The gear from the lv 235 raid is currently the best armor in the game, since the lv 250 raid gear hasn't been released yet, but many people use the gear from lv 221 raid as it's much easier to attain due to the level requirement, and requiring a room of 8 ppl with that lv to start.
The new grind map of choice is lv 258, which can bring in roughly 65k exp per map (that takes a little more than a minute to complete) on hard mode.
There are a few new items in the game that you will probably run across, such as miasma head and meto drake minibot.
E parts are now much easier to get, and although it still takes effort to get them, the prices have plummeted for most parts.
Tier 3 armor from survival is also much easier to get.
Christmas event made snowballs abundant and they are dirt cheap now (2-6m)
And ofc the economy has shifted a LOT since you last played.