Return Of Them updates tier list

[Just-guy]

A tier list of the ROT updates so far in my opinion:

A more detailed explanation on why I chose their places:

S

Reap What You Sow was the best update, making crops a reliable source of food in early and late game, even as a Wigfrid main, with recipes than require specific crops being easier to acquire than with the old system.

A

Turn Of Tides made the ocean a new biome to explore and while it didn't have much content by itself the Lunar Island was the major point with the Enlightment mechanic and new kinds of plants, mobs and crafts, in addition boats are useful for travelling between land separations that needed Lazy Explorer or Souls.

B

Hook, Line and Inker added fishing on ocean which is more fun than pond fishing and it makes easier to catch fish for fish related recipes which motivates to go on deeper ocean for medium fish.

Forbidden Knowledge added the Lunar Grotto that helps in early game to aquire Living Logs but is more helpful in late game for Moon Shards and for the blueprints for Terra Firma Tamper, Astral Detector and Collected Dust in the Archive.

C

Salty Dog added Salt Crystals and Salt Box which are helpful for preserve food items and a faster alternative for the Mast, it didn't had too much content added but it was good overall.

She Sells Sea Shells added a side quest where the more friendship you build with Pearl the more and better her trades will be, the thing is that these trades are ocean and fishing related which some players may not interested in. This update also added Crab King who is considered a very difficult, time and resource consuming boss.

D

Troubled Waters was kinda mediocre, it added alternatives for Ligtning Rod and Fire Pits in boats with Lightning Conductor and Deck Illuminator but the latter is not as efficient as a Fire Pit with the lack of heat, cook and, for some reason, 50% fuel reduction. It also added Rowjacks which are more an annoyance to fight with an also mediocre loot. I don't have much experience with Sea Weed so I don't know if how difficult are to deal with. I would put this one on E tier if it wasn't for the recipes for Leafy Meat that are really good.

[LinknAllie]

I know the update hasn't been released yet but with Eye of the Storm what tier would it go in?

[Cheggf]

Forbidden Knowledge added renewable turf & early game living logs so it is much better than Turn of Tides. She Sells Sea Shells added the quests, which are where most of the ocean content comes from, and some cool pearl items like tackle boxes so it's a great update. Troubled Waters added barnacles and the mast upgrades which you are extremely underselling (not overheating you is a boon), but it also added Wavey Jones so it is F- get it out of the game tier.

[Lil K]

I, for instance, love forbitten knowledge. The renewable turf and thulecite and easier method to renew moonglass are awesome additions. I would move it to S or, at least, A class. 

[Mooagain]

I would move Forgotten knowledge and She sells sea shells up by one each, because the archives and grotto are the best looking biomes bay far and the Crab King is my favorite boss

[Just-guy]

2 hours ago, LinknAllie said:

I know the update hasn't been released yet but with Eye of the Storm what tier would it go in?

I haven't played EOTS at the full potential but I think a C since the content is pretty much for very late game but is quite decent content and the boss fight with Celestial Champion looks fun.

[GenomeSquirrel]

Loved the farming one, hated whichever one made fish measurable and unable to stack, I hold lunar grotto mildly above the others due to my mushroom bias, but generally I grew more and more detached from the game as most updates were tied to content I didn’t enjoy, and unforgivably inconvenient.

(yes I’m moving on to greener pastures, just want to see what happens with my original character Webber before I uninstall)

[LinknAllie]

44 minutes ago, GenomeSquirrel said:

 hated whichever one made fish measurable and unable to stack,

I agree completely.  Though if you're fishing at a pond you can just murder the fish to stack morsels,  it's much more inconvenient though.

[minespatch]

Forbidden knowledge and Reap what you sow is s tier. 

I'd put She sells sea shells and Turn of tides in a tier.

[Gi-Go]

8 hours ago, Mooagain said:

Crab King is my favorite boss

What?!

[Mike23Ua]

RWYS wasn’t considered a Return of Them update, but other than that.. cool list.

[Cr4zyFl4mes]

Forgotten knowledge should be definitely higher imo. 2 new biomes with cool new things and items. Also, why noone mentioned the lightbugs? They are super convenient unless you are traveling between cave&overworld every 5 minutes. Yet, they are not overpowered, because hounds can kill them, earthquake can kill them and fire can kill them. I've had so much fun with them.

Also troubled waters is higher on my list. Added danger was exactly what the sea needed. Rockjaws are super cool. I'd compare my first encounter with Rockjaw with my first encounter with Deerclops. The fear you feel before it comes for you... and the sheer disaster it brings. Especially coupled with the night and Wavy Jones. Unforgettable.

[Mooagain]

2 hours ago, Gi-Go said:

What?!

The boat combat makes it very different form every other boss. Most other bosses are some combination of hit, run away, hit again, pan flute while you kill something else and heal, hit and run more. Crab king we were constantly on edge, sailing circles around the boss while we attacked it and the claws. Plus the way it attacks is a lot more difficult to manage, not being able to fix damage just by eating a mushroom or two. 

[Hornete]

3 minutes ago, Mooagain said:

The boat combat makes it very different form every other boss. Most other bosses are some combination of hit, run away, hit again, pan flute while you kill something else and heal, hit and run more. Crab king we were constantly on edge, sailing circles around the boss while we attacked it and the claws. Plus the way it attacks is a lot more difficult to manage, not being able to fix damage just by eating a mushroom or two. 

Another person who actually likes Crab King? I have found my people.

[GenomeSquirrel]

3 hours ago, Cr4zyFl4mes said:

 

Also troubled waters is higher on my list. Added danger was exactly what the sea needed. Rockjaws are super cool. I'd compare my first encounter with Rockjaw with my first encounter with Deerclops. The fear you feel before it comes for you... and the sheer disaster it brings. Especially coupled with the night and Wavy Jones. Unforgettable.

I’ve actually tried seeking out Rockjaws, they never spawned near me, and I went pretty deep, past whales, past sea weeds, randomly at the crab boss, never.

[Truffle]

Ironic the one that has the least update with ocean is considered the best

[clickrush]

I’m confused about the comment about the farming update. Yes you eventually get large yields throughout all seasons. But the buildup process is very time consuming. And even after that it is rather maintenance heavy. Both fishing and big meat hunting/ranching seem much less time consuming.

[TemporarySolutn]

17 hours ago, LinknAllie said:

I know the update hasn't been released yet but with Eye of the Storm what tier would it go in?

E for Eye

[Cr4zyFl4mes]

2 hours ago, GenomeSquirrel said:

I’ve actually tried seeking out Rockjaws, they never spawned near me, and I went pretty deep, past whales, past sea weeds, randomly at the crab boss, never.

They spawn near fish and eat them. They spawn for me almost every time i decide to go for the ice bream or scorching sunfish.

I think i've read that every time a fish group spawns there is also a chance for rockjaw, but i also think that one spawned for me in the middle of my fishing session... so the spawn chance might be connected to game ticks as well.

[Kelloggs Dogfry]

4 hours ago, Hornete said:

Another person who actually likes Crab King? I have found my people.

Crab King Rave for all the Crab King enthusiasts. There are 10’s of us!

[Mike23Ua]

4 hours ago, GenomeSquirrel said:

I’ve actually tried seeking out Rockjaws, they never spawned near me, and I went pretty deep, past whales, past sea weeds, randomly at the crab boss, never.

I had this problem in retro-fitted worlds, I give Klei credit they at least TRY to add content to your already existing worlds, but it always seems to be not as good as if it spawned naturally.. of course I’m on Xbox and don’t have large worlds so that MAY play a part in the Retro-fitting, I don’t know.. but rather theyre retro fitted or not the most recent QoL update allowed you to toggle More of them  

And I gotta be honest- I want a wilderness survival game, not a peaceful fishing trip.. so OF COURSE I cranked things up to 11.

[Theon]

22 hours ago, Just-guy said:

It also added Rowjacks which are more an annoyance to fight with an also mediocre loot.

People fight tallbirds for the 2 Large Meats loot.

[Just-guy]

5 hours ago, clickrush said:

I’m confused about the comment about the farming update. Yes you eventually get large yields throughout all seasons. But the buildup process is very time consuming. And even after that it is rather maintenance heavy. Both fishing and big meat hunting/ranching seem much less time consuming.

Gathering 3 Boards, 2 Ropes, 2 Twigs and 4 Flints for a Garden Rigamajig and a Garden Hoe isn't time cosuming since they are or come from basic resources. 

You don't need to fill every requirement of plant happiness to get a crop.

Crops aren't something you have to pay attention all the time, you can just let them there and go hunting or exploring while they grow; even if you forgot about them and rot, they will start their growth cycle until you pick them once they are fully grown again.

[clickrush]

38 minutes ago, Just-guy said:

Gathering 3 Boards, 2 Ropes, 2 Twigs and 4 Flints for a Garden Rigamajig and a Garden Hoe isn't time cosuming since they are or come from basic resources. 

You don't need to fill every requirement of plant happiness to get a crop.

Crops aren't something you have to pay attention all the time, you can just let them there and go hunting or exploring while they grow; even if you forgot about them and rot, they will start their growth cycle until you pick them once they are fully grown again.

If I want specific crops I need to water them and talk to them regularly no? Or else they wont yield crop + seeds right? Or is there a minimalist approach where I get both but neither water nor talk to them?

[Mysterious box]

For me there's no debate hook line and inked was the worst update as it more or less broke the king mechanic for Wurt as it made it so Wurt has to either abuse the game's a.i. or live in the swamp to get a reasonable amount of fish to tribute to the king before the update you could have a large surplus of tributes due fish building up from your travels or just fishing when you had time. This turned what was a nice little feature to get extra seeds, kelp for sanity, and trinkets for gold into a system that feels like it's punishing the player for putting in effort and encourages ignoring the king all together once you get your houses. Basically the update took from Wurt without addressing the extra effort required to interact with something that already required alot of travel to build and food to maintain.

1 hour ago, clickrush said:

If I want specific crops I need to water them and talk to them regularly no? Or else they wont yield crop + seeds right? Or is there a minimalist approach where I get both but neither water nor talk to them?

I could be wrong but so long as you plant 4 seeds of the same type next to each other and talk to them once your guaranteed 1 seed so long as there are no weeds.