Greensteel Handwraps: A Work Around

[Kintro]

I came up with an idea to fix the problem with Monks not having Greensteel handwraps without needing the development time to make them work properly, this idea is twofold:

1) Remove all greensteel weapons*.
2) Decrease hitpoints and saves to account for lower DPS and DC stats.

Leave greensteel items so there's still a point to the shroud and crafting. You could also add more offensive type effects to greensteel items and/or Dragontouched Armour (seeker, weighted, righteousness). Maybe some more Stone of Change recipes along the lines of the Force Rituals which could make your random weapons slightly better using things you pick up while leveling**. This suggestion would:

1) Bring Monk DPS closer to other classes without giving them Transmuting which doesn't really fit with the Ki Strike idea.
2) Rejuvenate random loot.
3) Make it easier to play certain classes without requiring*** 24+ large ingredients once they hit higher levels.

* replacing them with the ingredients that went into their construction.
** it'd probably help if we could have more than one ritual at a time too.
*** of course they're not technically required but the gap between shroud weapons and random ones is so much they really are.

[Omega2K]

Players love their Green Steel Weapons too much for this to be viable. Suddenly removing these Weapons from the game in an effort to balance it would cause widespread trauma to Players that have become dependent upon these Weapons to feel "effective" in combat. Also, the amount of game changes (code writing) that you are suggesting here to reduce Monsters' stats to make them easier to kill makes me believe that maybe your whole post is actually based on sarcasm... I think you are saying "just give us the Green Steel Handwraps already!"

[Kintro]

Players love their Green Steel Weapons too much for this to be viable. Suddenly removing these Weapons from the game in an effort to balance it would cause widespread trauma to Players that have become dependent upon these Weapons to feel "effective" in combat. Also, the amount of game changes (code writing) that you are suggesting here to reduce Monsters' stats to make them easier to kill makes me believe that maybe your whole post is actually based on sarcasm... I think you are saying "just give us the Green Steel Handwraps already!"

Not really sarcasm, more a comment on fixing problems instead of symptoms. I was also enjoying playing my Monk and getting the "oooo look what I just pulled" feeling instead of the "I still need to build all this greensteel" one I get playing some other characters.

Random Loot is generally considered a problem which was made much worse by shroud crafting. Consider the following alternative weapon crafting system:

1) Any weapon is a base for crafting (Think Stone of Change).
2) Add recipes for Holy/Elemental (Burst) effects, (Greater/Lesser) Banes (Could incorporate collectibles gathered from the enemy type), Pure Good, Righteousness.
3) Keep the same level restrictions and prefix/suffix constraints.

Some things a system like this could achieve:

1) Add value to lots of random loot (silver/cold iron weapons for instance)
2) Retain the "Thrill of the Pull" as you can still pull anything you could make aswell as many things you could improve through crafting.
3) Maintain variety (in appearance aswell as weapon type/effects).
4) Add uses for more collectibles.

I'd like a system like this and I'd certainly enjoy a return of the excitement of opening a chest but it probably wouldn't work with Green Steel weapons in the game. The only way I think it would is if the recipes were fairly cheap so you could make a "next best" weapon if you didn't want to collect so many larges.

[daslim1]

does this save development time?