Please help: Thunder-forged crafting

[Coyopa]

So, I got my first thunder-forged weapons yesterday: a shuriken and a returning throwing hammer. They're both tier 0 right now and I'm glad I've got them. The thing I need help with is deciding what to craft for 1st tier effects. The hammer is mostly for undead (skeletons), but I also have a Solar Returning Throwing Hammer of Improved Disruption that I can use at next level (ML 27). Anyway, I'm interested in crafting the shuriken first since that's my main weapon. I was thinking about doing Blinding Fear, but I'm not sure how effective that is. I also thought about the one that puts fire damage on it (looked it up: Touch of Flames), but I'm not sure how useful that will be in L24+ content, either.

I'm only planning to make these into tier 2 weapons at the most. None of the tier 3 effects seem really inspired and worth the effort of upgrading them to that tier. So, my questions are these:

1. What would you recommend for a tier 1 upgrade and why?
2. Am I able to add a slot to the weapon at tier 2 and add Dragon's Edge?
3. Are there tier 2 effects other than Dragon's Edge that you happen to like on your weapons? And why?
4. Is tier 3 really worth the effort, in your opinion? (I do kind of like the Draconic Reinvigoration effect.)

Thanks for helping me out with this. I currently have enough ingots to upgrade the shuriken to tier 1 and I got 7500 slayers in Thunderholme this morning. So, just getting more ingots is going to be a bit of a grind, unless I can get in groups that run the raids.

[Nhennan]

For tier 1, I'm partial to 1st Degree Burns due to the stacks of vulnerability it applies.

Advice that I have read on these forums is that Blinding Fear is next to useless. Unfortunately, I fell into that trap with my first TF weapon, and it now sits parked on a mule toon somewhere.

For tier 2, you can't add the green or purple slot along with another tier 2 power - it's one or the other. Of course, two-handed weapons get to add the red slot automatically once upgraded to tier 2.

Dragon's Edge is very popular, and for good reason, particularly if you rely on critical hits for your DPS. As I use single weapon fighting, I put Dragon's Edge on an orb and that transfers to the main weapon. Thanks to Infiltraitor for testing and publishing this.

Otherwise, I like Wrath of Flames of the AoE damage proc. But I think that Paralysing Fear could be attractive (unsure how effective that is). Hopefully someone else can comment on that.

Tier 3? Well, Mortal Fear is well known for it's effect on trash (and likely won't function in Legendary content), but the additional 8-64 force damage is good by itself. Otherwise it only adds +1 to enhancement bonus, a clear augment slot, and ups the ML to 28. Draconic Reinvigoration is pretty good - but I run that on my orb instead of the main weapon.

I'm not familiar with the other tier 3 choices as I've only built two tier 3 weapons myself (heavy pick and orb). I'll probably build another one for my khopesh (different toon build following TR) as I have enough phlogistons to do so (well, need 3 more, which is close enough).

[Coyopa]

Nhennan,

Thanks for all that information. I was worried that Blinding Fear wouldn't be very useful. I think I'll upgrade to 1st Degree Burns on my shuriken, too. My build doesn't get to use anything in the off-hand, as I'm 12 ranger/7 bard/1 arti with investments in DWS (40 AP), Swashbuckler (22 AP), and Arcane Archer (16 AP) - or thereabouts. So, I'm using the "Dashing Scoundrel" Swashbuckling style for 10% doubleshot.

Appreciate the help!

EDIT: I am kind of disappointed in the Thunder-forged Crafting system. I was expecting a greater number of effects and a lot more flexibility. They could have really done something with this crafting system if they had just invested some effort and time.

[Blastyswa]

So, I got my first thunder-forged weapons yesterday: a shuriken and a returning throwing hammer. They're both tier 0 right now and I'm glad I've got them. The thing I need help with is deciding what to craft for 1st tier effects. The hammer is mostly for undead (skeletons), but I also have a Solar Returning Throwing Hammer of Improved Disruption that I can use at next level (ML 27). Anyway, I'm interested in crafting the shuriken first since that's my main weapon. I was thinking about doing Blinding Fear, but I'm not sure how effective that is. I also thought about the one that puts fire damage on it (looked it up: Touch of Flames), but I'm not sure how useful that will be in L24+ content, either.

I'm only planning to make these into tier 2 weapons at the most. None of the tier 3 effects seem really inspired and worth the effort of upgrading them to that tier. So, my questions are these:

1. What would you recommend for a tier 1 upgrade and why?
2. Am I able to add a slot to the weapon at tier 2 and add Dragon's Edge?
3. Are there tier 2 effects other than Dragon's Edge that you happen to like on your weapons? And why?
4. Is tier 3 really worth the effort, in your opinion? (I do kind of like the Draconic Reinvigoration effect.)

Thanks for helping me out with this. I currently have enough ingots to upgrade the shuriken to tier 1 and I got 7500 slayers in Thunderholme this morning. So, just getting more ingots is going to be a bit of a grind, unless I can get in groups that run the raids.

Getting in here a little late I think, but figured I'd toss in my 2 cents.
1. Having a weapon that inflicts vulnerable is very useful, especially in content with higher HP bosses/mobs (ToEE, raids). Because of this, I'd definitely recommend 1st Degree Burns. The only situation where I would recommend Touch of Flames over 1st Degree Burns is if you're dual wielding, since you don't need two weapons with vulnerable.
2. Has been answered in another post.
3. Making sure you have an armor piercing item is a must. Alternatively, if you wanted to slot a different 2nd tier, you could wield a t2 offhand weapon with something like +150 devotion +35% armor piercing, which would apply to mainhand. The other effects I sometimes mess with would be a purple slot (Only if I absolutely need it for a spellpower or some other special effect though. If it's just to apply an extra proc gem, it's not worth it) or wrath of flames (significant AoE damage).
4. Worth the effort as in it's worth pouring 2-3 months of your life into? Heck no. But if you enjoy the raids (which I do) and happen to collect enough ingredients, Mortal Fear makes content go by a lot quicker on weapons with high attacks per second (Shurikens, TWF, SWF). I have a mortal fear khopesh, heavy crossbow, handwraps, and a +17% spell critical orb, and I can say for certain that while they are nice, I wouldn't have gotten more than one maximum if I didn't enjoy the raids.

[Coyopa]

Blast,

Better late than never! :D Seriously, though, I haven't crafted the weapon to tier 1, yet. I figured I would wait to see if anyone else would weigh in. I appreciate you taking the time to voice your input. When I have time either later today or tomorrow, I'll craft 1st Degree Burns onto the weapon. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed that it seems there's only one useful melee enchantment for tier 1 if you're not dual wielding or putting something like an orb in your off-hand.

I wasn't sure how effective a 50 DC save (reflex for the fire AoE and fortitude for the negative AoE) would be, honestly. I could see possibly crafting a second tier 2 weapon because having AoE damage would be very nice. That's something that keeps Celestia in rotation on my 18 bard/2 rogue.

As for whether I enjoy the raids, I simply don't know yet. I've only run the shadow dragon raid once and I didn't really know what was going on most of the time. I haven't run the fire dragons raid even once yet. I'm hoping to have some time to try for one or both this weekend. I'm keeping both my thrower build and my 18 bard/2 rogue at cap for a while. So, I'll have some time to run those. Hopefully, I'll enjoy them so gathering the required ingredients isn't painful.

[Enoach]

I crafted a Blinding Fear/Paralyzing Fear Hand axe for my swashbuckler and I enjoyed the weapon, but this was more likely because I could hit very fast.

Blinding Fear does not proc as much as the Radiant blinding you would find on say a GS weapon. But if you are someone that enjoys SA damage this is a nice ability to have. I also found the Paralyzing effect helpful. Again I am mostly melee.

But I also have 1st Degree burns on other weapons and the vulnerability is a very nice boost to damage.

[Nhennan]

As for whether I enjoy the raids, I simply don't know yet. I've only run the shadow dragon raid once and I didn't really know what was going on most of the time. I haven't run the fire dragons raid even once yet. I'm hoping to have some time to try for one or both this weekend. I'm keeping both my thrower build and my 18 bard/2 rogue at cap for a while. So, I'll have some time to run those. Hopefully, I'll enjoy them so gathering the required ingredients isn't painful.
Hehehehehe. Yes, raid knowledge is critical (read the wiki!). You can sometimes find a teaching raid being run, or simply tell the leader that you're new to it. Unless they are running at Elite or significantly short-manned, your contribution won't really matter a whole lot and you can sniff the flowers on the way through and learn. I've got a few completions with a group of just 4 toons, but each one knew the drill. One hint, get yourself some Cannith Boots of Propulsion (check the name, but the ones with the jump clickie); you'll need them.

And can I recommend that rather than sitting at cap for a while that you should instead squeeze in 1 or 2 Epic Reincarnations before the next update? It won't reset your flagging for the raid and you can still participate while building your toon's resilience.

And if you are really keen on building a T3 weapon, then take the 10 phlogistons as the end reward for 20 completions.