So I was talking to the streamer Tric about an idea I had about making skeleton keys more challenging and maybe more enticing to players who are looking for challenges. My idea was for a recipe to be put into the game for “Empowered Skeleton Keys” When used it would alter the mob levels and density of the area’s and amount of encountered elites. Players love challenges and farming so I think this would be a fun way to sate both of these hungers in one player choice item. Please let me know what you guys think.
People also mostly have the Key Mechanics.
What I would like to see is something that make people go to all 3 places.
Like for double cost you could get a key that open all 3 dungeon once each. It would lower the amount of key you have to craft but would force you to go into all 3 challenge dungeon.
Having keys work like a PoE map system?
It would be interested to see it tied into unused crafting materials. Letting you get blueprints for keys that open “maps”. Sounds cool, but not doable with how the game core mechanics currently are implemented. It means a certain randomization element that isn’t build in and can’t just be added like that.
Sounds cool! Give the keys randomized affixes and make them drop from hero monsters…
You guys are trying to over complicate it. I do like the random affixs or giving the added mobs additional stats. I don’t think mechanically it would be hard to have an item make an instanced area have a higher density of mobs and what types and bonus affixs. I do not think that is too far fetched a idea/mechanic. I do like how no one is out right opposed to the idea.
Im not opposed to the idea at all tbh. From what i have seen its a pretty unique idea. The only 2 things that come to my mind, would be the performance decrease with additional mob density and the fact that some people hate crafting keys to begin with, never mind a “empowered key”. :undecided:
However this goes, it is an interesting idea non-the less 
I don’t think it’s a bad idea either.
Making keys requires so little effort and this might help end gamers do something other than bounty hunt. Hell I wouldn’t even mind if faction elites from cthonians/aether/undead dropped the parts for the empowered keys. Revamping the system so that you need specific parts for specific keys instead of just blood would be nice in general and make a bit more sense.
Just a lot of wasted time. IF this was added, keys would have an actual reason to exist in this game. Right now, however… Keys have no reason to exist at all. It’s a sink for materials that we already have a sink for, and could easily be adjusted in rarity. It’s an arbitrary limitation on three areas, with no specific thematic link, and no value to the gameplay. I’d much rather have keys removed… But at least something like this would give the mechanic value.
I like the idea. I’m guessing that by calling them Empowered Skeleton Keys you mostly have the three roguelike dungeons in mind, but a consumable item that does the same in any “rift gate zone” would be cool too (if a little more work to implement, I imagine).
I’d rather just have increased Hero spawns instead of even greater mob density though - lag is already enough of an issue in some areas as is. :rolleyes:
I liked the idea.
Instead of being craft, the Skeleton key could fall whenever you kill a Nemesis and have a Positive Prefixe and a Negative Suffix.
Example:
Sanguinary Skeleton Key of Abundance
+50% Gold Drop
+20% Item Drop
+20% Monster Damage
+10% Monster Total Speed
Or
Threatening Skeleton Key of Survival
+50% Energy Regeneration
+50% Health Regeneration
+20% Hero Spawn
+10% Monster Health
I got the idea of the name the game uses for epics that are 58+ stronger variations of lower leveled of the same kind.
Ok so I have been thinking and I wanted to elaborate on some idea’s I had to help bring they key zones to a better place within the game and the community and give the items and the zones a little extra love. I think most agree they could use some.
My ideas to improve are simple and not simple as far as a Dev might go none of it is simple. Give each Skeleton key zone a quest line. Steps of Torment gets one so why not the other two? Let one of the fifteen NPC’s in Homestead give a quest to go to the Port and clear it out. Bastion of Chaos could be a quest line that starts after you finish the main story line given out by an NPC is fort Ikon to finish flushing out the remaining cthonians around the necropolis. Additional quests are always welcome in this game as leveling is a bit of a crunch and it also helps with part two of my ideas to revamp the zone keys.
My change for the skeleton keys would start with Keys getting their own tab at the black smith and each zone would get its own subsection of craftable keys. Each sub sections first and basic key blue print would be unlocked by doing the quest line associated with each zone. Bastion would require blood, tainted brain matter for Port Valbury, and ancient heart for Steps of Torment. Each zone would have five blue prints that could be crafted;basic tier, T II,T III,T IV, and T V. Players would have to complete each lower difficulty to get the blue prints for the next. These blueprints could not be shared. Players in groups would allow one player to consume their key for the whole party. The amount of additional ingredients would not change on difficulty of the key just the amount of iron bits.
Differences in Tier keys would be a variety changes mostly things already implemented in the crucible. I would like for T II keys to just have a higher level cap on the mobs inside the zone. T III keys and above would be crafted with mods attached to them. T III would have two minor mods attached to them one positive one negative. T IV would have two minor and two medium level mods attached to them. Finally T IV would have two minor, two medium, and two large mods attached to them. The Dev team could use mods created from crucible and make a few more to round out the RNG effect like previously stated in an idea earlier. The second element I would like to take from the Crucible is the tribute currency system. Each difficulty would reward tribute points based on the amount of completion based on death or killing the final boss. The tribute points could be used with the NPC I also plan to add.
My final change and probably most demanding one. A new NPC called the Key Master would be placed next to the portal stone at the end of each zone. This NPC would be a merchant and he would have keys for sale in addition to ingredients. The keys he sold would be specific to which location you traded with him. This NPC would only take tribute as currency for exchange of his goods. The Key Master would sell primary ingredients to the keys and the type of keys he sold would be unique. The Key Master likes a challenge and so he offers the players special unidentified keys with a unique mod attached to it. These mods are not revealed until they are used on entry. If the player successfully kills the zone boss they are rewarded with additional tribute, exp, and drop chances on chests.As said before. Myself and like 30+ people in the stream are about this. Great idea and would add a lot more replay-ability (like there isn’t enough already, looking at you dikkie) to the game.
This sounds totally feasible for a mod, and if someone made it, I would put it in Grimarillion in a heartbeat.
If you want a thread title change, let me know. Something like “Challenge Area End Game Ideas”, might be more appropriate now.
I am down for a title change.
Also my roommate was asking me some questions so I figured I would clear up a few thoughts and missing parts from my idea.
So to clarify the Key Master sells; Ancient Hearts, Blood of Ch’thon, and Tained Brain Matter for materials. Keys he sells are; TierIII, TierIV, and TierV mystery keys along with the basic and Tier II keys. All can be purchased with tribute currency.
A good question was asked “what if I don’t like the roll my key was give?”. The answer to that lead me to the creation of a NPC item called the “Key Obelisk” this station would be next to the Key Master and once used gives the player two options. Option one is for the player to reroll the entire key for a small tribute amount, and the second option would be for the player to pay a small tribute fee to disable mirroring mods. EX:You like the positive Tier 3 mod of 50% increased drop rate of iron bits but you don’t like the negative Tier 3 mod of 40% increased fire damage taken. So you pay a small fee and you remove the mod and its correlating mod that goes with it. This option can only be done once per key and the amount of tribute cost increases depending on the Tier of the mod.