Simplifying the carousel

[bitter harness]

The teleportation mechanic makes the carousel unnecessarily chaotic, and even without it, the core issue remains: the need for high APM and sharp spatial awareness to grab the unit you want before someone else does. But this is a strategy game, not an FPS — we’re here to make thoughtful decisions, not to compete in reflex speed.

The carousel should relieve pressure, not add to it. We’re already juggling intense decision-making during every preparation phase. Instead of a scramble, let’s simplify: place illuvials on podiums, and let players select them in order from lowest HP to highest.

This would be cleaner, fairer, and more in line with the strategic core of the game.

Edit: Maybe removing the carousel and finding a simpler catch-up mechanic would be better

[steep onyx]

https://tenor.com/view/theboys-perfect-gif-23821319

[hexed vapor]

agree
For same reason i don't like to see the other peoples battleboard livepositioning.
instead of a laid back strategy game like usually autobattler is for me, here it's an action packed fps pretty much every second.

[tepid spade]

I have only played once since the re-introduction of the carousel but I really dislike it. I end up accidentally grabbing the wrong Illuvial. It's just frustrating.

[reef island]

The team -"what if we add some unique feature so this game isn't exactly the same as tft?"
Aaaand nobody likes it xD

[quiet mortar]

Yesss... We don't need an Illuvial catwalk with arcade clawgrabber

[quiet mortar]

I LOVE seeing opponent positioning
That's one reason why I enjoy the game now
The more dynamic gameplay is the better for me

[hazy heron]

I agree with all of this. My only problem with the select in order thing is with timers for each individual player you risk blowing out the time of the game itself. But with the same cascading system we already have, and an additional few seconds buffer minimum between players, I think it could work

[hazy heron]

I guess the problem is that this is actually the feature that is closest to TFT. The teleportation doesn't really change it a whole lot

[ancient cobalt]

Maybe instead of a carousel like tft, we can have the illuvials in a cage, and then our drones activate in order and send them to the cage we want and free them

[hazy heron]

One click, no accidental pickups etc I like it.

[ancient cobalt]

Maybe something like this. This way we have a illuvial selection phase that makes more sense for our ecosystem and differentiates from tft

Or put all drones in the middle, and the illuvials static around the drones in those energy cages that the drones are now.

[bitter harness]

I agree, maybe @ancient cobalt's idea would be ideal to make it shorter so that we all get our illuvial after 15 sec instead of waiting 30 sec so that everyone can get released in the current system

[bitter harness]

So in case of a tie the lowest hp wins

[marsh forge]

I upvoted this, I agree with remvoing just the teleportation mechanic but i don't agree with making it just a simple point and click.

[bitter harness]

Could you develop?

[marsh forge]

i would just remove teleportation mechanic that's it, it's fun to start at the same time as someone and still get to a unit on his side before he does.
it would be so insanely boring to just click a thing like u do on augments

[past shard]

is carousel even adding to the gameplay experience? There's already so many meaningful choices to make during the match do we really need one more layer of complexity?

I've heard some say it's good to slow down the pace a bit. But aren't the PVE rounds already doing just that?

It just makes the match duration be even longer. Me personally I would simply scrap this from the game.

[bitter harness]

We could have a bidding system to make it more fun and strategic:

Eight Illuvials stand on podiums, each carrying a single fully completed item. Players enter a silent bidding phase where they secretly assign 7 tokens across the Illuvials—no more than 4 tokens on any one Illuvial.

Once all bids are submitted, the reveal begins. Each Illuvial claimed is highlighted, displaying the name and profile of the winning player above it. If multiple players bid the same highest amount on an Illuvial, the tiebreaker goes to the player with the lowest remaining HP.

[bitter harness]

That's a good argument, it's unclear to me that a new system like that has positive value especially considering that T4 and T5 illuvials are way more common in Illuvium than TFT which makes the carousel less exciting

[marsh forge]

I would hate this for sure

[marsh forge]

It's great if done right and right now it's done fine i think, i haven't seen full items and components carousel yet so literally the only thing that they might even change is the teleporter, which even if it stays it's fine

[past shard]

can you please expand on why you think it's great? Would like to better understand your thought process.

[marsh forge]

because it's adding more agency to a game that's been taking some away for the past like 3 months

[past shard]

if you're on top 3 does it really add agency when you have to pick the leftovers?

what's the difference between choosing 3 augments or 5 illuvials to a larger pool from the carousel?

[bitter harness]

You still get to choose the best leftover
Let's say you want an anti-air item and you need a red component, you're still likely to get one and then you have 30% chance to get the item that you want

[marsh forge]

you can be top 3 and still have something u want left yes, also there's agency in being top 3 in the first place

everyone in the team is for some reason looking at carousel as catch up mechanic, it's not, it's brick fixing mechanic

[past shard]

gotcha. I definitely agree with you guys that we need more agency in the game. Was just not seeing carousel as the thing solving it.

[half vine]

instead of cages perhaps shards

sucks that the team used alot of dev time and art time on this and judging from this thread most dont like it.

[past shard]

What do you guys think of having higher stage illuvials on the carousel? Maybe that could spice things a bit no?

[steep onyx]

Hi! Regarding your question — yes, that would make it a bit more interesting for me.
But for me, the bigger issue is fundamental: the current carousel mechanic is really inconvenient.
Illuvials and drones fly way too close to each other, and the Illuvials are constantly moving.
It’s totally unclear why a player who’s already picked an Illuvial stays on the field.
What’s the purpose of that?
At minimum, they should automatically return to their spot so they don’t get in the way of others.
I think @bitter harness is right — the carousel needs a complete rework.

[marsh forge]

no it would be terrible the illuvial pool is already too thin

and the carousel is straight up fine, the teleporter is pointless that's straight up all

[bitter harness]

I'm afraid that it would give a too big advantage to those who pick higher tier illuvials
The gold difference could be 12 instead of 4
It could perhaps be fun if exceptional

[past shard]

Yeah I was thinking of it being a low chance obviously

[quiet mortar]

The less time it takes for carousel the better... make it sweet and simple

Like why do we have to all see each other?

Can't we just see a pool of available illuvials and choose... rather than the chaos of everyone fumbling trying to clawgrab illuvials?

[steep onyx]

Very good idea.
Minimalism would be very appropriate here.
A similar mechanic is well implemented in Dota 2 (Ability Draft mode).
Yes, there are some differences, but the core idea is what matters.
Each player is given a certain amount of time. They choose what they like. If time runs out and they haven’t made a decision, they get a random result.
If adapted for Illuvium, we might finally avoid the current chaos — and the lag.
@mortal birch

[quiet mortar]

Yesss, please… simple, efficient

[past shard]

It's a good opportunity to showcase the drone skins. It's one selling point.

[quiet mortar]

U mean to see other ppls skins? Man there’s so much shit going on you know I ain’t looking at skins on them small ass drones… cmon

And… you could still have your drive featured in a simplified version… bigger so you can actually see the skin.

You know what… you could actually still see others skins too in a simplified version…. When I get home I’ll whip something up

[quiet mortar]

Something like this...

The illuvials available all show up. But as players choose they get grayed out. when it's your turn to pick you just click on the illuvial. Boom, simple quick flash catch and it's yours.... life goes on. You don't even need a separate room like the carousel goes to... just keep the fucking board. Annnnnnnd you can see everyone's drone.

Obvs... this is just a sketch to get the idea across... but u get the idea

[violet dagger]

I have tried the new carousel now for 3 or 4 times and never got the one which I actually intended to get. Does the illuvial really need to be in front of your drone so you can move and grab it? Which means you need to „dodge“ the undesired ones if the one you want is on the opposite site?

[hexed vapor]

ya, need to dodge

[bitter harness]

Removing the carousel altogether could be the best solution and maybe find a simpler catch up mechanic instead

[quiet mortar]

I agree... having a little mini game within the game feels cheesy... at least in it's current form

[past shard]

https://tenor.com/view/javier-milei-javier-milei-argentina-presidente-gif-8685213616725356201

[reef island]

I do like the interaction and seing everyone's drones and skins

[balmy dust]

Well it looks like I might be unpopular on this one but I like this unique adaptation of TFTs carasel. There will be times where you steal the unit right in front of someone and times where you were to slow or on the wrong side. Thats part of the gaem. And at end it can also become about blocking a specif item or unit from a player going for a stage 3. This is very important for the catch up mechanic. A low hp player can slow down someone win streaking.

I feel a large part of our current player base never really played to much tft and this is an aspect i think may of them like and want to keep. I want to hear from other TFT players on the matter though.

The teleportation make it even more interesting as there are unique instants where you have a better chance to get it if you predict correctly.

I would say for those struggling with the apm. We just slow the walking speed of the units and extend the timer between players getting unlocked. (even I feel they are going to fast and the next wave of players are getting released to early.

I also really don't agree with trying to restricting the length of the game. I'm pretty sure we have had constant feedback that everything is going to fast. I have personally DM'ed Nil about everything especially late game just going to fast. There is bearly enough time to do the main aspects of the game and scouting is almost only for pve rounds.

We can slow down all the timers and as our player base build up and we need the faster timers to meaningfully differentiate the top players then we start to compress time. I imagine we could extend the avg length of game by 5mins and it would only make it a better experience for most players.

[bitter harness]

I don't think that making the carousel last longer will solve the APM issue as it's a problem of getting the unit that you want before the other person getting released at the same time as you, it also does not do a good job at alleviating the pressure

Being short on time because we have too many time consuming actions to make in 40 sec and the overall game being too long are both compatible
It's another topic but they could probably solve this issue partly by making us able to switch item placement without having to put units on the bench, also we are now getting our crates during the PvE rounds which saves some time as well

Now the average game lasts around 40-45 min which is already a lot, more than 45 min sounds too much I think especially considering that it's around our optimal focus duration

Plus we're catering to gamers and I wouldn't be surprised if this population has a lower attention span than the average person

[marsh forge]

it;s 40 minutes for top 2, there's also dead time in the game right now that's completely useless and amounts to some minutes for top 2. There is no need for so much time before round starts in most of the middle rounds, we are literally in a spot where we don't have enough time after every pve round but then we're sitting there jerking off for half the timer for the next 3-4 rounds.

[stone sigil]

I'll add my feedback to @bitter harness post — that carousel had a Wildfire emblem on it, while the rest were just components. I think that could make the game REALLY unbalanced, since that synergy might let a player get first place in matches they normally wouldn't. Do you guys agree with me?

[marsh forge]

Basic emblem (like fighter/nature) + components -> acceptable.
Composite emblems with components -> unacceptable
Full items with components -> unacceptable

[balmy dust]

This does allow the players behind to get a massive power spike if they pick it up. There are no come back comps like in tft so I think these elements are pretty useful and would make intentionally losing a viable strategy

[tawdry wing]

Yep agree, get rid of the teleport

[violet dagger]

Just remove the damn composite chips from the illuvials in carousel and it’s fine. I still don’t like the whole concept but if it’s here to stay, at least have it without composites because they’re just gamebreaking for such a weird mechanic

[reef island]

picking in first person would be cool and unique, given that illuvials look really good from close

[ancient cobalt]

After playing a few times, i can say, i hate the carousel

[steep onyx]

Me too

[quiet mortar]

me three

[tepid spade]

I am still managing to pick the wrong Illivial accidentally. I don't know why. I wait for it to be highlighted before I click. Can we at least spread them out for us old people with bad eyes and slow reflexes?🤣

[hazy heron]

And us slightly younger people with equally terrible eyes and equally awful reflexes

[tepid spade]

Thanks for making me feel better. Maybe I dont need to check into the home quite yet.😂

[hazy heron]

I had no trouble with TFT, not sure why i have such great difficulty here.

[stone sigil]

yeah...1 Shock emblem + 7 simple components...

[half vine]

I was playing yesterday and I couldn't figure out out to pick the Illuvial I wanted. There are no instructions

[quiet mortar]

Still think this simplified version would work just fine

@mortal birch did you see this idea? Thoughts?

[mortal birch]

I have seen it and I like the added simplicity. I have a similar thing on my head which is a bit different from yours, but preserves the simplicity. In any case, we still need to make a decision on current carousel, but good ideas like yours are really welcome 👍🏻

[hazy heron]

YESSSS EXACTLY, do this.

[past shard]

carousel is overwhelming for new players. You either know what every single augment does or you are fucked.

[marsh forge]

are they not hoverable in carousel? if not they should be

[past shard]

yes they are.
but 1st it's rather cumbersome to mouse hover something that's moving.
and 2nd when you end mouse hovering all augments and have made a decision the augment you want has most likely already been taken.
keep in mind this is from a noob pov.

[marsh forge]

a noob is completely lost in tft as well at the beginning tho, even returning players are lost for the first games in a new set, it's just the nature of this genre you can't really solve this any other way besides playing first

[quiet mortar]

Still picked the wrong illuvial…
Problem I have is… if I click on the illuvial I want but have clicked twice or three times to change the direction to catch it, the drone will pick up wrong illuvial if I click while it’s going over a different illuvial than the one I want… even if I’m ONLY clicking on top of the illuvial I want.

[bitter harness]

I agree, I'm lost each time I come back to TFT and I need a 3rd party website to help me figure out what to do
Tbh I'm surprised that TFT is so popular considering how hard the onboarding is

[marsh forge]

even the guides are useless before you've played 10~+ games for the units and traits to become natural

[past shard]

sure but does that justify a bad game mechanic? The fact that it's copied from TFT doesn't make it any better, this mentality is exactly what brought us to where we are. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's about time Illuvium starts making its own games and stops copying others.

[marsh forge]

the mechanic's not bad it's just not polished

[past shard]

sure it can be improved but I don't see it add anything meaningful to the game experience. Only the 3rd carousel is somewhat interesting. The first 2 are usually pretty much irrelevant.

if we had spent all our resources developing the Ascendant game we would have a great game by now instead of an average TFT copy.

[marsh forge]

would u? how do u make a 1v1 that's not either everyone plays the exact same team because it's the strongest or every game is rock paper scissor?

[past shard]

ez, you introduce ownership with illuvials.

[marsh forge]

how does that change the game balance ?

[past shard]

you can have a meta team or even mirror matches and lose cause the other player has better illuvials

[marsh forge]

that's not gonna be a thing cuz everyone who's gonna play seriously is gonna be maxed

tbh i also don't know what they're doing with gauntlet tho, do they expect randoms who never played tft to just jump into it?

[past shard]

why would we be copying tft if that wasn't the idea? 😅

[marsh forge]

because tft already exists

[past shard]

the idea is to bring TFT players cause you can "earn" in here

[marsh forge]

that's the idea that makes sense, it doesn't make sense to expect basically any significant amount of non tft players

[past shard]

ah sorry my bad read it wrong the 1st time. Yeah that's it.

well I don't wanna deviate the thread too much. I hope they can make the carousel work. I'm just not a fan as it currently stands. And I don't think this mechanic makes any difference towards any TFT player that comes to play this game to "earn".

[marsh forge]

ye but if u go down that road not a single change since patch A like what half a year ago+? was necessary, it's only gonna come down to money

i think carousel is a good mechanic i just don't think it's polished as a final point

[past shard]

despite the fact that we can "earn" in this game, we should be trying to build fun mechanics the best we can. Make the gaming experience memorable, enjoyable and addicting. Not a chore or a copy of a super complex game with zero onboarding.