This post is written by Mat, our gameplay designer.
Hey! Mat here, once again. Hardmode is just around the corner, so I hope you are as excited as we are!
I wanted to take a moment to explore one of the latest features we are introducing to Hardmode: rerolling ability cards.
It's simple. Whenever your warband gains a rank, you are able to pick a new ability or upgrade an existing skill. If you are in Hardmode, you can now spend Essences to get another roll, with the first card being guaranteed to be a new one when upgrading.
This will allow you to spend the Essence you earned in Hardmode in order to have more control over your build, making the run a bit more likely to succeed. This will come in handy when you engage with Curses and Blessings, as those runs can be quite challenging, even if they give you a lot of Essence.
It’s another reason to bank some Essences before attempting a harder run, for sure. In fact, this whole idea was brought up by MarkoP when considering other uses for Essences, and also a way to address how random the game can be for high-level play. We sat on the idea for a bit, but once the changes to the Essence economy happened in Hardmode, we just felt like it was time to try it out!
Now, we’re looking at the first few days after we launch the End Times update to see how we can improve the experience, but we already have a few plans. MarkoP is working on removing a tech limitation to allow you to reroll ability cards when you are inside an encounter (currently it can only be done when not in an active encounter), and we are investigating ways of improving the UI as well.
The more important part though, is to hear from you guys what you think is the effect of this change! Did it kill the vibe of the game? Did it feel more strategic, or more grindy?
As you play our new update, be sure to let us know on our Discord server!
Best of luck out there!
Mat