The original comment was mine, so let me exemplify below. Also,
I don’t disagree with the notion that one shouldn’t spend all that time in crafting/inventory management in this kind of game. That’s why I don’t boot up the game.
First example: I have resources!
So, let’s imagine that I have an infinite amount of dockets and crafting materials and I want to try out a new build, or just a new blessing combo with a breakpoint for a specific enemy type on a specific weapon. Since I have infinite resources I get to crafting. It doesn’t have to be a perfect weapon, mind you, but this build requires a minimum of 360 - 370 modifier level depending on how much the damage bar fills up. It will also need two damage perks of at least a certain percent. An alternative would be one really good damage perk but on a 375+ weapon with a maxed out damage bar. It’s a hypothetical example.
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How long does it take for me to roll that (not very extraordinary) weapon?
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How much time will it take for me to deal with the aftermath (dismantling the weapons I don’t want)?
My guess is as good as yours, but it could be anything between 5 minutes and an unreasonable amount of time.
Part 2
So, I crafted the weapon I wanted to try and now I’ve played for a few missions or maybe a few weeks, and I want to try a slightly different build.
This build is actually using the same weapon, but I would need to re-roll the locked perk and/or blessing. Either I spend another 2 min - unreasonable amount of time to try and create the new weapon, or I turn the game off. The option I choose will probably depend on my experience last time, and I’d guess it would go something like this:
If I got lucky last time and only spent 5 minutes I’ll be a happy pirate and engage with the system again, and again, and again, but the one time I have to spend two hours with this process I’m likely turned off by it forever.
As stated, I’m going with the second option (turn off game) for now.
Second example: I don’t have the resources
So, since I haven’t played much since early January I don’t have millions of dockets or other crafting material to spend so this is a more realistic example, AND one where I do get a lot more playtime.
In this scenario I still want to try that new build out. Emperor’s gifts and the regular requisitorium will likely not help me, since I need a specific weapon that has at least XY stats. Instead I’ll first play a mission and then gamble 2 - 3 times, depending on the difficulty I played. If I get lucky I get to gamble some more and engage with the perks and blessing, but most likely I will have to go on quite a few missions before I can try that build out.
Yes, objective complete, way less than 50% of my time spent managing my inventory and I can now get some sympathy! A question though:
- How am I even supposed to keep track on the build I was going for in the first place? This process might take days upon days just to try something new and keep me engaged in the game.
The simple answer is that I can write it down. I can also speed the process up by installing the shop checker app, and use the re-rolling mod to make that part of the process a bit smoother. Anyhow, the next question is: Do I want to engage in that practice (I fear I might lose that sympathy again)?
The answer is NO, I’d rather play the game than spend all that time on inventory management… Yes,. all that time, because I’m not assuming I get extremely lucky.
For good measure (someone will probably bring this up)
I’ve played the game on all difficulties. I’ve played both Damnation and lower difficulties with weapons mostly ranging between 330 - 360 modifier stats and they’re often green or blue.
- Why only green and blue?
I didn’t bother getting involved in the gear progression (or lack thereof) AKA I didn’t check the shop excessively (external app or no).
- My point?
I’m of the opinion that gear brings flavor rather than being a *strict necessity, but I also know that I personally need to experiment with stuff to have fun in this game after playing for a while. Other things that would help with that is if there was more content in general, or more classes, but right now the only option this we can engage with is gear.
*worth noting is that it is way easier to play any difficulty with higher base damage, so it might not only be frustrating for people trying builds or whatnot, but a hard requirement for someone to feel confident in moving up a difficulty
So, you guys tell me @Axehilt and @alsozara, can you put up any guarantees that I don’t have to spend 50% managing my inventory if I want to try something fresh?
I wouldn’t bet on it myself, but I’m also not a fan of gambling in general.
Please note that I wrote guarantees. I know well that I could be blessed by the RNG gods, but that’s definitely not what I’m asking about here.
Also a small disclaimer. The content in this post is not based on assumptions made about what you think or don’t think, it’s merely there to help shape an answer to the comment quote at the top of the post.