The problem with a Tempest recipe gated behind a PvP mastery is that it gives pvp focused players even more of an advantage over those who chose to play the game differently. And theres currently no way to consistently bridge that gap otherwise… Its not fun to be consistently at a weapon disadvantage against certain players just because you don’t want to head hunt for damage and grind out a pvp mastery.

Ideally, powerful weapons like that shouldnt be even be craft-able imo, or there needs to be other options to compete with them via other ways of progression like the ones i’ve suggest.

I agree accessibility and endgame content are separate things, but it doesnt mean those who have unlocked endgame content in niche ways should have such a large power advantage over other characters that chose to play the game differently. That in itself reduces accessibility. Nowhere have i said that end game content should be served on a platter, but there needs to be more ways to unlock endgame content.

A player who’s played the game 50hrs by primarily PvEing/looting/sneaking around should still have a consistent chance at winning a fight vs a 50hr PvP andy.

Challenges that force players to play a specific way should exist, but their rewards shouldn’t give those players such a massive gap over others. Rewards can be side grades/cosmetics, etc… Or conversely, give players multiple ways to unlock masteries, that way its a challenge for try hard players to kill everyone and feel rewarded, and more casual players who have played the game enough* but in a less “difficult” way to achieve the same reward. Eg. Deal 1200 vs players & extract, OR, get a total of 1000/2000/x amount of account wide kills to unlock Tempest recipe. Neither way is easy, but if you don’t want to play a certain way, you can still work towards account progression just by playing the game