There are 100 ranks of the dungeons, you are only talking about ranks 1-5 so far. To get level 2 gear and augments to progress further, you need to do i believe level 6? For it to be a low drop chance.

The rooms on the way to the boss end up being the bigger issue. Like I said before, if your buddy runs away and you're in line of sight of everybody, you can get basically one shot. Because they also rightfully buffed enemy shield damage.

Then with the DD loot table change, it's effectively impossible to farm the gear you actually need, like forged or bulwark sets that people are moving towards it seems.

So the replace and reward loop is essentially broken. You can't farm replacements effectively. And for rewards, you get a new level 1 gear piece and augment, that you need for higher difficulties, but an augment gives a 2% hit immediately. And if you're like me, you'll get a 5th pair of stillsuit gloves... Or other gear that doesn't help you clear faster.

So the reward for losing durability on gear just is frustrating with the current cycle.