Balance: Adventurer upgrades unlock too late to be meaningful #158

New Issue

2026-03-26T15:03:02-07:00

hikari commented

2026-03-26 15:03:02 -07:00

Feedback

Adventurer-specific upgrades are unlocking significantly later in progression than the adventurer they buff is relevant. For example, a ×2 Apprentice Mage upgrade was earned at a point where Apprentice Mages contributed less than 1% of total gold per second — making the upgrade essentially meaningless at the time of receipt.

Problem

Upgrade rewards are gated behind quests that come far after the player has already scaled past the adventurer tier being upgraded. By the time the reward is granted, the buffed adventurer is such a small fraction of the party's total income and combat power that the multiplier has no perceptible impact on gameplay.

Expected Behaviour

Adventurer upgrades should unlock while that adventurer tier is still a meaningful contributor to the party — ideally during the zone or quest chain where that adventurer is first recruited or shortly after, not several zones later.

Suggested Approach

Audit each adventurer-specific upgrade reward and check which quest grants it vs. when that adventurer tier is first unlocked. Pull forward upgrades that are currently gated too late so they land within the window where the adventurer is still relevant to the player's current progression.

✨ This issue was created with help from Hikari~ 🌸

## Feedback Adventurer-specific upgrades are unlocking significantly later in progression than the adventurer they buff is relevant. For example, a ×2 Apprentice Mage upgrade was earned at a point where Apprentice Mages contributed less than 1% of total gold per second — making the upgrade essentially meaningless at the time of receipt. ## Problem Upgrade rewards are gated behind quests that come far after the player has already scaled past the adventurer tier being upgraded. By the time the reward is granted, the buffed adventurer is such a small fraction of the party's total income and combat power that the multiplier has no perceptible impact on gameplay. ## Expected Behaviour Adventurer upgrades should unlock while that adventurer tier is still a meaningful contributor to the party — ideally during the zone or quest chain where that adventurer is first recruited or shortly after, not several zones later. ## Suggested Approach Audit each adventurer-specific upgrade reward and check which quest grants it vs. when that adventurer tier is first unlocked. Pull forward upgrades that are currently gated too late so they land within the window where the adventurer is still relevant to the player's current progression. --- ✨ This issue was created with help from Hikari~ 🌸

hikari referenced a pull request that will close this issue

2026-03-31 13:32:47 -07:00

fix: runestone formula, prestige/transcendence rebalance, exploration fixes, and comprehensive balance audit #135

naomi closed this issue

2026-03-31 19:57:53 -07:00

naomi referenced this issue from a commit

2026-03-31 19:57:54 -07:00

fix: runestone formula, prestige/transcendence rebalance, exploration fixes, and comprehensive balance audit (#135)

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