Gearing up in this game...

[Delfofthebla]

I've come back to this game after a 4 year~ hiatus. I brought as many of my friends in as I could, some who have played before, and some who haven't. Back when I played before, and as I have re-learned today, gearing up in gorgon is...tough.

I started by making a new character to "refresh" my memory on how the game plays, what items are important, where I should go, and what I should do. I made a Sword / Necro character. But as many people on the forums and in game will tell you (and they're right), Necro is weak. Oh the pets do decent damage alright, but I was our only melee and effectively our "tank" of the group. Having to deal with pet management issues while also having to maintain them in graveyards while I make my friends wait inside was just really not a good feeling.

So when my skellies died, I often let them stay dead. So that meant I was stuck with the base Necro kit, and man oh man does it need good treasure mods to feel powerful. The sword situation isn't as bad, but it definitely has very noticeable power spikes with the correct gear. Crypt after crypt, goblin dungeon after goblin dungeon, we'd hit up every boss, hit up every chest, then swap to the next dungeon. I'd mercilessly comb over every piece that dropped.

And somehow, before I was ever able to achieve just one set of "decent" gear that I thought would just put me on the same level as a terribly geared Fire Magic player with no secondary skill, I had hit level 50 in both skills. I was stunned. I'm just doing the first two "real" dungeons, and somehow I hit my level cap before I got the gear I wanted. Just what is this madness? Why is it so easy to get level 50? Why is it so hard to get the right treasure mods? Why are the necro damage skill numbers so insanely low?

Shortly after hitting 50 I decided I'd had enough. I swapped some skills around, but wasn't feeling any of them either. Similar problems, and just general "This class isn't for me" vibes. But then I remembered of Transmutation and Augmentation, and I have the benefit of having all of those skills (albeit low level) on my main from years ago. So I decided to switch back to him.

Now that I'm back on my main, I have a pair of sills I really enjoy (Spider / Druid) but gearing still feels so...impossible. I merely wish to acquire good gear (not perfect full yellows, just a "decent" set of purple tiers with my desired build's mods) RNG is rarely kind, and even with these gear-modifying skills, I am struggling to get what I want.

I never have enough dust. I never have enough baubles or beads, and if I did, I'd wager I don't have enough gems either. Constantly deconstructing all my gear to level up those skills is also keeping me decidedly poor. I know that if I stopped trying to level up these skills and use them, I would be rich enough to go to higher dungeons, which would get me more money, which would inevitably snowball into me being max level and farming gear there.

But I don't want that. I want to enjoy the game at a steady pace. Rushing to max level to grind gear is what every single bad MMO is about. What attracted me to Gorgon was how far it strayed from the standard MMO conventions.

So I have to ask: What the hell does everyone else do? Does everyone just charge to the endgame and deal with it there? Does everyone have shit gear and that's just how life is? Is trying to play and experience this game at a steady pace with basic milestones for each dungeon / level bracket even possible? Any info or insights would be appreciated.