Edit: So…I just realized after all of this, not all the UIs show all 5 icons so much of this was not necessary. I still hope for the inventory changes though!
I’d like to make a case for reverting some changes made to inventory categories, adding 1 extra icon for runes, and some inventory UI adjustments to make it look cleaner. Ideally my suggestion would be 7 icons (one more for Housing), but due to space limitations I will settle for these 6:
- Gear - weapons, armor, rings, offhands, tools
- Food - ingredients, food, and recipes
- Combat Consumables - Bombs, Vials, Oils, and Embers
- Runes - Information on each rune and the ability to sort them by item type
- Resources - Resources, Gems, Components, Housing items and Item blueprints
- Realm - Realm and Key items
Currently the inventory UI is designed with 5 icons, with a left and right toggle at each end. These are more or less aligned with the 5 boxes wide spaces in our bag. I believe the hesitation in adding another category is also due in part to there being no perceived space to fit a 6th icon. I will compare the UI where the inventory is shown, and suggest changes so a 6 box wide row can realistically fit in all of them. The UI pages I will compare are: Base Inventory UI , Shop UI , Crafting system UI , and the Chests/Community Chest UI. The red line below shows the current allowed width, and the yellow line the approximate needed extra width, measured from the start of one icon to the next.
Starting with the base inventory UI:
- Base inventory UI:
The base UI has a lot of clutter imo, particularly on the right side. Below is what I suggest:
Remove the stat icons at the right side of the character : Stats already has a dedicated page where we interact with it when we level up, and it’s where we compare the numbers when we need. As icons alone, they don’t provide meaningful information, especially when each scales differently when levelled up as well. Furthermore, they block certain weapon models (2h swords).
Slide character model and rock pedestal to the right : Furthering the previous point, removing the stats icon allows for more space to slide the character to the right (and proportionally move the bag slots to the left - more on that later). This is slightly pedantic but noticeable, but the left side of the rock pedestal is blocked behind the end tail of the weight bar. If you wanted us to admire our toon in all its glory, the pedestal itself shouldn’t be blocked. This also allows you to close the margins on each side, which I believe is needed to add a 6th box to the inventory row. 2h weapons already go off the screen, I think it’s okay for the model to move to the right a bit more.
Remove weight numbers above equipped armor : While on the topic of Inventory UI, this number itself does not show anything meaningful without the thresholds. The bar below already sufficiently illustrates our current weight class, and the weight in the stats page has space below to add details on thresholds later down the line if that’s the direction you want to go. As it stands, I don’t look at the weight at the top at all, and just equip or unequip items from my inventory until my bar is normal.
Remove listed physical damage and armor below character : Most builds rely on rune usage in the end game, making the physical damage listing useless. Also, mage builds. The number itself isn’t meaningful, and if we really wanted a gauge on how much we hit, we just need to swing at an enemy once. As for armor, with all the other suggestions to remove, it would seem weird (to me at least) to just leave armor remaining. As an aside, I wish there was more information on armor in general in the stats page. Removing these two things can allow us to see the rock fully too.
Add a 6 th box to our inventory row : This is also a plea for an indirect buff to the ichor reward to 6 instead of 5 as well. 5 slots in a row does not just feel small gameplay wise when we reach cap in 30min, it looks small visually. Lets say more and more people down the line call for more inventory slots, the only current solution would be to extend downwards with a scrolling bar. I don’t think you want to take this too far because it just ends up clunky. People want to see more of their inventory without endless scrolling, adding a 6th row will help a lot towards giving us the impression of a larger inventory.
Furthermore, there is already a gap between the tooltip and the inventory. With the shift of the margins after the changes above, I believe there is space for a 6th slot in the inventory row. This is also the reason why I will not go as far as to suggest a 7th slot on each row, it will more space problems.
At least give us the illusion our bag is big lol.
- Shop UI :
Here there is enough space at the right where you can arguably fit a 7 box wide inventory, and still slide the vendor and item information over. However, if you want to keep a clean margin on each end, without clashing with other UI pages, I think a 6th box wide inventory is good enough.
- Crafting UI:
This includes the tannery, forge etc. There is plenty of space.
- Chests/Community Chest:
This UI clashes with the idea, so my suggestion will probably be divisive. I will only plead for a 6th slot in the inventory side because I know increasing the chest row to 6 would mess up all the increases to chest slots in patches up till now, which have all gone up by 5. 5 slots per row in chests are fine with me. However, I would suggest:
Remove the equipped inventory for chests/community chests: This is the only UI where a 6th slot will overlap and interfere with current space limitations, thus my suggestion. I don’t think it’s a big ask to have only the bag show when depositing, because in almost all cases, I wouldn’t be equipping anything I want stored, nor want it deposited accidentally. Currently, items equipped will be deposited straight from equipped into the chest, but withdrawn from the chest to the bag. I think if you intended us to have the option to deposit from equipped to chest, then there should’ve been an option also to go from chest to equipped as well. I would prefer it not to be counter-intuitive in this way, and just remove the equipped. This will make room for a 6th box wide inventory.