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?

[HAL]

This sounds like a great start. But if they put Soul Gems in crafting they would have to have them appear in your inventory instead of on the ground so people can't steal them.

[TimoteoDeLani]

My first suggestion is to use the higher-level Siberys and Khyber dragonshards. An effect that requires a Flawless dragonshard is achievable by anyone, but requires extensive investments in either time or money.

Secondly, I'd like the ability to strip spirits other than enhancement bonuses off weapons. In addition to the current crafting mechanism, if I've got a spirit of the effect I want, it reduces the crafting requirements (or maybe level to craft - I think I like this better). For example, I get an Invulnerability item. Instead of deconstructing it into essences, I choose to strip an Invulnerability spirit off it. If I then use the Invulnerability spirit when crafting the shard, it uses the same number of essences, but the required crafting level is reduced by 10 (or something along those lines).

This means that something like a holy burst of tendon slice 2% becomes much more useful - you can strip off a holy burst spirit and make it easier to craft a holy burst shard.

BTW, I definitely agree with Soul Gems for bane weapons. As an example:

Lesser Undead Bane: weak undead gem
Undead bane: undead gem
Greater Undead bane: strong undead gem
Disruption: strong undead gem + something else for the vorpal effect (common to all vorpal effects)

Obviously construct bane/smiting would require something else.

[Altaweir]

This sounds like a great start. But if they put Soul Gems in crafting they would have to have them appear in your inventory instead of on the ground so people can't steal them.

If Soul Gems are involved in crafting, only some casters classes of a given level will be able to generate much sought-after ingredients. Others will just curse themselves for not having such a toon in their collection, and will pay through the nose to get Soul Gems on the AH.

Not good for balance IMHO.

[Gauthaag]

If Soul Gems are involved in crafting, only some casters classes of a given level will be able to generate much sought-after ingredients. Others will just curse themselves for not having such a toon in their collection, and will pay through the nose to get Soul Gems on the AH.

Not good for balance IMHO.

thats what are guilds for. My wiz will gladly farm soulgems for guildies

[Gremmlynn]

If Soul Gems are involved in crafting, only some casters classes of a given level will be able to generate much sought-after ingredients. Others will just curse themselves for not having such a toon in their collection, and will pay through the nose to get Soul Gems on the AH.

Not good for balance IMHO.

Naw, some of us will just look at crafting as a colossal waste of dev time and forget it exists. To me, it would be equivalent to requiring the use of soul gems to play other end-game content.

[Cyr]

thats what are guilds for. My wiz will gladly farm soulgems for guildies

That sounds less fun then scroll farming...seriously.

While soul gems probably should be used for some ingredients I do not think it is wise to have this use exagerrated too much. There are tons of collectibles in game also to add diversity and extra requirements to the various recipes.

[dkyle]

I have to say "no, thanks" to soul gems in crafting.

Ultimately, game systems should reward activities that are fun and challenging, and farming soul gems is simply neither. It's boring, repetitive, and presents no challenge.

Soul gems should have a use, or they should be removed. But I'd rather give them a nominal plat value (just sell them as gems), than incorporate them into crafting. I'd revamp the adamantine rituals to use different ingredients, as well.