New update!
This is my third start. I am worried I will lose interest before finishing the content I have already seen. My first start was nice, I got to explore the game and learn the systems in place. The second start was nice at the beginning, I got to use my knowledge to go trough the content quickly and make a powerful combat build, but I lost interest after reaching Melrose when I got another set of cooldowns to manage. This time I know I can spend less efforts on camp management and be fine. Reading trough the changelog I am worried the new combat system won't be as engaging as the previous one. Lets dive in! I am writing this post as I play.
I'm not a fan of how the first thing you see is a class selection screen with stats you have no idea about if you are a new player. The old intro did a better job introducing the game as a text-based story, I fear getting dropped in front of stats then having to go trough walls of text before you use these stats will lose new players.
I'm not a fan of the new combat so far. Phys is the only reliable way to deal damage. The non-Phys ways to deal damage cost Energy which takes time to recharge and Defend is not enough to prevent the enemy from dealing damage to you; the best way to prevent damage is to end the fight early. This leads to Phys + Cleave being extremely good, since it deals 3x the damage of the next best damage source while also activating Exposure. The cost of the first Cleave is that it hits the Armor, but the second and third Cleave just do ridiculous amounts of damage. I took the Mercenray start with Cleave and Rhythm of War, using Cleave on turns 1 and 4 to ends most fights. As I got stat boosts and items fights became very easy: with 8 Phys and 4 Char you can finish any fight in New and Old Rozan with 2 Cleaves, and if you don't have enough Char taking Clear Mind works too.
I think the last combat system was more interesting. Phys increased your damage with the defensive Strike and burst with Cleave; Arca increased your damage with Warp and Detonate while being defensive with its debuff and Shield. The potency of the debuff and defense of Strike did not depend on stats, letting you use them even with weak stats if the situation called for it. It turned the combats into puzzles to solve, I liked that.
With the new system the player does not have the all the abilities so the puzzle cannot be designed with abilities in mind. In my (limited) experience all the fights were solved by Cleaving twice. Blocking was optional, to save some HP while waiting for the energy for the second Cleave, and no other ability matched Cleave. Even without using Cleave I can't see a build that benefits more from Char and Fort than Phys, ending the fight early by doing more damage seems like the best way to deal with the opponents. The creatures in Old Rozan seemed more aggressive than earlier creatures, but not tougher, making Cleave even better against them.
While rampaging trough these locations I got enough equipment to get large amounts of Armor, making the defensive abilities not required.
I reached the Portal on day 35. I'll stop there, because I went for the not-working perks for Raven and gathering the resources for the portal will take a while.
The new Card art is nice. I've not planted many bodies this run because I was rushing towards Melrose, but I clearly remember White Vixen being lower quality than now, it's a subtle improvement.
There are two Passives that refer to Shields, but they are available from the start while only 1 of 6 classes has access to Shields before reaching Old Rozan.
Cleave could be nerfed by 50% and would still do more damage than other options.
Piercing Strike is not a good effect, you will need to get trough the armor anyways to deal the rest of the damage to win.
I suggest changing the effect of Piercing Strike to a Bleed effect dealing Char damage per turn until the end of the combat, with no duration but limited to once per part. This would give a way to deal damage while focusing on Defend and stalling abilities.
Idea: a Passive that makes Defend return damage to the attacking part equal to half its original attack value.
It's getting late. I'm getting too tired to make a proper conclusion.
Good luck with the game, I hope my feedback is constructive and helps make the game better.
