A lot to go over so I’ll try to stay brief.
Sepemeru: love it. Feels far more alive, the criminals add danger to the city while feeling more in place and FFS give the person who put all the merchants in one spot a cookie. Great addition.
Unnamed City: ■■■■■■■■. That escalated quickly. A lot of very dangerous stuff there but I feel like I have more of a reason to explore it. Thumbs up there. Damage sponge bosses though not so much. However visuals and overall feel is better. Please keep updating this area it’s the core of the game setting in its way.
New Asgarth: You’ve taught me to hate wolves. Also the new Giants Daughter is awesome and a fun way to introduce the new thrall types. Again, it feels more alive, same with the hunters outside. Great addition.
Summoning Place: Minor changes but it looks a bit better. Overall the Darfari have evolved to have more of a Conan flavor, which is good. Having a Darfari witch doctor that summons some dead would be a solid addition imo.
Volcano: Minor changes but good. Votaries still feel a bit unfinished as a setting.
Fragments of Power: brilliant, the new recipes and unlocks makes finding and fighting the new bosses worthwhile. Dual wield weapons are great and feel great. Build costs for deco objects seems crazy high but I get that as they’re pure status bling. This was a great addition.
Sunken City: Great setup and setting. I feel like there was room for more and some of the enemies are just stupid crazy damage sponges, which is bad because the enemies look and the setting itself is great. Lore is great and fits well. I guess I just wanted to do more in that space than whittle a guy for half an hour, swim a bit and do it again.
Silver Mine: Nice, some dungeon. Love the new shield! The knockback effect is great and chains very well with swors lunge attack. Has 1h shield builds back on the menu. Again, damage sponge bosses are meh. Also the crazy temple setting feels like there should be something more nefarious than just teleport to surface.
New gear, recipes and balance: Balance is always a moving target. I feel like balance for PvE is in a good place, I’ve done everything I weapon playthrough. 2H hammer changes help a bit but DPS is just too low to be viable. Maybe move knockdown earlier? Everything else is in a good place. I went 40 accuracy and did a bow build, I did agility primary, strength and vitality all as primaries and they’ve all got very distinct flavors. I enjoy it a lot and combat really shines now which I admit I never thought I’d say when I was playing a year + ago.
PvP: The current “meta”. People forget that the term “meta” for PvP games actually derives from Most Effective Tactic Available. It’s always going to focus on even the smallest advantage. Because of the nature of dodge and combos getting a real balance is iffy and even then will gravitate to one particular thing. That’s PvP.
Suggestions: More tents and camping sort of stuff. The game really shines in the setting and exploration. Making a big house or base is great but then you’re settling down. I made a artisan table and then a tent and a few things and wandered, setting up my little tent and stool and such. It was awesome and very Conan. Having a couple lean-to and tent bits, a micro version of crafting tables that only give super basic recipe access all available at low level would promote exploring for a while before actual base building. Little cook pot that can make a few basic things for food and the basic potions, armor table for basic armors, a little hammer form for iron gear and fittings, etc. No thralls but something to make exploring viable and promoted for early characters.
Boss fights: constant respawning minor mobs, give bosses less HP but way more armor, give them summoning options if getting mobbed by players. The damage sponge option isn’t fun. Just for giggles I went god mode on one of the new bosses and just spammed attacks as fast as stamina allowed with a legendary weapon. I didn’t time it but my hand got sore and I got bored and watched videos on my phone. This is a glaring meh part to an otherwise incredible combat system and setting.
Overall: been playing since EA started. Huge leaps and bounds, far more interesting and fun to play. The setting and lore are just incredible and the world is fun to just wander in. The new update has me spending way more time in Sep, Unnamed City and the Jungle - which, by the way, is beautifully designed. So many nooks and crannies and interesting places.
Oh, and give us a horse statue we can just sit on. Cuz mocking people is funny.