balance: upgrade costs have large disparity across tiers #113

New Issue

2026-03-23T15:42:11-07:00

hikari commented

2026-03-23 15:42:11 -07:00

Issue

The upgrades data has a significant cost disparity — some upgrades are dramatically cheaper or more expensive than others at a similar point in the progression. This makes some upgrades obvious no-brainers whilst others are never worth purchasing, reducing meaningful player choice.

Expected Behaviour

Upgrade costs should scale in a way that makes each upgrade feel like a reasonable investment at the point in the game where it is available. No single upgrade should be so cheap that it trivialises the surrounding content, or so expensive that it is never purchased.

Steps to Reproduce

Open apps/api/src/data/upgrades.ts
Sort upgrades by unlock point (zone or boss requirement)
Compare costs for upgrades available at similar points in the game

Suggested Fix

Recalculate upgrade costs to follow a consistent scaling curve relative to expected gold income at the point each upgrade becomes available.

Priority

🔴 Critical — undermines the entire upgrade progression system

✨ This issue was created with help from Hikari~ 🌸

## Issue The `upgrades` data has a significant cost disparity — some upgrades are dramatically cheaper or more expensive than others at a similar point in the progression. This makes some upgrades obvious no-brainers whilst others are never worth purchasing, reducing meaningful player choice. ## Expected Behaviour Upgrade costs should scale in a way that makes each upgrade feel like a reasonable investment at the point in the game where it is available. No single upgrade should be so cheap that it trivialises the surrounding content, or so expensive that it is never purchased. ## Steps to Reproduce 1. Open `apps/api/src/data/upgrades.ts` 2. Sort upgrades by unlock point (zone or boss requirement) 3. Compare costs for upgrades available at similar points in the game ## Suggested Fix Recalculate upgrade costs to follow a consistent scaling curve relative to expected gold income at the point each upgrade becomes available. ## Priority 🔴 Critical — undermines the entire upgrade progression system ✨ This issue was created with help from Hikari~ 🌸

hikari referenced this issue from a commit

2026-03-23 16:46:41 -07:00

fix: scale tiers 11-16 upgrade costs and reorder arcane_scholar_1 (#113, #114)

hikari referenced a pull request that will close this issue

2026-03-23 17:23:38 -07:00

balance: comprehensive game balance pass (#103-#123) #124

naomi closed this issue

2026-03-23 17:28:30 -07:00

naomi referenced this issue from a commit

2026-03-23 17:28:31 -07:00

balance: comprehensive game balance pass (#103-#123) (#124)

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