AQ3D Level scaled items, are they good for the game?

I think the implementation's a bit poor.

The first issue I see is that the item's Power doesn't really give a clear indication for the usefulness of the item, especially since the values may differ by 5 points for items that are about equally useful. Like what even determines Power in the first place? What if a weapon with less Power but more crit does better in combat than a weapon with more Power but less crit? Or other specializations like a defense build vs. a health build, but of slightly different Powers? And what if you have two items with the same Power, but one item has a little more extra stats? It was usually easier to compare items by their level, and if the items were the same level, you generally knew which item was going to be better by viewing the item by quality color. The whole Power thing makes it more confusing, because you don't really know what Power indicates, but you do know what level indicates since level represents progression.

The second issue is that some of the changes AE has made with scaling maps has made it a bit more tedious to do quests. It used to be easier to go into a Daily Boss map and kill monsters relatively quickly with level 27 gear at level 29 with since the map itself scaled you down, but now the map itself scales the stats of the monsters to approximately your level and your gear is about the same, and if you're still using level 27 gear at level 29, you'll find battles to take longer than before.

 

Wait so does this mean that if a new player gets some grindy set item early on in the game for good stats, example level 15, they would have to get it again after they leveled up for the new improved stats ?
Also I think the scaling is nice but it can be improved. The easier dungeons like whitaker forest now are tedious to run through even with a group, I don't understand how this helps us or makes getting better stats worth it because dungeons get tougher as you do too.

 

I'd much prefer items be indicated by level rather than by power. Level's something that's easier for players to relate to, because higher level items tend to be better anyway, and level is a form of progression. The whole power thing just looks like a mess, and the numbers indicated for the power of an item don't really help with anything. It sort of gives a general idea of how useful an item is, but it's a bit annoying when you're scrolling through your inventory and all you see is a bunch of numbers in the hundreds.

I can sort of see why they went with Power, since items aren't fixed at a particular level anymore, but they can still use level as an indicator. They would just have to differentiate between level relative to the stats vs. level required to equip the item.

 

Oh okay thank you for telling me. I understand this is necessary for balance, but I can't seem to point out why I still feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea, probably in regard to new players. Do you think there's ways to implement this better in some way ?

 

That does make sense. I have a friend who's just starting out and I'm trying to help considering these things. Thank you !