What is the LEAST gear dependent mmo?

[rustys-name-is-kumar]

most of the time when you say gear dependent it's assumed you mean having a clear advantage in stat gain/power to the point someone that otherwise sucks can beat someone much better because their numbers are way higher.

class skills being tied to gear is what i'd call garbage design.

[WaterMage]

I asked AI for suggestions of mmos, with little to no gear dependency. Listening exactly what I want. I want something akin to Shadowbane or DDO, where stats, feats, past lives, enhancement trees, spell memorization, etc., matter. You can solo stuff in Reaper naked... The AI recommended Albion to me. Why!? Albion is the OPPOSITE of what I asked for. It markets itself as "you are what you wear," which goes completely against what I treasure in games like DDO and Shadowbane. It is not only people in this thread who mentioned Albion to me...

Let be clear. If I can't kill stuff literally naked, the game is already too gear dependent for my taste. If my char is exactly like any other char except by the gear wearing, it is a barbie dressing game, not a true RPG.

[Cedric]

There was no meaningful gear dependency or farming in Final Fantasy 14. However, it makes you gay.

To be clear, there is gear, but getting it is straightforward and inevitable. Therefore the only thing differentiating players was their skill for the most part.

But I can tell from your last post that isn't what you meant.

[WaterMage]

There was no meaningful gear dependency or farming in Final Fantasy 14. However, it makes you gay.

To be clear, there is gear, but getting it is straightforward and inevitable. Therefore the only thing differentiating players was their skill for the most part.

But I can tell from your last post that isn't what you meant.

I have heard that even spells, unarmed attacks and summons scale with your gear.

When I say least gear dependent mmo, I mean like DDO. IS possible to solo reaper quests fully naked. Zero equipment. Or like Shadowbane.

[Cedric]

What made you ask the question to begin with, anyway? I remember being quite annoyed with WoW in how excellent gear can, to a point, make a bad player look mid. I do like games where you can actually show off your skill difference.

[DecadeRiptide]

You can play low level gear on elder scrolls online for a long time before you really need to upgrade.

[WaterMage]

What made you ask the question to begin with, anyway? I remember being quite annoyed with WoW in how excellent gear can, to a point, make a bad player look mid. I do like games where you can actually show off your skill difference.

I already said. I hate when your character is nothing and his gear, everything. I hate that every fighter has exactly the same STR and the unique way to get more muscle mass is by finding fancier boots.

It breaks my suspension of disbelief. IT kills all investments that I have in my char.

And in case of wow, its armor sucks. Fells more like Carnival suits than proper armor.

PS : You are not showing skill difference. You are showing lucky and time investment.

PS2 : The fact that you can't even think that there are other ways to show off progression besides gear indicates how much damage wow did to the whole genre. Unique spells, unique spell effects for quests, player cities like in Shadowbane, unique mounts, so many ways to show progression that don't involve equipping a carnival suit and getting more muscle mass.

You can play low level gear on elder scrolls online for a long time before you really need to upgrade.

I know. But honestly, ESO sucks.

[Cedric]

What are you talking about? Obviously you can show off a skill difference if everyone has the same gear or the game has no gear to begin with.