I knew at EA launch that Entropy as an adversary would be something that evolved over the course of development, but more than that I also knew I needed feedback to guide the ultimate shape MoteMancer's adversary would take. We've had many late-night community conversations about where we might be able to evolve Entropy, and today I'm going to share the fruits of those discussions.
Entropy as a Resource
The best way at a foundational level to change the way players interact with Entropy is to make it harvestable and useful rather than just something to carve into or build around. Entropy represents the unraveling of order, thread by thread, into a miasma of noise without enough structure to cohere into anything descript. For an experimenting alchemist, this means it could be leveraged in a multitude of novel and interesting ways.
We'll start with the Entropic Alembic, which distills nearby Entropy into Entropic Shards - a crystallized reagent used as the foundation of our new arcane endeavors. From there, the Transmutation Engine channels the chaotic potential of Entropy in a variety of forms.
Early on, the Engine’s primary use-case is coaxing random Motes back from Entropy using Salt or Aether as a catalyst - reconstituting the Entropic Shard back into that which it dissolved. The random nature of the output adds for interesting logistical challenges, but can also always be turned back into Salt and Aether, since a Grindstone is undiscerning in that regard. Grippers will only pickup Ingredients that are useable in their destination Inventory as well, so there are many clever ways to filter a line, even before Enchanted and Stonebound techs come online.
Beyond that, the Transmutation Engine allows you to cycle items through their Elemental counterparts. Accidentally bring 100 Streamways to the Fire plane where they can't be placed? Use the Transmutation Engine to convert them into Wide Chests or Ichor Slick, whatever suits your preference.
Early Entropy Development
Inter-Planar Logistics
Right now all of the Planar Portals have their cross-plane bridges on all the time, but it was always planned for this to be earned one way or another, and Entropy's kit of slicing through the planes is a perfect place for this tech to unlock. Each Element has its own style of Planar Bridging, and each can be earned through Entropy Research.
Alongside these planar bridges comes a new feature - Planar Reliquary, which allows you to place an in-world "Chest" of sorts that is linked regardless of distance to a reserved slot in your inventory. The easiest use-case for this is to fill it from a Crafter or a line so that you always have a stack of your go-to Structures at hand, but since it lives in the world, it can also be used as a trash slot or canary buffer for whether a supply chain is running low or topped off.
Spindle & Scythe
For players that would rather just prevent Rifts from spawning so they can build in peace - Spindle is a Diamond-shelled structure that holds a core of Entropy, keeping a local balance and preventing Rifts from reacting to nearby complexity. Spindles effectively stitch the seams of reality together, and has a research line that pushes Entropy back in a variety of ways. Scythe on the other hand tears reality asunder, concentrating so much abundant Power in a location that a Rift can't help but open to feast on the concordance of energy. Scythe gameplay is about beckoning Entropy into your world so that it may be reaped and exploited.
Feeding the Cycle
Entropy Research is a brand new tech tree that lives alongside the existing elemental tree. Research is simply commenced through cleansing nearby Entropy and Rifts, through Spells or Towers (but notably not through the Entropic Alembic). This gives players a clear path of bonus for killing Rifts, or farming it outright for new avenues of gameplay. There are a few extra goodies buried in the tree, but those you'll have to discover for yourself.
The Entropy Update is encroaching on the horizon - prepare your defenses or distilleries for the dance ahead.
~CyanAvatar