Finding Purpose – Thoughts, Suggestions, and Input

GET DOWN

I’ve never made a post here before, but I feel passionate enough about this game and see its potential to be something great, so I wanted to share my thoughts and suggestions.

I’m not here just to complain—I genuinely hope some of the ideas suggested can spark more conversation, creativity, or even better solutions. There’s a lot here, and I’d love to hear how others are feeling too.

I’m coming up on 900+ hours since 0.1, and while I love a lot of what this game has to offer, the current state of endgame just feels... not fun/boring. Not necessarily mechanically, but philosophically. There’s a lack of purpose, especially for players who value their time.
Let us kill things. Let us feel powerful. And make the reward loop feel like it respects our time—especially for the players who aren’t able to spend a lot of time on the league or the game in general.
________________________________________

I’ve Hit the Wall—Even With a Strong Build

My current build can full screen clear with ease and is fine with single targets. It took some time—from the start of the league until now. But even after all that investment, I feel like I’m hitting a wall of no purpose.
If I’m feeling this way with an efficient build… I can’t imagine how players with slower or lower-tier builds are managing. The motivation to keep pushing just isn’t there when the rewards don’t scale with the effort.
________________________________________

1. League Mechanics Feel Hollow

Most league mechanics—Breach, Expedition, Delirium, and others—feel underwhelming right now. Even when stacking density and pack size and other modifiers on Waystones, the reward rarely justifies the risk or effort. I understand that some players avoid these mechanics because they can feel overtuned or guaranteed deadly—but gutting them into passivity isn’t the right fix.
Instead, bring back the satisfying density and pacing, but rebalance enemies to be less tanky and slightly less punishing. These mechanics should feel like controlled chaos, not slow, and tedious. This is an ARPG—we want to wipe out hordes and be rewarded for doing so.
One idea: introduce loot bursts based on clear performance. That could mean killing large groups quickly, or dealing sustained high damage over time—whether that’s AoE or single-target doesn’t matter. Reward the effort and impact, not just speed. This would encourage different playstyles and still recognize both burst-heavy and damage-over-time builds for their output.
________________________________________

2. Crafting Has Potential—But Currency Feels Off

I actually enjoy crafting and the “gambling” aspect of it. There’s something fun about trying to hit that perfect roll, even if it takes several tries. That said, certain currency orbs like Divines feel either pointless or too valuable, depending on how you look at it.
They’re so rare that most players won’t touch them unless they’re already deep into uber-endgame, at which point they barely matter. The value-to-utility ratio is off in my opinion. You’re scared to use them even when you need to—because they’re worth more sold than spent.
________________________________________

3. Gold Is Underwhelming Right Now

Right now, gold feels limited to me. There aren’t enough meaningful sinks for it, and it doesn’t really feel like a flexible currency.
I don’t know if this is a good idea or not, but something like a vendor who sells currency orbs (Exalts, Chaos, Divines, etc.) in exchange for gold could give gold more utility while offering a stable outlet for players who don’t want to rely entirely on trading for gear.
Give us options. More faucets. More reasons to care about what we’re earning.
________________________________________

4. The Prep-to-Reward Ratio Is Off

One of the core issues right now is how much time and effort goes into prepping maps—crafting Waystones, instilling, pathing to tower clusters—only to get underwhelming rewards in return. It feels more like checking off a chore list than engaging with meaningful strategy.
Even with solid tower setups and high rarity, most maps drop clutter or vendor trash. For how long it takes to prep a run, the loot just doesn’t scale. Players with limited time are spending more of their session managing systems than actually playing—and that kills momentum fast.
We don’t mind investing in maps, but the return needs to feel worth it. One potential way to make it more exciting? Reward high-efficiency clears. If a player wipes out a massive pack of enemies in seconds or applies strong sustained damage over time to dense groups, reward that with a loot burst—something that acknowledges not just speed, but performance and build strength.
Either streamline the setup process, or increase the rewards. Right now, there’s too much friction for too little payoff.
________________________________________

5. Trading Is a Time Sink

I enjoy the social aspect of trading, but the current trade site is rough. You spend forever searching, whispering sellers who never respond—or worse, they change the price on you last minute.
We need something like a “Buy Now” feature for items listed at exact prices, similar to how the in-game currency exchange works. Just take the listed item and the currency, and complete the trade automatically.
Leave the haggling for “Negotiable” listings—but let fixed prices actually mean something.
________________________________________

6. Build Diversity Is Basically an Illusion

Right now, there’s not much incentive to experiment with different builds when a handful are clearly the go-to options if you want to progress at a reasonable pace. Why try something off-meta when you know you’ll just end up struggling?
Instead of nerfing the top-end builds into the ground, why not bring the rest up to that level? Buff the lower- and mid-tier builds to be competitive. Nerfs hurt everyone, but they hit average players the hardest.
Yes, maybe we were spoiled early on with strong builds and smooth progression—but going backwards to “balance” things by slowing everyone down just makes the game feel awful.
We like big numbers. Big number good. Big number makes us feel like our character is actually doing something worthwhile. Let us feel strong. Let us lean into that power fantasy without everything being turned into a slog.
________________________________________

7. Miscellaneous Ideas & Implementations

• “Aftermath” Stats Panel
Add a post-map summary screen—especially in party play—that shows stats like total damage dealt, kills, heals, support actions, etc. It would be great for tracking performance, refining builds, and just scratching that stat itch.

• Jeweler Orb Reforging System
Right now, I have tons of Lesser Orbs just sitting in my stash—they pile up quickly, and eventually I stop picking them up because I don’t need them anymore. Meanwhile, Greater and Perfect Orbs are so rare that linking core skills feels bottlenecked. I didn’t get a Perfect drop this league until very late into endgame.
What if we could reforge Lesser or Greater Orbs into higher tiers? Maybe it involves a chance to fail or some kind of scaling cost, but at least it would give those piles of unused currency a real use.

• Tablet Crafting Expansion
Tablet crafting currently feels too limited—you can only use Transmutes and Augs, and there's not that great of a way to improve a bad result. If I craft a tablet and it rolls poorly, I’ll either toss it or reforge it and hope for something better.
Why not give us the opportunity to invest more currency to improve tablets? Let us use Regals to add another modifier, or Exalts to roll better percentages. It would give the system more depth, create meaningful currency sinks, and make tablet crafting feel like something worth engaging with—not just a throwaway if it doesn’t roll perfectly the first time.
________________________________________

I get it. The game is in early access. There’s a lot more to come, and the devs are probably trying to be cautious about balance and power creep. I respect that.
But I hope the team understands—or is trying to understand/figure out—what we want, what we don’t want, while keeping the integrity of the type of game they’re envisioning. I’m not saying give us everything on a silver platter. That kills the challenge. But there’s a middle ground where the game respects our time without removing difficulty.

Friction doesn’t equal difficulty or challenge—it’s just disrespectful to our effort and time. And in the long run, it will push players away rather than keep them around longer.

There’s a great game underneath all this. I see the effort being put in—and I genuinely appreciate it. But I also hope that effort starts steering the experience toward something that values players’ time and investment.

I hope some of these inputs and ideas spark other suggestions, feedback, or possible solutions from the community or dev team.