test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Options
Closing the gap between received or purchased and max level gear
fleetcaptain5
Member Posts: 4,804 Arc User
Gear received from the lobi store, lock box packages, missions, fleet holdings and the random reputation boxes are still obtained at Mk XII. This made them a bit redundant when MK 14 was the highest obtainable mark, but now it seems even more urgent that this is updated to reflect the ongoing evolution of the game.
Mission rewards and random reputation boxes are not purchased so one might argue that the gap is a bit more acceptable here.
- Fleet gear, given how expensive it is to build all the holdings, should definitely not lag behind so much.
The same could be argued to some extent with regard to the lock box weapons, these even advertise in their description that they are level appropriate items (which they haven't been for a long time btw, as it even happens quite often that you receive a MK 11 item - which has to be a bug).
- Lobi store, same story. This is the most expensive gear in the game, it shouldn't lag behind so much in terms of Mark and even quality in some cases.
Mission rewards and random reputation boxes are not purchased so one might argue that the gap is a bit more acceptable here.
[4:46] [Combat {self}] Your Haymaker deals 23337 (9049) Physical Damage(Critical) to Spawnmother
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Silly question, but WHY are they (Mk XII gear) redundant and in need of an update?
Has the game progressed to the point where one really needs Mark XIV or XV gear to finish content in the game?
Or is the higher mark for gear simply the honey to keep the DPS chaser and PVP bears busy.
If the answer is the former then your suggestion is justified, but if it is the latter (which it is...) then increasing the marks from rewards, drops and lobi would be a bad business practice since all the people who want XIV/XV gear no longer have to upgrade the gear they got.
As for Fleet Gear, it's totally fine. It comes at Ultra Rare Mark XII, if you upgrade it on an upgrade weekend it takes a few measly kits to get to Mark XV. It only gets pricey if you then try and push it to Epic, but honestly, that's not necessary.
I agree that Lobi Gear needs a bump, but fleet stuff is fine. It costs peanuts and if you wait to upgrade it till the right time it's dirt cheap.
For the rest I'm fine with the way it is, upgrading is part of the game and there needs to be a place for it in endgame as well.
With 'redundant' I meant that any gear that is bought at Mk 12, is inferior to gear of Mk 15 you might already have.
Changing a build, trying out something new etc. means that you are always starting with stuff that's much less powerful compared to what you have, if you have a fully upgraded build.
That doesn't promote experimentation, trying out a new item from an episode or exploring new builds. It just seems odd to me to release so much new stuff at a Mark that's far below what many players probably already have. And a bit unfair too in the case of the stuff that's pretty expensive to obtain.
I realise I'm at risk of provoking the infamous 'entitlement' counter-argument here, but don't players to some extent deserve to get their gear at a Mark that is truly end-game and level-appropriate? Especially in the cases where it specifically says it is?
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Building on that... yes, gear can be upgraded. At, for most players, huge costs though.
Those who have replied here so far are all (and I myself am a) veteran(s) of the game with undoubtly enough resources or the builds to quickly obtain them and what they want. Those who are still in the process of acquiring everything they need, will likely wonder why they have to go through the process of levelling their reputations, getting access to fleet stores or collecting lobi - only to find out that the gear they get is still far from being finished.
And while it is true that Mk 12 gear can get you far enough - the game has been rebalanced around the fact that Mk 14 and 15 gear is available. Mk 12 gear may be sufficient for experienced players, the game is not the same it was when Mk 12 gear was the best gear available.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying that gear should be obtained easily at Mk 15 epic quality and suggesting that the upgrade system should be made redundant. I'm merely saying that, taking into account that the game has developed and changed significantly in the past couple of years with respect to gear level and quality, some rebalancing of the rewards might make sense.
Cause, basically, we are being rewarded with the equivalent of Mk X or IX gear when Mk XII was the maximum mark. (For some episode sets Mk XI might have been the standard, it's quite some time ago already but I'm pretty sure that fleet gear always came at Mk 12 UR quality.) We are, simply said, getting less in return for the resources we spend cause again, the game has been rebalanced around the availability of higher mk and quality gear.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Newer players already find themselves to be very much behind those who have been here for years. There are ever more reputations, more episode arcs to get through, more items needed on a single ship and unless you were here during the Temporal recruitment event (which, admittedly, may be rerun next year just like Delta was this year) there are many benefits you just don't have as a newer player.
While there have been some improvements too (like the Phoenix box), I feel that the increasing divergence between what can be considered the standard Mk that gear is obtained at (12) on the one hand, and what is increasingly becoming the new normal in terms of what the game is balanced around (14/15) is not a good development.
Maybe there are plans to do something like this as part of the sixth tier of reputations that has been announced, so maybe they are aware of it. If not however, then I think some other form of countering this divergence should be considered.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Finally, after Delta Rising was released, some episodes did give out Mk XIII gear when you first played them. So obviously, the developers did recognise that it was fair/logical/a good idea/whatever to bring the rewards up to the new maximum to some extent.
But it has been done only very limitedly.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
My character Tsin'xing
"Behind other players" really only matters for PVP, which almost no one plays.
For normal content, Mark XII is fine and leveling up gear gives new players something to work towards. If gear was XV out of the box then someone who only wants to play one Federation captain will be done "too soon" and will be posting here about there being "nothing left to do."
And allbesides, if this were an actual issue, experienced players would actually want all their gear to start at mk1, to make it easier to gold.
Yep, I leveled a new captain just past the tutorial so that I could open a bunch of lock box gear and have them be mark II instead of XII.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
Not saying I agree with everything the OP says, but when posters start equating upgraded gear with "DPS chasing", "PvP', or queues that are "auto-win and barely ever worth playing in the first place" it makes one wonder what the root source of their angst is with respect to said gear.
Without even involving mark, I try my best over time to make my own toons as effective as possible for advanced space and some elite ground so that I can best contribute to my team's effectiveness and success. That's it. It's not about numbers, the color of the gear, winning, ranking, or anything else. Your mileage may vary
Of course I agree with the growing gap between upgraded and not upgraded stuff but I am under the impression that it is fully intended that way and is likely to increase even more in the future. One can only salute those who don't tend to upgrades.
It should also be noted that this growing mk/quality gap is nothing compared to the gap we have between best to slot items and worst to slot ones on a build.
At least the source where everything comes from is fairly distributed. On high end builds you see a more or less even mix of fleet, reputation, lobi and free (from story, event) stuff. At least they got that part right for sure.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
The reason some people equate high-end builds with DPS leagues or PvP is because you just don't need that much for anything else. Making easy queues easier is of course an option in and of itself and everyone's personal choice. I'd just prefer there to be a little more to achieve by improving your build than that. Some challenging, and rewarding, content that would put all the power creep to good use.
Years later and we have another increase to the mk cap and yet NONE of the VIL rewards were 13.
Cryptic are leaving it to players and peer pressure to push the increase of mk and upgrading in general because none of the mission they've added to the game have ever come across as saying "maybe its time you upgraded"
Only change I'd make to fleet gear is "unique equip" to reduce the console stacking, purely to see the wails of hate and anguish as a result.
Which (as you know) is better since it's much harder to increase rarity than level.
It was BS.
The strangest thing is that it seems to be account-wide too.
So even if you have a toon that has never played a mission yet, the regular rewards (so excluding Gaul's weapon for example) will be of lower quality.
I have many toons that have never played a single DR mission and yet the mission journal displays blue quality gear for all of them.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
the upgrade from MK XI to MK XV is too expensive.
For someone who has only 1 character, everything is too expensive, + it's not easy at all when you reach lvl65 with MK XII weapons to do the missions: you have no starship traits, no specialization, no rep gears.
of course, you don't need all the shiny stuff, but without those stuff, the game is nonexistent like we don't have endgame contents excepted those awful stfs. the primary goal is to grab items/gears to kill the borg as fast as possible in isa/kva etc
You do want to feel like you are actually playing a game. Not just vaporizing things, right?
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin