Increase the amount of crests and valor that drop on characters who are drastically behind. Also give players the ability to catch up on missed vaults. For example lets say you just hit 80 on your first character or an alt, you should be able to charge your vault multiple times as a catchup mechanic. Maybe void the first 2-3 weeks so people who have played the entire time will still have that slight advantage but let players catch up on Myth quality items so they can atleast be competitive. A lot of players would love to play our alts but the gear grind is insane and at the end of the grind you’re still drastically behind because of all the potential Myth level vault drops missed. If players can’t catch up they just aren’t even going to try.
This xpac was advertised as being extremely alt friendly and yet it doesn’t feel that way at all. The warbound gear doesn’t drop enough and it’s random armor type and random gear slot, meaning it’s almost useless if you’re thinking about a specific character you want to gear next and the items only drop at veteran and champion level so they won’t last all that long before getting replaced.
Want to know why numbers are going down? Because their main character was such a grind they just don’t have the time or energy to want to do it again on an alt. A lot of people would love to play their alts but it’s like looking at a mountain to climb again and they say " nah, I am going to check out POE2 for a bit "