You have a very nice feature in Arcanas, don’t let this slip away
1st easy win:
Step 1 => add SSF mode (blank map, no renown bonuses, zero from scratch)
Step 2 => in that SSF mode add a “choose starting region” option (so those that play it don’t feel the potential demotivation of “not again”)
Step 3=> add a new early-game monsters in the more “advanced” regions so players don’t fight Nangari Oracles at lvl1. Also vice-versa in FP and Scosglen add a new “late game” type of a monster (like a greater Vampire or Feral Druid or sth), so that if someone started from somewhere else FP can feel like a “late game” to them
2nd easy win:
Step 1 => events, dungeon events, and dungeon completion have a chance to drop Arcana (1st two a lot less chance like say 7%, but dungeon completion on the other hand should have somewhere around 40%, perhaps make 1st drop guaranteed, or drop a few of them right away)
Step 2 => reuse Arcana as a permanent “fine tune” feature in the game (just remove “Catalysts” which obviously are designed to look like a separate spell, and allow Arcana to be slapped (directly) on a skill
Step 3 => re/design Arcanas in the following way:
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Each Arcana “reserves” portion of resource (i.e. that’s the cost so people don’t “spam” 6 of them)
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Blue = as is, when cast a certain skill something happens (gain HP, MS, AS, e.t.c.)
** for ex: -
- 10 Resource reserved, Critical hits from affected skill do 15% increased damage
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Rare = alternate a certain stat on a skill
** for ex: 20 Resource reserved, affected skill gains +15% LH -
- 25 Resource reserved, affected skill gains +15% AoE and damage
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- 10 Resource reserved: affected skill gains +25% damage but adds 3 sec to CD
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- 20 Resource reserved: affected skill has CD reduced by 2 sec
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Legendary (optional but would be damn awesome) => Transform a skill from one type to another
** for ex -
- Target skill becomes an Ultimate with 2000% damage and CD of 45 sec. If skill affected is a basic skill then there is no damage bonus but instead do a multicast/salvo of 15 casts and kills reduce CD by 5 sec.
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- Target skill becomes Defensive with CD of 8 sec and grants DR% of 15% for 3 sec. For each extra level that the affected skill has you gain extra 5% DR. (up to 50%)
[something like that]
TLDR ? => Add an SSF mode with “blank map”, real obvious sense of progression even from the very early game, and allow people experiment their builds (Arcanas) as early as possible (as part of a slowed-down journey, not on completion or near-completion as was in S9)
P.S., as a bonus can also include a “brutal” or “ruthless” or whatever the name.
For the sake of argument => this is an easy win
You’ll not only retain “blasters” (cause Arcanas would be quite fun to experiment with as well as do that extra optimization step at the end), but also will allow early-customization options to the other type of players who want to take their time and see their character grow exactly they want to make it. And appreciate the challenges in each step on the way 