Ok, I just ran one level of the Malaise, I got:

23 Warrior Items
12 Ranger Items
2 (minimally suited for) Mage Items

(only 2 items were gold, no purples, lots of grey and blue, oh joy)

Because of this, to be honest, the game has, at level 36 become tedious to me. Tedious has never been in my list of words I LIKE to use to define or describe any game.

I really don't want to reroll and start over (currently only one character slot per membership) So, I have been playing a lot less, and to be perfectly honest, if there is not improvement in the next update I won't be extending my membership past the 3 months I signed up for. The game is basically a bare bones dungeon crawl with cool items and the items are not there, you are left with just a bare bones dungeon crawl. As much as it is fun to kill the same things over and over and over, without the drops, and with a character that has to stay in the same gear for 10 or more levels, it is...boring.

Nalora
(Wyvernspur in game)

Are you soloing or grouping? I know that you can get better drops when grouped, are you in the narsty dungeon yet?

It is very hard to find any group at my level. (There are not that many people at my level) I can get into the "nasty" dungeon, but would die. The point is The developers have woefully neglected or forgotten to make items appropriate for the mage class.

Nal

To the OP topic: I have found that crossbows still drop way way too often for me. I get about 10-20 blue and 6-12 or more yellow xbows per session when I play for 2hrs or so. In one sense I'm okay with them as a way to generate gold for skill purchases but I just wish that I would drop more mage gear.

Which leads me to Nalora: Mages in the current build(.42-.44) got severely nerfed because they were overpowered versus the game system. I had a level 70 mage at the end of build .39 and could effortlessly solo HDoL and all other content except for several bosses. The boss mechanics were significantly harder prior to the current build.

There are a couple of ways that the game changed to slow down the mages. The first is the system of "resists" that were implemented in .42/.44 I'll bet that at level 36 Nalora you've encountered the "soft" level cap at The Embercore Path. If you reach EP before level 40 all spells will be completely resisted because the mobs are more than +5 levels in relation to you. This really only effects spell damage so the rangers/fighters who use weapons don't get stopped, only mages.

The other way mages got nerfed was both the drop frequency and stats of loot. Armor Items with high +INT when you can find them always have a defense rating so low as to be punishing. Being a glass cannon means lots of trips to the graveyard and min/max is a very fine line to achieve. Funny though you can still max endurance for a fighter and agility for ranger and have a very strong build.

So I guess after playing DR for almost nine months in various states I can see why these changes were made, doesn't mean I like them, I want my mage to uber too

Isn't it interesting that the 2 level 100 chars are Rangers and the highest level fighter char is only in the 70's? Though I gotta give some props to Ibalaki, he's going to be the first mage to 100. With a little work I might be the second.

So the nerfing of mages happened before I joined. A pity. I prefer games that are fun and not a grind. DR as a mage, becomes a severe and boring grind after level 30, unfortunately.

Nal

Test:

Three runs through the Acrid Catacombs subdungeon (Embercore sub) on my level 36 member ranger.

Loot - Run 1

Weapons -

05 White (71.43% of weapon drops)
01 Green (14.29% of weapon drops)
00 Blue
01 Yellow (14.29% of weapon drops)
00 Purple
00 Rainbow
----------
07 Total

Class Distribution:

03 Fighter (42.86% for weapon drops)
03 Ranger (42.86% for weapon drops)
01 Mage (14.29% for weapon drops)
00 Indeterminate *
----------
07 Total


Armor -

03 White (30.00% of armor drops)
03 Green (30.00% of armor drops)
02 Blue (20.00% of armor drops)
01 Yellow (10.00% of armordrops)
01 Purple (10.00% of armor drops)
00 Rainbow
----------
10 Total

Class Distribution:

03 Fighter (30.00% for armor drops)
01 Ranger (10.00% for armor drops)
06 Mage (60.00% for armor drops)
00 Indeterminate *
----------
10 Total

Loot - Run 2

Weapons -

01 White (20.00% of weapon drops)
03 Green (60.00% of weapon drops)
01 Blue (20.00% of weapon drops)
00 Yellow
00 Purple
00 Rainbow
----------
05 Total

Class Distribution:

04 Fighter (80.00% for weapon drops)
01 Ranger (20.00% for weapon drops)
01 Mage
00 Indeterminate *
----------
05 Total


Armor -

03 White (37.50% of armor drops)
01 Green (12.50% of armor drops)
02 Blue (25.00% of armor drops)
00 Yellow
02 Purple (25.00% of armor drops)
00 Rainbow
----------
08 Total

Class Distribution:

05 Fighter (62.50% for armor drops)
02 Ranger (25.00% for armor drops)
00 Mage
01 Indeterminate * (12.50% for armor drops)
----------
08 Total


Loot - Run 3

Weapons -

07 White (50.00% of weapon drops)
03 Green (21.43% of weapon drops)
03 Blue (21.43% of weapon drops)
01 Yellow (07.14% of weapon drops)
00 Purple
00 Rainbow
----------
14 Total

Class Distribution:

10 Fighter (71.43% for weapon drops)
01 Ranger (07.14% for weapon drops)
00 Mage
03 Indeterminate * (21.43% for weapon drops)
----------
14 Total


Armor -

03 White (30.00% of armor drops)
04 Green (40.00% of armor drops)
02 Blue (20.00% of armor drops)
01 Yellow (10.00% of armor drops)
00 Purple
00 Rainbow
----------
10 Total

Class Distribution:

03 Fighter (30.00% for armor drops)
02 Ranger (20.00% for armor drops)
03 Mage (30.00% for armor drops)
02 Indeterminate * (20.00% for armor drops)
----------
10 Total

Loot - Total Average

Weapons -

13 White (50.00% of weapon drops)
07 Green (26.92% of weapon drops)
04 Blue (15.38% of weapon drops)
02 Yellow (07.69% of weapon drops)
00 Purple
00 Rainbow
----------
26 Total

Class Distribution:

17 Fighter (65.38% for weapon drops)
05 Ranger (19.23% for weapon drops)
01 Mage (03.85% for weapon drops)
03 Indeterminate * (11.54% for weapon drops)
----------
26 Total


Armor -

09 White (32.14% of armor drops)
08 Green (28.57% of armor drops)
06 Blue (21.43% of armor drops)
02 Yellow (07.14% of armor drops)
03 Purple (10.71% of armor drops)
00 Rainbow
----------
28 Total

Class Distribution:

11 Fighter (39.29% for armor drops)
05 Ranger (17.86% for armor drops)
09 Mage (32.14% for armor drops)
03 Indeterminate * (10.71% for armor drops)
----------
28 Total

Conclusion

While the sample data is very limited, the statistics show that--for my ranger--fighter weapons dropped the most, mage weapons the least. Fighter armor dropped the most, ranger armor dropped the least. The percentages amongst color drops appeared to be fair, with white drops being the most common to rainbows being the least. I believe the high purple drop percentage for armor is an anomaly.

* Indeterminate means any item that has statistics that make it desirable to more than one class. For example a white pair of 'bouncy pads' with no stats other than def and +% movement would be desirable for either a ranger or a mage. Likewise a green scepter--ostensibly a mage item--that has ludicrous speed and high damage output and has equal stats in STR, END and INt could be beneficial to both fighters and mages (on paper).

Interesting enough. I just wish I had the free time to run such tests.

I play a figher, and for some reason, I still get more xbows than any other weapon drop.

Next time you play, keep a simple tally. One mark for every xbow, one mark for every melee weapon. You may be surprised. It may just be that you notice the xbows more (since they annoy you), creating the illusion that you get more of them than melee weapons.

I counted once, I definitely get more melee than xbow.

Wow, Rip, thanks for all the hard work. I went in and played some today, but to be honest was so disheartened by the sad drops my little mage was getting there was no joy in mudville. *sighs deeply* Oh well.

Maybe in future...*eternally hopeful*

Nal