Loot drops to your ego level?

[Hanakawa]

From my experience in the closed beta and alpha tests, I found that as you progress through the areas, you start to find better gear on the vendors and in the co-ops. However by better, it does not mean what you would expect from a traditional mmorpg.

I was around EGO 120 and did a co-op with someone of almost 1000 that I hadn't even unlocked yet, and was not doing no damage to the mobs. This surprised me, but that's simply how the game works. Weapons are weapons, and although the base damage and stats can vary somewhat from one to the other of the same type, they do not change depending on the "level" of the weapon. I was also confused by this. I did notice, however, that the higher "level" of the piece of gear, like weapons, for example, the more moddable it was as well as a better chance of having better stats overall, although they would not be largely different as a lower "level" one of same type as I mentioned.

As far as the things you see on vendors and in co-ops, I noticed that you start to see more weapons of higher ranks, aka colors, such as blues, purples, and oranges. As explained in a previous post, these start to have "Synergies", which are like effects and set bonuses. So if you can equip two items, let's say, with a synergy on them, you'd get the (2) bonus on an item that has it.

So basically the game will take some getting used to when it comes to gear for people that are expecting the usual mmorpg gear progression. Believe me, this does not diminish the enjoyment of finding and getting new gear. There's a whole deal to upgrading them through mods, as well as the fact that certain weapons of even the same type fire differently and their scopes can look different, etc. It's a fun system to work with as you play.

[fang1192]

Sry, but you wrong.

Look this:

http://www.arkfalls.com/defiance-lev...-rating-1-150/

and

http://www.arkfalls.com/defiance-lev...a-ego-150-250/

You do realize those guides are just for efficient leveling right?

[Arsenic_Touch]

Gear will scale, to what extent is anyone's guess. Stats and weapons during the beta do not reflect real game values. Sledge made that comment when someone made a thread petitioning for better stats and loot progression.

[Avenger]

From my experience in the closed beta and alpha tests, I found that as you progress through the areas, you start to find better gear on the vendors and in the co-ops. However by better, it does not mean what you would expect from a traditional mmorpg.

I was around EGO 120 and did a co-op with someone of almost 1000 that I hadn't even unlocked yet, and was not doing no damage to the mobs. This surprised me, but that's simply how the game works. Weapons are weapons, and although the base damage and stats can vary somewhat from one to the other of the same type, they do not change depending on the "level" of the weapon. I was also confused by this. I did notice, however, that the higher "level" of the piece of gear, like weapons, for example, the more moddable it was as well as a better chance of having better stats overall, although they would not be largely different as a lower "level" one of same type as I mentioned...

That answered a question I had, noticing that items I was finding were higher EGO levels but the stats weren't noticeably greater. I don't know if the EGO level becomes a restriction to other players, since I only ever found items for my own character and did not trade.

Shields seemed to be an exception that did seem to increase in both overall power and recharge rate - what I found at EGO 50 were much better than I started with, while those at EGO 100 were better still. I don't know if that was just down to the random generation, or if those are intended to increase with level.

[Grimwyrd]

Hmm. Where to even begin?

A "0 EGO" bolt-action sniper rifle will have a damage of 1271. A "1000 EGO" bolt-action sniper rifle of the same model will also have a damage of 1271.

So what progresses? The higher EGO gun likely has a barrel mod slot. That barrel mod slot may have a tier 1, 2, or 3 modification in it. That modification may have a synergy bonus on it. The higher EGO gun will likely have at least one inherent bonus. It will probably have two bonuses if it's purple, one of those bonuses may be an inherent synergy bonus. The high EGO gun may have inherent elemental effect (fire, electricity, etc) for both range and melee.

As for your character, you will have more Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle skill. You will have more Perk slots, so can equip more passive powers at once.

The NPCs do not change in response to any of the above. They only scale based on the number of people around.

If you take a character up to 1000 EGO, equip a bunch of fully-learned Perks, raise your Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle skill to 20, get a nice purple/orange bolt-action sniper rifle, fully mod that rifle with good synergy mods... you will come back to Mt. Tam and "faceroll" mutants. And they will drop 1000-EGO weapons.

And if you make a new character after that, and run around Mt. Tam... you will say, "Oh, I guess there is some progression in this game after-all."

[Santana Ortega]

It is my understanding that even though the weapon stats look alike there are DIFFERENT levels of weapons.
Yes the base stat ie. damage is the same per weapon type, but there might be a slight difference in the reload or crit chance or some other stat associated with the weapon type.
Mods can drastically change that weapon to be vastly superior to another of the same type depending on what you plug into it.
various level weapons also have 0-4 mod slots making what looks like the same stats in a base weapon completely different when you plug in a mod.

Lastly you level weapons. While you use a weapon it gains exp per kill I believe, up to it's exp cap where it stops.
From that exp you gain weapon bonuses.

So yes weapons are somewhat the same in their catagory but vastly different when you look at them more.

[Bluegobln]

Ugh, I hope it isn't like that. I think they are going overboard with the whole EGO 1 being able to kill an EGO 5000. They should really differentiate PvE and PvP so we can get better stats in PvE and feel more powerful. If not, the game is gonna be VERY repetitive because we never get anymore powerful then EGO 1.

When they update the game in the future, I really hope this is what they focus on. Making characters feel more powerful at higher EGO ratings and adding more loot with more powerful stats than just +1 rate of fire or +5 ammo clip, AKA /yawn.

Because you lack the imagination to create such a system you do not believe it is possible for someone else to do it. You are wrong. It is very possible, even a superior design, to allow an EGO 1 to kill an EGO 5000. Part of you denies this is balanced, because clearly the EGO 5000 has put more effort into their character. However, that is completely unfair to the EGO 1, who has clearly in this example OUT PLAYED the EGO 5000 by a large margin. If you out play someone, you should be rewarded for that. How would you feel if this imagined situation was reversed - you are unable to kill anyone because you're a newb, and thus nobody wants you in their party or anywhere near their farm spots, or anywhere else, until you've grinded out 5000 EGO. No... no no no no no.

And don't think for a second that being EGO 5000 will not give you SIGNIFICANT advantages over other players of lower EGO. Just because the stats YOU think matter most on weapons do not change does not mean that there are no weapon upgrades or item upgrades in the game. +5 clip absolutely can make a huge difference in a fight. How about +50 clip size, eh? Yeah, that's right, used your friggin imagination and stop limiting the scope of what is possible to things you can come up with by yourself.

THIS IS NOT WORLD OF WARCRAFT. Please for the love of god, if I wanted to play that I would play it. I don't want to EVER have to level my character up to a new EGO and somehow that causes my whole character to RESET, making my previous gear worthless each time it happens.

This game also has no classes. It has starting points on a completely open branching "tree" of skills, and that's it. I swear the next person I see asking what class is best to start as I am going to punch a hole in my wall. Asking the developers to change something like the items or weapons in the game is right up there with that. NO. Do not change that. There are almost ZERO games like this out there nowadays, and there are hundreds that are the other way(s). Leave the one game who's mechanics and design fit MY desires alone please - go play something else if you don't like it.

[Arsenic_Touch]

Hmm. Where to even begin?

A "0 EGO" bolt-action sniper rifle will have a damage of 1271. A "1000 EGO" bolt-action sniper rifle of the same model will also have a damage of 1271.

So what progresses? The higher EGO gun likely has a barrel mod slot. That barrel mod slot may have a tier 1, 2, or 3 modification in it. That modification may have a synergy bonus on it. The higher EGO gun will likely have at least one inherent bonus. It will probably have two bonuses if it's purple, one of those bonuses may be an inherent synergy bonus. The high EGO gun may have inherent elemental effect (fire, electricity, etc) for both range and melee.

As for your character, you will have more Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle skill. You will have more Perk slots, so can equip more passive powers at once.

The NPCs do not change in response to any of the above. They only scale based on the number of people around.

If you take a character up to 1000 EGO, equip a bunch of fully-learned Perks, raise your Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle skill to 20, get a nice purple/orange bolt-action sniper rifle, fully mod that rifle with good synergy mods... you will come back to Mt. Tam and "faceroll" mutants. And they will drop 1000-EGO weapons.

And if you make a new character after that, and run around Mt. Tam... you will say, "Oh, I guess there is some progression in this game after-all."

No. That is not at all true. The stats during the beta DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT reflect the real values for the game. They are different. People need to stop posting absolutes as if they know what's what because sledge clearly said the values will be changing.

[Raserei]

Because you lack the imagination to create such a system you do not believe it is possible for someone else to do it. You are wrong. It is very possible, even a superior design, to allow an EGO 1 to kill an EGO 5000. Part of you denies this is balanced, because clearly the EGO 5000 has put more effort into their character. However, that is completely unfair to the EGO 1, who has clearly in this example OUT PLAYED the EGO 5000 by a large margin. If you out play someone, you should be rewarded for that. How would you feel if this imagined situation was reversed - you are unable to kill anyone because you're a newb, and thus nobody wants you in their party or anywhere near their farm spots, or anywhere else, until you've grinded out 5000 EGO. No... no no no no no.

And don't think for a second that being EGO 5000 will not give you SIGNIFICANT advantages over other players of lower EGO. Just because the stats YOU think matter most on weapons do not change does not mean that there are no weapon upgrades or item upgrades in the game. +5 clip absolutely can make a huge difference in a fight. How about +50 clip size, eh? Yeah, that's right, used your friggin imagination and stop limiting the scope of what is possible to things you can come up with by yourself.

THIS IS NOT WORLD OF WARCRAFT. Please for the love of god, if I wanted to play that I would play it. I don't want to EVER have to level my character up to a new EGO and somehow that causes my whole character to RESET, making my previous gear worthless each time it happens.

This game also has no classes. It has starting points on a completely open branching "tree" of skills, and that's it. I swear the next person I see asking what class is best to start as I am going to punch a hole in my wall. Asking the developers to change something like the items or weapons in the game is right up there with that. NO. Do not change that. There are almost ZERO games like this out there nowadays, and there are hundreds that are the other way(s). Leave the one game who's mechanics and design fit MY desires alone please - go play something else if you don't like it.

All I ask is for a 4 strength, 4 stam leather belt. UHHH! Level 17!? UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZAG6S7StO8

[Grimwyrd]

No. That is not at all true. The stats during the beta DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT reflect the real values for the game. They are different. People need to stop posting absolutes as if they know what's what because sledge clearly said the values will be changing.

The exact stats may change, but I sincerely doubt that they would change the entire progression system of the game.

And I certainly have never seen sledgehammer70 say that the "base stats" of a weapon would increase with its EGO-rating. The bells and whistles change, you may even get access to new types of weapons, but the base stats of a weapon do not change with its EGO-rating.

This is not a game where the "7th-level sword does 12 damage" and the "12th-level sword does 16 damage".