#30 Holobytes, 0 Freedom – Why HLB Is Failing as a Roguelike

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

supple drum
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Increased difficulty alone won’t sustain long-term interest in the game.

I find the current design direction—particularly the character-based restrictions—deeply frustrating. Instead of encouraging creativity and experimentation, these limitations stifle player freedom and reduce build variety.

Take Windblown as a comparison: I can choose from 21 weapons, 15 trinkets, and 120 gifts. Despite having a similar number of weapons and trinkets as HLB, the build possibilities feel endless. In HLB, after accounting for character restrictions, I’m left with roughly 30 Holobytes and very few viable combinations. Every run ends up feeling the same because I’m forced to min-max using the same handful of “good” Holobytes. The rest of the time, I’m stuck re-rolling in a shop, chasing decent affixes. That’s not engaging gameplay—where’s the meaningful choice?

It’s widely agreed that Holobytes feel underwhelming. They’re positioned as “special” compared to status effects or affixes, yet in practice, they serve the same role and rarely define a character’s identity. If identity is the goal, then tie it to species—give each one unique traits or passives. But don’t limit the already narrow pool of equipment.

If HLB is to thrive as a roguelike, it needs a major systemic overhaul. Specifically, Status Effects, Weapon Affixes, and Holobytes should be unified into a single, flexible system. Call them Holobytes—it’s a great name.

Here’s how it could work:
• All Gear: weapons, rails, armor, amps, and accessories has a set number of Holobyte slots based on it's tier.
• These Slots also have tiers that determine the maximum tier of the Holobyte to equip (Higher tier weapon>higher amount of slots>higher tier slots)
• Holobytes effects scale with weapon level.
• Holobytes need to have their own tiers again (unsure why it was removed this patch)
• Breakers can have unique Holobytes for their identity

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This change would remove the dull grind of re-rolling and inject actual strategy into every run. Holobytes could drop from specific enemies based on world rank, type (variant, miniboss, boss, species), and biome. Skeletons, for example, could drop a variety of Holobytes for that “loot-casino” thrill. Elemental Holobytes could be exclusive to Prism Bosses, elemental variants, or elite enemies.

Shops would finally have meaningful purpose by offering Holobytes worth planning around. You could even introduce a quest system to farm or craft specific types.

Currently, higher-tier weapons just pile on more affixes—but they’re randomized, leaving players with no real agency. Sure, you can re-roll until you get something usable, but that’s not interactive or interesting. Imagine instead if you were tailoring your build throughout the run, choosing each Holobyte to complement your evolving setup. That would add depth, flexibility, and—most importantly—replayability, thanks to the sheer number of interactions to explore.

Attached are all the modifiers currently in-game by type. Just look at the sheer variety.
Many of them are great—and selecting from such a large pool to craft your own build would be far more engaging than the current system.

supple drum
robust abyss
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i think that the july update will look to adress this but while i still like breaker currently, the lack of build making does indeed hurt the roguelike aspect

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however nightreign does that aspect very poorly too, yet it's excused for that game and liked by many

lavish kraken
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Can you stop white shielding them pls

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And give proper criticism for once

lavish kraken
robust abyss
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don't attack me for liking the game if you will thank you

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if you read my posts after buried below you would see we see eye to eye on many fronts, i'm just not as passive aggresive about it

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#1368586607023751260

solar trellis
inland cape
mild blaze
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Status effects are pretty boring right now, I will agree

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The only interesting thing with them is the random affix that doubles the slow effect with hack+crystal enemies

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We need more of that stuff

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but right now the only way to get a good build going is by rerolling affixes

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And the limited pools only contribute to my lower enjoyment of the game - I'm okay with playing a loop every once in a while, but because everything feels the same every time, it's not fun to run it back win or lose like other roguelikes I play

mint halo
# robust abyss however nightreign does that aspect very poorly too, yet it's excused for that g...

its core design is still the souls gameplay design that everyone is still in love with. Boss design, music, and difficulty is what keep people playing and because of it's extremely widespread population.

HLB has none of these things in terms of reputation and track record... besides music and boss design i feel, but like the bosses gameplay and the core game design is too unique for it to find a player base yet.

I hope we do get that one bug youtuber that dissects this game but I hope that doesn't happen soon cause it needs a lot of work.

graceful lance
graceful lance
# supple drum Increased difficulty alone won’t sustain long-term interest in the game. I find...

Also yeah this is genius tbh, making affixes, holos, and elements all the same thing just makes way more sense, and letting people build around those things helps so much lol

I personally think they need to make more stuff that synergizes like prismatic lens, and have a lot more build choice. That, along with a couple sycom changes to make the characters actually play different, would be awesome.

solar trellis
crude trellis
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It saddens me to read that community members are theorizing sorely needed fixes to a game which has all the ingredients but no good recipe for roguelike fun. It doesn't instill faith that this game will eventually be a good roguelike.

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Still - agree with all the above - these would indeed be one way to improve on it.

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You've all said as much - roguelike synergies which change the entire approach and flow of combat - these would bring refreshingly risky-rewardy variety and teamwork to an otherwise far-too-monotonous combat cycle.