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Arcane Focus & Writings Update

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  • minotaur2857minotaur2857 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,141 Arc User

    Got 6 today (2 from daily and 4 from digs) and 5 yesterday (2 from daily 3 from digs.) 20 digs today and 18 yesterday. So yeah, if you spend your time grinding digs it will move things along faster. The change is good as far as I can tell.

    Really ? I'm 2 AF out of 49 digs now since the change and plenty of people are reporting in chat that they've done 20-30 digs without a single one, it's more than 20 since my last one.

    New drop rate is a complete joke. I've had doubts about the RNG in this game (I KNOW from extensive research as somebody trained in statistics that the stated rates for upgrades of enchantments are extremely unlikely to be true) and wondering if particular circumstances are causing the same RNG seed to be generated again.
  • adinosiiadinosii Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,294 Arc User


    New drop rate is a complete joke.

    I consider the new system a massive improvement over the old one. You are now basically guaranteed 19 Arcane Focus per week, with a chance to get a few more via the dig sites. Previously it was unpredictable when you would get enough to restore the weapons, but now there is a definite upper limit.

    As for the drop rate, well...it is not high - I have gotten 3 in the last 25 dig sites (spread over 3 days), but it is a welcome addition - I am not in a desperate hurry to get my weapons anyhow, so I have no need for serious farming.
    Hoping for improvements...
  • darthpotaterdarthpotater Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,259 Arc User
    After 3 days with 2 characters doing 9 dig sites with each, total of 54 dig sites -> 1 Arcane Focus

    Every time you "improve" something you make worse than it was. Is nice to have AF in the daily task but now you destroyed the chance in dig sites -> poor player experience.

    Also, make arcane focus bound to account, or unbound, the world will be still there if you dont make everything bound.

    And please give us more PROFESSION slots, why we get a usefull items tab if everything go to profession resources or the inventory? I have only 7 slots used in the new tab
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  • minotaur2857minotaur2857 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,141 Arc User
    adinosii said:


    New drop rate is a complete joke.

    I consider the new system a massive improvement over the old one. You are now basically guaranteed 19 Arcane Focus per week, with a chance to get a few more via the dig sites. Previously it was unpredictable when you would get enough to restore the weapons, but now there is a definite upper limit.

    As for the drop rate, well...it is not high - I have gotten 3 in the last 25 dig sites (spread over 3 days), but it is a welcome addition - I am not in a desperate hurry to get my weapons anyhow, so I have no need for serious farming.
    No, you WOULD get 21/week eventually, now you get 19-20. I'm trying to get enough so I can take my new weapons 52-60 in 2xRP, and one of them will not have enough by then the way it's going as that one has none from dig sites having done more than my other characters.
  • therealprotextherealprotex Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 526 Arc User

    No, you WOULD get 21/week eventually, now you get 19-20. I'm trying to get enough so I can take my new weapons 52-60 in 2xRP, and one of them will not have enough by then the way it's going as that one has none from dig sites having done more than my other characters.

    Wrong. If you claim that you'd get 21/week EVENTUALLY with the old system, then you get 65 AF/week EVENTUALLY with the new system. Both "eventuallys" require non-stop farming, but it is not impossible.

    Keep in mind that there were many, many complaints that the cap of 3/day was NOT reached by many players. Partly due to not praying enough to RNGesus, partly because of the personal cooldown and playtimes. So I am pretty sure that both, the average casual player and the average hardcore grinding type of player both benefit from the change. The casual player gets 19 AF/week guaranteed (a guessed plus of at least 5/week) and the hardcore grinder can even get all 65 AF in a single week, if he's focused (pun intended) enough.
  • beckylunaticbeckylunatic Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 14,231 Arc User

    BUT... I noticed something odd: while I have the ostaram quest up [either unfinished or finished and ready to talk to ostaram] I can't get any AF from dig sites. After I talk to him and finish the quest, I always get 2-3 AF from dig sites... someone also noticed that or is just RNG trolling me?

    I haven't been running much by way of extra digs to check, but it would be interesting to get some more data.

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  • minotaur2857minotaur2857 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,141 Arc User
    edited March 2017

    No, you WOULD get 21/week eventually, now you get 19-20. I'm trying to get enough so I can take my new weapons 52-60 in 2xRP, and one of them will not have enough by then the way it's going as that one has none from dig sites having done more than my other characters.

    Wrong. If you claim that you'd get 21/week EVENTUALLY with the old system, then you get 65 AF/week EVENTUALLY with the new system. Both "eventuallys" require non-stop farming, but it is not impossible.

    Keep in mind that there were many, many complaints that the cap of 3/day was NOT reached by many players. Partly due to not praying enough to RNGesus, partly because of the personal cooldown and playtimes. So I am pretty sure that both, the average casual player and the average hardcore grinding type of player both benefit from the change. The casual player gets 19 AF/week guaranteed (a guessed plus of at least 5/week) and the hardcore grinder can even get all 65 AF in a single week, if he's focused (pun intended) enough.
    I am now grinding MORE than I did before and getting LESS AF. Now up to 2 AF from 53 digs since I started logging after the patch (after I'd already got none from several attempts), not seen one for about 30.

    I was getting my 3/day off about 4-6 digs per character, 90%+ of them coming from the second looting.

    I have basically given up on doing much more than one dig per character per day other than the one character that started later than the others where the 19/week won't quite be enough to get the weapons during 2xRP. That character has got something like 0/35.

    I could play round the clock and not get the third AF on all my chars, previously if I played for about 4-6 hours sometimes less I could pretty much guarantee 3/day.

  • aaramis75aaramis75 Member Posts: 348 Arc User
    ^^ Yep, I now spend about 30min per character in River District.
    Crypt run for the daily (Departed), then hand in magic at a ritual site until I finish the daily. Very quick and easy.

    On the down side, it's going to take me longer to get the focii than pre-patch. But on the up side, I can take my alt theough River and know that in a month they'll both have their mod11 weapons.
  • nitocris83nitocris83 Member, Cryptic Developer, Administrator Posts: 4,495 Cryptic Developer
    Thank you everyone for your feedback! There is definitely a variance between those who view it favorably and those who don't but I'll be reporting back to the team with the full spectrum of feedback.
  • therealprotextherealprotex Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 526 Arc User

    I am now grinding MORE than I did before and getting LESS AF. Now up to 2 AF from 53 digs since I started logging after the patch (after I'd already got none from several attempts), not seen one for about 30.

    I was getting my 3/day off about 4-6 digs per character, 90%+ of them coming from the second looting.

    I have basically given up on doing much more than one dig per character per day other than the one character that started later than the others where the 19/week won't quite be enough to get the weapons during 2xRP. That character has got something like 0/35.

    I could play round the clock and not get the third AF on all my chars, previously if I played for about 4-6 hours sometimes less I could pretty much guarantee 3/day.

    Your argument is based on an exploit and you still complain...? Your comparison of "before" and "now" is invalid. It would be valid if you compared the AF gain without exploiting (aka "the second looting"). Without exploiting - I did that for a while before I was told that the exploit exists and how it works - I often had to grind two full digsite rounds before I got the cap. I still am 100% convinced that the average non-exploiting player, regardless of his/her play style, benefits from this change and I still welcome it.
  • dupeksdupeks Member Posts: 1,789 Arc User

    Thank you everyone for your feedback! There is definitely a variance between those who view it favorably and those who don't but I'll be reporting back to the team with the full spectrum of feedback.

    Thanks for the update.

    I'd to request again a statement on some of the key questions concertning the AF mechanics. Specifically:
    1. Is there a daily or weekly cap on AF gain? If yes, what is the cap and does the cap reset at a standard time globally, or is it an individual timer based on when the player acquired AF last?
    2. Was the intent to increase or decrease the AF drop rate from dig sites with the new changes?
    3. What was the intent of adjusting the AF drop rate from dig sites? Are dig sites meant to be an optional way to accelerate the path towards Ascended Weapons or are they now not intended to be a significant source of AF?
    To add to what others have seen: my AF grinding results have been mixed. I'm definitely getting fewer AF doing my handful of dig sites per day. But I'm also getting the 2 guaranteed, so it's more or less a wash. Some days I get 0 extra, other days 1, other days 2 so on average I'm earning it at a similar rate as I did before, with a similar time investment.

    For me, the change is welcome because I like the predictable payout of the daily quest and it also allows you to do a short day with little extra grinding and still get the 2 guaranteed.

    That said, I'm kind of disappointed that the drop rate in the dig sites appears to be reduced (again, would be nice to get an official statement of intent). It makes them feel a lot less rewarding and the long droughts when you're unlucky are especially frustrating. If the goal was to adjust the Ascended Weapons grind back to be more accessible (after the "over-correction"), it wasn't necessary to reduce the drop rate this way. Things would have been fine if the dig site rate was not adjusted at all, and the guaranteed 2/5 were added to the daily/weekly.

    That said, the slow accumulation added to the daily / weekly rewards has now made it sensible to bring alts into RD, even if you never intend to grind out dig sites.
  • beckylunaticbeckylunatic Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 14,231 Arc User
    I find it very interesting that anecdotally, the unintended second looting tended to produce more focus drops than the first looting, placing players using that bug while also grinding dig sites for hours potentially even farther ahead than anyone who was only looting once.

    It seems vaguely like a Monty Hall problem. In theory, each time you looted the chest you had the same odds of (probably not) getting a focus, but if the RNG has already not given you a focus, it is possible that something in the code made it more likely to give you a success immediately following your failure. Kind of moot now, at any rate.
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  • ninurta#5639 ninurta Member Posts: 11 Arc User
    Finally restored my Aboleth set today so I don't have to worry about Arcanic Focus anymore. The process wasn't complete torture but I wouldn't want to do it again.
  • silverkeltsilverkelt Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,235 Arc User
    Im still think writings are NOT dropping enough.. with doing 4-5 hes in a row getting zero..

    sure you get a guaranteed one.. but Im just wondering what the drop rate is supposed to be on hes.. the patch notes said it was increased.. but Im sure the heck not seeing a increase of writings.
  • sangrinesangrine Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 575 Arc User
    I like the update to arcane focus. I prefer doing HE's instead of dig sites.
    Previously, I would get 0-2 arcane focus per day per character.
    Now, I get 19 per week. Thank you Cryptic.
  • silverkeltsilverkelt Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,235 Arc User
    ok.. writings are not dropping enough.. you have the same issue as previous with focus... i might get a couple random.. you also dont get enough points for donating..

    well.. actually , you would get enough.. IF in fact the # was sort of reasonable.. 60 and 45? who came up with those #s..

    They shouldve be halved and even then, most people will end up buying a majority of them..

    I dont believe you when you say you increased them from HEs.. I simply do not see this to bearing out.

    I just farmed for a fair bit, around 2 hours and went from 14 writings to 16.. woop?

    Increase drop rate more.. or cut the need in half.


  • adinosiiadinosii Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,294 Arc User
    Writings are fine....I got up to 10 per day, just by upgrading guard posts and doing the "Secure the District" task. I don't see the issue.

    As for the Arcanic Focus - before the change I was getting 2-3 per day...since then I have been getting 6-7, and I just got enough to restore my first weapon set. I may get a second set for a different purpose, but I'm in no hurry to get that.

    As far as I am concerned, things are just fine.
    Hoping for improvements...
  • dupeksdupeks Member Posts: 1,789 Arc User
    adinosii said:

    Writings are fine....I got up to 10 per day, just by upgrading guard posts and doing the "Secure the District" task. I don't see the issue.

    As for the Arcanic Focus - before the change I was getting 2-3 per day...since then I have been getting 6-7, and I just got enough to restore my first weapon set. I may get a second set for a different purpose, but I'm in no hurry to get that.

    As far as I am concerned, things are just fine.

    It would be helpful to know how much time you are spending running dig sites / how many dig sites you visit.

    I'm not making a judgement call as to whether the drop rate is correct now or not, but I'm curious to see how much effort it takes you to get to the aforementioned 6-7 AF. I spent 2 hrs (18 digs) running the first day after changes and wound up with 2 drops (+2 from daily quest). Some days I get 1 AF right away, but not most days.

    The reality for me is that nowadays I need to spend about the same amount of time to get about the same amount of total AF as before. Is that OK? I don't know. I was kind of hoping based on the statements from the devs that they were trying to make the Ascended Weapons a bit more accessible (after "over-correcting" based on preview feedback). The change they implemented removes some of the RNG, but doesn't necessarily provide for a reasonable (in my opinion) option of accelerating the gain.

    I'm curious to see if the intent was really to make the weapons more accessible, or just less random to smooth out those really terrible RNG dry spells.
  • nnrudsernnrudser Member Posts: 14 Arc User
    Wow. They fix it and you people still complain. Stop trying to grind Mod 11 as fast as you can, and just play the game.
  • bbrightstonebbrightstone Member Posts: 24 Arc User
    edited March 2017
    Delete
  • adinosiiadinosii Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,294 Arc User
    edited March 2017
    dupeks said:

    It would be helpful to know how much time you are spending running dig sites / how many dig sites you visit.

    On the average I would get one from each round of 9 dig sites. Yesterday, I got one in the morning (on the second dig site I visited. In the afternoon, I did 12 digsites with no AF at all, so I took a break, then at 11 PM I did another round, and got the last two I needed form the first 4 digsites I went to. It kind-of feels like the RNG is a bit streaky or if there is some timer involved,

    Having now restored my primary weapon, I plan to take it slower - only visit 4-5 dig sites per day for the daily quest - I figure I will eventually get enough AF To restore a second weapon set I want for a different purpose, but this is now a low-priority issue for me.

    As I said, I am happy with the change...with 3/day I would not have gotten the weapons until next weekend, so for me this was an improvement.

    The way I see it the purpose of the change was to reduce the randomness, and with 19/week guaranteed, where is now at least an upper limit on how long it will take to get the weapons.

    As far as I am concerned the case is closed.
    Hoping for improvements...
  • minotaur2857minotaur2857 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,141 Arc User

    I am now grinding MORE than I did before and getting LESS AF. Now up to 2 AF from 53 digs since I started logging after the patch (after I'd already got none from several attempts), not seen one for about 30.

    I was getting my 3/day off about 4-6 digs per character, 90%+ of them coming from the second looting.

    I have basically given up on doing much more than one dig per character per day other than the one character that started later than the others where the 19/week won't quite be enough to get the weapons during 2xRP. That character has got something like 0/35.

    I could play round the clock and not get the third AF on all my chars, previously if I played for about 4-6 hours sometimes less I could pretty much guarantee 3/day.

    Your argument is based on an exploit and you still complain...? Your comparison of "before" and "now" is invalid. It would be valid if you compared the AF gain without exploiting (aka "the second looting"). Without exploiting - I did that for a while before I was told that the exploit exists and how it works - I often had to grind two full digsite rounds before I got the cap. I still am 100% convinced that the average non-exploiting player, regardless of his/her play style, benefits from this change and I still welcome it.
    Without the double looting giving vaguely reasonable drop rates, they'd have had to fix it much faster as everybody would have been up in arms. I actually didn't use it for quite a while as I don't like that sort of thing, but then I realised it was going to be close to Christmas before I got my weapons.
  • dheffernandheffernan Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 216 Arc User
    nnrudser said:

    Wow. They fix it and you people still complain. Stop trying to grind Mod 11 as fast as you can, and just play the game.

    The problem is, as far as I can tell, nothing has been "fixed", unless we're using that word in the veterinarian sense. I haven't seen an AF drop from a dig site in days.

    As for "trying to grind M11 as fast as possible", I've got 11 characters. It would be nice if I could reasonably expect to hang the new weapons on more than one of them. Right now I can't.
    @Venture-1 @Venture from City of Heroes if you remember that far back. Yes, *that* Venture. Yes, I probably trashed your MA arc. For me it was Tuesday.
  • spideymtspideymt Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 710 Arc User
    No dungoen needed..only time for new weapons. Is this new? I dont think so.

  • silverkeltsilverkelt Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,235 Arc User
    Writings ARE not fine.. you can farm reasonable 2-3 a day.. for a couple hours of game play.. you need 105.. the people who keep posting they are "fine" just want to use it as a excuse to keep pricing high so they can farm and sell them.

    Its is not a reasonable grind level.. most poeple have like 10-15 after a couple weeks.

    AGAIN you need 105..

    they should be added to the daily and weekly like anything else.. the only reasonable way of obtaining them is to buy them.

    EVEN if you add 1 to daily and 2 to weekly PEOPLE will still have to buy them.. they wouldn't be so outrages as it s now.

    While everyone FOCUSED on the rng factor of focus.. writings either should be upped greated on HEs (it appears tob e capped on hes.. after getting 2-3 yesterday.. i got zero the rest of the time (did 20 hes in 24 hour period)

    AGAIN the HAMSTER company CANT COME out and explain to us how you get them.. sure you get 1.. ONE!!! doing security.. reasonable you can do a couple of those a day.. that is over 50 days of grinding for them.

    THIS doesnt seem reasonable to me at all..

    WRITINGS should match focus in drops.. so it takes approx 30 days total to get them.

    that would mean right now you would have to do 3.5 securities a day.. thats a damn lot of reclaim.. IN ADDITION with the removal of double loot we have alot less of that to give as well.

    Simply put the adjustments levels is not right.. we are simply not getting the 3.5 writings a day.

    I would be ok if WE could just farm hes to make up the difference.. but we cant.. because again, there appears to be some sort of cap on writings on hes or something.. you get 2-3 or 4 and your stuck ..

    I hate this vagaries of this mod.. not KNOWING caps or some such..

    WHY cant a effing dev get on here and explain to us about writings and focus and put it all to rest.

    10.. god.. 10 securities in one day? that is alot of reclaim.. I cant see how many could farm this much like that.

    I do not believe AT all this was done right.. someone is a moron who went way overboard on requirements after some special cupcakes got upset..

    Request 1.. explain caps if ANY on anything left.. and remove them or server reset them or tell us what they are.
    Request 2... add 1 writing a day to daily and maybe 2 to weekly to help offset some of this.

    Also... to me, alot of poeple are having this issue like I am.. i have like 15 writings on most of the toons im grinding this mod out with, I thought I could go and get like ten from doing hes yesterday.. but you cant.. it wont let you.. so that isnt a option.
  • therealprotextherealprotex Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 526 Arc User

    Without the double looting giving vaguely reasonable drop rates, they'd have had to fix it much faster as everybody would have been up in arms. I actually didn't use it for quite a while as I don't like that sort of thing, but then I realised it was going to be close to Christmas before I got my weapons.

    And now you have - legally! - all AF you need in less than 5 weeks (for one set), even without doing a single digsite. Huge benefit, I'd say.
  • therealprotextherealprotex Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 526 Arc User
    edited March 2017

    I would be ok if WE could just farm hes to make up the difference.. but we cant.. because again, there appears to be some sort of cap on writings on hes or something.. you get 2-3 or 4 and your stuck ..

    I just want to reply to this part of your post as I can tell you for sure that although there might be a cap, it is not 2, 3 or 4. On sunday evening and monday morning I was farming HEs like mad, because I needed one last EoE to unlock the weekly (and I wanted it before the new week started). As much as I tried, I did not get that last EoE from the HEs, but I got massive writings. At least 12 pieces one sunday evening and another 5 or 6 on monday morning. I do not say that the drop rate is implemented correctly and that you just got bad luck, I am just saying that from my point of view there is no such low cap on writings.

    Edit: I was that lucky with one of my two chars (that do RD) only. The other has similar drop rates as you as it seems.
  • mysteriasdrassamysteriasdrassa Member Posts: 299 Arc User
    Personally.. I think a lot of the problem is many of the complainers still want the new shiney "yesterday" and seem to think that this new shiney should be handed to them on a silver platter. That said,, I see no more real issues with how you get these new shineys. The devs said they were going to make the new weapons more accessible. .. not just hand them over. The new implementation gives you a garaunteed time in which you get them,, even for the most casual player,, with the possible chance of doing it a bit faster if you grind your HAMSTER off if your that kind of player. I see this as a vast improvement on accessibility compared to the SOMI set and even the twisted and elemental sets.
    As for the arcane writings.. those are so easy to get its pitiful... you don't have to even do anything really... just run past a dig site and upgrade them if they need it... you get 5 security points for each upgrade.. donating to the ship give even more,, when the bar hits 100, run the security task and , boom, arcane writing... add to those all the random ones you pick up out of chests etc and they add up pretty fast
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