Optimizing Gear Acquisition for New Players in a PvP-Focused Gam

[dekadd]

**Proposed Solutions for Balancing PvE and PvP in the Game**

Currently, the fastest way to acquire gear is through PvE. It is by far the most efficient method, saving a significant amount on wards (3-5K crests), and it's also the quickest way for a new level 40 player to get equipped. This approach makes little sense in a game that is focused on PvP!

For a fresh level 40 player, they need to run Gunbad/Bloodlord/Bastion Stair and perhaps Hunter's Vale about four times each to avoid being underpowered in open RvR or being a weak link in Scenarios. I haven’t even mentioned the Mayhem/Ruin sets that come before this. With a good party of six veteran players, rushing through all of this with good playtime might take about four days. This looks fine in a perfect scenario, but it takes much longer for a casual player or someone new who is learning the game mechanics, finding parties, and gathering information.

So, for a new player joining a PvP game, they have to spend around a week doing PvE to be properly geared for PvP? This seems completely absurd.

**My Solutions:**

1. **Discounts on PvP Gear:**
- Implement a discount on PvP gear based on the cost of previously owned "ward" gear.
- For example, if you have a Conqueror Chest that costs 250 crests, the Vanquisher Chest, which costs 500 crests, can be bought for 250 crests.
- It might be necessary to increase some War Crest prices to balance this.

2. **PvE Gear Purchasable with War Crests:**
- Make PvE gear buyable with War Crests or reduce the required clears significantly.
- One or two clears for discovery and lore are fine, but excessive PvE in a PvP-focused game is not ideal.

3. **Cosmetic/Gold Rewards for Dungeons:**
- Some players enjoy PvE and it's a good way to make money.
- Add special skins, dyes, and gold as rewards to encourage players to continue running dungeons even after they are geared.

**Benefits of These Solutions:**

- New players who are not familiar with the gear progression won’t waste their crests on each piece of gear.
- Players can get properly geared throughout their leveling process by primarily engaging in PvP (we see many level 30+ players in green gear with the first level 8 set).
- PvE will no longer be mandatory in a PvP game.
- The time required for a new level 40 player to become decently geared will be reduced.
- The gap between fully geared players and fresh level 40 players will be minimized.

I may have missed some details, so please feel free to discuss this with me.

Thank you for reading.

[Phantasm]

Easiest solution to this would be just exchange previous tier gear (full set) for the next tier set, but with a cost of difference.

Example:

Conqueror set cost 849 crests

Vanquisher set cost 1691 crests

Give away conq set for a vanq set and pay 842 crests.

Better would be to exchange piece by piece but its just an idea.

[Kolyarut]

Hi, it's me, I'm the new player (well, I started two weeks ago, currently levels 40/52 at time of writing), currently working on Bastion Stair to complete the last of my wards. The specifics will be out of date basically immediately, but just to give you a ballpark idea.

From my perspective;

• I don't mind PVEing to get gear at all, I'm happy doing either activity. I quite like the fact that I can PVE to earn gear for now so I can save my War Crests for other gear later on.
• I *really* like that the gear is guaranteed, with random drops only serving to get some items faster. Casino loot is just the worst.
• However, if I did want to gear through PVP... I'm currently sitting on a big pile of War Crests (about 1.5k - I'm sure it'll disappear fast), but there doesn't seem to be anything I *can* spend them on even if I wanted to. The minimum renown rank for the next tier of PVP gear is enormous
• The Ward system is incredibly helpful for guidance on what gear to push for next. It's extremely useful for new players, especially since the wikis are often limited or outdated, and there are few external guides
• However, it's very hard to know what to aim for in slots that aren't covered by the set items, and there doesn't seem (I could be wrong) to be ways to spend Tokens or Crests to fill those
• It's also a royal pain trying to figure out which vendors sell stuff that might be useful. There seem to be at least a dozen gear vendors selling low level gear I'd levelled way past before discovering. If those guys were out in the lowbie war camps where new players could find them, it might reduce the pain of having to hunt through for useable gear (is an elite vendor better than a mercenary vendor? This guy's just a regular vendor, but he seems to sell high level gear that requires stuff I don't have? There's a weapon vendor but he doesn't sell all the weapons?)
• The two main currencies - War Tokens and War Crests - are useful and clear. Everything that's not those is far less so. Some stuff is even deliberately obtuse and coy ("maybe there's a vendor in your capital who'll exhange these for goods? I'll never tell!"). I'm pretty sure I've progressed all the way past having a use for genesis crests, but there could be a vendor with key gear hidden behind a rock I've never noticed. I've got four beastlord tokens in my inventory because once you have the book there seems to be literally no other use for them?

TL:DR - The numbers aren't an impossible problem - if I know what I'm working towards, I can lock in and I'll get there eventually. The game's already very good at guiding you through the early gear targets, but it could be better, and that support melts away once the Invader ward is complete.

[ShadowWar]

I think the gold bags giving pieces again for the lower tier gear will help fill in the crest-gap long-term. On my SW and my KotBS I never did any PvE for gear, and had full sets of sov/warlord/triump/fort weapons/etc... by the time I hit 80 on each. The only thing I didn't have for them is the 9999 crest triumph jewel. All that was with some decision changes for both causing me to buy pieces that just sit in my bank until the meta shifts.

I understand there are some classes that have PvP defining, BiS capacity weapons that ONLY come from PvE (White Lion iirc), and that's a shame I wish would be changed. Those are things that can be addressed in one-off fashion instead of massive system overhauls. I would selfishly benefit from that as well, as there's a great knight 2-hander that only comes from PvE I want to get, but I *HATE* PvE and have been avoiding it for a long-long time.

[shoelessHN]

Easiest solution to this would be just exchange previous tier gear (full set) for the next tier set, but with a cost of difference.

Example:

Conqueror set cost 849 crests

Vanquisher set cost 1691 crests

Give away conq set for a vanq set and pay 842 crests.

Better would be to exchange piece by piece but its just an idea.

Adding invader to gold bags is a start, but it's still like 4500 crests? It'd be 3k if you could exchange vanq. Even less if you earned some of that vanq from gold bags. Still think that's too high for people that are trying to save up 8-9k by the low 70s.

[tazdingo]

I understand there are some classes that have PvP defining, BiS capacity weapons that ONLY come from PvE (White Lion iirc), and that's a shame I wish would be changed. Those are things that can be addressed in one-off fashion instead of massive system overhauls. I would selfishly benefit from that as well, as there's a great knight 2-hander that only comes from PvE I want to get, but I *HATE* PvE and have been avoiding it for a long-long time.

ditto, I've legit given up on builds after realizing they need dungeon or onslaught pieces. misery of pve is not worth it

[akisnaakkeli]

I understand there are some classes that have PvP defining, BiS capacity weapons that ONLY come from PvE (White Lion iirc), and that's a shame I wish would be changed. Those are things that can be addressed in one-off fashion instead of massive system overhauls. I would selfishly benefit from that as well, as there's a great knight 2-hander that only comes from PvE I want to get, but I *HATE* PvE and have been avoiding it for a long-long time.

ditto, I've legit given up on builds after realizing they need dungeon or onslaught pieces. misery of pve is not worth it

https://imgur.com/a/0BQuDxJ First picture is same rr38 wpn that is in RoR as well. Just with less crit and no proc. Most of the rr38 influence wpns had procs if i remember correct. If this wpn existed like in that link atm in ror it would easily be the Bis offhand wpn in all and every build just because procs can make or break builds. also no renown requirement on any other pieces that has procs except ofc influence ones.

That 700 armour Proc cloak was only from fortress defense win in purple bag. All classes can use, and stacks with armour pot/skill as well(used to) Dok having Armour debuff proc on highest dps wpn in the game when rr80 and sove was max. 66dps then rr100 added rr75 70dps wpns.

I added Boost VIII picture by accident so i might as well ask if anyone knows what gave 10% Crit and 40% Critical dmg proc in Warhammer online Aor pls send tell to me=) Boost VI is 18% Critical dmg and 9% and Boost VII was on most dps sovereign sets and 10% crit rate 20% critical dmg increase. Doomflayer/Warpforged procs were 12/25% and 15/30%.

[shoelessHN]

I understand there are some classes that have PvP defining, BiS capacity weapons that ONLY come from PvE (White Lion iirc), and that's a shame I wish would be changed. Those are things that can be addressed in one-off fashion instead of massive system overhauls. I would selfishly benefit from that as well, as there's a great knight 2-hander that only comes from PvE I want to get, but I *HATE* PvE and have been avoiding it for a long-long time.

ditto, I've legit given up on builds after realizing they need dungeon or onslaught pieces. misery of pve is not worth it

Onslaught should just be buyable with war tokens, 1k per piece. Those are easy enough to mindlessly farm between sc queues.

[tazdingo]

I understand there are some classes that have PvP defining, BiS capacity weapons that ONLY come from PvE (White Lion iirc), and that's a shame I wish would be changed. Those are things that can be addressed in one-off fashion instead of massive system overhauls. I would selfishly benefit from that as well, as there's a great knight 2-hander that only comes from PvE I want to get, but I *HATE* PvE and have been avoiding it for a long-long time.

ditto, I've legit given up on builds after realizing they need dungeon or onslaught pieces. misery of pve is not worth it

Onslaught should just be buyable with war tokens, 1k per piece. Those are easy enough to mindlessly farm between sc queues.

yeah that would work well too