amen this. there's way too much "gatekeeping" in the new method. mainly (almost entirely) in the new "parts" mechanics. they either need to be eliminated, or made craftable. it seems absurd that it isn't possible to make "itemX" until i've found and destroyed 5 more "itemX".. and if i want to...
what in the F is up with Iron Knuckles requiring mechanical parts? like, at all, let alone needing a dozen of them.
and making steel knuckles requires steel knuckle parts. if i had a bunch of steel knuckles to get the parts from, i wouldn't need to make the steel knuckles in the first place...