1) Enemies are unchallenging and weak once a certain point is reached
2) Levels at a higher point are not exactly meaningful and have no real definition to them
Now, to preface, I realize being level 80 puts me into the “overleveled player” category. However, this post is less about being over leveled or under leveled, and more about how progression works in the game.
The problems, explained:
At the start of the game (say, under level 30), enemies are very meaningful. There are a wide variety of enemies and gear and progression is clearly visible to the player. There are enemies which are too strong for you and pose a very serious threat, in many ways prohibiting you from going further until you get stronger. There are also enemies that pose much less of a threat and allow you to grind comfortably in order for you to get stronger. You also gain levels and progress through tiers of gear very quickly, allowing you to prominently see your progression and how much stronger you get. It is very realistic for this to somewhat fade off and slow down as the game goes on, the issue is with how much and how quickly it currently fades off and slows down.
I would say up until level ~40 this progression continues, gradually fading off until then. Once that point is reached however, gear becomes much more expensive and levels become much more difficult to get, and it only gets worse from there moving forward. The amount of enemies after that point severely dwindle, which doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing, only it is due to the differentiation between them severely dwindling as well. There no longer are enemies that pose a serious threat to you, though you may not be able to kill them efficiently in order to grind them yet, meaning you need to get stronger. The issue is, well, it feels like it takes centuries to grow a tad stronger at this point, and there is no real need for an increase in defense or hp now as enemies don’t really pose a threat to you, only an increase in your class stat or MP in order to spam skills to arbitrarily gain much more strength.
Gaining 4 stat points from level 1->2 is extremely meaningful, even from level 10->11 or 20->21, it’s still meaningful because of how quickly you level, and 4 stat points is significant relative to your total. Once you hit that specific point (IMO ~level 40), the meaning to 1 level becomes less and less each level you get. Sure 1 level isn’t as meaningful, but 10 is much more meaningful, right? The issue is how long it takes to get those 10 levels.
For example, say going from level 70 to level 80. Assuming you grind 150k xp per day (roughly 1-2 hours per day of grinding, a very fair amount for an active player), it will take you about a month and a half (~45 days) to get from level 70-80, for those same 40 points that you can get by going from level 10-20 in 3 hours.
Now, I’m not saying this because “it’s not fair”, I’m saying it because the progression severely stalls out, and makes the difference between levels almost nothing. Sure, 40 points is a decent amount, even at level 80+, but for grinding for over a month to get, it really isn’t that much, and certainly isn’t making you noticeably stronger than a level 70 for the amount of work it takes.
This problem also persisted in HH, although there were books, which essentially solved the problem in a way. You’d still only get the 3 stat points per level in HH, but because of books, when reaching higher levels you’d make enough money from grinding 1 level that you’d be able to buy plenty of books to offset that. Elia does not have books, and to my knowledge will never have books or an equivalent, making this problem actually a persistent and noticeable problem in the game.
This also leads to the secondary problem, enemies being weak and unchallenging. Because the players ability to become stronger shortens dramatically as higher levels are reached, the enemies meant for those players must match that lessened strength, providing not all that much of a difference of enemy strength either. Hence the level 35-40’s grinding Znakes, Sentrys and Gal Roaches like its nothing and people running around with a mere 5-10k defensive output with no fear of death.
Here is a graphic from Cyro that pretty much perfectly explains the difficulty level of leveling up, and why it doesn’t really make sense to give the same rewards for every level. It stops at 61+, but it just gets more and more difficult and time consuming after that point. Notice the big gap from 11-39 and 40-50. (Green = easy and fast, red = hard)
Now, finally, the suggestions:
To start, a basic suggestion. If something like what I am suggesting below is added, the strength of enemies, specifically higher level enemies, should be reevaluated and buffed pretty substantially. I’m talking like making a Znake’s power 3-4x higher with double the HP.
Onto the juicy part; pets, again lol. Credits to cinos, Geralt, and Robby for some of the original ideas and inspiration this suggestion comes from. Cinos’ post with Geralt’s comment can be seen here https://www.eliatopia.com/forum/viewtop ... lit=points
I think what cinos suggested was a great concept, though I thought it may fit better with some changes. So, here's the details:
Rather than “skins” as suggested by cinos and Robby originally, pets would take that place. Pets, from a mechanical standpoint, would be identical to HH pets. They would follow you around, provide perks, and level up. Once a player has reached level 50, they will automatically receive their pet. This pet can be customized by the player, very similar to how a new character is customized. Its color, hair, facial features, perhaps even shape can be customized. Once the original characteristics are chosen, they can be changed in the future through a “pet cosmetic chooser” payvault item, identical to the current one for players.
A player will only be able to have 1 pet, and this pet can not be traded. The perks/abilities are also entirely dependent on the player's level, pretty much removing any “p2w” from pets. This pet will start off at level 0, and gain a level each time the player does (player goes from 50->51, pet goes from 0->1). Initially the pet has no abilities or perks, but every 5 levels (level 5 being the first unlock) the pet will gain access to a new ability/perk, or strengthen a previously unlocked ability.
Pet Cosmetics and Customizations:
As mentioned earlier, similar to the “cosmetic chooser” in the payvault, there will also be one for pets. This would allow you to reselect the cosmetics for your pet that you chose when you purchased it. Pet equipment could also be found everywhere throughout the game, in normal shops, in the payvault, etc. It could also be given as a prize from events, and exclusive equipment released periodically for holidays or updates. To be clear, pet equipment is purely cosmetic.
Applying the “skins” idea to pets, perhaps the pets can have skins depending on their level? Identical to how it was suggested for players.
Pet Perks/Abilities Roadmap:
This is just a rough outline to show mainly as an example. Also keep in mind the player level = pet level + 50. If the pet level is 10, player level is therefor 60
Pet Level 0: No perks or abilities, just a cosmetic pet.
Pet Level 5: Unlocks defense multiplier - +15% defensive output
Pet Level 10: Unlocks damage multiplier - +15% damage output
Pet Level 15: Unlocks luck multiplier - +10% item drop chance
Pet Level 20: Upgrades defense multiplier - Now +40% defensive output
Pet Level 25: Upgrades damage multiplier - Now +40% damage output
Pet Level 30: Upgrades luck multiplier - Now +20% item drop chance
Pet Level 35: Unlocks additional HP - +100 HP
Pet Level 40: Unlocks skill damage multiplier - Skills now do +20% damage
Pet Level 45: Upgrades both defense and damage multiplier - Now both +100% output
Pet Level 50: Unlocks sell multiplier - Items now sell for 50% of their full worth
(Continued. You get the idea)
To be clear again, this is just an example. Focus less on the actual perks and more about the concept for any input pls (More suggestions of perks / abilities would be great tho)
Also, since the pet level is tied to the player level, anyone over level 50 would receive a pet level proportional to their level if this were to become a thing. I.E. me being level 80, would receive a level 30 pet from the start.
A bunch of perks / abilities I currently thought of:
- Increased item drop rate
- Chance to duplicate a rune / stone upon applying it (very small chance you will apply the rune / stone to your item while also keeping the rune / -stone)
- Slightly reduced cost to apply runes / stones to items
- Small chance to receive 2x xp from a kill
- Jump height increase
- HP increases
- defense increases
- damage increases
- Skill damage increases
- Sell price increase
hope you have a nice day! (I am just a normal nerd who plays games in free time)
