Spell Tiers in the new system

[Terraziel]

Being an almost theoretical concern at this point I am not putting this on mantis yet, but..

I think that the range for a spell tier might need to be increased from 5 levels to 8-10. there are other solutions to my concern but that strikes me as the simplest solution for the time being

Why? Lets take an example, loosely based on my current character.

I am Level 45
I use Ball Lightning IX
I use Fireball IX
I use Forest Rage IX
I use Energy Pulse IX

At this point I should start trying to acquire Level 10 gems to upgrade my spells, except this requires, One Ruby, One Opal, One Jade and One Citrine (other ingredients aside).

The odds are I shall level up twice getting each gem, so before I even get three gems I should already being trying to acquire Level 11 Spells.

My options are continue getting the Level 10 gems knowing that by the time I have acquired them they will be out of date, or go straight for the level 11 versions, and create a situation where I have to level spells alternately otherwise they get left behind.

Now currently there aren't many spells in the game, so it's not as big an issue as it could be, but by the time you add utility spells, defensive spells and whatever else the devs have coming for us into the mix you are going to need a lot of gems to upgrade with not really much time to get them.

[BobTheJanitor]

Maybe the leveling curve needs to be stretched a little bit so you're not so likely to level past things before you can even collect your entire spell set. Although slow leveling is usually always a bad answer that just makes the game feel like it's dragging. Or maybe gem caves just need to start being more gemmed. If you were likely to find a couple of the gems of the color that matches the area that you're in, along with a couple other veins of randomized colors, this wouldn't be a big problem. That does seem like a lot of gems right now, but once we have more and more spells it will be pretty necessary.

[x4000]

Sold -- I agree that these should be based on a 10-level cycle.  It's just way too fast the other way, and there's no time to even build remotely a full loadout NOW, let alone when we have dozens of spells.  And it really makes the progression feel like a constant grind, too, I think.

Keith and I had both been on the fence in general for whether the tiers should be 5 or 10 levels, but we went with 5 out of fear of just stretching things out for the sake of making it take longer at 10 levels.  But in practice, it's becoming increasingly clear that you need that time to not have your stuff go obsolete in, I agree.

In terms of how long it takes to go up a level, we've been generally aiming for 45-60 minutes on average, but that's going to vary by what kind of activities you're undertaking during a specific period of time.  I think that may evolve over time, but I don't think that's grossly off.  The tiers -- those are definitely grossly off.  Thankfully, it's a one-constant thing to change the tiers, and then I'll just have it retroactively downgrade stuff in the older saves so that equivalences with existing equipment are maintained.