In order to pass, a player must have a complete set of equipment of a minimum star value (2-star for tier 2, 4-star for tier 3)
Dear Devs,
I hope you're not too serious about this topic I quoted here. Shouldn't you be limited by your gear tier because monsters get too hard, rather than by a jolly old guard? Unless of course this is a bypass for balancing-gone-wrong whereas you were not able to add this to the game without forcing in this guard? (No offence intended)
My point is that right now you can perfectly manage below Emberlight with some of the 3* equipment out there. Why should a player be forced to buy equipment from a higher tier in order to progress, if his current is sufficient to do the job?
To give you a personal example:
I've ventured below Emberlight many, many times with Drake Scale Mail/Helm, a Swiftstrike Buckler and a Cold Iron Carver. Only the sword is 4*, the other items are 3*. I have managed to do every trip perfectly fine, yet you'd now limit me if I don't buy higher-tier equipment? Even more so, I CAN'T upgrade my Drake Scale set to Wyvern if I am to keep my attack speed bonus. For some reason it is left out of the Wyvern set. Along the same line, the Swiftstrike Buckler doesn't even have a follow-up 4* yet? This is starting to sound a lot like me complaining about not being able to upgrade items the way I want it, I know. But my point is that for one, in its current form you don't always need the right tier of equipment in order to survive, and two, you don't always seem to be able to progress to higher armor while keeping the same type of armor buffs.
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A question unrelated to the previous topic, will we all be starting off as "new" players and have to work our way up again to Emberlight? (I do hope not)
After you earn your tier badge you can enter that tier with whatever gear you like. This is simply a check before that to ensure you meet the bare minimum requirements for you to not have to 'learn by dying.'
And again, you will be able to bypass this even before you get the badge if you know someone who already has one and lets you in.