Hello gamers. I’m as excited as the next guy for the upcoming updates but one snippet of the latest Grim Misadventure caught my eye.
we will be removing Monster Infrequents from the Roguelike Dungeon vendors. While finding a well rolled item at the merchant was fun, the optimal way of using them was to exploit an unintuitive mechanic where you would reload the area repeatedly in the hopes of rerolling the merchant’s inventory until they had something decent. This not only went against the spirit of the game but was also incredibly jank. Merchants will continue to sell their assortment of blueprints and Components.
Of course this is a pretty minor change, and it wouldn’t be dramatic if it went through, but I don’t think this is a good change. Let me explain why.
First of all, I agree with Zantai’s sentiment that resetting a vendor for hours went against the spirit of the game and it was indeed, jank. And as someone who has farmed Vinelton for HOURS on Vanquisher in hopes of a good Bargoll’s Root back in the day, I couldn’t agree more.
But this has not been the optimal way to play for some time because of the recent changes.
- MI drop rates have become more generous (especially for bosses);
- You can reroll affixes now.
If the issue is vendor resets, FoA already fixed it. No one in their right mind is vendor farming in dungeons when they can just find a base item with maybe one rare affix and reroll it until they get the item they want. From the same Grim Misadventure:
First, you will find that even regular Monster Totems and Treasure Troves will have a chance to drop Ashes of Awakening in Ascendant mode, but their upgraded Tempest/Resplendent versions will be even more rewarding.
So that just another nail in the coffin of the vendor resetting strategy, in favor of a much better one.
So why keep MIs in vendor’s inventory then? I’m glad you ask.
- It gives you a reason to interact with the vendors. Sure blueprints are nice, but once you learned them, you have no reason to ever look at those vendors again. But having a peek at Vinelton in case of a good Living Ring is fun. If MIs are gone, why are vendors even there?
- Benevald and Hyram exist. And rerolling Hyram on a new save, for blueprints at least, is definitely a thing.
But my main reason in favor of keeping MIs in the vendor inventories is this:
Leveling (and speed leveling)
Some MIs are somewhat rare(especially when not dropped by a boss) and can be hard to find when you’re low level. Dungeon vendors give you reliable access to some rarer MIs.
Quick example.
I’m playing the GD league (again) and on my fresh save, I wanted an Obsidian Bulwark. Clearing the rifts in Blood Grove amd Plains of Strife as well as Necropolis and all the totems I saw in Normal yielded nothing. So I just spent a key, walked for 5 minutes and boom I could just buy one. I took the best of the two I saw and that was it. No resetting, just an honest transaction between a humble Taken and a noble merchant who set up shop in Anarchy.
Meanwhile, if speed leveling a Shadow Strike character, I can just show up to Benevald every 15-ish levels to find new swords, as I’ve done multiple times. I don’t see a reason to narrow down the number of leveling builds where this is a viable strategy when the RNG gods haven’t been kind regarding natural drops.
Closing thoughts
Vendor farming is not about resetting until you get a good roll anymore, it’s about having reliable access to the item in the first place. Having the option makes the leveling experience smoother, and rewards game knowledge. Please let us have it.