Future Plans for Equipment

[Karah]

If you knew what just an absolute pain it was to obtain Ochain, fighting with a thousand other people over t2 pops, and being denied color changes literally, hundreds of times... you might see why making something FREE on par or better than Ochain, would just be insane.

Obviously new things replace old things and make old things easier, etc. But souls are still the biggest time:reward sink ever created.... (barring alexandrite and plates)

[dasva]

Colorless soul farming is soul crushing...

And part of the reason the level 90 version is so good is because blocking wise both rate and dmg there is no difference between the 90 and 99 versions.


It should also be noted that ochain isn't even right now currently the best shield for blocking in the game for all situations. In dmg reduced per block it's actually slightly lower than koenig. That's right per block a cheap crafted lvl 75 shield blocks more dmg. And both aegis and killedar (and probably alot of the newer ilvl shields) block waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more dmg per block. The main thing is outside of the new ilvl ones and ochain blockrate is capped down around 65% without palisade/reprisal iirc. So overall dmg blocked is more with ochain/ilvl shields. That said iirc killedar already is fairly close to ochains overall block dmg on ~110 content and higher with block rate increases


Speaking of ilvl shields... does anyone know if eminent has some kind of hidden effect? All the weapons got latents which is what mainly boosted them to being better than the 115s.... but with just the visible stats eminent appears to be vastly inferior to killedar despite the same ilvl

[Camiie]

If you knew what just an absolute pain it was to obtain Ochain, fighting with a thousand other people over t2 pops, and being denied color changes literally, hundreds of times... you might see why making something FREE on par or better than Ochain, would just be insane.

Trust me, I've helped with enough peoples' souls that I should have my own Ochain by now. No one should have to go through all that just to make a job work. It's a disservice to the player base as a whole.

Obviously new things replace old things and make old things easier, etc. But souls are still the biggest time:reward sink ever created.... (barring alexandrite and plates)

And? You know that the real reason SE hasn't obsoleted the shields and instruments is because they're overpowered. It has nothing to do with their respect of your efforts.

[VoiceMemo]

Speaking as a Carnwenhan 119, Gjallarhorn 99, Daurdabla 90(working way to 99). A new 3 song instrument without any buff to Daurdabla is a slap in the face. As a career brd I strived to be the best bard possible. But if SE is going to make easier to get instruments, just because people want 3 songs brds, you'll get fewer and fewer career brds. Just because you have 3 songs doesn't make a good brd, you still need to know how to utilize it well from timing, song orders and priorities.

[Camate]

Greetings,

As we’ve mentioned before, the development team would like to add new shields and instruments so that both paladin and bard can have an easier time playing without being too focused on obtaining relics and empyreans. I'd like to share the development team's thoughts at the moment and what is planned for the future.

• Shields
  Currently, shield blocks and the amount of damage reduced are affected by the following:
  
  Damage reduced: type of shield and shield defense
  Block rate: type of shield, player shield skill, combat skill attributed to each monster
  
  Comparing Ochain and the easier to obtain Beatific Shield +1, damage reduction from the Beatific Shield is approximately 50%, while Ochain is around 60%, and the block rate, though it depends on the enemy, is very close between the two. On the other hand, the Killedar Shield’s damage reduction nearly reaches 70%, but the block rate is lower. While Ochain is still more powerful than both of these shields, we've managed to close the large gap that existed in the past.
  
  We plan on adding new item level 119 shields moving forward to close this gap even more.
  
  
• Instruments
  In the April version update we will be introducing a new instrument that grants an additional song. As this effect is extremely powerful, it won't be so easy to obtain; however, we'd like this to be another option in addition to Daurdabla.

While the treatment of powerful equipment can be difficult, we'd like to continue to increase other choices so that these jobs can join parties easier and have a more comfortable time playing.

[Mirage]

Speaking as a Carnwenhan 119, Gjallarhorn 99, Daurdabla 90(working way to 99). A new 3 song instrument without any buff to Daurdabla is a slap in the face. As a career brd I strived to be the best bard possible. But if SE is going to make easier to get instruments, just because people want 3 songs brds, you'll get fewer and fewer career brds. Just because you have 3 songs doesn't make a good brd, you still need to know how to utilize it well from timing, song orders and priorities.

So as a pro bard, you have nothing to fear then.

[Zhronne]

Instruments
In the April version update we will be introducing a new instrument that grants an additional song. As this effect is extremely powerful, it won't be so easy to obtain; however, we'd like this to be another option in addition to Daurdabla.

Will this new instrument "stack" with Daurdabla 90? Meaning owners of Daurdabla 90 will be able to get 4 songs with this instrument?

[Olor]

Instruments
In the April version update we will be introducing a new instrument that grants an additional song. As this effect is extremely powerful, it won't be so easy to obtain; however, we'd like this to be another option in addition to Daurdabla.


While the treatment of powerful equipment can be difficult, we'd like to continue to increase other choices so that these jobs can join parties easier and have a more comfortable time playing.

I appreciate the thought here. Unfortunately if it is too difficult to obtain the players that need it the most will not be able to get it. Basically the only BRDs that will be invited to the content where you can get it - will be the bards that already have a Dharp.

I know someone will say "level another job" or whatever - but the problem is it is EVEN HARDER to get a party for difficult content as a Damage Dealer than it is as a so-so bard.

[Camiie]

Speaking as a Carnwenhan 119, Gjallarhorn 99, Daurdabla 90(working way to 99). A new 3 song instrument without any buff to Daurdabla is a slap in the face.

By your reasoning every DD with an RME was slapped in the face when Adoulin came out. You had a much longer wait before your dominance was challenged, so you really have nothing to complain about.

As a career brd I strived to be the best bard possible. But if SE is going to make easier to get instruments, just because people want 3 songs brds, you'll get fewer and fewer career brds.

I think you're mistaking the word career for princess. No worries. It's a common mistake.

Just because you have 3 songs doesn't make a good brd, you still need to know how to utilize it well from timing, song orders and priorities.

If skill is more important than gear then what the heck is your problem? It sounds like you just want to shut people out of your exclusive club or something.

[Kari]

Pretty much gonna echo everything Camiie said about the situation.

To begin with, Getting a 90 Daurd isn't hard. It's a bit time consuming.
I'd imagine the new instrument might be more on the difficult side with less time.
The difference is you will never get 2 songs with the new instrument, just 1.

If this new instrument required a lot less money/time and gave 2 songs, then you'd have a legitimate reason to whine.