... Of course, it is sort of ridiculous to try and respond to this many voices at the same time-- so let's start by talking about the ominous Black Box that is "Drakelings"
*** About Drakelings...
It seems Drakelings are not "explicit" enough for people to understand, and it's still difficult to figure out what to do with them. This was intentional. I intended Drakelings to be something mysterious that escapes a player's understanding-- But I did not expect people to become so daunted about losing these Drakelings (particularly in a roguelike game where death/loss is very common). I don't want to sound awful-- But Drakelings are still exactly what additional Hatchlings are supposed to be: Fodder to protect the parent (whom, in turn, protects them). For example, the "Dissension" tree revolves HEAVILY around using your Drakelings as protection, and even giving yourself ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS damage buffs once one is sacrificed.
In general, I feel the problem is that Fire Drake players are feeling compelled to protect everyone and everything-- But the truth is, Eyal is a cutthroat place, and it would take an absolutely ace player to get through the whole game without letting a single Drakeling die. In fact, my Drakelings VERY frequently died during my test plays, and I rolled with it. Fire Drake WAS NOT balanced such that keeping Drakelings alive throughout the whole game is entirely possible. Now, this next point should cheer you up a bit about what I just said
*** A whole new batch
Note that your three starting Drakelings each hit a different niche of Drakeling: An "Angry", Wingless, hateful one... A "Smart", Clawless, neutral one (female too)... And a "Proud", Breathless, loving one. The initial Drakelings are a handful to optimize if you plan to keep them each alive. You are expected to choose 1 or 2 Drakelings you want to focus on. Trying to take care of all 3 of them and give them EXACTLY what they're expecting is unrealistic and you are biting off more than you can chew
Take this one step at a time. Try a build that focuses entirely on "Breathful Drakelings"-- A team of ranged, Fire Breathing Drakelings. Use them as backline support while you get up into your enemies' faces. Also try playing "White Mage" with a "Clawful Drakelings" bulid-- This gives them various passive benefits that, more or less, allow them to attack when they aren't even attacking.
Finally, Fire Drake has SEVERAL talents that reduce the amount of EXP required for weaker Drakelings to catch up to you. There is also special dialogue only accessible when creating completely new Drakelings, so you are also missing out when you refuse to let any Drakelings die.
*** Keeping Drakelings alive
There also seems to be a DISTINCT amount of complaints over how difficult they are to keep alive in the early game. Now, believe it or not, but, during testing, I have buffed their general survivability more than 10 times, even DOUBLING their Maximum Life value and lowering the requires for Anti-Death traits to show up and it seems this is STILL not enough to make them less of a headache, and everyone concurs (including myself). I am constantly looking for ways to make Drakelings a little more sturdy, but WITHOUT simply removing all the danger associated with tugging a line of kids around with you into dangerous places. One of their most recent additions was the ability to learn Natural Combat talents, and I am mostly eager to see how sturdy they end up becoming in a late game setting-- Not so much the early game. With that said, patience... Not every boss needs to be slain-- Not every unique needs to be defeated... Think about your kids! Think about your family!
*** The "Unique" Drakelings
So, what's so great about these starting Unique drakelings? Yes, they are, indeed, more powerful than normal-- But keeping them alive was always something I considered to be a challenge run. Their true purpose (much like the Ritch's intro "Engraft" sequence) is to give you a head-start on the class's mechanics (and whatever your ideal end-game strategy is). That is to say, I did not want to "randomize" the starting Drakelings because it would create a situation where the player loads and reloads until they get exactly what they want. I have given you a perfectly well-rounded team of Drakelings so that you would immediately have the potential to become literally ANYTHING-- NOT so that you can try to keep them all alive at once
*** "Unique" Drakelings, or "Random" Drakelings?
Drakelings you create at a higher level have MUCH higher stats and "knowledge". That is to say, the stats a recently born Drakeling has is based off your current stats, such that having high strength means your newborn Drakeling will ALSO have high strength. This is to "ease the pain" of losing Drakelings for late-game Fire Drake, but also to make you care a lot less about the starting Drakelings dying. The only thing that makes the unique Drakelings worthwhile is that they have a pre-programmed "optimized" build, causing them to ALWAYS grow in a VERY specific way. For example, it is VERY likely that you will be using Isovau whenever you want to do a Wing/Breath run with Drakelings. If you want to do evil/hateful Drakelings, you are definitely going to pick up Drenng, because he is the only Drakeling that starts off with a negative love factor. On the flip side, if you want a team of "I would do anything for you" Drakelings that will sacrifice themself for you at the drop of a pin, Huuloc is the best way to start your run because he is both high-affection and has the "Protective" nature.
I can only hope these points inspired some new ways of thinking about your Drakelings. Remember-- They're just companions. The unfortunate truth is that loss is crushing-- Especially when its your own children-- So why not get angry about it? Turn it into power! Learn the "Draconic Inspiration" talent and give you and your Drakelings a permanent damage bonus for each Drakeling that has died in the past. With that said, witnessing the death of a loved one will build your Drakelings' character. They will become more resistant to fears in the future (though, they might not love you as much anymore).
But remember: No matter what happens, they will ALWAYS be loyal to you. You will show them the way, and you will teach them the ways of this terrible, cutthroat world.
"