+4 is a big miss

[Alhanelem]

No new spells tied to gear

Spells shouldn't be tied to gear at all, so this is a good thing.

Idk why anyone was expecting anything dramatic though. I think it was clear from their comments that this was not going to be much more than adjusting core stat values to align more with empy.

That being said, there are some errors noted with the patch notes with items being called +5. So... we're probably getting +5 and maybe that will adjust other stats; as I'm given to understand this is isn't the entire Limbus update.

[slassi]

it actually wouldnt suprise me if they did a +5 and then did an empy +4 just so we have more gear upgrades.

and yea, at least the main stats and acc is more closer in line like you point out.......still feels a little lacking, like seriously, 35% DT from 3 empy pieces, where some jobs will be lucky to break 20% PDT total between all 5 pieces for AF or relic.....i will give them credit though, they did do a pretty huge boost to eva/MAeva

[Voidstorm]

Spells shouldn't be tied to gear at all, so this is a good thing.

Idk why anyone was expecting anything dramatic though. I think it was clear from their comments that this was not going to be much more than adjusting core stat values to align more with empy.

That being said, there are some errors noted with the patch notes with items being called +5. So... we're probably getting +5 and maybe that will adjust other stats; as I'm given to understand this is isn't the entire Limbus update.

I also do not really enjoy spells being tied to specific pieces of gear, however, I would take it over not getting the new spell at all.

We were expecting something dramatic because we have history to look to in empyrean gear. +1 > +2 was massive. far better than AF/Relic +3>+4.
AF & Relic are mostly relegated to macro swaps for specific actions and little else because they are bad to sit around in. I like many, was expecting not only minor buffs to stat/accs/evas but also additional things added to the gear. Some PDL/DA/TA/QA/sTP etc added to things and maybe add magic crit II+ to some mage pieces since that's only on a single item currently.

More than anything, I wanted to see pet jobs get a handout since Nyame is still [Rare] and we still can't change the path in Rabao.

[Alhanelem]

I also do not really enjoy spells being tied to specific pieces of gear, however, I would take it over not getting the new spell at all.

If it can be put on an item it can be given to the player some other way. While Comet is an item exclusive spell, it is also a Fenrir blood pact and has the same effects. No reason not to just make a scroll for a spell like any other, at the very least some period of time after the special item.

[slassi]

I also do not really enjoy spells being tied to specific pieces of gear, however, I would take it over not getting the new spell at all.

We were expecting something dramatic because we have history to look to in empyrean gear. +1 > +2 was massive. far better than AF/Relic +3>+4.
AF & Relic are mostly relegated to macro swaps for specific actions and little else because they are bad to sit around in. I like many, was expecting not only minor buffs to stat/accs/evas but also additional things added to the gear. Some PDL/DA/TA/QA/sTP etc added to things and maybe add magic crit II+ to some mage pieces since that's only on a single item currently.

More than anything, I wanted to see pet jobs get a handout since Nyame is still [Rare] and we still can't change the path in Rabao.

I do not think i could have ever said it that succinctly, that was really my issue with what i was trying to say originally.

[Alhanelem]

We were expecting something dramatic because we have history to look to in empyrean gear.

Well, if you weren't reading, SE was straight up there to tell us to temper those expectations, they said themselves the goal is to bring the relic/AF gear, which has lower overall stats (ignoring anything that makes them special/unique), in line with the empyrean sets. Not to make them superior. In this case, the +4 is just playing catchup, and SE themselves said that. But there's still a +5 likely coming, as we have some items erroneously labeled as +5.

I didn't expect anything dramatic because they themselves said this stuff, and I'm smart enough not to get overtly excited about announced changes in general. This is only a "big miss" for people who set their expectations too high without reading SE's comments on the matter carefully.

[CAdP_]

The problem is, for several jobs (*cough* WHM in particular), the +4, even if its boosts were more in line with the boost from +2 to +3, still isn't remotely in line with Empy +2, let alone +3. (Is this arguably more an issue of "the Empy +2/+3 for some jobs is overpowered"? Possibly, I'll grant that, but... this still feels a little off.)

[Alhanelem]

Well like I said, available evidence points to there being a second upgrade, as we know that this isn't the entire limbus update.

[Crerant]

Well like I said, available evidence points to there being a second upgrade, as we know that this isn't the entire limbus update.

Near universally the second upgrade in a given piece of content is the smaller of the two. Can't imagine that helping terribly much with how viscerally mediocre a lot of these pieces are. Some DT and a bump in the utility stats is really all i and really a lot of people wanted. Apparently it was too much to want to replace a 10 year old pair of pants with abhorrent defensive stats in a lot of my paladin casting sets.

[Alhanelem]

Near universally the second upgrade in a given piece of content is the smaller of the two

It's not uiniversal at all. All the REMAP weapons etc all get much better in their final upgrades (and remember the upgrades weren't all introduced at once) and aren't close to being useful until then; Every JSE armor I've upgraded wasn't viable until its final upgrade. The empyrean armor +2/3 are a substantial improvement over the +1 that existed before Sortie.

While I would certainly still be cautious about optimism, It wouldn't be for this reason as it's simply not true.