Gear Progression Continues to Make Little Sense

[Kogasan]

Problem is why does SE only think there are only 2 types of players out there the hard core and the casual. I think se should realize not everyone that's not a HC is a casual. I consider myself half way between the two which I call intermediate. Why doesn't se ever consider doing a raid for this type of people.

[Kaedan]

Problem is why does SE only think there are only 2 types of players out there the hard core and the casual. I think se should realize not everyone that's not a HC is a casual. I consider myself half way between the two which I call intermediate. Why doesn't se ever consider doing a raid for this type of people.

They do, it's called Alex Normal. I mean really, try to complete A1 or A4 with a group of nothing but casuals and yourself sometime... it's not going to work out well, even after you explain it.

[Asmodaeus]

Aside from the weird ilvl jumps, gear progression in this game is the most least spectacular thing I have been part of for a long time. I know RNG loot drops can be a pain, but buying everything (ugly and not BiS Savage aside) with tomes, farmed in easy mode dungeons has no real "WOW" factor. It´s just a thing you do, end of story. When everyone has most of the AF set / savage complete there will already be other stuff on the horizon.

And don´t let me talk about the "Great" raid dungeon Alexander aka have 4 rooms with a boss. This is just really bad compared to a real raid dungeon like WoW Ulduar. There is no "epic" feeling to these little rooms with ugly/random bosses inside. I wouldn´t even call it a raid.

[Krylo]

And don´t let me talk about the "Great" raid dungeon Alexander aka have 4 rooms with a boss. This is just really bad compared to a real raid dungeon like WoW Ulduar. There is no "epic" feeling to these little rooms with ugly/random bosses inside. I wouldn´t even call it a raid.

So you. . . like fighting trash, then?

[Asmodaeus]

So you. . . like fighting trash, then?

I like fighting hard trash with 1 - 2 special mechanics who also have a chance to drop a zone wide epic item. Running through a huge dungeon where you see a few trash packs makes the whole "stronghold" also much more believable and give it a feeling of being a living thing instead of boss rush mode. Even the dungeons feel more epic because you are actually "going" for the boss. For me it´s a really huge let down but to each it´s own I guess.

[Lewtz]

Or you can craft/gather for 72 weeks and be in ilvl 180 crafting gear . ..O wait.. 190 allrdy beats that let alone 200 and 210.. wow https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...o2zHph6ao/edit

[Zfz]

• Top tier progression: Get 170, upgrade to 180, get a few 190, get 210 and buy some 200 to upgrade to 210 on the side.
• Second tier progression: Get 170, upgrade to 180, get 190 and eventually buy full 200s.
• Third tier progression: Get 170, upgrade to 180, and eventually buy full 200s.

There's really only 2 tiers of gear progression, 190 gear is for glamour.

Note that the op is talking about gear progression. Not content progression. With content progression, there's only one path and we're just all on different points of that same path. Every other patch we get a nice little Service Area called 24-player raid.

[Peekachu33]

There's simply too many tiers of gear at the moment, and the problem will only worsen. It's bad implementation and design.

[Verius_Nox]

It's actually really simple if you put your brain to work.

Esoterics are currently being given away as rewards for the expert roulette. I think we can all safely agree that it's considerably easier than Alexander to complete those dungeons. Yet the rewards it gives are higher than those given by Alexander, for doing easier content. Are we following the logic yet?

The big problem with the rewards system in Alexander is it is strongly gated. You're restricted to one drop per zone per week. In the case of the body piece, you'll need several weeks to obtain enough items since they only drop on one floor. You can literally get enough esoterics to upgrade your body armor in a faster time than you could running Alex.

You're right, it is actually simple if you put your brain to work, how about you start trying?

For one, yes farming dungeons and what not is easier to get the tokens for Esoterics gear, and still takes a couple weeks for one piece of gear. You can still get belt, boots/head/gloves, and an accessory in a single week of Alexander. Who is to say you need to spend the 4 weeks of A4 shafts on a body piece for your main?

As I said, it's more gearing options. You can get springs first and second week, buy Alexander pants, and put esoterics towards a body piece. Get belt, and an accessory first week, get hat, boots, or hands second week. Within two weeks, you geared up well enough to get started into Savage. Any new player coming into the scene doesn't have to wait as long as you used to have to wait to be caught up enough to start raiding with decent gear.

If you don't want to do Alexander story for gear, then don't. There is nothing that tells you that you have to do something, but it's there as an option.

Let me repeat it for you so you understand well enough. Option

[Craiger]

It makes perfect sense.

They wanted Alex Normal to serve some purpose for both casual and hardcore players...

It's obviously for casual players to experience story, and to give them something more to do every week, other than dungeons. For casual players, Alex normal is a good addition.

For hardcore players, Alex normal serves more as a filler for being able to progress in Alex Savage early on.

I don't understand why people are surprised that Esoteric gear is higher ilvl than Alex normal... you do realize that you can get full Alex normal gear in 5 weeks, while getting Esoteric gear will take months?

If Alex normal gear was same ilvl as Esoteric, we would all be too close to the maximum ilvl for this patch. You get Esoteric gear so slowly, so that raids doesn't become too easy too early.

Like have been mentioned, Alex Normal is just like 8 man CT or something, it's not some endgame raid that deserves high ilvl gear. That gear is important though, cause try progressing in Savage the coming weeks without that 190 gear... You won't do it.