As you may expect from the title, this goes hand in hand with my last suggestion, but this is specifically for sky islands to address a different issue.
That issue being that every single mechanic I went over in my last suggestion is completely inaccessible during the sky island portion of the game (right after frostmill which is right after redwake, an area with the exact same issue)
If you don’t see the issue with this, consider that activities like fishing, treasure charts, diving spots, ect are all ways that players are expected to level up and obtain new equipment.
Not only do players not have access to most of this at the first story section (redwake) but they also have no access at the third (cirrus), leaving the second (frostmill) as the only chance for them to learn all of this and utilize it before the first real bossfight.
So I have a few solutions I think could alleviate if not completely solve this.
Firstly: Sky Island Treasure Charts.
Sky island treasure charts would only be obtainable from chests in sky islands, treasure charts leading to normal islands would no longer be found in sky islands.
Armor obtained from sky islands would logically have a unique modifier to encourage players, new and old, to go and do them.
It’d probably be a good place to put an agility modifier since I don’t think we have one of those yet.
The cirrus island treasure chart quest would give a randomized chart for cirrus island that does not despawn on death aswell as normal treasure chart loot on completion in addition to quest rewards.
Secondly: Sky Island Fishing
On certain sky islands, there would be places where players can fish for unique sky island fish.
In addition there would also be a sky island fishing quest on cirrus to introduce players to the concept.
Not much more to it than that.
Tl;Dr :
Allow treasure chart hunting and fishing in sky islands to prevent players from being cut off from valuable sources of XP extremely early in the story progression.
I feel like something similar to this is inevitable, but it’d be nice to have it sooner than later. Only thing to add other than that (at least for the Bronze Sea) would be a name for the sky pumpkin island, but that’s it.
If I’m being completely honest, I forgot the sky pumpkin island even existed, its easily one of the most forgettable locations ingame, it could do with a whole redesign.
perfect. Also there should be some kind of portable sky cannon item thingy that saves the very long time it takes to climb the stepstones, and no its not a wind pot or your max intensity wind mage friend.
My idea for a faster travel up the stepstones was a sky elevator that you could watch being built throughout the cirrus questline and would occasionally hear about.
Once you’re done with the story section you could use it to quickly get up to cirrus.
I feel like these features would be added sooner or later, especially in the sea named after a type of cloud.
I am not really sure if teaching players about game systems needs to happen as early as the sky islands story part. I think having this stuff happen at Sailors Lodge - or better yet, extending the story to include a brief break at Palo Town - would also work.
They definitely should be taught these systems as early as reasonably possible because these are the big XP sources and sources of actual good equipment (treasure charts)
A palo town section definitely wouldn’t hurt though, I mostly just think that from the second the player reaches frostmill and gets into it some they should always have access to these mechanics no matter where they go in the story.
given the obvious prominence of sky islands the nimbus sea is going to have, I’d like to have systems put in place before players are left with another story section where they don’t have access to non-quest leveling tools.
