel you nailed it with the some of the gear from the supporter packs, like the harbinger set. That said, the Sea Prowler set, Sea Tyrant’s Maw, and portals like the Scuttling Blood Gate, or the bow like the Gorestring Bow have absolutely no appeal to me.
As far as things I avoid, I have to say the evade effects. I have some from the support packs and Twitch drops, but they are not something I’d go out of my way to purchase. I never use them, and they just don’t feel like good value.
The one thing I might recommend in the future is having some earn-able cosmetics in the game. Things that you can unlock through game play, even if it’s rare drops or things that are only seasonally available.
I hope this feedback helps!
Environment in this game looks incredible but thats it, characters kinda suck and I don’t think that skins can help it. Only cosmetics I like in this game are portals (some skill skins are cool too). Maybe if you will make hideout system and skins for it I would have something to be excited about and pay for.
I don’t have ill intentions saying it, I love the game and have almost 600h in it but I fell like characters look bad and need rework
This is an excellent question that I’ve been commenting on to my friend group for quite some time as the biggest point of weakness in LE’s monetization setup.
Thank you for reaching out for our feedback!
I feel like the bundles are usually the best value or most appealing because it’s a complete set that all goes together. I’d like to see skill effect bundles for groups of skill effects that go together!
Less of the… ethereal(?) sets. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve bought plenty of the cosmetics just to support the game even though aesthetically I don’t love them. Crystalweave and Argentum Myrmidon come to mind. I feel like we have those, Crescent Sage, Arcane Duelist, Oblivions Champion, Temporal Guardian, Harbingers Plate. A lot of that style/aura going on and I’d like to see more variety/other stuff.
I’d like to see more sets like Fallen Ronin, Thunderfang, Wild Hunter, Carrion Herald, Woven Disciple, etc.
I agree this would be an admirable goal for the cosmetics, and currently we certainly have some ‘holes’. An armor set that ‘drips’ poison or looks like it’s made of ice (or even just the pauldrons are icy). Currently we have a couple water-y adjacent sets, but not ICY. I love when my cosmetics can reflect what my build is, it really ties the experience together nicely.
I wouldn’t say I avoid anything specifically, but I don’t usually buy skill effects for skills that I don’t have a build for. I wouldn’t use the Nature’s Wrath Bone Golem if everything else in my build is fire themed for example. I do own some pets, but I do sit out on a lot of them because it feels like it’s an extra thing to process. I have some weapons but a lot of the time I’ll just let the unique weapon show if I’m using one. I’m not particularly crazy about footstep effects as they feel like they get lost in the shuffle of everything else going on.
Cross equip on cosmetic weapoins would be nice. If have an 2h axe equipped but I want to use my 2h sword MTX. As long as it makes sense, like both items being 2h.
As far as what cosmetics are available. I want more complete themes. We have things like Void Knight and Paladin but there aren’t really any sets that seem to represent them. I want to be a classic knight but there isn’t anything that great to use. A classic wizard set could be cool.
I think you could just throw in a bunch of random stuff and it could be great, because right now I think quantity is lacking.
Allow us to use the same pet twice, even if you want to force us to buy it twice, at least give us the option to do so.
Currently if you buy a pet you’re forced to only use it once without the option of buying an additional one.
They already added that dude
You can do that now.
Which items do you feel offer the best value or appeal, and why?
For me, the best value always is, and always will be, skill effects. I love having options to change the theming of a skill. I remember in the past a comment on a dev stream or interview about certain skills not recieving certain themes (IE; void primalist skill effects) and I dont quite understand why. In a game with as much complexity as Last Epoch you can do almost any kind of damage with any kind of skill, whether or not it is supported by that tree. Don’t limit yourselves by what is possible on the surface level and give more skills alternate effects that are flashy and that change how the skill looks completely.
One of my favorite examples of good skill fx work is in POE the smite skill effects. There is default smite, which is a yellow beam, and then there is a beautiful skill effect MTX that turns it into blue falling swords cloaked in lightning. It looks beautiful, and currently I dont feel as though there is anything in Last Epoch that fills that same role of reimagining what a skill is while still staying in theme, besides maybe the bee meteor and the MTX for maelstrom.
More variety for skills, more skill effects need to be flashier, and honestly they need to look “better” or more appealing than the base skill. And there needs to be FX for every skill in the game. Both Cycle 2 and 3 I have played a lot, and really really wanted to support EHG, but there were not skill fx for the skills I was playing and so i felt no urge to purchase anything. There were a few armor sets that I found cool, but I felt like none of these sets would fit the theme of the character and skill I was playing. In POE, if I am playing a blood wielding witch character there is like 20+ different cosmetic sets for it + ground effects, character effects, and skill effects. I have options in both price range and aesthetics but they all would suit what I am looking for. There’s not enough of that in LE.
Another topic is ground effects, and additional effects like floating. In POE a LOT of players use MTX that make your character float. It Fits a lot of thematics and can make the game feel smoother to play. I think looking into adding a new MTX that make characters float could honestly be huge.
Are there specific themes, styles, or item types you’d like to see more of? Less of?
Everything. More of everything. More void, more fire, more corpse, more ice, more generics knights, generic thieves, generic mages, super extravagent knights, etc. I think a lot of the MTX in LE look great, honestly. BUT, not many of them fit enough generic thematics. Theres not enough generic knight sets, theres not enough crazy extravagent knight sets. A lot of the current MTX seem to be trying to be original and fit really specific niches, but thats just not what they need to do. Look at POE, there are HUNDREDS of sets of just generic knights but themed differently, and it works. On this topic, introduce different palletes for each set. In POE there are sets that I like and dont like, despite them being the same models, just because the textures/color palletes are different. Add in multiple versions of the same MTX just with different color palletes. Could go a long way.
Are there any items you’ve avoided purchasing, and what influenced that decision?
I mentioned this before but, I have yet to buy any skill MTX simply because in both cycles I have yet to play a build that used a skill that had any MTX. I would LOVE to have alternative skill FX but I just, don’t have the option. i want the option. LET ME give you money. Theres just currently not enough variety and options to let me give EHG money. Same thing goes for armour and back attachments. I will say the roll FX look great, and I am always tempted to buy one of those. What the roll FX do succesfully compared to the skill FX and other MTX is simply just volume and variety. There are a lot of different options for roll FX and they all are themed differently, but also generically enough that many of them could fit into most builds. The game needs more MTX like that.
Skill effects are by the most valuable MTX. I use skills the most, I see skills the most. Often times my character is obscured by my spell effects even without mtx. Skill effects can even make a build feel better to play or more appealing.
Thematically I don’t think anything stands out as more or less appealing, as long as they are high quality I’m happy, but visual clarity is king. It’s also important for subskills to inherit MTX effects for consistency. I also want to see more weapon effects to match armor skills, and effects that apply across weapon types rather than being locked to a specific type. And of course, transmog/skin transfer. A lot of the time I like a simple look of my character and a lot of the base designs of armor types are quite nice and I would surely use them if we had transmog. Lastly I think a lot of the current MTX looks a little awkward, a lot of weird shoulder designs that ruin what could be a sleek /clean look.
Portals are a miss for me. In POE i see portals all the time, 6 on map opening, and every time i go in or out, but in LE I hardly ever see my portal which diminishes the value greatly. Portals are already better than they used to be, but id still never purchase a portal individually.
Skill effects are my favorite but only if it matches the theme of the build I’m going for. I will not buy mtx that turns beastmaster companions to look like necromancer ones but I will probably buy a ton of prehistoric/primal/wild looking animal/dinosaur skins. I will probably never buy something thats turns my ice spell to look like blood as another example. My suggestion would be about how Glacier Ice effect and Elemental Nova Ice effect look miss matched. You could make it so they both have an mtx that looks like the other for those that both want the realistic ice vs the cartoony one. You can make water mtx for cold spells too.
Once there is a theme of spell mtx I like, then and only then I will consider buying the approriate clothes/pets/portals. But this also means if the orginal spell animastion is good, I will buy around that theme as well. So an acolyte that mimics in looks to wandering spirits or a cape/sythe to match it’s reaper form will be a must buy for me. Similarly a mage with tomes, and ambient spell effects circling, one that fits any of its spell schools or any type of tribalistic Primalist gear will be my first options to buy.
The problem with you trying to make the monetization of cosmetics in Last Epoch the primary source of revenue is that you’ve built a foundation that is fundamentally at odds with selling aesthetics.
There is no character customization in this game at all. Not even the most basic customization choice of all, the ability to choose the gender of a character.
You are trying to sell me paint to put on a brutalist concrete box. If you want me to buy flowers for the flowerbeds, you need to let me make it my house first.
You are not attracting an audience that cares about this kind of stuff. The fact that I’ve even had the audacity to bring up the character gender conversation in this post is probably going to result in a bunch of people outright attacking me, as it always does. If you want people to buy shit to make their character pretty, you need to start by attracting an audience that wants what you’re selling, not one that is hostile to the very idea of it.