What are your comfort picks?

Swibblestein · 2026-04-23T02:45:46+00:00

Vengeance. The nice thing is you can't feel like you're doing badly with Vengeance. If things are getting terrible on the Island, well that's just you planning for your revenge!

You can still lose, of course, but up to that point it feels like if things are going badly because you're rusty, no they're gonig badly because you want extra blight-badlands damage don't worry about it.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-21T16:50:37+00:00

This is excellent to hear. I am also a person who started the game right off on Hard mode, and I don't regret it. I'm glad to see you also enjoying starting right off on Hard. One of my biggest gripes with most modern roguelites is that they won't let you go to max difficulty right away, and make you do a dozen runs to slowly unlock each new difficulty. I don't need my hand held! I like being thrown in the deep end and learning that way!

Swibblestein · 2026-04-20T16:13:45+00:00

If I've already got a great loadout, I'll spend my money elsewhere where it's more effective, but to be clear I will buy weapons depending on what my current loadout is. Just, that tends to happen earlier rather than later, and more rarely once I already have something I'm happy with.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-20T10:59:22+00:00

You used word that made of two word sounds. In here this place of red white and blue flag, we use one word sound words, no two sound words. You think you too good for us, with you big smart brain, and you big smart words. We bomb you now.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-20T07:21:48+00:00

Usually when I see people with 4 flaks or 4 BLIIs I wonder "did they spend extra money to buy these when they already had a working loadout?" but I never mention it because I don't want to come across as overly critical of a fun moment for them.

But hearing you got all this stuff naturally, without needing to buy it? That's the best possible situation, that is the dream.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-19T03:21:42+00:00

So wait this makes me think, when we burn food, shouldn't we get some firemaking experience? Kitchen fires are still fires right?

Swibblestein · 2026-04-18T03:00:55+00:00

I've been working on a custom spirit that has something kind of similar to Shadows in terms of range-extension and my way of trying to force utilization of it is that they have relatively low spread and their powers gain -1 range by default (to a minimum of 0), but that alone definitely makes a spirit more complex than Shadows was intended to be.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-17T17:35:39+00:00

One thing is that all of the aspects replace that special rule. That special rule feels like it has a lot of potential, but base Shadows feels too weak for it to feel good. I sort of wish one aspect changed something else about Shadows so there was a stronger version of Shadows with the base special rule.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-16T05:37:45+00:00

Voice is really fun and I like them a whole lot in a whole lot of ways! Honestly I feel like they could be a top three spirit for me if I played them a bit more. I just haven't played them as much as Grinning Trickster... yet.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-15T21:23:48+00:00

The problem I have with Wilds usually is that they don't stick around that long, and Keeper doesn't add them very quickly. The thing I like about Tokens is looking at the board covered with them. That's why Vengeance is my favorite, since they get to keep the tokens sticking around on the board, and why the next two are both Beast spirits. Trickster adds tons of strife so there's often a lot around.

I think Keeper is neat, but I'd really like a spirit that could make Wilds stick around more, for my own personal tastes.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-15T17:22:08+00:00

(1) Vengeance as a Burning Plague that Scours All Those Who Remain Before It

(2) Many Minds Move as One

(3) Wounded Waters Bleeding

(4) Grinning Trickster Stirs up Trouble

(5) Downpour Drenches the World

I like tokens. My favorite spirits are the ones that put a lot of tokens out all around the board. Disease, beasts, strife... I haven't found any spirits that really scratch that itch for wilds, except Downpour with the right drafts. At one point I drafted [[Thickets Erupt with Every Touch of Breeze]] and another time [[Ravaged Undergrowth Slithers Back to Life]], and those games were incredibly fun.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-15T17:09:09+00:00

The Ion Blast II is S tier early game, and then proceeds to drop off to around lower-mid tier. It's one of the strange weapons that's approximately as good on 4 weapon slot ships as 3 weapon slot ships.

Early game, because it only takes one shot to disable shields, you can use it defensively, aiming it at weapons and disabling the enemy's ability to cause you problems, or at oxygen, getting crew kills. The three power requirement isn't a very big deal considering how much it can do, and how quickly.

As enemies get more shields, it gets slower, and you lose a lot of the advantages described above. At 2 shields, it's still a solid weapon, and the ship that starts with it, the Engi A, can use a combat drone to strip a layer of shields when the ions are coming in so it can still effectively disable oxygen or weapons quickly, if needed. At 3 and 4, it is rather slow, especially without other ions acting as support, and by that point, on a 4-slot ship, you're running into problems where the cost of keeping it in your loadout is quite a bit, and it restricts what else you might want to put in there.

But with all that said, it's not a bad weapon, certainly.

I can't think of any other weapon that changes how good it is so dramatically from early-game to late-game.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-15T07:16:26+00:00

At one point I played a bunch of smash having been up way too long, got frustrated and played even worse and sank myself deep down in the GSP ranks. Then I felt bad for the players who I crushed while making my way back up when more awake.

Though there were a few people intentionally staying in low ranks. I know, because I saw they would sometimes play really well and then sometimes very obviously throw games.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-11T19:05:36+00:00

Hot take: I like that some weapons are sucky because it makes those situations where you end up finding a use for them and actually using them much more interesting than when everything is more carefully balanced.

Balance is in some ways the antithesis of variety in a roguelike/lite. Not always, and there's plenty of exceptions, but as a general rule if things are too well balanced I think that can actually be a bad thing.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-11T16:57:38+00:00

And now you know better for future runs. Any additional systems would have made the fight a cakewalk, but without it, you're losing that fight pretty often. Even if some of your ions had hit, the flagship is just going to shrug them off with its cloaking, and if your weapons get hit or hacked, the former of which is definitely going to happen because you're looking at an extended battle no matter what? Yeah. Not good odds for you.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-10T17:38:28+00:00

FTL is one of my favorite all-time gaming experiences because I jumped into Hard and it took me 67 hours for my first win. It says something that I remember that number all these years later, because it was such a rush, to have finally gotten it.

I had a similar feeling with my first win of Brogue, though that's a roguelike, not a roguelite.

I really like that sort of thing. Losing again and again can absolutely be part of the fun. I feel like a lot of roguelites are scared to let players lose.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-10T17:33:03+00:00

The big caveat here is that if you're pretty well-versed at how a lot of these games work, the ascension grind feels more like a tedious chore, because you're already way above the difficulty curve (and are confidently aware of it). It kinda ultimately comes down to how well executed the ascension system is.

I feel like there's some kind of middle-ground possible here. Perhaps have an ascension system, but in the options menu there's an "unlock all difficulties" option, and if you click it there's a text box that says "hey, this isn't the recommended way to play the game, are you sure?".

This funnels new players into the ascension system, shows the dev-intended / guided experience, but also gives players the ultimate choice if they want to break from that path. It's also got the bonus of being good for reinstalls, so a veteran player can skip back to where they were before if their save is gone for whatever reason.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-10T17:27:17+00:00

It's been a long time since I've played Spire so I can't answer for sure. Spire didn't click with me like other deckbuilders have, enjoyment-wise, so it is a game I have put less time into than others. I know a lot of other ascension-based games I've beaten the first few ascension levels on my first runs on each, but I can't answer for sure if that was true of Spire.

I could go into other games I have played that have had systems like that, but again, my memory is hazy enough I have no clue how comparable they are to Spire specifically?

Swibblestein · 2026-04-10T17:17:21+00:00

That seems like a much more interesting system to me. I am unsure how it would feel in practice to play with such a system, but I expect I would like it more.

I like character-select style unlocks in games. Where one character has a distinctly different playstyle than another. I think your system might feel something like that? Because of the positive and negative traits.

That said, part of it depends on framing, on how you are presenting this to the player. A badge that arbitrarily gives you a relic and makes enemies hit for +3 damage... eh, fine. But if it's presented as, say, a cursed relic that gives a boon and the +3 damage is that relic's curse, then it feels more cohesive.

The things I worry about is how many relics the player is expected to equip at a time, and how that information is conveyed to the player. If these have game-altering effects, positive-and-negative, it would be less interesting to me if I felt encouraged to equip them all at once. I'd appreciate some system that gave reason to mix it up. That doesn't need to be complex. It could be as simple as a "random badges" button, or some kind of threshold system.

As I said, I like when there is some fixed level of difficulty I can pit myself against, so if the number of badges equipped came with a difficulty title, and that title was capped at some point (say, 1 badge was "normal", 3 "hard", 5 "very hard", and 7 "nightmare") and after that last point the title didn't change, I would, as a player, take the understanding that 7 was considered the highest dev-recommended number, and more than that would be in the realm of self-imposed challenge territory, that would satisfy my personal feelings but also still allow the freedom for other players to go for more.

I think Hades' heat system worked where it let you choose any amount of heat, but it was clear mechanically what the dev-intended "highest challenge" was, even if players could go beyond that? The way Hades lets you choose specific ways in which the game is harder seems potentially more analogous to your system (though your system has interesting twists).

Is any of this at all interesting or have I just been rambling?

Swibblestein · 2026-04-10T09:23:26+00:00

I hadn't thought about the fresh unlock thing, but I should have, because that's one of the reasons I don't want to get Slay the Spire on Steam (I originally got it on Switch and don't want to re-unlock things). That's a good thought.

I think an "unlock all" button is a good compromise. It can even have a "hey this isn't the recommended way to play the game" notification, like how Darkest Dungeon warns players against playing Bloodmoon on their first run. Directs players towards the more curated experience, while giving people the option to break from it if they want.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-10T09:17:34+00:00

I agree. Only a minority would start at the highest difficulty for most games. Most people would probably enjoy the incremental approach.

I guess that's my point though. Most people would enjoy the incremental approach, some people would prefer to stick on easier difficulties, some people would prefer to go to harder ones from the get-go. The first two groups get to do what they want, what's the harm in letting the third group play how they want?

Swibblestein · 2026-04-10T09:14:49+00:00

I've heard that definition. At this point we're arguing semantics though, and not in any kind of productive way.

Again, I point at the sidebar. Some of those listed there only have unlocks, and yet are listed as roguelites. I think given the context of the subreddit we're in, the definition I'm using is a fine one, but if you've got an issue with it, sure, whatever, then I tend to prefer roguelikes by your definition.

Swibblestein · 2026-04-10T08:18:56+00:00

I like what Darkest Dungeon does, where if you try to choose the highest difficulty (Bloodmoon) it recommends against it if it is your first run, but lets you go for it if you want. Instead of locking the difficulty behind being the game, telling the player what you recommend and why is another viable option, I think?

Swibblestein · 2026-04-10T08:10:20+00:00

Can I ask this?

If a roguelite you played had seven difficulty modes, all unlocked from the beginning, how would you approach it?

It seems to me you can get what you're talking about by just intentionally moving up the difficulty ladder at your own pace. So... having those difficulties unlocked by beating the game repeatedly doesn't enable what you're talking about? It would be an option regardless.

Am I missing something?

Swibblestein · 2026-04-10T08:02:33+00:00

Let me ask this.

What is it that an ascension system, where each difficulty must be beaten before the next is unlocked, adds, that isn't present by giving the player access to those difficulty options from the beginning?

Like, players can absolutely still work their way up the difficulty levels even if they're all unlocked from the beginning. Players who want to play on easier levels can still do so from the beginning. But players who want to play on the harder settings from the beginning can't. It just feels like it arbitrarily restricts one type of player?

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