From:  Zarya bint Tala'an 
ID:  eJ8y9Xhrr96
Date:  1/16/01 at 1:20 pm
Subject:  Zarya's Journal 01.16.01 - Armor and Chat
 

Expeditionary Journal of Zarya bint Tala'an, Aspiring Battlemage

01.16.01 - Fun With Numbers!


Hmm...got the first negative feedback for my Journal early last night:

Zareth wrote:

no offense.. but thanks for slamming everyone! fantastic job.. (I'm just kidding.. but some real points below)

I think you are either saying:

1. this game has gone horribly wrong because there are a bunch of idiots playing the game the wrong way

2. I rool.. therefor I laugh at everyone who does not

3. this game has gone horribly wrong because I need to kill kill kill kill kill in order to ....... errrr ... well....... kill kill kill kill kill..... you might as well say 'AC monotony day 400' as a journal title...

is killing corals that much more fun than killing tuskers? if this game is just about killing things ad naseaum, then don't you expect it to attract the folks you scoff at?



Before I attempt to pick apart your lovely post, there are a few things I want to get straight. This is just a log of observations for a Battlemage going though her levels, not a minister preaching the right and wrongs of players today, or a woman disgusted with the playing styles of a group of individuals. I am sarcastic by nature, extremely cynical, so my commentaries are anything from insulting to amusing to other readers. If I try to please everyone, I'll end up pleasing no one at all, so I might as well stick to my guns.

1. There is no *wrong* way to play AC, you could be a cook with throwing weapons specialized...that's perfectly fine with me. I do however believe for smooth character interaction, a hunting ethic of sorts should be observed. "Idiots that play the game," as you so eloquently put it, are found in every game, I could even probably think of some examples that I have seen in real life(well not the running in and dying part, just people who seem to have little or no ethical standards). They're part of the game, so you can either fume over it, make light on it, or anything in-between.

2. Hmm...I think anyone who can't show any semblance of sense or maturity should be laughed at. Why do you think shows like "Mr. Bean" or many Sitcoms are so popular? I never mentioned that "I rool," once in my original post, some responses were in jest...don't know where you got that from.

3. Well, AC is a skill based game, and to devlop those skills you need xp, and to get xp you need to kill stuff. Therefore we can safely say that AC is a game that revolves around killing stuff. I see nothing wrong with that in AC. People who play CS see nothing wrong with that in CS. People who play Sacrifice see nothing wrong with that in Sacrifice. Repetition provides a level of comfort and an opportunity to create new ideas to better face that repetion, whether it would be killing Lugians/Olthoi/Tuskers/Coral Golems day in, day out, getting to the bomb site faster and successfully covering it over and over again, or stealing the other guys' souls while managing a pitched battle. I believe stability in a game is a good thing, AC is nice in the sense that if provides the player with "Scaled Stability," in the sense that there will always be something new to kill after you *perfect* your methods of killing something else. Sounds silly, but its true.

Fun...people define 'Fun' differently, I guess.

For myself, 'Fun' is being presented with a viable challenge and going out to meet it. For me to have fun, there must be a real chance of being killed, as well as a real chance at being able to meet the challenge. I'm not the kind of person that uses cheat codes, macros, whatever, to lighten my gaming experience. I want the full meal deal, so to speak.

For most people playing AC, 'Fun' seems to run on few set requisites:
1. I'm getting good xp for my level/lots of crap to kill
2. I have a good chance of dying
3. I might get something nice
4. There's other people there

Tuskers at high 20s - late 30s is fun, because you're killing something that gives good xp and has a fair chance of beating the stuffing out of you. Coral Golems work on the same principle...until you can easily tank indefinite amounts of Coral Golems with little trouble, they remain Fun to kill. They also have a chance of dropping nice level 5/6 jewlery (loot also seems to be 'Fun'). If I, someday, decide to tackle a group of Plasma Golems and get schooled, I really wouldn't care if I died, as long as I had Fun doing it. Alright, now I have a new goal to work towards.

As for those I scoff at...I only choose to pick on people that choose to remain ignorant to the myriad options and playing styles made available in the game. You don't need to be a psychotic powerleveler to enjoy the game.

I choose to powerlevel because I have a template which shows quite a bit of promise at higher levels. I want to get back to hunting with my higher level friends, and be able to meet the challenges that the Content Editors dish out for high level players, most of which require group questing to overcome. I also want to get ph4t |3wt, what player doesn't? I believe that fits my definition of 'Fun.'


Anyways...

Routine Excursion - Obsidian Plains Hunting Route

Using the route I puzzled out yesterday, I continued to kill Tuskers. Early in the night, there were A LOT of people getting twinked ont he first leg of the route...not too many opportunities for experience there. Farther along the route, I encountered no one at all, and had free reign on all the Tuskers in that area...then I started to chat. Chat 0wnz me, I'm totally addicted to chat, once I start I can't stop, my killing ratio goes way down...sometimes stopping completely. Oh well, at least I got a level.

Notes:
I can now kill Obsidian Golems. No more running for 5 clicks to shake them off. I have to watch out for other Golems in the area before I attack however, especially Diamonds.

Shadow Wisps are annoying. If you get too close to them, they'll chain cast Drains, Festers and War Magic at you until they run out of mana...then they'll attact you physically using cold damage. They don't hurt though, and are killed easily. Got a Pulsating Heart off one today =)

Someone messaged me and suggested that I underbuff. I tried. Felt no difference...maybe its just me.

Same person requested that I write something to the effect of a comparison between the Matty Robe and Post-Patch GSA, so here it is:


Zarya's Analysis of the Hoary Mattekar Robe and Post Patch Greater Shadow Amuli, Plus Some Other Stuff too!

After shards, I believe these are the two most sought after commodities on the player market currently. They're both hard to get, and worth about the same, though the Robe seems to be rising in value once again.

Notes on Armor Calculations:
Sometime last month, Jesse/Nei/Devilmouse posted the armor modifiers for protections on Turbine's Q&A board (I think). These are approximate numbers, since the Turbine website is down while I'm writing this article:

Unparalleled 2.0
Excellent 1.6 - 1.9
Above Average 1.2 - 1.5
Average 0.9 - 1.2
Below Average 0.6 - 0.9
Poor 0.3 - 0.6
None 0.0 - 0.3

I will be using middle values for convenience, if you want to nitpick using red and green values, you can do it yourself.


Contestant #1 - The Hoary Mattekar Robe
Crafted from the hide of a Mattekar with a glandular disorder. I used to have close to 30 of these things during the Sudden Season Event, and I gave them away to vassals and friends, keeping only a pair for myself. Most higher levels did the same, because the thing looked a heckuvalot better than the cheesy Faran Robe or Matty Coat with Legs. Who could have forseen the value of this then aesthetically pleasing robe after a year? I wish I camped that silly thing more, argh.

Burden 1300bu
Value 4000p
Armor Level 40
Buffed AL 252 (on Frostfell)
Protections AA/A/A/U/B/A/U
Buffed Pros U/U/U/U/U/U/U

Armor Level Calculations
Base Armor Level 40
Base Protections AA/A/A/U/B/A/U
Base Armor Levels with Modifiers 52/44/44/80/44/28/80
Buffed Armor Level 252
Buffed Protections U/U/U/U/U/U/U
Buffed Armor Levels with Modifiers 504/504/504/504/504/504/504

Advantages:
Lightweight, you can carry more comps/supplies/equipment/comps/loot
Ease of Buffing, 1 buff covers Torso, Legs, and Feet.
2 Unparalleled Protections, 2 less buffs

Disadvantages
Droppable on Death (value is high enough so that sometimes death items will "skip" and you drop the Robe)
Low base AL, You have to buff it for it to have any semblance of protection


Contestant #2 - Post Patch GSA
The Balanced/Nerfed version of GSA. You can still get it though hard work/trade/cash(work anyways), unlike GSA. It is the "IN" item for players today, people congratulate you for getting your GSA, try to appraise you more, ask you for help more...you become |33t when you aquire this set of armor, I suppose.

Burden 3600bu + Footwear
Value Negligible/No-Drop
Armor Level 150
Buffed AL 362 (on Frostfell)
Protections A/A/A/P/P/P/P
Buffed Pros U/U/U/E/E/E/E

Armor Level Calculations (don't bug me about the major stone thing, what mage uses majors anyways?)
Base Armor Level 150
Base Protections A/A/A/P/P/P/P
Base Armor Levels with Modifiers 165/165/165/60/60/60/60
Buffed Armor Level 362
Buffed Protections U/U/U/E/E/E/E
Buffed Armor Levels with Modifiers 724/724/724/615/615/615/615

Advantages:
High base AL, you can survive a few hits if your buffs go down
No Drop

Disadvantages
Heavy for Mages in General, unless you're wierd like me.
More buffing hassle, 3 pieces of armor to buff instead of one

Taking these factors into account, GSA would be the choice for you if you like being hit for less/tank *better* and don't mind sacrificing a few comps/minutes of your time/some loot capacity. Definitely a better choice if powerleveling and not worrying about needing to carry loot/extensive comps. A Hoary Robe is for a mage that is probably hurting on the Strength side, or wanting to lug more loot/comps around on longer trips. For myself, I would go with GSA.

While we have these numbers on hand, might have some fun with other things.

Why is Pre-Patch Overpowered/So damn valuable?

Burden ~3900bu + Footwear
Value No Drop
Armor Level 190
Buffed AL 402 (on Frostfell)
Protections A/A/A/A/A/A/B
Buffed Pros U/U/U/U/U/U/U

Armor Level Calculations
Base Armor Level 190
Base Protections A/A/A/A/A/A/B
Base Armor Levels with Modifiers 209/209/209/209/209/209/133
Buffed Armor Level 402
Buffed Protections U/U/U/U/U/U/U
Buffed Armor Levels with Modifiers 804/804/804/804/804/804/804

Uh...that's a lot of protection. Even when buffs go down and an Altered Druge decides to stick you in the back, you can take quite a few hits. The absurd amount of protection given by this armor, plus the fact that you can't get it any more, makes this the most valuable item in the game after Nexus Armor.

Speaking of which:

Nexus Shadow Amuli
Burden ~4500bu
Value No-Drop
Armor Level 240
Buffed AL 452
Protections AA/AA/AA/A/A/A/A
Buffed Pros U/U/U/U/U/U/U

Armor Level Calculations
Base Armor Levels with Modifiers 312/312/312/264/264/264/264
Buffed Armor Levels with Modifiers 904/904/904/904/904/904/904

Holy Crap. I want one!

Another calculation mages might be interested is the Faran Robe with Hood.

Armor Level 0
Armor Levels After Modifiers 0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0
Buffed AL 212
Buffed Protections U/U/U/E/E/E/E
Buffed Armor Levels with Modifiers 424/424/424/360/360/360/360

Ever wonder why you get hit for so much? heh.

As you might already know, this is also why experienced traders list and ask for protections on a piece of armor. I could go on making more and more armor combinations for mages and working out the *true* armor levels, but I have to get to classes =P

Zarya bint Tala'an

 

Q & A / Discussion of Journal 6:

Question:

I've been leveling an Og mage out on the plains as well - saw you out there once.
It is interesting to watch your progression compared to mine.

I have been using a Faran robe (since I sold my ppgsa =P, cash spoke louder than uber protections), but have also been buffing the underneath clothes.

You really only see the difference that buffing underclothes makes when you wear a faran I think.
With regular armor you dont really notice it as much.

I have found that if I don't underbuff I get crit for up to 35's. If I do underbuff, then the top crits seem to be more around 24. Usually avging 6-12.

Answer:

I'm pretty sure that there's some sort of bug associated with underbuffing, since it seems to only affect mages in non-armored robes.

Perhaps the game is having some sort of snit in deciding which level of armor to use, since both clothing and a robe hae 0 al. Don't ask me how that would work, I'm no programmer =P
-Zarya bint Tala'an

You are right about the armor... AL has diminishing returns as it increases. She has 300 more al than the faran wearers which is why she can't feel a boost.
-Arazu

Commentary:

In light of the info you posted on armor, here`s a repost...
... of some screenshots I have from a spreadsheet I use to calculate this sort of thing. I've posted this and similar information on the Sage Tower several times, trying to update it as people ask or the mood grabs me.

I am assuming worst case 'probable' protection mods in the context of protection color, a spell economy bonus of only 5% (I commonly get 6%, but at peak it will dip to 5%), and a bane cap of 2.

The following 3 shots show base effective AL's, effective AL's with Imp VI only, and effective AL's with Imp VI and the requisite number of Bane VI's. Enjoy:

Common Armor, no Banes or Imp's

Common Armor, Imp VI only

Common Armor, Imp VI and Bane VI


-Rhesus Magos

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