Quote Originally Posted by Alhanelem View Post
I'm not aware of any differences in the afterglow effect at different stages. The vast majority of us didn't even get afterglow until after the fully complete versions became available.

Even the first afterglow wasn't just a visual, it did have a status effect (granted to everyone other than yourself). But these effects were specifically designed and set to be a minor perk (in part because they don't affect the user), not an important effect that's instrumental to game mechanics.
It's not the afterglow effect; it's that 119 I, with no afterglow, and 119 III, with afterglow, have different stats. Technically I guess you could make the 119 II and have the afterglow without those stats, upgrading from the afterglow 99 version, but... well, again, paying a fortune for something you don't have to. For most people, they make the weapon, feed Oboro his stones to upgrade it to ilvl119, and then afterglow is less about the Afterglow status and flashy aura, and more about, for example, +24 DMG, +15 magic accuracy, +115 magic damage, and +27 dagger, parrying, and magic accuracy skill.

If you could get that stat bump without also getting afterglow, then yeah, afterglow would still be pointless and just cosmetic, but since you can't... purpose.