monere: Hi,

I have finished Vaporum on brutal difficulty over 20 times already, and I am currently playing it again and I have noticed one thing that I think should be fixed.

More specifically, the Marauder Chestpiece that we find in one of the secret areas in level 2 is too strong and makes all other chest pieces in the game obsolete (yes, even the ones found in the super secret).

That "1.5% integrity dealt as damage" perk is just too powerful, even if the chestpiece itself only gives 70 integrity, and even if you only kill monsters in 1-2 less hits than by using any other chestpiece. That 1.5% bonus is so strong that, unless I play Thauma Rig and thus put on a thauma-relevant chestpiece, for all other exo rigs the MC is the best option.

I know that Vaporum is already finished and that you are currently working on Lockdown, but if you ever go back to Vaporum please fix the Marauder Chestipiece. It really makes all other chestpieces obsolete and it's a pity because I want to use them so badly but I just can't feel compelled when I see the damage that the MC adds to my weapons.

The way I would "fix" it is by either reducing the damage to 0.5% or completely remove that bonus and give a different one like, for example, 50% chance per hit to do crit damage, or 50% chance per hit to add 1% integrity as damage, or something that is more balanced than the current bonus

monere: I don't care about achievements in video games, honestly. I just play for the fun of it, and I do have a lot of fun with this game :)

BUT... I could use a tougher difficulty because this game, before being an action game, is a timings type of game, and once you get the timings right it's very easy to beat the game, even on brutal. For Lockdown I HIGHLY recommend that the toughest difficulty is really tough, something like you have to play the game 10-20 times in order to win once, and that only if you are also lucky. For people who want a real challenge there is nothing more disappointing than playing on the toughest difficulty and having no problems beating the game. You have to understand that people who choose the toughest difficulty have already beaten the game (probably numerous times), and / or are really good at this type of games, and once the initial magic of the game vanishes (after playing it a few times and learning the ins and outs of it) you want a really good challenge, which is what the toughest difficulty of any game should offer.

Regarding the Marauder Chestpiece... you can do all the math you want, but you can also take my word for it that the last 10-15 games I have had absolutely no reason to replace it with any other body armor. Only the Commando Harness (I think you find it in level 5 or 6, the one that gives +20% damage to all weapons) matches it in terms of damage, but even the CH can be surpassed if you stock up on integrity.

Now, I need to also say something: when saying that the MC is too strong you need to take into account the fact that I never put any points in any type of weapon circuit. I usually use all other circuits in a different combination, because putting points in blunt, blade, handguns or rifles makes the weapons even tougher than they are. And the reason I am telling you this is because with points put in those circuits the CH might be better than the MC, but otherwise the MC will carry me throughout the entire game once I find it in level 2 secret area.

My recommendation is either you put the MC in the super secret area but increase it's integrity to 200+, or you reduce the bonus damage from 1.5 to 0.5 (not joking).

Other than this, I don't know... I just finished another playthrough 15 minutes ago with assault rig + blocking, fusion conversion, servo support and elemental conductor.

Another thing.... the direct damage gadgets are too strong, even on brutal. If I pick the thauma rig and go full spellcasting with the circuits and gadgets.... oh boy, the poor AI won't even know what hit it! But again, I need to disclose something here: when I say that I beat the game 20+ times on brutal I am speaking the truth, but I am also not saying that I beat it by spamming F5 and F9. I never mentioned this because I thought it is common knowledge since the F5-F9 mechanism is probably meant to be spammed like hell :)

Anyway, that's all I had to say. You do your thing, but keep in mind that the toughest difficulty should really be tough... I mean, impossible. It needs to give nightmares to the players and force them to get creative and ULTRA PRECISE on the timings in order to beat the game on that difficulty, Otherwise....

monere: No problem, my friend. And don't worry about posting a bigger reply. I understand that you're busy with Lockdown, and I like that you're so serious about finishing that game. I can hardly wait to play it... 50-100 times if possible :)

Cheers!