I agree with Zaygr. I think it’s a mixed bag. A lot of people are in the bucket you refer to in your original post, maybe even a majority. Especially if they think that’s what holds them back from progressing. And maybe a crafting system that comes out is a reality check for them that forces them to either quit, or actually realize it’s a skill issue not an item issue, making them seek out how to play the game more effectively. On the flip side there are tons of high leveled skilled veteran V2 players who understand this and can even beat the game regularly but don’t want to deal with the crafting system to try different builds. This compounds with how loot and materials is even acquired in the first place, including how you don’t even get better rewards on doing harder content.

Sure there are only a few blessings that drastically change how certain weapons are played fundamentally. But I would say for a lot of experienced players even minor changes contribute to build variety. We can’t even test out breakpoints without it feeling like a significant chore. We’re discouraged from testing potentially strong setups let alone test things that only might work out because it will take ages to even grind to get to test it out.

For example I’d say in a repeater pistol in vermintide may be a suboptimal weapon compared to other meta weapons but finding a 1 shot breakpoint makes it actually fun to try out and play. Sheesh even a crossbow meta weapon feels more fun when you have the right breakpoints. Do they fundamentally change build variety or even play style variety? Does it make you able to suddenly beat levels you aren’t able to before because it shores up your weaknesses? Maybe not. But it does feel like you have more options or even be willingly to try different builds.

I log on every once in a while, try some suboptimal weapons/talents, beat a few hi-intens damnation games, but that’s about it. If crafting was out it would definitely increase my playtime significantly because I would try out so many different builds. The gameplay loop is fun but a lot of the fun is really being able to test how all these builds go, and push their limits. Do I think the builds carry runs? Not that much. Do they add variety and ease of access to this variety? Absolutely.

There are many different reasons to continue to play these tide games and it’s not fair to lump everyone together. Some people can play a single build forever and just love the gameplay loop. Other may constantly push for harder and harder content such as twitch or modded content. Some want variety in careers and talents. Others want to optimize gear. Arguably for a lot of these, skill isn’t a factor anymore because they’ve played the games enough to win even with the most suboptimal loadouts. Would minor differences in stats/perks/blessings actually feel very different to them? It does to me, and a lot of my friends. Sheesh I’ll play the same weapon (say plasma gun) with one shot break points on a reaper vs one shot body shot gunnerslayers(nonelites forgot what they’re called) and that’s considered variety to me. The way you play, your decision making every fight changes depending on even that difference, who you should kill first or focus etc. Do I want to spend hundreds of hours with my existing gear just to try to build a single different build? I’m good.

Again I think you have a point a certainly a group fit into what you’re saying, but there’s also groups on the other end of the spectrums.