Suggestions to improve Cerim "abilities" and lore

Wicked Feedback
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I’ve been playing Wicked exclusively since launch. I’ve played every stat mix start to finish in a fresh realm on each major release. I adore the game and I’m heavily invested in its success. I love the combination of resource gathering, world building, souls-like combat and ARPG character progression. The art style is unique and the story is engaging.

My suggestions in this post focus around how the current game mechanics connect to the lore and how I feel they can be changed in order to deepen that connection. I beleive the changes I suggest would improve the overall experience and make the mechanics discussed feel like they belong in the world naturally, and not just because they were needed from a design perspective.

What makes the Cerim special?

This is central to the lore and serves as a foundation for the gameplay.

An ancient race who battled the pestilence to an apparent stalemate. There are also hints that suggest the Cerim may have had a role in the plague’s creation and their silence is self-imposed out of guilt (or maybe even fear of what happens when the Cerim do speak). That their god is “The Sayer” lends credence to the idea that speech for the Cerim is special. Maybe they spoke the pestilence into existence and have been paying for it ever since?

Currently, here’s what we are given for gameplay mechanics that tie into Cerim lore:

  1. Whispers

    1. Can “write” the Cerim back into existence when they die, making them functionally immortal.

    2. The Cerim can travel between the Whispers.

  2. Plague Ichor - They can consume refined pestilence in the form of plague ichor to gain special abilities:

    1. More inventory space

    2. More equippable gear

    3. More utility runes

My concern is the “abilities” granted by Plague Ichor don’t seem very Cerim-esque at all: Runes and gear are not Cerim-centric. There’s no lore to suggest only the Cerim can carry lots of stuff, equip certain items (several uniques are wielded by non-Cerim), or use runes (Eleanor makes her living selling them). From a lore perspective it doesn’t make sense to lock these things behind plague ichor which only the Cerim can consume.

I suggest Plague Ichor be utilized in ways that directly interact with and enhance the current Cerim lore. Here are a few ideas:

  1. Remove utility runes completely and replace them with pre-set Cerim abilities you unlock and upgrade with Plague Ichor:
    1. Heal, Light, poise/stamina/focus wellspring, plague resistance - These could have a starting base potency and be increased with additional Ichor spend.
    2. Addendum on Heal: Make it so you don’t actually start with it on the beach. Instead, you gain the Heal ability the first time you interact with a Whisper as a sort of awakening of your Cerim abilities - complete with a little pop-up explaining it or somesuch.
    3. A note on Cerim Abilities - These should be curated to avoid overlap with normal runes so they always feel useful. I put plague resistance here because I think the idea of plague resistance being an exclusive Cerim ability works for the lore (if the plague has been gone 1000yrs, what are the chances they have runes to protect against it laying around?) - though it might not work for gameplay.
  2. Tie these other upgrades to Plague Ichor
    1. Fast Travel - I suggest unlocking fast travel be the first thing you use Ichor on before moving on to others -
    2. Additional Fast travel - Instead of feeding the whisper you would use plague ichor to unlock fast travel.
    3. Words of the Sayer - Blessings you can unlock that become available at Whispers - only one active at a time.

And what about Inventory Management?

  1. Carrying space: This should be Grinnich’s job. Have him sell backpacks you can buy that expand inventory tabs. At each level of his shop a higher level backpack becomes available allowing you to gradually increase capacity. Perhaps he gives you one for free with each shop expansion and you buy the rest.

  2. Additional Weapons/Offhands: Luka, the fellow by the training dummies, seems like a good fit for teaching the Cerim how to open these slots up.

  3. Additional Rings: Eleanor could be a good place for this - She could gift you this for each shop expansion.

I believe these changes would work at a functional level while simultaneously giving the player a deeper connection to what it means to be a Cerim and giving the amazing NPC’s an expanded role in helping the Cerim along.

Thanks for making this game, btw… Please keep cooking!

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Awesome post! It’s weird indeed a substance distilled from the Pestilence grants us more space instead of a benefit unique to our kind. I’m all for having Plague Ichor further involved in features with Cerim, such as upgrading Whispers as you pointed out. I know Thomas has said a couple times he has further use for it but we haven’t received more information.

Moving the space upgrades to vendors feels fitting to me for sure. It feels more natural to gate the upgrades behind some that can be grinded as well like that. I’ll have to put some thought into the Utility Runes becoming related to Plague Ichor but I’m not fully against it.

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Sounds like a Standalone DLC or something :innocent:

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I really do wish they had made utility runes Cerim incantations with Cerim flavored spell effects.

The Cerim fantasy just isn’t being sold well in the game. We only know we’re Cerim because the NPCs tell us we are.

They say we bear the markings of a Cerim yet that is nowhere to be seen. We are supposed to be mute/quiet ones, yet we grunt and yell either when hit, hitting enemies, or on an emote that is out of character with our vow/compelled silence.

I want us to feel special and distinct from your average NPC, because right now we don’t.

Hell, in the character customization options there is nothing to bring out our supposed Cerim lore. We just look like some average villager.