I absolutely adore this game, and sincerely congratulate you for the monumental effort of creating it...however
The vore build feels weak. Especially in the early game, it feels like I am intentionally nerfing myself by using it. The bottom line is, it simply requires more stats than the traditional attack build. This actually gets even worse in the late game, once you unlock the crit swallow upgrade, which makes you also optimize crit chance; However by then, you have good enough gear to at least make the build function without extended periods of sitting around doing nothing
Let me try to explain the difference
Attack build: It's easy, just reach 100% crit chance, and maximize damage. Rupture is optional but appreciated. You kill most enemies in 3-4 hits. You can use long range heavy attacks to keep enemies away, or you can perma-stun them with a random perk in the second circle. (seriously, was that intended?)
Vore build: Okay so you insta kill, but not really. First of all, you're only actually dealing a few damage per second, so eventually enemies start breaking out and hurting you. Oh, and at that same time, you won't actually be able to eat anything without damaging it first. Did I mention that you can only eat so much before you have to stop? All of these things can be solved with stat increases, but in the early game, you don't have the gear or skill points required to make it work. Overall, there's no real benefit to it, especially now that, even with the titanium exoskeleton thing, you get your movement nerfed for...killing enemies?
I don't know if this is getting through, but it feels to me that the game is actively punishing you for playing the vore build. Like, you can't even eat the bosses until they're basically dead most of the time. It also just takes more skill points! By level 50, the attack build is just throwing points into random antics to do something with them, while the vore build is still trying to unlock playing the game. That doesn't even translate to a stronger endgame build, and even if it did, you can reset your skills and keep gear in your inventory, so why suffer through the early game with the vore build????
I'm not just here to complain. I have some ideas, starting with the least crazy and ending with the most.
-nerf the attack build. Being able to perma-stun basically every enemy is stupid.
-I am begging for this one. Let me do damage to bosses based on vore stats. Like, each hit does capacity x vore skill / 50. please, bosses are literally the main reason why vore doesn't work.
-enemies reform unless digested. maybe it takes like 15 seconds. I actually hate this but its an option.
-Have the fat stages give something of value, and this is a bit out there, but what if you merged the vore and defence builds so that the attack build is kinda shoehorned into a glass cannon thing while vore gets to be a tank? Like, say every fat stage gives you...idk...15% more health? Prey in your belly provide some kind of shield, that if you get hit, can force you to spit up the enemy. (this could also give a reason for stomach strength to exist). You'd have to do a lot of screwing around with the skill tree to make this work. You might also have to lock down the weight gain systems but also its a demo so who really cares?
-remove all life regen (except maybe a small base amount?) other than absorbtion. This semi ties into the last one but it's a lot simpler to impliment.
-Remove the bar that shows capacity. Make vore absurdly powerful, I'm talking effectively doubling the impact of every single buff. But, if you go over capacity, you get stunned until all the mush is digested, and every living enemy breaks out. You could also make the "discomfort" thing work like this, but that feels less fun. Essentially, you're constantly playing on a knife's edge.
-just pick capacity, vore skill, or stomach strength and completely delete it. Either you can eat however much you want, whatever you want, or nothing can break out. All of these kinda suck but would make the vore build much stronger.
-Remove the entire concept of a "build." Every perk has a vore buff and an attack buff. Based on current ingested calories, the main character is either in "predator mode" where she gets the vore buffs or "soldier mode" where she gets the attack buffs. This is really out there, but it would be a fun experiment at least.
-draw the sprites for like 4 new vore attacks. (lol)
My personal favorite out of these is the merged vore and defence builds.
I'm happy to explain anything I wasn't clear about explaining if you feel like replying. I'm a big fan of your work! Keep it up! :)