So, i posted this a few days ago on Reddit already, but I wanted to bring it up here as well:
Of course, this is an early-access beta and not everything is in the game so far, and some stuff might still get tweaked yet, but…
So far I am not really sold on the game’s character progression system.
As far as I’ve seen, you need to level EACH character you create. MEANING: Even characters of the same class/archetype/whatever.
All of these characters also have completely separate inventories and budgets.
In Vermintide 1, all characters shared a level and all they really did was unlocking trinket slots (all were available at level 30).
In Vermintide 2, this got changed. In part due to the greater diversification between the Übersreik 5, but probably also to stretch out the gameplay loop a bit. Having to level each of the characters to 35 for Max power (and, with that, “free choice” to play whoever you want without any drawbacks) already was a bit annoying, however there were things that made the experience more fun:
First of all, Trinket slots didn’t need to be unlocked. All three were available from the start and all trinkets were shared.
Second: Chests could be amassed by the top Character and opened by the others, allowing access to better quality equipment. And chests were awareded per mission!
Third: The weapon power level progression was shared between all characters.
Fourth: Shared crafting materials. So, if your top guy had a boat load of trash you wanted to disassemble, the others profitted. With the removal of VT2s chests furthermore, the “passive income” of gear for dissambly, or here, selling, has been removed as well. YOu get a weapon once in a while, probably for milestones, and the rest you have to buy…
In combination, this means that even a Level 1 character could run 3 red trinkets and, if not really high quality, at least reasonably powerful equipment.
This allowed a freshly started character to skip difficulty levels and just in general make progression faster and easier.
In Vermintide, there also were no weapons that, as such, were shared between characters. Well, technically one could argue the Asrai bows could be used by Huntsman Kruber, the dwarf crossbow could be used by Saltz, but both could ahve the justification of “no, due to some construction differences to accomodate their races differences to humans. FOr example, Bardin’s crossbow needs more strength to pull than Saltzpyres!”
So far, it doesn’t seem to be the case with Darktide though. If you start a second character, you start from Rock Bottom and have to claw your way back up, experience gained from playing aside.
And, despite there being a lot of shared weapons between the three humans, those aren’t shared between the characters.
Now, from a story point of view, it obviously makes sense… but from a gameplay experience PoV, imho that’s just one thing: FAKE LONGEVITY! It’s to stretch the “level up experience” as much as possible…
And when we get new Careers/archetypes whatever, and the characters can’t just switch ebtween them, it’ll be even worse. Especiall if the amount of slots for characters doesn’t get increased and stays at five… “Oh, want to try out our second new class? Or new character? Well, gotta delete one of the old ones!”
For me, personally, VT2 became the most fun once all my characters were top level and equipment, meaning i could choose which ever I wanted and play on any difficulty I wanted and my skill allowed. Withotu having to think “man, i really should level Sienna right now…”
And, for me, the same applies to DT. I am levelling Veteran so far, but would like to level, for example, Ogryn a bit, but restarting the grind at 0 just ain’t motivating, and it’ll get worse with Zealot and Psyker.
This is especially something important for people who want to play in rounded teams, especially if the MM ever gets improved to reduce “hey, 3 Veterans and a zealot!” auto-groups.
Even if we were able to change character in the “ready for mission” screen, it’s unlikely anyone will do that if their other characters are under-levelled and/or under equipped for the difficulty level.
Another thing that i have to bring up is the shops… which, with the random stuff available and the reset timer also feels just BAD. You need to hope that you get something you like isntead of the same old stuff you were getting the wholet ime… And I think that might again play into this. “Oh, nothing int he store you like? Do a few runs and look after the reset!”
Instead of the fun gameplay experience being the main motivator, so far it seems like FS wants the annoyance of grind and the “reward” for progressing to be the thing that hooks the players… and for me, the job ain’t done well…
The reddit thread in question:
And I have already seen people agree with me on this:
Also, while I know that FS Loves their bars… please add numbers to the experience bar int he character’s inventory, so that i know how much XP I need for the next level…