This article really articulates where Bungie stepped in it and got me thinking. http://www.polygon.com/2014/12/15/7393695/destiny-dark-below-punishing-hardcore I was starting contemplate the stupidity of Bungie rolling out the new DLC one week before the IB. Every one knows that Light Level, defense ratings, and attack ratings mater. So if you used any exotic regularly you HAVE to upgrade it through Xur. I say this because the upgraded version of the stats are slightly better than a fully upgraded original. However, you loose all the damned perks not to mention Light Level on armor. Now considering that Xur is only available starting Friday to upgrade them that only gives you 4 days to grind like crazy to get some of those lost abilities and light levels back before IB starts! Unless you have all weekend and nothing else better to do this is going to be very tough. Bungie royally screwed us here. If it matters, I think the process of upgrading exotics should change to something much more simpler. After a DLC drops, add another column of three damage bubbles that can be filled using the associated raid upgrade materials. These additional bubbles will get you from the old maximum attack/defense rating & light level to the new max. The initial investment isn't lost and there is a viable but yet still challenging upgrade path to earn the next tier. Also new players will have to go through the same exact grind we did to get these items upgraded. Vendors offer both the original and new items but if you don't have the associated DLC you are SOL... Old raid legendary items should be good enough to get you started in the new DLC content where you can find gear required for the new raid. Vendor armor shouldn't be able to get you directly in the new raid but to the point where you can complete some parts of it. Exactly like VoG was. You could get to 26 with vendor gear sans exotic, allowing you to complete certain parts or get back packed through. As you find more pieces of Raid Armor life gets a little easier. Now if they had just fixed the effin drop rates they wouldn't have needed to sell lvl 30 gear through the IB.