I don't have access to the test server, but I've been following along with the commentary over the last few days. Based on what I've read so far, there seems to be a real danger that some of the new armor sets will be rendered obsolete by existing armor (Chaos, Vog, Skolver, Shadowsun, etc).

Keep in mind, I don't have a complete understanding of how the new gear works, so this idea will probably have to be tweaked.

But here's what I propose:

The new armor should have a 2.5% to 10% crown bonus for dealing monster-specific damage.

There are a few ways to do this, but it definitely should be tied to the damage bonus on the set.

As I mentioned, I don't have access to the test server, so I'll use an existing armor as an example: Deadly Virulisk Suit.

The Deadly Virulisk set provides a Damage Bonus vs Slime Medium on both the helmet and the armor, granting players a Very High Damage Bonus vs Slimes.

If the player enters a dungeon, and the dungeon matches his monster-specific damage bonus, he will receive 2.5% bonus crowns for every low monster-specific bonus he has.

Example (player enters Slime theme level wearing a full Virulisk set):

Low Slime Damage = +2.5% crowns
Medium Slime Damage = +5.0% crowns
High Slime Slime Damage = +7.5% crowns
Very High Slime Damage = +10.0% crowns

So if he earns 2,000 crowns for completing a mission, he will receive a 10% crown bonus, bringing his total to 2,200 crowns.

(Definitely not a game breaker and it gives players an incentive to use different armors).

So if you were to wear a Deadshot set in an undead-themed level, you would earn +10% crowns.

The Divine set would grant you a +5% crown bonus on a Fiend-themed level.

The Heavenly Iron set would receive a +2.5% crown bonus for each piece worn in a Fiend-themed level.

And gear like the Arcane Salamander set would likely be best utilized in a compound level, where it's Med Slime/Med Beast bonus would improve your chances of earning extra crowns.

Of course, this should be restricted to sets that have monster-specific damage bonuses. So sets with universal damage bonuses (Chaos, Skolver, Mad Bomber, Shadowsun) would not receive the crown bonus.

And it's important that a +5% Crown Bonus Trinket is never added to the game.

However, it would be nice to see trinkets that improve crystal drops, vial drops, material drops, etc.

And perhaps the idea of providing players with extra crowns for using monster-specific bonuses could also be expanded to giving crown bonuses to players for using specific defensive armors.

For instance, wearing a Deadly Virulisk suit in a poison-themed level would give players an extra 5% crown bonus. If it's worn on a poison/slime stage, there's a possibility of earning an extra 15% crowns (5% for the defensive match, 10% for the monster-specific damage match).