It's hard to say if it's overpowered, especially in a dexterity game and with so little testing on my part, it's mostly just an observation. Not sure if it actually needs a nerf, but keep an eye on it.
As for the sunrise mechanics, if I run Squashbuckler again I think I'd want to make some tweaks, but I definitely enjoyed the concept and feel of a wave-based gauntlet.
You may be happy to know that I set up a rudimentary Tabletop Sim table for the game. All credits given where due, and if you want me to change anything let me know.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3645448410
Finally got a chance to run this today. Had a blast! My players will always remember the heroic sacrifice of Viney Vinnsauce.
Some mechanics I came up with on the fly included using an oversized MtG spindown to roll with advantage on a sneak attack, repeated checks to climb the walls costing HP for the next encounter, introducing an ally NPC for one fight (I wanted to try rolling too), and for the final encounter as the sun rose, I did a wave-based encounter where each enemy killed before sunrise would restore 1 HP and progress the time, and once four were killed, I summoned a Patriarch, with the dawn initiating as a fifth was brought to 1 block left (remaining alive due to the Patriarch), dealing 1 damage to each enemy at the start of a round.
One thing I've found is that the Spine Gourd is surprisingly strong. Being able to guarantee damage against a 1 block enemy is not to be taken lightly, as the last hit point is otherwise the hardest to take.
Diamond Rank, 29:38 first try.
Spam sun/puff early game, focusing on their upgrades, and use Wall/Hypno when necessary, Ice as last resort. Midgame pivot to fume in C3-6 for AoE. Late game spam Wall/Hypno/Gravebuster/Ice as instas as much as possible. Gravebuster is notably immune to damage here, so you're safe to plant him, but I'd personally wait since Fume can clear hordes. Only put Scaredy on the roof and only upgrade if no other worthwhile options. Don't use or upgrade Doom Shroom until you have absolutely no other choice besides Floor Sun.
I'd love to see an expert mode that makes the early game harder, since setting up is the hardest part.
Alright, so after playing Grappler for a bit, I'd say he's definitely more satisfying to play than Bandit. Throwing enemies around is a blast (no pun intended). That said, I'm not sure if his power level is worth his HP drawback. He's certainly no Melting, whose explosions can cover the whole screen and don't actually harm himself.
I've got a couple ideas to improve Grappler. First: as with Bandit, Grappler's active feels sluggish. Increase grapple speed a little, and enemy throw speed about double. In addition, the thrown enemy should be affected by the explosion they themself generated. Finally, either start the grab at full enemy HP and increase the explosion radius with TB or keep the half health grapple and make the explosions into blood explosions, which would make sense anyway since you're using living things as projectiles, with TB either doing a full health grapple or also increasing explosion radius.
On the other hand, there's Vanthro. Very very satisfying from what I've played of her. A unique passive that gets you into the heat of the fight instantly, higher speed, decent risk/reward, an interesting active somewhat akin to both Rebel and Rogue (as you said yourself), she feels very satisfying to play as, moreso than Rogue in my opinion, though maybe a bit too powerful. Not sure yet.
Haven't tried the others out yet. I'll give 'em a whirl and see what I think.
I'm not sure what it is about it, but Bandit feels very unsatisfying to play. I think a lot of things work against them early game that just makes progressing even past the Wasteland a chore without the right mutations. Low starting HP is already one strike against it, and coupled with a fire rate worse than the starting pistol only worsens the problem. This all could be moderately saved by their active... if it weren't for the awful start-up lag making the active feel horribly inconsistent and fail you when you need it most, and you definitely need it a lot due to how mediocre your firepower is without the right mutations. If you get past the Wasteland and get the perfect mutations (Veins and/or Gamma Guts for active, TB + Marrow/Laser Brain for gun), it's not bad, but getting to that point is not only difficult but largely frustrating, way too slow-paced, and unsatisfying. One thing that would help a LOT is a fire rate increase, as it takes Throne Butt just to get to a fire rate that doesn't even quite match an unmutated Assault Rifle. Another would be instantaneous start-up time for the active in order to reward quick response times rather than finding yourself dead even though you used your active in time. A lot of potential, but as of now doesn't live up to it.
I use Rebel pretty much all the time and can compare the two pretty well. I've definitely had issues with Sarah's ducks not following properly. Idk why since I'm not a very experienced programmer by any definition, but Rebel's allies seem to follow fine even though Sarah's just kind of wander. If you do look into it, I'd appreciate it, but I understand if you don't plan on picking it back up.
