Ravenloft Expansion Preview #2 Sentient Weapons Feedback

[GhostJ]

Looking at what has been presented here, in general I find this sentient weapon system disappointing.

1. I personally was looking forward to a system that would encourage game play at level 30
2. I don't like the named weapon restriction due to a lack of multiple named item types
3. Browsing the effects I can only see myself using this system between the levels of 21-24 simply due to thunderforge and LGS beating the sentiet bonuses.
4. I really wanted an xp system for sentient that functioned off of character xp at 30 it really does make more sense to me then sacrificing named items, I could see the item scarifices acceptable if it wasn't restricted to named items.

Personally I hope that they don't release the sentient system as they have displayed here, even if they have to delay it to a later update. I would be okay with it.

Also on the note of raiding I have seen many mentions on how this system could affect raiding. For me this system would not affect how I currently raid. I only raid for specific items and then stop I don't see how this system would encourage me to raid at all specially since it only requires named items to level. I would probably just go and casually run trial by fury in the web and collect a bunch of spidersilk robes in all honesty. Or grab a bunch of Drow weapon master weapons from Broken blades. Or just grab a bunch of Golden Guiles. Seriously the sentient xp system as it is to incentivise raiding seems like a joke.

[Powerhungry]

Looking at what has been presented here, in general I find this sentient weapon system disappointing.

1. I personally was looking forward to a system that would encourage game play at level 30
2. I don't like the named weapon restriction due to a lack of multiple named item types
3. Browsing the effects I can only see myself using this system between the levels of 21-24 simply due to thunderforge and LGS beating the sentiet bonuses.
4. I really wanted an xp system for sentient that functioned off of character xp at 30 it really does make more sense to me then sacrificing named items, I could see the item scarifices acceptable if it wasn't restricted to named items.

Personally I hope that they don't release the sentient system as they have displayed here, even if they have to delay it to a later update. I would be okay with it.

Also on the note of raiding I have seen many mentions on how this system could affect raiding. For me this system would not affect how I currently raid. I only raid for specific items and then stop I don't see how this system would encourage me to raid at all specially since it only requires named items to level. I would probably just go and casually run trial by fury in the web and collect a bunch of spidersilk robes in all honesty. Or grab a bunch of Drow weapon master weapons from Broken blades. Or just grab a bunch of Golden Guiles. Seriously the sentient xp system as it is to incentivise raiding seems like a joke.

1. agreed - make sentient weapons more powerful and ML30
2. agreed - most named items are surpassed by LGS and TF
3. agreed - see #2. I tried the raid handwraps and they weren't even close to my TF wraps
4. sacrificing items is a poor leveling technique IMO. If they want to use the sacrificial item method and encourage raiding, restrict it to raid gear with diminishing returns (each time a specific item is sacrificed it has reduced effectiveness - encourages raid diversity) still a poor design though

[stripe1001]

It would appear that no matter the intended reaction from the player base, this current iteration will miss. Example : If you want people to stay at high level and TR less, this will miss because the bonuses from past lives are worth setting aside the weapon for the TR. If you are trying to encourage raiding or high level questing this will miss as the crafted gear at high levels will still be superior in most cases, leading people to raid until they craft what they want and then stop as usual. If you want to encourage new players to join the game it is a miss due to the 21+ lvl restriction. I really am having a hard time trying to figure out what the intended reaction was supposed to be because I can only see this benefiting people from level 21-24 or so. Wait, I have it, you want less people to HTR at 20 and more people to ETR at 24........uh, nvmd....still not seeing it. Sarcasm aside I really hope you take another look at this after reading all the suggestions and implement some of them prior to live release as this system will more than likely cause more problems than you realize or at the very least have little to no impact except major let down after a long wait for this release. The suggestion to have it based on character xp instead of item sack or to have it able to be added to any weapon including craft-ables sound good but might take a delay of release, which I would be fine with. This would keep this from killing the LFG crowd of which I am a member. At the very least give out a separate xp cake or something and make it auto assign to a character in the chest so that the PUGs have a chance of getting them too when filling out a guild run.

My original hope was for a system that would allow a weapon to grow with your character from Korthos to Endgame slowly. Something that would parallel Enhancement\Destiny growth maybe. Not another loot incentive but a character progression incentive. I was even foolish enough to hope it would TR with you as you went and be slot-able into any weapon you found or crafted. Well, that is my 2 cents worth, going back to lurking now. This was just too much of a disappointment not to speak up for once.

[Silverleafeon]

What value does the regular xp pots or even xp elixirs have to toons who stay at cap?

This is probably part of the reason for using loot for sXP.
One does not need to be constantly running an XP pot to benefit, although its likely players could be doing rXP at the same time?

Been in so many raids where ____ loot is totally unwanted then a few days later several players want the same item.

Collected handwraps from Leg Tempest Spine for my Wolf because no one else wanted them, then three days later multiple monks are hoping for the wraps to drop.

Actually had 3 Pinions on my Main at one time, because she pulled one, later on twice no one wanted the Pinion....

It happens.

Really looking forward to having a Sentient Weapon eat some of my loot that was good for life X but is no longer desired.

Usually there is turkey loot in a raid that players are kind of blah about, looking forward to feeding those while seeking out nice stuff.



So far on Khyber, its still a "....hey does anyone want this for whatever reason?"
"Sure, you can have it, its in the right chest." or "Here, let me trade it with you."

[Silverleafeon]

The biggest problem I see with sentient weapons is that there are so few really good named weapons to use. For many weapon types there simply are no good alternatives.

+1
Well said.
Quote of the day!

[Silverleafeon]

Still think the min/max grinders are going to R1 Slavers 1 thru 3 daily runs.

The upgradable items drop reasonably often and those chests do not ransack out.

Its level 28 loot for max sXP, and its not broken enough for the Devs to want to nerf.

Half the ingrediants are unbound, giving something to trade for Sentient Filigree directly or to put on the shard exchange.

[Iriale]

I repeat: Seriously, devs, sentient weapons NEED to be compatible with LGS. It is not healthy that you turn obsolete the LGS items so soon. Nor are there enough weapons to satisfy everyone, currently almost all use LGS or TF in the end game.

[mudfud]

Once a weapon has a Sentient Jewel, the player can build the power of that Jewel by feeding the jewel named magical items. The jewel drains the power from the named item and feeds on the magic to increase its own power. The more magical items fed, the more powerful it becomes.

Sorry for not reading the 11 pages to see if this was answered.
Are any named items able to be fed to the sentient jewel? Armor, boots, necklaces, etc.etc.. or just named weapons?

[Iriale]

Sorry for not reading the 11 pages to see if this was answered.
Are any named items able to be fed to the sentient jewel? Armor, boots, necklaces, etc.etc.. or just named weapons?

any named item is able to be fed to the sentient jewel, but a sentient jewel only can be slotted in a named weapon 21+

[Silverleafeon]

any named item is able to be fed to the sentient jewel, but a sentient jewel only can be slotted in a named weapon 21+

+1

this

and the above question was brought up in game as well, so its a point of confusion at times

[bloodnose13]

so i think that there are two main problems with this, from reading posts:
a. level limit of 21+
b. the binding only to named items

so what if it did not do that.
old holy sword spell used special spellcomponent cold iron weapons that now not needed for the spell anymore, but they are still sold by vendors, what if those would be used as base for the sentience.
now as i said in previous post, i think that sentient weapon should or could be treated like pet for leveling purposes, sentience applied to this blank weapon would give nothing by itself, except allow for weapon to gain exp (as in previous post i think that current idea of feeding items could be used as something like exp potion, auguments "filigrees" as source of some special effects unavailable to certain sentience types OR completely unfamiliar to either of them), weapon however would not gain effects from just that. weapon would gain exp, this exp would set maximum level possible. effects would be handled by a enchancement system similar to arti or druid dog, each effect added or chosen on a weapon, would raise ML of the weapon, limited by the maximum level unlocked by gaining exp.
now why like this? this idea would make those weapons possibleto be used on TRs, becouse to use a weapon which you already maxed to level 30 and unlocked all possible effects on it, you just would need to reset chosen effects and it would drop level on item back to 1, and then you just choose enchancements as you level up again, and weapons level is based on your current level, limiting the possible enchancements same as with characters enchancement system.

imagine a weapon that grows to become what you want it to be, its dice grows and scales, all effects scale like those 2% auguemnts based on users level. i think that would be pretty interesting way to make weapons that would be something that would live in game forever, and would be useful at all levels, since it would scale with characters level, it would not be overpowered or underpowered. maybe weapon could have its own wants, in form of challenges for the user, after completing such, weapon would gain +2 or so to its current level gainging a scaling bonus from all effects on it?...

just a thought....

[Niminae]

1. agreed - make sentient weapons more powerful and ML30
2. agreed - most named items are surpassed by LGS and TF
3. agreed - see #2. I tried the raid handwraps and they weren't even close to my TF wraps
4. sacrificing items is a poor leveling technique IMO. If they want to use the sacrificial item method and encourage raiding, restrict it to raid gear with diminishing returns (each time a specific item is sacrificed it has reduced effectiveness - encourages raid diversity) still a poor design though

1 - You contradict yourself below.
2 - With a healthy dose of sarcasm, this means that there will be less pressure for the devs to upgrade items that they have made obsolete via power creep. Because you can upgrade them yourself!
4 - Just think of the coding nightmare for having to keep a behind the scenes record of every item every single sentient gem has ever eaten, in order to implement your diminishing returns concept...

My original hope was for a system that would allow a weapon to grow with your character from Korthos to Endgame slowly. Something that would parallel Enhancement\Destiny growth maybe. Not another loot incentive but a character progression incentive. I was even foolish enough to hope it would TR with you as you went and be slot-able into any weapon you found or crafted. Well, that is my 2 cents worth, going back to lurking now. This was just too much of a disappointment not to speak up for once.

While an interesting concept, one of two things would happen:

Your sentient weapon would not be as powerful as some named weapon you find, and you'd be disappointed with the sentient weapon system.
-or-
Your sentient weapon would be more powerful than every named weapon you find, and you'd be disappointed with every other weapon drop in the game.

Neither one is a very good option.

[Melondrop]

Wanted to bring up another issue, which is why are all 7 slots effects that would normally be on items?
Why are there no weapon effects to choose from to actually make the weapon more powerful?

Don't understand why effects that normally are on items are the only effects to choose from.

Its a weapon right?

The really bad thing is, swap your weapon out and there goes all your extra item type buffs...which happens quite a bit you know.

This is why we dont like item type buffs on weapons. Things like heal amp on a weapon just dont make any sense if you are actually swinging it, because any
decent melee is switching weapons constantly depending on the situation. How am i supposed to break dr with your sentient weapons?
Hope the blank starts with metalline? Really, with nothing but item buffs to choose from, there is nothing viable for my melee at all.
Just item buffs for when i have it actually equipped i guess....

[Legic]

This system makes me feel like I have to choose between two cool things that I've worked towards. Not two extremely strong things that shouldn't be allowed to be used simultaneously for balance reasons. It feels like I'm being forced to choose between benefiting from my heroic past lives or my epic past lives. I farmed them all out and I want them both without having to choose.

If I farmed for a +4 mythic Golden Orb of Death for off hand and a beautiful selection of LGS caster sticks for my main hand, I do not want to feel like I have to make a 1 for 1 trade to instead use a worthless named item with a boring but somewhat necessary power creep gem slotted in it.

Also, if you're trying to make these set bonuses exciting for the end game player, you need to go back to the drawing board...

I TR my main between warlock and pure monk for lives I plan to stay at cap for a few weeks. I run everything from LE slavers/raids to r5+ content. This set caught my eye:

The Enlightened Step
The Enlightened Step: "+1 Wisdom" "+2 MRR"
The Enlightened Step: "+1 Dexterity" "+2 PRR"
The Enlightened Step: "1 Strength" "+2 PRR"
The Enlightened Step: "+2 Will saving throws" "+2 MRR"
The Enlightened Step: "+1 Constitution" "+2 PRR"
The Enlightened Step: "+10% Light Absorption" "+2 MRR"

2 Pieces: +5 Healing Amplification
3 Pieces: +5 Melee Power, +5 Ranged Power
4 Pieces: +5 Physical Resistance Rating
5 Pieces: +1 Unarmed Damage Dice

This entire set is vendor trash compared to LGS triple affirmation Handwraps. No contest. There is literally nothing substantial here. 5 healing amp vs the 50 you can get from tier 2 LGS? If this entire system isn't implemented to compliment ALL weapons at cap, it's going to be neglected.

I'm personally excited to spend countless hours grinding this system but I want to feel progress.




P.S. When I see sources of MRR added to a monk focused set bonus without raising the MRR cap for robes/outfits, I start to question the developers knowledge of the game.

[Qhualor]

Wanted to bring up another issue, which is why are all 7 slots effects that would normally be on items?
Why are there no weapon effects to choose from to actually make the weapon more powerful?

Don't understand why effects that normally are on items are the only effects to choose from.

Its a weapon right?

The really bad thing is, swap your weapon out and there goes all your extra item type buffs...which happens quite a bit you know.

This is why we dont like item type buffs on weapons. Things like heal amp on a weapon just dont make any sense if you are actually swinging it, because any
decent melee is switching weapons constantly depending on the situation. How am i supposed to break dr with your sentient weapons?
Hope the blank starts with metalline? Really, with nothing but item buffs to choose from, there is nothing viable for my melee at all.
Just item buffs for when i have it actually equipped i guess....

I agree. maybe there is a way to offer different types of Sentient weapons? melees do need to swap weapons when fighting mobs that you need to bypass DR, fight epic oozes that are mixed with epic kobolds, etc. I don't know how everyone thinks when playing melees, but I want my weapons to do damage, not buff me. I prefer buffs on armor and shields that also have damaging guards. that is what I look for as a melee player. that is what attracts me. I still see LGS gear overall better, but because Sentient weapons will be a little easier to upgrade just by running a variety of content I probably would still make one for my characters. unless I'm missing something here, I can only see Sentient weapons as is as a filler weapon until I got something better.

[Iriale]

I agree. maybe there is a way to offer different types of Sentient weapons? melees do need to swap weapons when fighting mobs that you need to bypass DR, fight epic oozes that are mixed with epic kobolds, etc. I don't know how everyone thinks when playing melees, but I want my weapons to do damage, not buff me. I prefer buffs on armor and shields that also have damaging guards. that is what I look for as a melee player. that is what attracts me. I still see LGS gear overall better, but because Sentient weapons will be a little easier to upgrade just by running a variety of content I probably would still make one for my characters. unless I'm missing something here, I can only see Sentient weapons as is as a filler weapon until I got something better.

Sentient weapons should give cool effects while fighting (offensive or deffensive), not stats. More numbers is so boring and unimaginative… in addition to more number inflation, of course

[Hilltrot]

1. agreed - make sentient weapons more powerful and ML30

I agree with #1.

As soon as a sentient weapon gem goes in, the ML should be raised to 30.

To make them more power and to make them combat specific, each gem should add 0.5[W] and/or 5 universal power and +1% crit.

On another note,

Leveling to max is WAAAaaay too easy and the XP required should be 5 to 10 times larger. If the developers want to make it lower later on, they can. However, retroactively raising the requirements is harder.

Think about it. If I do one life I play about 250 adventures. In the same amount of time, I could be done with sentient weapons. All I need is 70 named items to drop!?

[MagicalDad]

Right now casters always use a TF or LGS weapon in main hand, frequently a named orb in the off-hand. Since Sentient will not accept off-hand placement, are there decent named caster weapons? Even recently introduced loot, like Deep Demise, have a hard time competing with crafted gear.

[Legic]

are there decent named caster weapons? Even recently introduced loot, like Deep Demise, have a hard time competing with crafted gear.

No, there is nothing worth using for a caster at end game. Literally every named weapon is utterly eclipsed by legendary green steel. Only thing of note is the staff from slavers which is solid enough for a sorc/druid. Still not as good as LGS, takes up both hands, and can easily be replaced by crafted slavers blanks.

[Tricosene]

Can you feed ToEE weapons to the sentient gems?

Not the named loot from the temple, but the elemental weapons.