as it stands, theres no longer a 1* piece of equipment or lower that has an upgrade path to 5*. The reasons may vary but i believe it was due to ragecrafters using their ME to craft for UVs. although u can still ragecraft u cant do it as much as before
so the solution is simple: prevent 1* equipment and lower from acquiring UVs except for rolling UVs with Punch. this would allow for new lines of 1-5 star weapons for new players to experiment and at the same time allowing them the option to upgrade
naturally this could lead to some equipment of lower star levels of equipment that started above 1* or even linking pre existing 1* stuff to current lines (heavy hatchet to troika?). opens up new possibility imo
edit:
on the subject of bombs however i doubt a 1* bomb would be good since their radius wouldn't be so good
Good idea, but I think there could be a different way around it. But that seems perfectly logical.