That 125 wall sort of exists for SSF. Its very much contextual. I'd argue its mostly dependent on the number and quality of target farm-able options. Casters can cover more bases with honorifics and crafts in general allowing flexibility in working with random drops. Weapon builds are in trouble without a good RW option which is contextual. There are major gaps in RWs now, but for builds with good easy RW's this wall basically doesn't exist.
Stuff like
Erawan
Erawan
Body Armors
'LemKoCham'
Runeword Level: 83
15% Combat Speeds
5% Chance of Crushing Blow
+(144 to 171)% Enhanced Defense
(27 to 30)% to Strength
(27 to 30)% to Vitality
Physical Resist (13 to 15)%
(15 to 20)% Bonus to Defense
is passably comparable to SU/SSU level items for mere base runes assuming the build cares for STR and Def. Its alternative mid game option is
Dragonheart
Dragonheart
Body Armors
'OhmThulFal'
Runeword Level: 70
+2 to All Skills
30% Attack Speed
30% Cast Speed
30% Block Speed
45% Hit Recovery
+1.625% Enhanced Defense (Based on Character Level)
5% to Dexterity
+(550 to 650) to Life
Cold Resist +25%
. Thats it. That is the extent of 100% guaranteed achievable mid game tier options. If either doesn't fit well, get lucky. And chest, despite being the most important non weapon slot, is at a mere 2 choices. Wasting the best armor slot on an honorific or craft is painful for all. Other slots are worse off.
Helms have
Bogspitter
Bogspitter
Helms
'BerUm'
Runeword Level: 78
20% Chance to cast level 11 Miasma on Melee Attack
+1 to All Skills
Adds 60-179 Poison Damage over 1 seconds
Slows Attacker by (10 to 15)%
+(115 to 143)% Enhanced Defense
Elemental Resists +10%
,
Arcane Protection
Arcane Protection
Circlets
'ArcSur'
Runeword Level: 100
Psicrown Now Explodes Upon Impact
+(1 to 2) to All Skills
+(5 to 10)% Bonus to Spell Focus
+(15 to 20)% to Spell Damage
+(6 to 9) to Psicrown
+(400 to 600) Defense
Regenerate Mana +(20 to 25)%
Physical Resist (5 to 10)%
Elemental/Magic Damage Reduced by (15 to 25)
+(20 to 30) Life after each Kill
+(20 to 30) Mana after each Kill
(20 to 30)% Magic Find
and
Rathma's Blessing
Rathma's Blessing
Circlets
'OrtGlaThulGla'
Runeword Level: 100
+(2 to 3) to All Skills
+50% to Summoned Minion Life
+25% to Summoned Minion Damage
+50% to Summoned Minion Resistances
Lightning Resist +25%
Cold Resist +50%
+10 Cold Absorb
(15 to 20)% Magic Find
.... thats it really. All niche items. No midgame alternatives that can be guaranteed beyond TUs forced to scale beyond intended timelines. Either you are a favored build for the few mid tier guarantees, or you are improvising with outdated stuff until luck sides with you. Have to ride the level 50ish TU item or honorific train to a set/SU/good craft roll. Yet crafts are only solid for certain build archetypes. Which does leave a gap.
Other slots have disparities in favored builds. Gloves offer mid game target farmables for casters. WPN builds... they stick to TU's til enchanted rune RNG favors them.
Brawl
Brawl
Gloves
'ShaelEld'
Runeword Level: 35
7% Chance to cast level 14 Punishers on Melee Attack
+10% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
15% Attack Speed
+(10 to 13) to Maximum Damage
+(25 to 35) Defense
+(5 to 15) to Strength
(11 to 15)% to Vitality
is basically the pre enhanced rune wpn dmg option... while gloves offer casters
Memory
Memory
Gloves
'IgnVenFulGla'
Runeword Level: 100
+1 to All Skills
+(40 to 50) Spell Focus
10% Cast Speed
+(8 to 10)% to Spell Damage
-11% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+150 Life Regenerated per Second
, a good mid-late option.
Point is, the guaranteed options are so sparse after the great culling that gaps are left in progression. Either you are lucky enough to have target farmable hard carry options like
Crucible
Crucible
Necromancer Crossbows
'IgnJahGul'
Runeword Level: 100
Famine Grants 1% of Strength and Dexterity as Innate Elemental Damage
Famine No Longer Grants Weapon Physical Damage
25% Chance to cast level 36 Banish on Kill
50% Attack Speed
+(300 to 400) to Attack Rating
-(28 to 35)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
+15% Enhanced Damage
25% to Strength
5% Chance to Avoid Damage
+2 Mana on Striking
which are hard to beat with high rolled SSU's or you are duct taping it all together with honorifics/crafts and TU's. Yet crafts and honorifics offer middling value to certain builds and work adequately on others. Its possible to be screwed on both RW's and hand made items for some builds leaving literally nothing between TU's and sets / SU's. Not a good spot to be in without trade.
The RW culling was heavy handed. The options might well never be missed by online players, but it did help glue certain archetypes through the rough transitory period of the game as SSF.
Doesn't help that some sets seem hard to find/target farm post K3K rework. Used to be a viable stop where a few hours would in all likelihood achieve a full set. Sets are now a twink or trade deal. Defeating their purpose beyond ol' standbys like
Witchhunter's Hood
Witchhunter's Hood
Cap (Sacred)
Defense: (2136 - 2611) to (2161 - 2642)
Required Level: 90
Required Strength: 250
Item Level: 1
+(80 to 120)% Enhanced Defense
10% to Strength
10% to Dexterity
Maximum Elemental Resists +1%
Elemental Resists +(31 to 40)%
Physical Resist 5%
(16 to 20)% Bonus to Defense
Requirements -50%
Socketed (4)
Witchhunter's Attire
(Assassin Claw Set)
that can serve as a cheap patchwork item all game long rather than a cohesive mid game entry package sets are largely intended for.
Hitting both RW's and set target farming capability is a brutal kick in the balls to the unfavored builds without top tier target farmables in critical slots (wpn slots + chest especially).
To be clear, SSF wall at 125 isn't really a thing if the key slots are covered or crafts can offer high value. Its just the builds without these that experience a wall. Favored builds won't find that wall until 130-135 content, even SSF.
The solution is one of three things, or a combination. Make entry level sets drop like candy in some place, make RW's up to elemental runes solid options for all, or improve the value of crafts+honorifics for builds which make middling use of them at present.
Of these, sets have the drawback of making signet acquisition easier while being very difficult to cover all potential builds properly. RW's might step on the toes of SUs or enhanced tier RW's. Crafts and honorifics would potentially dilute the probability of quality rolls if more affixes were introduced. Looks like high vanilla + elemental tier RW's are the cleanest option while entry sets being hard to target farm SSF is simply a weird situation. The latter have no purpose SSF anymore.
The 125-130 SSF wall is real, but it only applies to builds with gaps in intended progression. Gaps created in part by the RW culling and relegating sets to twink or buy status.
I personally would like to see craft value be more universal regardless. A godly rare/craft should have a place late game for more builds.
That would offer value both to SSF and the economy alike.
I have no issue with a wall existing in SSF. It just should be more equal in its location. Whether that is 125 bosses, Fauztinville/Viz/Bremm, or Scosglen doesn't matter to me all that much. It shouldn't come down to a build being offered mid game target farmable itemization or not. That isn't the healthiest situation.
Edit: Perhaps a solution through sets could exist. TU's are targetable through AC's. Why not do the same for entry sets? Perhaps 25-50 signets and a pair of AC's could turn a sacred base into a set item of its type? Would change the whole outlook on sets in SSF while having a cost that might turn off any economic impact online.
