I've been playing Grounded non-stop for quite some time now and these are just some things I came up with while playing. I love the game and I've been having a lot of fun while playing it. These are my opinions and I'd like to know how you all feel about these things as well. Warning - this may be a long post lol
1. Mutations: The recent changes to mutations have made them feel much more rewarding to unlock and master, but some of them feel underwhelming in comparison to others. Specifically:
Javelineer: Bonus damage when thrown and the thorns effect are nice but the mastery leaves much to be desired. What if the mastery allowed us to attack while blocking, giving us a true 'counter poke' feel the description suggests. If balance is a concern, it will drain stamina very quickly due to the drain of both attacking and defending simultaneously. Which means you will not be able to turtle behind and shield and attack consistently, rather you can choose opportune moments to strike back.
Sharpshooter: This mutation leaves a lot to be desired unfortunately. While the stamina reduction for sprinting is nice for 'hit and run' tactics, the mutation itself does little to bolster the strength of ranged weapons at all. What if the perk itself gave bonus ranged damage based on your distance from an enemy, scaling up to a cap that increases with levels into the mutation. With a name like sharpshooter, I expected something along those lines anyway. If the candy arrow mastery bonus was instead innate and the mastery bonus was the 100% sprint reduction that it is at level 3 now, it'd make the mutation feel much more enticing to use for more aspects of gameplay.
2. Armor: I love the variety of armors and buffs they provide as is, but there is one in particular that I feel is quite underwhelming as far as what it offers. Maybe by unpopular opinion but it is the:
Assassin Armor: As the mantis is one of the hardest bosses in the game, it feels so rewarding to bring it down. The armor design looks amazing and really makes you feel accomplished after doing so. However, the buffs attached to said armor leave much to be desired. It is THE crit armor and one of the final sets you could even obtain but sadly it doesn't feel as rewarding to use as it sounds on paper. What if the 'set bonus' was just a flat out critical increase rather than for a duration after scoring a critical hit. The entire set relies on crits to do anything at all so it seems weird to still have to roll the dice to get any sort of bonus at all. Secondly, the 'cutman' bleed on crit is a nice touch of bonus damage but again having to score a crit just to see said bonus is quite underwhelming when the damage is so.. minimal. The assassin mutation gives about the same damage guaranteed just for using a dagger. As an end game armor set, it could use a bit of a buff to it's unique bleed effect.
3. Trinkets: The rarity of trinkets makes the player feel immensely rewarded for farming mobs or materials. Many of them shine in regards to what they offer but there are a few that almost feel like salt on a wound:
Fluffy Dandelion Tuft: Dandelions are nearly essential in exploring the yard safely and the fluffy one can be quite rare even when a player dedicates time just to chop them down. The durability increase compared to a normal tuft is nice and all but given the item's rarity overall, why isn't this trinket unbreaking like all of the other trinkets? Setting a maximum duration for using it would balance out any 'unwanted abuse' of the item while still allowing a player to feel they have been rewarded for their efforts(or luck).
Broodmother Trinket: Adding poison damage to summons ties well into a spider based accessory. However, given the item's rarity, it leaves more to be desired. Being an immensely rare drop from an intimidating boss, it leaves much to be desired. Personally, I feel the trinket should allow the 'Mom Genes' mutation to really shine. What if instead of just giving the max 3 baby spiderlings(or the Mant) poison, it upgraded them into Orb Weaver Jrs(and an actual Orb weaver to replace the Mant if that mutation is equipped). It not only increases the desire to equip summoning mutations but also lets them shine a little brighter, bringing more damage and larger health pools for distracting enemies to the table. It would really let you feel like a ruler of spiders.
4: Additional Items: This section will focus primarily on ideas for items I've randomly had while exploring the yard.
Roly Poly Greatshield: Not just a shield but a greatshield. I thought it was strange that the tankiest armor set didn't have something to pair with it as far as a shield or weapon. Why not add in a bigger, beefy shield to really fulfill that tanking role. As perks, rather than the standard +Block Strength that the other tier 3 shields have, it could have +Damage Reduction while blocking. This would allow the player to absorb more damage but also limit how long they can hold up that heavy shield. As a secondary perk, +Taunting Gaze(the same as the Roly Poly set bonus), allowing the player to really hold the enemies' attention in combat, especially when equipped with both the shield and the armor set.
Salty Staff: Being that there is a staff for the other 3 'elements', I was surprised there wasn't one for salt. I imagine this staff behaving sort of like a submachine gun. Rapid firing tiny salt crystals in a straight line up to a medium range before suffering major damage fall off. Due to it's speed, stamina drain would be similar to that of a dagger. Only allowing a few solid seconds of firing before succumbing to exhaustion. Due to the speed at which it fires, it could be the only hitscan weapon in the game(not suffering from projectile drop like every other ranged weapon). Since salty doesn't have a bonus elemental effect like the other 3 elements, Whittle Wizard could increase the range of the staff itself, maybe allowing it to scale from 10/15/20cm range with higher levels.
Healing Staff: Healing items are plentiful in the game but I think this staff could truly shine in multiplayer settings while also having situational usefulness in solo play. It could be crafted using Healbasas and Mighty Globs and upgraded down the mighty path. It's attack would be an AoE circle around the wielder that heals ALLY(not including enemies like healbasas currently do) health over time, while 'attacking', similar to the trickle regen effect. It could heal 1hp/2s at base scaling up to 10hp/2s at lvl 9. Whittle Wizard could grant the 'Increased Healing' bonus to players inside of the radius equal to that of the sleek Ladybug Armor set. This could allow players to fulfill a supportive role in a group setting but also allow them access to healing outside of consumables in solo play. Of course this also means solo players cannot just idly stand there healing mid combat. In regards to balance, let it drain stamina to where players would only be able to achieve 10s of pure healing at the base stamina amount before exhausting(excluding stamina bonuses from mutations/armor/milk molars). This would allow the staff to heal a total of 5hp at base lvl or 50hp when fully upgraded, per full stamina bar at base.
These are just some of the ideas I could remember at the moment but I'm sure there are many more somewhere in this brain haha. Again, these are all just random ideas and suggestions I have that are purely based on my opinions while playing. Thank you to anyone that reads this and I hope you'll share your thoughts as well.
