Converting common mats to common mats?

Archived Post

Here's the deal.

I have about 60 Viper arms, but only 3 argent arms. I suspect I've been VERY unlucky in my looting and researching.

Is it possible to convert my viper arms into argent arms? Because some of the items I want to craft (basic healing patches, alien metabolism enhancers etc) require argent arms.

Or should I head over to the AH and hope?

Or is this, in fact, broken?

Archived Post

Yes. When you go to learn Blueprints, there is a tab called conversion. You can buy them with Insights, or whatever else are called. Naturally, you get access to them with your skill level.

Archived Post

DragonLord wrote:

Yes. When you go to learn Blueprints, there is a tab called conversion. You can buy them with Insights, or whatever else are called. Naturally, you get access to them with your skill level.

I think you can only turn common mats to uncommon, not common to common.
To the OP, there is another way of getting some mats in a pinch. Research will decompose items and get you some of its constituent materials, but obviously for long term mat requirements, best way is to just head out and gather.

Archived Post

Thanks for the reply guys.

I've tried both of those, and yes - I can only convert common to uncommon, not the other way around.

And I've been researching items like a madman, but have yet to have anything yield argent arms.

Might have to bite the bullet and try the AH.

Archived Post

Viper arms are dropped by higher-level baddies, lootboxes and gear than argent arms. They're used for blueprints that have skill levels 101-200, whereas argent arms are for 1-100. If you desperately need argent arms, the best way might be to create an alt and harvest the lower levels.

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BlueOrange wrote:

Viper arms are dropped by higher-level baddies, lootboxes and gear than argent arms. They're used for blueprints that have skill levels 101-200, whereas argent arms are for 1-100. If you desperately need argent arms, the best way might be to create an alt and harvest the lower levels.

Aaaah - that goes some way toward explaining it!

Thank you

Archived Post

Agreed, I was talking about this in another thread, but I'm constantly running out of "common" materials well before running out of uncommon ones, since they always ask for way more of the common ones. There needs to be way more conversion recipes (hopefully that you can buy with cash rather than with rotundities), so that whatever you do have, you can convert into whatever you do need (while retaining relative value).

Archived Post

Ohoni wrote:

Agreed, I was talking about this in another thread, but I'm constantly running out of "common" materials well before running out of uncommon ones, since they always ask for way more of the common ones. There needs to be way more conversion recipes (hopefully that you can buy with cash rather than with rotundities), so that whatever you do have, you can convert into whatever you do need (while retaining relative value).

I agree but don't think you should be able to 'cross levels'. Basically, you should be able to convert commons to uncommons and uncommons to commons (at a loss in both cases of course), only of the same tier.

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wolfing wrote:

I agree but don't think you should be able to 'cross levels'. Basically, you should be able to convert commons to uncommons and uncommons to commons (at a loss in both cases of course), only of the same tier.

I think may be perhaps allowing a steep conversion rate:

lvl 001-100 --> lvl 101-200 requres a 10-1 ratio
lvl 001-100 --> lvl 201-300 requires a 30-1 ratio

that way yes entry level will get farmed, but it also means people will go back to the game more (which is what cryptic/atari want, right?) and not to worry about farming mats in the higher levels (people will still farm mats)

good or bad

Archived Post

I agree but don't think you should be able to 'cross levels'. Basically, you should be able to convert commons to uncommons and uncommons to commons (at a loss in both cases of course), only of the same tier.

I suppose, although reachig a new tier and having a bunch fo now worthless components is kind of annoying too. With any luck there's an "x95" skill item you can make that is still worth skill-ups, but not always.

Archived Post

wolfing wrote:

I think you can only turn common mats to uncommon, not common to common.
To the OP, there is another way of getting some mats in a pinch. Research will decompose items and get you some of its constituent materials, but obviously for long term mat requirements, best way is to just head out and gather.

Yep, my bad. Only C->Unc. I got home and cked to my dismay. It pays to farm as much as possible.

Archived Post

What is the point of needing the low level components if I have to farm them with an alt? I should be able to collect or convert to get them. It is sad when the lowest level component there is, is required but hard to get at higher levels. Unless I am missing something here, please enlighten me if I am.

Archived Post

The other option is for them to just make nodes give more than one or two materials >_> Let's see, I need like, 50 materials to make one thing. Nodes drop 1-3 materials. Some of those materials aren't even the one you need. That means I've probably need to run around stealing 50 lowbie nodes from...well, lowbies. Now, everyone is irked.

I like crafting but the material part of this system blows. As it stands now, I don't craft for anyone, even my alts, since they're more capable of crafting for themselves as they get more access to lower level equipment they can deconstruct. At max level, all but the top few recipes you have are worthless and not worth using anymore as you don't have the materials, and while you could make them for your alts, they have more access to the materials than you. So they can make it themselves. Friends and random people are on their own *wavey hand at* unless you bring me the materials, of course.