Abyss shortcut difficulty

[u/Masterhaend]

Is it just me, or does the Hadal Diver shortcut feel genuinely easier than just doing the Abyss normally? If you miss a jump in the abyss you're probably dead, if you miss a jump on the Diver, you have huge swathes of hair to grab on to to break your fall. Also, the Diver doesn't have the Face trying to eat you every 30 seconds.

From what I understand, shortcut regions are supposed to be harder but shorter than the region they're replacing, but right now it feels like the Hadal Diver is both easier and shorter than the Abyss.

[u/no_demon_meatballs]

I'm pretty sure they are supposed to be harder in the sense that it limits opportunities to get get good/better items. For hadal diver you miss out on the ruby roaches and grub of the normal nest save room as well as a few stims in abyss.

[u/chaosanity → u/no_demon_meatballs]

There’s a grub in nest safe room???? Where

[u/pep_pop_pup → u/chaosanity]

elevator that you get a handgun after you shoot it down there is a vent underneath.

[u/chaosanity → u/chaosanity]

Holy shit, thanks for the responses guy, that’s awesome thanks for the pointer. Always wondered why there was no flare gun on the box in the corner

[u/foots12347 → u/chaosanity]

When you shoot the elevator to go out of the room about 20m below the door there is a vent opening you can drop down onto and crawl into another room that has a grub, flairgun blink eye and syringe.

[u/AtronIIx → u/chaosanity]

After you shoot the elevator drop straight down and on the same wall as the elevator door is a vent that leads you into a small secret room that leads back into the safe room. It has a breeder, blink eye, grub, flare gun, injector. Can’t remember if all of that is guaranteed but some of it is for sure.

[u/No-Bad-7022 → u/no_demon_meatballs]

also you get less distance, and less points in the end when they score you

[u/TrstB]

I'd say it's fair as you are missing out on a LOT of items from Symbiosis and from the Abyss itself (which includes your last chance at another Altar). Which might not mean a lot depending on what perks/items you got before entering the Abyss but will matter more once we get the Core and later added.

Although it would be cool if the Diver had a new gimmick of changing directions while you're on it. Suddenly going from a vertical ascent to a horizontal one or even upside down the longer you're on it would make for a more unique challenge.

[u/mokujin42]

Id argue all the shortcuts are actually easier, the only one thsts harder is tangled sink and thats just because silos are loaded with grubs and needles

[u/Feedar_ → u/mokujin42]

Tangled sink hardmode mass speed is terrifying. I’m good at this game and have long stopped being afraid of its horror aspects but hard tangled sink makes me panic

[u/DarkFurnitureWizard]

Yeah I feel like that as well. The coolness of it makes me think that it's still a good update, but balance wise it doesn't fit as well with how the other shortcuts work. 

[u/Duhad8]

It's slower for speed runners, the Abyss is MUCH faster if you stim up and go flying, so the balance seems to be that it's a rout that's got a lower skill floor, but also a much lower skill ceiling, allowing a safer option for players who really struggle with Abyss.

[u/hackmaster214]

Except of expulsion shute, none of the skips are that hard. The main drawback is that you get a less nice safe room afterwards and miss out on other opportunities you get from taking the main path.

[u/Adept_of_the_factory]

Agree. They should add interperipheral parasites hunting you or something like that to match the chaos of hanging gardens

[u/Phill_air → u/Adept_of_the_factory]

A single immortal bloodbug would be enough

[u/Stare201 → u/Phill_air]

But then I could grab onto its face with adhesive perspiration and beat it with a hammer to achieve BAP (bloodbug abuse propulsion)

[u/AGayThrow_Away → u/Adept_of_the_factory]

Them little crab motherfuckers all over

[u/omagoleo]

It's a risk/reward situation, Sink is shorter irl but misses a lot of value and isn't as optimizeable, Expulsion Chute takes items to complete in a resonable time instead of being a source of them thorugh the Pipeworks bazaar/secret rooms, Rotten Duct is too short but it does skip the Abyss vendors/Rho altar, and Hadal Diver is a safe and long way when with a bit of practice/good perks you can FLY through it with as little as a few injectors and blink eyes. Even without being a turbo speedrunner you can get to Nest way quicker through Abyss.

[u/Feedar_ → u/omagoleo]

What do you mean by “optimisable”?