Wow, it feels like the game landed for you well.
yes thsoe early levels need to be reworked for the purpose of replaying them when you die, that is when it gets boring, not on first run i guess.
there were so many versions of progression and finding where something isnt working because of growth speed and amount of those kilelrs and its placement, that i still have to find those moments where somethign just cannot be win. so thank you a lot for finding this. i fixed already, but of course cannot udpate the game loaded on jam, haha.
I didn't want to give too much early, i am sure you are an advanced player, so i want this game to be more enjoyable for beginners, just need to make it more interesting as experience, more visual enhancement i think or soft things that grab attention on those levels. So yes, the shield later was a design decision. but also implementing more objects at this stage of development would destroy balancing and progression, and would cost me more time in development... so i could not afford it atm.
i will make the teleport pulsing :D on your request!
probably you didnt get the colorful destruction node yet!