JKCarrier

This. I am categorically against anything that makes the base game harder. You already have plenty of tools to increase the challenge for yourself, if you want to. But have some pity on us scrubs who just want to log in and work off some stress by steamrolling over bad guys.

Rogue Isles Reprobates?

I can empathize with your frustration, Ultimo. I've played this game for years, but never gotten very good at it. I've come to accept that there is certain content that I'm just not skilled enough to do. There's no way the game could be nerfed down to my level without ruining it for the players who do know what they're doing. So I stay in my lane, run regular missions, and take my enjoyment from the parts of the game that are within my grasp.

Tan me hide when I'm dead, Fred, Tan me hide when I'm dead. So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde, And that's it hanging on the shed...

My badge count on my main is 1200+ and I'm fairly terrible at the game. Having lots of badges just means I'm stubborn, not that I actually know what I'm doing. Trust me, you do not want me on your Master run.

I don't know the system well enough to use Mids, so I generally just wing it. I might look at a build online, but as OP pointed out, it's rare to find ones that aren't purpled-out endgame builds. I mostly solo and just run regular missions. I use SOs until level 20 or so, then switch to generic IOs, which I replace every 10-15 levels. If I'm having trouble with endurance, I might throw a proc in Stamina. If I feel like it, and have Inf to burn, I might throw a few sets in random powers. No idea what I'm doing. Most characters get retired at level 50. I have one character, a Mace/Shield Brute, that I dragged through the Incarnate system long enough to put something in each of his slots. Wasn't much fun, though, so I probably won't do that again. Since I put so much work into him, I pull him back out occasionally to see how many badges I can get for him. Basically, I'm about as lazy/casual as you can get.

I guess I'm fairly unusual in that I tend to play one alt at a time, get them up to level 50, and then "retire" them and start a new one. When I do, I email whatever money I have to the new guy. Depending on how aggressive I've been about IO-ing, that usually amounts to 300-500 million inf. I don't marketeer or run farms, but between that "inheritance" and normal play, I usually have more than enough for whatever I want to buy. I'm very impressed by you folks who have learned how to play the market and rake in the inf, but I don't have the savvy or patience for it. I dump all my drops in the market for cheap to get rid of them, and then overpay so I can get that LotG set I want right NOW. You're welcome. 😄