Balance: Echo meta upgrade costs make transcendence loop too long (25+ runs) #179

New Issue

2026-03-31T17:09:06-07:00

hikari commented

2026-03-31 17:09:06 -07:00

Problem

The echo meta upgrades are priced far too high relative to per-run echo yield.

First transcendence happens at ~P225 after beating the_absolute_one. Echo yield at that prestige: floor(224 / sqrt(225)) = 14 echoes.

Current meta costs:

Upgrade	Cost	Runs to afford
`echo_meta_1` (×1.25)	25	2
`echo_meta_2` (×1.5)	75	4 more
`echo_meta_3` (×2.0)	200	7+ more
Total	300	13+ runs just for metas

With total echo shop cost of 400, a player needs ~27 full transcendence loops to buy everything. The meta upgrades are supposed to accelerate later runs but require so many runs to unlock that they can barely do that.

Fix

Reduce echo meta costs to make the transcendence loop ~8-12 runs:

echo_meta_1: 25 → 15
echo_meta_2: 75 → 45
echo_meta_3: 200 → 100

Total meta cost drops from 300 → 160, total shop from 400 → 260.

✨ This issue was created with help from Hikari~ 🌸

## Problem The echo meta upgrades are priced far too high relative to per-run echo yield. First transcendence happens at ~P225 after beating `the_absolute_one`. Echo yield at that prestige: `floor(224 / sqrt(225))` = **14 echoes**. Current meta costs: | Upgrade | Cost | Runs to afford | |---|---|---| | `echo_meta_1` (×1.25) | 25 | 2 | | `echo_meta_2` (×1.5) | 75 | 4 more | | `echo_meta_3` (×2.0) | 200 | 7+ more | | **Total** | **300** | **13+ runs just for metas** | With total echo shop cost of 400, a player needs ~27 full transcendence loops to buy everything. The meta upgrades are supposed to accelerate later runs but require so many runs to unlock that they can barely do that. ## Fix Reduce echo meta costs to make the transcendence loop ~8-12 runs: - `echo_meta_1`: 25 → **15** - `echo_meta_2`: 75 → **45** - `echo_meta_3`: 200 → **100** Total meta cost drops from 300 → 160, total shop from 400 → 260. ✨ This issue was created with help from Hikari~ 🌸

hikari referenced this issue from a commit

2026-03-31 17:19:37 -07:00

balance: reduce echo meta upgrade costs for a more reasonable transcendence loop (#179)

hikari commented

2026-04-06 18:54:57 -07:00

Already addressed in commit 666a5b2. The echo meta costs were reduced to exactly the values proposed: echo_meta_1 → 15, echo_meta_2 → 45, echo_meta_3 → 100 (total 160, down from 300). No further changes needed.

Already addressed in commit 666a5b2. The echo meta costs were reduced to exactly the values proposed: `echo_meta_1` → 15, `echo_meta_2` → 45, `echo_meta_3` → 100 (total 160, down from 300). No further changes needed.

hikari closed this issue

2026-04-06 18:55:00 -07:00

hikari referenced this issue

2026-04-06 18:55:38 -07:00

balance: comprehensive balance pass (closes #165, #166, #167, #170, #172, #173, #215) #239

naomi referenced this issue from a commit

2026-04-06 18:58:05 -07:00

feat: comprehensive balance pass (#239)

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