Weapon levels

[Lupa]

I'm just curious how the Item/weapon levels work, does old legendary weapons or special weapons increase in level as you level? Could go back and loot a weapon from early game and it be more on my lvl?
Thanks <3

[Lailantie]

Weapons won't level up with you.

[Lupa]

Damn :c unfortunate

[Eightball]

Weapons do have a leveling system onto themselves. Weapons can have a 'range' level that roughly dictates how viable they are at different levels as well as having 'upgrades'. The rarity of the weapon (common, rare, legendary, etc.) and the spread of the range will indicate the number of potential upgrades.

For instance, you are level 15 and loot a sword that has a level range of 15-19. This can be understood as the weapons non upgraded base damage is on par for a level 15 weapon.

Now you can spend materials to upgrade this weapon 4 times and each upgrade will increase the base damage of the weapon to make it equivalent to a weapon you might loot at that same level; so upgrading your 15-19 weapon to 16 would make the base damage now equivalent to a lvl 16 weapon you just looted.

But beyond the base damage increase, weapons that can be upgraded also have pre-set perks that will open up with each upgrade. These are shown on the weapon (so you know what each upgrade will bring) and can range from an increase in its base damage type (like more blunt, pierce, etc) to an added elemental damage (fire, frost, etc) or even a utility buff (like +stat regen or +armor).

So directly to your question. Lets say you are currently level 15. You could potentially go back to a lvl 10 region and loot a gold chest that gave you a lvl 10 bow that had a range of 10-15, upgrade that bow to its max and it would perform like a lvl 15 bow with added perks.

But why go backwards. The better route is to loot weapons at your current level that have a level range which allows you to increase its level so it can 'grow' with you for a few levels.

By the time you outgrow it you will have most likely found an upgradeable replacement.

As the current level cap is 25 you can find gold weapons that have a level range of 25-30 (best case you can currently loot).

And almost every, if not every, unique/named weapon has an high end, if not capped, version too.

Any of that make sense.

[Lupa]

Originally posted by Eightball:

Any of that make sense.

It does indeed make sence! Thank you for the explanation ^_^

[Faceplant]

The explanation makes sense, but the implementation leaves a lot to be desired IMO.

Rarity is meaningless IMO. It is really just upgradability, but upgrading a poor weapon to a less poor weapon is not very useful. Even worse, it can be very expensive, so even if it's a bit better than the less rare weapon that you currently have, is it worth upgrading it?

The best weapon I've found so far is a epic, level 28 two-handed mace. I've passed up several legendary because they seemed like they would be at best similar when upgraded.

I've currently planning on "downgrading" my level 20(?) daggers to some level 29(?)s that I found because they seem like they will likely be better.

On a related topic. Why is it that, when you upgrade a weapon to add, say !0 blunt, that the damage value shown doesn't increase by nearly 10? It's just a fraction of that.

[Eightball]

@Faceplant8 Rarity IS about upgradability so you are correct on that. And the upgrades themselves, for the gold ones, are usually tied into a theme. Like the Dragon Sword is all added fire damage.

Many times you can, for example, find a gold weapon that has a lower base damage than a same level purple. However the difference is in the upgrades which more often than not offset the lower damage.

A mage may find trading a lower base damage well worth the +mana regen in the upgrade. Or a melee fighter might trade a bit of damage for +armor.

And those choices are nice to have in a game. It can prevent a 'meta'. So yes, upgrading is not always worth it based on your playstyle and the level of the enemies you are currently facing. And it can be expensive early on so again, it makes the player choose.

As an aside I would without hesitation change to the lvl 29 daggers from the level 20 regardless of their rarity. I try to match weapon level to the level of, or close to, the highest level mobs I am currently facing.

When you upgrade a weapon you are effectively upgrading its level and with that comes an increase in BASE damage (the number you see when you examine the weapon). The damage number that is shown is separate from any upgrade damage. If I recall correctly general perks, if applicable, can also modify this base damage number.

This number does not include any added upgrade damage like +blunt. That upgrade damage is applied when you attack and is then tested against any resistances the target might have against that damage type. That upgrade damage will be affected by any relevant perks. So if you had a +10% blunt damage perk your +10 blunt damage upgrade now is applied as a +11 blunt damage.

So in essence you only see the increase in the base damage of the weapon as you upgrade it.

[Faceplant]

I'm wondering how many DONT farm chests in this game. Having nearly reach the end, hoping to get a decent weapon and armor set, and still running with a rare two-handed axe, and mostly stock armor. It seems like this game is designed around farming chests to get the better equipment. To me, that seems like a flaw in the game.

it seems like there are way too many variations of armor, weapons, staves, wands, etc, and way too few chests to hope to get top-tier gear without farming chests. That just feels wrong to me. it feels like non-persistence is baked into the game, which is a shame.