Should it be easier/faster for fresh 40s to gear up?

[Neverever]

I’d like to add that what I assume is many (both new and old ones leveling alts) players’ problem is: After Vanq the other sets are not anymore what you would call “on demand”, you can’t just do usual RvR which is active more or less all the time, but have to either be able to play a lot longer sessions, fort/city log or have a huge grind for Shards and Crests.

Players that are occupied with irl stuff and can solely play e.g. for 2-3 hours in the evening have to be lucky to catch a fort or city, and I’m talking out of experience where it’s been 1 fort per week and 1 city every two weeks even lately, my first City set took me like half a year actually.

No, that part is nowhere near easy ofc, but we’re also taking about absolute endgame gear from RvR perspective. But it’s also true that you have possibilities to compensate for such gear gaps to a certain extent with SC/PvE gear (ofc depending on class, not easy on all of them sadly).

Does that remove my fun playing? Maybe a bit sometimes when the aim is gearing up.
Do I have alternatives to do? Yes. I can gear up lower alts, enjoy farming RR in the mid of (in RvR) or towards the end (in SCs) of mid-tier, while starting over with PvE gear (even if only Beastlord). For neither of those alternatives you need a premade, just know how to make use of bolster, I just assume it’s much faster when having one.

That's how I feel as well. In live and at the beginning of the ROR I was a student and I was one of the earliest players to get my hands on the recently released gear. I was always surprised at other players who complained about gear grind. Now, I hardly have 6-8 hours of play time each week and whenever a realm is close to reach to city or fort, it is usually end of my play time . So now I understand them. Unfortunately, MMOs reward usually those players who play the game as if it is a part time job. Unfortunately, the crest grind that is essentially tied up to fort and city fights makes it even worse. Having crests in keep bags is a little help but not sure if it addresses the issue completely. Looking forward to have some breaks from work, probably then I will be able to close the gap by some proper play time.

[Seravajan]

I levelled a toon using primary scenarios till around CR 37/RR 39. Now I wanted to get the next SC set (Mercenary) and found that set disappointing. Only the primary stat is better the rest is worse then Duelist. It could help to adjust Mercenary and probably Oppressor sets to be a viable way to gear up. Now I'm stuck and dunno how to gear up anymore because the performance of that character is that bad that he never gets anything in fort raids and so on.

[NSKaneda]

I levelled a toon using primary scenarios till around CR 37/RR 39. Now I wanted to get the next SC set (Mercenary) and found that set disappointing. Only the primary stat is better the rest is worse then Duelist. It could help to adjust Mercenary and probably Oppressor sets to be a viable way to gear up. Now I'm stuck and dunno how to gear up anymore because the performance of that character is that bad that he never gets anything in fort raids and so on.

Hint: orvr & conqueror, keep conq emblems and start anathema grind.

[madmatics]

Voted for "No"! In my humble opinion, the devs did a great job here already to make the progression ladder as smooth and foreseeable as possible. No comparison to live at all!

As a fresh 40 you are able to acquire subjugator weapons & genesis sets alongside conq and vanq sets at an absolute fair and adequate amount of time and effort to be invested. From vanq onwards, it gets slower for sure. But at this stage you are totally alright to play your role in a good manner. Why would you want to get "free lunch" at 40? It is basically nothing else than inflation which is a slow killer to the game in the long-run. That is not how incentivation in MMO's works...

[empmoz]

By the time you reach lvl 40, you should be rr40/50 and can start getting conq/vanq in bags. These sets are good enough for rvr+forts, which will progress requirments for invader gear

[CountTalabecland]

I don’t think having to slow down exp and game the system/avoid exp to get rr 60 due to fear of dinging 40 too early is a great design.

The same goes for gathering a bunch of rewards in the bank for when you do hit 40. IMO that sounds like the career rank should be dropped or removed entirely from quite a few items. If you are a low level doing well in RvR, you should be able to access your rewards/put your Renown Rank to full use without having to hit 40 as some arbitrary number first. Genesis, Beast lord, winds impervious, conq, anni are all examples of this.

Ik the current system has to work around smushing 3/4 of the game together but it has created a fairly weird progression where I have the renown rank/currency for anni at level 29 but I can’t level up to use it because I would screw myself over in the long run.

[NSKaneda]

I don’t think having to slow down exp and game the system/avoid exp to get rr 60 due to fear of dinging 40 too early is a great design.

The same goes for gathering a bunch of rewards in the bank for when you do hit 40. IMO that sounds like the career rank should be dropped or removed entirely from quite a few items. If you are a low level doing well in RvR, you should be able to access your rewards/put your Renown Rank to full use without having to hit 40 as some arbitrary number first. Genesis, Beast lord, winds impervious, conq, anni are all examples of this.

Ik the current system has to work around smushing 3/4 of the game together but it has created a fairly weird progression where I have the renown rank/currency for anni at level 29 but I can’t level up to use it because I would screw myself over in the long run.

Entry T4 armour is conqueror. Annihilator is T3 gear set and always has been (except for when it was BiS in RoR few years ago). At lvl29 there are three sets you can use and not "screw yourself in the long run".
This game is all about renown, not character level and the sooner new players understand that, the better. It's not rush to 40 and start renown grind then because yes, then one should be worried that they are way, waaaay underpowered to even stand a chance without bolster. You can either work with the game and profit or play against it and suffer. Fairly easy choice IMO

[Seravajan]

I levelled a toon using primary scenarios till around CR 37/RR 39. Now I wanted to get the next SC set (Mercenary) and found that set disappointing. Only the primary stat is better the rest is worse then Duelist. It could help to adjust Mercenary and probably Oppressor sets to be a viable way to gear up. Now I'm stuck and dunno how to gear up anymore because the performance of that character is that bad that he never gets anything in fort raids and so on.

Hint: orvr & conqueror, keep conq emblems and start anathema grind.

Can you explain me what an anathema grind is? BTW I reached RR40. Where do I get conqueror emblems? It seems I get only Officer Emblems.

[NSKaneda]

Hint: orvr & conqueror, keep conq emblems and start anathema grind.

Can you explain me what an anathema grind is? BTW I reached RR40. Where do I get conqueror emblems? It seems I get only Officer Emblems.

Anathema grind is two-three weeks of doing only scenarios to get anathema weapons (first you need conq emblems to buy conq weapons and then exchange the weapon for oppressor emblems to get anathema).
To get conq emblems* get all scenario quests and as you and your targets rank up officer emblems will eventually be replaced by conq drops.

Not only are anathemas easier to get than bloodlord or fort weapons but for many classes they have better stats too.

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* conq emblems have been renamed dominator emblems but they still share renown bracket and inventory icon with conqueror medallions.

[CountTalabecland]

Spoiler:

I don’t think having to slow down exp and game the system/avoid exp to get rr 60 due to fear of dinging 40 too early is a great design.

The same goes for gathering a bunch of rewards in the bank for when you do hit 40. IMO that sounds like the career rank should be dropped or removed entirely from quite a few items. If you are a low level doing well in RvR, you should be able to access your rewards/put your Renown Rank to full use without having to hit 40 as some arbitrary number first. Genesis, Beast lord, winds impervious, conq, anni are all examples of this.

Ik the current system has to work around smushing 3/4 of the game together but it has created a fairly weird progression where I have the renown rank/currency for anni at level 29 but I can’t level up to use it because I would screw myself over in the long run.

Entry T4 armour is conqueror. Annihilator is T3 gear set and always has been (except for when it was BiS in RoR few years ago). At lvl29 there are three sets you can use and not "screw yourself in the long run".
This game is all about renown, not character level and the sooner new players understand that, the better. It's not rush to 40 and start renown grind then because yes, then one should be worried that they are way, waaaay underpowered to even stand a chance without bolster. You can either work with the game and profit or play against it and suffer. Fairly easy choice IMO

The problem is that this isn't live. Now, there are two tiers and once above level 16 you are fighting ppl in sov. My point was that making newer players compete against ppl in sov is tough. Therefore, for quality of life for new players, the number of hours they need to spend undergeared while fighting the best geared players on the server needs to be reduced, arguably minimized because its just not fair/fun.

All well and good that anni used to be T3 but now its a low end T2 at best armor that should probably be moved up to a flat level 30/30 requirement. The old T2 and T3 gear sets are largely pointless and their cheapness is really their only saving grace. Old T2 and T3 PvE sets are fine I guess except you have to kill mobs and get exp to get them which is working against your better interest. I just don't see why new ppl should have to run around in **** for so long.

While its not a "rush" to 40, geared grps and warbands hate sub-40 toons and most avoid them like the plague because they lack key abilities and tactic/tactic slots. Pretty much just leaving newer toons to pug. This is not fun and it would be better for the game overall if more ppl could grp due to having minimally geared players at 40.

TLDR:
There is nothing positive about being sub-40 and it shouldn't be a long slow slog if renown rank is all that matters when staying below level 40 forces you to wear crappy gear while not having access to all abilities, tactics, and morales. It used to make sense when you were competing with same-ish level/geared enemy players and the game was divided into 4 tiers of content.

Now it doesn't, and with having to run in the same lakes against the best geared opponents the experience is not fun and the amount of time new players need to spend there should be faster easier per the OP so that new player attrition is hopefully decreased.