Alchemical Crafting T3 Results and Discussion

[Shade]

Beat Lord of Blades and MA on epic today. Kookie hooked us up with some crafting ingredients including the missing stuff.. So several of us crafted some stuff.

It's pretty much like slightly enhanced GS DPS wise.. But it's way easier to make it all bypass DR, since every weapon can get any material type, righteous (for fire), and even a red slot.



Unslotted:
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/1685/tier3q.jpg

Note the bugged graphic (particles are detached from the weapon, Greatsword suffers the same issue).. Kookie says its a known issue.

So yea it looks pretty nuts.. And it is in some ways.. But yea, tier3 will take quite a few runs to do, so not a lot of ppl will be running around with them too soon.. Tho its steady grinding, every run of LoB gets you a 100% chance at shards, and a high chance at spirits.. So it's not like GS, less luck involved. I imagine tons of these will be floating around in a month or so..

I'd actually recomend moving some of the crazier stuff to tier3 and massively upping the cost.. Seems almost lower then T3 GS atm.

And challenge wise, while LoB is quit tough on elite, MA imo doesn't scale much other then hitpoints...And really qyute trivial on normal once the strategies are learned in a balanced grp... And while you do seem to need possibly 1 or 2 runs on hard, and 1 run on elite LoB to get higher quality spirits.. You can otherwise run only normal to get a tier3. (well except the 10 dungeon tokens, which u can run something real easy like snitch to get..)

Course power cell drop rate/cost is sitl unknown.

Got some other pics im working on converting. stay tuned.

[Crankymonky]

Earth/Earth/Fire

Disintegrate is extremely potent, hitting in the 450-650 range so far with quite a high proc rate.

[Asmodeus451]

haven't done any of the raids myself, RL stuuf getting in the way

so what i'm getting here is that this is essentially a more powerful and more complicated version of greensteel basically.

please correct me if i am wrong

[Shade]

haven't done any of the raids myself, RL stuuf getting in the way

so what i'm getting here is that this is essentially a more powerful and more complicated version of greensteel basically.

please correct me if i am wrong

Far less complicated actaully.

Less recipes, barter system.. So pretty much ~2 click crafting.. Versus greensteels painful 100+ click approach.

I much prefer it actaully.. tho I did kind of like the discoveryr process of greensteel. Would rather the recipes just said "tier1 martial fire upgrade" "adds mysterious effects"
or tier1 mystical.. etc.. And the effects could be as now, just hidden and need some experimentation.

Basic process is:
1. Run MA - Get a blank, droprates ultra high, so its easy.
2. Run LoB a LOT - Get ~30-60 binding khyber frags per go. You need 200 per tier, thus 600 for tier3.. Or ~10-20 runs total. Also collect 3 Spirits too. Khyber frags are 100% drop, but random amount. Spirits are random chance, and a fairly complex mechanic involving a post raid optional to get them.
3. Also run explorer area, collect some random ****.. Doesn't take long.
4. In explorer area, make 3 ingots outa the random ****.
5. In MA Area ,or MA raid.. Combine 3 ingots + power cell + weapon to make BTA weapon of X material. (Yes you MUST add a material type to continue)
6. In same altar, also make Empty Khybershard. There are 3 tiers of empty khybershard.
7. In LoB area/raid altar: Fill empty shard with spirt of choice.
8. Same altar: Filled shard of X + Weapon = T1. Filled Refined shard of X + t1 weapon = t2. Filled Exquisit shard of X + 10 epic dungeon tokens + t2 weapon = T3 weapon.
9. Opitonal: Fill your red slot.

[Ziindarax]

Power cells do not drop in the game atm, and yea are required for almost every step. (tho just 1 per step)

Torc says they will be in the next patch. Which may be tomorow if all goes well.

(We got tons because kookie kindly spawned them for us after beating Epic LoB)

So yea i might have a few spare cells if people are in need.. They are unbound. I can mail em. Think i only have lots of basic ones, and a few martial. There are 5 diferent cells:
Lesser
Basic (no prefix)
Greater
Martial (melee effects)
Mystical (magic effects)

Edit: If you have any batteries left, could you mail em to my character Ziind on Lama?

[shortdevils]

Can someone test handwraps....pleaaaaaaze

[Gimpinator]

Would be nice if we could pick the +2 exceptional stat. DC's need to be raised. Otherwise, they are useful for some (monks) and practically worthless to others. The grind looks to be intensive.

EDIT: Or just make the animations unique and awesome. The skins are meh except for the Khopesh, which is sexilicious.

[TheDearLeader]

The skins are meh except for the Khopesh, which is sexilicious.

Screenshot, or link, please? Haven't seen it yet.

[grodon9999]

These are so over-powered they almost look like a joke. Did Turbine hire a bunch of 10 year-olds to work as game-balance consultants?

[Unreliable]

These are so over-powered they almost look like a joke. Did Turbine hire a bunch of 10 year-olds to work as game-balance consultants?

When you look at the power of GS at level 12 vs the power of these at level 20 its about right honestly..

Yeah they are more powerfull then GS, but again, its ML18/20...

[grodon9999]

When you look at the power of GS at level 12 vs the power of these at level 20 its about right honestly..

Yeah they are more powerfull then GS, but again, its ML18/20...

Wait . . . are you rationalizing this by saying Green Steel is APPROPRIATELY powered for level 12?

[Chai]

These are so over-powered they almost look like a joke. Did Turbine hire a bunch of 10 year-olds to work as game-balance consultants?

Yeap.

I was about to post something to the effect of "the power creep takes another step forward", but then I realize that would be false.

Its taking about 5 steps forward.

[Grosbeak07]

Yeap.

I was about to post something to the effect of "the power creep takes another step forward", but then I realize that would be false.

Its taking about 5 steps forward.

If this type of weaponry makes it live and having to do the raids on Elite and/or Epic is required, you will open up a big gap between the haves and the have nots.

Seriously need to dial it back a bit, even if we the players need new loot to play new content.

[Truga]

Yeap.

I was about to post something to the effect of "the power creep takes another step forward", but then I realize that would be false.

Its taking about 5 steps forward.

I, however, am liking my superior IX clickies and lores! Also, soon coming, clickies and lore items specifically for blade barriers and DP (because my FVS really needs it!). I am expecting a number of threads crying for caster nerfs _again_ once these weapons become widespread.

I also find it weird that the general complaint is that there is no tough end game content in the game but better gear which makes already trivial content even easier is very welcomed.

Funny, how hypocritical some people are huh? :P

That said, many are wanting "harder" content. Problem is, by now we know every possible kind of thing turbine could possibly throw our way. Let's face it, it's just three things. One is boss HP and damage (prime examples: shroud, vod, tod). Second is puzzles (prime examples: abbot, twilight forge). Third is special boss mechanics (prime examples: titan's pillars, xyzzy's pups, harbinger's orbs).

Now, here comes the problem. Special boss mechanics, once figured out and mastered become a joke, usually doable by 2-3 people (titan a-pikes, reaver's pike). Same with puzzles. Twilight forge bridges+rooms puzzle is incredibly challenging for first timers, but for someone who knows it it's a matter of spinning some tiles to the exact right position and using a ddoor a couple times, it's barely a 5 minute obstacle.

On the same note, people don't like to pug abbot, because someone screwing up can often lead to a fail that other people could do nothing about. Instant lose mechanics are therefore also "not fun".

So the only thing left is increasing enemy hp and dps, which we also find "not fun". What then? How does one increase difficulty in a good way?

I'd say some quests deserve less shrines. Or maybe less shrines on higher difficulties. Or maybe even reverse, since normal is easier and shrines recharge. Would give an incentive to run higher difficulties on things like shroud. Other than that, I have no idea.

Or, maybe, they're just getting us ready for level 26+ content, which will actually require all this silly overpowered gear to complete? One can wish right? :P

[Marten]

Yeap.

I was about to post something to the effect of "the power creep takes another step forward", but then I realize that would be false.

Its taking about 5 steps forward.

A recent Dev post all but confirms that something past current end game is coming. So, if they didn't start the power creep now, when that does come everyone would be complaining that the new content can't be played... short of the servers getting nuked I believe that DDO will be with us for a while longer, it may be this game generation's Ultima Online in its longevity. There has to be some power creep at some point, ummm I mean balance.

Sue me for trying to see the positive here. I refuse to let a minority of players and a few Devs jade me!

[Aerendil]

EDIT: Or just make the animations unique and awesome. The skins are meh except for the Khopesh, which is sexilicious.

Yeah, pictures please.

[Unreliable]

hooray for upcoming shroud large price deflation

[sirgog]

My gut thought - if you have the resources to buy Red Augment Crystals of Metallic Edges, the best overall bet for pure THF DPS is a Fire/Air/Air falchion on a Flametouched Iron base. (Fire/Air/Water or Fire/Air/Earth if you want to optimise for the Cojoined Abashai Devastator).

T2 Air is so far ahead of the other options - 6% Doublestrike (~20-25 DPS) and Lightning Strike (~18-20 DPS) that it's not funny.

Of course, if you want to optimize for utility over DPS - there's lots of good options there too. T1 Earth and Air both have potential.

[Crankymonky]

My gut thought - if you have the resources to buy Red Augment Crystals of Metallic Edges, the best overall bet for pure THF DPS is a Fire/Air/Air falchion on a Flametouched Iron base. (Fire/Air/Water or Fire/Air/Earth if you want to optimise for the Cojoined Abashai Devastator).

T2 Air is so far ahead of the other options - 6% Doublestrike (~20-25 DPS) and Lightning Strike (~18-20 DPS) that it's not funny.

Of course, if you want to optimize for utility over DPS - there's lots of good options there too. T1 Earth and Air both have potential.

Tier 2 earth will rival it, and beat it depending on a character's base damage. A lot of things are resistant to electric in this new pack, but one would need to know how large those resistances are and how widespread to determine how it hurts the lightning strike. The Disintegrate has so far seemed to be significantly ahead of lightning strike.

These are so over-powered they almost look like a joke. Did Turbine hire a bunch of 10 year-olds to work as game-balance consultants?

I'll disagree. I believe these are excellent and excellently designed items, they are not going to be your top DPS weapon (in most situations), but instead allow people to create excellent dps utility weapons. These weapons are very good DPS, but the reason they are going to be some of the best weapons in the game is due to their abilities.

[sirgog]

I'll disagree. I believe these are excellent and excellently designed items, they are not going to be your top DPS weapon, but instead allow people to create excellent dps utility weapons. These weapons are very good DPS, but the reason they are going to be some of the best weapons in the game is due to their abilities.

Earth/Air/whatever strikes me as the DPS of a Lit 2 with the anti-trash utility of an Epic Timeblade. I like.