What happens to our iLevels?

[Ultimatecalibur]

The Chrysalis has an i90 requirement this implies that the minimum expected ilevel for a 50 heading into the Heavensward areas will be around i100. The current high level and expert dungeons as well as CT and Coil should end up being good sources of XP and gear when leveling from 50 to 60.

The Post-50/Pre-60 dungeons will likely drop i110 and i120 green gear and have ilevel requirements of i100 and i110 and the AF2 sets will likely be i130.

i130/i135 will likely be entry level endgame gear for Heavensward with Alexander's first stage giving out i140 in NM and i150 in HM once it is released with the new token gear giving the same.

Do not expect a repeat of what happened with WoW and Burning Crusade. What happened there is commonly agreed to have been one of the worst mistakes in MMO developement.

[Nutz]

The Post-50/Pre-60 dungeons will likely drop i110 and i120 green gear and have ilevel requirements of i100 and i110 and the AF2 sets will likely be i130.

I think this is a bit off. I don't see them releasing new tome gear (which it sounds like the new AF will be) that's the same ilvl as current gear (Poetics and Dreadwyrm). Even if there weren't an expansion, just a 2.6 patch we'd be getting i140 gear upgradeable to i150, going by the current pattern (and i150 raid gear if there were more Coil). I'd say at a minimum the new AF/ Alexander gear will be i150 (possibly after upgrade), but probably higher to fit in some gear progression between 50 and 60.

I would expect that, assuming previous trends continue in some respect, there will be a set of unlimited tomes and capped tomes probably with entirely new gear and the unlimited tomes gear will be an upgrade for everyone (ie. bested only by the gear form capped tomes and either version of Alexander). Probably a 'darklight 2' set purchased with the uncapped tomes at ~ilvl 150 and the new AF purchased with capped tomes at ~ilvl 170.

There could be a greater disparity though, as Yoshida has commented about wanting a wider range of gear available at varying item levels including competitive crafted gear, dungeon drops, tome gear, both versions of Alexander (unclear if there will be a difference in gear rewards but seems likely), and the new 24-man raid. It sounded to me a bit like he doesn't want any sets to share the same ilvl as any other set, but hopefully he was actually talking about diversifying itemization instead (one could hope).

[Dyne_Fellpool]

I always thought it was weird that iLvs suddenly start going up by 5's at lvl 50. It seems so arbitrary.

They could just change it to go up by 1's (so i100 would be i60 and i135 would be i67 but still have the same stats as now) and it would take a lot longer for iLvs to outpace real Lvs and get up to ridiculous numbers.

[Ultimatecalibur]

I think this is a bit off. I don't see them releasing new tome gear (which it sounds like the new AF will be) that's the same ilvl as current gear (Poetics and Dreadwyrm). Even if there weren't an expansion, just a 2.6 patch we'd be getting i140 gear upgradeable to i150, going by the current pattern (and i150 raid gear if there were more Coil). I'd say at a minimum the new AF/ Alexander gear will be i150 (possibly after upgrade), but probably higher to fit in some gear progression between 50 and 60.

My point is that we should not expect growth higher than i130 before level 60 endgame. The required ilevel for Heavensward will be starting from i100 (i.e. Keeper of the Lake's rewards) meaning that there are still 2 ilevel sets before i130 gear is required.
I'm expecting the AF2 sets to be Job quest rewards or a dungeon token trade in similar to how AF1.5 is now and not tome gear (though the new tome gear with ilevel equal to Alexander's rewards may be dyeable enhanced versions, but I doubt that) because they are already being advertised.

I would expect that, assuming previous trends continue in some respect, there will be a set of unlimited tomes and capped tomes probably with entirely new gear and the unlimited tomes gear will be an upgrade for everyone (ie. bested only by the gear form capped tomes and either version of Alexander). Probably a 'darklight 2' set purchased with the uncapped tomes at ~ilvl 150 and the new AF purchased with capped tomes at ~ilvl 170.

I doubt that. Poetics will likely be made unlimited and a new tomestone/tomestone like will be introduced to purchase the Alexander NM equivalent ilevel gear from (which can then be upgraded with a token gained from Alexander HM).

I always thought it was weird that iLvs suddenly start going up by 5's at lvl 50. It seems so arbitrary.

They could just change it to go up by 1's (so i100 would be i60 and i135 would be i67 but still have the same stats as now) and it would take a lot longer for iLvs to outpace real Lvs and get up to ridiculous numbers.

Ilevel is a factor in the gear stat formula.

[Intaki]

My point is that we should not expect growth higher than i130 before level 60 endgame. The required ilevel for Heavensward will be starting from i100 (i.e. Keeper of the Lake's rewards) meaning that there are still 2 ilevel sets before i130 gear is required.

If anything the standard ilevel for 50+ content will be i90+, since that is all you need to do Keeper of the Lake.

I have a feeling we will see the ilevel 90 AF+ gear be placed into the MSQ as quest rewards to the make the transition easier for new players.

[Dyne_Fellpool]

Ilevel is a factor in the gear stat formula.

Yeah but that is so easily adjusted. Even if its just for lv 50+ gear.

[ProphetMagnus]

I think whole thing is going to reset. So like right now its level 50 Ilevel 130, but next set would be like level 60 ilevel 70-90
It would still be stronger as its now level 60 and otherwise we would be getting to ilevel 200's and shit in future.
This way they can keep that number low and still be stronger gear.

This would be my preference for how things progressed. I do acknowledge that they'll have to come up with a way to circumvent the Duty Finder iLevel - Maybe have it "iLevel x" or actual level x (51-60).

But I would rather see a "soft reset" on the iLevels rather than go up to 150-200+

[FoxyAreku]

pretty much the same with any other MMO level 51 gear > all 50 gear. All ilvl 130/135 will be beaten by standard 51 gear.

That's not all MMOs.

For example in the current expansion of WoW, raid gear from Mists doesn't get replaced til like level 96 or so.

We'll replace it by the time we hit 60, but it'll help during leveling.

[Gyson]

Before someone jumps in with "WoW did this, so XIV will be the same," Yoshida said in his PAX interview with Famitsu that current gear will not be replaced as soon as you hit 51. So while 135 gear will probably be replaced by the time you hit 60, I can't imagine it happening immediately, especially since the MSQ only requires up to 90.

Which is exactly what WoW does. If you have some of the *best equipment available prior to the launch of an expansion* in WoW, generally that gear will be better than most of the gear you obtain during your trip through the first 4-7 new levels of the 10 available.

[Animarelic]

Pretty sure a full ilv 130 player can get to at least lv 55 before they are forced to upgrade. I see them doing it that way to get us to adjust to gearing again in small steps instead of just tossing us in a dungeon/situation where the difficulty leaps and something nearly one shots you. Also they have to make the crafters viable at some point before 60 as well.