What is up with the drops in this game?

[Bust-E-Pona]

I'm level 35, in the first expansion and the drops are anywhere from level 3-20. I'm dying for equipment, I haven't seen blue in days.

[fragball]

hmm, strange... with my new char, i already got 4 blues before hitting lvl10.
you sure the item filter isn't screwing with ya? or, it might be because of the annoying little pause of item dropping after a kill and you just missed them because of being already a screen or more farther on your way.
it certainly can't be because i'm such a lucky guy, even with my last char i filled my stash and transfer stash when completed the game on normal (well ok, not ONLY legendary stuff, but quite a lot) - and no, i don't use any mods to enhance the drops either.

[Bust-E-Pona]

Not even the venders sell level appropriate gear, what gives?

[Somebody]

The level doesn't really say anything about the item. Just as an example, there are level 10 items with a Strength requirement of over 500.

[kekkuli]

Don't freak about the item level. For some reason people just look at the item&monster levels in all arpgs. I don't get it. And btw they lowered the level requirements of many unique items and also buffed their stats in atlantis expansion.

[Bust-E-Pona]

Originally posted by kekkuli:

Don't freak about the item level. For some reason people just look at the item&monster levels in all arpgs. I don't get it. And btw they lowered the level requirements of many unique items and also buffed their stats in atlantis expansion.

So... The fact I am doing very little damage, and losing 80% of my health in a single hit is NOT because of my gear?

[kekkuli]

Originally posted by Sister Scrub:

Originally posted by kekkuli:

Don't freak about the item level. For some reason people just look at the item&monster levels in all arpgs. I don't get it. And btw they lowered the level requirements of many unique items and also buffed their stats in atlantis expansion.

So... The fact I am doing very little damage, and losing 80% of my health in a single hit is NOT because of my gear?

Could be. I'm having no problems with my level 34 brigand so far, started from the scratch.
If you lose 80% of your hp in single hit you probably have way too few points invested in mastery bar, and if you do no damage your skills/gear probably make no sense.

Hard to say more without knowing your build.

[Bust-E-Pona]

Originally posted by kekkuli:

Originally posted by Sister Scrub:

So... The fact I am doing very little damage, and losing 80% of my health in a single hit is NOT because of my gear?

Could be. I'm having no problems with my level 34 brigand so far, started from the scratch.
If you lose 80% of your hp in single hit you probably have way too few points invested in mastery bar, and if you do no damage your skills/gear probably make no sense.

Hard to say more without knowing your build.

I'm using runemaster and defense.

This is my build:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1741679747

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1741679770

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1741679785

I am very open to ideas.

[kekkuli]

There is very little for you to gain from defense in the first place if you go full elemental build. No wonder you don't do damage either. Going evenly all attributes will hurt. You could try using melee weapons...but i don't know how that would work.

I'm no expert in rune mastery to be honest, but i've tried it multiple times and i find it slacking because of the lack of proper item support throughout the leveling process. Also not many classes seem to support elemental damage builds very well.

[Pandemonium]

Do more boss farming. I started a new char yesterday. I'm level 13 in Megara now and have like 6-7 blues and a couple nice greens. Get to a fountain close the boss you want to farm, start the game, run straight for the boss, ignore all mobs, kill, get loot. Repeat tens of times until you get the items you want or you get bored.
Regarding your build I see you focused on Runemaster much more than on defense, I would do the opposite if I was you, defense is a much better class in all aspects.

[kekkuli]

Originally posted by Pandemonium:

Do more boss farming. I started a new char yesterday. I'm level 13 in Megara now and have like 6-7 blues and a couple nice greens. Get to a fountain close the boss you want to farm, start the game, run straight for the boss, ignore all mobs, kill, get loot. Repeat tens of times until you get the items you want or you get bored.
Regarding your build I see you focused on Runemaster much more than on defense, I would do the opposite if I was you, defense is a much better class in all aspects.

No need to farm bosses on normal honestly. Just know what kind of items you are looking for, check the stores and maybe do some store runs for easy good weapons. Like veteran's weapons are very easy to come by.

Jewelry is also easy to get from stores.

[Firebead Elvenhair]

My suggestion:
-: Drop Rally entirely. It's only good with a lot more points in defense mastery for the modifiers.
-: Defense mastery in general: I consider it the best mastery. But your problem is that you have low investment in it and you are suffering NOW. This means you won't be able to make good use of it for a long long time unless you radically change your build. Let's not go there yet :) So the issue is making you better with Rune mastery.
-: Drop all but one point in Thunderous Strike and Unleash.
-: Drop Runeword: feather, unless you need it to equip weapon
-: Put one point in Seal of Fate (more if you wish) and 6 in Aftershock.
-: Put one point in Sacred Rage and Frightening power.

Then you have several solutions:
-: Go Runic Mines. This means 1 point in Runic Mines, max Freezing Mines, invest in Rune mastery to unlock the final modifier for them and balance it with Runic Mines. This is probably the solution that is more likely to be similar in your current way of playing. This will help your build by giving you more control.
-: Go Defense. Basically, sort of "suck it up" and invest heavily in Defense mastery. The goal is to transition to a melee build. If you go that route, you will probably need to respect more heavily out of Rune mastery. Your goals are in order: One point Batter and one point Rend Armor, one point Shield charge and one point Disruption, 4-4-1 the Adrenaline line, max Pulverize. So yeah, this is kind of a huge undertaking. Not even sure it's doable for your character quite yet.
-: Keep going rune without the mines. Put at least 5 point into Menhir Wall for a bit of control, and then keep doing what you are already doing. Don't bother with energy armor.

Keep in mind this is only a suggestion. Solution 3 is more of an immediate solution, 1 is a mid term solution and 2 is a long term solution. They should all work though. Choose what sounds more fun to you and adapt as you wish !

Some parts of the game are pretty spiky in terms of difficulty. You might juste be in one of these spikes.

[Pandemonium]

Originally posted by kekkuli:

No need to farm bosses on normal honestly. Just know what kind of items you are looking for, check the stores and maybe do some store runs for easy good weapons. Like veteran's weapons are very easy to come by.

Jewelry is also easy to get from stores.

I just like collecting unique items so I enjoy doing it. If you're just looking to beat the game, sure, vendors have great weapons and gear and putting charms into them can easily make them better than blues or purples.

[Bust-E-Pona]

Originally posted by Pandemonium:

Do more boss farming. I started a new char yesterday. I'm level 13 in Megara now and have like 6-7 blues and a couple nice greens. Get to a fountain close the boss you want to farm, start the game, run straight for the boss, ignore all mobs, kill, get loot. Repeat tens of times until you get the items you want or you get bored.
Regarding your build I see you focused on Runemaster much more than on defense, I would do the opposite if I was you, defense is a much better class in all aspects.

Do bosses respawn if I start a new game? So I have to just start and stop the game a bunch to do this?

Originally posted by Firebead Elvenhair:

My suggestion:
-: Drop Rally entirely. It's only good with a lot more points in defense mastery for the modifiers.
-: Defense mastery in general: I consider it the best mastery. But your problem is that you have low investment in it and you are suffering NOW. This means you won't be able to make good use of it for a long long time unless you radically change your build. Let's not go there yet :) So the issue is making you better with Rune mastery.
-: Drop all but one point in Thunderous Strike and Unleash.
-: Drop Runeword: feather, unless you need it to equip weapon
-: Put one point in Seal of Fate (more if you wish) and 6 in Aftershock.
-: Put one point in Sacred Rage and Frightening power.

Then you have several solutions:
-: Go Runic Mines. This means 1 point in Runic Mines, max Freezing Mines, invest in Rune mastery to unlock the final modifier for them and balance it with Runic Mines. This is probably the solution that is more likely to be similar in your current way of playing. This will help your build by giving you more control.
-: Go Defense. Basically, sort of "suck it up" and invest heavily in Defense mastery. The goal is to transition to a melee build. If you go that route, you will probably need to respect more heavily out of Rune mastery. Your goals are in order: One point Batter and one point Rend Armor, one point Shield charge and one point Disruption, 4-4-1 the Adrenaline line, max Pulverize. So yeah, this is kind of a huge undertaking. Not even sure it's doable for your character quite yet.
-: Keep going rune without the mines. Put at least 5 point into Menhir Wall for a bit of control, and then keep doing what you are already doing. Don't bother with energy armor.

Keep in mind this is only a suggestion. Solution 3 is more of an immediate solution, 1 is a mid term solution and 2 is a long term solution. They should all work though. Choose what sounds more fun to you and adapt as you wish !

Some parts of the game are pretty spiky in terms of difficulty. You might juste be in one of these spikes.

Why is energy armor not worth it?

Also I can use TQ edit to remove defense if it is that big a deal. I am also using throwing weapons. What if I went nature rune?

[Pandemonium]

Originally posted by Sister Scrub:

Do bosses respawn if I start a new game? So I have to just start and stop the game a bunch to do this?

Bosses, monsters, chests, they all respawn when you start a new game, so you can kill the same boss infinitely if you want to and you'll still get loot and exp.

[kekkuli]

I would go earth/rune for elemental throwing weapons. Or rune/storm.