U55 Preview 3: Itemization

[mikarddo]

I would love to see some of theese also.. But alos would love to see some of em.. that are not in augments also to come in augements.. Its not only for me.. But the gear tetris is getting out of hand .. and is overwhelming for newer players.. I dont even want to think on how many crafting systems. DDO have , and if a new player have to learn em all. Giveing the option to create allmost everything in a few systems. ( Dino crafting, augment system, CC, filiegree.) is a very welcome for all.. But specially for the newer players.

Cheers DB

I have to agree.

Gear Tetris has reached a point where optimizing a setup takes many hours - not playing in game but spreadsheeting outside the game. Many and likely even most players, even some that have played for years, simply give up either entirely or just follow a guide someone else wrote without really understanding exactly why.

I kinda enjoy it but only kinda as its also quite frustrating - in particular if you farm rare stuff and it turns up not stacking as expected.

That said - please add Quality Spell Focus Mastery +2 and Insightful Spell Focus Mastery +3 somewhere in Dino crafting.

[Mindos]

Augments

Level 32 augments are going to be added to global treasure tables, and a subsection of those will be available for trade with Randall Lyric for Isle of Dread ingredients (Randall will also trade level 8 augments for Isle of Dread ingredients, as some of you may have guessed). There will also be new named augments in Isle of Dread that drop as treasure which will be minimum level 8 or 30.

Distribution of these new augments is a little different than how they normally drop in content. Usually we place them in as Named Loot, but in this expansion, they are all grouped together and have a small chance to drop from any chest in the expansion. This means that if you are looking for a specific augment, the best way to do that is to just play Isle of Dread content at the appropriate level range rather than looking for a specific chest.

Can we get a list of these? I ask because after, uh, asking about this unconscious range augment I had more questions. Is it enhancement? Is it 265? Doesn't stack with first tier of Legendary Shroud crafting? Is this too much? Too little? Does it go into any item augment slot? Is it only on a weapon? etc...

Maybe I have more questions. But I don't know that I have them because I don't even know what's coming? Will people feel this invalidates their LGS grind crafting? Is the lower level of LGS plus the heal over time the balance?

Should we have a more vigorous debate about freeing up equipment slots by putting effects on augments? How far will we go? How far should we go? I worry these questions are being asked/answered internally and I worry that we may hit a blindside and miss something.

Disclaimer: I could be wrong about everything I've written (and more!). Ignore if I don't know what I'm talking about. (I *do* try to force an outsider fresh to ddo/mmo game(ing) perspective which is why I sometimes ask Socratic questions)

[patang01]

Howdy folks. There's a lot of itemization in any expansion, and this one containing a level jump means there's a lot of moving parts.



New for this preview:

• Black Pearls now drop in small amounts in several very-cool very-tough Wilderness Encounters. This means that if you don't want to raid, there's a path for you to complete your dino bone weapons. The raid will be faster, though!
• The Artifacts have been reshuffled to be non-helmets.
• The drop rate of all ingredients has been drastically increased (approx 2.5 per elite chest -> approx 5.5 per elite chest)
• There are new Dino Bone Augments to craft (there will be even more changes before release that just barely missed this preview).

Known Issues and Important Notes:

• Several items have placeholder icons and descriptions
• The Dino Bone augment trader is not in the game

I appreciate the ability to earn diminished resources outside the raid. I wish it was both quest and wilderness, BUT I take the change over relying on raids only. It is a welcome change considering the price tag for the overall bundle. Me and fam will look forward to it.

[Sam-u-r-eye]

Should we have a more vigorous debate about freeing up equipment slots by putting effects on augments? How far will we go? How far should we go? I worry these questions are being asked/answered internally and I worry that we may hit a blindside and miss something.

I'm with you 100%.

Augments remove the ability for an item to gain identity through the augment's stat. In effect it is gear inflation and reduces immersion. We are moving ever closer to set bonuses and augments online rather than what named items should be: unique and game changing effects that come with a cost.

The constant hamster wheel of "new gear" erodes the value of stats. Developers forget that going from 1 to 2 is more significant than going from 2 to 3. We've seen a proliferation of unique and stacking DC bonuses. Why not just give everyone +3 sacred stat on a helmet? It would be BIS.

Giving something 7% insightful doublestrike does not give it identity---except in so far as the player says to himself:

"Number go up, me happy."

[adamkatt]

Hello dev team!

I'm quite looking forward to playing the IoD content in a few weeks. I've been enjoying two new Tabaxi characters in the meantime!

One issue that I wanted to address was hearing Lynnabel on Strimtom's stream a couple of weeks ago (thank you for taking your person time for this as I love hearing from the team!) and when Lynnabel addressed the grind of the new crafting system. It went something like, "it's kind of grindy like Slave Lords". I'll admit that this made me quite bummed out. I've only ever been able to make a single Legendary Slave Lords item (which was admittedly very cool) and while I am close to a second, that's about it. I suppose this is a tangent of not having a single sentient item "finished" as I usually send equipment to different toons as needed.

Obviously, this is an issue of mine as an "altaholic". I also realize that you're not building for my particular enjoyment for this issue and that it's no doubt a difficult line to develop around. However, my plea is to ask that the whole system - as part of a paid expansion - be a little more alt-friendly. I'm realistic to know that I won't have a dino crafted item for all of my many toons, but being able to reasonably work towards several to help fill in slots would be really nice.

Quick brainstorm idea - could you add additional ingredients as a bonus weekend even?

Thanks for reading,
Taleisin

PS - I typically don't check out Lam, so this information/plea is strictly based on the Q&A with Strimtom

I approve this message!

[Firebreed]

Thanks for changing Wheel of St. Marie.

Without you ever replying to my item-issues threads & posts it's hard to know what's a bug and what isn't, but here's what's left:

1) Pirate armors, shields, and the runearm don't have a Dinosaur slot.

2) Naildriver & Twinchopper are missing effects in both heroic and leg versions.

3) Ol' Ironsides (heroic) Max Charge Tier should be 3 (not 2), and the imbue should be Fire II (not Fire I), in line with all other ML7 Runearms.

4) Brightbane Emerald's "Command + 5" is way above the established curve for ML8. ML9 and ML10 items created in U50 only have "Command + 4".

5) Legendary Brightbane Emerald's "Command + 10" is way above the established curve for ML30. Other ML30 items created in U50 only have "Command + 7".

6) Quite a few items (for example all offhands) have the generic flavor text "The Isle of Dread beckons you..." in purplish font.

Good luck with the launch, and please keep bugfixing.

[Aelonwy]

[COLOR="#00FFFF"]New for this preview:

• Black Pearls now drop in small amounts in several very-cool very-tough Wilderness Encounters. This means that if you don't want to raid, there's a path for you to complete your dino bone weapons. The raid will be faster, though!
• The Artifacts have been reshuffled to be non-helmets.
• The drop rate of all ingredients has been drastically increased (approx 2.5 per elite chest -> approx 5.5 per elite chest)
• There are new Dino Bone Augments to craft (there will be even more changes before release that just barely missed this preview).

I appreciate all of the above this informs my purchasing decisions positively. Would it be possible to get Black Pearls on the Legendary True Elite Saga completion at the same %chance of seeing them from these Wilderness Encounters? That is if you only have a 1% chance of getting them from these wilderness encounters and only have a 5% chance of actually even seeing these particular encounters can we get that same 1% chance of seeing them on a Legendary True Elite saga completion? (Numbers made up based on my expectation and experience with RNG)

Also I noticed there was no MAX slayer cap in the Wilderness area tab information. So what indeed is the MAX Slayer Cap of the heroic and Legendary Isle of Dread wilderness?

[QuantumFX]

I have to agree.

Gear Tetris has reached a point where optimizing a setup takes many hours - not playing in game but spreadsheeting outside the game. Many and likely even most players, even some that have played for years, simply give up either entirely or just follow a guide someone else wrote without really understanding exactly why.

I kinda enjoy it but only kinda as its also quite frustrating - in particular if you farm rare stuff and it turns up not stacking as expected.

That said - please add Quality Spell Focus Mastery +2 and Insightful Spell Focus Mastery +3 somewhere in Dino crafting.

There's always room for more. The list he was quoting was melee focused as I had tried to make a 3 piece Heavy Armor Stalker* set for a paladin (All crafted as that set has absolutely zero support for Heavy/medium armor wearers.) and a 5 piece Dread Curse set. I had so many empty slots left that I gave up and went back to my caster sets.

*I don't remember if it's "Dread Stalker", or what. It's the set that mimics the set bonuses from the "Part of the Family" set.

[Duhboy]

The level 30 +6 spell focus augments are registering as a equipment bonus instead of a enhancement bonus like it states. So not sure if they are suppose to be an enhancement bonus or equipment bonus.

[Wongar]

Some questions:

Are there plans to add new Sentient Jewels and Filigrees? Did not see anything in Lam, did not see Filigrees drop at all.

Why is the AC and MDB on the new armor and shields only about 75% of current level 29 items? Having an AC of only 30 on the plate (below current level 25 plate armor) makes it very difficult to fit into an AC build.

Can we get some more breadth in the crafting, for example can we things like Profane Lifeforce that are really hard to slot.

[J1NG]

Are there plans to add new Sentient Jewels and Filigrees? Did not see anything in Lam, did not see Filigrees drop at all.

I assume with the recent addition of Saltmarsh, and the new sets of Filigree from there, those same Filigree will be the ones that drop from Isle of Dread as well. It won't be until the next update or two, before new ones are released. This is assuming it follows the previous patterns where each new Filigree sets continued for two or three updates before new ones are made for the new set of content then.

As for the Sentient Jewel, I certainly didn't see anything. But given the rush the Devs are in at the moment to get things done, if there was one slated to drop soon, it'll likely turn up later on rather than sooner.

J1NG

[Wongar]

I assume with the recent addition of Saltmarsh, and the new sets of Filigree from there, those same Filigree will be the ones that drop from Isle of Dread as well. It won't be until the next update or two, before new ones are released. This is assuming it follows the previous patterns where each new Filigree sets continued for two or three updates before new ones are made for the new set of content then.

As for the Sentient Jewel, I certainly didn't see anything. But given the rush the Devs are in at the moment to get things done, if there was one slated to drop soon, it'll likely turn up later on rather than sooner.

J1NG

Agree with you view; however, if they were going to drop already exiting Filigree I would have expected to see them in the loot by this preview or at least something in the notes. I don't see anything in the notes and I ran all the quests and did not see any drop. Asking if they plan to continue expanding the Sentient system or if it is ending and will not be carried forward into higher levels.

[GeoffWatson]

I wish the items/augments that give "a chance" for "massive damage" would give the actual numbers.

Too many previous items with similar descriptions have been worthless (1% chance for a massive 2d6 extra damage! So amazing!).
Some have been excellent, but you can't tell without a lot of testing, which is usually impractical.

[J1NG]

Agree with you view; however, if they were going to drop already exiting Filigree I would have expected to see them in the loot by this preview or at least something in the notes. I don't see anything in the notes and I ran all the quests and did not see any drop. Asking if they plan to continue expanding the Sentient system or if it is ending and will not be carried forward into higher levels.

True. However, a lot of the Isle of Dread is not fully ready yet. Filigree is likely one such thing not dropping yet.

After all, we have that missing Rare Filigree of Bravery Throughout not dropping. So whilst possible it's been decided that Filigree set doesn't drop in Isle of Dread, it doesn't eliminate that possiblity yet either (for now).

From what I can tell, the Sentient system is firmly staying to Level 40. So there's no worry about them dropping it. The only thing you should be concerned about, is if you notice irrefularities like certain Filigree not dropping (Bravery Throughout Rares) or not dropping at all (like here) and asking about it.

J1NG

[QuantumFX]

Hey Lynn,
If you'd like to make the Dread Isle Curse set more interesting, try making it like the Seasons of the Feywild set.

ex:
2 Piece: +15 Profane Bonus to Melee Power, Ranged Power, Universal Spell Power
3 Piece: +30 Profane Bonus to PRR
4 Piece: +2 Profane Bonus to all Spell and Tactics DCs
5 Piece: +2 Profane Bonus to all Ability Scores

[Alternative]

Hey Lynn,
If you'd like to make the Dread Isle Curse set more interesting, try making it like the Seasons of the Feywild set.

ex:
2 Piece: +15 Profane Bonus to Melee Power, Ranged Power, Universal Spell Power
3 Piece: +30 Profane Bonus to PRR
4 Piece: +2 Profane Bonus to all Spell and Tactics DCs
5 Piece: +2 Profane Bonus to all Ability Scores

These numbers are overall underwhelming. For a level 31 SET bonus I'd expect +3 profane DCs/stats, +2 we already have on old gear that doesn't require making a set. Adding Tactics DC is a good suggestion also, especially since the new artifact bonus to tactical DCs is tied to caster items...

[CeltEireson]

I appreciate all of the above this informs my purchasing decisions positively. Would it be possible to get Black Pearls on the Legendary True Elite Saga completion at the same %chance of seeing them from these Wilderness Encounters? That is if you only have a 1% chance of getting them from these wilderness encounters and only have a 5% chance of actually even seeing these particular encounters can we get that same 1% chance of seeing them on a Legendary True Elite saga completion? (Numbers made up based on my expectation and experience with RNG)

Yes, would be nice to have a chance for the pearls appearing in the saga reward - without knowing drop rates etc its hard to say what percentage chance it should be, but if its in it can always be adjusted at a later date.

[Mellkor]

Suggestion:

Currently, the Walking Ancestor set items have CHA +14 and insightful CHA +6 with the set bonus (artifact) +3 spell DC's, +3 tactical and assassinate, +3 to all ability scores.

With the Legendary Sacarium set items have INT +14 and insightful INT +6 with the set bonus (artifact) 6% spell crit chance, +25 to USP, 15% to spell crit damage, +30 MRR.



Swap the stat bonuses on the Walking Ancestors and the Auricular Sacarium sets. It makes more sense to have the INT bonuses tied to DC's and the CHA bonuses tied to spell damage.

This will make DC casters, assassins, and spell nukers happy everywhere!

[Bjond]

Blanks consist of all weapon types, all shield types, helmets, cloaks

Unless you're providing a different-slot equivalent to jeweled cloak, use of the cloak slot for a 3pc set will kill the set. Currently, non-cloak absorb is not worth wearing due to the spell level v spells difference in function. Non-cloaks need 225 absorb counters to match jeweled cloak.

craft augments, think like Slavers

Crafted/selected stats always make tetris easier. This is a good thing.

The posted details on crafting were very clear with a nice layout, but the above line says all that needed to be said about it. To give us something to comment on, post the stats themselves. Lots of feedback will come with those, though arguably will likely be negative nitpicks that are not as fun to read.

Which stats? Augment matching or the valuable ones you can't get from augments (insight & quality)?

Or, are insight and quality augments going to appear in U55, too (attributes, saves, mprr?).

Does the gear provide absorbs or resists? Resists are almost pointless at cap both compared to absorbs and because one Draconic Soul gem is enough. This will make the gear much less attractive compared to Saltmarsh.

What are the set bonuses for both 3pc and 5pc sets? My glance at them said "nope, doesn't work" for both tank & DPS due to being worse than Sharn.

However, the above tiny feedback is based on stuff I saw in a streamer's youtube vid. This is not the best way to see it. Even logging into Lam, it's still not collected in a way to make overall comparisons between sets and gear easy.

I might be completely off-base due to misreading or missing data from the streamer vid. Posted values would permit more detailed and precise feedback.

[VinoeWhines]

Suggestion:

Currently, the Walking Ancestor set items have CHA +14 and insightful CHA +6 with the set bonus (artifact) +3 spell DC's, +3 tactical and assassinate, +3 to all ability scores.

With the Legendary Sacarium set items have INT +14 and insightful INT +6 with the set bonus (artifact) 6% spell crit chance, +25 to USP, 15% to spell crit damage, +30 MRR.



Swap the stat bonuses on the Walking Ancestors and the Auricular Sacarium sets. It makes more sense to have the INT bonuses tied to DC's and the CHA bonuses tied to spell damage.

This will make DC casters, assassins, and spell nukers happy everywhere!

This is based on current in game stats and class styles, since I haven't seen any Intelligence based Sorcerers or Charisma Rogues currently, this might of been stat placeholders hopefully.

---------------------------------------

Will there be augments for Assassinate +15 and Insightful Assassinate +6 eventually or are they going to be blended into "Tactics" stats, as it is a tactic Rogues use. Same thing for Reaper Trees, there are no assassinate tactics in either of the three trees.

Another thing, "Assassinate" isn't a Spell or a Spell Like Ability, it should be treated as a physical attack, and thus not have a Death Ward affect, stitched to it with Death Warded buffs on NPC's. If you can physically attack a mob, you should be able to kill it.
It can be put as if 50% of it's health is removed then it can be assassinated, for purposes of Orange named or Reapers.
Of course Bosses can be shielded from kinks in their armor.

You have Alchemists, Sorcs, and DPS Caster's build stacks of Vulnerability to Element damage on Orange/Red/Reapers; Assassin's should have a similar "Vulnerability" to be able to assassinate the Orange/Red name and Reapers as well. There's no Death Ward against element damage, these are all physical damage types.