Proposal to fix Gear/Loot System Issues @RED

[shanersimms]

Proposal to fix Gear/Loot System Issues @RED

Hey guys had an idea I wanted to share which I think, if implemented, would vastly improve the gear/loot system. So clearly the main issue at present is finishing that epic quest just to get a weapon that's far inferior to the random sword you looted earlier, or finding that smuggler's cache at level 30 just to get more junk as you expected that is in no way comparable to what you already have.

So here's the proposal:

1. Tie in a sliding damage scale with the level requirement of the weapon. As the level requirement increases the base weapon damage range does as well. This sets the foundation of the system. For example, any weapon with Lvl 5 requirement does 24-32 base dmg, lvl 10 weapon 115 -137, lvl 30 weapon 439-507. (These are arbitrary numbers I made up simply for the sake of illustrating the principle).

2. The special bonuses of the weapon are static to that weapon type. For example, any named weapon that increases Bleed chance by +15% and Burning chance +10% will always carry this static special benefit. That benefit is what makes "Blade of the Whatever" special in that only the "Blade of the Whatever" carries this specific combination of special bonuses. So this same weapon at lvl 10 req. has the same bonuses as the lvl 25 req. version but the level 25 req. version would have much higher base damage due to the sliding damage scale based on level req. of the weapon.

3. For any item to be looted from a chest, give it a random chance to set the level requirement for that item to plus or minus 2 levels from the player's current character level. So if I'm a level 18 character and I loot a chest, that chest will contain a weapon or piece of armor with a level req. randomly determined between 16 - 20. The excitement here is that sometimes you get the item and it turns out to be junkish in the sense it's level req is below your current char level (16 or 17 in this instance). On the other hand that same chest could have given a Lvl 19 or 20 req. weapon which would be guaranteed to have a higher base damage than the player's currently equipped weapon based on this system. Likewise, it could turn out to be a lvl 18 piece of gear in which case swapping with what you're currently using would come down to which combination of specific bonuses for that wep/gear piece you prefer as the only determining factor since base damage on all lvl 18 weps is the same.

4. For quests rewards, always have the rewarded piece of gear have a level requirement of exactly one level above the players current level upon completion of the quest. So if I finish Hattori's quest at level 19 the rewarded sword will have a level req. of 20. If I finish that same quest at level 22, that same reward will be the same sword but with a lvl 23 requirement and subsequently higher base damage. This ensures that no matter what, gear received from quests is always better in terms of it's base stats than what the player is currently using. (Although clearly, it may not be as good special bonuses wise or as good as another piece of gear that's sitting in your inventory that has a higher level req. than your current char level)

5. Optionally, this system could also give Hattori the ability to "Rework" or "Temper" a blade. So lets say I get a Lvl 15 req. weapon at level 15 and love its specific special bonuses. By level 18 I still enjoy the special bonuses, but my weapon's base damage is lower than other weapons I'm collecting/looting. What if I could take my favorite weapon to Hattori, and he "Reworks" or Tempers" the weapon to boost it's base level requirement up to my characters current level (raising the weapon's base damage of course). I could then keep using my favorite sword due to it's bonuses and with it's base damage now comparable to other weapons of my level I wouldn't have to ditch it for a higher damage weapon that has crappier special bonuses. Of course reworking or tempering a blade should cost an arm and a leg in gold and special resources so as not to discourage treasure hunting in general.

6. Lastly, sockets could be tied in to either the gear's level req. (Lvl 0 - 9 no sockets, 10 - 19 1 socket, 20 - 29 2 sockets, Lvl 30+ 3 sockets) and/or it's quality with relic items having more sockets than magic items which in turn have more sockets than mastercrafted items for example.

Thoughts?

 

[gloomfrost]

love the Hattori and sockets idea, also the quests rewards idea makes a lot more sense.

Hattori should have a much greater role, reworking blades, adding sockets. W3 does need a loot rework badly, your right.

 

[Exentryk]

More than half your points are pretty much how the system works currently lol.

EDIT - I posted my points in another thread, so here they are once again:

In a game where enemies don't scale (level wise), this is how the loot system should have been:
- Equipment does not scale to player's level
- Equipment drops in chests and from enemies are not random
- Equipment has fixed levels and stats (Diagram based equipment can have changing levels though, see below)
- Player can use whatever level equipment they find at whatever levels without penalties
- There should be crafting diagrams for all equipment, and these should have adjustable levels. (Example - One should be able to make level 15 Assassin's Gauntlets if they are level 10, or level 45 Assassins's Gauntlets if they are level 40, with the SAME diagram. Being able to craft +5 levels higher gear should be good. Cost can be high for those.)

With these changes, players will be in control as to when and what equipment they want at what level. The only thing required would be to find the diagram for that equipment. Since these diagrams will no longer be random drops, and can be controlled via story and quest events, it should be easy to manage. You would also have another control measure in the form of master smiths and master armorers that will be required to make the good stuff.

This system also encourages exploration and gives people the satisfaction of killing stronger monsters and doing tougher quests early, because the rewards might be a 10 level higher sword, which is certainly higher than craft able items. Right now, you do a level 24 quest and get a sword two levels below you thus making the reward entirely useless.
This also adds more of a cost sink as people might want to update their craft-able gear after every level, or few levels.

In the end, this makes the world persistent. Enemies don't scale, equipment doesn't scale, and the world is independent of the player's levels. Players have more control, and the system overall is more satisfying.


Note: When I say equipment has fixed stats, that doesn't mean that all swords become unique. I mean a level 24 enemy should guard a level 24 Viper Sword, while a level 10 enemy should guard a level 10 Viper sword, etc.

 

[ninjaontour]

Honestly.. the loot in this game is a massive joke for a supposed RPG and I genuinely think CDPR dropped the ball with loot as it's actually kind of pointless when every Witcher set seems better than most things you find in the wilderness, it's gotten to the point in my game where I'm thinking "Is it even worth going around the world looking for stuff when it'll either be too high or too low for me to use and therefore useless".

 

[shanersimms]

More than half your points are pretty much how the system works currently lol.

EDIT - I posted my points in another thread, so here they are once again:

True one or two of the individual points are similar or are implemented in a similar vein already, but my post is meant to be a comprehensive whole. Other than the 5th point, all other points are to be taken together as a whole and is a different system then how the game currently works. But if I must:

1.Currently weapons of the same level can have different damage ranges, but under the proposed system this would be made static based on the item level. Although this holds in many cases already, it is not universal which is what my system recommends.

2. Also, especially as can be seen with Witcher gear, as you level it up it gains new bonuses. My system is meant to change that too to where gear has static bonuses despite it's changing level req. (Although I guess a reasonable argument could be made to make Witcher gear special in this regard)

3. I commonly loot items well below my level. Despite looted gear often being within a reasonable level range of my character, my system would eliminate that disappointing gameplay factor of finding complete junk altogether.

4. Don't need to say much here, as this point is clearly not implemented in the current gameplay system.

5. Optional gameplay change suggestion and obviously not part of the current system.

6. As far as I can tell number of sockets is tied to specific weapon types/named items and doesn't follow a universal pattern based on level, although clearly relics often have more sockets than other similar gear. Again the system as a whole would be designed to make this a more predictable pattern as well as unlock the abilities to add additional sockets if you "temper" or "rework" the sword to a higher level requirement, for example.

So despite the condescending tone of your post (as I take it), it actually has little merit. I also posted this idea to get discussions about this idea. Copy and pasting your points from another thread is not only a bit of a thread hi-jack maneuver, it steers the conversation away from the particular concept I'd personally like to hear feedback on. Your original post should be a sufficient place for you and others to get feedback on your proposed system which based on your very first point is night and day compared to this one I've proposed.