Hello!
My name is Motas and I’ve become obsessed with Wicked ever since playing it during the Wicked Together free weekend. The game struck a chord in me I haven’t felt in a long time.
When such resonance occurs, I can’t help but binge the game incessantly. When that happens, I often turn to challenge runs to help me further understand a game’s systems and mechanics.
With that being said, the topic of discussion/feedback is Thorns; or more particularly “can you beat Wicked without actively damaging enemies?”
This is a difficult challenge early on for Cerim who wish to play in this way.
Enchantments don’t appear until level 3, so that can be a problem for Cerim that wish to start the game in this particular way. It’s certainly doable, but a hassle getting your level ups from only gathering resources (mining, digging, fishing, woodcutting).
The story progression adds to the difficulty as it game intends you to deal with the three enemies cornering Fillmore in the Mess Hall of Mariner’s Keep.
Feedback Point #1 - Enemy Leash Range
The enemies accosting Fillmore have no leash range, so they can be kited south until they can be slain by the bomb-throwing enemy. This is great for the challenge run, but may not be intentional.
Another more egregious version of this feedback can be seen with the weekly quest The Savage Pair when they spawn in the shallows. They can be provoked to follow the Cerim north to the small island with crabs. Since they can’t cross the water, one of two things happens:
- They attempt to jump at the Cerim with a leaping attack. This results in the enemy dying in the water instantly. Since both enemies can do this type of attack, the Bounty can be completed nearly effortlessly.
- The enemies simply respawn and return to their original positions. It’s a little jarring, but is a functional way to force leash ranges. This occurred most often when kiting the large “Warrick”-like enemy associated with that weekly Bounty to this area.
The point of this feedback is merely to point out that the enemies have no leash range. If this is intentional, then there’s nothing to be done here.
Feedback Point #2 - Fillmore Skip
Even if Fillmore isn’t rescued, the Cerim can skip rescuing him entirely. The ladder in the east corner of the room can be used to climb to the top of the room and outside. Some maneuvering can position the Cerim in such a way that they can leap north and bypass the gate. This occurred in our first co-op session with some friends and they thought it was the intended way to get across.
Now that the entirety of Orban Glades is available to the Cerim, they can continue gathering resources until level 3 where they will eventually and inevitably find gear with Thorns enchantments.
Warrick eventually goes down and the Cerim moves to Sacrament proper. This grants access to the most important stat a Thorns build can have (besides Thorns itself).
Feedback Point #3a - Health Regeneration
This stat feels really strong, to the extent that it felt, to me, like a must-have stat for any character. Most enemies have a long delay in between attacks that having all four gear slots filled with health regeneration infusions recovers upwards of 12 health in between attacks. Even low armor characters have been able to abuse the strength of this infusion by simply staying away from enemies for a half minute or so to recover enough health to get back into the fight. This may be intentional, and that’s fine, but what doesn’t seem to be fine is the ability this stat has of completely trivializing Marin Woods
Feedback Point #3b - Marin Woods
The plants in Marin woods that block the Cerim’s way do so by slowing down the Cerim and causing a debuff that deals damage over time and increases in potency over time. However, with four gear slots all using Health Regeneration, I was able to simply trudge straight through like it wasn’t even there. This occured even on characters around level 15 or so. This is likely not intentional. Something should probably be done to make the plant-barrier-things much more lethal to the Cerim in some way.
One final feedback point as I close out the run standing at the edge of Caylen.
Feedback Point #4 - Enemy Damage and Health scaling
Currently Wicked has achieved a good balance of enemy health and damage. They appear to be using the same exact systems as the player, so damage values seem to consistent throughout the run. Some bosses in particular went down fairly easily due to the high-power attacks they wield (looking at you Caretaker slams). Enemy health and damage numbers should continue to be monitored so neither one becomes wildly imbalanced relative to the other. Keeping this balance is what makes Thorns builds possible.
Thanks for making such a great game. I’ll be back at a later date with some feedback in regard to a Bomb-only run.