Alright, lets review ODaD again!
- The intro is still bad. You start a game and the first thing you get is a lot of various stats that a new player knows nothing about. What are Packs of Material? What can I craft with a Smelter? Having 1 extra Energy on even days gives me an extra action, right? Right?
* I feel like you could turn class selection into a Roguelike element: a new player is forced into the Mercenary class and reaching various Events unlocks more options. The Mercenary gives you combat stats only and combat is the first challenge you encounter.
- I didn't notice much changes before New Rozan. I went for a Fort/Phys build, something I expect an average player to try. It can't out-defend the challenges on the way to New Rozan but it can take them down before taking too much damage.
- Encountering a Bandit Leader on progress 2 in New Rozan is deadly. 2x10 damage per turn, 10 armor regen and 140 HP? With my 5 Phys and 5 Fort it would cost me lots of hp to defeat her. Armor Up is useless since she deals more damage than I recover. Attacks deal 15 damage and Cleave deals 9 damage so I can't use Cleave + 2 attacks to strip her Armor and activate Exposure. In the favorable scenario where I can always Attack or Parry at Head level and she never recovers her head armor, she would attack 9 times for 2x8.5 average damage (without Crit) and I could parry 4 times thanks to Clear Mind and natural regen. If I can parry 4x10, I would still be dealt 113 damage, 45 over my armor, despite the generous scenario.
* TL;DR: The Bandit Leader is an extreme jump in difficulty when you reach New Rozan, it's not beateable unless you have an optimized build or spend lots of health. I suggest adding an option to flee.
That's where I stopped for today. I will continue this run later and try to reach the new content.