Hey guys, I came back from a month or so hiatus from the game, and the sheer amount of changes made have been staggering! I found the freefall mission really fun, too. Good work so far.
That said, now that regular and secret missions are virtually identical, there isn't much reason to explore anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the change was made because I was sick of grinding secret missions for spell materials. However, now I feel like it's swung in the opposite direction. I don't bother exploring at all unless I need gem veins, or to reach a certain depth for an unlock.
One feature that I thought was cool, and I'm glad is still in, is how going deeply into caverns makes the enemies a higher tier. That being said, it's again challenge for no reason. One thing I would like to suggest is that secret missions where enemies have been "tiered up" drop the appropriate tier of Orbs. That is, say the continent is tier 1, but you're deep enough in a cave so that enemies are tier 2. I feel like a secret mission in that area should drop tier 3 orbs.
Note that I'm aware of potential balancing issues here, and I'm not saying it would be an easy change. However, it adds a new element of depth. People who just want to march through the continent would stick to the world map missions and kill lieutenants as they go. People who are willing to explore a bit, and like to play with power, could have higher tier spells ahead of time. Yes, that means that even at tier one on the continent, you could be running around with tier 5 spells. But you would have had to fight tier 4 enemies at least to get that anyway. And you wouldn't have your tier shielding, which I feel is generally overlooked/ignored but would suddenly become important. You would effectively be a glass cannon while questing for those orbs.
Just a long-winded thought from me. If anyone has comments on it, please let me know!
