We can argue about which mechanics are tedious or have too many steps, but try to stay high-level with me for just a sec. The central draw, I feel, is that they allow us to just play the game and get the drops we want.

We don’t have to stop what we’re doing, load into a vendor, run around in some cases to find them, then mindlessly click an engram button for a few minutes. You just set of Tome of Want ritual (or pop a Tonic), start playing, and the drops roll in.

These systems are a great way to remove friction, making it easier and faster to chase the weapons we want. I liked tonics once I understood the system, although I get the complaint that they’re heavy-handed—too many pointless new ingredients to monitor and we still need to stop playing at least sometimes to go make more tonics (a process that is also clunky with too many steps).

This is why I quite like the Tome as an evolution and simplification of this system: It only needs two ingredients that naturally drop while you play, and you can pop a new Ritual for a different weapon whenever you want, even in the middle of a fight.

I hope this ‘live focus system’ sticks around in future expansions and seasons. How do other people feel?