Why No Rest for the Wicked is getting slammed with negative reviews in its biggest-ever update

No Rest for the Wicked recently released its biggest content update, The Breach. This update added new quests, areas, weapons, enemies, endgame activity, and several quality-of-life changes, including a massive overhaul to the combat and weapons. Despite that, the update received a lot of negative feedback.

Recent reviews for the game dropped to negative on Steam, and the reason was a sudden spike in difficulty. No Rest for the Wicked combines the ARPG genre with Souls-like combat, and was already challenging before the Breach update.

Note: No Rest for the Wicked is currently in early access, with developers making changes based on player feedback.

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Early-game difficulty spike in No Rest for the Wicked leaves players unhappy

Warrick the Torn (Image via Moon Studios)

While most of the changes were made to make things easier for players, it wasn’t exactly a perfect implementation. The players quickly realized that some changes had left them struggling to survive in the early game.

The weapon damage after the Breach update scales with attributes and upgrades. Previously, it was only the upgrades, and since there is a lack of attribute points in the early game, the damage players do to enemies is also lower.

Dodging is also an important part of the game, as many enemies do area-sweep attacks. This leaves players to count on the i-frames provided by dodge roll. Light dodge roll remains the same, but the medium dodge no longer has i-frames covering the full animation, leaving players vulnerable during the final part of the roll animation.

Another issue was raised regarding a complete reset and a fresh start. The Breach update also requires players to start a new character, as old saves are not supported. This reset did not go well with many players, as many were looking forward to trying the new endgame content.

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Moon Studios addresses player concerns with multiple Hotfixes

Early combat left many struggling (Image via Moon Studios)

As mentioned, the update was huge, with many small changes adding up to create these issues. Thankfully, the developers are listening to feedback and have already deployed two hotfixes to address a lot of issues.

The first hotfix quickly reversed the reduced i-frames in the medium roll and reduced the upgrade costs. Following that, the developers buffed the drop rate for items, which made crafting essential items easier.

Some of the most notable changes include

• Increased Poise Damage on Axes, Clubs, Hammers, Maces, Straight Swords, and Wakizashis.
• Increased Lifesteal and Health Regain.
• Decreased cost of enchanting, upgrades, and repairs.
• Increased XP gain and loot drop.

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No Rest for the Wicked faces a similar situation to Path of Exile patch 0.2.0

Mercenary was among the least played class in PoE 2 patch 0.2.0 (Image via GGG)

If you frequently play ARPG games, you’ll know that PoE 2 also introduced a new league, Dawn of the Hunt, with patch 0.2.0. This update saw massive balance changes across various skills and class ascendencies with multiple nerfs, upsetting the playerbase.

The reasoning behind these nerfs was the developer’s vision to create a perfect game balance. This vision isn’t easy to realize and may take some trial and error to get everything right.

Moon Studios also recently acquired full control of the No Rest for the Wicked IP from previous publishers. During the reveal, it also cited a similar vision of creating a game it wants without any meddling from third parties.

Thankfully, both studios are also listening to player feedback and have deployed patches to revert some changes and make the games fun again.

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Check out more on NRFTW:

• Will No Rest for the Wicked get console releases?
• 10 best weapons to try in No Rest for the Wicked
• How to respec in No Rest for the Wicked