Dear Klei, I think it is time for better equipment in DST

[mr. brj]

So we get this invasive portal after defeating the Celestial Champion now. It gradually occupies and destroys a larger area, and then it vanishes. Very cool concept in my opinion, everything builds up so nicely and the world suddenly feels more alive. I was really hyped up seeing how the new portal affected the world while I was testing in.

Then I decided to test what I could craft with the loot I gathered, and it started feeling disappointing, but more so, extremely anti-climactic. On one hand, there is hours of gameplay for the player to reach to this point in the game, but despite their niche bonuses, the rewards feel more like a reskin to the items the player already utilized to get to this point. On the other hand, the player gets to directly interact with other-worldly stuff, which builds up a high expectation, and suddenly that's it. Nothing particularly interesting happens in the end, nothing of particular importance is earned and the whole whing just feels like it's not worth it.

That said, the story telling is, without a doubt, there at its finest, and I believe that the rewards should be of equal importance. Niche uses and extra durability compared to equipment of the same tier just don't cut it anymore. We need more numbers for the weapons in terms of damage, and we need more accesibility options for all the new crafts. Not every end game gear has to offer a superior alternative to another item of course, but if there is a time to offer a superior alternative to existing gear, it's with this update. The build-up is there, all the hours of gameplay required to reach to this point is there, the only thing missing is a decent reward here.

Please Klei, at least let us test a weapon with a higher base damage, or at least let us test an armor that's too good to be true. This beta feels like a rare opportunity for testing out such stuff, and I think the playerbase would greatly appreciate such a consideration.

[Vinja]

As far as new armors/weapons go it definitely feels like klei is afraid of making them too useful or fun. The new armor giving damage resistance to lunar mobs and bonus damage to shadow mobs is a cool concept but is pretty damn negligible in practice which is disappointing. 

Can we just accept that DST is not the same game it was in 2016? The direction is totally different and the game is much easier now than it ever was, and that’s fine. The characters are much stronger, but also much more fun. That should be the biggest concern here, fun. Give us a truly new tier of weapons and armor. It’s not like this stuff would be available from day 1, I mean you have to kill an endgame boss to get them. By that point you’ve likely already defeated most if not all other bosses anyway so what’s the harm in adding gear that’s actually noticeably better? Sure you could rush CC then use new gear to make FW easier but if your goal is to make FW easier swapping to Winona, trapping him and catapulting him to death is a much simpler and more brainless option lol. 
 

Whatever, rant over. I just want new gear that’s actually good for once. 

[-Variant]

Comparing modern DST weapon design to say, Capy's weapon design back during SW, the contract feels so stark.
It really does feel like they're afraid to pass the 100 damage mark, so few weapons do!

I loved in SW there being a lot of variety, even ranged things like the throwing Harpoon and the Speargun, I'd love for Klei to get a bit messy with it.

Personally I'd have overtuned crazy strong weapons at introduction and have them brought down to par if needed over starting off with stuff that feels way undertuned any day!