Yeah man, I had 10 fused hovers before they changed the fuse system and before they had fuse events. So it was 3 each for me and I had to reroll 4 of them. I think I’m pretty lucky, I know guys that had to refuse even more then that.
It was definitely over a relics worth of coins for the set.
Your not right lol 
But your not wrong 
Ah… but no. I mean, if you want to play in the relic/legendary level, you’re right. You’re absolutely right.
But, you don’t have to, and playing there isn’t as fun anyhow (at least not to me and other stunningly handsome people).
You can fuse rare parts free and quickly - even from the early stages of the game. Of course there’s a grind to it, but it’s nothing like the grind to your first fused legendary build. If you have a fused blue build, you’re going to win unless you absolutely suck as a gamer (and often I think I do).
I’ve been playing sledgehammers since I started, and once you learn the ropes of the game, you don’t even need a fused build to win with them repeatedly. They are the FIRST things I fused in the game… one at a time. Then a cab, then - I think - chained wheels (blue), then an engine & cooler. It wasn’t like I wasn’t winning until I did that. I did that BECAUSE I was winning.
How about this compromise… The game is Pay to Win at Legendary & above. It’s not pay to win for Rare & Special levels of play. Epic… debatable. I largely skipped that in my green-eyed lust for Arbiters.
Part of why the grind seems so insane when we first started is that we didn’t know what to grind for. Most players, myself included, thought we needed to grind for relics or legendaries. Some clearly think that’s the case. So, we start grinding & quickly realize that we’ll be old & retired by the time we grind to a 30,000 coin relic. So, if you want relics, you pay.
But that’s grinding to get relics. That’s not grinding to win. If you wanna win, and this is what new players should really be told, you need to find a build style you enjoy with weapons you like & grind to fuse that entire build. I suggest shotguns or machine guns since that’ll also give you a build for 2 of the 3 weekly weapons challenges. Doing that will kickstart your XO “career” into overdrive. I wish someone had told me that when I first logged on!
This is what guys without fused end game gear say because they can’t build the cars we play.
If you had the gear it would be a different story. I get it, it is easier said then done… but once it’s done then “Oh Boy! It’s awesome”
It would be like saying “I hate riding in a 3 story mega yacht. I would rather this pontoon boat.”
Am not saying that you can’t have fun with low level gear or at low PS brackets, but their is nothing like the big boys once you have the gear to compete.
It is really really really hard to have fun at low PS for me, it feels like training mode once you have played high PS enough.
At least this is my own personal experience.
The only reason I ever play lower PS is to punish no0bs.
So, I don’t have fused relics, but I have a ton of fused legendary stuff… meaning, if I’m running a legendary build, it’s likely all fused.
I say it’s not as fun - not because I can’t win a that level (that really would suck). I say it’s not as fun for several other reasons…
The matches take much longer. Much much longer. I like 'em fast. LOL
The queues are longer. Yawn.
The players are saltier LOL I mean… seriusly.
The builds are more “meta” or whatever you want to call it. They have to be to compete at that level. I can bring art builds into lower rarity matches & still compete. You can’t do that with legendaries/relics. So, the visual variety & “beauty” disappears. You go from playing something that is visually akin to MadMax to something that is visually akin to cardboard boxes shooting at each other.
It’s more complicated to build. This is a pro and a con for me. When I have time to really tinker with the game, I’ll build something where all the synergies among parts really works well. It takes a lot more attention and time to build a good legendary build. On the other hand, I can slap together a 7k build and compete fairly quickly. I have 14 blueprint slots. My “heavies” have been pretty much the same for months. I’ve adjusted them, tweaked them, etc, but the basic build has stayed the same. Why? Because it’s a lot of work to rebuild one of those.
My lighter builds get rotated almost every other week… meaning completely starting from scratch.
Speaking to your point, though, you’re right as well as wrong. 
Wrong because of what I just said.
Right, because what YOU said is the experience of most people when they first stick their toes in the waters where the heavies lurk. You walk in there with your first set of legendary guns & get absolutely trounced. Why? Because you barely have an understanding of how the mechanics of the game work & you go against dudes who have fused builds with absolutely perfect part synergies… wheels buffing cabs buffing hardware buffing weapons… and fused. Fused beyond belief.
This is my biggest love of the game as a Meta Builder.
Anyone can build an ugly piece of crap, but not everyone can build a good ugly piece of crap 
Plus, too, and also…
Relics vs Legendaries…
Maybe it’s just me, maybe I’m wrong… but when I’m playing PVP, most of the guys who trounce me with relics typically only have specific relics. Punishers, Typhoons & Scorpions. I don’t fear the rest.
The two relic shotguns have no range. They have to be sitting on top of you to do anything.
Mastadon spins too slow & is made irrelevant by hovers. If you want a Mastadon, you get a typhoon & stick it on hovers.
Flash. LOL. It can’t pick a specific part, so isn’t that threatening. Oh nos! You shot my decor! Thanks for ignoring the minigun stripping your build!
Firebug… meh… they’re dangerous, but not exceptionally so. I’m pretty good at staying away from players (I never ever run heavy cabs). These are probably more dangerous to slower builds.
Porcs… deadly in raids. Luckily, I’m not a bot.
Rippers… 
I’m not even sure anyone has ever killed another player with a Ripper. I’ll have to investigate that.
LOL… and that’s honestly one of the reasons I stay. I love building… I just rarely have a block of time in the day to sit and complete a high PS build from scratch. It’s part of why I like the lower PS stuff… I can log on, play a few minutes & go.
But what PS are you playing at.
You start fighting relic builds at what? 12k?
And I’m not talking about people forcing relics on lower PS builds.
For me, your not fighting in the big boy bracket until it is full teams of dude like 16k and up.
I think I like being the underdog. It just makes the kills so much more satisfying.
My only fused stuff are the BP items and a few rare items that I had duplicate untradeable versions of.
Maybe someday I’ll get into fusing, but I’d rather have a huge variety of unfused stuff.
It’s just so much more rewarding and satisfying for me to kill a fused meta build with an unfused low end build. I guess that’s why I don’t get mad at the matchmaker.
Yeah I get you man.
It takes me about two hours of building and testing to get a solid high PS build done. Then maybe a few weeks of small edits here or there to get it perfect.
Then when I feel like the build is preforming well above what it should, then I post it for everyone.
That mirrors my own experience. I have maybe 3 “heavies” in my rotation. I still tweak them regularly, but I’d bet it was a month before they got close to what I’d call complete. Now that they’ve nerfed augers, one is probably going to the chopping block.
My “heavies,” meaning the heaviest builds I play that I consider competitive against all but the heaviest builds in the game are between 14 & 15k. I truly don’t worry with relics on lighter builds because they’ll only kill you once. The next time you see him, you know what’s up & can erase his seal-clubbing arse pretty easily… usually. There are exceptions, but let’s be honest. A seal-clubber is typically compensating for lack of skill and experience.
Without relics, I’m not there. I don’t even play on the account that had relics anymore. I mean, if my legendaries are collecting dust, imagine what a waste relics would be. But yeah… that’s what I consider the big boy bracket, too. That being said, I have a 10k build that frequently gets dumped in matches with 16-17k builds, and I’m often impressed at how well it performs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mopping the floor with folks, but being the lighest by 6k and being 3rd from MVP is pretty darn satisfying.
You don’t have to have everything fused to feel the power.
Fused Modules are a must. (Not engines) It’s night and day. If you don’t have fused seals and coolers I highly suggest at least fuse that. Your “skill” 
will increase a lot.
You can skip reading below here. The main point is above.
Then power fused movement parts are also worth their weight in gold.
Then cabins
Then weapons (unless they are really heavy weapons, then a mass fuse might be more important)
Lastly engines, their return for fusing is not as high as other items. But a power fused colossus is pretty sweet.
^^^
Agreed 
%
It seems counterintuitive, too. You WANT to fuse weapons first. Nope. Rads & coolers.
Why?
When you fuse ONE rad, you’ve boosted every gun on your build.
When you fuse a gun, you’ve fused one gun.
When you fuse ONE rad, you’ve boosted every weapon that overheats in your inventory.
After that… for me… radars. A fused for range doppler is absolutely cheating.
How are you seal clubbing at 14-15k
That’s not clubbing, that is where relics should be.
I was referring to seeing them much lower… like when I’m running my 7k builds.
This is also a must have for any build that runs one.
The advantage is hugh.
I figured
I will always do much better spending my PS on good gear for that PS then forcing relics lower.
We must always remember English is a living language. It is not set in type by spelling or definition, but in usage.
We do not write in “old english” because it is not in common usage. Words mean different things now.
Meta means about the thing itself. It’s seeing the thing from a higher perspective instead of from within the thing, like being self-aware.
A term used in mmo meaning the Most Effective Tactic Available. It’s basically what works in a game regardless of what you wish would work.
There’s a lot of bad examples here, so I’ll fix those.
Making a movie about the film industry isn’t meta. Making a movie about making a movie is meta.
Playing a Priest as a tank in world of warcraft isn’t meta. Playing a warrior as a tank is Meta.
Playing a vehicle not built like the Meta build does not qualify the build as Meta. This means if the meta is a box, and all you can build is a circle, you are NOT playing meta.
Now, if you can get the majority of the gaming communities to modify the definition and start using yours, then the definition is changed, until then, the mass consensus of 30 years of online gaming defined the word decades before XO was even a game.
I definitely like the fused movement parts and cabins that came with the BPs. I know I should get around to fusing a Seal, but most of the time a seal and a shiver is enough that I don’t feel like I’m suffering.
I have two of each anyway, for when I do need more. I’m ok with getting rid of a cloak for more cooling. It’s a handicap, but it makes matches more exciting!