Suggestion on how to reward elite farmers

[GoodSyntax]

So, we have all seen (and sort of expected) how the Nekro questline would turn out - requiring something super rare that is exclusive to locked crates. The hopes we (the community) had in something challenging, but farmable in elites has evaporated after realizing that the elite dropped crafting components hold little to no value. Unfortunately, this turns the questline bascially into pop locked and loot Fossil, or buy Fossil from auction, then craft Nekro.

With that said, below is my suggestion on how STS can create a new series of quests and crafting to really reinvigorate elite farming, provide farmers a respectable source of revenue and encourage players to actually play the content of the game, instead of spending their time merching or opening locked crates to get ahead.


I imagine crafted eggs ranging in value from 1m for the Legendary to 10m for the Arcane, so long as the hatched pet's Happiness Bonus and Arcane Ability support this level of pricing.


Notes
I updated this post to reflect some good ideas that Crowsfoot had (there you go Crow). If anyone has other suggestions, please feel free to post them and I will update this suggestion accordingly.


The Research Assistant

The Research Assistant has been tasked by Paracelsus to collect specimens for research. This NPC is a rare spawn (similar to portals) after defeating Elite Tindirin Bosses. When he spawns, he will offer you a quest to assist him in collecting recipe scraps from ALL elite bosses throughout Arlor.


Collecting Recipe Scraps
These recipe scraps are a secondary drop (like Drakin Teeth) and can be affected by Reroll Elixirs to improve drop rate. You will be required to collect a scrap from each elite boss starting in Brackenridge Forest and continuing through Rockhorn Summit.


Receiving Your Egg Recipe
When you have collected every scrap, return the quest to Paracelsus. He will ask you for an egg as a binding material, and 50k gold (Alchemy isn't cheap you know). The rarity of the egg changes the probability of the resulting recipe. So, utilizing a common egg yields a very low chance for an Arcane Egg Recipe; however, a Mythic Egg (like Ripmaw) doesn't guarantee a high level egg recipe. The recipe type will be a luck based roll, similar to the functionality of Locked Crates.

Below is a table that provides a suggestion on egg inputs and resulting recipe outputs:

Common Eggs and all Legendary Eggs Rewarded By Klaas-> 5% Arcane, 5% Mythic, 90% Legendary
Epic and Legendary Eggs found in Normal Maps (non-elite) -> 5% Arcane, 10% Mythic, 85% Legendary
Legendary Eggs found in Elite Maps from Elite Brakenridge through Elite Dead City -> 10% Arcane, 25% Mythic, 65% Legendary
Mythic Eggs and Legendary Eggs found in Elite Maps from Kraken and Up -> 15% Arcane, 35% Mythic, 50% Legendary

These are single use recipes, and each recipe has it's own crafting requirements. All recipes will need Vials of Ectoplasm, Gems, Drakin Teeth, etc., but based on the rarity level of the recipe, the crafting components differ.

These recipes must be tradeable/sellable/stashable!


Crafting Your Egg
Obviously, the crafting requirements for an Arcane egg will be significant. I imagine we would need perhaps 150 Drakin Teeth, 20 Vials of Ectoplasm, 10 Blood, Fire and Glacial gems, an Elite Golden Dragon Chest and 3 days in crafting time. Crafting this egg will consume all the crafting materials, including the recipe.

The Mythic egg would take 100 Drakin Teeth, 15 Vials of Ectoplasm, 7 of each gem type and an Elite Silver Dragon Chest. Crafting time should be 2 days.

The Legendary egg would take 50 Drakin Teeth, 10 Vials of Ectoplams, 5 of each gem type and an Elite Copper Dragon Chest. Crafting time should be 1 day.

The key point here is that Drakin Teeth are a primary material for egg crafting. Because Drakin Teeth are bound to the player, you actually have to spend time grinding in order to acquire all the material needed for crafting. This will control the deflation in value of the crafted eggs, so should provide farmers a long-term, viable revenue stream.


Crafting Restrictions
You can not start a new recipe quest if you have an egg crafting. You also cannot take more than one recipe quest in a three day period.

You can buy off the three day wait period with gold or platinum, but this restriction must be in place to control downward pricing pressure from overfarming.

The intent is to create high value items for farmers, so there is a reliable revenue stream for those that grind and run elites. I imagine these eggs ranging in value from 2m for the Legendary to 10m for the Arcane, so long as the hatched pet's Happiness Bonus and Arcane Ability support this level of pricing.

Recipe pricing should be less than half the value of the crafted egg.



Benefits To Community And Farmers

• Since the recipe questline can only be received while farming Elite Tindirin, this will obviously spark interest in farming here.
• The recipe scraps are scattered across every elite boss, so this will require parties to run all maps once again (instead of the same 5 or 6 that we always farm).
• Season 1 and 2 eggs will increase in value, since they are base material for crafting these new eggs.
• Vials of Ectoplasm will increase in value, since they will be needed for all eggs, including Nekro.
• Gem crafters will see their gems increase in value, since gems are needed for crafting.
• Drakin Teeth will actually be a valuable commodity!
• Elite Dragon Chests will increase in value, since they are the housing element for crafting eggs.
• Because Drakin Teeth are bound to the player, you cannot just buy your way into all crafting materials!

Benefit To STS

• Encourage players to play the content of the game.
• Increased Reroll Elixir/Kit purchases.
• Increased Platinum Revives (for tougher maps)
• Increased Combo/DMG/Armor Elixirs (mostly for the tougher maps)
• Increased HP/Mana pot expenditures (gold sink)
• Players will spend platinum/story tokens on inventory slots
• Controls deflation of value in early season eggs

The Junior Alchemist

Add a second Alchemist NPC as a rare spawn on all Elite Nordr and Shuyal maps. This Alchemist will grant special Gem Recipes. These Gem Recipes will be single use items to craft very rare Gems, which can range from Armor Gems, Crit Gems, Mana Gems, etc. The crafting material would be Blood/Fire/Glacial Essences, but in large volume, so for instance 50 Blood Essences for an Armor Gem. Both the Recipe and crafted gem could be traded/sold/stashed.

This Alchemist would be a limited time spawn, disappearing at the end of this season. At points in the future, STS could resurrect the Alchemist to grant the same recipes again, or even new recipes.

This will create a secondary gem market, and encourage more players to farm Nordr and Shuyal.