But I want this fantasy different! They tried so hard not to remake XI, and still created some great ideas in all this agony.
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I always thought optimal rank was lame the way it was before back when we had almost no required level gear. But now that we do have required level gear, I believe optimal rank should start to give you half or less of the benefits by at least 4 levels below, and instead even 2 levels below you get no benefits, so it basically turns the piece into required but lies to you when it says "optimal", useless, no real difference between how the two work.
While I wouldn't get rid of required because honestly optimal was bs, optimal should work differently than required if it is still to exist in the game, and it should still exist since there isn't a gear piece for each level, and they won't make one lol, so optimal is needed for time periods inbetween required gear.
The way the Optimal and Favor gear was done before, there wasn't enough incentive for a high level player to outfit differently as a new class.
With the scaling benefits, gladiators or marauders could benefit greatly from a bronze haubergeon before level 27. The gap between weapons, at the higher levels, being a level or two below your next weapon was better than the NQ one you were wielding for optimal rank.
With the impact of optimal rank or non-favored being more significant now, I believe it encourages players who want to take their lower level classes seriously, to find a set of equipment that works for them (or get power leveled through that phase if applicable). And if the stats were not the objective, the gear can still be worn, as someone said, as a vanity item.
With class requirements and level requirements, with new equipment having optimal rank, it gets kind of confusing.
We'll see what happens howe'er.
Why can I suddenly legally drink the second I turn 21 years of age? (in America)
The neat thing about optimal age is that you can perform the activity befor... wait a minute!
LOL @ OP, I'm speechless!
Not quite. The item is basically useless until you are 5 levels from optimal, after which the penalties become much smaller (item colour goes from gray to yellow, I believe). You still don't gain secondary stats until you're optimal, though.