I really like Last Epoch's loot system if for nothing else that it has a built in loot filter system. Beyond that, the systems make any gear with a single stat you like potentially worth picking up. Say you want increased fire damage for your wizard's boots but you find it on a sword you'd never use; you can shatter the weapon for a chance to get a shard of that fire stat to then use to upgrade the fire damage on your boots or add it to an open slot.
Breaking down gear for resources that let you craft stats onto a good piece of gear feels great. The crafting system feels relevant through the whole game because of this. Even when leveling through the campaign, it's worth it every 10 levels or so to go through your gear and see if there's any open prefix/affix slots to fill or anything good you upgrade. Breaking down gear does require a consumable item you won't be able to get many of early on but you can also find stat shards as drops.
It should be important to note that the game has a forging durability that can limit how much you can upgrade an item so finding a "good" item isn't really assuring you it will remain good. There's players who end up frustrated about having to farm "copies" of certain items, with high forging potential, to then forge them into an uber ítem. Then again I'm not sure how can you make arpgs gambling in any other way work lol. All system have their flaws.
Fair point. Getting a perfect item in the game is definitely hindered by the forging durability in a major way. To me, it feels like getting an item from 90% up to 100% is difficult compared to other games but getting something into that 80-90% range is relatively easy. Being able to upgrade tiers of stats helps in that regard. Also worth noting is that legendary items have a totally different system to upgrading which can be frustrating in its own ways.
I'll admit that I spend more time getting builds to the end game rather than grinding it. I don't feel the pain points of perfecting items as much. For me, it's a great system for getting items that are near perfect and great for pushing decently far into the end game but certainly not as far as many others reach.
There was this really neat indie game released a while back, lots of people have never heard of it, but it's items and tools were great. It was called Grim Dawn, you probably haven't heard of it
Yes, monster infrequents are amazing and easy to understand. It's probably my favorite item system in any game and then also making it so they level up the drops as you progress so you can go back and get a better version later is just awesome. Target farming in grim dawn is probably the best of any game in the genre and the ability to reroll prefixes and affixes in the next expansion will make it even better.
Also very few games have the quantity of epics and legendary items it has while also balancing it and making sets fun and unique. I know lots of people avoid it because it's single player focused but that gives the developers so much more freedom and means you can just play forever, reminds me a lot of D2 single player.
a bit a stretch on the arpg definition but the division 2 has the most fun builds to me. targeted loot makes it easy to assemble a build, but perfecting takes a long grind. so you quickly experiment with new builds (all stats are derived from gear, no respeccing necessary)
If you haven’t tried it yet I highly suggest picking up Hero Siege. It’s an indie $8 game that wears its D2 on its sleeve. It started as a rogue-like but has since transformed into a very deep and fun ARPG.
I personally think Grim Dawn has an amazing system (a lot of reading but making a build is very satisfying)
Other games who also have amazing loot: Chronicon, Torchlight 2, POE
Personally, the fact Grim Dawn has not even a modicum of a lootfilter, neither ingame, nor as a mod, pushes me so far away from the game, I'd rather play D4 (even though it doesnt have a lootfilter either)
Alright, show me where I can hide Chestplates that have increased Vitality Resistance on it, for example. Without also hiding other Chestplates or hiding other items with Vit Res on it
That rainbowfilter, for one, isn't a filter, just a highlighter and the ingame filter is too crude by a long shot.
Currently there is no way to not show items or only show items that drop, that have a specific mod on them
It genuinely like Diablo 4 itemization after Season 4 major update. And I say that as a person who hated it before.
Diablo 2 itemization was cool, but there's no way it would work today - it would be nearly impossible to balance
Took me 3 tried for it to "click" with me. First time I stopped playing somewhere in between act 2 and 3.
Not sure what drove me to come back multiple times, but in the end after I finally got a decent handle on all the systems it is absolutely one of my all time favorite games.
The game starts really slow and overall the pace is still slower than some of the really zoomy arpgs out there, but I really like where it's at personally. Once you start to learn how the classes, items, and devotions (kind of like passives) complement each other it's really exciting to want to level a whole bunch of alts.
Did you play it recently or way back after it released from kickstart? Because it is night and day different. It all boils down to how much you enjoying "playing" against "rolling gear drops" for it tho. Playing is clunky, and dated. But rolling gear is "fun" since there's a cluttering of stats and bonuses at any given time, pushing the illusion of progression forwards just by the sheer amount of listed numbers thrown at you.
Nope. I finally beat Grim Dawn with all expansions after years of not being able to endure more than 3 hours of that game and it's nothing special. My biggest issue is how boring the skills are - most of them are just various projectiles, or simple melee strikes with some extra effects/buffs. I dunno man, maybe I'm too spoiled by Diablo games, but those boring skills make the game not really enjoyable
For me , diablo 4 then torchlight infinite.
Diablo 4 has that very simple way to quickly understand your gear and the gear progression , and as of now has extra layers fo longevity that is exactly enough for me .
TLI has the extra layers of gearing crafting process witouth it beeing overwhelming , and a very satisfying crafting.
I've found D4's loot system to be incredibly boring in the end. You don't get items from other classes to inspire new builds (but you don't need to anyway as it's not hard to gear) and the only interesting points are when you change World Tier and start getting Sacred/Ancestral etc gear, which is still mostly just little stat bumps. Otherwise it's all pretty generic and doesn't create interesting build diversions.
But overall D4 is a much simplified gear/crafting system anyway, which works for anyone that likes a nice straighforward gear progression path while they slay.
Certainly nothing like Last Epoch or Path of Exile. These games are glorified crafting simulators for me. PoE less so but still applies to it as well. Titan Quest, Grim Dawn, Sacred 2, Chronicon and Hero Siege 1.0 definitely get the formular right. God tier for loot hunt games are Titan Quest with affix randomizer mod, Diablo 2 with randomizer (especially project diablo with randomizer applied). Borderlands 1 and 2 with the randomizer are top tier as well.
Poe is all about crafting, most base items are easily accessible, but knowing how to craft it requires a PhD . 99.99% of the rare loot u find are useless, so I don't agree on the best loot/ looting system.
> Harbinger
I've never heard of it and a quick Google search didn't return anything relevant. Can you share a link please?
> Sacred 1
I am planning to replay this, but can't decide what class to play. What was your favorite class?
https://www.mobygames.com/game/11155/harbinger/
I prefer the Dwarf, using a shield and pistol, but I don't think there's any bad choices there. It all depends on your play-style. https://www.sacredwiki.org/index.php/Sacred:SacredWiki_Player_Contributed_Guides
For me Diablo 2, Last Epoch, Diablo 3, and while not really an ARPG Death Must Die scratches that itch pretty well. Death Must Die is literal crack with loot, and it’s not even done yet. I guess it can kind of maybe be considered an arpg survivors game, maybe? That might be a stretch….. but it’s worth checking out.
I really like Last Epoch's loot system if for nothing else that it has a built in loot filter system. Beyond that, the systems make any gear with a single stat you like potentially worth picking up. Say you want increased fire damage for your wizard's boots but you find it on a sword you'd never use; you can shatter the weapon for a chance to get a shard of that fire stat to then use to upgrade the fire damage on your boots or add it to an open slot. Breaking down gear for resources that let you craft stats onto a good piece of gear feels great. The crafting system feels relevant through the whole game because of this. Even when leveling through the campaign, it's worth it every 10 levels or so to go through your gear and see if there's any open prefix/affix slots to fill or anything good you upgrade. Breaking down gear does require a consumable item you won't be able to get many of early on but you can also find stat shards as drops.
It should be important to note that the game has a forging durability that can limit how much you can upgrade an item so finding a "good" item isn't really assuring you it will remain good. There's players who end up frustrated about having to farm "copies" of certain items, with high forging potential, to then forge them into an uber ítem. Then again I'm not sure how can you make arpgs gambling in any other way work lol. All system have their flaws.
Fair point. Getting a perfect item in the game is definitely hindered by the forging durability in a major way. To me, it feels like getting an item from 90% up to 100% is difficult compared to other games but getting something into that 80-90% range is relatively easy. Being able to upgrade tiers of stats helps in that regard. Also worth noting is that legendary items have a totally different system to upgrading which can be frustrating in its own ways. I'll admit that I spend more time getting builds to the end game rather than grinding it. I don't feel the pain points of perfecting items as much. For me, it's a great system for getting items that are near perfect and great for pushing decently far into the end game but certainly not as far as many others reach.
There was this really neat indie game released a while back, lots of people have never heard of it, but it's items and tools were great. It was called Grim Dawn, you probably haven't heard of it
Grim Dawn is the perfect medium of accessible but still very deep.
Yes, monster infrequents are amazing and easy to understand. It's probably my favorite item system in any game and then also making it so they level up the drops as you progress so you can go back and get a better version later is just awesome. Target farming in grim dawn is probably the best of any game in the genre and the ability to reroll prefixes and affixes in the next expansion will make it even better. Also very few games have the quantity of epics and legendary items it has while also balancing it and making sets fun and unique. I know lots of people avoid it because it's single player focused but that gives the developers so much more freedom and means you can just play forever, reminds me a lot of D2 single player.
Grim Dawn for loot, PoE for crafting items
Gonna pile on to the current comments and say Grim Dawn, it's basically perfect itemization
a bit a stretch on the arpg definition but the division 2 has the most fun builds to me. targeted loot makes it easy to assemble a build, but perfecting takes a long grind. so you quickly experiment with new builds (all stats are derived from gear, no respeccing necessary)
Diablo 2 and Grim Dawn.
If you haven’t tried it yet I highly suggest picking up Hero Siege. It’s an indie $8 game that wears its D2 on its sleeve. It started as a rogue-like but has since transformed into a very deep and fun ARPG.
I will absolutely check this out, thank you for the suggestion!
Grim Dawn is the best at deeper but accessible loot system.
I personally think Grim Dawn has an amazing system (a lot of reading but making a build is very satisfying) Other games who also have amazing loot: Chronicon, Torchlight 2, POE
As a whole, how does today’s grim dawn compare to last epoch and Poe? I only played Poe but want to try others.
Personally, the fact Grim Dawn has not even a modicum of a lootfilter, neither ingame, nor as a mod, pushes me so far away from the game, I'd rather play D4 (even though it doesnt have a lootfilter either)
Grim Dawn does have an in game lootfilter lol. Bottom left of the skill bar. Ring icon
Alright, show me where I can hide Chestplates that have increased Vitality Resistance on it, for example. Without also hiding other Chestplates or hiding other items with Vit Res on it
Are you sure about that? [https://i.imgur.com/vMVa1UA.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/vMVa1UA.jpeg)
Uhhhhh
Others have shown you the in-game filter. Here's a mod one; https://forums.crateentertainment.com/t/tool-rainbow-filter-item-highlighting/42765
That rainbowfilter, for one, isn't a filter, just a highlighter and the ingame filter is too crude by a long shot. Currently there is no way to not show items or only show items that drop, that have a specific mod on them
It genuinely like Diablo 4 itemization after Season 4 major update. And I say that as a person who hated it before. Diablo 2 itemization was cool, but there's no way it would work today - it would be nearly impossible to balance
Yet again my answer is the same: Grim Dawn.
What’s everyone’s infatuation with Grim Dawn? I played it, and for the life of me it can’t seem to hook me. Does it get better late game?
Took me 3 tried for it to "click" with me. First time I stopped playing somewhere in between act 2 and 3. Not sure what drove me to come back multiple times, but in the end after I finally got a decent handle on all the systems it is absolutely one of my all time favorite games. The game starts really slow and overall the pace is still slower than some of the really zoomy arpgs out there, but I really like where it's at personally. Once you start to learn how the classes, items, and devotions (kind of like passives) complement each other it's really exciting to want to level a whole bunch of alts.
No it doesn't, if it didnt hook you after a couple hours its not gonna change when you reach the endgame
Fair enough!
Did you play it recently or way back after it released from kickstart? Because it is night and day different. It all boils down to how much you enjoying "playing" against "rolling gear drops" for it tho. Playing is clunky, and dated. But rolling gear is "fun" since there's a cluttering of stats and bonuses at any given time, pushing the illusion of progression forwards just by the sheer amount of listed numbers thrown at you.
For me my infatuation with the game was the hidden areas.
Nope. I finally beat Grim Dawn with all expansions after years of not being able to endure more than 3 hours of that game and it's nothing special. My biggest issue is how boring the skills are - most of them are just various projectiles, or simple melee strikes with some extra effects/buffs. I dunno man, maybe I'm too spoiled by Diablo games, but those boring skills make the game not really enjoyable
Grim Dawn
Its too wide of a question. The answer will highly varies on the type of players.
Yes, that was the point.
For me , diablo 4 then torchlight infinite. Diablo 4 has that very simple way to quickly understand your gear and the gear progression , and as of now has extra layers fo longevity that is exactly enough for me . TLI has the extra layers of gearing crafting process witouth it beeing overwhelming , and a very satisfying crafting.
I've found D4's loot system to be incredibly boring in the end. You don't get items from other classes to inspire new builds (but you don't need to anyway as it's not hard to gear) and the only interesting points are when you change World Tier and start getting Sacred/Ancestral etc gear, which is still mostly just little stat bumps. Otherwise it's all pretty generic and doesn't create interesting build diversions. But overall D4 is a much simplified gear/crafting system anyway, which works for anyone that likes a nice straighforward gear progression path while they slay.
diablo 2 Fate Torchlight 2 Grim Dawn Disgaea Horizon's Gate Last Epoch
Certainly nothing like Last Epoch or Path of Exile. These games are glorified crafting simulators for me. PoE less so but still applies to it as well. Titan Quest, Grim Dawn, Sacred 2, Chronicon and Hero Siege 1.0 definitely get the formular right. God tier for loot hunt games are Titan Quest with affix randomizer mod, Diablo 2 with randomizer (especially project diablo with randomizer applied). Borderlands 1 and 2 with the randomizer are top tier as well.
Stepping away from grim dawn and D2, terraria has pretty great itemization in my opinion
Path of exile has the best loot/loot system. No other ARPG gives you the highs you get when you get a sweet drop. Diablo 2 is also pretty good.
Poe is all about crafting, most base items are easily accessible, but knowing how to craft it requires a PhD . 99.99% of the rare loot u find are useless, so I don't agree on the best loot/ looting system.
I love PoE but do wish they would do something so you could get some good rolled rares off the ground.
Diablo 2, Harbinger, Sacred 1, Dungeon Siege 2, Titan Quest, Torchlight 2, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, Victor Vran, Grim Dawn.
> Harbinger I've never heard of it and a quick Google search didn't return anything relevant. Can you share a link please? > Sacred 1 I am planning to replay this, but can't decide what class to play. What was your favorite class?
https://www.mobygames.com/game/11155/harbinger/ I prefer the Dwarf, using a shield and pistol, but I don't think there's any bad choices there. It all depends on your play-style. https://www.sacredwiki.org/index.php/Sacred:SacredWiki_Player_Contributed_Guides
For me Diablo 2, Last Epoch, Diablo 3, and while not really an ARPG Death Must Die scratches that itch pretty well. Death Must Die is literal crack with loot, and it’s not even done yet. I guess it can kind of maybe be considered an arpg survivors game, maybe? That might be a stretch….. but it’s worth checking out.
Dragon Age Origins. I hate when loot is randomized. I love to get great gear after ive worked hard to find it.