congrats on beating it! as far as i know, you are the second person to beat the game on ironman, well done!
>difficulty
a lot of it originates from RNG, both with enemies and items. im actively trying to make the variations smaller, but sometimes runs will just feel easy, it's part of the genre
>Vedomot (Lever boss)
she's a rare spawn, about 1 in 5 runs. i'm toying with the concept of events like that, which are semi-random. i think it's very fun and makes the game feel large
>Breeding Grounds
i think the levels are missing more wide open and lit areas. a bunch of tunnels with the same enemies get repetitive really quickly. they'll be getting changed soon enough.
>Quests
i'm planning on having multiple quests, but i'm unsure about having a questlog or such, since they won't be too complex (always dealing with a "go to X and kill Y or do Z", i dont think such a design needs more details or a tracker. we'll see, it'll be getting worked on soon.
>Obelisk
you lost 1 in all stats, but gained 5 in a random stats ('Many pay the price of one'). its a very painful obelisk to get!
the game is pretty difficult to balance, especially since i'm aiming to have a difficult game- but due to the large amount of RNG involved it's always tricky. i think it's doable, however.
again, congrats on beating the game and i'm very glad that you enjoyed your time. thanks again for all the detailed writeups, theyre very valuable to me! i hope that you will give the game another go in the future, and hopefully by then all your concerns will be addressed.