Suggested changes for Update 10.1 revamp for the Devs

[Ruphus]

First of alll, another big Thank You to the devs for canceling the current 10.1 patch, or at least delaying it.

Now, lets talk about how we can get Bound/Unbound shards to be more balanced, across the board.

First of all, as many others have suggested, I do think using the various Soul Gems is a way to increase their use and need in game, it makes logical sense in many areas, and is an easy way to add difficulty to acquiring most of the items.

I am still highly opposed to seeing any tomes, DDO store items or named drops used in any crafting, unless that crafting is something truly extraordinary.


Bound Shards

I do think that these are close now. If anyone is going to take the time, resources and plat to get to level 100 in each school, that is most of the work, and the rewards should be being able to outfit your characters somewhat cheaply.

As it stands, I would simply just adjust the cost of Greater and Lesser Essences, Khyber/Siberys Dragonshards, Collectibles and maybe add in some of the Mystical drops for the more powerful effects.

Example - Shard of Greater Evil Outsider Bane is currently 21 Greater Good Essences, 192 Lesser Good Essences, 25 Siberys Dragonshard Fragments and 1 Small Planar Crystal.

My Suggestion - Shard of GEOB = 33 Greater Good Essences, 288 Lesser Good Essences, 1 Siberys Dragonshard, 3 Small Planar Crystals, and 20 Soul Gems, Essence of the Dominator (CR 15+ Devils, Efreeti, etc)

This makes it expensive, but it's not out of reach for anyone to create with a bit of work.

Using the example above, this would be a good formula for most any desireable shard.

Now, here is where I think the most work needs to be done.....

Unbound Shards

Unbound shards of very desireable effects need to be pricey and take a LOT of work to produce. They should not be something that is just cranked out in mass.

For starters, as I mentioned in the train wreck post, I think you can really limit the quality and quantity of strong weapons and items simply by making the Shards of Potential expensive as heck to make.

Unbound Shard of Potential +6 is currently 25/25/25 of any Essence.

This really should be closer to 75/75/75 of Greater Essences.

Unbound Shard of Potential +7 is currently 50/50/50 of any Essence.

This really should be closer to 150/150/150 of Greater Essences.

Following the above, you get to where a +9 or +10 requires thousands of Greaters, which I do not think is absurd, it's something anyone can do, but it will just take time,

On top of that, you need to adjust the recipes of powerful shards, I think by adding Soul Gems of various sorts as well as some of the currently used Mystical items, and maybe a few new Mystical items you can make it rewarding, yet difficult, rare but not impossible and can even promote some new pack sales by making a Mystical item for every pack.

By adding a Mystical item for every pack and requiring it to only be used for Unbound Shards, nobody *has* to ever buy a pack, but if you really want to reap all the benefits of crafting, you will be enticed, without being pigeonholed, into buying each and every adventure pack.

Example - Unbound Shard of Greater Evil Outsider Bane = 75 Greater Good Essences, 1000 Lesser Good Essences, 5 Mystical Outsider Tokens (a rare drop from Amrath quest rewards) a Large Devil Scale and 40 Soul Gems: Essence of the Dominator (Cr 15+ Devils, Efreeti, etc)

Any other thoughts, ideas or suggestions?