Has anyone else noticed this? I mean I'm not complaining, it adds an additional challenge, but its just something I've noticed. Every one of my play through’s it's been like this. There were barely any decent items around. It was always just basic, low level stuff. In 6 or 8 I would always fine real decent stuff in random loot or just laying around. Not so in 7. Does is have anything to do with luck, or any other stat? Because it if is level dependent it's not implemented very well! The only good enchanted loot I find on a regular basis are resistance raising items and I usually don't bother with them simply because spells are more effective and in the long run don't even matter that much.

I don't know how you usually go about the game and where exactly do you go, but there are some nice items you can get in a lot of chests lying around. I don't thinks it's luck dependent, the items are determined when you enter a certain area of the map or in some dungeon. They do progressively become better with levels, but in some areas items are always bad and appropriate for challenge rating of the region- Your best bet to get good items are ore fragments from Tatalia, which you can get fast with some running around and dodging trolls.
Anyhow, to my knowledge, Tularean Forest items aren't that bad, there's even a chest with a lot of gold and some nice items if you know where to look there. Though, you are probably right, but this never bothered me, no matter how I played. If I can't find anything good and do not want to win by reloading and turning some ore, I just visit merchants in certain areas regularly.

All my best gear was from the ore that I collected. (I should say so far. I haven't finished the game yet)

I cant remember the name of of the town where you get them made.

It was just a case of saving before handing the ore over because sometimes you get a poor item

If you don't cheese things (take advantage by saving/loading/reloading constantly), MM7's randomness could definitely create a playthrough where you feel like most items are poor. Then you may play another run and get a lot of good things from the higher level chests, corpses, and such.

IIRC it's really more area based than clvl based. Certain areas/dungeons/maps and certain enemies have the better/higher chance of producing good loot - even if you're clvl1. Did one of those "beat the game at clvl1" runs once and the item levels in areas seemed the same as before.

Ore was definitely the best bet for high level items, but again, how much so depends on how much you're willing to cheese the system. You can even cheese the hidden chests if you know where they are beforehand. ;)

Of course, you can 'always' go to Titan's Stronghold if you feel the items are lacking in quality ^^. Don't know if people know this, but you can clear Titan's stronghold as soon as you get Rock Blast spell. Put Invisibility on yourself and go inside. There is a certain distance to Titans from which you can shoot them but they won't react.. Of course, cheesy, but it does work.

Anyhow, I just go on about the game. I've had games were I reloaded xyz times to get some items, but this is usually tedious and boring. Just enjoy and have fun :)

You don't need to kill a Titan to totally loot their stronghold.. Just cast invisibility and hug the walls. The chests there are great filled with good stuff and I almost always score an artifact or two.

One of my favorite chests is in the barrow downs--opening it transports you to a dangerous area so you should have invisibility and fly set--that chest always has some good stuff and a lot of gold and respawns.every 6 months. Other areas that have good chests/cabinets are the Temple of Dark in the Pit, and Thunderfist Mountain.

Yeah it takes a while to find the good stuff or you get lucky--the best way to get them is harvest ores--Erudine and Stalt.

Well I just finished MM7 for, I think, the third time. I finished it on light since I haven't played light before and indeed TItans Stronghold, Dark Temple, Thunderfist and of course the Barrows Down chest are the only really high level loot locations. It's just odd that the loot is so bipolar in this game haha

The really good shop stuff is sold in the Pit and in Celeste. Also, you can find good stuff in Nighon lying around as well as in chests.

MM7 added a really easy way to get craptons of money, so buying from an expensive shop like in Celeste is a matter of time investment rather than level.

Edit: also, you can dodge around some of the monsters in your way when going to Nighon (you do have to kill a bunch of troggles in stone city, but not all of them)