How quickly gear became obsolete in DOS2 is a super valid criticism. No loot, no matter how unique, ever felt special because you knew as soon as you leveled up there’d be better at the merchants.

I felt the same, it´s really frustrating to find a cool piece of gear but having to replace it after just a few level ups. Because of that I activated the Sorcerous Sundries giftbag that allows you to increase the level of an item to your character level and it completely fixed the issue. Is there a reason you don´t want to use Sorcerous Sundries?