Low Level items need a boost!

[Zedine]

So after playing a lot as level 50 and being at ilvl 88 gear I have yet to wonder what patch 2.2 and the future holds for FF gear.

The issue I see is the huge jump in ilvl once you hit 50. If patch 2.2 has coil turns 6-10, assuming level cap stays the same, then we will be seeing ilvl gear that will be at 100 or even 110. That is a 60 item level difference from your character. Yet sadly we don't see that for low levels. I think the best jump in ilvl is Cactuar Earing and Moogle Earrings.(level 1 items and ilvl 11 and they are common!) Besides that most scarce and aetherial items are 1-5 item levels above the item requirement level.

I think this game could use more items like this, making low level more interesting, or giving us items we want to use on several classes/jobs that are hard to obtain but well worth the reward.

Then there are some items that although I like them are totally useless. Like Behemoth and Odin items. They are marginally difficult to obtain and totally useless. They should be lvl 30 or 40 items and ilvl 55 like they are, so at least you could use them while leveling and they would help. By the time you actually get a group to beat Odin the items are just for show since your gear is way better.

Another suggestion I have is have the items we find in dungeons be used in crafts. This will encourage all players to level up crafts since most items are untradeable. For example if I have all the Tank scarce items from paladin, when I leveled my warrior, it was pretty much the exact same gear. There was nothing better. I have armorer at 50 and I always had the best gear. It would be nice that my 2nd time around I could have used those items to make better items.

HQ crafted gear with materia is (usually) always better than scarce (green) gear. I believe the best gear for low level was the coliseum gear since it also had materia slots. I find it odd that you can have HQ common gear on par or better than Scarce gear.

Although I know this is not FFXI and people will complain about me comparing the two, but I honestly miss items like Leaping Boots, I'm not asking to add NM's or HNM's just items similar. I remember being able to use items for 20 levels because they were that good. You would see someone with them and know they are trying their best to be good at their job. Now most people just gear up with what drops, there is hardly any above and beyond.

How to apply this to FFXIV, for example we have Foestriker boots, level 15 ilvl 17, what if we had a rare version (blue) that was ilvl 30 and its stat bonuses were more along the lines of Infantry boots but with defense like foe strikers.

How can these items be obtained with out damaging the established game framework? It' simple (in my opinion). Materials can drop in dungeons and you can have quests that help you upgrade your items. You would need to collect dropped items craft an additional item then take both and have them upgraded. This will not saturate the market it will remove over crowding of inventory space as you will only have the best on you as you progress in the game.

However if you do want to make the items sellable, I think it will encourage high level players to keep doing lower level instances. They would go, get the low level item, use their crafter to upgrade them, then sell them. I think crafting is almost useless for gear as no crafted gear is on par to end game gear, and the few gear that is, like i said again is 20+ item levels with materia slots.

We can also have items drop through the treasure hunt, or we can have them drop at a low % in the original dungeon. Instead of the same items always dropping sometimes you get a blue or HQ version of the scarce item.

I think this will make leveling your alternate jobs and crafts a lot more fun.

Let me know what you guys think.

[Edellis]

The only thing i wish?

a) Armory Bonus provides a reduction in level-requirement of low-level gear

or

b) Armory bonus provides more than 50% exp gain for dungeons

or

c) Armory bonus provides an ease up of the level syncing of alts.


The only problem with this game is, the initial 1-50 leveling is so breezy and has so much momentum, but alt-leveling feels like any other grind-based MMO because there is nothing to do and no matter how far ahead your alt is, you're pulled backwards because of how Level Sync works.


Level Sync works for keeping content fresh for newcomers, but it is a deathstroke for Alt Leveling. The game starts at level 50, but getting there shouldn't be so boring for Alts. There is NOTHING to do.

[Zedine]

Well lets assume you level an alternate and you never level sync, you just go up in the dungeons as you level. Since you have done most of the dungeons already you are pretty much repeating the same grind with nothing to gain besides EXP. I think it would be cool to be able to get Extra treasure in lower level dungeons for better low level gear. At least it will be fun and it will add a new feel to the game besides the grind. I think the only reason the 1st playthrough is fast is because of the 1st time bonus on completion and all the exp from quests.

[ispano]

The thing you're missing is that the low level content is balanced around the level of gear you have at that time. As new content comes out with higher ilvl gear, the newer content is also balanced around higher ilvl gear.

[Zedine]

I understand that, what I am saying is that for the armory system having 9 jobs on top of crafters and 3 disciples of the land, it seems all the new content will be for later levels. I'm not saying thats what it will be but thats what it was. Look at 2.1 beast tribe quests start at level 43+. Thronmarch, CT and even hildebrand were all level 50 quests. There is pretty much nothing new to do at low levels. Hell even when they did the Event for lightning returns some fates were level 50 areas, and people barely starting had no chance to get those items. I don't mind adding more end game things to do. But in a game that encourages leveling all your classes it seems it lacks content for the second time around or the third time...

EDIT:: Balancing

I kinda forgot to mention the balancing aspect. I understand dungeons were to be a bit more balanced like now they rebalanced guildhest, but I'm sure they can make items that are rare enough that even if you had it it wouldnt unbalance the game drastically, and if there was a slight inbalance it was deserved since you worked hard to get that gear. Look at doing WP at 1st time level 50, versus doing WP in full Darklight Versus full CT or full i90. They rebalnaced it but the dungeon is still a walk in the park for veteran players. Why is that? because they got the items and it shows. Would that be so wrong at low levels? I mean it already happens in end game, you have a ilvl 45 average Paladin trying to tank off an ilvl 88 average dragoon. The issue already exists.