Suggestion for next evolver

The evolving items have always seemed to work in a set order. Some variation of Merc > Partisan > Paragon > Hunter... etc.

I think it would be nice if the next evolving item unlocked in the way that some AAs in a non linear order by using a cumulative amount of rank unlocks (ie. Vitality/Resolution/Fortitude, etc). Same ACH, but evolved base on the number of ACH not the order of ACH.

This is not an order, but rather a tally...
Champion (Merc/Partisan)
Paragon (Missions)
Challenger (Mission ACH)
Slayer (Hunter)
Collector
Conquerer (Raids)
Vanquisher (Raid ACH)

It wouldn't matter the order you finish them.

I also think it would be nice if groupers could get to rank 6 of the cloak. Whereas right now they can only get to 5. Switching to this system would allow groupers to get 1 level higher. Since ranks 2-5 could require 1 check each (4 checks), rank 6 could require 2 checks (6 total). This means that groupers could get rank 6 without conquerer/vanquisher but have to have slayer/collect, whereas raiders could get to rank 6 without slayer/collections by finishing conquerer/vanquisher, however, raiders would still have to complete slayer/collection AND conquerer/vanquisher to get to rank 7.

I think a change like this still require more or less the same amount of work but would allow for a lot more flexibility in the way players choose their path to progression. It would also be more rewarding for group players by letting them get 1 rank higher than they can now by doing ACH they currently have little motivation to do (as they can't evolve to that level).

It's not unlike doing any tradeskill combine. The order of the TS components don't matter.

Next evolving item should be visible. Give me some cool looking graphic, non-visible evolving items are so boring and drab.

Great idea, Vumad.

I might also suggest having no requirement for the very first evolution.

This would counter some of the frustration players experience when they equip a bad-stat item, get 100% exp on it, and then cannot do anything with it. Then they look up the required achievement and either toss it in the bank (because the effort is too high), or grind out the achievement that (oddly) often activities that provide way more than 100% of the required exp to unlock evolution. (Vumad's idea would help counter this issue at steps beyond the 1st evolution, too)

There was a helm drop that was best in slot once it was done but it started off with negative stats and got worse and worse until you finished evolving it.

We need more of those. When you get half way though the raid and realize oh, no wonder I've died 3x times in 10 minutes. I forgot to switch out my craping -200k helm !

( I am joking ... mostly ... )

Recommendations:

• Make the barrier for entry extremely small
• Make the barrier for the first and second evolutions small
• For mid and especially high-tier components, add a diverse set of barriers that include new expansion content (hunter, challenger especially), old content that's not terrible and an economic component for newish content. The economic component includes plat that is consumed by the system (to act as a plat sink) and trade gear from the last few recent expansions.
• Make having a fully evolved chase item visibly noticeable if the player wants

I very much dislike your 3rd point. I hated TBL evolvers. They pull people out of current content and current groups to plow through old content that contributes nothing to the game. It is not entertaining nor does it help anyone. No one was back in PoP hunter helping some returning player succeed.

Including old content only serves as a barrier to returning players and main changes. Plat sinks work the same way. Some players are loaded with ACH and Coin and the back flag requirements are absolutely trivial, while others struggle to complete them at all.

Keep people in the current expansion playing with people who need groups.

I like point 4.

I personally lead a 2 week long PoP hunter raid open invites to all, did every named 3x over.

maybe everyone on your server just sucks at cooperation.

I was thinking earlier it's be nice to have an evolving shield or range item, or even an Aug that only fits in epics(a 1h and a 2h version I guess, lore-equipped) that you then can take apart or put together like Legos(the Aug, with slot 18/19 augs). The reason it came to mind was comparing the 6%softcap AC Aug with AC vs a higher ac of same slot...ac went down instead..so if it could be used in something you could bandolier, or say a shield, idk if it's ever actually be better than the higher AC of the slot though.

Maybe an item that drops, that then has a conversion where you pick your class and get your epic, but at modern levels, then it can evolve as per usual. Can always make a flag for needing 2.0, or have different reward options for each epic you've completed, thereby renewing epics for all to be currently relevant AND upgradeable for near future. Also classes that didn't before feel the need for them would go back and do them to be able to get it.

I like my second paragraph much better

I liked RZ earring first barrier - Explorer achievement of ToV.
As a group player and mostly boxer I have some perception about the difficulty/effort applied to get various achievements groups in-era:
Champion (Mercenaries and Partisans) - relatively routine, and usually is done anyway for the overall character progress.
Paragon - usually difficult in-era (at least some missions) and requires some cooperation with others. Some perhaps get TA's, some simply group up with others. Not a show-stopper, but more difficult than Champion in-era.
Challenger - requires a good group of good players to coplete in-era. Typically 1-2-3 Achievements are not easy to get. May take some time in-era before all the alts get it.
Slayer - a definite time-sink with little reward. I usually do those for my mains and rarely an alt gets it.
Scavanger - very rarely completely done in-era. Only mains may get it done if there is a good reason like an important evolver, and a time-sink is notable. Alts wait for next expansion to leech Overseer collectibles.

RZ earring was and still is the best evolver. Not all by itself (although - very good in-era item), but also by unlocking some unique "side-kick" augments/combines.
TBL Evolvers are long discarded, the cloak will be used for a while due to great stats.
Most of my alts have RZ earring evolved to quite high level, but I doubt they will get the cloak to the same: simple HME boost is not enough of a motivation to do it multiple times.

Overall, by ranking easiest to hardest, I think the unlocking steps should follow RZ earring model:
Explorer
Champion
Paragon
Scavenger (doable, reluctantly)
Slayer (not really a fan of this)
Challenger (not a problem for a decent group, so group-up!)
and then Raid levels.