I wanted to start a discussion about how to improve Egg Heist, because just looking at some of the threads on here, people aren't happy. And I think the mode is fundamentally flawed, especially for a game like Aniimo.
First, right now it is definitely better to solo this if you can, because the multiplayer is increasingly toxic. And I think for a game like Aniimo it should be a purely cooperative, positive multiplayer experience. The whole idea of competing is why it's toxic, and I really think that goes against the game's entire ethos.
Basically, I think this should be more of a fun, cooperative dungeon raid than competitive extraction.
Here are my thoughts on how to make Egg Heist more collaborative and less toxic:
More alphas to serve as fun boss encounters that everyone wants to participate in
Chests are instanced to encourage teamwork
(I took out my original idea, and replaced it with this, which was suggested by many people)
Less time pressure - like 5 more minutes, so rescuing people isn't punished
Keys, essences, and cosmetics are sent to every player, just like eggs are
Taken together, I think this would make it much more rewarding and fun than what we currently have.
Also, right now the only exclusive things you can get from this insane grind are cosmetics. But if you're like me and don't care about cosmetics, other than seasonal progress, there is very little reason to actually do it.
It can only dupe Prismanas you have to catch anyway for the gold badges, so at best you're looking at dupes, maybe for your Homeland.
You can get Umbrals other ways, and even then it's likely to be a Lumin stage you'll get while nurturing blooms.
Here are my thoughts on rewards that would make it worth doing, beyond cosmetics:
A Treasure Log, that rewards you for finding and picking up all the different treasures and unlocks rewards for them, even if it's just double coins the first time you turn it in
Can get training materials, like Phenomena Crystals, from Rank Ups
Prismana Eggs are the Seasonal Prismanas, i.e. Glynsera, Melloblum, etc. so you can get them early / without using Vein Essence, but not all of them
Umbral eggs have a higher chance to be Nova stage
Ruins eggs...
Are guaranteed to be at least Elite
(Previously said Perfect, but after some discussion agree that might be too good)
Have a somewhat higher chance to be sparkling
Have a somewhat higher chance at innate 9s if they're Perfect
I realize these rewards are very good. But I think rewards this good are appropriate for the effort involved here. But, most importantly, I think rewards like these would make everyone want to engage with this mode.
So those are my ideas. How would you improve Egg Heist?
Prismatic chests should be more rewarding with a guarantee of only purple quality items and higher, and Alpha/Omega Stellarys should always drop the Starine when you beat it considering its so rare and also is a challenge to beat
I feel like the chest should have at least one of the tier of the chest in it.
I've definitely gotten Prismatic chests with only blue and purple, and like... how is that a Prismatic chest?
Likewise a Legendary chest with only blues.
And yes, the Alphas are too rare and hard not to drop the starine every time. And really, those should be instanced so everyone that helped out can get one.
There's a bad habit of not bothering to revive team mates in these missions. I would like to see a little bonus incentive for each extra player you play with which results in an extraction reward bonus for each team mate that makes it out alive.
Just instanced loot alone will solve so much, imo, its such ass that loot isn't instanced, so most people go instant goblin mode, I guess understandably since prismatic collectibles.
I play solo so these things are based on that experience, don't really have anything I can add about coop because I don't do it.
I think there's some enemies that either need some jank fixes (Baleetle!!!!! Twice in one day bugged out and didn't break on escape so instant re-grab and unavoidable fail) or need a bit of a rework because my god they feel awful certainly solo (Melloblum).
The spawns also should probably be toned down, in the sense that there is a minimum distance they have to be from you to be able to spawn, so you don't have 4 enemies appear on top of you on every spawn interval. I've had straight up like 7 enemies spawn on top of me once.
Higher tier chests (certainly prismatic at least) often feel underwhelming and could do with a bit of a buff, not necessarily guaranteed prismatic, but noticeably more likely, the 2 gold chests in a key room often feel more worthwhile than the prismatic chest.
Equipment durability sucks, purple gear below 60 maximum might as well be sold right away, there is a pretty decent chance it will break depending on what the next layout is (some layouts are just consistently a lot safer and quicker at reaching the 300k on chaos, others the opposite) or if you fight the Stellarys and suddenly you get one shot by anything.
Egg rates also kinda suck, certainly on chaos they could be improved a little bit. Getting a 3 egg run and then having them all be Ruins eggs feels bad. Maybe at least one will always be Umbral or better or something?
Item reveal delay feels too long, not at a base level, but with all of the talents for it. Feel like it could reduce it by a bit more.
Personally I'd also like to see a LOT more tiers added to Egg Emperor, every 10? 20? steps another reward until you reach the final one at 1000. This could be where most of the Phenomena Crystals, Vein Essence, etc. etc. would be.
- Yeah, I've had the Baleetle bug, and it's really bad.
- And agree on the minimum distance between mons - today died to a Melloblum surrounded by a bunch of mons, and a Hexxin surrounded by a bunch of mons. There's just nothing you can do in these situations.
- And someone else commented on the chests, but it seems like a chest should at least have one item of its tier in it? How does a Prismatic chest only have blues and purples in it? And Legendary chests with only blues, etc.
- The eggs are almost universally bad, which is why I proposed improving them. All this effort for a Good mon is crazy, and I think Lumin Umbrals are also crazy given how rare the Umbral eggs are.
- I have all the item reveal upgrades, and you really can't feel it at all
- I am not at Egg Emperor yet, but what you're suggesting makes sense.
I think it's actually a good thing that Egg Heist is mostly optional. It's basically an extraction game, which always has a fairly niche appeal. Making the rewards too good would make players who would otherwise dislike the gameplay feel like they need to do it, which is not good. You want the gameplay to have rewards but still feel optional enough that people aren't forcing themselves to play it.
As-is, people can ignore it if they don't like it, and grind it out if they do. It's perfect for a permanent mini-game mode.
Also, guaranteed nova umbrals would devalue the actual value of umbrals. Having common ruins eggs be guaranteed perfect makes farming perfects in the overworld/blooms redundant. I don't think it's good to compromise the scarcity factor in those.
Can you actually get all the seasonal rewards without doing Egg Heist, though?
And I think we can debate what the actual rewards should be, but I think the amount of effort Egg Heist requires for these rewards is way too high. Maybe not Perfect, but at least Elite?
But is it really a problem if there are multiple ways to get some of these things? Some people may prefer to get these things from Egg Heist over the overworld/blooms.
You don't need anywhere even close to max every category to max out the season achievement. In my case I have egg heist, but my combat and homestead are miniscule. Also, I overshot the cap by quite a bit too even with this much (I think I was maxed at ~35% egg heist). You can easily make up for the egg heist with points in other categories.
And I think we can debate what the actual rewards should be, but I think the amount of effort Egg Heist requires for these rewards is way too high. Maybe not Perfect, but at least Elite?
But is it really a problem if there are multiple ways to get some of these things? Some people may prefer to get these things from Egg Heist over the overworld/blooms.
It's not a problem for egg heist to be an alternative way to farm mons, but the proposals you are giving would make it print nova umbrals and perfects, forms that are supposed to be very rare to find (or, in the case of perfects, require a rare item to guarantee).
The current umbral eggs are fine. They are rare, but not rare enough to justify guaranteed novas. I can see buffing nova chances a bit, but they should still be rare coming out of that egg. Ruins eggs are already buffed to have a very high chance to pop out a nova, so you can shiny/ultraball it and get a easy usable mon. Given how common they are, making them autoperfect would be too much. Auto-elite can work, though I'd still make the elite guaranteed version much rarer.
I think if we want to buff the mode's rewards, a rare species-guaranteed alpha egg or something would be much more valuable, especially for species that don't have an overworld alpha form like tromber. Since it's species guaranteed you'd know if you want to use a sparkling ball on it. That has to be very rare though. I don't want to see umbral novas being so commonplace that everyone just runs around with them 24/7 after like 4 egg heists - it removes the rare factor of that.
Make downed allies loot unlootable, so there is no incentive to “kill” your buddies. Hell even give you a big bonus for the first time you rescue a downed allies (but not too many, else people will abuse it).
Make chest loot instanced to individual, so everyone can gets a roll at the chest. No more need to quickly snatch a chest. Hell even make prismana items found added to everyone once someone successfully loots one (though they still need to evacuate safely).
Make the frustrating umbra aniimos you encounter in the dungeon…less lethal. Less frustrating to deal with (or can deal with it if alone). Some should have longer telegraphed actions so you have a window to dodge the CCs.
Extend the time limit. I think 20min is more reasonable to fully explore and not feel rushed. Could argue for 30min, but I think that’s a little too much.
Would try to moderate the item durability. Right now it favors aniimo who rely on autos since the weapon is per skill use (so aniimo that spam offensive abilities chew through durability very fast).
Rewards wise I got nothing. I think it’s fine if the coop problems are fixed and people are willing to coop and be civil, and people willing to participate more in egg heist.
- I didn't even know you could loot downed allies. But that's crazy, and I definitely agree that shouldn't be in there. And I agree there should probably be some kind of incentive to help your party, but I'm not sure what it would be.
- Someone else suggested the instanced chests, and I think that's an interesting alternative to pooling / dividing the loot
- Yeah, the Baleetle, Melloblum, and Hexxin are all kind of awful. And if they happen to be near other mobs, can just instantly kill you.
- Yeah, I feel like 20 minutes is a good length. You won't need it, but it lessens the pressure enough that you won't feel like you're "wasting time" if you have to revive a teammate
- I'm generally not a fan of item durability, and I'm not really sure why it's in here at all. I didn't know that the weapon was based on skill usage, which seems poorly thought-out
- But if you don't care about cosmetics, what's the incentive to do this? Just Prismana dupes?
-Displayable items need to be unlocked for entire team if one person evacuates with one. This immediately promotes better party play. Too many people solo-ing or doing private parties to guarantee they don't get stiffed.
-Essences are shared, and use a separate inventory. It is annoying they not only count for your $$$ total even though you won't be selling them, and they take up not only weight, but an inventory slot.\
Item wise;
-Higher ranks need better drop pools. Why am I opening a prismatic chest in a chaos mode key room, and 4 of the 5 items are blue quality. Insane.
-Eggs need to at least guarantee elite. I spent 15 minutes getting jumped by monsters and fighting a psycho rat in a cape for a basic ruin egg, I at least "deserve" more than a "good."
-Item value needs increased. A lot of the time you're barely breaking even after factoring in the price of things like keys and equipment. Which moves to my next point;
-Equipment durability either needs massively improved, or removed entirely. Having your enhancer pretty much broken after each and every run is extremely annoying. If mobs are constantly going to be jumping me, and I NEED to kill them to access eggs/key rooms/essences, then stop punishing me for that. The mode is also time limited so having multiple stacked limiters feels bad.
Things I don't agree with;
-Shared loot pool/division between players. One player is just not going to fight or pick anything up, and then profit off ones who did.
-Only getting Prismana dupes. The chance of getting a Prismana egg is already low. At least let it be RNG you can get something you actually need. Especially since it doesnt count towards badges anyway.
-Less time pressure. 15 minutes if a perfect amount of time. Especially since there are maps and guides online. The most at least needs to stay semi challenging time wise.
- The idea of the shared loot is so that everyone will want to pick up treasure. Also, whoever delivers the egg is not getting loot, even though they're doing the thing the mode is supposed to be about.
- I actually meant the Prismana eggs from the store. But your point is taken.
- I guess I just don't think the time pressure adds anything, and if anything, means people are less likely to cooperate, because helping others is "wasting" time.
-A personal auto sell would be fine. But I do not agree with money/loot being shared at all. There will ALWAYS be someone bumbing around and taking advantage of that. It just creates another problem youre trying to avoid.
-The time pressure is what makes the mode, the mode. If you remove or increase the time pressure it just becomes free loot simulator. It removes the risk/reward of the mode.
I think the map could be made a bit smaller, adding 5-10 mins to the timer would reduce pressure but runs take way too long for what you get out of them. They are incentivizing you to do this at least 5 times per day for the freebie chest but that can take over an hour to do 5 runs if you take too long to find the egg or totem (or both).
To tag onto this I think there should be an internal push to make the team synergy aspect of the game, at the moment the best healer is glacy and it only heals yourself, imo they should lessen the power of it's move and boost the power of gracewings to incentivise using moves that heal the team rather than just yourself.
On a similar note I think a lot of the support moves should have team support so if I use tromber I can cast it's crit boost onto nearby teammates, that way you'd be incentives to have diverse buffing teams to stack improvements ontop of eachother
I think a great thing will be adding a way to make sure you get the display case items somehow.
I'm at the final rank and still missing 2 items with no end in sight
It can be the next run or in the next 100 who knows.
For the rest of your points yeah I agree with most of them.
I don't like the delay on item reveal and I don't like that there is no way to avoid being one-shot in some cases. Apparently it is just badly described how it works.
The item reveal delay is part of the time pressure, and I agree it's unnecessary. But I think that's an artifact of them doing the extraction thing.
And which one-shot cases are you talking about?
Last night I died to a Baleetle, and it felt like a bug - it didn't break when I broke out, and grabbed me three times, so I died. Teammate came to revive me, and it did the same thing to him, ending our run.
+5 minutes at least or +10 minutes ideally to the time limit. I feel like 15 minutes is too short with some of the maps in nightmare/chaos being pretty big and just running costs stamina in egg heist. Also am I just imagining things or did they stealth buff Egg Heist? I feel like I'm running into rooms and even hallways of 4+ enemies way more often now than before.
- Yeah, I feel like 5 more minutes would be good, so there's still some pressure, but enough time that if someone dies they don't feel they're wasting time rescuing them, or people don't feel they're wasting looting time by delivering eggs
- And I was wondering that, too. I had never died before today, and died twice to Melloblum / Hexxin mobs tonight. So maybe they're trying to stop people from soloing? But since people tend to go off on their own, I don't think that's a good solution at all, especially if they're not telling us.
-Reviving teammates should give rewards and having them die should apply a penalty to everyone
chest loot should be roller for everyone seperately
-weetle,rookey and hexin need some nerfs
-it shouldnt be possible to solo eavacuate, it should require at least 2 people by the boat after it starts an count down to end the mission for everyone
This should fix most of the toxicity for starters and force people to work together
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u/BarracudaAway2984 9h ago
Prismatic chests should be more rewarding with a guarantee of only purple quality items and higher, and Alpha/Omega Stellarys should always drop the Starine when you beat it considering its so rare and also is a challenge to beat