Ruthless feedback and how to make it better.

Hi all.

I participated in the alpha testing of Ruthless, played the current version of Ruthless and of course the version with Gold.
I have already left my feedback on the Ruthless discord server (already closed), but I want to duplicate it, reformulating some theses and adding new ones.

Ruthless mode tries to be a more difficult version of PoE, where you are in difficult conditions with a scarcity of resources and trying to go the way of the Exile. It sounds interesting and defiant, especially for those who are tired of the fact that it is too easy and boring to get from the beach to defeat the strongest endgame in a day.
But what went wrong?

Unfortunately, some of the criticism is framed in such a way that it's easier to say "this mode is not for you, it's normal" than to think about changes. I will try not to do this.

GEMS.
You can find out the difference between the Ruthless gem system and the usual one on the Ruthless page.

The creators of Ruthless decided to complicate the game by removing support gems from the quest reward and sales, active gems are given only for quests and 2 are bought from Siosa.
And it's not cool. After all, this system of "think in advance what to take" and "knock support gems off the floor" does not work because of the trade. It is enough to go through 5-8 acts, you are almost guaranteed to drop a couple of Alchemy Orbs, and support gems are sold for an average of 1 Alchemy Orb. You just get the upgrade you need later, but you don't get it because you were lucky enough to knock it out, but because you just bought it. And the real complication is the fact that there is a shortage of resources that will not allow you to make 4L on a good item or a good item from 4L. And what is most offensive is that SSF players can go through acts and not get a single necessary or even useful support gem / aura. And of course, do not forget about build building, because many builds are not tied to a subclass, like quest rewards are tied, which means you have to go through acts again to get the necessary skills if there are more than 2 of them, or you want to run with 3 available auras of Vitality, Clarity and Precision.
As a result, only on acts you need to play a piano of several skills that can cause damage at one point in time, but after the appearance of a pair of Alchemy orbs, this makes no sense both for the current character and for new characters (who will not be in Spartan conditions, and in leveling items and with 2-3link)

Solution: Return to vendors the sale of gems, but increase the cost, like other vendors. What cost 1 Wisdom will cost 1 Transmutation, what cost 1 Transmutation will cost 1 Alteration, and ect. The situation with support gems is that even if you have them, you may not be able to use them due to links in the item, and this can be a complication, and not a rare drop of gems, which can be Blind or Cast on Melee Kill. Let Siosa sell support gems. 2 existing quest rewards will be enough (which will allow you to build builds based on the support gems Shockwave, Impending Doom, Spellslinger, etc.). It will be possible to add 2 more Uncarved gems as a reward for A10 Kitava and uber lab.

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BUILD.
Based on the problem with gems and support gems, there are problems with builds. In this mode, there are difficult conditions for increase damage and especially defenses. There are no movement skills to evade most threats. Which leads to disappointing conclusions that it is necessary to play with something that may not take damage while dealing damage. Cold dot, RF, Ignite archetype, Cyclone, totems, summoners and some kind of Boneshatter.
The choice is large, take it and play, but what is the point of a mode with some kind of restrictions, if these restrictions are bypassed by choosing a certain build? Well, either you can play it, but it will be impossible to reach the yellow maps, because you don’t have enough damage to manage to perform league mechanics with a timer, while not dying from Rare monsters for which you don’t have enough damage. And no deterministic ways to upgrade. And 0 Regrets for solving problems with respec points.

Solution: The Gem solutions described above will help solve some of the problems, but otherwise it is a global problem, about how some builds cannot exist without suffering. For melee players, you need a keystone, which will work as a reduction in Resolve loss depending on the range. Channeling builds need more stationary mechanics for both defense and mobility. There are also problems with tresholds, because if the player has little damage, then the effects depending on him will be negligible, that is, some mechanics literally do not deserve investment, because they will not work. And you also need to think about the defense system, which practically does not work in Ruthless, because conditional 10k armour, which are already difficult to find, do not give almost anything when needed. Most builds can kill a pack of white mobs without taking damage, even though they work better against them, but in a boss/rare fight, you will almost always take damage reduced by only 10-20%. With 10k evasion you actually have 40-60% chance to take full damage (and no resist for physical spells). 100% suppress is nessessary. Therefore, not taking damage on a build that moves while dealing damage is the most effective mechanic, check the ladder and meta.

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Tiering mod system, drop and craft.

I've raised this topic before without linking it to Ruthless, but it's more acute here.
The essence of the problem: You can grind for a week, and spend all the collected resources on crafting without getting what you want (within reason). In the normal version of the game, hundreds and thousands of alts go to find just one mod. And you need at least 3 of them, so that the subject is felt stronger than what you had before. But how to get something useful on an item, if in 98% of cases it procs t9 life, physical reflect and stun treshold? How to play an offensive build if you need a specific base, high flat damage, good aps, while a caster is enough to catch +1, flat or % increase on any base.

Solution: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3301846

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Other problems have already been voiced by others or are not problems.
In any case, I hope that the mode will be better. Not easier, not identical to normal mode. Better. So that anyone with a favorite build could play this mode, he tested himself in Spartan conditions. It is possible, you just need to want and try to experiment. But in the meantime, SSF is better for testing yourself. And the fun ends where the routine begins without visible progress. Without Divination cards, the grind has no visible progress in terms of collecting a set and getting what it wants. Without a crafting bench, the accumulation of currency has no visible progress in the accumulation of the cost of crafting and its use. Getting a gem has no visible progress unless it increases the power of the build.

Good luck.