The game feels immensely different to me right now. A ton of things were changed all at once, so I have no idea what caused what. But one specific thing that I really don’t like I think is at least partially a consequence of the dodge changes – the tracking part, not the timing part. Enemies swarm over and around you a lot more aggressively, and dodging doesn’t create any space at all. Since there’s not really any spacing in combat, then once combat starts, you’re just constantly slogging through horde density until everything is dead. All of the slots fill up around you and then just stay filled for the whole fight, which makes for a monotonous experience. Pretty much the only consistent way to create space is to use a crowd control weapon, but I generally find the attack patterns on those weapons a bit boring, and they generally have poorer movement stats (as they should) than lighter, faster, more single-target-focused weapons.
This is extremely noticeable when you’re alone, as all of the enemies are then aggroed on you. “So don’t split up from your team” one might say, but a) sometimes everyone else is dead and b) I actually think it’s a lot more fun to play independently but together than to play in formation as a team. Cohesive team play just makes me feel like a cog in a machine, like I’m not even making my own decisions any more. Might as well just play with bots.
All of that is to say the pacing of the moment-to-moment gameplay feels off to me, in a very visceral way, and it’s just not fun. I feel like everything that was great about Vermintide 2 just kinda got tossed out the window and I’m just playing Vermintide 1 with more varied skins on the enemies, and more enemy density.
And again, this is not about difficulty. It’s about the game not being fun any more. I’m capable of succeeding in Legend 2.0. I was also clearing Cata maps in beta 2, but I don’t have WoM so have not tried it in the current iteration of the game. But It feels like a chore to play, where it used to be a joy to play.
I don’t think this is actually constructive, though. It’s not like you have any influence over Fatshark and can convince them to stop trying to make Vermintide 2 feel like Vermintide 1.
EDIT: You asked for three things, and I arguably only gave one. So if you really want more:
#2 - the level cap increase is just pointless and offensive. It accomplishes nothing because the game was re-tuned to that higher hero power cap, so it’s basically just removing levels from all of our characters and making us re-unlock talents and hero power that we already had. There is no excuse for that kind of BS.
#3 - the stagger talents are dumb. They should just be a property of the weapon, because there’s basically a “right” talent to select depending on which weapon you’re using. Much like how the temp health row of talents works. Either you picked the “right” talent for your weapon, or you’re just playing with a gimped character. It’s not a decision where you’re picking something that you think best fits your playstyle.
#4 - the talent overhaul was unnecessary, and I don’t like most of the changes. It feels like each class is being pushed more heavily than before into a specific style of play.
And as for how to fix? Honestly, I wish I could just roll back and opt out of 2.0. There is nothing in it that I prefer to the old version of the game. There’s some stuff that is different that I’m sure I’d be fine with after getting used to it, but nothing about it feels like an improvement to me.
EDIT2: On reflection, shields having better mobility & being able to block unblockable attacks is an improvement. But that’s all I can think of.