Basically just that. The heal rune is broken. Is too cheap to use (should cost a full stamina bar), heals you for way too much, and trivializes the food system. I’ve played hours of this game now without even having to use a food item once bc the heal rune is so broken. Take it out or nerf it heavily.
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Yup, needs to cost 100 focus and also heal for less. Focus gain in general I feel is too fast now though, especially for ranged attacks (which cost only stamina again), so it’s way too easy to spam ranged attacks and in every 2-3 attacks you get to heal again. It’s like 3 multiple balance issues that are compounding on each other at the same time.
Also consider making the healing animation for the rune longer, considerably longer than food so food at least has a combat advantage for being a finite resource.
Tbf I think it’s a little strange you can’t slot utility runes into weapons, I don’t see the reasoning behind that, or the downside of being able to do that.
The heal rune seems indeed strong but idk if I would call it op. There’s probably scenarios where it is op but if the goal is to have lots of different build options and as many as possible it’s basically impossible to not have scenarios where sth is incredibly strong imo.
That being said I would just reduce the amount of healing a bit.
I totally approve.
See also Heal Rune Is way too OP
It virtually kills the entire food/cooking mechanism, at least during endgame - I have tons of mushrooms and meat stored but don’t use that stuff for cooking anymore.
Update:
See also
Utility Arm is a step back
I agree, the rune is balanced but it becomes too strong when you have healing increases and focus cost reduction.
Spending 50 focus in early game is correct, it decreases your damage a lot because you can’t use runes that deal damage and focus charges slowly (especially with slow weapons) but the further the game goes the stronger it becomes, it’s still fun to use and I prefer it to the food system but the two systems should exist in harmony.
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I just tried it with a virtually naked Lvl 30 char - no items equiped… just the underwear. One use healed around 150 HP/40% for 50 Focus. I then tried it with a fresh Lvl 1 char - one use resulted in about 60 HP/60% beeing healed for again 50 Focus.
So it scales in some way, depending on your Lvl or/and your HP total. Considering that a Mushroom Soup gives you 70 HP back… but you need to find the mushrooms, find a fireplace and cook first, the Heal Rune is still a way more cheaper and more effective alternative… an alternative that changes the way the game was designed to work in the first place seriously!
I agree that consuming Focus hinders you in using higher damage attacks. But given the fact, how fast you replenish Focus, really renders this argument useless. So the Heal Rune has a highly destabilizing effect on game mechanisms we all were used to before Breach Refined. Of course things are changing everywhere all the time - but not all changes are for the better!
Personally I’m a fan, but most food is made useless by the change. I think others have already mentioned food should lean more towards buffs at this point. I’d limit meals down from 10 to like 2, with ichor still increasing the total up to like 5. Make the meals cost more to make, like 10 mushrooms and 5 crab, and 3 herbs. But the buff is something like increased healing that lasts like 10-30 minutes. That way you’re still encouraged to gather and cook food ingredients.
It might also be cool with the co-op update to make meals more of a buddy thing where the 2+ characters can share the meal. With the job system if it included gathering, cooking, etc then it might be cool that one of your party is the cook since they know recipes for better meals/buffs.
Just my thoughts though!
2 Likes
This is the same post from OP, on a different platform. It doesn’t add anything to the discussion.
Yes, it’s the same post - but the comments are of course different/from different people… that’s why I linked it… to show, that other people outside the NRFTW forum are concerned about this issue too.
True !!! Absolute OP
Maybe they could balance it increasing the time it takes to heal, so you are vulnerable for a longer period of time. Like the aura heal rune. It also needs less healing and an increased cost .
Balancing the game is not an easy task, for sure. So I don’t want to claim to have a solution. But I believe too that they just could have changed the Heal Aura Rune from beeing a weapon rune to an utility rune, instead of introducing the new Heal rune. This would have been a “softer” approach. But well… it’s up to Moon to decide what/how to change their game. All we can do is to point out if they overshot the mark… and hope that someone is going to listen.
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You don’t replenish focus fast under any serious difficulty. The moment you are forced to play defensively, your focus gain and damage output plummet.
People are just arguing for balance when we’re stuck overleveled on lv24-25 content.
You are also missing one point of comparison when arguing between heal and food.
The fish food gives you a whopping 50 focus, or basically an extra heal cast or one lower tier rune attack. So there is still plenty of purpose for food.
Oftentimes wasting 50 focus to heal is pretty dumb because staggering or killing enemies is a much better defense and use of focus while reserving food for healing.
You’ll have much more effective hp killing enemies earlier before they land hits than using that focus to heal.
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The Heal Rune is just fine as it is now… (Cost/cast time) For sure now they broke all the lifesteal builds…
With all due respect – I can’t agree with you (but that’s okay). You’re assuming a purely offensive playstyle, where every bit of Focus is hoarded and spent immediately for combat advantages or flashy one-shot rune combos. Playing this way – chasing every drop of Focus – might lead to the scenario you described, where players avoid using even a single point for healing and rely solely on food. And maybe that was Moon’s original vision for NRFTW… who knows. After all, Focus exists, and so do attack runes.
But I seriously doubt that most players – especially new ones – play only like that.
The Heal utility rune was introduced for one reason: because (mainly new) players were saying the game was too hard. They didn’t want to farm ingredients and cook food for an hour just to try beating Warrick again for the twelfth time. So Moon responded by offering a super fast, super easy, super convenient way to heal.
If your assumption were correct – that most players play the way you describe – the Heal rune wouldn’t exist. Why waste valuable Focus on healing, right?
And yet, Moon added it – and I’m telling you: most people will use it.
New players will use it because it’s a lifesaver. You gain Focus constantly – even more so since Breach Refined – from chopping trees, digging holes, everything. It’s far easier and faster to get than food. Plus, triggering the Heal rune is nearly instant, unlike eating. Casual players will use it to save time and reduce food grinding. Even experienced players will use it – because it’s just so convenient. And people, in general, tend to prefer convenience.
Some people out there are worried that Moon may be drifting away from the original vision of the game. That’s not unusual. It happens when developers try to please the community: vision gets blurry. I’m not blaming anyone or saying making the game easier is wrong – especially for new players. Giving them a more convenient way to heal makes sense. But it’s a delicate balance! And I believe that right now, the Heal rune is badly tuned – too powerful, and it undercuts the food system… maybe lifestealing as well (@IamASM0D3US 
). Still it’s just my opinion. It’s ok if you or other players disagree. In the end it’s up to Moon to resolve this.
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The heal rune isn’t helping people who were struggling with food on bosses.
When you die, all your focus is gone. It’s actually really punitive for caster playstyles and it’s an absolute brick wall until the player is able to stack focus gain amps and have plenty of focus flasks.
The fish food is actually the greatest help to struggling boss attempts, because 50 free focus is the difference between shaving 1/4 a boss’s hp or not.
With my magic characters I rest at a bed and spam the gain focus rune that consumes HP.
Btw, has anyone suggested to balance the heal rune by limiting its uses per fight like food is limited too? It basically makes it an estus flask at that point but it solves the problem of infinite healing after having enough focus regain.
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I’ve never said it is. Still it’s overpowered.
Again - I’ve never said, it isn’t. Still the Heal Rune is OP.
The game isn’t just about bosses, you know
This could be an approach. Especially if you would limit it to the players “hunger limit”/2 or /3. You could increase the Focus cost. You could decrease the amount of HP healed. You could make it take longer to cast… maybe even longer than it takes to eat food. Or you could restrict it in some other way. But as I said, in the end it’s up to Moon to decide.
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This is a great idea