u/TelephoneDisastrous6

Had a member of a party die, made it to the inn recruited a new hero.

Upgraded all my mastery and stuff, but didnt bother equipping (I typically do that once I load up in the wagon, moving characters around and such)

Anyways, one of the default-on skills got a negative relationship built around it, but I have ZERO intention of using said skill, ever.

Now, I cant unequip it even though it serves ZERO PURPOSE in my build.

So, im on act 3 and up against a wall.

I decided to go back an act, got a team through (Choosing all the perks and such) and used that team for act 3, which performed much better, but AGAIN ultimately failed.

It's not like DD1 where I am gradually building up tougher and tougher heroes- they all reset everytime.

The only way I can make my heroes stronger would be to start from act 1- with the sole purpose of min/maxing quirks and going for memories. There doesnt seem to be enough opportunities to cycle through quirks in a SINGLE act (my experience thus fur at least) so you dont have good chances at getting/keeping any good ones.

HOWEVER, that is a LOT of unenjoyable micro-management and WAY too long of a run to risk loss (I never played, nor was never interested in DD1 Stygian mode for example)

How else am I supposed to strengthen the heroes for the later acts if they never actually upgrade? Is it just through stronger trinkets, inn items, stagecoach items, etc?)

And I am not gonna use the flame thingy that turns down the difficulty- ive never lowered the difficulty in a game ever.

EDIT: I am aware of the candle upgrades and stuff, but I am 75% of the way through most characters at this point and none of the remaining upgrades really seem like anything that will push my heroes over the edge (+5 flame res here, +10 debuff res there)

At the completion of a run, all their upgrades go away.

So outside of an "act" or whatever the chapters are called, it feels like this game severely lacks any long-term investment in a hero.

Like in DD1, you could get a hero with multiple reinforced quirks that made them REALLY good. You invested MULTIPLE levels of skill and equipment upgrades.

Like stacking a bunch of crit trinkets + crit quirks on something like a bounty hunter.

At least in this one, it seems like you dont really get may quirks in an act and there isnt a whole lot of investing. Do yall use the same hero repeatedly in back-to-back acts (if successful)?

Ive been jumping around heroes a lot because again, doesnt feel like much investment into any one hero.

So, what is the expectation of the player if a hero dies mid journey?

Like, I get that you get candles if you make it to the inn. But like, am I expected to just flee every fight on the way there (Boring waste of time)

WHEN I get there, I am almost guaranteed to abandon because this game feels ESPECIALLY punishing for team comps. Like, ive found one or two that feel like the game is on easy mode, and the rest feel hopelessly underpowered. Missing classics like the Arbalest means that if PD or Vestal die, the whole run is a wash (Not enough healer classes)

Like, unless it's a royal FUCKTON of candles id rather just reset entirely.

I get there is the "torch" which makes the game easier and easier after failed runs, but I refuse to use that because it feels like the equivalent of turning down the difficulty (Ive never done that in any game ever)

I guess, I feel unsure what the "anticipated" player behaviour in this game is, because once I lose a hero, i basically auto-abandon every time.

Why should I not?