The way my game has gone so far up to day 10-11 or so, level 15 ish I believe is something like this:
I found a brown blunderbuss just before I was going to craft one. I was two shotting most zombies with it and having a great time. Then I was given a brown double barrel and I use both weapons. I use the blunder first, and if I didn't kill them with it I switched to my double barrel to finish them off. Great times. I spec'd into str and probably around te horde time I crafted a yellow blunderbuss which was a bit better than the brown one. I also got a brown pistol in loot and an ak47 as a quest reward, also brown, and very nerfed to make room for the new mid tier assault machine gun which feels more like the AK we all know and love. It shoots kind of slow and I had 4 rounds so I just stowed it away. FFW to last night, I found a green blunderbuss so I swapped my mods into it and smelted my yellow one. Yes we are modding primitives actually! Then I found an orange double barrel that does 1 more damage than my brown one did, and so I scrapped the brown to parts so I can make a pump shotgun when I get tier 4 rank (which unlocks t2 weapon crafting). Parts are more common now, so crafting seems more relevant.
So to me it feels like a little bit longer stone age than before, and then you'll really feel a lot longer early mid, mid and late game hopefully and use several items of mid teirs before advancing to top tier things. Its one of the best changes to the game I've seen in years.
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