Originally posted by Entity Mystik:

I am pretty sure it's always been this way in the game. You can never fully upgrade your gear in the current biome due to the need for workbench/forge upgrades. Meadows level 4 gear will require Black Forest which for level 4 gear will require Swamp which for level 4 gear will require Mountains which for level 4 gear will require Plains.

Plains was the only weird exception to the rule iirc which let you upgrade to level 4 in the same biome.

It's been a long time since I eyed the crafting upgrade system in detail so someone can correct me if I am wrong on that. But if the above holds true then it makes sense why you can't upgrade further in Mistlands and it sounds like Carapace level 2 is 2 points more armor than level 4 Padded.

Doesn't sound too bad but could be buffed. I only looked at two armor for comparison but level 4 Bronze offers 42 armor vs. level 2 Iron with 48.

Workbench can have 2 upgrades just in the meadows, 1 upgrade requires bronze and fine wood, the other obsidian. Once you reach bronze you can easily go to the mountains and get some chests for obsidian.

Forge, 2 upgrades can be obtained in the black forest, however the other upgrades are swamp max, and one needs some chains, which can be easily obtained by just killing some wraiths.

For Swamp, Mountain and Plains, there technically are no limitations. And then we have Mistlands, 1 upgrade for each crafting station. It feels very off, the only item we ever had which was malfunctioning like that was Troll Hide armor, which needed a lvl 6 workbench for lvl 4, they just lowered that one to 5 max.

Back then we had more difficult biomes to visit for items, making players wait for such a long time for an update and then pull this is very demoralizing. People will think, why bother making the equipment at all, either they are disappointed, don't make it at all or just cheat in max quality gear.