The p2w is just too much

GAME PLAY FEEDBACK
#1

I’m having a blast with this game, from the introductory puzzles / tutorials to tactical depths to the creature and map design with all the fun little details, everything is well thought out and put together. But man does the p2w aspect get overbearing at times.
Someone who spends a thousand dollars essentially gets creatures that always take an extra hit and need one hit less to take sth down, on top of a much wider selection of counters to their opponent’s moves, which are incredible advantages. Matches can ofc still be lost if they blunder 7 times and you don’t more than once, but for me it doesn’t even feel good to manage such a win. Just wasted a lot of time and effort to methodically grind down a person whose self-control issues are being exploited (spending 1000$ on a video game, come on).

The fun matches are, well, all the other ones essentially, where both sides can set up (somewhat) equally effective attacks and counter-attacks. And players having fun = more revenue in the long run, no?
My 2 suggestions to help alleviate the problem (if the devs even see it as such, which I merely hope they do) would be:

  1. Reduce the stat gain per level up from 3% to 2%. I think competitive people would still enjoy leveling their phobies even then and it would go a long way towards making matches feel less rigged.

  2. Increase the damage from panic points to the heart. At currently 235 damage per turn and point you hold more than your opponent (in the highest league), I found it very rarely makes a difference in the end who took and held these points more effectively. You just take over the ones in reach at the start so you don’t get rushed and from there your main concern is always how best to engage the opposing phobies and what engagements/ board positions to avoid. Which means creature advantages such as being overleveled matter more than they would if pure tempo plays were a viable option. Maybe that’s by design and you only want these points as a mild impetus to break stalemates, but even then said breaking of stalemates could be sped up a little imo.

#2

Easy there, some of us just make enough of a salary that spending that amount is not really an issue. I’m over 1.1K now and at level 70, 96 Phobies. (my issue actually now is that the drop rate for new Phobies is too low)

I made it to 5th before I ever spent any money (or not a whole lot), I have a public screenshot on Steam of that. I was at level 41 at the time. Money didnt really help me win against good players either and I guess my level advantage is not that great (most of my units are aroud level 8 to 10, with the exception of a few that are 11 to 15. Money did make it easier in that I don’t have to spend as much thinking about what I will do and can take more risks.

That said, Now I do agree that against a “Whale” that has everything level out to max, (or almost), it does make it really hard/annoying. Mostly when playing against someone that has all the ultra-rares at near max level. E.g: Vladjimir. Now I’ve beat him 3 times lately and lost once against him. But yeah, matches againts him really take time and I really can’t allow myself to make mistakes.

As someone who has spent a fair amount of money. I dont want what I purchased to get reduced/worsen. Not fair to me, or anyone who already spent money.

IMO I think a real solution however, is that they should remove the caps for free players. That way free players can actually grind their way to the same level. It’s not perfect though, someone who has the time to play all day long will get the levels from grinding it up faster than most.

Edit : Actually with the game population increase over time, you will be less likely to play against the same people that often, and playing against a whale will become a lot less common. That said, there will be more and more skill players into the mix, and what is the top 100 currently, will actually be the top 1000.