First of all lower the level soft cap, i have loomed everything and pretty much there is nothing else to do after loomed the equip, since after reach lev 35 the 36 is impossible.(take months) i suggest to raise the soft to 40. (that still not make ppl able to do everything ) basicly make lev 40 like 200ml xp. (a little more of what is now lev 36, (140+ )
personally i think that leveling is part of the developing side of a char (also a fun part), an aim for play and a good sobstitute target for player when there is no strategus around, otherwise only option is retirements. (also if ppl chose to not retire but aim for lev 40. loomed stuff become less powerful and important)
and trust me we losed that "growing side" in crpg a lot. with this soo hard soft cap.
Second
I am a well know generation grinder, so i talk with a bit of experience in this field, main problem is, loomed stuff is not op, is a small bonus, they become a big bonus, when you can loom your entire equip. (like i have do ) becouse you add many small bonus together, and become a big bonus, when by retiring you can retire faster. that will end to a vicious circle where who have many gen , get more andmore bonus, leaving the others faar and faar behind.
so my suggestion is.
make fist 6 gen FASTER. (like theyr bonus value double from gen 2 to 6) so ppl can fill the generation gap faster. so we not see ppl gen 1 and ppl gen 30. ( by having first 6 gen faster they can loom mainly theyr weapon-armor- so they can pretty much even the tank or the dmg bonus of the guys with much more loom )
Now about the generation system. for slower it i suggest to stop the xp bonus on gen 10, and from gen 11 to 20 give an upkeep bonus.
and after gen 20 you get only your loomed stuff but no extra upkeep or xp bonus.
(that will stop also the grind since will not have more sense, unless ppl wanna get more looms wich will not rappresent a balance issue)
with this system and a softer cap levels. we give to new player and casual player, or player who not like to grind, 2 option.
1) grind more faster levels and retire (for avoid smart ppl who think they can remain at gen 6 and use double xp bonus for reach higher levels, just remove the double bonus when someone reach lev 31+ )
2) retire and get your first loom faster who make them able to match the high gen player, at list in terms of dps/tank (loomed weapon/armor)
it is also more user friendly, since allow new player to play faster, and get equip fast. it also not remove anything from old player.
And also we give to old player opportunity to use better equip, distinguish better themself from new player, but not in an unbalanced or unreachable way.
it also stop the looming proliferation, and important. by removing the big hole that there is between owning 1 loom gen 3-4 and 10 gen 30.
so resume:
gen 2-6 +20% x gen xp bonus (from lev 1 to 31 max)
gen 7-10 (+10%) xp gen bonus all levels
gen 11-21 +2% gold income (so max +20% that means 300g at x5 instead 250g )
from gen 22 to infinite no xp no gold bonus only + 1 loom
softer level cap to 40. (together with new double slot weapon it will not rappresent a game balance issue, or multitasking chars )
ps: this suggestion will also remove that horrible and tedious things that is removing looming time to time only for re balance the situation, who is an annoyng things to do toward ppl who played a lot and also is only a temporanely remedial to the problem
if you have read everything, and you are making the patch imho only things that mod need at moment about fix, is sidesword (little less dmg) throwing in general -30/35% dmg , and no crushthrue from baremace/ironmace., and buff on nordic champion (+ dmg) for give it a sense to exist.
since strategus will take much time imho, a softer cap, and a faster retirement/xp for low gen ppl will make happy not only new player but also old player who will have something to do (develop theyr char)
