Since you throw away previous tier weapons and armor when you get new tier gear, it makes it not worth upgrading unless you have the very last tier gear.

Especially iron. So many important things need iron mid-late game. Why would I spend iron upgarding my iron gear, instead of upgrading my base and skipping to silver gear?

I just beat the final boss and in hindsight I wasted A LOT of time grinding for what was essentially a waste of resources.

• Got enough iron for iron weapon, shield and armor (80 iron)

• Got silver gear. Iron gear went to that trashcan chest we all have in our bases (80 iron went to never be used again)

• Needed iron to upgrade base (needed 51 iron). Had to mine for more…

• When I got to the last tier of gear, I realized I needed MORE IRON for armor, instead of black metal. (Needed 30 iron, which is hilarious since it is for the 6th tier armor, and in terms of iron it costs less than half of what 4th tier armor costs…..)

Honestly I'm glad I didn't upgrade my iron gear. RIP to all of you who did.