stages of the game

it lowk makes me cringe when people say they are in endgame and are in like abyss...

this is my opinion as someone who has talked with a lot of the highest players, testers, and am a pretty decent player myself

early game - start until frozen peak (this is the part of the game where you can do anything and it will work. you barely need to play to get this far)

mid game - overgrown caves - completion of lost in time (this part of the game gets a bit more grindy, and using good builds can help you here. people can complete lost in time quest in under 24 hours though so its not super hard.)

end game - meteor valley (end game could honestly be extended to even like post ring of champions but i will say meteor valley. this is the longest and hardest part of the game. you need to get roc, rots, prismatic on everything, 100% on everything, farm dredge quests, dredge ring, full perfect, treasured museums, etc...)