Please remove the damage reduction mechanic.

[Zeklo]

50 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

You can use sanity food items rather than switching gear around, and you can just tank through most of the bone cages.

My use of 'gear' was intended to encompass equippables and food (just in general what you bring)—to which my point stands: instead of using a specific item, you make it up with more generics (food or armor).

You can bring the staff and save some hits, or bring some extra armor to tank them.
You can bring planar damage to save some time, or bring some extra weapons.

Same thing.

50 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

The woven shadows can be dealt with through kiting, which is definitely my preferred method b/c I enjoy it and would rather not need so many down feathers.

This sounds cool! I won't derail the thread with my interest, but I'll certainty look into it. Bringing the WPs is one of my least favorite parts, so I could use this.

50 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

Compared to the new content which doesn't just hard-restrict your gear options it ALSO shuts off character damage perks...

I definitely have my reservations about the latter.

Though it isn't a true 'shut off'. It just dampens the absolutely absurd arcs damage multipliers can hit. There's still a bonus.

Edit: There's more I'd like to say on this last bit, but I'm off for the night. In essence, I'm worried more for minion characters (like what Quartz was saying).

 

[Ryusuta]

9 minutes ago, QuartzBeam said:

To be fair, you can still kill the plants with your old equipment. It's just 40% slower. (Unless you are Wanda, in which case the Alarming Clock still deals slightly more DPS to the plants than the Brightshade Sword does.)

The fact it kneecaps every combat perk under the sun is much more worrisome, especially because it appears to be fully intentional and probably the entire point of the planar mechanic. Wolfgang's mighty form is reduced to a measly +11 DMG (+30%), Wigfrid is reduced to about +4 DMG (+7%), Wanda is only marginablly better, and every follower (incl. Abigail, Webber's spiders and Wurt's merms). I guess we're gonna have to start loving combat characters for their personality going forward, cause they sure don't seem like they'll be helping much with actual combat.

That's sort of the big problem, isn't it? The "bonus" for the new equipment is to be better at killing the enemies you had to kill to get the equipment in the first place. It really is the old cliche of inventing a problem and then selling back the solution.

[QuartzBeam]

4 minutes ago, yourAnty said:

Yeah idk what they are doing but so many characters in the roster have combat based mechanics / modifiers (wolfgang, wendy, wes, wanda, wigfrid, warly's chaud froid) that it just seems silly to completely have those not considered while using planar damage dealing weapons.

Basically, the devs appear to regret how they've handled damage scaling (both in terms of weapons and in terms of modifiers), so they're using the planar damage mechanic to (more or less) wipe the slate clean on that front and start from scratch.

P.S. Wes (and Wendy without Abigail) actually benefits from the planar damage mechanic, because it means the new items are less affected by his damage penalty.

 

12 minutes ago, Ryusuta said:

That's sort of the big problem, isn't it? The "bonus" for the new equipment is to be better at killing the enemies you had to kill to get the equipment in the first place. It really is the old cliche of inventing a problem and then selling back the solution.

Now that the husks are easier to acquire and can be stacked higher, there's definitely some merit to using them over the old equipment, as you can just devote 2 slots to the husks+brilliance from which you can craft weapons, tools and armor on the go. (And the stats themselves are not bad, even if they could be better.)

Unfortunately, outside of the new enemies, the Brightshade Sword is weaker than the Dark Sword in the hands of any character with a (positive) damage modifier. And the larger that modifier is, the larger the gap between the two weapons becomes. With Wendy and Wigfrid, you might still choose the Brightshade Sword because it has 2x durability while only dealing 5 and 7.5 less damage respectively. But with Wolfgang, Wanda or anyone who has (spicy) volt goat jelly? I'm not seeing it.

[Antynomity]

Just now, QuartzBeam said:

P.S. Wes (and Wendy without Abigail) actually benefits from the planar damage mechanic, because it means the new items are less affected by his damage penalty.

Yea I know.

In the end if this means we can have more fun bosses and enemies without overly inflated hp values because their planar defence would account for that then I really don't mind too much.

[Szczuku]

I don't mind it. Sure we can only hope that the future updates will make it better and less of a "we created a problem so that we could give you the solution" thing (although I myself have long since grown tired of hoping for Klei to fix stuff).

But even as-is, this mechanic allows for progression, tougher enemies and weapons to slay them, while also making sure that those new weapons don't decimate existing enemies

[abrocator]

NG+ Comes to DST

It’s finally here, my minions: we’ve added a new exciting weapon with double the damage of a dark sword which you get after killing CC!

But muh OP

To compensate for this all mob HP will be doubled after killing CC.

Have fun, minions!

[Ryusuta]

3 hours ago, Szczuku said:

I don't mind it. Sure we can only hope that the future updates will make it better and less of a "we created a problem so that we could give you the solution" thing (although I myself have long since grown tired of hoping for Klei to fix stuff).

But even as-is, this mechanic allows for progression, tougher enemies and weapons to slay them, while also making sure that those new weapons don't decimate existing enemies

I feel that this is a bit of slippery language that can be misleading and misunderstood in general, so I think it's important to clarify the terms we're using.

If by "tougher enemies," you mean "slow, tedious damage sponges," then yes.

If by "tougher enemies," you mean "more challenging and skill-intensive," then no.

This isn't a new challenge. It's not an interesting spin on the gameplay. It's just busywork, end of story. And I'm not going to appreciate the "fun challenge" I had digging a ditch if my reward is a slightly bigger shovel.

[Evelo]

I think it is a good mechanic so long it isn't over used. The sword fulfills a niche in the game.
Thulecite and Darkswords are both amazing weapons but you wouldn't use a Thulecite against a Spider, but you (maybe) are likely to use a Darksword against a Spider.
Think of the sword to be similar to the Morning Star. Useful against certain creatures or situations but not all. (ie. Tentacles or while it is raining).

[JazzyGames]

On 4/13/2023 at 11:42 PM, JazzyGames said:

While this is certainly a deviation from previous progression in the game I think it is a step in the right direction, and while it may seem stifling at this early stage of development I am very confident that as more content gets introduced we will find many more options for fighting Brightshades.

On 4/14/2023 at 1:19 AM, Ryusuta said:

That seems to be... EXTREMELY optimistic speculation on your part.

Hey guess what, we got a scythe and new armor set that shreds brightshades!

[WhackE]

On 4/12/2023 at 11:45 PM, Ryusuta said:

It wasn't a good idea in Binding of Isaac

 

[Pticman]

13 minutes ago, JazzyGames said:

Hey guess what, we got a scythe and new armor set that shreds brightshades!

Yes, it is a decent option. However, the brightshade sword + crown combination is still stronger, providing more damage output (56+29=85 against 82 at max scythe damage against brightshades) while not requiring any damage ramping. (and because brightshades are stationary most of the hits of the crown hit anyway)

[JazzyGames]

True. I'm hoping they buff the scythe.