Tuesday, 10th March 2015, 22:28
ziggurats
dpeg wrote:Note that additional (i.e. completely extra) content is sometimes added, such as ziggurats or new Hell/Pan monsters. (Also note how ziggurats try to fill a role between "yardstick for veterans" and "can be useful in a 3-rune game".)
On the rest: yes, it's not really about harder. For all the changes discusses, you can consider whether a new/uninformed/unspoiled player would be concerned. Very often he'd not, which is a good sign to me that the change cannot be so bad.
Yes to no more mandatory runes: the rune lock is an attempt to put a little pressure on players, more runes won't. And we have trouble differentiating our postgame content anyway.
I know it's an extreme edge case; but in one of my 15-rune wins (don't remember if it was 0.14 Stable or 0.15 Trunk); I 'wasted' a trowel card (trowels no longer exist, of course); by drawing it in Pandemonium, only to find I couldn't enter the Ziggurat it created because I only had two runes. [Serpentine and Icy, IIRC] {Mummy in Armour with rC+++ medium armour is all I remember of the character, while back}. Pissed me off royally. Thought that though at that point in my game I'd stand no chance at Ziggurat: 20+, I did want to enter to get additional loot and hated that the option to go in at any point was removed. Not just from the "I wasn't expecting it this game" angle; but from the old "risk/reward" point of view; I liked being able to go in whenever I wanted, but having to stop early if I wasn't powerful enough. I don't like being forced to make Zigs extended only; it should be possible to do the first few floors early-ish for the loot.
That said...Doing a Ziggurat if you are of Vehumet is entirely too easy. Like zero challenge, blasting large groups of enemies with Fire Storm/Shatter/Tornado (etc.) easy. Being of Vehu actually makes Ziggurats EASIER than even normal Pandemonium, because of the amount of trash there is around to constantly refill your MP. Something really needs to be done to get rid of the absurd ease with which any elementalist of Vehu can clear a Ziggurat.
I'm beginning to feel like a Cat God! Felid streaks: {FeVM^Sif Muna, FeWn^Dithmenos, FeAr^Pakellas}, {FeEE^Ashenzari, FeEn^Gozag, FeNe^Sif Muna, FeAE^Vehumet...(ongoing)}
