Economy balance, or lack there of.

[RebeckaSwe]

Me again.

Why is the economy in the game so out of whack?

Who thought to set fixed prices on some items but let others be guided by an algoritm?

You want to tell me that an advanced cyberdeck costs 35k and a basic pistol with 6 slots costs 200k?

A cyberdeck lets you hack anything, anyone, do whatever you want but no - a random pistol that looks like it was used by a homeless beggar who made it his life mission to keep it in the worst possible shape imaginable costs at least 5 times the price of a legendary piece of equipment.

Or more than a car.
A shitty nova revolver costs more than an Aerondith.
Let that sink in.

 

[GVArcian]

I think the main problem here is that legendaries can be bought from vendors at all. Not very legendary, if you ask me.

 

[simon_brooke]

If you don't like the price of that revolver, don't buy it. Good weapons will come to you as you play. There's only one of my six regularly-used weapons which I actually bought, and it's probably the one I like least.

Same goes for cars. There's really no need to buy one, although I bought the Little Mule and like it a lot.

 

[Fins_FinsT]

Economy, by definition, is "careful management of available resources". And the game allows the player to do it just fine. Nothing absurd there. You don't wanna buy some overpriced piece - you don't buy it.

An absurd thing is making a poll with both and only two options being "yes", by the way. Bad poll.

 

[RebeckaSwe]

If you don't like the price of that revolver, don't buy it. Good weapons will come to you as you play. There's only one of my six regularly-used weapons which I actually bought, and it's probably the one I like least.

Same goes for cars. There's really no need to buy one, although I bought the Little Mule and like it a lot.

Completely missing the point.

Post automatically merged: Feb 15, 2021

Economy, by definition, is "careful management of available resources". And the game allows the player to do it just fine. Nothing absurd there. You don't wanna buy some overpriced piece - you don't buy it.

An absurd thing is making a poll with both and only two options being "yes", by the way. Bad poll.

You too.
It's okay though.

 

[hulkman2456]

Because the game misses lots of things with logic on purpose. Instead of being logical, they go for the block instant gratification/fun route. A gun is more money. Because that's the most common way to do a mission. While a Cyberdeck has to go through steps and planning. People don't like to do all that. They want to blast, go boom.

Here's a example: The Gorilla legs would be OP. And the only way they where able to nerf it, was to lose some logic. When they themselves made a illogical ability, double jump. The obvious thing they would be used for. Is to prevent fall deaths. But notice how we can't press double jump the moment the screen goes grey, when falling. Notice how we can't keep the anti grav boots. Notice how we can't buy scuba gear. Can't have fun.

 

[ralfetas]

For money itself, the system can be broken when you invest in crafting tree, you will create materials from nothing and the cost of the guns will be very high, soon money will be not a problem.

I think the system is ok, follow the same W3 system, in start you buy some stuff, after some hours of play you will start to just craft stuff, and perhaps, buy materials and specs from vendors.

The main problem, i think is the crafting system, is junior level, a lego game can have a more complex crafting system, in W3 the crafting system take your money, you need to run to find a material or spend a lot of money on materials, in CP the system is so basic, that you can grind for anything you want...

 

[RebeckaSwe]

You don't have to invest in crafting to "break" the system. At all.

The point of what I'm saying is how absurd the cost of the items are vs what they are/what they offer.

It ruins the immersion, big time. It's another one of those little things that make you go "huh" with a raised eyebrow.

 

[ralfetas]

You don't have to invest in crafting to "break" the system. At all.

The point of what I'm saying is how absurd the cost of the items are vs what they are/what they offer.

It ruins the immersion, big time. It's another one of those little things that make you go "huh" with a raised eyebrow.

Yes, i agreed, this is because they copy the W3 system, so when you are level 1, X gun will cost 10, when you are level 50 the X gun will cost 1000 and will make more damage, because reasons... This works in some way in W3, but still is broken when you make a NG+ there, this is mostly used in games that are melee focus, should not used in CP.

Don´t know if you already played W3, they have a very good crafting/economy system.

 

[RebeckaSwe]

Yes, i agreed, this is because they copy the W3 system, so when you are level 1, X gun will cost 10, when you are level 50 the X gun will cost 1000 and will make more damage, because reasons... This works in some way in W3, but still is broken when you make a NG+ there, this is mostly used in games that are melee focus, should not used in CP.

Don´t know if you already played W3, they have a very good crafting/economy system.

Haven't played TW3, so can't compare

 

[Latatun]

Economy, by definition, is "careful management of available resources". And the game allows the player to do it just fine. Nothing absurd there. You don't wanna buy some overpriced piece - you don't buy it.

An absurd thing is making a poll with both and only two options being "yes", by the way. Bad poll.

OP learnt from the best:
"Do you want to ditch Dexter?"
- "No way"
- "Maybe not"

 

[Knightdragon66]

Well for starters vendors are completely worthless, clothes stores just sell random trash at absurd prices, gun stores sell garbage that nobody buys cause you can simply loot enemies or craft better stuff, in-game economy is fundamentally broken to the point all the money you earned throughout the game is the equivalent to 1 bully mod at a store IF you get one after reloading the save 50 times. Hell not even premium hookers are worth it cause game is so "mature" there's no nudity.

 

[ya1]

Everything related to any form of mathematics in CP is a complete fiasco. Items unironically have 100+% crit chance. That alone is enough to paint the picture...

(Actually, 100+% chance of something would make sense if there were debuffs in the game but hey... why even talk about that when you got godmode from lvl 20 and nothing even matters).

Don´t know if you already played W3, they have a very good crafting/economy system.

No they didn't. They had to put the overpriced runewright services in the dlc to provide an endgame gold sink. In vanilla W3, there was no need for any grinding of management of resources ever - you could afford anything you needed at any time in the game just from random drops.

As for the crafting and mats, ofc it was better than CP because CP is not a finished game. But 90% mats in W3 had no real use, the whole thing revolved around a handful of rare mats needed for specific crafts. Like there were maybe 1 or 2 dozen of different alcohols but only one mattered for alchemy.

in-game economy is fundamentally broken to the point all the money you earned throughout the game is the equivalent to 1 bully mod at a store IF you get one after reloading the save 50 times.

Well, obviously you didn't walk the Way of Green Nekomata. Tech is the only way to afford anything. But anyway, you don't need to afford anything cuz once you get your Raven or QianT MK4 for 20k or 40k, you're a god. You don't need anything else to clear all content with one hand like this

 

[ralfetas]

Everything related to any form of mathematics in CP is a complete fiasco. Items unironically have 100+% crit chance. That alone is enough to paint the picture...

(Actually, 100+% chance of something would make sense if there were debuffs in the game but hey... why even talk about that when you got godmode from lvl 20 and nothing even matters).

No they didn't. They had to put the overpriced runewright services in the dlc to provide an endgame gold sink. In vanilla W3, there was no need for any grinding of management of resources ever - you could afford anything you needed at any time in the game just from random drops.

As for the crafting and mats, ofc it was better than CP because CP is not a finished game. But 90% mats in W3 had no real use, the whole thing revolved around a handful of rare mats needed for specific crafts. Like there were maybe 1 or 2 dozen of different alcohols but only one mattered for alchemy.

I think any RPG style game put the problem on crafting not the money, W3 i remember the problem was acid and some metals, FO4 was the glue, Skyrim have a problem with the metals to get, MHW have a problem to get the correct monster parts, and sure, 90% of the mats end being useless, just something to make money and make the money not a problem in the game...

For the crit chance, i really don´t understand this, because if you open the stats, you never see 100% crit chance, no matter what you do, i think the game put a max limit, but never test it in game to see how this works...

 

[FLyingMonkeyPaints]

Economy, by definition, is "careful management of available resources". And the game allows the player to do it just fine. Nothing absurd there. You don't wanna buy some overpriced piece - you don't buy it.

An absurd thing is making a poll with both and only two options being "yes", by the way. Bad poll.

Erm, you are using in the incorrect definition of "economy" in this context, which is disingenuous. The definition you cited is a synonym for "frugality" which is not at all what is being discussed. Since the definition used in this context is the very first one:

"the structure or conditions of economic life in a country, area, or period also : an economic system "

I can only assume you purposely avoided the salient definition to (poorly) make a point.

The economy *is* broken in the game. I believe the main issue is that instead of making unique items that feel different and like real upgrades, CDPR recycles about 25 different weapons in multiple tiers. So you have a (common) Lexington pistol that does 100dps and costs 400 eddies, and then you have the same (epic) Lexington that does 180dps and costs 40,000 eddies. There is literally NOTHING different about those two pistols other than the numbers attached to them.

Worse yet, you might spend that 40k for the Epic Lexington, and then ten levels later find yet another Lexington that is common yet does 210dps! WTF?!? So there are a million Lexingtons in the game that are mechanically identical, use the same ammo, and look identical, yet each one has vastly different stats and vastly different costs! So you end up with a case of "who gives a shit" every time you see a Lexington, and feeling ripped off an hour later if you ever buy one.

Wouldn't it be better if all Lexingtons did the same damage (modified by your skill in handguns), and if you wanted an upgrade you needed to find a new pistol? New models, animations, skins, more damage, and more expensive? Now it feels like you found or bought something interesting, that's not "just another Lexington", it's more meaningful. Maybe this one is worth 40k, because it's super cool and that's just what they cost, everywhere in Night City.

Of course, this would require CDPR to make more models, maybe 2-3 times the number now in the game. But upgrades would seem meaningful instead of just stat buffs. And don't even get me started on a Samurai T-shirt that can give 10 armor or 200 armor based on how "legendary" it is and what level you found/bought it.

--- PART 2 ---

Now consider why the economy and guns and armor are the way they are in the game. Ultimately it's not really a guns and armor and eddies problem, it boils down as so many other issues with the game do, to an AI problem.

When you encounter enemies, they have some level of badass-ery in relation to V. What does that mean? Well, now it's nothing more than the number of hit points, armor, and damage the enemy does, as well as the quality of loot they have. That's because the AI in the game is so weak, that is literally the only (terrible) way that CDPR can scale enemies.

So how else do you do it? With AI of course. Let tougher enemies have slightly more hit points, and maybe sometimes better gear. But in general, make them badass because they fight better. Right now all enemies fight as individuals, they just crouch behind cover or charge at you. That is lame behavior, and fine for low level gonks who just got their first Scav tattoo.

But higher level enemies should not just be (slightly) tougher, they should literally scare the shit out of the player with their coordinated tactics. Flanking, climbing to rooftops, feints where they pretend to run away but actually go around the block to attack from a different direction, all manner of behavior to make the player say "oh shit oh shit oh shit."

Now it doesn't matter that the higher level enemies "just" have a Lexington...because now they know how to use it, how to work together, and how to generally make V's life miserable and dangerous. Which is what Night City is supposed to be like. A skull icon should cause dread in the mind of the player. Not because it will take 50 bullets to the head to hill him, but instead because while he's moving around fast and effectively using cover so you can't even get a single head shot, his buddy is carefully moving round your flank to angle for a head shot on *you*.

 

[Ayinde_Palmer]

You don't have to invest in crafting to "break" the system. At all.

The point of what I'm saying is how absurd the cost of the items are vs what they are/what they offer.

It ruins the immersion, big time. It's another one of those little things that make you go "huh" with a raised eyebrow.

real life the utility of items rarely determines their price. Most high end items cost more because they are seen as a luxury. That said, its a game, and the cost of a gun, not sure its a big deal. Its also true that certain Guns with certain stats/mods are harder to get than 200k is, so it isn't completely ridiculous. Whereas the cyberware is a stock model with no special customizations.

 

[RebeckaSwe]

Erm, you are using in the incorrect definition of "economy" in this context, which is disingenuous. The definition you cited is a synonym for "frugality" which is not at all what is being discussed. Since the definition used in this context is the very first one:

"the structure or conditions of economic life in a country, area, or period also : an economic system "

I can only assume you purposely avoided the salient definition to (poorly) make a point.

The economy *is* broken in the game. I believe the main issue is that instead of making unique items that feel different and like real upgrades, CDPR recycles about 25 different weapons in multiple tiers. So you have a (common) Lexington pistol that does 100dps and costs 400 eddies, and then you have the same (epic) Lexington that does 180dps and costs 40,000 eddies. There is literally NOTHING different about those two pistols other than the numbers attached to them.

Worse yet, you might spend that 40k for the Epic Lexington, and then ten levels later find yet another Lexington that is common yet does 210dps! WTF?!? So there are a million Lexingtons in the game that are mechanically identical, use the same ammo, and look identical, yet each one has vastly different stats and vastly different costs! So you end up with a case of "who gives a shit" every time you see a Lexington, and feeling ripped off an hour later if you ever buy one.

Wouldn't it be better if all Lexingtons did the same damage (modified by your skill in handguns), and if you wanted an upgrade you needed to find a new pistol? New models, animations, skins, more damage, and more expensive? Now it feels like you found or bought something interesting, that's not "just another Lexington", it's more meaningful. Maybe this one is worth 40k, because it's super cool and that's just what they cost, everywhere in Night City.

Of course, this would require CDPR to make more models, maybe 2-3 times the number now in the game. But upgrades would seem meaningful instead of just stat buffs. And don't even get me started on a Samurai T-shirt that can give 10 armor or 200 armor based on how "legendary" it is and what level you found/bought it.

--- PART 2 ---

Now consider why the economy and guns and armor are the way they are in the game. Ultimately it's not really a guns and armor and eddies problem, it boils down as so many other issues with the game do, to an AI problem.

When you encounter enemies, they have some level of badass-ery in relation to V. What does that mean? Well, now it's nothing more than the number of hit points, armor, and damage the enemy does, as well as the quality of loot they have. That's because the AI in the game is so weak, that is literally the only (terrible) way that CDPR can scale enemies.

So how else do you do it? With AI of course. Let tougher enemies have slightly more hit points, and maybe sometimes better gear. But in general, make them badass because they fight better. Right now all enemies fight as individuals, they just crouch behind cover or charge at you. That is lame behavior, and fine for low level gonks who just got their first Scav tattoo.

But higher level enemies should not just be (slightly) tougher, they should literally scare the shit out of the player with their coordinated tactics. Flanking, climbing to rooftops, feints where they pretend to run away but actually go around the block to attack from a different direction, all manner of behavior to make the player say "oh shit oh shit oh shit."

Now it doesn't matter that the higher level enemies "just" have a Lexington...because now they know how to use it, how to work together, and how to generally make V's life miserable and dangerous. Which is what Night City is supposed to be like. A skull icon should cause dread in the mind of the player. Not because it will take 50 bullets to the head to hill him, but instead because while he's moving around fast and effectively using cover so you can't even get a single head shot, his buddy is carefully moving round your flank to angle for a head shot on *you*.

Yep, thank you for a good response and for taking your time to write it.

I couldn't agree more. It's so umderwhelming and disappointing to see people agree and even defend these half baked ideas in the game or worse, completely attack you for criticising something out of care.

What you are talking about is so true. I do not understand at all why they chose to make this game into a looter shooter at all, it is nonsense. Looting 20 lexingtons out of a shootout is just stupid and honestly it comes off as lazy.

No you are not a game akin to Borderlands where the whole point of the game is the Looting. You're an "action adventure" story.

Like you said they should have done some other way of scaling, not this quasi MMO level gating that makes no sense and just breaks the sense of immersion and game mechanics at large.

Why not distribute weapons per factions like you do now but just get rid of gun drops? You already can't pick up the clothes off enemies, just disable gun drops and instead have them drop a bit of eddies and maybe more items that like, a tyger might be using? Or a militech soldier?

Give tygers like figurines or more tattoo stuff or some materials, militech soldiers some data shards or whatever that you can sell, drugs, boosters etc.

That way you're solving the ridiculous 20 lexingtons per shootout problem, making Looting make more sense and give an actual use to gun stores.

This game is just such a clusterfu-- of design ideas, holy hell.

I guess that is what happens when veteran developers leave and you get people in place with less experience who do not have a vision/clear direction of what the game is going to be. Add to that the rush and, well... Here we have a game that makes me want to pull my hair out if I spend any more than 5 minutes diving into deeper reasons of design choices that these people have made x_x

 

[Fins_FinsT]

Erm, you are using in the incorrect definition of "economy" in this context, which is disingenuous. The definition you cited is a synonym for "frugality" which is not at all what is being discussed. Since the definition used in this context is the very first one:

"the structure or conditions of economic life in a country, area, or period also : an economic system "

I can only assume you purposely avoided the salient definition to (poorly) make a point.

The economy *is* broken in the game. I believe the main issue is that instead of making unique items that feel different and like real upgrades, CDPR recycles about 25 different weapons in multiple tiers. So you have a (common) Lexington pistol that does 100dps and costs 400 eddies, and then you have the same (epic) Lexington that does 180dps and costs 40,000 eddies. There is literally NOTHING different about those two pistols other than the numbers attached to them.

Worse yet, you might spend that 40k for the Epic Lexington, and then ten levels later find yet another Lexington that is common yet does 210dps! WTF?!? So there are a million Lexingtons in the game that are mechanically identical, use the same ammo, and look identical, yet each one has vastly different stats and vastly different costs! So you end up with a case of "who gives a shit" every time you see a Lexington, and feeling ripped off an hour later if you ever buy one.

Wouldn't it be better if all Lexingtons did the same damage (modified by your skill in handguns), and if you wanted an upgrade you needed to find a new pistol? New models, animations, skins, more damage, and more expensive? Now it feels like you found or bought something interesting, that's not "just another Lexington", it's more meaningful. Maybe this one is worth 40k, because it's super cool and that's just what they cost, everywhere in Night City.

Of course, this would require CDPR to make more models, maybe 2-3 times the number now in the game. But upgrades would seem meaningful instead of just stat buffs. And don't even get me started on a Samurai T-shirt that can give 10 armor or 200 armor based on how "legendary" it is and what level you found/bought it.

--- PART 2 ---

Now consider why the economy and guns and armor are the way they are in the game. Ultimately it's not really a guns and armor and eddies problem, it boils down as so many other issues with the game do, to an AI problem.

When you encounter enemies, they have some level of badass-ery in relation to V. What does that mean? Well, now it's nothing more than the number of hit points, armor, and damage the enemy does, as well as the quality of loot they have. That's because the AI in the game is so weak, that is literally the only (terrible) way that CDPR can scale enemies.

So how else do you do it? With AI of course. Let tougher enemies have slightly more hit points, and maybe sometimes better gear. But in general, make them badass because they fight better. Right now all enemies fight as individuals, they just crouch behind cover or charge at you. That is lame behavior, and fine for low level gonks who just got their first Scav tattoo.

But higher level enemies should not just be (slightly) tougher, they should literally scare the shit out of the player with their coordinated tactics. Flanking, climbing to rooftops, feints where they pretend to run away but actually go around the block to attack from a different direction, all manner of behavior to make the player say "oh shit oh shit oh shit."

Now it doesn't matter that the higher level enemies "just" have a Lexington...because now they know how to use it, how to work together, and how to generally make V's life miserable and dangerous. Which is what Night City is supposed to be like. A skull icon should cause dread in the mind of the player. Not because it will take 50 bullets to the head to hill him, but instead because while he's moving around fast and effectively using cover so you can't even get a single head shot, his buddy is carefully moving round your flank to angle for a head shot on *you*.

Geez what a long post! Please forgive me for being weak and not addressing ALL your points... I'll do a few remarks though.

- definition used: why, if one i used looks absurd to you, then i ask you: is it not that one you used even more absurd? Because i don't see any "life" going on in the game regarding any trading, i only see the player doing some purchases and sellings to NPCs, which i don't think is any "life". An auction house in WoW, for example - now that is lots and loads of economic life alright! But here in an SP game? Nada. Zilch. None! As for "economic system" - pretty much the same. Ain't no system to prices, inventories and items i can see.

So my point was, and still is - nope, economy is not broken. WORSE, if you did not read it 1st time: it's NOT FREAKING PRESENT!

- Lexington point: hey you assume there is any sanity to be found in such matters. Like, sure, if this assumption would be true, then i'd much agree with your point there. But it ain't! It's a game where you set fire via some hack to a person under water. It's a game where you can summon a car on top of a skyscraper jump down some 40+ floors and happily drive away, even with no visible damage if you made a neat landing. It's a game where future advancements in automotive technology and ground-breaking discoveries in physics (like obvious anti-gravity, Hanako's parade and all) - resulted in sport and hyper cars going 2+ times SLOWER than present days cars go (if you didn't see my post about it - indicated "speed" is not actually mph, not even km/h - but some ~1.38 times smaller "units" of speed than km/h, resulting in top speed of some ~150...160 km/h for fastest cars in game). So, it's a strange world, and often it's lying to ya. Get used bro. Night city's fun that a way.

- AI: pretty similar. I'd agree, full stop, if this would be competitive FPS like counter-strike or such, and bots would be that dumb. But this game? Ain't FPS. Has some FPS mechanics, but whole game's point certainly is not about "quality FPS game". It's there for kinda flavour, you know. This game is mainly about stories, way i see it - and also about choices one does while playing. It's kinda fancy tool to explore oneself, this game, in its essense. One does not need "smart enemies" to do it. But, of course, YMMV. That's my opinion, may differ.

What may not differ, though - is official genre definition. CDPR clearly stated the genre - quotes from Steam page: "Cyberpunk 2077 is ... action-adventure story ... Genre: RPG". Full stop.

 

[Ayinde_Palmer]

Yep, thank you for a good response and for taking your time to write it.

I couldn't agree more. It's so umderwhelming and disappointing to see people agree and even defend these half baked ideas in the game or worse, completely attack you for criticising something out of care.

What you are talking about is so true. I do not understand at all why they chose to make this game into a looter shooter at all, it is nonsense. Looting 20 lexingtons out of a shootout is just stupid and honestly it comes off as lazy.

No you are not a game akin to Borderlands where the whole point of the game is the Looting. You're an "action adventure" story.

Like you said they should have done some other way of scaling, not this quasi MMO level gating that makes no sense and just breaks the sense of immersion and game mechanics at large.

Why not distribute weapons per factions like you do now but just get rid of gun drops? You already can't pick up the clothes off enemies, just disable gun drops and instead have them drop a bit of eddies and maybe more items that like, a tyger might be using? Or a militech soldier?

Give tygers like figurines or more tattoo stuff or some materials, militech soldiers some data shards or whatever that you can sell, drugs, boosters etc.

That way you're solving the ridiculous 20 lexingtons per shootout problem, making Looting make more sense and give an actual use to gun stores.

This game is just such a clusterfu-- of design ideas, holy hell.

I guess that is what happens when veteran developers leave and you get people in place with less experience who do not have a vision/clear direction of what the game is going to be. Add to that the rush and, well... Here we have a game that makes me want to pull my hair out if I spend any more than 5 minutes diving into deeper reasons of design choices that these people have made x_x

its kind of realistic that every person who uses a weapon drops that weapon if you kill them. And you don't have to deal with it, you can just leave weapons on the floor, thats what I did when I leveled crafting and had no actual need for them. I get that you would prefer less trash, but there is nothing intrinsicly wrong dudes dropping their weapons, or shops charging a lot for endgame weapons

 

[darksharke]

I believe the main issue is that instead of making unique items that feel different and like real upgrades, CDPR recycles about 25 different weapons in multiple tiers. So you have a (common) Lexington pistol that does 100dps and costs 400 eddies, and then you have the same (epic) Lexington that does 180dps and costs 40,000 eddies. There is literally NOTHING different about those two pistols other than the numbers attached to them.

Worse yet, you might spend that 40k for the Epic Lexington, and then ten levels later find yet another Lexington that is common yet does 210dps! WTF?!? So there are a million Lexingtons in the game that are mechanically identical, use the same ammo, and look identical, yet each one has vastly different stats and vastly different costs! So you end up with a case of "who gives a shit" every time you see a Lexington, and feeling ripped off an hour later if you ever buy one.

Wouldn't it be better if all Lexingtons did the same damage (modified by your skill in handguns), and if you wanted an upgrade you needed to find a new pistol? New models, animations, skins, more damage, and more expensive? Now it feels like you found or bought something interesting, that's not "just another Lexington", it's more meaningful. Maybe this one is worth 40k, because it's super cool and that's just what they cost, everywhere in Night City.

Of course, this would require CDPR to make more models, maybe 2-3 times the number now in the game. But upgrades would seem meaningful instead of just stat buffs. And don't even get me started on a Samurai T-shirt that can give 10 armor or 200 armor based on how "legendary" it is and what level you found/bought it.

--- PART 2 ---

Now consider why the economy and guns and armor are the way they are in the game. Ultimately it's not really a guns and armor and eddies problem, it boils down as so many other issues with the game do, to an AI problem.

When you encounter enemies, they have some level of badass-ery in relation to V. What does that mean? Well, now it's nothing more than the number of hit points, armor, and damage the enemy does, as well as the quality of loot they have. That's because the AI in the game is so weak, that is literally the only (terrible) way that CDPR can scale enemies.

So how else do you do it? With AI of course. Let tougher enemies have slightly more hit points, and maybe sometimes better gear. But in general, make them badass because they fight better. Right now all enemies fight as individuals, they just crouch behind cover or charge at you. That is lame behavior, and fine for low level gonks who just got their first Scav tattoo.

But higher level enemies should not just be (slightly) tougher, they should literally scare the shit out of the player with their coordinated tactics. Flanking, climbing to rooftops, feints where they pretend to run away but actually go around the block to attack from a different direction, all manner of behavior to make the player say "oh shit oh shit oh shit."

Now it doesn't matter that the higher level enemies "just" have a Lexington...because now they know how to use it, how to work together, and how to generally make V's life miserable and dangerous. Which is what Night City is supposed to be like. A skull icon should cause dread in the mind of the player. Not because it will take 50 bullets to the head to hill him, but instead because while he's moving around fast and effectively using cover so you can't even get a single head shot, his buddy is carefully moving round your flank to angle for a head shot on *you*.

Some very good salient points in your post, well expressed. I had similar feelings early on, getting used to the lexington, unity, pulsar, copperheads as 'low level' weps, then a few levels later as you get your purple versions, along comes a bog-standard 'common' Unity with more stats than your supposedly 'higher level' gun... doh... so you are just switching gear like you do clothing for the stats only regardless of its looks or logical progression in-game...

Also like your more tactical, aware vision of how enemies should behave in a 'learning AI' manner in combat; the game would be better for it...It just gets too easy after a while and too much a straight up slug fest with no real excitement or variety to the engagements...