Discussion: Make all high tier armor sets viable

I was really excited to see the new Root armor, and would love to use it as it looks really cool and interesting; however the armor values are so low, and damage from high level mobs is so extreme that it would likely mean instant death if trying to adventure in plains.

The existence of resistances on it, though, provides some really interesting possibilities (some of which were explored in another thread)

I would love to see more high level armor options be viable, through changes to the upgrade mechanics.

My proposal:

Rather than making upgrades only cost more of the same resource, have level 4 or even a new level 5 upgrade that costs resources from higher tier biomes.

For instance – Troll level 5 costs linen thread and silver in addition to troll hide, but grants MUCH higher armor – say ~ 24+.

The same could be true for top tier root armor – make level 4 require silver, but grant 24 armor, level 5 costs tar/blackmetal and grants 28.

This allows you to have specialized sets for different looks/purposes.

Troll has stealth and backstab damage bonus

Root has bows and poison/pierce resist

Wolf has cold damage and slash resist

Padded has bludgeon and fire resist

(Iron has bonuses to Blocking and damage resit but extra slow?)

This would add so much more variety and strategy to picking your armor sets, without unbalancing game progression.