Minimum level on new tiered armor/shields?

[losian2]

So I'm a bit confused..

The new shields and armors (IE spiritcraft shield instead of just shield) that have higher base armor and all. I kinda assumed that they would start at minimum level 1, and based on the crafting calculator, I should have been able to make a +3 life shield heavy shield of prot+3 and it'd end up minimum level 17, which matches my own calculations looking at the shard. However, in disjuncting the shield and adding two of the there shards, I noticed it was already ML16. What is the point of the higher tiered stuff in crafting if it's automatically that much higher in ML? I can use a lower shield and make it +3 to get the same bonus as the shield without the +3, so it's pretty pointless. Bugged? Any insight?

[dterror]

The new tiered gear has an absolute minimum level associated with it. You could take Feycraft leather (Absolute ML 10), craft just +1 potential of stuff on it, and it will still be ML 10.

On the other hand, stuff you craft onto the new tiered gear doesn't change ML based on the absolute ML, but is still based entirely on the potential crafted on it.
I.E. +5 potential (normal ML 9) on a Feycraft (absolute ML 10) is still ML 10, not 19. This is WAI so that you can't use the much higher AC / Max Dex / whatever stat higher tier gear at lower than intended levels.

What you were looking at is the absolute minimum level. If you went ahead and crafted the 3rd shard on there like normal, it will be ML 17 just as you expect.

[donblas]

Basically the absolute minimum level is the lowest ML it can possibly be. The ML only changes when the crafted shards' ML exceed the absolute ML.