@Gofrit
I like the idea of tying higher tiers to quests and/or exploration. This would make it easy for guilds to progress while also giving solo players an opportunity. This is a personal tangent, but one of my favorite activities as a solo player is sneaking into areas I shouldn't be able to handle, such as when I managed to gather a wagon full of azurite despite not being able to beat any Jotun 1 on 1.

In that sense, we could get rid of recipes altogether and require you to discover new ways to craft gear in the world, beyond primitive and maybe tier 1.

This has been a problem for a long time, but if you're asking what's underpowered, that'd be one handed melee weapons without spell channeling. They are so weak that there's no reason to ever use them, besides not having access to a better option.

@Gofrit
I like the idea of tying higher tiers to quests and/or exploration. This would make it easy for guilds to progress while also giving solo players an opportunity. This is a personal tangent, but one of my favorite activities as a solo player is sneaking into areas I shouldn't be able to handle, such as when I managed to gather a wagon full of azurite despite not being able to beat any Jotun 1 on 1.

In that sense, we could get rid of recipes altogether and require you to discover new ways to craft gear in the world, beyond primitive and maybe tier 1.