half oak
Currently, shrines feel severely undertuned, especially in the context of endgame progression. MF shrines are the clearest example: even the 60% MF shrine is effectively meaningless when endgame characters regularly sit at 1500%+ MF. At that point, the bonus is within a margin of error and has no noticeable impact.
The non-MF shrine buffs are equally disappointing. Their effects are so weak that interacting with shrines often feels pointless rather than rewarding. Even without introducing new shrine mechanics, simply increasing existing values would already make a significant difference.
For example, granting around 400% MF from a shrine would not be game-breaking, but it would feel impactful and exciting, especially in early hell diff (H1-H5), where progression momentum matters most. Same as getting 99 divine stacks is fun.
Some shrine effects suggestion:
Add a Shrine Mimic: it slaps you back with vengeance
50% skill haste
+30 light radius
Basically any generically good stat
Integrate shrines into the Ether Tree, allowing players to specialize into:
Unique shrine effects
Increased shrine duration
Enhanced shrine power
Additional ideas include:
Shrines that increase Heroic % chance, similar to Codex bonuses
Shrines that spawn champions on kill with a percentage chance
From a development perspective, much of this should be relatively low-effort. Existing SZ buffs could be reused directly since you already have the icons, effects, and supporting systems in place.
LET ME USE THE SHRINE BELT I BEG YOH
faint sapphire
wheat cloak