This is a mapping improvement (I think)

*Edit* this answers a few questions:



It's the atlas map filled in with which maps slot into the locations.

"

The way this basically works, in a nutshell, is you continue to find maps at random, like you always did, but the ones that you find are either the ones that you completed before, or ones that are adjacent to the one that you're playing in.

-Chris Wilson, IGN interview, 1 hour ago (okay probably older than that, but that's when it was put out for consumption to the wide world).

This is a bit confusing. What he may be saying is that you can ONLY find maps adjacent to the one you're running on the atlas. Which is the same as saying that while maps will continue to have their +1 level ceiling, they now (may) also only have a -1 floor. This would be incredible if true! Twice he makes it sound like this is the case (if you watch the IGN video), but as in the above quote, he does also say that you can find "ones that you've completed before OR ones that are adjacent". If it is the latter, there is no -1 floor. -_- The operative word is "before". By "before" he could mean at any point in your character's career before playing that map, or he could mean "before" in the map chain.

But this could be better than a -1 floor, if maps don't connect in the atlas as a linear progression, that is to say they don't chain together like this:

Tier 2 - Tier 3 - Tier 4
/ | / | | \
Tier 1 - Tier 2 | | Tier 5
\ | | | /
Tier 2 - Tier 3 - Tier 4

But instead they chain like this:

Tier 4 - Tier 10 - Tier 11
/ | / | / | \
Tier 1 - Tier 3 | / | Tier 15
\ | \ | / | /
Tier 2 - Tier 7 - Tier 13

Why might it be like this?

Chris also said that areas of the atlas correspond to terrain types, so there is a desert landscape area that covers 5-10 maps, there is a cemetery area that covers some number of maps, etc etc. Unless they're changing which maps are in which tier (entirely possible too), you could have Cemetery, Graveyard, and Necropolis all attached to each other on the atlas, which means you could find a T10 in a T2 map.


Idk, thoughts?

Definitely an improvement. Running my aesthetically favorite map (tropical island) won't be pointless anymore.

I love how the atlas, like, describes the player's life story. Reminds me of this Buddhist artwork.

I still dont fully understand it tbh.


From what I could gather you can basically drop any map youve played before, so that first t1 map can always drop from that point on with no floor. But the only new maps that can drop are the ones next along the paths from where you are at. So the latter of the ideas is what I got from it so far.

I dont know if they always chain together on the chart by level, I guess they probably do so you cant randomly find a t11 in a t4 because thats in your zone thing. Whats even less clear to me is what the deal with the upgrading maps is. So I upgrade that tier 1 to a tier 6 with the orb, then to a tier 11 with another, does that map now drop for me as a t11 yellow map when it drops? Or as a T1 still but when I run it I get a t11 version?

Is this atlas account wide or character wide? I dont see a way to delevel the maps, so say I buff a gorge up to T15, and half my characters cant play a T15 map, does that mean none of them can play gorge now because Ive overleveled it for them? Or would I have to upgrade gorge on 20+ different characters charts individually? I sort of hope its account wide per league like masters, I guess, but if so will we have to be careful, we cant just t15 all our maps now right? or how the fk are we ever going to level a char to the point where it can do a t15?


I dunno, many questions about this update. It looks amazing though, very exciting.

"

Snorkle_uk wrote:

Is this atlas account wide or character wide? I dont see a way to delevel the maps, so say I buff a gorge up to T15, and half my characters cant play a T15 map, does that mean none of them can play gorge now because Ive overleveled it for them? Or would I have to upgrade gorge on 20+ different characters charts individually? I sort of hope its account wide per league like masters, I guess, but if so will we have to be careful, we cant just t15 all our maps now right? or how the fk are we ever going to level a char to the point where it can do a t15?

I would assume its account wide. So make sure you don't upgrade every single tier 1, leave at least a few tier 1s, 2s, 3s, etc. 30+ new maps = more in the same tiers. You can leave a few at each tier and upgrade the ones you enjoy the most/are the easiest to grind.

"

Aethroz wrote:

"

Snorkle_uk wrote:

Is this atlas account wide or character wide? I dont see a way to delevel the maps, so say I buff a gorge up to T15, and half my characters cant play a T15 map, does that mean none of them can play gorge now because Ive overleveled it for them? Or would I have to upgrade gorge on 20+ different characters charts individually? I sort of hope its account wide per league like masters, I guess, but if so will we have to be careful, we cant just t15 all our maps now right? or how the fk are we ever going to level a char to the point where it can do a t15?

I would assume its account wide. So make sure you don't upgrade every single tier 1, leave at least a few tier 1s, 2s, 3s, etc. 30+ new maps = more in the same tiers. You can leave a few at each tier and upgrade the ones you enjoy the most/are the easiest to grind.

I feel like theyre going to have to add a way to delevel the maps, theres going to be ppl who essentially ruin their favourite map for themselves by taking it too far I think.

It looked to me like the level buffs were temporary. I forget which video it was, but in one of them it showed that the buffs applied to the Atlas maps were "for 5 uses" or similar wording.

"

AcrylicHercules wrote:

It looked to me like the level buffs were temporary. I forget which video it was, but in one of them it showed that the buffs applied to the Atlas maps were "for 5 uses" or similar wording.

No, that was the sextant. It changed the map + all nearby maps for 5 runs by adding them 1 new mod. Also, you can stack these up to 5 times, which means that a rare map can now have UP TO 11 MODS!



The shaper's orb will just make a single map 5 Tiers higher and it must definitely be consumable. Think of it as a new kind of Chisel.

It still sound like the previous system. It is probably divided into 4 path with different clutter of maps. You just don't get maps from other path. It could drop maps that is one tier higher and every map that is lower. It would be like the old system with brand new packaging X4.

"

AcrylicHercules wrote:

It looked to me like the level buffs were temporary. I forget which video it was, but in one of them it showed that the buffs applied to the Atlas maps were "for 5 uses" or similar wording.

Yeah that was for the 'add a random property'.

"

EKTELESTES wrote:

The shaper's orb will just make a single map 5 Tiers higher and it must definitely be consumable. Think of it as a new kind of Chisel.

well he used it on the actual atlas not on the map, a chisel you use on a map and its a 1 time thing. Its not entirely clear but it would suggest it permanently upgrades all maps of that base for you.