As I was playing through Avowed ahead of release, probably my least favourite element in an otherwise very charming RPG was the tier system. Basically every weapon or piece of armour has a tier, and so do enemies—and this is what determines relative power, rather than levels, almost like a simplified form of Destiny's gear score.
As it was, using a piece of equipment lower tier than a foe meant that blows practically bounced off them, even if you'd already given it several upgrades. The result was an annoyingly stop-start progression, where you'd suddenly hit a wall of feeling completely powerless (often after moving into a new area) and either have to swap your gear around with whatever random higher tier equipment you'd found, or scrabble around for rare upgrade materials to get yourself back in business. In an otherwise smooth and accessible action-RPG, it was an unwelcome wrinkle.
