Item and loot level

[ragen311]

I found the following example on reddit, and was looking for more clarification. I have better luck on these discussion threads on steam...so i figured I'd ask my question regarding the example here as well.

Here is what someone wrote in an item guide. They admittedly could have been mistaken as they were only on the third zone (I just finished prologue):
"For example, if you have a grimoire (fine quality, +1/3) on your off-hand, a one-handed melee (fine quality, +0/3) on your main hand for your current set of weapons, and your armor is at fine quality, +2/3, then all the unique weapons you find will be at fine quality, +0/3"

Here are my questions regarding the given example in the guide:

Does it take the lowest of either hand, hence the +0/3, or is it an average, or your main hand.....???

I'm assuming armor and weapons in your inventory do not matter for the level of what you find, but does the second set matter?

Is it worth switching to the highest tier weapon/armor (for situations where you are using items that aren't your highest rated items) before picking up loot...or once it drops it has already been determined by the armor/weapons you had equipped?

[archonsod]

Originally posted by ragen311:

Does it take the lowest of either hand, hence the +0/3, or is it an average, or your main hand.....???

. When you find a unique it'll always be at the base level of your current equipment tier. You can have fine +3 armour, fine +3 pistol and fine +3 grimoire, any unique you find will be fine +0. Similarly if you have a Superior +1 pistol, fine +0 grimoire and common armour any unique you find will be Superior +0.

Is it worth switching to the highest tier weapon/armor (for situations where you are using items that aren't your highest rated items) before picking up loot...or once it drops it has already been determined by the armor/weapons you had equipped?

It's only uniques that care about your equipment, and as far as I've noticed it doesn't really matter what you happen to have at the time - if you have at some point in your adventure laid hands on a Superior weapon or armour any unique you find will be Superior, even if you switch back to lower tier weapons.
I think non-unique loot is dependent on the map rather than anything you're carrying.

[hrafnskald]

Item tier is individual to each item.

Most items you find in the first zone (Paradis) are tier 1 (common). A few are tier 2.
In the second zone, with the Vailians, you find mostly tier 2 (fine).
Tier 3 in the third zone, tier 4 in the 4th.

What you are carrying has zero effect on the tier of drops: it's the zone you find them in that matters most.

Any item can be upgraded as high as you want, up to tier 4, but it costs more materials.

You wear one piece of armor: chest armor (gloves and boots give bonuses, but don't have tiers or upgrade/breakdown). If your chest armor is lower in tier than the monsters you are fighting, you take a lot of extra damage,

If your weapons are lower tier than the monster you are fighting, you deal a lot less damage.

If you're in the second zone, you need tier 2 gear in both hands, and the chest piece, to not have your fighting abilities nerfed.

[ragen311]

Thank you much

[Halcyform]

Found this thread via searching for similar info and will post what I've found concerning your query.

Any unique loot you find will primary scale based on the highest tier item you've upgraded. If you upgraded a weapon to exceptional, all further weapon finds will be found as exceptional. As mentioned by Archonsod, all tiers will generally be found in their base state (+0).

It also does not matter if you have those upgraded items currently equipped or simply sitting in your character's inventory.

What has not been mentioned is that unique items are not a single class of item. Weapons and armor are treated separately. Having an exceptional weapon does not mean you will find exceptional armor. You will need to upgrade an armor item as well if you want to loot armor uniques that are of higher tiers.

I haven't tested to see if shields and spellbooks are treated separately yet.

Additionally, uniques found for sale on vendors act the same way as looted uniques. Let's say the vendor has a unique weapon on him and you accidentally spoiled yourself about it by reading or watching a video. What you should know is that visiting that merchant for the first time acts like finding a loot drop for that unique and that item in his inventory will be locked to the highest tier weapon you currently have and will not change regardless if you come back later with a higher tier item.

[Halcyform]

Tested shields and spell book and they are considered their own category under off-hand.

So, for the purposes of finding better uniques via vendor or chests, you need to upgrade three separate areas: weapon, armor and offhand.

As mentioned already, stuff found will scale off the highest upgraded item and it isn't required to have that item equipped for it to affect loot quality.