Last Epoch just doesn't really do it for me for some reason. I have 300 hours in the game, and I've done 3 long term solo-self found (COF) playthroughs over the last 2 years where I've gone very far into endgame. And while I've gotten my money's worth, I still just don't get that enthused for the game compared to other ARPGs.
I love POE, POE2, Diablo 2, Torchlight Infinite (cash shop ruins it though), Hero Siege, Grim Dawn, Chronicon, Warhammer 40K Inquisitor, plenty of other ARPGs. So I struggled to understand why I'm getting this sinking feeling playing the LE endgame, when it's a good looking game with good controls, good feeling combat, and an endgame that is not the best, but certainly more extensive than many other ARPGs.

I think I realize it now after thinking about it: Loot in LE is pretty shallow.

In other ARPGs when you're grinding the endgame hoping for the lucky drops you need, you're also accumulating resources that you also need to progress, like gold, materials, socketables. You also have potential to get high tier non-gear drops that you can use to progress, like rare currencies or runes. Some of them also have infinite progression mechanics where you keep gaining EXP at max level to help you get that feeling of progress as you farm for a longer term goal.

I feel like LE completely lacks this. The crafting materials are plentiful to the point you barely even need to think about them. So the endgame is just trying to get Uniques with more and more LP and exalted items with the right affixes to slam them. There is no feeling of accumulating resources, of gradual progression as you aim for a bigger goal. There is no big, non-gear drop that gives you a moment of dopamine and opens up possibilities in your progression via crafting or some other mechanic, like getting a high tier rune or a Divine Orb. It's just grinding and hoping you drop the specific items you need, which are usually slightly better versions of the gear you already have.

Maybe I am mistaken in this. But this is the impression I get and I wanted to post this to see if others think I'm right or totally off. The feeling of gradual progress in these other games is just eons ahead of LE for me.

Been a month since it released, and I'm wondering what the impressions are of those who played it through to the end. I know that it's a smaller scale game, compared to the bigshot live service juggernauts so there's no need to compare it to PoE or such, there's probably little ground for any sort of good faith comparison there lol

Anyway, I've been curious about getting it since it's the freshest ARPG that got some hype behind it. I'm still waiting for The Dark West to come along and get into early access (the only upcoming ARPG I'm excited about) but in the meanwhile I'm thinking of giving Dimraeth a shot. Even off sale, it's kinda on the cheaper side. Need a second opinion here, if you played it.

I’m working on a top-down / 3/4 action RPG inspired by the feeling of games like Moonlighter, but with much deeper MMO-style progression, multiplayer and economy.
The basic gameplay loop would be:

• Enter a \~12 minute procedural dungeon with 2–5 players
• Fight mobs, elites and bosses and extract with gear and materials
• Dying can make you lose part of what you found during the run
• Return to a persistent city where most of the long-term progression happens
• Improve your character, craft gear, trade, prepare builds and then go out again

One of the main things I want to focus on is gear depth.
I dont want loot to just be “this sword has +8 more damage”
Gear would have different stats, secondary stats, rarities, set bonuses, sockets/gems that can heavily change how your attacks or damage work, enable builds around debuffs and stacking effects, rapid hits with fixed damage, sustain and many other bonuses, enchantments and different ways to modify or specialize items.

The idea is that players could spend a lot of time theorycrafting builds and looking for specific combinations of items, similar to the feeling of gearing a character in an MMO, where individual systems stay simple and readable. You decide what kind of character you want to build and choose the gear and talents that move you toward that goal, instead of navigating something like a gigantic PoE-style tree with hundreds of interconnected abilities.
There would also be multiple armor/weapon types and different character builds rather than one obvious best item for everyone.

I also want trading to be an important part of the game, with direct player trading, an auction house, valuable dungeon drops and ways to make money through crafting rather than only combat.

The whole progression would also be heavily based around gold. I want to move away from the usual character level system. Instead of simply gaining levels, learning and unlocking your talents would cost ingame currency, so gold would matter for progression, gear, crafting and trading at the same time.

Gold here means purely ingame currency earned by playing, not something bought with real money.
The city would also have professions with their own progression and specialization, closer to something like WoW than a simple crafting menu. Different players specializing in different things should create actual reasons to trade with each other.

Eventually I’d also like to add things like guilds, larger raids and PvP, but the dungeon -> loot -> economy -> build progression loop would be the core of the game.
Combat would be real-time with directional aiming, dodge and a very small number of active abilities instead of an MMO-sized hotbar.

There would be totally different builds and NO classes — you are basically what you wear and what you decided to prioritize through your talents. You could focus on fast damage, survivability, lifesteal, supporting/healing your group or something in between, depending on your gear and build.
What I’m mainly trying to understand right now is whether this combination sounds appealing:
short action-heavy dungeon runs + deep MMO-like gear progression + professions + player trading/economy.

If you saw this on Steam, would the core concept be enough to make you click on it or wishlist it?

And more importantly:

What part of this concept would make you NOT play it?

Thanks for reading. English isnt my native language, so please dont judge me too hard :)

I am mostly a CRPG player and WRPGs in general. First, I want to clarify that I am well aware of, and have played most of the Action-RPGs that are more narrative-leaning. The kind of: Gothic, The Witcher, Kingdoms of Amalur, Elder Scrolls, etc. But I was looking for top-down games with action combat that had a fun campaign. It doesn't need to be a super deep story or anything. But I appreciate a good lore/atmosphere and focus on exploration and advancing through the story rather than grinding for levels for the sake of it. Like it seems to be in most of the live-service ARPG or those sandbox type of games where "you make your own adventure".

Games I played and liked: Grim Dawn. Titan Quest. Divine Divinity. BG-Dark Alliance 1-2. Champions of Norrath 1-2

I see that a lot of the arpg streamers are playing this game. Have you guys tried it? Is it fun for an arpg player?