Since this topic was marked as an Early Access issue in the forums, cross posting it to a new topic since the issue is unchanged after launch:
As a recent poster commented, if new items are going to be “rewards” for playing, then this issue becomes even more pronounced. There are so many good ideas already shared but since it doesn’t sink in, let’s keep sharing them!
This aspect of the game has been a real fun-killer for months.
Congratulations on opening a chest, here are your rewards - now you must either scrap it or scrap another item just to continue playing.
That wasn’t fun 6 months ago. It isn’t fun today. Nothing much has really changed in this area.
I’m sure there was a quote here about Early Access - something about change fast, change often, see the results and change again. Sure would be great if we were to see that happen. At this point it feels like flogging a dead horse.
And I’m one of the “lucky” ones, by which I mean someone who has stubbornly played for months to grind out the extra crystals to evolve Northelm to Legendary and have 140 slots available.
For anyone starting today or since v1.0 launch, I would expect less than 1% of those new players to have 140 slots in their first 6 months, but for those still playing, will be hitting their own inventory cap every single day.
Amen! My Northelm gives me 142 slots. I spend most of my ::cough:: play time deciding what to salvage. Over and over. Add in the arbitrary caps on gold and food and opening chests is just not fun.
I think the game really needs to decide what it wants to be. It’s past time, already. Having the slow evolutions, the variety of passive abilities, the multiple perk combinations, multiple elemental affinities, and set bonuses pretty much screams “collect things!” But the inventory limits scream “don’t collect things.”
Can’t agree more! I’ve posted a few times about this. I have played more than 6 months now and on Sunday I finally got my first Northelm crystal. YAY!!! This means I still need 4 more crystals before I can upgrade him to legendary and get my 20 extra inventory spots. 120 → 140. For contrast I have received 6 Gemka crystals in the same time period and 1 - 4 crystals for every other follower. Hopefully the RNG is nice to me in the future as the only crystals I care about at this stage is Northelm crystals as 120 items of gear is horribly, horribly restrictive.
I’m still on 100 slots - how do you unlock the other 42? please don’t say it’s grinding the same content with the other 5 characters…
In short, yes.
The formula for inventory slots is currently 50 + 2 per level of Northelm.
Northelm’s max level is determined by his rarity, and you need follower crystals to evolve him to unlock more levels.
| Rarity | Unlock | Total | Max Level | Inventory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common | 0 | 0 | 5 | 60 |
| Uncommon | 1 | 1 | 15 | 80 |
| Rare | 3 | 4 | 25 | 100 |
| Epic | 6 | 10 | 35 | 120 |
| Legendary | 10 | 20 | 45 | 140 |
| Mythic | 15 | 35 (60) | 45 (50) | 140 (150) |
Unlock is how many follower crystals you need to unlock the next rarity, while total is cumulative from the start. So 3 to get from Uncommon to Rare, but 4 in total.
With 3 crystals available from each playthrough, 1st playthrough gets you to Uncommon, 2nd to Rare, 3rd is just progress but no evolve. 4th unlocks Epic. 5th is just more crystals.
Even after 5 full playthroughs you are on a max 15 follower crystals and need 20 in total for Legendary. These extra crystals can currently be found:
I include Mythic for completeness, but we can forget about ever getting there. It needs a further 15 crystals just to evolve to Mythic, but that doesn’t let you level up to 50. Each extra level then costs 5 further follower crystals.
We expect additional classes, which would likely mean 3 more of each crystal from another playthrough. We anticipated 2 additional classes with worldwide launch, but that didn’t happen.
But adding more classes puts more pressure on inventory storage, wanting gear specific for that class and colour, while not adding any more storage from having an extra character.
Inventory-related game design is completely contradictory for this game.
We are receiving limited release items which are potentially only ever obtainable once. This is logical for a collection game, and such items should never need to be salvaged. Yet, we have no space.
Also, as mentioned above, set bonuses are entirely illogical with the absurd inventory restrictions. The set bonuses give great playstyle opportunities and complement the loadout slots. Yet, we have no space.
The game is entirely gear-based, yet 99% of gear you receive is salvaged. This is to be expected at end-game, but it hits very early, and the rewards are entirely disappointing. We have no space.
Our creativity, fun, and motivation are entirely hampered by this issue. The game needs a lot of work, but fixing this (perhaps starting first with a shortterm solution) doesnt take a lot of work.
We need space.
Totally feeling your answer. I’m weighing up the relative impossibility of getting mythic gear without laying down cash against the joyless grinding of multiple classes through the same old content. And yes, when you factor in the lack of inventory storage it further discourages continuing - I spent 100 gems on a new character slot assuming it would grant additional storage I mean who creates a new character to just gear them out exactly the same way as your alt right?
Maxing out all classes feels like taking the longest way possible to reach the same dead end.
You’ve put so much time and effort into your answers and your posts - it warrants a real response from devs.
worse… its dumb luck on random crystal offers in shop for gems and random challenge rewards. Also its a few extra crystals via starting EA a couple of weeks in. None of that is fair nor equitable, at all. Sorry. 
Exactly!
Exactly!
Exactly!
Not to sound repetative, but EXACTLY!
Again…EXACTLY! I quoted each point because each is a perfect example.
The last is crucial for me. Being able to come up with interesting combinations, being able to experiment, that’s fun. Can’t do it. I have this, that and someothers for my heroes that work to do things. Inventory full. Can’t try anything new. Yawn.