AliceInWunderland

It's hard to measure without combat logs unless I can generate them. And I'd need data on like encounters with 1000 numbers to see where the frequency actually lies. But eyeballing it seems about 50-60% of the time it'll absorb. When I added the NM Boots though, that 2% boost in addition to the 10% that's from the skill, I'm not using nearly as many healing pots. So I am wondering if the game just throws it all into one chance or if each item/skill has its own separate chances. I am leaning towards the latter because I notice VR triggering more often now.

Yeah, I think you are right in this regard. It's a chance, not constant "guaranteed" VR like in days past. Maybe it'll get updated to communicate reality accurately. One can dream and hope, yes? There is no other mechanic "lag" going on. SS, buffing, etc - no item lag or skill lag.

I took a SS but I have to host it somewhere. Blah. Here it is: https://ibb.co/RY1BqpK Notice what it says about the VR effect - no mention of a "chance."

Gear doesn't say anything about a "chance" - tool tip says straight up 2% of damage converted to HP. So, now it's a chance? The BD passive is a chance to absorb (10%!!) of damage as HP. So, if it's truly a chance, it'd be nice if the system communicated as much. Oh well. Upside I don't spam health pots. I'll make a vid.

Reminds when I started in C2, when B grade ARMOR (not even weapons) was the best you could do. Everyone running around in C grade, etc. Then B weapons hit. Then everything started going haywire. The market opened up in ways I had not anticipated - but bottom line, it happens. When the population has less variation in gear levels, and approach the upper tiers, economies start to open up, but so does inflation. Hopefully competition keeps prices reasonable. I see a scenario where adena will be used to buy boost stuff because adena can't buy all the stuff LCoins can buy. I mean I bought some gear from some peeps using L2Coin boxes because that's what they wanted in payment. They didn't want adena.

So, the VR I'm talking about it from items, not the BD's passive. It seems there is one of two things going on: 1. There is VR Lag (Server issues?) Doesn't make sense because there is no SS lag, etc. 2. The game mechanics sums up 2% of damage over a period of 2-4 seconds and at the end of that 2-4 seconds, the absorbed HP gets added back into your pool. (From NM LA boots - VR built in) The reason I bring this up I don't remember seeing VR work like this in Classic or Live - VR was fairly automatic. Anyone have some insight on this?

Yeah, if the kill rate isn't affected (healer casting heal every 5 seconds, not helping do damage - I see this in Cruma frequently) I don't expect Sayha's would be punished...

I forgot to ask and maybe someone knows: WHY is it when you're in a party Sayha's goes down faster? That's what I have been reading. That kind of defies logic in the sense you get less exp per MOB in that setup, and shouldn't affect the degeneration rate. But apparently it does? Anyone see this actually work and what happens?

Yeah there appears to be some kind of tiered/dynamic degeneration based on XP/Level that's fairly linear. Or, it's just straight up linear. Some kind of easy cheesy function where XP earned is related to absolute Sayha Points. And, when the threshold for degeneration is hit, boom, less 1%. I haven't figured out or spent the time to find that relationship between Absolute Sayha Points and XP earned. I am guessing this is what is going on because this is one of the only games I have seen where precision makes a difference. Why else have an XP bar with 4 significant digits? Those numbers do serve a "purpose" in the sense that these calculations that we don't see on the back end are very granular and precise. Part of that has to do with the grind... If this really IS the last gasp, then I am laughing. If you're really saying the end is near, why are we pouring time and resources into this? Old friends from other servers? In my case, I am seeing what is up. I'll get to 76 and assess what I want to do at that point. I might go play Live again. I dunno.

Nice to "meet" you Haseo. Ha. I run at 530% Bonus Exp. Sayha + Storm (200% version - 300% is better of course)+ 30% Scroll. I did notice when I was running at 600% it would go down faster.

I forget which version of the software it was - but one of the botting programs that was out there long ago let you draw a region on the map and your toon wouldn't wander off. This is not an admission of anything. I just knew a lot of botters so I learned stuff from them. The ban hammer would come to town every now and then and I'd hear my friends in vent all bummed out. But, they just started right back up again! And now - botting is "legal." I just find it funny NC capitulated to the gold farmers. It's kinda similar to what WoW did - they made it so the game gave away so much gold, you wouldn't need to buy from farmers. The selling of tokens for in game gold was the final nail for some of those folks. But now, there are "services" where your toon gets dragged along in an instance and you get loot. Blizzard decided it could very easily get a lot of revenue very quickly by beating the farmers at their own game. It's just amazing what ends up happening in games like these that are social and ultra competitive.

I am wondering how the luck strategy actually plays out for people in Oly. I know when I did it last week, I got "lucky" and managed to win 2 matches out of 10. I am sure you know Mr./Ms. Innis, there are players who enter Oly who are completely stacked. (Note: I was level 68 going into the Oly with C grade Armor and +4 Dual SLS with no boss jewels/dolls, etc. One of the games we won had players who also around my level and gear - they died fast once I got on them.) (Another side note: In Live, long ago, I had made a +15 Blessed R grade caster weapon. Had a nuker. Essentially one shotted anyone. Had all the boss jewels, too. So, yeah, I used to L2 store to buy GoD scrolls which at that time, were like super blessed enchant scrolls - you fail, you keep the weapon at the same enchantment level. I remember that it took 43 of these special packages from L2 Store to get it to +15. And, I'm not the greatest PvP'er in the world. But, that's my point I suppose - with amazing gear, you can close the skill gap with raw power.) Yes, if you get lucky, you get a bunch of cookies. I don't mind spending a bit of money to boost things here and there, to make leveling resource efficient, meaning what? This is why I like VR for BD's: With VR, I rarely use any healing pots, unless I walk into a dense, social MOB cluster: you know the kind, you hit one MOB and the rest join in... BUT... Regarding Sayha's: Right now, when I'm in Cruma 3rd Floor, roughly every 4-5 MOBS, Sayha degenerates by 1%. GIven that right now I can kill about 10-12 MOBS per minute, you can imagine how fast it degenerates and you've probably seen the same effect. There is a mechanic at play here that either intentionally or inadvertently directs people to replenish the precious Sayha with a few options available beyond what the game gives away for free. Anyway, we'll see how things play out.

Something else will come along, but yes, I agree - something like that Valakas necklace should be a permanent item for "purchase" by newbies. Like you say, it isn't game breaking/destabilizing, so what's the problem PlayNC?

My apologies, I cannot post on the player to player forum. Anyway, question: Yes, I am relatively new to Essence, so there are some mechanics I am not aware of. I am trying to understand how the Special Crafting works. Now the screen says, "Craft 1 of the items from the list." when selecting one of these BD Dance books. And then it shows an insane amount of materials. (147M adena and some change. What??) So, there's that I am wondering about - do we really need to just collect 1 of those items in the ingredient list? Second, what about after 3rd class transfer (Spectral Dancer)? Is there another way to get the books? The guy in Aden doesn't appear to have an option for BD/SwS at all. Anyway, thank you in advance.

Ahhh, ok. I will try that. Yeah, that is stupid. *head smack.* Thank you much!

There's always a reason for losing: Not enough people - hey it's combat, you play to win, not to fight fair. The rules are already in place to allow for that kind of overwhelming tactic. It's lazy, but it works most times. Numbers make a difference. Some clans liken themselves to the Spartans from 300 who think they can fight like they did at Thermopylae. It amuses me that after 17 years, this kind of bluster STILL goes on in the boards and in the game one way or another: Player 1: Nice try, scrubs in (clan name) Player 2(enemy): Man, **** you. We didn't have x y and z and if we did we would have smashed you. Player 1: lawlz Player 876: (clan name) are a bunch of ***** And it goes on and on and on... The things you miss from Lineage...

Tried to post in Bug Report but no dice. Maybe someone knows: I gifted some sayha's blessing to another toon. Problem: The mail arrives but it will not let me claim the item. Character receiving the item is level 40. I don't understand why the system lets me gift stuff and then I cannot claim it. Anyone know what is going on please? Otherwise, I will contact NCSoft and we will have a discussion. Thanks in advance.

As far as the L2 Boxes go: you don't need to buy adena, but others inevitably will. Hard to say how adena inflation will play out but here's the point: Yes, you could buy all the L2 boxes you could get your hands now and that protects against inflation. Within 2 days I saw L2 1000K boxes buy shops go from 1.8M adena to 1.65M adena in under a day. So buying them now while there isn't an ocean of adena sloshing around is a good thing. The spread between buy/sell shops appears to be about 100K, which is just a little under 10% profit margin assuming you bought low/sold high. The ultimate problem with any in-game currency is that it literally just sits in people's banks as if it was under a mattress. There are no mechanisms to literally "keep up with inflation" if the adena farmers come to town except to buy more adena. This is the problem Emerging Markets have borrowing in US Dollars. They have zero way to absorb shocks like that. I digress. Interesting data, I appreciate it.

Yes, tradeoffs are real. I am aware. Believe me, I prefer to do self-sustaining stuff IF the system really allows for it. If you have to be like Neo from the Matrix, well, that's a tall order.

Well, earlier you had said: "I don’t buy Sayha, because I am a spoiler and I have enough of it from random craft + drop grace potions + solo rb + cookies + free gifts by NCwest" That seemed as if you were saying you don't need to buy Sayha because of your class. Ok, so you're doing about 600K adena per hour on average it looks like. At that adena velocity, yeah, a lot seems cheap I would imagine (Marginal Utility of a an additional dollar/adena).

Thanks for the data.

Also, and I should have mentioned - I did not factor in game rewards from quests/daily's and so on, which, over long epochs of time, can see great variations in patterns, especially in money spent. Reason I bring this up is you mentioned Oly: there are some nice rewards from the Oly quests. But, you can't get them without winning. I am guessing at your level, you have a much easier time in Oly compared to someone in their low 70's: no A-grade, no enchants, etc. Point being, some of these rewards that can be earned require good gear to survive.

Well, you've found a recipe that "works." If only L2 could all be spoilers. Ha. How many hours a day are you playing (pardon me, how many hours is the game playing itself for you?) We're all doing it, so yeah. Your example here shows that some classes have some distinct advantages over others. I've spent about $100 myself thus far and on many of the same things as you. Sayha's stuff, buff scrolls, and some L2coin to have for necessary situations. I've only been playing this incarnation since 9/12/2021 and I've been letting it run about 16-20 hours a day. I monitor what goes on. I rarely afk farm/hunt.

Would also like to know if you're completely self-buffed with spells, and do not use the PAtk/PDef Scrolls that are rewards here and there OR can be bought from the store.

You're missing the point. Based on your anectodal evidence here, it's clear you are not just starting out. Some questions: 1. How long have you played Aden? 2. How much money (Fiat Currency, to be clear) have you spent? 3. How much do you currently spend per week? 4. How many toons are you running? (Alts to farm, etc.) If you've managed this with zero stuff from the store, hat is off to you. But, some real data would be appreciated. I am guessing you are an extreme outlier. Otherwise, your boasting is just that - boasting.