[i]DISCLAIMER - I'm not a game developer and likely never will be. The hope is some of these suggestions, if well received by the community, might appear in future version of this game.[/i] Let's face it - loot is broken. The forums are constantly filled with complaints to nerf, buff, ban, or increase opportunities to get certain gear. The true culprit behind all of this is balance, or a lack of. When there is a handful of gear that absolutely rules over the others in most situations (if not all), something is broken. Even within the elite, top tier of gear there is still only one or two common choices. And while personal preference maybe take precedence occasionally, most people can agree whether deservedly or not there are few "must always equip" choices. Before continuing on, understand the whole purpose of this thread would be to develop a system that wouldn't feel so punishing when it comes to RNG. It would still suck to receive something that was a duplicate (maybe) or didn't benefit your play style. But no single piece of gear should be "useless" by game design. And all the high end gear should be "earnable". [spoiler]The first thing that is broken is Gear grades (common, uncommon, etc). Just on armor alone, not counting class items, there are 196 in game assets (per class!) that will never be used after a few hours of in game play (numbers per destinydb.com). Face it, once at level 20 if it's not purple most people don't even look it (several PVP exceptions exist). That is a lot of game development for no purpose. My suggestion? New grades. An introductory grade with one (maybe two) options per item type. Used early game only. The next grade, useable throughout the game though commonly replaced at endgame. All vendors sell only these (not the selection of Legendaries they have now). However, since this would be the grade of item most likely to appear as loot (see below) it really needs to be useable. What makes these interesting is the RNG element to the perks - the extremist combinations that are possible nowhere else (see below). The grade after that is what we know as Legendary now - available only through mini-quests from Vendors (think Eris Gauntlet quest), special Event rewards, or guaranteed drops from Weekly events. This gear should never be an RNG reward IMO. Furthermore, I'd make all of these items stock - there is no RNG when it comes to the perks. I look at this like how people go about their Exotic collections - it should take quite some time to accumulate a vast selection of this gear. This gear is only higher tier because of access to a selection of "better" perks (see below). Attack and armor/light values are the same. Raid Gear would fall in this Tier as well, and would feature exclusive Perks that benefit play during the Raid as a primary perk and access to a second "better" perk. The last tier would be what we know as Exotic. Again, this gear is only better than the tier previous because of unique perks available nowhere else. Attack and armor/light values are the same as everything else. At game launch, I would have included one of each type of item, maybe two of each class helmet or chest piece. And again, this gear is never an RNG drop. This gear is earned through difficult and lengthy mini-quests. These quests should take the typical player weeks to complete, but through "time walls" not grinding. Think about a step being "Get x kills during an Iron Banner event" or "Defeat x boss during a Nightfall" as opposed to "Kill 10,000 Hive" although that could work too - some enjoy that.[/spoiler] [b]TL;DR [/b]- create new gear grades where everything but the introductory gear can be used in End Game from a stats standpoint. Have a single tier below "endgame" that is the only tier with an RNG element to the perk rolls - everything else is static. This makes the tier unique in that the combinations available make certain ones sought after. What separates the Legendary, Raid, and Exotic items are mostly the perks - perks that are powerful and unique. All of those three items are earned through mini-quests/bounties or the Raid itself, never/hardly ever through RNG. When you see that a person got one of these pieces of gear, you know they likely earned it through game play. There is not one of these pieces of gear a player can't earn; not one that they have to "wait" for to drop. [spoiler]When it comes to perks and stats for weapons and armor, some revamping and some additions need to be made. There are always certain weapons that are preferred. However, a preferred weapon with the perceived "worst" perks is almost always junked. A "weak" weapon with the "worst" perks is considered a loot drop insult, a personal slap in the face by Bungie. First, balance the stats. Each weapon should have a role that only slightly deviates in version. Example(theoretical, subject to change after testing): Assault Rifle 1 - High Fire Rate / Low Impact / Low Range / Low Stability / Low Accuracy / High Ammo Assault Rifle 2 - High Fire Rate / Low Impact / Mid Range / Mid Stability / Low Accuracy / Mid Ammo Pulse Rifle 1 - Mid Fire Rate / Low Impact / Mid Range / High Stability / High Accuracy / Mid Ammo Scout Rifle 2 - Low Fire Rate / Mid Impact / Long Range / Low Stability / High Accuracy / Low Ammo Hand Cannon 1 - Low Fire Rate / High Impact / Low range / Mid Stability / Mid Accuracy / Low Ammo Hand Cannon 2 - Mid Fire Rate / Mid impact / Low Range / Low Stability / Mid Accuracy / Low Ammo In the example above you have some choices. Each serves it's purpose. There is a gun type for each player. The trick then would just be balancing the damage over time (I'd use 3 seconds, the typical encounter against three enemy groups of balanced level IMO). Fire Rate vs Impact vs probability of Accuracy. Then adjust plus or minus based on user friendliness, or in other words the farther the range or easier to control the lower the damage over time but marginally so.[/spoiler] [b]TL;DR[/b] - Balance each weapon first by damage over a brief amount of time, then by ease of use. Distinguish by role, including drawbacks. If it is a close range weapon, give it either high rate of fire with larger ammo pool or high probability of quick kill. If it is a mid range weapon, make it balanced - nothing really stands out. If it is long range, make it accurate and decently powerful, but low ammo pool and less user friendly. [spoiler]The perks themselves are even more difficult - they are next to impossible to balance. Therefore perks should follow one of two rules. Either it enhances an existing stat or enhances quality of game play in the most basic of senses. Most weapons would have two choice trees and one perk. Tree one would alter the sight, including range, aim assists, stability, and handling speed. Tree two would alter the weapons body, including increased fire rate, reduced recoil, increased reload speed, more ammo per clip, more per ammo pool, and the ammo subtypes. The perks would be the more basic of ones, such as bonus damage for a time, near instant reload, near perfect stability, bonus range, etc. For the Legendary weapons build role specific items. Give us a Scout that is damn near a sniper rifle. Give us a Hand Cannon that is rivaled only by a Shotgun. Pulse's with perfect stability. Assault Rifles with more rounds in a magazine then we know what to do with. PVP tuned weapons with radar or quick swap speeds. If it was legendary, it was specific to a legend whether person or event. It played a role and should reflect such by both story blurb and perks. Take that even further with Raid Weapons and Exotic Weapons. Again, specific perks found nowhere else. But if it something that is going to modify sustained damage, it needs to have a drawback as well. Maybe Thorn should inflict damage to you as well. Maybe Gjallahorn should have the lowest ammo pool of all rocket launchers. Maybe Backpack should actually take up one of IB's perks. For the Raid weapons here's a Scout Rifle that rips up Knights(bonus damage and shield punch through), and here's a Shotgun that tears through Thralls(bonus damage and piercing rounds?) for examples. As for armor, there are not enough perks to the point that most armor feels exactly the same. The perks that exist are fine, other than maybe a few needing a bit of a buff compared to other possible options. Why not have perks that include buffs to basic stats? Increases to Armor, Recovery, Speed, or even Defense? Increases to Reload Speed, Weapon Handling? Element Damage Resistance? The Raid Armor should grant perks to help defend us against that Raid's enemies or unique encounters. Exotics should continue to build upon Class abilities. But even the tier of gear below Legendary should give us the opportunity to get damn near level cap. That system in and of itself is probably a mistake, but that's a longer conversation.[/spoiler] [b]TL;DR[/b] - Perks should follow one of two rules- either it enhances an existing stat or enhances quality of game play in the most basic of senses. Anything beyond that should be specific to Exotic or Raid gear. The RNG perks should feel like a hard choice - more ammo in case I miss, or less chance to miss? Not "I can't miss with this gun, so take the bonus ammo". For Legendaries, make them like raid gear - it serves a specific role. Give the Vendors themes on their gear beyond cosmetics. Add more perks for Armor that build off of in game stats (Defense, Agility, Recovery, etc), that help weapon stats, or even grant elemental or enemy type damage resistances. Thanks for reading if you did.