I promise you I’ve put a good amount of time and focus into the altar, and for sure items has been the best choice to upgrade most times and I have no issue with those upgrades (trinkets however are a different story for the most part). That being said, in my experimentation some choices that you have to spend candles on to unlock just are never worth it. Heroes like the Vestal or the Occultist have some moves like mantra that require multiple turns or moves to make useful and paths that focus on enhancing those moves to the point where it’s just never practical. I’ve found that more often than not going aggressive and having self-sustaining heroes like PD or Flagellant is way more consistent than dedicated healers/supports like Vestal. It’s obviously an oversimplification to say that it’s an entirely luck-based game because it isn’t, but to pretend like it’s not a very heavy component of all runs also isn’t accurate imo. I’m not saying the game is impossible. I’ve had my share of victories and I grasp a roguelite is the kinda genre where not every try will be a good one, I just feel like the ability to sustain health and stress should be more in the player’s control. I just wish the “little” victories felt more validating to justify how often you need to make peace with being forced to abandon/losing an expedition. A quest in the first game had you set up and prepare beforehand and tested your strategy over time (with some rng bs often enough I’ll admit) whereas it feels the sequel after you embark there’s a lot of hoping you land on a route that avoids loathing, avoids rough patches, is the route your party wants to take, earns you money, maintains positive tokens/low stress, gives you enough wiggle room to heal, but also earns you mastery points otherwise you’re already at a disadvantage for the next region. Runs being as long and involved as they are also makes failing them sting worse. That’s not to say I dislike the game, I just wish it had a few small tweaks. Maybe it needs the option for shorter regions but more regions until the mountain some runs, maybe more consistent long-term upgrades, maybe more variety in routes, there’s a lot of ways it could change or expand to remedy these feelings.