Post by dodrudon on Jul 22, 2009 20:41:04 GMT
What are random items?
Random items can drop from almost any loot spot (in a level appropriate area). There is no one loot spot that will always drop the same random item. Type in "!list rarities" in the chat box (without quotes) to see a list of items and their rarity. From worst to best, random items are common, uncommon, rare, ultrarare (UR), and beyond ultrarare (BUR).
What is randomization?
Each random item has a set of base properties (like AC, skill boosts, stat boosts, immunities, etc). They start out with these base properties, then through the process of randomization, some of these properties are increased, decreased, or removed. Randomization can also add properties (shown in green) that were not on the item before.
What kind of properties change?
You can see any property on an item, from feats (like Great Spell Focus, Disarm, etc) to immunities (Poison, Disease, Ability Drain, Fear, spell level, etc) to skills to saves, even bonus AC vs a race. The better an item is, the better randomization will treat it (for example, a BUR item receiving an elemental immunity might receive a base of 75% while an uncommon might only receive 25%). Sometimes use restrictions can also be added to an item (such as alignment or racial restrictions). Some properties are protected properties, in that they will never be completely removed. Protected properties tend to be those that set an item apart, such as elemental immunities on rings, arcane spell failure on shields designed for casters, Breach and Mord immunity, and so on. AC on boots are also protected, due to recent changes related to Dodge AC.
How likely am I to get a good item?
39% of items have less properties than they did before:
-- .5% are -4 properties (Scarce)
-- 3.5% are -3 properties (Paltry)
-- 8.5% are -2 properties (Scant)
-- 26.5% are -1 property (Few)
36% of items have the same number of properties they did before (Average)
25% of items have more properties than they did before, and 90% of these properties will be beneficial (some may be detrimental, such as weight increase or AC decrease):
-- 19.5% are +1 property (Varied)
-- 4.5% are +2 properties (Numerous)
-- 1% are +3 properties (Copious)
- 17% of items receive an augment
- 10% of items receive a use restriction
What loot is randomized, and what loot isn't randomized?
Random loot (with the exception of weapons) is randomized, set loot is not randomized. What is set loot? Set loot always drops from the same place. For instance, a loot spot in Minauros always drops a single off-hand flag, which gives 100% immunity to a random element. That is the only place those flags drop, even though only one drops each time and you only have a 20% chance to see any given flag. That's a set loot. Chests that are guaranteed to drop BURs or URs, and bosses that are guaranteed to drop them as well, will also be randomized. Items such as Strongheart will never be randomized.
What's an augment?
Augments can also be added to an item during randomization. Augments totally ignore what is on the item already. Instead, they are collections of properties that are applied to an item, and give an item a prefix or a suffix. These show up as a pale blue color when you Examine an item, and modify the item name by adding a prefix or a suffix. Since you can only have on prefix and one suffix, only two augments can be ever be on one item. Items can be found with one augment (either prefix or suffix), two augments (both prefix and suffix), or a master augment (which fills both prefix and suffix slots). Each specific augment has the same set of attributes, but the values are randomized when attached to an existing item (as opposed to augmenters, which do not randomize values, see next question).
See this thread for a list of possible augments.
What's an augmenter?
You can find augmenters as loot. These will add a prefix or suffix to your randomized item, but ONLY if the item does not already have an augment on it. There are UR, BUR, and Master augments, but they can only be found already attached to items, and the augmenters for them received in contests, guild events, or possibly in set loot chests at some point (but not as a random drop). The attributes these augmenters add to an item are listed in the augmenter's description. These values will not be randomized (as opposed to values of augments that are on an item already, which ARE randomized).
Augmenters have a 15% chance of replacing a normal item drop:
-- Common augmenters replace uncommon drops
-- Uncommon augmenters rare drops
-- Rare augmenters ultrarare drops
-- BUR drops are never replaced by augmenters
-- A set UR augmenter chest can be found at the end of Elysium
What properties stack from an augmenter crystal?
properties from augmenters will stack following normal rules with properties already on an item. Pretend the augmenter crystal is a different item. If you equip both it and the item you wish to augment, the final bonuses you get are the same.
Examples: A +7 Str on the item and a +4 Str from an augmenter will result in +11 Str. A 15/- Slash Resist on the item and a 20/- Slash Resist from an augmenter will result in a 20/- Slash Resist (highest value used, because Slash Resist does not stack).
Can I use two augments on an item?
No. You can only use an augment crystal on an item that has no prefix AND has no suffix. Doubly augmented items can only be found, not created.
property Caps
o See this post
o AC: 75% of the time AC would be removed from an item, it will not be removed (this does not mean it will be removed 25% of the time, but rather that it is removed at 25% the frequency other properties are removed). :;: AC will only decrease by a maximum of -1. :;: If a decreased AC property is added to an item, it lowers Dodge (the only form of stacking AC, and easily recoverable on buffs) instead of the current AC on the item. Dodge AC decreases maxes out at -5. :;: Boots will never lose AC.
o BUR: 60/-, -100% to 100% Elemental
o 25/-, -35% to 35% Exotic
o 40/-, -50% to 50% Negative
o 30/-, -50% to 50% Physical (depends on armor type?)
o BUR: +19 AC, UR: +18 AC
o BUR: +14 Stats (stats cannot stack to +14, you must have +14 on an item to gain the benefit), Else: +12
o +/- 5% to 50% Arcane Spell Failure
o -5 to +15 Universal Saves (+18 for Fort/Will/Refl)
o Damage Reduction:
40/+1 to +5
35/+6 to +10
30/+11 to +13
25/+14
20/+15 to +16
15/+17 to +18
10/+19 to +20
Random items can drop from almost any loot spot (in a level appropriate area). There is no one loot spot that will always drop the same random item. Type in "!list rarities" in the chat box (without quotes) to see a list of items and their rarity. From worst to best, random items are common, uncommon, rare, ultrarare (UR), and beyond ultrarare (BUR).
What is randomization?
Each random item has a set of base properties (like AC, skill boosts, stat boosts, immunities, etc). They start out with these base properties, then through the process of randomization, some of these properties are increased, decreased, or removed. Randomization can also add properties (shown in green) that were not on the item before.
What kind of properties change?
You can see any property on an item, from feats (like Great Spell Focus, Disarm, etc) to immunities (Poison, Disease, Ability Drain, Fear, spell level, etc) to skills to saves, even bonus AC vs a race. The better an item is, the better randomization will treat it (for example, a BUR item receiving an elemental immunity might receive a base of 75% while an uncommon might only receive 25%). Sometimes use restrictions can also be added to an item (such as alignment or racial restrictions). Some properties are protected properties, in that they will never be completely removed. Protected properties tend to be those that set an item apart, such as elemental immunities on rings, arcane spell failure on shields designed for casters, Breach and Mord immunity, and so on. AC on boots are also protected, due to recent changes related to Dodge AC.
Properties on an item (including ones added) are randomized on a normal distribution bell curve, centered at their current value. The standard deviation tends to be 25%, 33%, or 50% of the property's value, but the actual numbers have been calculated specifically for each property and are liable to change.
How likely am I to get a good item?
39% of items have less properties than they did before:
-- .5% are -4 properties (Scarce)
-- 3.5% are -3 properties (Paltry)
-- 8.5% are -2 properties (Scant)
-- 26.5% are -1 property (Few)
36% of items have the same number of properties they did before (Average)
25% of items have more properties than they did before, and 90% of these properties will be beneficial (some may be detrimental, such as weight increase or AC decrease):
-- 19.5% are +1 property (Varied)
-- 4.5% are +2 properties (Numerous)
-- 1% are +3 properties (Copious)
- 17% of items receive an augment
- 10% of items receive a use restriction
What loot is randomized, and what loot isn't randomized?
Random loot (with the exception of weapons) is randomized, set loot is not randomized. What is set loot? Set loot always drops from the same place. For instance, a loot spot in Minauros always drops a single off-hand flag, which gives 100% immunity to a random element. That is the only place those flags drop, even though only one drops each time and you only have a 20% chance to see any given flag. That's a set loot. Chests that are guaranteed to drop BURs or URs, and bosses that are guaranteed to drop them as well, will also be randomized. Items such as Strongheart will never be randomized.
What's an augment?
Augments can also be added to an item during randomization. Augments totally ignore what is on the item already. Instead, they are collections of properties that are applied to an item, and give an item a prefix or a suffix. These show up as a pale blue color when you Examine an item, and modify the item name by adding a prefix or a suffix. Since you can only have on prefix and one suffix, only two augments can be ever be on one item. Items can be found with one augment (either prefix or suffix), two augments (both prefix and suffix), or a master augment (which fills both prefix and suffix slots). Each specific augment has the same set of attributes, but the values are randomized when attached to an existing item (as opposed to augmenters, which do not randomize values, see next question).
See this thread for a list of possible augments.
What's an augmenter?
You can find augmenters as loot. These will add a prefix or suffix to your randomized item, but ONLY if the item does not already have an augment on it. There are UR, BUR, and Master augments, but they can only be found already attached to items, and the augmenters for them received in contests, guild events, or possibly in set loot chests at some point (but not as a random drop). The attributes these augmenters add to an item are listed in the augmenter's description. These values will not be randomized (as opposed to values of augments that are on an item already, which ARE randomized).
Augmenters have a 15% chance of replacing a normal item drop:
-- Common augmenters replace uncommon drops
-- Uncommon augmenters rare drops
-- Rare augmenters ultrarare drops
-- BUR drops are never replaced by augmenters
-- A set UR augmenter chest can be found at the end of Elysium
What properties stack from an augmenter crystal?
properties from augmenters will stack following normal rules with properties already on an item. Pretend the augmenter crystal is a different item. If you equip both it and the item you wish to augment, the final bonuses you get are the same.
Examples: A +7 Str on the item and a +4 Str from an augmenter will result in +11 Str. A 15/- Slash Resist on the item and a 20/- Slash Resist from an augmenter will result in a 20/- Slash Resist (highest value used, because Slash Resist does not stack).
Can I use two augments on an item?
No. You can only use an augment crystal on an item that has no prefix AND has no suffix. Doubly augmented items can only be found, not created.
property Caps
o See this post
o AC: 75% of the time AC would be removed from an item, it will not be removed (this does not mean it will be removed 25% of the time, but rather that it is removed at 25% the frequency other properties are removed). :;: AC will only decrease by a maximum of -1. :;: If a decreased AC property is added to an item, it lowers Dodge (the only form of stacking AC, and easily recoverable on buffs) instead of the current AC on the item. Dodge AC decreases maxes out at -5. :;: Boots will never lose AC.
o BUR: 60/-, -100% to 100% Elemental
o 25/-, -35% to 35% Exotic
o 40/-, -50% to 50% Negative
o 30/-, -50% to 50% Physical (depends on armor type?)
o BUR: +19 AC, UR: +18 AC
o BUR: +14 Stats (stats cannot stack to +14, you must have +14 on an item to gain the benefit), Else: +12
o +/- 5% to 50% Arcane Spell Failure
o -5 to +15 Universal Saves (+18 for Fort/Will/Refl)
o Damage Reduction:
40/+1 to +5
35/+6 to +10
30/+11 to +13
25/+14
20/+15 to +16
15/+17 to +18
10/+19 to +20