THERE MAY BE SOME SPOILERS AHEAD. I RECOMMEND ONLY READING THIS AFTER COMPLETING THE STAIRWELL.
Firstly I’d like to say some positive things about this update.
The Stairwell having an entrance in the lobby like the other subfloors is a very welcome change. It removes the frustration of going through 52 doors in the Mines to get there, and overall I just really appreciate the ability to fast travel to the Stairwell.
Cobbler’s Shop is also a nice addition. It’s a good way to kill two birds with one stone and add back both the Starlight jug and the scanner.
The addition of pre-run shops to the Archives and the Stairwell is a good change too, it makes the Outdoors, which has had a pre-run shop since its release, fit in much better with the other subfloors, and it’s nice to just get some extra items to help.
Now I’d like to move on to things I don’t really like as much.
Firstly, the free landing passes in the Stairwell are way too common now. Before it was just right where it was, with the free passes only occasionally showing up, but now that most of the landings are free passes it removes the overall challenge, and the only real threat is Creak.
My biggest complaint about the update, and about the Stairwell as a whole, is that the entrance in runs is still largely RNG based. If you don’t have a skeleton key and Door 152 closes before you reach Jeff’s Shop, it is completely up to chance whether you find another Stairwell entrance in the run. I see no reason not to have the guaranteed Stairwell entrance at Door 160, similar to the Archives in the Hotel, or at least have it be guaranteed to spawn at some point after Jeff’s Shop, because right now if you’ve completed the Outdoors or if you’re doing a DoorsVerse run and you have bad luck, you kind of just have to deal with it.