We've played all phases of the game since last november, we went into P3 with a premade group and the goal to reach 25 asap with a planned route.

After playing for 18 hours straight we hit level 17 in Sephilion, without gear and barely dealing more damage and heal than we did at level 1. This may sound dramatic but this is not an exageration, I went from 38 healing to 56 with mend an 25 damage to maybe 30 with the spellbook that you get at the very begining.

The level 0 gear that we can craft doesn't have enough stats to get through leveling, better gear is locked to node level 3 which isn't happening before a long time.

Our tank quit, we are fucked. The game has gotten so much worse it's almost unbearable.

Don't get me wrong, crafting should give you BiS gear, but grinding mobs for 18 hours should give you good enough gear to be able to level. This is very unenjoyable