I've had many runs where I was cornered (and ended) because the masked defiler and its clones have spewed so many poison balls it is impossible to sneak by (especially in tight corridors). Maybe you could turn it into a curse where there is more than one defiler rather than make that the default. Dealing with one defiler that spews 9 poison balls is enough, especially when cornered. You could counteract this "curse" by adding a blessing that reduces poison damage by X amounts of a heart, if worried about balance.
#Masked Defiler Change
teal mirage
oblique kite
Pretty much all guardians punish waiting and certain forms of movement in their own way, she's largely fine and IMO is only the #2 of the 3 guardians. Pay attention to when and where she spawns more and you'll always have a rough idea of where the poison AOEs will show up. If you're cornered then you only have yourself to blame, you can always backtrack or just power through with dashes / grapples to get out of her range, its always best to just rush through it if its all falling on you rather than trying to find cover, the only one you should ever think about cover for is the EYE.
edgy flame
friendly reminder that sliding is not slowed by gas
teal mirage
It isn't as easy if you are forced to go get a key and then blocked by poison. No way you avoid damage (especially if you have the blood bond curse). Why do so many clones spawn?
Can't always slide when there are air boosters that slam you right into a trap either 😉
Just my feedback. I quite enjoy most of the hard challenges of the game, some things do need better balancing. No doubt I could be better at it. Certainly not a game for newbies later in the game.
oblique kite
It isn't as easy if you are forced to go get a key and then blocked by poison. N...
iirc clones happen because it's a higher tier guardian. Some of the blessing/curses don't tell the FULL effect in some manner. For instance the EYE just tells you it fires faster, but at higher levels it also starts moving the laser as well. Defiler gets clones which honestly make it easier to dodge, instead of a constant firerate of gas balls it shoots like 2-3 then delays itself while it swaps clones to spray more. Only guardian that doesn't seem to get an additional effect is Rageface but he's already annoying enough.
As far as blood bond goes, that curse means you should be even more careful when dealing with keys and you should game the spawn-position of guardians before committing to the key. If you're doing abyss temples I might suggest using the time-slow whip or getting it, it's insanely good and IMO might be the best whip/ability in the game.
teal mirage
Whatever you say, still practically impossible to avoid damage in that instance, even if you get the defiler to spawn elsewhere. By the time you get the key, you have to back track and then it spawns right where you need to go back. Can't wait out the poison because it continually spawns more and more (sometimes you can't hide to make it despawn).
I'll stop there.
astral pagoda
iirc clones happen because it's a higher tier guardian. Some of the blessing/cur...
“Rageface” is much faster at level 3, but still respawns. We did give him another ability but it wasn’t quite what the designers were after
oblique kite
“Rageface” is much faster at level 3, but still respawns. We did give him anothe...
Oh I know about him being faster, just was noting the other 2 guardians get a hidden addon for their level ups while all he does is his usual stuff. Not sure what you could even add to him to make him unique in the same way without it being frustrating, as it stands he is already oppressive enough.