[Blacksmithing] Crafting Elemental Weapons

[Bort of Atlantic]

I've tried to craft 100% elemental weapons with some success (I think maybe 5 total out of 60 dull copper runics, and that 5 includes those I enhanced afterwards), but I'm curious -- will I have better chances if I start with shadow iron/agapite/bronze ingots for example? I tried iron, bronze, and shadow ingots, and while you can choose what to enhance with if you use iron, I found I crafted more elemental weapons (anything without physical damage or where physical wasn't highest) when using ingots that already adjusted damage type. I also sifted through what I made with iron ingots to see if phys was 60% and fire was at 40% for example, where the weapon still looks iron, but that almost never happened (this could have explained why I saw more elemental weapons when using shadow/bronze as the material would've bumped the elemental % higher than the phys %).

The interesting part, though, was the elemental damage for shadow/bronze was inconsistent with the material. Bronze didn't mean fire was higher than the other elements and neither did it mean 40% fire damage was guaranteed. I still got a fair share of cold, poison, and energy-based weapons when crafting with bronze, and the same held true of shadow iron.

I believe I read WAY back when enhancing was first implemented that using the elemental-damage-type ingots gave a greater chance at a change of damage type but can't confirm. Does anyone have analysis or can anyone help verify the way to go here? The goal is 100% cold and fire at the moment.

 

[silent]

Stick with iron. I've burned many many DC hammers I've tried both ways and had way too many weapons that looked pretty when using colored ingots but had no hope of being enhanced to 100 since non-iron ingots were already used. 100% cold and fire were the easiest for me to make followed by energy then the elusive poison.

 

[Percivalgoh]

If you are looking only for one particular type of damage (not poison) then using an ingot type that gives that particular weapon damage will increase your chances of getting 100% of that particular damage type but decrease it for other types (not for poison). The reason it will do that is that you will lose many weapons enhancing them so in cases where the runic would have resulted in needing enhancing, then the enhancing is allready done with no loss of weapons due to enhancing. I have been known to be wrong about these things so.......

 

[Basara]

Well, you are mostly right, but as pointed out, the elemental damage from the runic is applied BEFORE the material type, so crafting with the colored ingots only guarantees you won't be enhancing (which could be good, but usually results in some weapons you COULD have enhanced to 100% in one had they been iron, getting recycled).

So, theoretically (and I've personally done it at least once in 8 years) you can make a 100% cold weapon with a runic, even if you crafted it with Bronze or Verite.

Most enhancements of weapons for color succeed (unlike enhancements to change resists on armor), so you really are better off using iron, then seeing which weapons might be enhanceable with metals to be 100% fire, cold or energy.