Thinking of Returning after ~2 Year Hiatus
Were you here when Ascended gear was added, including armor and weapons? If so, there’s no higher tier of gear, and likely never will be.
However, Heart of Thorns did add a couple of new prefixes to weapons which granted boosts to 4 stats instead of only 3. Heart of Thorns also added an elite specialization for each class, which means new skills including one new weapon per profession.
If you aren’t a fan of “Fashion Wars 2”, aren’t held by the storytelling, or interested in the PvP options, you’re better off staying away. I never like to shoo players away, but I’d rather not see you play a game you really don’t enjoy.
When I last played (summer 2014) gear and itemization seemed to be very “vanilla” regarding stats and abilities. The game felt, at least loot wise, to be a grind for skins AKA “Dress Up Barbie”
That was fun for awhile but eventually got old.
Has there been any development/evolution to a wider variation in gear and itemization?
Almost always, if you have to ask, “should I come back” the answer is, “no” — whatever it is you didn’t like about the game is still probably a big part of the game. The game has changed, in big ways and small, but it’s the same at the core.
Rather than spending your time trying to figure out if anyone can answer the question for you, just come back and play for 5-10 hours. See if you like it any better. You own the game already, so there’s nothing to lose except a little time.
I will say that the Halloween farm (Mad King’s Labyrinth) is a lot more fun since ANet introduced true autolooting and Rata Sum is much more interesting to me since gliding was added (both features of the expansion, that requires plunking down US$50 from ANet or $25-30 from some official retailers).
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”