[Lucid Dreams] Unique Vaal Side Areas

I spent a day running this keystone with the intent to chance unique vaal side areas. The impression left from my experience is that nobody from GGG has personally tried to engage in this mechanic.

Right off the bat, one is confronted with the very well documented problem of spamming chance/scours on an item from Crucible League. Except this is worse, because you're clicking on a portal and not an item in your inventory. Why is that worse? Because in your hundreds of clicks, one is bound to be off by a few pixels; sending your character running into the portal, zoning into the side area which corrupts the area (brilliant idea).

Chancing items in Crucible could at least be done as a side project in your hideout. A Vaal Side Area is in the map... so you can't leave that map until you hit a unique side area. How much time does GGG think is an acceptable amount of time? Because I can tell you my worst portal took nearly 700 chance/scours, totalling something in the ballpark of 30 minutes.

The most frustrating part about all of this is that this keystone was implemented after Crucible League. As if no lessons were learned when designing a game mechanic dependant on players chance/souring items until the rarest outcome is reached.

One suggestion might be to take inspiration from the crafting bench. Each time a craft is applied to an item, the bench auto consumes a scour orb. Can we try implementing that? If I chance an item in my inventory (or a side area portal or a strongbox, etc), it auto consumes a scour if the item is not of normal rarity and I have the requisite currency in my inventory?


*Endless Nightmare

Why does this exist? Truly. I've chanced this side area 4-5 times and of all the rooms I've entered, the most impressive reward was a levelled vaal gem (no quality).

You don't even try to put a worthy reward if you RNG your way into 5 rooms or something (RNG on top of RNG is terrible design but at least it would be thematic to the 80% chance to get another area instead of an exit). This area has the beginnings of an idea but nobody could be bothered to spend the extra moment to finish the thought.


*Grand Dreams

Area Boss drops an item with a fractured temple mod. On paper, this is amazing. I love the idea. What I don't love is every item I got was a 100% garbage weapon. Helmets, Gloves, Jewellery... any thing but weapons, PLEASE!

This was a side area I got 4 times. Every time was disappointing.


*Bane of Chaos

An Adorned Jewel drops. Without question, this is the singular reason why anyone would bother engaging with this keystone (which is by GGG's design). I got this area once. It feels much like the efforts of farming up Gifts to the Goddess, only to get the other two offerings 90% of the time.

I spoke earlier of RNG on top of RNG being poor design and this is exactly that. Not only does the player need to win the lottery in simply getting this side area in their map; they also need to win the lottery on the jewel's 50%-150% roll.

I am convinced that Atziri herself is trolling us with this. Chancing anything unique is a RNG sh^tshow, this is even worse.

Honestly I wish I could use ancient orbs to make unique side areas, they aren't worth much except for adorned which is usually obtained via cards anyway.

but alas, ggg wants us to scour chance them, because if you weren't trying to hit a unique side area, why would you take the chance to roll them.