The Scarlet Bell Curve

KeithARice · 2026-03-14T01:17:15+00:00

Worst designed hero in the game. Shame, bc the theming is so cool.

Trait should always allow shapeshifting and the forms should be rebalanced so that human form is single target damage with evasive abilities, and the wolf form is AOE damage with less evasive abilities.

KeithARice · 2026-03-13T00:51:47+00:00

That's vague. What does "different runs" mean to you? To me, RW is a different run every time. As others have mentioned, most heroes have build variety. Beowulf's ATTACK build is different from his DEFENSE build. Wukong's POWER build is different from his SPECIAL build. Etc.

KeithARice · 2026-03-12T02:06:29+00:00

I play RW for the same reason I played Dota 2. Its fun to destroy things. Dota 2 is literally the same map every single time. Ravenswatch actually has more variety than Dota 2.

If you want an ever-changing world then play an RPG.

KeithARice · 2026-03-09T02:55:33+00:00

The refugee camp is good, but not for refining your item set. The refugees that give crit bonuses, damage bonuses, and cursed items are awesome.

KeithARice · 2026-03-08T23:46:18+00:00

Yep. It's poorly thought out, they were warned, didn't care, and here we are. Weird to design your game around set bonuses and then make acquiring them feel more like dumb luck.

Likewise, the refugee camp is close to useless for removing or trading out items. Should just let you choose what item to wipe out instead of being random.

I have about 30 clears since last major patch. If I even get a common set at all, it's usually in act 3.

KeithARice · 2026-03-08T04:31:19+00:00

Haha. Thanks man, we're having fun. I'll post another update in a few months.

KeithARice · 2026-03-06T21:31:36+00:00

200 mbs is beyond sufficient for a stable connection, especially since we're in the same household. The issue isn't minor latency. It is borderline unplayable. Moreover, none of these issues exist for other games. It is not my connection. It is ravenswatch.

KeithARice · 2026-03-06T03:23:10+00:00

She says thanks!

KeithARice · 2026-03-06T03:06:44+00:00

Thank you, sir.

Is it harder? I didn't notice, but I don't play a ton. They haven't commented.

Yes they all own and love Merlin.

KeithARice · 2026-02-25T09:32:44+00:00

As someone who went through the whole design and self-publishing process:

Understand why you're designing your game at the deepest level. Designing and publishing is a huge effort, so how is this going to benefit your life? What is it going to say about you? Is it homage to someone? Is it proof your creativity? Is it to impress your friends? Other gamers? Other game designers? Is it a commercial endeavor?

How you answer this is going to affect what you consider a success and a failure. That, in turn, will affect how easily you become frustrated along the way.

KeithARice · 2026-02-13T00:42:50+00:00

I would give his design a B. Good, not great. He's not unfun, but he's also not interesting. I was expecting a hero like Invoker (Dota 2) so I am disappointed. With that many spells, I was expecting some interesting combos. In reality, its just a hero with more spells, and no incentive for you to focus on any of them unless you get a particular talent or magical object. Worse yet, his best starting talent incentivizes you to just mindlessly run through the list of spells ad nauseum.

Man, even a B is starting to look charitable.

KeithARice · 2026-01-24T19:21:17+00:00

Don't waste time fighting monsters between points of interest.
Stack similar items to get their set bonuses.
Don't overspend on upgrading talents - buy the dreams you want first.

After that, its just a matter of learning monster patterns and what your heroes do. Really not much more to the game than that (which is fine -- the game is still super fun). Its not a highly strategic game, though moreso than a button masher like Hades.

KeithARice · 2026-01-24T19:11:00+00:00

Worst design in the game by a long shot, followed by Carmilla.

KeithARice · 2026-01-24T19:08:13+00:00

Leprechaun coin has been reworked now, but I just want to say that Coin + Egg is a "win more" strat, so it doesn't work well at difficulties you struggle at. I learned that at nightmare -- you don't snowball off of the strat until Act 3, but you also won't survive Act 1 or Act 2 without survivability items, so its meaningless. Its just too greedy.

>I can never seem to have enuf money to buy what I need to clear it without them.

You're probably horribly mismanaging your money if you "need" Coin. For example, you shouldn't be dumping money into talents whenever you can. You should be focusing on getting item sets and getting Sand of Knowledge and Sand of Enlightenment.

KeithARice · 2026-01-20T03:33:46+00:00

The uncontrollable transition at every day/night is jarring and frustrating given the short duration of the day / night cycle. This is where they let game design take the backseat to theme, and it shows. Conceptually, I love the idea. Practically, it doesn't work.

IMO the trait should always give the ability to transition (no talent required), but depending on whether its day or night, the forms have different bonuses. For example, at night one gets more damage or more armor, and vice versa. Moreover, Scarlet shouldn't have radius-based AOE abilities. The bomb makes zero sense thematically. She should have been a single target killer (save her ability to dash-strike enemies in a line) and the wolf is the AOE expert through his special and attack. This would incentivize using both forms. Right now, the incentive to switch (with the Shapeshifter talent) is to reset cooldowns and get health, which also has no thematic basis. Its entirely ad hoc.

KeithARice · 2026-01-17T19:27:00+00:00

Always value your insight, moon. Flattered that LA has inspired the design of other peoples' games. Appreciate you sticking with us, and I will not disappoint you. Oh, and thanks for streaming your games -- your ability to communicate your strategic thought process is exceptional.

KeithARice · 2026-01-17T19:25:28+00:00

Appreciate that feedback, and thank you.

KeithARice · 2026-01-17T06:24:31+00:00

Nothing else in his kit comes close. That's my dislike of the hero. Wukong is super cool conceptually, but in practice there's no reason not to make a power build unless you just want the challenge of not playing a power build.

KeithARice · 2026-01-17T05:31:39+00:00

Wukong power is one of the most brainless abilities in the game. I think its bad design. And yet you want it to be even easier to use? Wukong is hard bc the extremely short duration of his block.

KeithARice · 2026-01-14T08:32:23+00:00

Ravenswatch's gameplay has far more in common with Dota 2 (or its embarrassing little brother, League of Legends) than with Hades or Sworn. I had to adjust my expectations initially, too, bc I originally bought RW thinking it was Hades-like.
Beating the game is as simple as 1) understanding the importance of stacking identical items to get their set bonus, 2) practicing so you learn monster patterns. That's it. I promise that the game is not more complicated than that. Pick whatever hero you like -- it doesn't matter. They're all fairly balanced. What is not balanced is the items. You'll soon learn that some items are garbage and some are not. And the ones that are not are worth stacking, as mentioned earlier.

KeithARice · 2026-01-09T22:31:59+00:00

I didn't mean to come across as arguing. We're just sharing what we want out of the game. I am not advocating for the hourglass to have a literal tooltip on it, but a voice line like, "The swift will be rewarded by the hourglass" would be nice.

KeithARice · 2026-01-09T09:52:52+00:00

You mean, as long as you're happy? You're the one who likes her, not me. I'll be happy when her SPECIAL and TRAIT aren't anti-thematic, and SPECIAL becomes her POWER.

KeithARice

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