I’ve never played it solo so really couldn’t say. Personally I like a steady smooth progression. I don’t like massive difficulty spikes you didn’t see coming and have no way to prepare for.

I don’t find Ravenswatch slow but like I said, I play with friends, so the first few minutes yeah I’m just chatting with friends while we run around doing the points of interest and then when it gets harder we focus up.

(I only use Linux so everything here runs on Linux via Proton)

Darktide is the current iteration of that game’s line, it’s in the Warhammer 40k universe (so Psyker instead of Wizard kind of theme).

It has a lot of flashy combat and depth to the combat systems. There’s a thing that looks like Jabba the Hut, leaves slime trails and has a breath weapon (spoilers, it’s slime)… it’s kind of like a Dragon.

However, while it works on the Steam Deck it isn’t a great experience and has a large install… but it is very hard to beat gameplay-wise.

Similarly, Helldivers 2 is an over the top Startship Troopers-esq PvE game. There’s no class mechanic, there’s a large amount of possible weapons and abilities (‘spells’, but artillery and air strikes) and a limited number of slots to put them in, so you work with your team to bring enough tools to handle everything. It is a bit better on the steam deck (played with keyboard/mouse on a TV @ 720p).

Risk of Rain 2 may be another one. It’s class based, co-op action roguelike. Each class has a defined set of abilities and acquiring loot is largely random has a series of mechanics to tame randomness and let you guide your build. The power scaling can get out of control over the course of a run and is very satisfying to pull off.

At core you’re racing against a clock that incrementally scales the hp/damage of everything while navigating around stages to open cheses and do various PoI mechanics in order to acquire loot. There is literally magic in the later expansions.

Note about expansions. Only the hosts needs to buy the expansions in order to unlock the in-game mechanics. The expansions also include extra characters and characters that you can unlock, only people who have purchased the expansion can select the new heroes.

The game has a cell shaded vibe that is very good on system resources and plays it well on the deck.

There’s a Risk of Rain Returns, a remake of Risk of Rain 1, which is a 2d pixel art side-scroller which has the same system of loot scaling mechanics but in 2D… it is an excellent game as well and it is ALSO multiplayer. Being 2d pixel art, it runs on basically anything. This game is mechanically more difficulty and unforgiving so only get into it if you really love the RoR2 gameplay systems and/or want a challenge.

And, as an oddball idea, look at Magicka 2. It’s a co-op game, but friendly fire is on because you can combine your spells in neat ways. The way you cast spells is very fun to learn but can require a lot of inputs so it may be harder to do on controller/Steam Deck.

It’s a less serious game, with humorous storyline. It takes a bit to learn the magic system but it’s worth it.

If you’re looking for something lime Valheim check out Enshrouded.

I find valheim to be more grindy. necesse is easier to drop in and out. you can use the same character in both single and multiplayer and build multiple characters. not through stats perse but with items and such.

I think I have TTW on Epic, but I’ve tried Borderlands 2 and Destiny 2 and didn’t like them. Do you think I should still give it a go?

No, it’s Borderlands but with a Dungeons and Dragons/fantasy magic theme and slightly more over the top scaling than normal Borderlands. It was a COVID-era project that was a nice thing to have between Borderlands but Borderlands 3/4 are better Borderlands experiences for the time spent.

Reply how you like it if you think to do so. I suggested it because it seemed to fit your criteria, but still haven’t tried it.

Far, far west has been more enjoyable for our group and scratches the itch left by helldivers. We have similar skill gaps and with the variety of weapons and spells, any player can still feel like they’re contributing. Plus death is not as punishing; there’s no maximum respawn and you can still move and attack while you’re dead! This also allows you to run to your teammates for a revive.

Gunfire has multiple classes to pick from and I feel is similarly forgiving. I will say that the early game might feel like a bit of a grind as you work to have enough in-game currency to unlock things.

Once that is done, the variety of choices during a run allow each player to work toward mechanic and while there is synergy between some classes and builds, the game does not punish you for NOT pursuing those. So it isn’t crunchy tactical like xcom might be, but it still requires coordination at higher difficulty levels.

I have about 500 hours played in gunfire and they continue to have engaged road maps and interesting DLC that keeps me coming back.

Would agree about StS2. Our group had a bunch of fun while we each tried the different classes. Now that we have most of the content unlocked, we stopped playing to wait for the final release.

Hope that your group jives with some of these and have fun gaming!