1 month into the game -- biggest gear gap I have ever seen in an mmo

[alement]

I'm now valor rank 45 with no gear.

 

Ouch. I had most of my gear at 45 (not all - but most).

 

I'm V54 now and only missing the headpiece.

[Husanak]

Expertise can be modified but can't go, otherwise we would get pve heroes running warzones with their gear, which is not fine imo. At the end of vanilla wow pvp sucked because of people with pve gear that was way better than pvp gear

 

There are creative ways too fix that issue with out adding PvP gatekeeper stats. Expertise type stats do nothing except stagnate PvP. Its already starting in this game... people are playing alts instead of there 50s... for more then their daily. Low pop servers have people that can't get a que at 50... that is what expertise does. The stat solution is a dated one, other devs that have used it... are scaling it back... and some are even trying too get rid of it.

 

Even if you don't agree that the stat is a bad idea... you can't deny that the average player has an extremely negative view off the mechanic. It does keep people out of PvP... that is bad for business. Bottom line I would expect at some point expertise will be scaled back or removed... only question really is. Does it happen early... or does it happen after PvP becomes this games red headed step child.

[anstalt]

I agree that there is a massive gear gap already and that it is a major factor in offputting new blood at level 50. Joining a warzone as a fresh 50 and getting rolfstomped sucks.

 

However, there are a number of things that can be done to overcome the gear gap.

 

1) The first thing we can do is educate the community.

 

This is one of the major contributing factors to the gear gap in warzones. Yeh, it sucks that there is a gear gap, but fresh 50s can overcome that geargap in a week, baring expertise. There is even a guide stickied at the top of this forum telling you how to do it. For those that haven't read it, the short version is:

 

Do your dailies for level 50 purple mods, armouring and enhancements!

 

Whilst you will still have 0 expertise, by getting purples in all your armour and weapon slots you will dramatically reduce the gear gap. It'll take you a week of grinding dailies for maybe 1-2 hours a day, tops. By the end of it, your stats (willpower, crit, surge, shield etc) will be virtually the same as someone in champion armour. At this point, the only advantage they will have left is expertise which you can overcome through teamwork.

 

If you are entering a warzone as a fresh 50 with 12k health, you deserve to get killed. If you do dailies for a week, that 12k will turn in to 15k and your DPS will double and you'll last longer and, you know, have a chance at winning. The higher the chance of winning, the quicker you'll get your champ bags and the quicker you'll have expertise. If you insist on pvping in crappy fresh 50 gear, dont be surprised if you die and lose.

 

 

2) The second thing we can do is petition the devs to make changes to expertise / champ bags / whatever to make access to pvp gear easier/predicatable. A few suggestions, some my own, some other peoples:

 

• Put back the blue level 50 pvp set and make it purchasable for credits
  
• Make centurion gear purchasable for warzone commendations
  
• Make champ bags drop champ gear or champ commendations so each bag is progression towards full champ set.
  
• Make pvp armouring craftable by cybertechs
  
• Make expertise a flat stat - every pvp set totals 1000 expertise (including starter set)
  

 

the final one is my answer to the expertise problem. If every set (centurion, blue 50, bm etc) had 1000 expertise then expertise no longer becomes a progression stat but simply acts to separate pvp gear from pve gear (original goal?). This only works if there is an easy to acquire entry set like the blue level 50 set, but once there is then it stops the gear gap being so wide whilst tightly controls gear progression within pvp and also stops hardcore raiders stomping pvpers with epic raid loot. Everyone wins, no1 loses.

Edited January 23, 2012 by anstalt

[ururururu]

To answer all the questions overnight:

 

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As I said, I am a fresh 50. I enjoy pvp, so I was valor 40 when I hit 50. I'd have been valor 49 when I hit 50, except it's a good idea to do class quests.

 

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I estimated 20% off the 1 champion relic slot pvp gear I have, scaled for battlemaster. I assumed the expertise skill scaled to the new level of gear. Oops. So the 20% expertise becomes 14.1%. That is a notable difference. It's still 2x too big, though. The stat difference & set bonuses are enough there is no need for such a ridiculous "expertise" gap. Expertise alone is enough to counter the pve stats gear, that's the point right?

 

Go ahead and tell me that you go from 49 -> 50 today and something isn't wrong. I'll bear with it, I like PVPn regardless. But I gaurentee this absurd power gap will cause people to quit.

 

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To top it all off, I have just horrible RNG luck. Why can't 11-49 prepare better for 50? Why shouldn't they be allowed to open Champion PVP bags right away? Why should the system be RNG based? It's stupid.

 

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@ randomness (assuming you made it this far) -- I'm playing on Jung Ma (republic). I also have a 44 juggernaut on Mind Trick. eagerly waiting for gw2/diablo3. you guys gonna be playing gw2?

Edited January 23, 2012 by ururururu

[DarthAladar]

What is everybody crying about? In WoW it actually took skill to get arena gear up until Cata, and even at my 2900 rating I only got 1-2 pieces a week. This is much easier to gear up that it is in most MMOs. I actually wish they would make it more difficult.

[Atamosk]

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=222960

 

My guide explains how this game is probably one of the most forgiving and intuitive in gearing up as a fresh level 50.

 

Don't buy into the ignorance that there is nothing you can do but pvp grind while undergeared, there are easy ways in the system to get yourself geared.

 

bumped for justice