The percentage is just an round up (or down) number. When you see 100%, it is not necessary 100%. It can be 755/760. Yes, I failed with "100%" because it was 755/760.jamvaru said:oh, on a related note, small question:
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in the display for proficiency it has a % rating. Is the calculation using this % or the proficiency number when determining success? So if you use a balm and it raises your proficiency but not enough to get another % bump, is it wasted? As when you can choose between the regular balm or the +1 balm. Sometimes you get another % bump, but sometimes not, though your proficiency does go up a bit.
Answers
It worth trying to gather less than 100% if you don't have the better tool and enough proficiency and is willing to take the risk. For the high end resource, you almost always cannot get 100%.
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guess not, the section is blank on the wiki
i suppose 50% isn't bad really, esp for gathering, though the fail takes up a slot in the results storage
Basically, people will intentionally do the high failure rate task instead of trying their best to success because the (even discounted) XP pay out of the fail out-of-your-league task (use the worn tool) would be a lot higher than the task you try your best (get the best tool) to get 100%.
As for @jamvaru's question about it being worth attempting to gather stuff at less than a 100% success rate, the answer is yes. How much below a 100% success rate is still worth attempting is subjective. It depends on how badly you need the resource you're trying to gather, how much gold you're willing to burn trying to gather it, and other factors. In some cases, you simply don't have a choice as you may be trying to gather something that is level 68 to 70 (in particular) and unable to achieve a 100% success rate with the adventurer and tool you have available. If guaranteed success is important enough to you, you'll spend the money to get a sufficiently rare tool to accomplish that. For example, I bought a Legendary Hatchet for both my warlock and my wife's warlock because I wanted not only the guaranteed success, but I also wanted the guaranteed +1 result when gathering Myrrh Branches. I also put Wootz and/or Legendary Alembics on those characters so they could get Myrrh +1 from the branches.
While you will fail some tasks, I feel the XP gain is better. It is simple to check, multiply the XP gain times the %Success for each possible task and then divide by the time needed for the task. This provides a relative value for each task.
Since Gathering can not be rushed, it is best to use the fastest Adventurers. Rona Farhill and Dilara Ayak are the best white quality ones. Dilara has a positive commission modifier but if you plan to craft, it is better to use the right people and develop a plan to replenish gold than to use suboptimal artisans for your tasks.
I've found that i prefer to not fail at gathering tasks or tasks on order but don't mind failing if using morale, though would rather not. I try to do higher level tasks with morale and lower level ones with timed orders.
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IRL you may or may not learn by failing but you do learn by consequence. The consequences of failing may be insignificant, like missing a free point shot in basketball if you are practicing vs. actual game. If the consequence for fail is greater you learn more, more exp.
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If you really want the high level gather or task then you must accept the chance of fail and do what you can to mitigate it, like fancy gear and premium retainers.
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I prefer using the retainers with reduced commission cost. At least you don't burn through so much gold, whether fail or success.
thanks for discussion
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in the display for proficiency it has a % rating. Is the calculation using this % or the proficiency number when determining success? So if you use a balm and it raises your proficiency but not enough to get another % bump, is it wasted? As when you can choose between the regular balm or the +1 balm. Sometimes you get another % bump, but sometimes not, though your proficiency does go up a bit.