I didn't play this version yet, though I will do so tomorrow before the new version of Wolcen gets release. I have a couple of questions and suggestions for now, although some of these will probably not be acurate since I didn't play this version yet.
Hard difficulty
Not really a fan of those changes since I don't think it will make the game harder in a good way. Feels like you are weaker instead of the enemies being stronger or better. Personaly I would take inspiration from higher difficulties in the original doom. Enemies are faster, projectiles are faster and they hit harder. You could also alter enemy behavior in minor ways, like making them shoot multiple projectiles at one, give ranged attacks to some melee only enemies and give them less health over the board. This would make actual skill in dodging and using skills and arts properly much more important than stats but again, I didn't really try it yet so I might be off.
Ranged
While I like the changes to the bow (as it is inherently better than melee even with all the nerfs in the past because not getting hit is better than getting hit), I don't really get the decision to remove it from the starting weapon pool. Usualy it is a good idea to show all the options to the player as soon as possible, which the previous versions did. I still remember the frustration in one of the previous versions where I was trying to find a wand and I found the first one the second or third floor.
Spells
All nice changes. Still not fan of the cauldron spells taking away your max hp. I don't think I ever used them because of that. It would be slightly less demoralising if the debuff got lowered a little on every floor (You lose maxhp every time you use it, but you regain small portion in every level).
Maps
Large maps are always nice. Nothing to complain about here.
Enemies
Can't really comment on that right now. Will have to play the game first, but I have a bad feeling because I want to try using melee again.
I will write another post after I get through the game again. Here are some questions.
How high is the price going to be for the steam version? Bear in mind that I bought grim dawn for 5$, wolcen for 9$ or path of exile for free. Don't really have any idea my self how high I would price it.
What do you plan to do with the inventory? Mainly the old equipment. Right now I only carry good weapons for next level up and I fill the inventory with potions otherwise. Some use for old equipment would be nice because right now there is not much reason to carry anything except what I wrote above, since there are technicaly only two weapon types, both of which you can switch between. Golden goblin is a great idea, but it takes way too much time to get to it. Maybe adding charms like in diablo 2 would be a good idea. Inventory right now is pretty much a potion bag in most instances
How long is one playthrough going to be? Just a curriosity. If one run is supposed to take about one and a half hour, then the cauldron spells or lack of use for old equipment is not that big of a deal. It might be a problem if getting to the end would take five or more, since using those spells early on would make later stages much harder and filling your inventory with nothing but potions because there is not much reason to carry different weapons would get boring quickly.
And lastly, do you have any plans for endgame / new game plus? Unlockable difficulty modes, chalenge runs, things like that?