Shattered Pixel
patreon
Tweaks in v1.4.0 | Patreon Poll #30
🕑 Added 2022-06-14 16:48:51 +0000 UTCHey Patrons!
I’m doing another slightly smaller poll this month. Next month we’ll have a proper poll for more significant side content in v1.4, but for now I’m focusing on smaller, more targeted tweaks. There are always little fixes and adjustments that can be made to Shattered, so help me prioritize what should be worked on in v1.4 specifically!
The strength of support for each option will determine will determine what smaller tweaks I work on in v1.4!
---
Please vote for all the options that you like, not just for your one favourite! I allow multiple votes as it means that a higher proportion of people will end up voting for the winning choice.
All patrons are encouraged to share their opinion by commenting and voting, but currently only the votes from Golden+ Supporters are counted when determining a poll winner. Votes from Shattered Supporters are worth double!
Talent Tweaks
While talents are overall doing very well these days, there are definitely a few that are either too simple, or not as popular as I’d like.
As a few examples, the ‘on-upgrade’ talents remain unpopular and despite loads of buffs energizing upgrade still has a poor winrate. Improvised projectiles has a low usage rate but high winrate, so I might like to look at ways to make that talent slightly less powerful but more interactive. Finally there are some subclass talent sets that don’t have as much in the way of gameplay-altering effects, as I’d like.
Item Spritework
A callback to the last ‘smaller tweaks’ poll, there are a few item sprites that I might like to improve.
The chalice sprite is decently shaped, but I’d like to improve the the shading, which is currently very flat and dark for an item that’s supposed to be made of silver! For shields, I’d like to improve the simple gradient-based shading present on the roundshield and see about adding a detail or two to the greatshield. Lastly, I’d like to try and come up with one or two new spell shapes, and hopefully ones that are a bit more irregular, like real crystals.
Alchemy Item Tweaks
Alchemy recipes are in an overall much better place since the recent alchemy system adjustments, but there are definitely still targeted improvements that could be made.
I’ll wait until I get some data in from v1.3 before making decisions, but some obvious candidates are underused spells, darts, and bombs. Now that the system itself is doing well, targeted balance tweaks and mechanics changes should be able to make some items really shine. The recent adjustments in v1.3 are an example of this, where I hope that woolly bombs and some darts will finally get some decent usage.
Equipment Tweaks
Equipment items are also doing pretty well at the moment, but there are always specific improvements that could be made.
This wouldn’t be a full rework, but rather targeted balance, mechanic, or QOL tweaks to make a few slightly underappreciated equipment items perform a bit better. Some examples of items that could possibly use a boost are the ring of energy, dried rose, and wand of warding.
Comments
Shattered Pixel
Warding and the Rose are mostly just a bit clunky, not significantly underpowered. There aren't really any totally bad equipment items atm, which is why I'm offering smaller tweaks here.
Chris Thompson
I guess if the defense of wards could be enhanced, I wouldn't complain :P, but still - with good placement and planning they are a nice offensive boost for several opponents, and their intel is usually appreciated. I guess they do tend to lose their luster later in the game when range is must less accessible, so I'd tend to think giving the higher-tier sentry's better defense might be good.
Chris Thompson
Was surprised to see mention of the ring of energy, dried rose, and wand of warding...all of them seem pretty solid IMO. I wonder if the stats you are seeing include how these items are being used in certain combinations? There are obviously pairings that are just less likely due to the amount of content, but still pretty exciting to get and obviously have impact on win rate.
Thomas Lawless
I've honestly never used the energizing upgrades. It's almost impossible to justify using them. My upgrade scrolls are being saved for my builds. Throwing them around at the wrong times just to get a bonus effect would defeat that purpose, and make winning quite difficult.
Shattered Pixel
That's a more major bit of side content. It may well feature in next month's poll.
Cake
Interface shops would be nice. I'll bankroll that myself so help me god
LibraryTwink
I think the on upgrade talents are interesting, but to me their usage feels unintuitive when you're trying to save your scrolls of upgrade for better equipment.
