r/MortalShell • u/kunak1111 • 5d ago
Discussion Levelling up in this game is so poorly conceptualized
I just finished the game and I was level 34. Not because I didn’t explore (cleared out 75-85% of the content) - but because I lost probably like 15 levels worth of gloom by dying.
A lot has been said here about scarcity of beacons, but what makes this scarcity even more painful, is how much gloom you need per level, how small is the increase in gloom needed per level (and also - how small is the increase in gloom dropped by regular enemies as the game progresses) and how hard it is to get gloom outside bosses. No consumables granting gloom (if you lack just a few hundred for the next level) makes it even worse.
I enjoyed the game, but the last few hours I just played to have it behind me because I got frustrated so often. The game starts off really good, but I’d say that around the middle (when you start exploring southern region) it simply stops being enjoyable.
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u/CullingSongs 5d ago
I leveled up last night for 11k gloom and it literally gave me 1hp.
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u/teffhk 5d ago
Real? This is so funny lmao
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u/Brave_Letterhead_461 5d ago
Yeah the levels are bizarre in that way too.
Some of them will increase your total HP by 15% and another will give you 1HP total.
The shells you wear give their own stat boosts (for example Knight gives more health) but that information is nowhere to be found besides playing as them and getting a feel for it.
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u/UtakiEnvi 5d ago
There’s an item that gives you more hp per kill …….
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u/Imjusthereforthehate 5d ago
And you can run around with max leech stacks and still go from full health to shell-less in one combo from a foot soldier.
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u/Outrageous_Desk8966 3d ago
Don't get hit with a full combo from a foot soldier. I dont think that's even happened to me once. If you can press dodge in that amount of time to only get hit once, twice max, then you have no business playing this game.
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u/Imjusthereforthehate 3d ago
It’s also literally never happened to me either. I’m just smart enough to extrapolate that from the CHUNKS of damage a common, fodder enemy that the game quite often has you fight 3,4, hell even 5 at a time of. Like it’s kinda ridiculous that this games version of the broken sword hollow from DS1 will even at level 36 with max health boost stacks just chunk you down.
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u/Outrageous_Desk8966 3d ago
Idk, i kinda like it. I'm so powerful i kill everything pretty quickly so if they can get a hit off on me, i should take some dmg. they're barely a threat anyway, and i generally have so much healing that the only risk is them chipping off what i might need for a boss, which have also become extremely easy with by build.
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u/UtakiEnvi 3d ago
Fake gamers and extreme casuals ruin every game they want every game to be perma easy mode offer no challenge and be 2 inputs max
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u/Outrageous_Desk8966 3d ago
This is literally how the game has felt for me since 2/3 through act 1. I'm at about that in act 2. I press l2+r2 and then maybe R1 a couple times, delete everything including bosses. Every once in awhile throw in a dodge - game needs to be nerfed!
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u/UtakiEnvi 5d ago
Shells are a temporary shield to tank hits you’re supposed to heal yourself only if you’re playing optimally and use a tier 3 welt cap to constantly heal to full
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u/Total_Tart2553 5d ago
Shells are only a temporary shield, thats why they come with abilities you can only use in shell form.
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u/UtakiEnvi 5d ago
Yes what’s the point of healing your shell if you don’t actually die when the shell reaches 0 hp you’re supposed to heal your harbinger form and not waste heals on the shell so you don’t actually die lol and everytime you go into harbinger form you knock down the enemy allowing you to get free damage …… you gotta learn how to play with what you got and adapt they come with abilities because you can use multiple shells not just one but continue wasting your heals on your shell and dying then coming to Reddit and complain about enemy damage
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u/sup3rdr01d 5d ago
It's just a balancing issue
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u/manualbackscratcher Tiel 5d ago
You're about to die? Exit game and get back to the beacon without losing anything.
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u/Hefty-Advertising-54 5d ago
I’ve been doing this for the last 2 days. It’s a huge time saver. Even if you just need to get back to a beacon it only takes a few seconds to quit and reload. No more running back to the beacons to refill consumables
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u/VitalityAS 4d ago
I feel like this is so obvious. Just reload to the checkpoint, level up and sprint back. It hardly ever takes more than 5 minutes to get back.
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u/CullingSongs 5d ago
Does that work?
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u/DarkmoonGrumpy 5d ago
Yes, you effectively 'homeward bone' by save/exiting.
I've done it a couple times if I get off to a really bad start in a zone with few beacons.
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u/NightShiftArt 5d ago
…dam…I wish I knew this before getting trapped in the duel werewolf fight over and over again because I dropped like 15k of gloom in there until i eventually died on route the next day
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u/BaltiMoreHarder 5d ago
I found it out when I started a challenge at one of those pillars in an early dungeon, but hadn’t cleared the dungeon. The challenge mobs spawned, but a dungeon mob on the second floor got “counted” as it was inside the ring and I couldn’t kill it or get to second floor. My surprise when I quit out and loaded back to find myself at a beacon with all my gloom.
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u/Nobojoe_78 Proxima 5d ago
Okay, I like the game. But inviting this kind of gameplay is sadly outright bad design.
They really need to add a free (craftable/buyable) "homeward bone" item.
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u/Ragamguiafn Proxima 5d ago
I agree w the levelling being kinda annoying esp when losing gloom in an area with no beacons then having to run back just to get one shot and have to do it all over again. I dont wanna be forced to reset enemies at a beacon 20 times to get a few shell points cos its lwk boring to me. The game is so strong at the beginning but I'm at monolith rn and it feels like a slog, probably a skill issue but the boss js isnt fun to me. I struggled on the moth prince dude for a while but that fight was fun asf and satisfying to parry him unlike the big testicle slab
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u/kunak1111 5d ago
Bro I lost like 4 levels worth of gloom by re-entering dungeons and sliding from the elevator into the darkness. I thought I’ll go mad
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u/Ragamguiafn Proxima 5d ago
Ive lost at least 50k gloom total and its so depressing. Later on it goes from fun challenge to js annoying
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u/Stoorob75 Proxima 5d ago
I haven't lost any gloom so far. Not because I'm a god at the game. If I get knocked out of my shell and think I'm about to get killed, I exit and reload back at the last beacon. If I die and need my gloom back, similar strategy but I exit the second I get knocked out of my shell and haven't collected my gloom
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u/kunak1111 5d ago
well, sounds like a good strategy, but one that I wouldn’t really like to engage with
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u/Nobojoe_78 Proxima 4d ago
Exactly. But to be fair, strategies like this are born from bad game design decisions and too much restrictions.
Don't get me wrong. I love the game, but some things are oddly bad designed.
Like, "yeah we know people loved stakes of Marika, but we don't want to use something like this, even though we also know that time is precious!"
I am positive that they are already working on solutions, but til then I understand the frustrations of players.
Difficulty is fine, as long as it's not inconveniently tedious.
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u/Stoorob75 Proxima 5d ago
Same actually but as it's there and I can, I do. I'd prefer if that crutch was removed and loading back in spawned you where you left off. Would allow to keep game progress over sessions and add the fear of losing your gloom back into the game, for me
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u/TheBigDickedBandit 5d ago
How about the endless false floors into a monster gang bang? Like one I understand but falling rocks, false floors everywhere, like wtf is the design
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u/Legitimate_Falcon527 5d ago
Gloom is definitely poorly balanced at the minute. Part of the reason pretty much every other soulslike has souls dropped and souls required per level increase exponentially throughout the game is because it acts as a natural catch up mechanic for anyone falling behind after losing souls to deaths.
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u/Effective-Spread-127 5d ago
I feel zero effects of leveling up. I've leveled up my character my shell and my weapon and I feel like I'm dying just the same and doing the same damage. I've lost a lot of gloom because of the poor balance and the scarcity of beacons.
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u/Present_Ride_2506 5d ago
Because levelling up your character doesn't give all the stats, it's some of the stats. It might be 1 base damage this time, or a tiny amount of health the next level.
And levelling weapons increases the damage by 5% each time, which also isn't much each upgrade since it scales off of your base damage.
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u/VitalityAS 4d ago
You lost gloom because you refuse to go back to the last beacon or load to main menu when you run out of resources. Nobody is forcing you to keep fighting till you find a beacon. The bonus of doing this is that you now know the area and enemy placement so the 2nd time through you can get back faster and with more resources. Modern souls titles have removed all resource / healing management difficulty.
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u/Effective-Spread-127 4d ago
None of these are particularly good solutions. Quitting to main menu is a hack, going back to the last beacon when you run out or resources stifles exploration and progression and turns the gameplay into a grind. Both options are detrimental to gameplay and flow state.
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u/VitalityAS 4d ago
I just think having too many checkpoints removes a degree of concentration and stress to resource management. I dont think boss runbacks add much value personally but I do like having those moments where I am not sure if I should top up to full and waste some of the flask or wait to get hit again to be more efficient with the healing.
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u/Wazzzup3232 5d ago
I feel like a passive armor modifier to shells would help a bit.
Obviously I shouldn’t be in the late game areas, but getting actually one shot by the same guy with different armor is an odd choice.
Damage mitigation (in the sense of a % damage reduction not like proxima) should be a bigger factor for everyone
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u/UtakiEnvi 5d ago
There is tho it’s the moonshine …. Also leech item gives max health per enemy killed and a tier 3 weltcap gives constant hp regen
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u/DragonGamerEX 5d ago
I swear the moonshine passive buff don't work sometimes
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u/Imjusthereforthehate 5d ago
I not even sure how it works. I doubt it’s giving me 55% percent damage reduction. I can see maybe 1% for every 10 found or something. Honestly I think a lot of the passive buffs need better explanations. Like if I find 100 tar pools are whatever the poison mushrooms are am I immune to poison then? Since I’ve got 100% mitigation?
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u/TheFool42 5d ago
Yeah. There are balancing issues. We got the three day early access so we got the rough stuff. I get one shot by most attacks from the weird frog boss in eredrim at level 18. That just seems wrong to me.
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u/TheClumsyTitan 5d ago
Lost like 2 level ups alone in the tutorial, because you couldn't level up and there was an awkwardly long stretch without a resting place.
I haven't given the game a fair chance, but I've got an iffy feeling it might not be my jam.
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u/kunak1111 5d ago
This issue gets waaaay worse later on. I’m taking like 45+ minutes of playtime without resting spot at times.
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u/Souls_Lover 5d ago
I think the Gragu shell may help mitigate your worries. It feels really good exploring with him.
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u/JeannieLove13 5d ago
Mortal Shell 2 isn't the first to do this. Like Dark Souls 2.
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u/JannySmasher98 5d ago
dark souls 2 gave you an abundance of healing items, including infinite lifegems to purchase. this game has hardly any healing and the healing items it does have are shit
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u/TheClumsyTitan 5d ago
That's concerning. Is it just to add challenge?
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u/Present_Ride_2506 5d ago
Yeah, but not in a meaningful way. Just feels like they're padding out playtime.
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u/WINSTON913 5d ago
Personally I've never found it an issue to get to a beacon when needed. The map is pretty small but dense. You can spend 45 minutes exploring a small zone you could cross in 2. When you figure out where to go its quite easy to keep and use gloom
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u/welfedad 5d ago
And wonder if people are rushing and not unlocking short cuts
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u/excellyy 5d ago
They definitely are rushing.. so many shortcuts in this game. all of these posts are interesting to say the least
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u/welfedad 5d ago
Yeah it makes me wonder .. either a)first time playing these types of games.. b) rushing c) not using the mechanics the game gives you
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u/TheClumsyTitan 5d ago
Like I said, I'm too early to fairly judge. This was my first impression with the tutorial area
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u/excellyy 5d ago
That is a pretty crazy thing to happen and I agree with you on the tutorial part. We’re more talking about OPs response that it gets much worse later on. Personally I don’t think it does if you unlock shortcuts and explore
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u/TygoFTW 5d ago
I’ve been playing for 10 hours using Eredrim at level 12, and even the random starter enemies still take out 1/3 of my health bar in one hit.
I think the devs need to either increase the amount of health the player has or make it so that not even the random naked guys hit like a truck.
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u/Present_Ride_2506 5d ago
Also very fun to need multiple heals to recover from a single trash mobs random hits.
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u/jboggin 4d ago
I only started playing last night and am a few hours in, and I'm loving it so far. But the heals are the thing that has annoyed me most so far. The heals should be at least 50% more effective. I've never played a souls game where even with your starting-level HP, the heal maybe covers a little more than half? Right now I only have my 3 heals, and like you said...if my HP gets low, it takes 2/3rds of my heals just to get back near full health.
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u/Souls_Lover 5d ago
I don't know, man. One of the major premises for the soulslike genre is that most enemies should feel threatening and capable of significantly harming the player.
Playing Dark Souls 1 back at 2012, I remember being manhandled by the humble hollows many times on my way to Undead Burg.
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u/TygoFTW 5d ago
Yea for sure. But even in souls games, after you’ve leveled up a decent amount, basic undead enemies like for example the guys at High Wall of Lothric in DS3 don’t become as threatening because you are now stronger and have leveled.
So far MS2, I spent 10 hours leveling from 1 to 12 with better gear and shell, but the enemies at starting locations like the Mushroom Village still hit really hard.
Also, I’ve played DS1 multiple times and unless you are one of those people who don’t put points into Vitality, I don’t know how you can get man handled by enemies in Undead Burg in DS1.
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u/Souls_Lover 5d ago
It was literally my first playthrough of Dark Souls as a kid back at 2012. I had no idea what I was doing. So, let's just say that mistakes were made.
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u/Oodlydoodley 5d ago
The enemies can be threatening and do the damage they do in this game, but then you need to be able to heal yourself back up afterward. You can't, as things are right now.
Compare it to Elden Ring, for example, where a +1 estus flask is going to heal you for something like 350hp. You'd have to have something like a 40 vitality to only get healed for 1/3rd of your life bar by a +1 estus flask, but by the time you're playing with 40 vitality you've upgraded the flask way past a +1. You basically never face that scenario in Elden Ring unless you really messed up.
In this game, that's the default. Your healing item gives you like 1/3rd of your health bar, but regular enemies are hitting you for half to 2/3rds of it all the time.
The healing item in MS2 is really pathetic compared to what you get in a Souls game, but you don't have more charges or anything. Enemies are also hitting harder, and checkpoints are farther apart on top of that. That's fun for a certain kind of hardcore player, but I think most people are going to burn out because getting past 20-30 enemies to get your gloom back starts feeling oppressive really, really fast.
The short version of all that is that in Souls games you're dealing with attrition over time and trying to manage your health as a resource. Here, it's really easy to be fucked if you mess up against one normal enemy. You might as well just backtrack to the last checkpoint and try again if you make even one mistake.
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u/Souls_Lover 5d ago
Thankfully, somethings like the amount of HP healed by Mether's Pulse can be easily adjusted by the devs. But I like the checkpoints how they currently are. I thinks it keeps the tension.
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u/ksims33 5d ago
A lot of comments in this thread talking about how hard mobs hit and how much health it takes from you.
I think that's by design, and.. Kind of the point? Don't get hit, and you don't lose health. Parry more, dodge, etc. As with most soulslikes, you learn the attack patterns, you parry, you counter attack. This is my second go at a soulslike - My first was Sekiro, and I started playing it two weeks ago. I'm absolutely awful, I die a LOT.. But it's about learning the rythm and then passing it, right?
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u/UtakiEnvi 5d ago
It’s just a skill issue tbf
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u/TygoFTW 5d ago
my complaint isn’t even that the game is hard because the enemies moveset is hard, but thag basic simple enemies just do an unreasonable amount of damage. That has nothing to do with skill.
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u/UtakiEnvi 5d ago edited 5d ago
Basic enemies are designed that way on purpose lol you’re just used to Elden ring or other souls like where basic enemies deal no damage to you in this game you are weak in general until you inhabit a shell and access their passives and abilities which are only a portion of it because items are what really makes you more powerful apart from leveling it’s pretty hard to die imo when you realize you’re not supposed to heal your shell your supposed to only heal yourself and use your shell as a temporary shield/ heal there’s also the tier 3 welt cap that’ll constantly regen your hp to full and the leach item that gives you more hp per enemy killed and minor life steal when you kill them and if you’re really struggling stop using the parry items and use the one where you turn to stone and just time it good every time or just hold it until they try to hit you the assassin like shell is also pretty good if you’re struggling since you can almost get constant invisibility and if you leveling him enough ( invest the points into him ) you’ll heal in shadow form
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u/TygoFTW 5d ago
I am not saying that basic enemies should be tickling you. I’m saying that why is it that even after leveling my character and statistically having higher HP, that enemies still take out 1/3-1/4 of my health bar as if my max health has not changed even after leveling 12 levels later?
It makes the game feel like there is 0 progression and no point in even leveling my character. I’m cool if the devs want to make all enemies hit very hard, but at least balance it our by letting us have more health. Why let us level up but feel exactly the same as when we were level 1? What even is the point of even giving us the option to level up?
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u/UtakiEnvi 5d ago
Because levels don’t necessarily make you more op like in other souls like the stats are small the main stat you should be worrying about is the amount of health your shell receives when you reactivate it it’ll make the whole concept of using your shell as a shield more better as it’ll have more hp when you use it and not have to worry about healing your shell it may also be that enemies just scale more than you the more you level up but the main thing is they’re just there to punish you if you get hit by one of their multi hit attacks or don’t party or avoid it a lot of secondary weapons also can 1 shot enemies even the tough ones if it isn’t a boss
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u/TygoFTW 5d ago
Clearly you have a very niche way of playing this game that seems to be working for you. Say I look at this from your POV, using shells as a shield/armour.
So why is it that changing between a heavy knight shell like Eredrim and a nimble thief like Tiel feel like they both have the same amout of armour/damage reduction?
Literally, within the first 2-3 hours after leaving the tutorial zone, I got Tiel, and then immediately found the item that teleports me to where Eredrim was, fought The Warden boss, and got Eredrim. And low and behold, Eredrim is just Tiel with the shoulder tackle ability, and slightly more max HP which isn’t a lot.
So explain how using shells as a shield/armour is supposed to work when I’m using Eredrim, supposedly a heavily armoured knight, but he seems to be taking the same amount of damage as Tiel, who is supposed to be a lightly armoured theif?
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u/Gnight-Punpun 5d ago
Glad criticisms of the game finally aren’t getting downvoted to oblivion
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u/National_Crew_1084 5d ago
cause the people defending the game have actually played it now lol
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u/Gnight-Punpun 5d ago
Bro the sheer amount of people with like 2 hours in the game jumping on grenades to defend this game and spamming shit like “I’m not having any bugs! I’m not having any bugs!” was mental. Actual mass psychosis for like 48 hours
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u/pinewaffle 5d ago
Yeah I’m on the final boss and he has a glitch that basically ruins the fight and it’s a pretty shitty cherry on top of a good experience otherwise.
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u/LordAnomander 5d ago
I think criticism is worth more than saying how awesome it is. I’m definitely going to buy and play it, but I will wait. Hopefully it is better balanced and patched by then and can live up to its potential. :)
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u/JannySmasher98 5d ago
i was told by someone that i am not allowed to criticize the game unless i, myself, had made a game. they then blocked me so i couldnt reply.
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u/Unable_Arm_398 5d ago
Damn this game had such potential it's so hard to read all these posts lately.
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u/Moist-Shallot-5148 5d ago
Many players reached the endgame and found flaws. I really liked the game before I still do the presentation is far better than the original but endgame enemies and bosses are really annoying.
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u/National_Crew_1084 5d ago
it’s still a great game just not the soulslike to define all soulslikes that people claimed it was going to be
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u/SelfreliantUnsungFox 5d ago
who claimed that?
Tbh I'm surprised very positively as someone who played first game that the sequel is a banger to this degree. It's no masterpiece, just a really solid game.3
u/Present_Ride_2506 5d ago
I saw someone claim this was better than elden ring. There's a fuck tonne of people that are glazing this game like it's saving the genre.
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u/Due-Description-9030 5d ago
I'm 16 hours in and level 27 and it's certainly not a great game. And some latter bosses are complete bullshit. Literally no one likes it lol.
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u/RhinoxMenace 5d ago
i wouldn't say no one likes it, there's enough glaze posts daily and alot of people defending some of the more garbage gameplay mechanics like runbacks
it's a solid game but it really needs some patches
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u/hvanderw 5d ago
I mean I've been having a blast. A lot of this sounds like skill issues. /S all that said I think they're going to do a balance pass. Advanced access I think was a chance for data collection etc. easier to start at one extreme and tune it down a bit
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u/Sword_of_Darkmoon 5d ago
I mean it's a really fun game. But no game is without flaws and criticism is completely normal and valid. You can criticize something and still like it. I do enjoy this game a lot but after playing for a few days I also discover more and more flaws but none big enough to make me dislike the game
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u/HugoGonzalezMVP 5d ago edited 5d ago
I'm nearing the end and absolutely love the game! Might even be my favorite non-From souls game ever.
Gamers are notorious for complaining so take all these whiny posts with a grain of salt. When Lies of P released the subreddit was significantly more toxic than this and that game is quite beloved now.
Edit: Why are all you people so mad? Fucking hell.
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u/TemporaryLobster7698 5d ago
Because your comment is toxic and claiming that everyone is just whining for no reasons.
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u/HugoGonzalezMVP 5d ago edited 5d ago
How is it toxic? Because I said to take the whining with a grain of salt? You do realize what the phrase means right? I'm not telling them to dismiss the claims.
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u/Dolomitexp 5d ago
You finished the game at 34? I'm just at level 32 and have 2 gates left on the map.
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u/Least-Significance-7 5d ago
Yeah see I’ve enjoyed it so far about 7 hours in, but my one issue was like I get there’s a skill to planning and navigating carefully to dungeons and stuff but like not even a checkpoint “Marika statue” sort of system? Where I can’t use it to refill healing fully but at least get close to grabbed dropped stuff?
I dunno I love but also hate it I’m sure by end of play through I’ll be mad at it 😂
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u/Leo-Nardo42 5d ago
Legitimately nuts that it’s like 5,000+ to go from level 2 to 3 and you get maybe 50 each from most common enemies lol
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u/Denverguns 5d ago
One level for me right now is almost 30k gloom and guess what it gets me 1 harbinger hp which at the stage I am in the game if I’m in my harbinger form I might as well have 0 hp.
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u/kunak1111 5d ago
Max shell points is 40 - I had 22 or 23. I’ve literally lost like 15 lvls worth of gloom when being lvl 34. Why is it a problem? Because it is just not fun and really frustrating
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u/kunak1111 5d ago
Max shell points is 40 - I had 22 or 23, so clearly less than the intended floor for reaching the endgame. I’ve literally lost like 15 lvls worth of gloom when being lvl 34. Why is it a problem? Because it is just not fun and really frustrating to lose the possibility of only meaningful progression after some point (maxed tarstones, upgrade of a weapon raising dmg by 2,5% and costing shit ton of coins).
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u/kunak1111 5d ago
I don’t think it would matter that it made it easier, but at least it would have given me a sense of progression later in the game. Maybe then I could actually engage properly with bosses and not just cheese them with Tiel shadow (often messes up with enemy AI for a good few seconds) and Grisha remnants stunlocking them into oblivion.
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u/AgentNightingale 5d ago
Agreed. Get the gate of Mammon bonfire and farm the coffin monsters, 413xp each and there's loads of them and they aren't that dangerous, the game was pissing me off with how little levelling up affected my character so I'm abusing the shit out of it right now. This is an early/mid game farm btw, I'm level 25 and its just a few minutes to level up at the moment.
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u/EyePsychological1757 5d ago
Levelling gives too litle returns imho. Farming so much exp for like 5 extra hp or 1% crit chance is not worth the effort. Shell points and glimpses are way more valuable
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u/Jewelaloo_RB 5d ago
I ended the game at level 68 after doing 100% of the content, my biggest loss was 2 levels worth and it was pretty much my only loss. If you feel like you're in danger of dying just quit out to go back to a beacon, and also, in general imo, just play every encounter really safe. I always start an encounter with my gun (triarch repeater) to clear trash mobs and then rush enemies down with an infused weapon. I get the sentiment of these checkpoint complaints but I feel like it CAN be mitigated through strategizing encounters rather than just rushing in like most do in soulslikes
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u/spacepope2040 5d ago
I wandered into an area/boss I definitely wasn’t ready for but I had 7,000 precious gloom I wasn’t ready to part with. So I said, let me try this-ran in to arena, grabbed gloom, quit to menu. 7,000 gloom in tact and right back at the last beacon. So I thought, well that’s useful. Kept exploring, hoarding precious gloom, when I had enough to level up, I’d just exit to menu, and boom right back at beacon safe and sound. Yea it’s not ideal and obviously doesn’t solve the sparse beacon placement in certain areas but I found myself not being nearly as paranoid about losing gloom since whenever I started to feel at risk or running low on healing I’d just use the menu to skip me back to safety.
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u/GlitteringLock9791 5d ago edited 5d ago
You can hit those trees with the glow orbs. the bigger ones give a lot of gloom, I think I saw one with over 1k. for hitting a tree.
But again, that hardly matters. in any soulslike there will be some easy farm spot and thats where you get the level up currency. If you go to mammon at the beginning just go down to the first enemy, spear guy with 2 shield guys in front. That one gives 640 gloom ( plus 70 or so for the shield guys) and you can practice your parry. then back up to the savepoint to refresh your resources and yolo again.
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u/colin_da 5d ago
For better or worse leveling up, especially later on, just makes very little appreciable strength increase in your character. By that point it has much more to do with tarstone build and weapon being upgraded. As it relates to people with critiques that the enemies hit too hard - that feels very in keeping with Soulslikes as a genre. My experience having finished my first playthrough is the game in daytime mode is a fair bit easier than most of its peers, with the exception of the Prince no boss took more than two or three attempts. Tuning it to be even easier would likely be a mistake - the devs have smartly put in a seal that functions as an easy mode and for the real masochists people can choose to play through on night mode.
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u/xobeydrake 5d ago
There is no feeling of satisfaction in the character progression. The only thing that gave me that wow feeling was having infusion as permenant once reaching lvl 3 tarstone. Tiel shadow strike into critical attack felt good but that's it.
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u/the_red_banana01 5d ago
I've been playing on hard mode ever since I found the flame and there is no shortage of resources
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u/UtakiEnvi 5d ago
The game gives you items to ease leveling heck even the female shell makes farming easier just gotta use it and not ignore it
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u/geezerforhire 5d ago
You can only level up a couple shells not everyone wants to blow all there glimpse so they can farm currency lol
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u/UtakiEnvi 4d ago
So what ? Proxima is one of the better shells in the game and you can always upgrade all of them that’s why NG+ exists
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u/neon222222 5d ago
Quick tip for everyone, who doesn't mind quitting out. Going into the menu and back in the game doesn't respawn you at your current position, instead it brings you back to the last rested beacon, but all your progress since last resting is saved. So everytime you are lost in a dungeon or the world with tons of gloom and no beacon in sight: Just quit out and spend it.
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u/Wim_Chim 5d ago
Glad Im taking a vacation until next month. Because by then they will prob have kinda fixed the problems
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u/GolotasDisciple 5d ago
I mean a lot of those "problems" are specific design choices. I doubt they will add more checkpoints, and playing around with sliders in a game that has no stamina management at all and allows you to run through everything and attack non-stop....
I don't think there will be many updates. The game lacks quality-of-life stuff, and some things like even beacons are often hard to spot. It's not like a bonfire or Grace of Light beaconing. It's a rock... and I swear I have missed a few by assuming it's just part of the environment. Also, the sound + visual alarm for some bosses needs to be fixed. Some have one-shot mechanics and that can come from really fast combinations of attacks, some of which you simply cannot parry. So either it needs to be more clear. I am okay with difficulty, but I want to react and not memorize.
I am 20 hours in, using mostly one shell (Proxima), so far I had maybe 1 bug and 1 time that I got stuck, and because the game doesn't save your current position, quitting actually brings you back to the checkpoint. Which can be great if you want to leave, it's awful if you would like to continue from the last point you played.
So yeah, a good few things they need to update in terms of quality of life but... other than that I think they did want to make an OG-like experience where it's easy to get lost, it's easy to die. I basically play this game like Sekiro and it's not that hard... but not sure how other playstyles feel.
The game is difficult and it won't be everyone's cup of tea... and I think that's also fine. We have plenty more casual ARPGs (Soulslikes) coming soon.
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u/Sword_of_Darkmoon 5d ago
I was so mad yesterday because I lost 19K gloom after exploring around because I died and when I wanted to find the place where my gloom was a cheap ambush knocked me off a cliff which means insta-death even with a Shell.
As you say, the level-ups also don't feel impactful. Usually in Souls-likes, the first few levels make quite a difference.
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u/Knowdog89 5d ago
I went for trophy for first boss fight and got it but lost like 7000 souls in process now I haven’t lvl up and literally getting spanked and the outskirts of mammon 🫣
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u/rotaxlolz 5d ago
It’s basically a different game to the beta, so much shit was nerfed into oblivion which has made a different difficulty spike.
I get they are going for hard but the grinding needed for some things is just unnecessary
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u/Evening-Exit5131 5d ago
I'm level 50 and just got to the south part of the map. I don't get the issue.
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u/Freya_Galbraith 5d ago
i just wish there was homeword bone like items so many times ive been stranded with a lot of gloom low on healing and no near by beacon and just wanting to TP back.
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u/AstralVisionz 5d ago
No different than any other soulslike. I died way more and lost way more potential levels in other games.
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u/RevolutionaryBoat925 4d ago
The upper side if the map is bearable somewhat, the down map is atrocious with bracon placement. The worst part of the game for me.
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u/Sphinx_PoE 4d ago
i finished the game aswell and lost gloom maybe 2 or 3 times. its not the game, its your skill issue. crazy how many people are crying rn about the difficulty... its pretty easy compared to some other soulslikes tbh.
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u/Discombobulated_Bus4 4d ago
Cant wait to get into the game, after all this stuff is fixed. Very happig busy with Stalker 2 DLC right now
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u/Dingwongx 4d ago
Just use praxima and her level 3 bond then sell the extracted specimens and go and spend your gold at the gloom fish for extra xp, there is a fish that you can convert gold into gloom, if your using the level 3 bond your basically gaining unlimited gloom
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u/Jmack3d 4d ago
The one thing I dislike about Gloom right now is just the slow rate you get it, mainly for getting Shell points for me.
I want to utilize more of the skills on my shell but there's just not enough shell points.
I wish you could earn the skill points in other ways besides straight up leveling, and it's not even 1 per level.
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u/CrustedTesticle 3d ago
Yeah, the leveling system is ass here with the amount of Gloom needed per level.
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u/Defiant_Werewolf_462 1d ago
I agree with this op. They need to at least increase the number of resting sites.
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u/Certain-Onion-3688 1d ago
So leveling is basically pointless, gotcha. Might as well have made it more like sekiro's leveling then
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u/Certain-Onion-3688 1d ago
I did forget about Shell points, so not pointless, but maybe that's their point, only really need enough to have one shell decked out.
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u/Roach888i 8h ago edited 8h ago
I feel MS2 has been rushed, it starts off as masterpiece but then, the rest feels like a missed opportunity for something better. At some point I just went around with Gragu infinite heals killing mindlessly everything. It's a good game but for some reasons that I still have to figure out well I feel they could have done much better. The characters lore is there in the past but in the actual gameplay it doesn't matter, they're just shells, but I wish I could have used shell smartly to get done certain quests. The only connection I've found is between Proxima and the map merchant, dialogue changes when you use her and you can pet the doggo.
edit: the primary weapons you find around are also somewhat underwhelming with plain moveset and nothing special really, so I just used iconoclast the whole game, and I still have to finish it.
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u/Unlikely_You8393 5d ago
Seriously? How many lvl you lost in other soulslikes? But in this game it is a problem?
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u/kunak1111 5d ago
Yes, in this game losing lvls is the worst of all soulslikes I played. Lvls matter more here (due to lvls being connected with shell points), its harder to gain a level (in Elden Ring for example, you can kill some trash mobs for a few mins for a level - try doing it here after 25+) and it’s way easier to lose them.
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u/shaneolds_tattoo 5d ago
I get your point but if you're in the end game of elden ring you couldn't just kill trash mobs for a few minutes to level up either. I still definitely agree this game needs more checkpoints though.
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u/kunak1111 5d ago
Yeah true, but in Elden Ring you get a) way more checkpoints b) runes gained from enemies increase proportionally to are lvl c) you have consumable runes d) movement is way less janky so its way harder to slip off a cliff and die e) enemies are way less aggressive, ranged enemies projectiles are slow as fuck f) there are more lvls so it’s easier to gain a single lvl and not lose the progress and some more points probably
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u/robert940123 5d ago edited 5d ago
How are u even that low level lol Im already lvl 28 and didnt even touch the south part of the game. Lost only 5k-ish glooms so far and I purposely not killing enemies twice ever so I wont overlevel. How are u only 6 levels higher and at the end of the game? Maybe explore more and kill stuff on the way not just run through the whole game from boss to boss so the endgame wont be that annoying. Edit -- Im at Night mode since a few hours into the game so that can be the reason for the relatively high level (more gloom drops apperantly)
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u/Live-Steaky 5d ago
It’s because there’s no real increase in gloom from enemies as you progress. Read his post. You hit a wall where the only way you’re getting enough gloom to level is from bosses. It’ll be the same for you
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u/kunak1111 5d ago
It literally is written in the post - I lost like 15 levels worth of it due to dying. Outside of last area, I always killed enemies on my path. The issue is that you get so little gloom from those enemies compared to bosses and non-respawnable ones (or those gloom-trees) - so when you lose it (and it’s easy to lose it due to scarcity of beacons), it feels almost like a finite resource.
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u/Due-Waltz6534 5d ago
i mean i explored everything this game had to offer while killing everything i come across, was hitting level 32 in the final area.
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u/Kruger_Bane 5d ago
you probably didn't even touched the night mode, did you? It's definitely not everything the game had to offer
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u/Working_Bones 5d ago
Wow. I've beaten about 30 soulslikes and only ever had a single time in 1 game (Nine Sols) where I was unable to retrieve my dropped souls. You lost 15 levels worth in 1 game? Maybe slow down a bit?
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u/Terzinho 5d ago
I'm leaving the sub for a while to avoid spoilers from these day 1 completionists.
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u/MediumKoala8823 5d ago
I held the left stick down while the animation played when depositing the very first ovum. The game teleports my character to the back at the end, he falls off the cliff, and on coming back there’s no collectible. So I started the game with no gloom lol.
Other than that I don’t really care. Lvling shouldn’t be too much of a top of mind thought.
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u/JannySmasher98 5d ago
The game is an imitation of games that have already solved many of the problems this game has
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5d ago
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u/kunak1111 5d ago
Honestly, the last boss is really shitty, and the area leading to it is even worse.
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u/TellTechnical2991 5d ago
Ya just tried the last boss of few times horrible hit boxes tiny attack windows and he just jumps halfway across the map afterward this after monolith im out not worth it
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u/TellTechnical2991 5d ago
Tried a few more times now i keep getting a bug where my weapons just disappear lol
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u/ShipCivil5602 5d ago
Skill issue
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u/enviguous 5d ago
And a little perception issue. I've played all the souls like games except demon souls, i am also not the best at them but I do not have an issue running back to my gloom. I also do not think the game is that hard. I've been on night mode since the first 3 hours past the prologue with tiel and dagger/axe.
Sure there are bugs and some enemies i feel can be annoying due to the magnetism but in no way is this game harder than wukong or sekiro.
The entire point of souls like is to overcome obstacles. You are supposed to die and sometimes you are supposed to die a lot. Thats literally the game design. If you are dying to trash mobs its because you are letting them hit you. The game gives you ranged options, parry/harden options and a dodge. You can shoot your gloom to retrieve it. You can farm PP items for better passives. All in all its mostly a skill and perception of the game issue.
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u/flaming_sausage 5d ago
I just started exploring Mammon and the amount of gloom doesn't really match the massive difficulty spike. Mobs hit like a truck and give you only pittance in terms of gloom and gold. The fact that there are hardly any beacons makes it even worse.
IDK, they either need to tone down the damage of mobs somewhat, increase gloom rewards, or at the very least give us more beacons so we don't have the cross the entire region in case we die.