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I've gone over some of the more recent hps evaluating what I think were good or bad moves, but this time I'm including frost esca as it is unique among escalations, and other new features (well, just one).
Realm of Ice
In my humble (who am I kidding, I'm not humble) opinion, this hp is an improvement. In the grand scheme, it's good, but could see some work.
In terms of the cosmetics, there is nothing I absolutely adore, but they are nice looking with a few personal issues, namely wonky physics and clipping. The Paladin's Soul chest, Polar Aurora helm, and Absolute Zero-Point chest all have flowy bits that look awesome...until you move. The jello-esque movement absolutely kills them for me, on top of all three having issues with clipping (both chests have decorations on the back that clip with most sheathed weapons, and the help clips with just about every hairstyle). The weapons are quite pretty, but the blue parts have a plastic-looking texture that takes away a bit from their beauty. The ice graphics in the emotes look nice, but the aurora borealis somewhat less so (a tragedy). The Isgryth hammer and helm skins look quite interesting and unique, although I haven't had a chance to check them out.
In terms of filler cells, an issue that has plagued many recent huntpasses, RoI suffers far less than the past few - most filler cells include plat, bounty tokens, keys, rams, merits, and ace chips, items that most if not all players should find quite useful. I still note a distinct lack of herbs or consumables though which were common in older huntpasses but have disappeared in recent history. There are also fewer cells with steel marks on the elite track (4, like CF, down from 6 in AoW), which is quite nice (still move those to the free track thooooooo).
The free track also got re-populated after CF decimated it, seeing a good number of keys, rams, and a few merits on top of the Isgryth rumors. Seraph stamp of approval.
Frost Escalation
With escalation still fun but definitely stagnating, frost esca feels fun and new, even with only one new added mechanic. Frostbite brings back some of the difficulty of shock esca's release (I'd argue it's harder, which is a plus), and adds some incentive for build diversity with the avatars. Plus it's pretty.
I love frost skarn (I was hoping for radiant skarn, but alas), and frost gnasher and embermane are interesting. Not loving that both already have variants, but gnasher does fit the frost element better than fire, soooooo.
The real tragedy is no frost shrowd tho ;-;
Other Features
Very specifically the behemoth expertise nodes on the slayer's path. I didn't even realize they were there until today, but I immediately funneled all of my hard-earned exploration merits (I have soooo many extra unneeded combat merits, but I'm broke on those exp. merits XD) into them. I still don't think I'll be reforging anything past 10, but this should help me get the weapons I don't enjoy playing to 10 without wanting to jump off a cliff into the skies below. I case my opinion on the matter wasn't clear, I think this is a massively good change, although I wouldn't mind seeing (read: would very much like) additional weapon exp boosts, be they like the old elite hp mastery boost, or store options, or elsewhere. I'd rather be grinding rumors than weapon levels :(
Special extra section where I gush a little about rumors and how much I absolutely adore the rumor questlines
While there is some completely unnecessary pain (read - grinding behemoths with a weapon they resist), I overall love the rumor questlines, the ideas, the challenges (still stuck on Mane Attraction VII), and the flavor. Keep 'em coming, PHXL <3
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