Hephaestus - and Ephemeral - an understanding (try)

[Ron Silverbeard]

Taken from uoguide.com:

Hephaestus is a Covetous Artifact shield that can be obtained from Cora the Sorceress. Ephemeral versions of this shield (comes with 250 durability, brittle and loses one point of its maximum durability every six minutes of active fighting) can also be obtained for 2000 reward points from Vela the Sorceress in Cove. Both human and gargoyle versions are available as a Heater Shield and a Large Plate Shield, having the same properties.

Ephemeral is an item property found on Covetous Void Pool reward artifacts. Items with this property lose one point of their maximum durability every six minutes when the item is used while attacking a creature. In other words, players can use these items for a total of 25 hours (6 minutes x 250 maximum durability) while actively fighting against a creature and not just simply being in war mode or the target of aggression. As noted by Phoenix, "the intent is for ephemerals to last for 25 hours of actual fighting time without having to worry about keeping them repaired". Note that the items with this property cannot be fortified and so can never have their maximum durability increased.

Questions (and answers):

- Anyone got one yet and tried it out?
- On what char class?
- If it happens to be a TAMER/MAGE:
- Will it only lose Dura if you got HIT or HIT a critter with spells?
- If you just stand there - let your Pet hit the critters, never get hit, will it still lose Dura?

- Durability Questions
- Say its 250/250 - you fight for 1 Hour - will it end up to be than 240/240 or 240/250 which means you could repair it at least back up to 250? Its just brittle - but its repairable - did anyone try that yet?

- Can it be blessed and dyed?

What happens, if the shield gets down to 0/0 - will it POOF or can u use it as deco (if you try to equip it will just say: Cannot be ....blah...)

I dont want to discuss if its OF ANY USE because of the Ephemeral Tag - i just want to discuss the possibilities you still have and how you can keep it as long as possible on your char before it goes poof (maybe)

Yes, i am going to collect all that Arties anyway but it would be nice to know if you can at least use that shield - because its the only thing thats usefull and you never know if there wont be a chance to get rid of Eph Tag someday (maybe you buy it from Origin Store LOL)

Txs

 

[Sauteed Onion]

Hmm, I did a little void pool earlier today, and while it was a nice little romp that lasted a bit, I don't believe doing it for the amount of time necessary to get even 1 artifact will be something I intend on doing. The monsters drop nothing, large groups of people that seem mentally dis-functional, and inability to keep said items after 25 hours of "use" just adds up to NOTHING and then less. Like taking a character there, dealing with all that jibblinish, possibly dying and loosing insurance money, hoping you get a rez in the event you die, maybe making a friend with another dead person and lol'ing together about something on t.v., getting rezzed and dying instantly cause things auto target you, then a Cheese Danish that escaped from Mythic's snack room invad.. I mean forget that part.

Anyhow, time sink is fine, it is basically what defines the genre as a whole MMORPG's that is. Spending hours getting points for items that just detoriate, I scoff at thee!

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

OU FAIL!

Dont want to discuss if its crap or not, want to share thought about the useage and possibilities...

B-)

 

[G.v.P]

I'd help out, but all that yellow text. Sorry, I tried my best, lawl.

I'm pretty sure I've already written examples of how ephemeral is useful, though.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

I will let you know about my experiments with the ahield as i have it...you lazy old hags you...

 

[Cetric]

The wave pool thing was pretty fun, reminds me of the endless waves of monsters on some other games (Gears of war?). I found myself having more fun seeing how far along we got than actually how many points i got for rewards.

 

[Nimuaq]

Let me quote your post so that it can be read while using light themes:

Taken from uoguide.com:

Hephaestus is a Covetous Artifact shield that can be obtained from Cora the Sorceress. Ephemeral versions of this shield (comes with 250 durability, brittle and loses one point of its maximum durability every six minutes of active fighting) can also be obtained for 2000 reward points from Vela the Sorceress in Cove. Both human and gargoyle versions are available as a Heater Shield and a Large Plate Shield, having the same properties.

Ephemeral is an item property found on Covetous Void Pool reward artifacts. Items with this property lose one point of their maximum durability every six minutes when the item is used while attacking a creature. In other words, players can use these items for a total of 25 hours (6 minutes x 250 maximum durability) while actively fighting against a creature and not just simply being in war mode or the target of aggression. As noted by Phoenix, "the intent is for ephemerals to last for 25 hours of actual fighting time without having to worry about keeping them repaired". Note that the items with this property cannot be fortified and so can never have their maximum durability increased.

Questions (and answers):

- Anyone got one yet and tried it out?

- On what char class?

- If it happens to be a TAMER/MAGE:

- Will it only lose Dura if you got HIT or HIT a critter with spells?

- If you just stand there - let your Pet hit the critters, never get hit, will it still lose Dura?

- Durability Questions

- Say its 250/250 - you fight for 1 Hour - will it end up to be than 240/240 or 240/250 which means you could repair it at least back up to 250? Its just brittle - but its repairable - did anyone try that yet?

- Can it be blessed and dyed?

What happens, if the shield gets down to 0/0 - will it POOF or can u use it as deco (if you try to equip it will just say: Cannot be ....blah...)

I dont want to discuss if its OF ANY USE because of the Ephemeral Tag - i just want to discuss the possibilities you still have and how you can keep it as long as possible on your char before it goes poof (maybe)

Yes, i am going to collect all that Arties anyway but it would be nice to know if you can at least use that shield - because its the only thing thats usefull and you never know if there wont be a chance to get rid of Eph Tag someday (maybe you buy it from Origin Store LOL)

Txs

It should end up 240/240 so it's maximum durability together with the current durability decreases, so it can not be repaired.

 

[Cetric]

Taken from uoguide.com:

Hephaestus is a Covetous Artifact shield that can be obtained from Cora the Sorceress. Ephemeral versions of this shield (comes with 250 durability, brittle and loses one point of its maximum durability every six minutes of active fighting) can also be obtained for 2000 reward points from Vela the Sorceress in Cove. Both human and gargoyle versions are available as a Heater Shield and a Large Plate Shield, having the same properties.

Ephemeral is an item property found on Covetous Void Pool reward artifacts. Items with this property lose one point of their maximum durability every six minutes when the item is used while attacking a creature. In other words, players can use these items for a total of 25 hours (6 minutes x 250 maximum durability) while actively fighting against a creature and not just simply being in war mode or the target of aggression. As noted by Phoenix, "the intent is for ephemerals to last for 25 hours of actual fighting time without having to worry about keeping them repaired". Note that the items with this property cannot be fortified and so can never have their maximum durability increased.

Questions (and answers):

- Anyone got one yet and tried it out?
- On what char class?
- If it happens to be a TAMER/MAGE:
- Will it only lose Dura if you got HIT or HIT a critter with spells?
- If you just stand there - let your Pet hit the critters, never get hit, will it still lose Dura?

- Durability Questions
- Say its 250/250 - you fight for 1 Hour - will it end up to be than 240/240 or 240/250 which means you could repair it at least back up to 250? Its just brittle - but its repairable - did anyone try that yet?

- Can it be blessed and dyed?

What happens, if the shield gets down to 0/0 - will it POOF or can u use it as deco (if you try to equip it will just say: Cannot be ....blah...)

I dont want to discuss if its OF ANY USE because of the Ephemeral Tag - i just want to discuss the possibilities you still have and how you can keep it as long as possible on your char before it goes poof (maybe)

Yes, i am going to collect all that Arties anyway but it would be nice to know if you can at least use that shield - because its the only thing thats usefull and you never know if there wont be a chance to get rid of Eph Tag someday (maybe you buy it from Origin Store LOL)

Txs

Honestly... the Ephermal tag isn't bad, and people are making a huge deal out of it. Sure it will get worn out and need replaced, but it won't be alot. if you did 2 hours of pure fighting/usage in say a 3 hour window per day, it would take 12-13 days for it to wear down. and thats straight fighting pvm type stuff for 12-13 days straight. odds are you will not actually have it in "use" for 2 hours a day. My guess is, you would need a new one once a month or something. In the pvp world, you probably would have it in use it even less depending on how consistent and straight the fighting is.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

Honestly... the Ephermal tag isn't bad,

I think of it as auto self repair. Durability: xxx/xxx. when the number on the left hits 0, it decreases the # on the right by 1; repairs the item, then makes both Lft/Rt numbers the same.
But yeah, I'm curious to see what was defined as "actively fighting".
actual contact, whether by weapon or parry varies. Spells, area or aura, duration? Acid pools, acid slimes, and other acid based mobs
does a Miss or failed block count?

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

I play my tamer aprox 25 hours a week pure gametime....and thebshield fit verrrry well....thats why its important for me to know if it only losing dura if i get hit...or too if my pet gets hit..or my EV...because its indirect attack...we will see i try it out...txs for the current answers so far! Happy day!

 

[Cetric]

I play my tamer aprox 25 hours a week pure gametime....and thebshield fit verrrry well....thats why its important for me to know if it only losing dura if i get hit...or too if my pet gets hit..or my EV...because its indirect attack...we will see i try it out...txs for the current answers so far! Happy day!

My suggestion to you would be use the shield. Go ahead and get the ephermeral one and replace it until you can save up or get the full version.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Txs but what full version...there is no non dura loss version out there.....ok....yet

 

[G.v.P]

I will let you know about my experiments with the ahield as i have it...you lazy old hags you...

lazy and blind, don't forget that one

 

[Madrid]

Honestly... the Ephermal tag isn't bad, and people are making a huge deal out of it.

Baloney Ephemeral is ridiculous. You couldn't pay me to go down to Covetoues for any of those items yet alone tossing an Ephermeral tag on.

"You can't do this...You can't do that" is all I see with UO these days. This will wear out soon after putting x amount of game time in to acquire said item. Stick to a middle ground like we have with not being able to POF items.

"You can't place this banner because your not of high enough loyalty." It's endless the amounts of can't do's in UO and more and more introduced with each publish.

It gets old real fast for a veteran player like myself. I'm not 16 years old and have large amounts of time to put into "farming" items I may or may not desire. I would think a majority of UO subscribers are probably "older" and work 40+ hours. I'm tired of the tedious things I can't do and all the items that are set to wear out from the day 1.

Yes it's my option not to participate and essentially that's what I'm going to do...not participate which causes me to wonder why I still pay for a UO subscription when this is the type of approach that is being presented with new content that is introduced.

 

[Cetric]

Honestly lol... would you rather it be like every other mechanic in game? How many people do peerless these days for crimson cinctures? How many people do doom for ornys? Items get saturated into the market, the demand comes down some, and then people have chests full of the item. There is no longer a need to go hunting for it then. I sometimes hate pvm, but the idea behind this makes sense. The item wears out, you go get a new one or buy one if neccesary.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

So now here is my first report on HEPHAESTUS Ephemeral i managed to get my hands on today for turn in points from the Pool:

- Went down with my Pet to do the usual Wind Ele hunt
- Killed 3 Wind Eles with Heph equiped
- Checked after 6 mins and it was stil 250/250
- Checked after 15 mins and it was.....249/249
- i didnt get hit and didnt attack myselfe any of the Wind Eles
- i ordered my Pet to follow and kill
- i greater healed my Pet

Now i cant say if it was ORDERING the Pet to kill OR healing the Pet in battle - i guess its healing because its some kind of passive attack on the emeny if you help keep the agressor in your service alive....(same as losing karma if you order your pet to kill a blue NPC or neutral critter like Cu-si)

Next i will try is what happens if i stand to the pet healing with bandaids - but than the shield wouldnt make much sense anymore in my opinion since i want to use it for spellthrowing...

As i am at this, i will also try it at the pool by droping some EV's to see if the shield will lose dura to by this definatly 100% passive attack (no ordering to kill, no healing an EV)

Will let you know this weekend...

Her's a pic meanhwile

Oh yes, and by the way - NO repairing (says "is allready in full repair") - NO powdering (even there is no brittle tag on it) - NO imbuing - now i did NOT yet try to smelt it - who knows what happens - maybe i do it after i tested everything i wanted - but than i need ANOTHER one to check what happens if you try to UNRAVEL it

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

OK, now here ends my test with this Ephemeral Item....

- Went to Ogre Lords, droped some EV's - lost another point on the dura of the shield, didnt get hit, but the ev's caused it as they took the damage
- Took the drag, let him kill some OL's - after he did, i droped 2 bandages on him and POOF lost another point on the shield..

So Ephemeral will 100% be aplied on your item even you do no direct damage or take no damage - if your pet or your summon does the damage and gets damaged, its like you do....

So, you can happily use your ephemeral items, but there is no way it will not lose dura...for me this means maybe use em for a while or sell em...or, use em for deco at home as a collection piece...

On the other hand, i will look out for someone selling the non-ephemeral versions - and buy the shield

Have a good one

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

i recently stumbled over a guildmates Hephaestus - Gargoyle Version - IT DROPED INTO HIS PACK after he was killing Critters on Level 3 Covetous - near the stairs down to CORA.

So this means, Arties also drop at the normal Critters...so watch out for messages on your screen

 

[NuSair]

I got the garg version on Atlantic on my first Cora kill.... haven't got another artie in the next 8 kills.

Tried selling it, no one offered up on it.

 

[Sprago]

level 3 in siege doesnt have any creatures only cora and apparently its only on siege can we get this fixed devs

 

[Obsidian]

i recently stumbled over a guildmates Hephaestus - Gargoyle Version - IT DROPED INTO HIS PACK after he was killing Critters on Level 3 Covetous - near the stairs down to CORA.

So this means, Arties also drop at the normal Critters...so watch out for messages on your screen

View attachment 9217

So non-ephemeral arties drop from other mobs than Cora!

 

[Nimuaq]

So this means, Arties also drop at the normal Critters...so watch out for messages on your screen

Thank you for all the research and the effort you put into sharing your knowledge and your experience with everyone, I really appreciate it. I guess we need to update uoguide with these, so now if you'll excuse me, I need to return to Covetous, I think I dropped my..

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Nim, i cannot 100% confirm it but i was there and he all of a sudden cried out loud he got an artie dropped into his pack and showed us the shield...it was a level 3/4 critter..

Hope someone else gets one too so it can be 100% confirmed...i also heard from another player on Pac got a bow from level 4 Prison chamber of pain or how its called which is a hardcore place now...

 

[MatlocK]

I got a hephaestus also in same spot. I do remember killing two covetous dragons during that hunt but not sure if they had something to do with it. Also it did drop in pack with 255/255 durability.

 

[Warpig Inc]

could someone have killed Cora and being in the area doing damage get those players a chance?

 

[MissEcho]

Hiya,

got my Ephemeral Hephaestus the other day at 2k points on my mystic/mage. I wanted to test how 'durable' my shield was in comparison to how soon I could replace it. So the only time I equipped the shield was while doing the void pool. Haven't done overmuch fighting the past couple of days, think it was about 9-10 rounds of the pool, maybe less, but there were some 'aborted' rounds where I had to leave or where I didn't fight for the whole round etc.

However, I now have 2053 points, enough to replace the shield, and my existing shield is 223/223 so all in all I don't think it is too bad as a wear out item, used 27 points of durability of the first shield to obtain the second. If it is 1 durability point lost for every 6 mins 'battling' it took me 162 minutes to earn enough points at the pool to earn the replacement 2 hrs 45 mins approx.

I can now get another shield and put 'aside' until the first one wears out or I get the real thing.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

could someone have killed Cora and being in the area doing damage get those players a chance?

I also was thinking about that possibility...but if another player got an artie like that as you see above posted, it is a crazy happenstance...