NG+3 thoughts, feedback, bugs, worst debuffs
Made it to NG+3 for the "badge" reward, which, not exactly worth it but challenge mode was pretty fun overall.
Ran a pretty thorough 100%-ish run for my first playthrough, respecced, sold everything, upgraded my gear to about +16, then did a speed run on NG+ and NG+2. The dmg output and gear was enough to get me through that far.
Gear: Crystal walker helm / grieves / boots. Doublet of the last Jest. Winged Cavalier backplate. Abyssal Heir gauntlets. Shadowfang Reaver and Duelist Blade for weapons. Swordsman Amulet plus crit stuff for jewelry until my crit hit 100%
Build: One handed/dual wield crit, with about 20 perception and dumped everything else in endurance for HP and crystal walker helm.
Difficulty spike hit around the start of NG0 act 2 like it usually does, drops off dramatically by act 3, coasted through NG+ and didn't really get difficult again until finishing NG+2. That said, NG+3 spooks me and I'm honestly glad I didn't level much the last couple runs, as the debuffs got gnarly.
Melee wise, be wary of anything that ups stamina cost. "Need for Blood" upping stamina costs by 200% after 4 seconds of not hitting something was fairly brutal. The only debuff that was so bad that i reloaded was the one that doubled dodge recharge time. Could not make that work with all the explosions and everything. Healing in combat limits are tough, but dont seem to effect lifeleech or damage based % heals (bug?). Stress Disorder was really bad, locking max health based on damage taken until you rest, although I think that's also bugged as it doesn't seem to be preserved after reload. By the end of NG+2 almost any hit was either gonna poison or burn me, or both, and would basically be 1-shot even with almost 50 endurance and maxed health trees. Damned Life is also a bit bugged, as it drops souls you have to collect but those like spawning in unreachable areas sometimes. Not a big deal once difficulty gets super easy or they become free healing via lifeleech, but still.
Overall great. Good excuse to come back. Didn't really fix the act 3 difficulty drop until far down the road. Wish the "badge" was at least like an achievement or something. Wanted more challenge and I'd say this offers that but I'm pretty much satisfied/done at this point. Looking forward to whatever they have in store next.