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<blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4927059" data-attributes="member: 710">I am not convinced that the balance issue lies between PCs and monsters. That might exist too, but the fundamental issue is more that comparable items are imbalanced.It is the same problem as with the old &quot;Big Six&quot; in 3E. The opportunity cost for not taking one of the big six was perceived too high. So everyone ended up with them, and other items got neglected.If a particular set of level 6 bracers are considered more desirable by a significant portion of characters than any other level 6 bracer many higher level bracers, than these level 6 bracers will become more prevalant. Of course, that will lead to a character imbalance, the &quot;cool&quot; guys all get their fixed bonus to damage, the uncool guys don't. But the starting point is this one item that is to desirable. Fix that, and you don't get any resulting imbalances. Of course, there are more than one such item. I think there can be good reasons why there is only one Staff of Ruin and not a Wand/Orb/Holy Symbol of Ruin. It gives the Staff a unique flavor as implement - it's the &quot;war&quot; wizards implement, a Staff wielder uses powerful spells that wreak havoc and destruction. It's just that the granted bonus is too high or too universal that's the problem. The same thing probably doesn't apply to the Bracers of Perfect Shot or Iron Armbands of Power. They don't really add their &quot;unique&quot; flavor. But I think the problem is mostly that their bonuses are too high. A +3 to damage (for the same price) at epic tier will never be seen as that significant. Maybe add a daily or encounter power to the mix, and you got a solid item that not everyone is after. (Even though it might still be one of the &quot;simple&quot; choices then.)And of course, some items seem to stack unneccessarily. Just make every damage bonus from items an item bonus, and you will find a way that everyone that wants a damage bonus can get one some way, but no one can stack them silly.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mustrum_Ridcully, post: 4927059, member: 710"] I am not convinced that the balance issue lies between PCs and monsters. That might exist too, but the fundamental issue is more that comparable items are imbalanced. It is the same problem as with the old "Big Six" in 3E. The opportunity cost for not taking one of the big six was perceived too high. So everyone ended up with them, and other items got neglected. If a particular set of level 6 bracers are considered more desirable by a significant portion of characters than any other level 6 bracer many higher level bracers, than these level 6 bracers will become more prevalant. Of course, that will lead to a character imbalance, the "cool" guys all get their fixed bonus to damage, the uncool guys don't. But the starting point is this one item that is to desirable. Fix that, and you don't get any resulting imbalances. Of course, there are more than one such item. I think there can be good reasons why there is only one Staff of Ruin and not a Wand/Orb/Holy Symbol of Ruin. It gives the Staff a unique flavor as implement - it's the "war" wizards implement, a Staff wielder uses powerful spells that wreak havoc and destruction. It's just that the granted bonus is too high or too universal that's the problem. The same thing probably doesn't apply to the Bracers of Perfect Shot or Iron Armbands of Power. They don't really add their "unique" flavor. But I think the problem is mostly that their bonuses are too high. A +3 to damage (for the same price) at epic tier will never be seen as that significant. Maybe add a daily or encounter power to the mix, and you got a solid item that not everyone is after. (Even though it might still be one of the "simple" choices then.) And of course, some items seem to stack unneccessarily. Just make every damage bonus from items an item bonus, and you will find a way that everyone that wants a damage bonus can get one some way, but no one can stack them silly. [/QUOTE]

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