Low Item Level Legendary Drops

I killed a few monsters in Sescheron which gave me two legendary items in quick succession.
I was level 40 at the time, but the item level for both drops was 23, quite low compared to everything else I was getting.
In fact, one of the items was a level 23 Pox Faulds, and I already had a level 39 Pox Faulds equipped on me.
Seems quite strange.
I have absolutely no idea how to recreate this, I’m afraid.

I would suspect that you joined another player’s game, and that he was level 23 at the time. The level of the mobs and the drops are set by the level of the Party leader when the game is created, and they level up with them. This can be very useful in a few niche scenarios.

This is not a bug.

I was playing solo, though.
Have been since the season started.
I think I do have an idea for the cause though.
I have the Cain’s Fate set equipped, which gives a 10% better chance of finding magical items… and this set just happens to be level 23, the same level of the legendary items I got. I figure it procced and the items that were created inherited the level.
This isn’t intentional… is it?

If you look in the upper right corner of your screen, it will tell you the level of your game. The game level determines the mob level, mob XP, and item drops.

If it happens again, take a screenshot that shows the level of your item and the level of your game. In a solo game, the game level should be the same as your character level, unless you joined another player’s game, and they left.

Alright, in that case the bug is that the level of the game dropped to 23 just long enough for those two items to drop, since all the other items I got there were around level 40. O_o
Like I said, solo game, character level 40.
I don’t know why you insist that it must be the game level, but these are the facts, so this is a bug.
I do have a screenshot, but unfortunately I had the inventory open showing the item when I took it so it doesn’t show the game level.

Am I insisting? It is the most likely explanation, and you are the only player saying it happened to them.

Could be a bug, but why are you the only one? Also, 99% of reported bugs are user error, so yes, I am a bit skeptical that you are the only person playing the game that is affected by a game bug.

If it happens again, please post back.

First, it is possible to drop +/- 1 or 2 level items. I have seen that. Rare but possible.

Second, if the items contain “reduce level requirement”, the items look like a lower level item (but not). But lv40 items can only reduce by [2-6] levels. So it isn’t the case.

Third, …as Vita said.

Fourth, for solo, if you entered a map at lv 23. All mobs were lv 23 (and so do item drop). Without changing map, you leveled up to 40 but the mob level was still 23. All items drop are still lv23, until you enter another map.

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That is also another explanation that I did not think of. If he equipped Cains at level 23, and then leveled up 17 levels on T6 from the clones without changing areas, then the drops would still be at level 23.

The mobs and drops do not update their level unless you change areas or floors in a rift.

So, still not a bug if that is the case.

You know, bugs that happen a lot are much easier to discover and track, so they get fixed much more easily and aren’t likely to make it to production.
The bugs we encounter are usually ones that are very rare, or that require uncommon scenarios.
So yes, it happening to just one player is not that surprising.
Regardless, if my guess is correct, then at least some of the time when the set causes a legendary drop, that item will be of the same level as the set.
That is something that is actually easier to test, so the developers can do that.

You are most welcome to tell me exactly how this could have been a user error, or if the things I said really did take place what the problem could be. I find it hard to believe the map level dropped for just two items.

@Maskraider All the items I got on that map were around level 38 or so. It was not a level 23 map. I suppose I gained a few levels on that map, but I was hardly there that long and definitely not since level 23. O_o
I was just playing normally, first character I have, on Expert difficulty, going to find Kanai’s cube. I couldn’t gain 17 levels in there even if I wanted to. Killing all the enemies on that map would not do that.

I also find it highly suspicious that the level of the items was exactly the same as the level of a set I had equipped that can cause items to drop.

15 levels in one map isn’t that impossible. People level 1-70 in less than 2 hours.

There is a video that level 58-66 in two minutes, in one area:

Until you said this, we don’t know if you were in a map like “not cow level”. With a good legendary item in cube, I believe it could be possible. But, now, you said yo didn’t have a cube.

It is easy to blame a bug. But 99% bug reports weren’t bug, and could be explained.

Please don’t think that we are tolling you. All these conversation help to refine your bug report.

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All of these comments, except the OP, could be avoided if players would take a screenshot of the issue and post it with their bug report. In this case, a screenshot of the full screen, (showing the mini-Map and the player Inventory open while mousing-over the item in question), would have been excellent. You could even crop the left half of the image out, if you wanted to make the image smaller.

Anyone can post image and/or video links in these forums.

To post a link:

  1. Upload your image or video to a free hosting website, like Imgur or YouTube.
  2. Paste the "Direct Link" to your image and/or video in your post. (See image below).

  1. Select the link you just pasted and click the ˂/˃ button on the Reply Editor toolbar. (See image below).

  1. Click Reply. (See image below).

Your link will look similar to this: https://i.imgur.com/T4Zsmoe.jpg

Please read:

Finally, it always helps to attach a link to Imgur (or another picture hosting site) that displays a screenshot of the bug. If you need to include a video, link to a video as well.

It’s true that most users reporting a bug are mistaken, but that doesn’t mean you should assume from the get-go that this is the case.
Honestly, I think the entire “map level” theory here should have been dropped already when I said that the rest of the items I got were around level 40, as it disproves it completely unless, like I said before, you believe that the map level changed spontaneously just for these two drops.
So yeah, it did seem like I was being trolled here, which is rather unpleasant when I was just trying to help make the game better. =\

Here is the screenshot I said I had taken: https://i.imgur.com/PS12qjc.png
I didn’t originally include it because I didn’t think it added any information. I wasn’t even sure if there was a point taking it, but I did it anyway, just in case.
Posting it wouldn’t have prevented the whole map level discussion, as it just shows one of the items in my inventory and the game level is hidden.
Also it’s in town and not in the map where I got the items. I hadn’t thought to take a screenshot of that map, because I didn’t know there was anything wrong at the time. I hadn’t identified the items until I went back to town.

This was an absolutely normal gameplay experience.
I was in Sescheron on my way to get Kanai’s Cube. I killed a bunch of things, got a bunch of items, all of which was around level 40, and two legendary items dropped.
When I went back to town I identified them and was surprised to discover that they are a much lower level than that of everything else I got there. I mean, before level 70, when you get a legendary item you already have, you expect it to be an upgrade, since you gain levels over time, or at worst more or less the same.
You too would be surprised if you got drops that are much lower in level while playing normally.
I started the season, made my first character, started playing the campaign on Normal, increased to Hard at some point and continued on until I killed the Skeleton King.
Then I switched to Adventure, did the bounties for all five Acts, then went to Sescheron to get Kanai’s Cube.
Nothing to give me a super exp boost (except the +50% bonus from Cain’s Fate, hardly much on Hard/Expert), no other players who could have affected the game, nothing. I never touched the private/public game setting.
You can see what I had equipped at the time: Cain’s Fate, Pox Faulds, Ronald’s Locket and some legendary quiver without any special effect; I don’t even remember its name.
Didn’t have the cube yet. No legendary gems.
Plain and simple. Legendary items dropped at level 23 when everything else was around level 40.
Accept it or don’t, suit yourself. I’m done trying to convince people that what I say happened actually happened.

Here is my bug report for the developers:

  • What happened: Got two level 23 legendary items while on level 40. All the other items from the area were around level 40.
  • Suspected cause: I believe that when the “10% better chance of finding magical items” effect on the Cain’s Fate set is triggered, the level of the items that are created is based on the level of the set, rather than the level of the area or the character. It is a level 23 set that can cause “high quality” item drops. I had it equipped and got two “high quality” items of that exact same level. It seems to fit.

That does seem strange. I always get items that are my current Level. The only exceptions are when I’m leveling up. I might find items 1 or 2 Levels higher than my Character. And when I’m buying from Kadala or crafting at the Blacksmith I might get the occasional Level 61 item. The only other time is when the item has reduced Level Requirement, as others already mentioned.

Allow me to give your screenshot some visibility:

Thanks.
I forgot to address your idea of it having a level requirement reduction.
I did check for that as soon as I saw the level.
That said, the stats themselves are way lower too, so they really are level 23 items.

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I didn’t think about that until after I saw your screenshot. (I forgot the mini-Map is covered up when your Inventory is open). Still, your Inventory shows your Character Level. And since you posted a screenshot of the entire screen, your Portrait and Follower confirm Level 41 too.

By the way, the number over the mini-Map is Monster Level and it changes as you level up. For example, let’s say you’re running on Torment I (T1) Game Difficulty and you’re Level 40. You Map Level (Monster Level) will be Level 40. On that same Map and Game Difficulty, you level up to 41, the Monster Level on the Map will immediately change to “41”. So, your Level 41 confirms that you are also on Level 41 Maps. (Until you level up again).

In any event, you’ve provided the necessary information. Hopefully, Blizzard’s QA Team will pass the information on to the Devs so it can be investigated.
Good luck on your future adventures!