Endgame isn't compelling...

Ascendancy is too long/hard/tedious/boring, some of the endless farming from node to node was ok for a bit, but that quickly became repetitive and uninspired, coupled with the fact that I now lose exp if I die and the map immediately ends, even though you give me the option to enter/leave half a dozen times normally. Guess that's part of the challenge...

And of course, the game is difficult, I don't really have a problem with that, though I would like it if I could actually see what kills me among all the pretty explosions, or if what kills me wasn't just a group of instant target and shoot mobs before I can react, stupid poison cobras... basically, one of the biggest problems this game has is telegraphing threats. I really started to notice this kind of thing when I did the Titan Grotto in cruel mode and I instantly died from the little robots I didn't even see coming, though I think we've all been harassed and killed once or twice by some random orb or bomb from some unknown enemy, this kind of thing just gets more and more irritating as the threats become more dangerous and the battlefield becomes more flashy.

And it's not really all that relevant... even if it might seem like it... but this is made substantially worse by how my character, a minion witch, has to constantly worry about minions getting stuck in doorways or small paths, or how some of the AI monsters will -only- target me and will not stop chasing, often to their own detriment, mobs trying to hit me while I run around in circles, basically doing nothing until they finally die. This would be funny if those kinds of mobs weren't extremely irritating (and later deadly), and my CC takes too long to affect 90% of the mobs in this game. I know there has to be some give and take here, you can't just make the mobs target all my minions, and honestly I couldn't say how you could try to "fix" something like that, assuming it needs fixing, but it's kind of the cherry on top of the game being a little on the shallow end at the later stages.

Now obviously this is early access, we'll get acts 4, 5 and 6, and then maybe whatever end game comes after, if it's this or not, will be better in some ways, but yeah, I don't think it does very much for the game right now.

All that being said, I really did like progressing through the game, and felt it was the right amount of challenge. I struggled on some fights, but I eventually overcame them after learning what happens, so I don't want to make it seem like I hated the game, I just don't think what came at the end is going to keep me all that interested.

The acts are solid. The endgame is lacking. I thing that takes away most of my enjoyment from the endgame, is the map sizes and layouts. I don't mind the slower pace or what people call "methodical combat" (it really isn't methodical in endgame, just slower), but the layouts are pain.

I will admit that I absolutely loathe going into a map and finding out it's a bunch of small hallways or paths. Some of those maps are actually kind of cool too. I don't really want them to be big open maps like the Steppe (not sure there are that many trees in a steppe?), but maps like the tribal village with the small wooden paths... I feel like they could have made those a bit bigger. Oh and Black Chambers... Not sure if it's an end game map, but that one was a huge pain in the ass. Nothing like trying to fix my minions getting stuck and then getting brained by a lightning sniper.

It gets better with double corrupt maps and investment into league mechanics, problem is that it takes a literal eternity to get there.

Need to make the first few points of league stuff more accessible early on.

Just tried playing again and it's still just as bad, so I guess I just suck at this game. Tired of getting instant killed by things I can't even see and are 5 levels lower than me at 71, just because some incredibly infuriating npcs will only attack me at instant targeting speed. There needs to be a taunt minion if npc damage is going to scale so high and so fast that I can't even take a single hit or react to it in time.

I've seen videos on youtube of people talking about how bad armor seems to be, and how insanely high you have to stack it, along with health, and you probably still can't mitigate higher level stuff like bosses. If it's really going to be this way, then it seems like evasion is inevitable as the best defense, because at least there's a chance to dodge a 1 hit kill, when you can seemingly never actually mitigate it. I just don't see a solution for Witch, if I can't mitigate, or it's so much higher than what I currently have, then I should probably build for dodge... same result, better with rng. How could you possibly build enough energy shield, health or armor without sacrificing the power you need to kill things quick enough to avoid dying from attrition or being overwhelmed?

Have you tried the skill Grim feast?
Grim Feast allows you to double your Maximum Energy Shield pool.
When killing enemies you can pick up pieces which recharge your energy shield. Other than that i would invest heavily in getting the resistances up. Furthermore when engaging enemy combat try to keep behind your minions. If you still get targeted, dodge roll and spawn flame wall with those skulls. I am also level 71 and died a few times. The thing that helped me is playing focussed and engage enemies per group. Hope it helps.