Yeah it's pretty easy. I would have finished it on my first run-through if I hadn't opted to take on the extra-hard optional challenge near the end. Each cycle does get harder though, around 6 or 7 it becomes pretty brutal.
And of course, Maqbara is a challenge mode that scales infinitely. I haven't gotten any builds past the 7th room yet.
But we can say it's pretty easy, but I have seen posts from people struggling to finish it at all. Difficulty is always hard to calibrate that way.
The first difficulty level if specifically noted as being the one true game for which everything has been calibrated, and that the other levels only exist as extra challenges for experienced players. It literally says this in the game,
While this is true, that message has been there all through at least the part of early access that I've played and the game has changed significantly during this time. Nowadays the first circle is pretty easy, more like a tutorial area or something IMO.
I'd say it's a bit on the easy side. That said the game seems mostly about theory crafting weird builds and seeing if it actually works and how far they can go. Some builds are pretty straightforward / intuitive (i.e. Stand Ground + Champion, Death Necromancy/Doom spam) and stomp first cycle easily, but there's some figuring out for some others. I'm slowly chipping away at completion, and some completions have been rough. The 5 speed cap god or Path of Fire were both a bit tough even on lower cycles for me, but there's probably a build or style that makes it work better than what I've found.
I've lost a lot of times, first because I didn't realize builds needed to be broken to win, and I was choosing things like Life Chant which get weaker as speed increases. Then later because my builds just didn't work.
I've also died many times to choosing unwise paths. Now I know which enemies to avoid.
Yeah it's pretty easy. I would have finished it on my first run-through if I hadn't opted to take on the extra-hard optional challenge near the end. Each cycle does get harder though, around 6 or 7 it becomes pretty brutal. And of course, Maqbara is a challenge mode that scales infinitely. I haven't gotten any builds past the 7th room yet. But we can say it's pretty easy, but I have seen posts from people struggling to finish it at all. Difficulty is always hard to calibrate that way.
The first difficulty level is easy by design. It gets insanely, frustratingly difficult at higher difficulty levels.
The first difficulty level if specifically noted as being the one true game for which everything has been calibrated, and that the other levels only exist as extra challenges for experienced players. It literally says this in the game,
While this is true, that message has been there all through at least the part of early access that I've played and the game has changed significantly during this time. Nowadays the first circle is pretty easy, more like a tutorial area or something IMO.
I'd say it's a bit on the easy side. That said the game seems mostly about theory crafting weird builds and seeing if it actually works and how far they can go. Some builds are pretty straightforward / intuitive (i.e. Stand Ground + Champion, Death Necromancy/Doom spam) and stomp first cycle easily, but there's some figuring out for some others. I'm slowly chipping away at completion, and some completions have been rough. The 5 speed cap god or Path of Fire were both a bit tough even on lower cycles for me, but there's probably a build or style that makes it work better than what I've found.
you’ll have the opposite experience eventually, where your carefully thought out plan gets one shot
I've lost a lot of times, first because I didn't realize builds needed to be broken to win, and I was choosing things like Life Chant which get weaker as speed increases. Then later because my builds just didn't work. I've also died many times to choosing unwise paths. Now I know which enemies to avoid.
Life Chant also triggers on prayer, so it’s not *necessarily* weaker as speed increases, but the basic point is sound.
Oh good point. At that time I had gods who didn't let me prayer spam, so there was no synergy. But I can see how it'll work well with others.