Somewhat recently played POmegalulE for the first time. A mixbag of impressions, overall interesting, but not the point. I liked some things it does mechanic-wise, and figured out GD2 could borrow them (or consider them as starting point) as well.
Two main ones:
- Energy being not a one dimensional stat. Its mainly achieved by mana reservation mechanic (which GD has as well but isnt really impactful). Mixing %energy reserved and x energy reserved would make flat energy not a completely useless stat it is now. Having mana regen and leech be more nuanced and deep would go a long way as well. I cant say that PoE has a good energy and sustain mechanics, simply because I dont really have anything to compare it to, but its more interesting than GD’s one.
- More “modifiers” that change how skills work. GD has transmutors that seemingly should be doing the same things, but unfortunately most of them are conversions - i.e. recolours. I see it as a relic from vanilla when skill modifiers werent a thing but it doesnt change the fact that now they look out of place. The only counter example that I can think of is DEE’s transmutor, that changes not only how the skill is approached (CD nuke instead of spam) but changes the projectiles’ physics. GD community league has an occasional interesting take on those, changing their template. I know the reason we dont see them is simple - engine. That being said, if GD2 is going to move to a new one, I’d very much like the variety of ways a skill can be played to exist, simply due to a fact that its fun to mess with.
Less significant ones:
- Having items that provide tradeoffs. I think GD having a very straightforward in most cases approach to items is a conscious decision and the only tradeoff there exists is between what other items in the same slot could provide instead of the current one. That being said, theres still a room for more “severe” consequences of players choices - say, an item could provide a buff that grants +3 max ele res for the cost of 15% of total armor. Or something, you get the gist. That way players who dont want to have this benefit-for-disadvantage choice can simply not turn on the buff and simply use the item as it is, while ones who want to further tailor their build can turn it on.
- I really liked the x% of n damage taken as m damage. I think its a mechanic that brings decent depth to customisation and building.
- More advanced crafting system. Not as insane as PoE’s one of course, GD is a different game in that regard, but current one kinda leaves you wanting more. Again, community league has an interesting take with affix reroll system, something in similar vein could be further balanced, polished and implemented.
- CC +max res. Make it rare, expansive and thematic, but in my opinion it should exist, even having 90% instead of 80 shorten the duration by half, which is a lot when it comes to endgame.
