The only reason why ST sets are not allowed to be “good” or like above WC tops or even Exaltation Tops (Soulbound Tiered) is mostly because they are sold in the nexus. I did have once discussed a possible “Forgegable ST set” kind of thing, where you get a blue print from the specific blueprint and forge a powerful set but the way ST sets are designed in rotmg are… weird.
ST sets in generally are meant to make u equip the entire set, but majority of the time they are used as swap outs or hell even main slots. Pixie Sword, Ancient Spell: Pierce (yes I call it that), Fake Conflict, Void Seal, Angelic Harp. You almost never see a full set due to how they are designed. ST sets when full are usually meant to promote a certain sub-class unique to only that set (Void paladin does a great job at that btw), however the biggest problem is that, that isn’t enough of a “set only” kind of boost. You’re not required to get all 4 gears to suddenly become good or anything. The entire ST position in the entire game is stupid, because its P2W yet it literally can’t survive without being good because they are outright not worth it. STs are literally either mid-game tier, end-game tier or literal feed power. They don’t drop enough to make it worth it (not to mention the ones dropped by bosses such as ent ancient, lich or ghost kind), or even worse The Daring Samurai. I’m not commenting on the stats but I’m pretty sure I can’t think of a more rare and tedious set to get. Not to mention that the buffs for the 4th set piece isn’t powerful enough to like “super boost” the set into something better or worth playing. So everyone just end up using them as swapouts/alternatives.
As for the actual UT situation… num 1. You should never balance anything around the best of the best. They’ll get mad or anything but they’re the only people who legitimately try hard at the game non-stop. The wand of Prejudice is one of the worst UTs ever in the eyes of a regular player, but its one of the most powerful for end-game players. End-game tryhards mostly care about DPS rather than your “imaginative playstyle”.
num 2. There only applies to end-game. Before end-game there are still a lot of UTs applicable for the common player. Thousand shot and Doom bow for archer players since the regular bow SUCKS for single target DPS. Madlab robe
(Okay while rereading both this and your arguements I’ve completely lost track of what you’re trying to say)
And for UTs being more/less situational, this comes into a problem I also discussed with my GF. “Generalist classes” and “Specialist classes”. The more situational an item gets, the more generalist the classes become. Look at how many classes can slow. Archer, Huntress, Mystic, Sorceror, properly a few more but its 3am I’m not typing every example out. While you make a good arguement, your examples are… really bad. Rings fall under the spot of the most Generalist items ever. Coronation and Crown are the “Meta” for rings literally because they are the most beneficial rings that can not only be equipped for most classes and not to mention literally don’t require additional brain power to use unlike horn where you only get a stronger DPS boost when you’re above 90% hp where as crown gives a constant stat boost. The only new ring I could really see is the new twilight gemstone due to its lesser mana and it being like a more applicable lab robe.
What can be done about the UT system? Generally nothing. UT system has been confusing as fuck and its something you definitely can’t solve. In every MMORPG, people will always find and make the best builds possible with whatever items they have, its just what they do. You can’t stop it, but at least in mid-game it isn’t that relevant… ok now that I think about it raid groups and their restrictions. But thats a topic for another day.