A serious discussion on artifacts

[SlobberKnocker]

I'd like to start a conversation on the quality of the artifact drops at the various bosses. My thoughts are the useful artifacts are entirely to limited in quality and actual use. I understand that some drops should be the equivalent of the booby prize but it seems that the useful arties vs the useless ones is seriously skewed towards useless.

keep in mind I'm not arguing for an increase in the drop rate, just that I think the quality can be improved some.

for instance lets take a look at the Helm of Vengence, a piece that has the potential to be a really nice drop but is borked by the composition of its makeup;

Helm of Vengeance
Weight: 5 Stones
Requires: High Seas
Mana Regeneration 3
Reflect Physical Damage 30%
Hit Chance Increase 7%
Damage Increase 10%
Lower Mana Cost 8%
Physical Resist 11%
Fire Resist 10%
Cold Resist 14%
Poison Resist 7%
Energy Resist 8%
Strength Requirement 55
Durability: 255 / 255

here u have a piece with the potential to be a winner amongst both classes of players i.e. pvp and pvm but the under capping of the HCI make it virtually useless. A 15 hci bump on this piece would make it much more highly sought after and as a result have more participation in doing that boss instance.

I can pull up quite a few items that wind up serving as nothing more than turn in points.

I think a serious look at revamping some of these artifacts would bring more life into some of these dungeons, i.e. doom etc.

discuss

 

[Vexxed]

Well... just remember that "ODD" values on arty usually have a sneaky combination of other stuff that still makes them valid. Off the top of my head 1 20 HCI shame jewel + 15% HCI Imbued +7%Helm + 3% HCI cloak= 45% Ganted the 3% Cloak isn't something I'd normally want to use but maybe. It's a mix and match game to the extreme. I personally just so a "Search" which often brings up old arty's or outdated stuff from previous years that I'd forgotten about that sometimes have the weird combo of mods / intensities I need to make something work.

 

[Lady CaT]

One man's junk is another man's treasure.

 

[Quickblade]

Well... Off the top of my head 1 20 HCI shame jewel .....

or gladiator collar +10 HCI + Conjurer trinket +10 HCI.... but your right alot of combination is possible since we have a large variety of artifacts now.. this helm is actually decent and well balanced...the only thing I see that could be improved with this helm IMO ( and it could be the same with alot of artifacts) would be to make it available as bone type or orc helmet type (for the 3 passive lmc )

 

[flappy6]

easy fix is to have one random property and item can be different armor part ,maybe some old artifacts you could add a random property. exsamples would be helmet of vengeance could come in different helmet types and then take one of those properties and make it random to maybe have mage armor or defense chance,exsample for and older artifact like Inquiz gloves maybe bone gloves and add a random property like lower reg or casting focus. when you make the random property on them it makes it more fun when hunting so you dont get the same item. you wouldnt even need to revamp the whole dungeons just revamp the items-exsample would be doom,t-maps,s.o.s, so mant things it would work for

 

[flappy6]

even the weapons random would be awsome ,those old doom artifacts probally could add 2 properties to them and they wouldnt be overpowered, bonecrusher...really? it has 3 properties lol its been worthless since it came out but if it was random (club or tetsubo) and add 2 random properties (10 splint,35 harm,hit phy area,honned?,
5% earthquake) then maybe you could call it a BONECRUSHER

 

[flappy6]

how about those stupid green pats everyone has like 10 pairs of from fishing? maybe some one would like to have a pair thats ninja pants or a Lady would like a leather skirt,then take one property thats already on those and make it random with diff stuff ,for kicks we could use casting focus 4% as the random slot, so instead you could get them with maybe 5+ fishing bonus,or 5+mystic, fast cast recovery 1, ........ just would be fun

 

[flappy6]

the Horselord bow (yumi) make both slayers random, fix that luck (because you could put 900 luck on it and thats not going to make much diff) and add random property swingspeed,fireball,mana leech......

 

[flappy6]

Ring of the Elements! maybe make to if you have it on elementals wont attack you!

 

[flappy6]

you could just make them exceptional ,imbuable and enhancable but then no one would go to the dungeons they would just use the old crap still laying around

 

[Merus]

Existing artifacts should be made imbuable subject to an overcapacity +100 imbuing weight for its item type and still subject to the 5 mod limit. So an artifact ring could go to 600 weight 5 mod cap. Since a lot of arties have 5 mods already it would allow you to increase some of what is already there, while arties with only a couple properties could be customize.

With all the reforging and upgraded loot out there I really can't see this making any arti overpowered.

 

[Winter]

Don't forget the set pieces - set pieces should be imbuable, with 600 weighting.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Surely on this piece any hci is a bonus? This is a property not normally found on headgear, the more usual source being jewellery or weapons.

 

[flappy6]

dont really need the 5 item property cap if the weight is capped ,i only say that because alot of older artifacts have 5 or 6 properties but they are low weight, like some of the resist they might add +2 to the base but that would count as a property. but i would take anything

 

[flappy6]

making all the artifacts imbuable is the easy way, redoing the artifacts i dont think would be that bad they could add properties on things that we cant imbue, revamping the dungeons one by one takes years ........

 

[SlobberKnocker]

I never for the life of me understood why they took away imbuing the djinni's ring.

 

[flappy6]

the old ones you can still imbue,pre-patch i have 1 or 2,ive been using 1 on a character but im about to swith him up

 

[flappy6]

just like the pre-patch resiliant bracer you can still imbue so it has an extra 15 resist spell (+30 total)

 

[flappy6]

there are also sticher mitten's pre-patch that have more open weight on them , the newer ones i think you can imbue but not much free weight, another artifact you can imbue is venom

 

[CovenantX]

I never for the life of me understood why they took away imbuing the djinni's ring.

Me either, it gave life to the less useful artifacts/replicas, Also it's not like they were overpowered because they were imbue-able, they were still subject to the imbuing cap of 450, 500, & now 550 (2 handed melee weapons) since they were Non-exceptional.

I also think all artifacts should be enhanceable as well as imbue-able if the items property-count/weight permits.

 

[flappy6]

oh ya and the craftable artifact bows can be imbued,some that are pre-patch have more open weith than newer ones

 

[UO-OU]

Existing artifacts should be made imbuable subject to an overcapacity +100 imbuing weight for its item type and still subject to the 5 mod limit. So an artifact ring could go to 600 weight 5 mod cap. Since a lot of arties have 5 mods already it would allow you to increase some of what is already there, while arties with only a couple properties could be customize.

With all the reforging and upgraded loot out there I really can't see this making any arti overpowered.

There's a couple ways to tackle this:

1. Make Artifacts and Replicas Imbuable
Like Merus said above, make artifacts imbuable again (yes, they were imbuable at one point) with increased cap weight. Also, replicas should also be put in this list as well. Some replicas are worthless (Gauntlets of Anger).

2. Blackthorn style turn-ins
Keep the artifacts as is in Doom and no changes to the drop chance. Have a turn section like Blackthorn artifacts but the more desirable Doom arties have a higher point value in turn in (ie. Orny 25 turn-in pts vs. Bonecrusher 5pts). The points will be redeemed for Greater Doom artifacts. For example:

Holy Knight Breastplate:
Current:
HP Inc 10
Reflect Phys 15%
35/3/2/3/2

New Holy Knight Breastplate:
HP Inc 10
Stam Inc 10
HCI 10%
DCI 15%
Chivalry +20
30/10/10/10/10

Something of that nature. There are a few doom artifacts that were upgraded in the Covetous Artifacts roll out, so those don't need to be upgraded. The current system is in place and implementation shouldn't be as difficult. Just assigning turn-in point values to the existing Doom artis and making upgraded Doom artifacts. The only drawback to this method is that players can't customize the artifact unless they add suggestion #1 (above).

 

[Warpig Inc]

Templates all have theese desired powers that make the template work faster, better and stronger. All theese powers are stacked to reach a cap. Thinking one should be able to reach theese caps, each and every one of them. Thats just the modern weak and spoiled mindset of humans today. Want everything, and even after stand there with hands out for more.

We have skills and they have a cap and that is limited to 720 total points. The mods of gear should all have as point value with their caps. And the total of theese caps should have a total limit like skills do. This would solve the problem of them having to break there back trying to come out with bigger better gear. Or bigger more challenging creatures. Fights between players no longer coming down to just mashing a combo of hotkeys FTW.

Artifacts need to be left low in mods. What mods they have might be those not found in a runic tool. And Imbuing to a players needs to be the frosting on the cake. End the cookie cutter suits with all the must have and a few less then honest crafted pieces. Put more power back in the skills a character holds and not what gear they wear.

 

[flappy6]

sorry to inform you but since AOS gear is apart of the game,the naked pvper has been gone from UO

 

[flappy6]

no one is asking to break caps either ,i dont use crafted armor now.... i use shame loot because its way over caps and cheaper than 400 barbed kits that a scripter made,and and last time i checked imbue enhance would need skill to do it

 

[flappy6]

stick that in your bowl of sour grapes

 

[flappy6]

;o)

 

[cazador]

One man's junk is another man's treasure.

By another mans treasure do u mean the little man hiding inside the public
Trash in luna? Just curious..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I've always been divided on this.

On the one hand it'd be nice if some of these awesomely-named artifacts were more useful, for a lot of reasons. More people in Doom could be fun (granted they may have to boost the bosses there, at minimum by Paragon-ing up some). Variety and options are always good. And, for the love of God, how did the Holy Knight ever get famous enough to have an item named after him if his breastplate sucked that bad?

On the other hand it's always been the case not all artifacts are equally useful and some are useless. Frostbringer, Holy Knight's Breastplate, and Bonecrusher have never been anything other than a niche item -- something you use if it's somehow particularly useful to you, but not something that ever was in wide use or useful to a general audience.

And that isn't necessarily bad. It's a way of at the same time giving a reward and diminishing the spawn of stuff that people actually want. Especially note that stuff is worth turn-in points now.

As someone else also suggested, not everyone agrees on the uselessness of everything. Example: I've felt for some time now that the Heart of the Lion is a greatly-underrated piece that, together with the right Imbued items and other Artifacts, does really well. I had a nice suit built around it and the Helm of Vengeance for a good while, and the suit only changed because the character changed RP-wise.

-Galen's player

 

[Smoot]

I understand that some drops should be the equivalent of the booby prize but it seems that the useful arties vs the useless ones is seriously skewed towards useless.

Agreed. this is perhaps the single area where less boobies would be a good thing. seriously tho, yeah the majority of artifacts are strange combos. id say two thirds are worthless.

 

[Warpig Inc]

There is no greater agruement that artifacts need to be imbue friendly. If it wasn't for their point value once they hit the trash can, many artifacts wouldn't be worth even taking home to unravel. With the huge dye choices artifacts don't even get to become home deco not being unique colored.

 

[SlobberKnocker]

listen. I have read the replies here and respect the cases being made. My main goal of staring this thread is too see how we get more participation in some of the older dungeons as well as how to tie in artifacts to crafting.

warpigs point above is spot on imho.

 

[Picus at the office]

I never had any luck in doom but in the last few years before I stopped playing I bought 90% of the doom items for less than 30K each just to have them all. It would do a world of good to remove the imbuing block at the very least.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

1) Helm of Vengeance is still a pretty damn useful piece on niche templates with its 30 rpd. Pvp or Pvm
2) No reason in the world that any item or class of items in the game should have to stay valuable or relevant. It's how things have always been in game and it kinda makes sense if you care to compare the game to rl (some do, some don't but it is a factor)

Imo people aren't going to most old dungeons(or any old spots)because of the ADD nature of most gamers. Everyone just wants new and shiny. Its ridiculous if you ask me but it is the way things are.
Today is a perfect example. The huge majority of players that log in are going to spend enormous amounts of time and energy on the mostly worthless new Easter pixelcrack just because it is new and shiny. Seriously?

 

[SlobberKnocker]

im not arguing against your points. I understand the new and shiney. however when you have large areas of the map that are not ventured into I think a revamp of the arties when combined with crafting dust off some of the older areas of the game.

I also believe that towns should be re configured so that there's more life in them but that's another thread. it remains laughable that Britain is virtually a ghost town outside of getting a focus at wbb.