In HC the optimal way to level up a character now is to keep teleporting in and out of Council/town to reset merchant’s offer list and to fish for the maximum attribute ranges, e.g. movement speed 9% on boots, and then to forge the items up. And since the merchant items have forging potential same as normal loot, there is no incentive not to do that. Looting items is basically pointless.
I don’t think this is intended.