what's there to do in AL now?

[Ruejade]

Seriously, I really think that Elite Seas should be made PuGable and everything will be fine. And maintain the difficulty of the maps.

Most people do not play because they can't find a fast and consistent way of making gold.

Just make some changes to the timer in Elite Seas and it will be like Elite Mardrom in season 2, harder and longer than Jarl but a more consistent income.

The other elite KI maps don't have to be changed so the more hardcore players can still farm their rare Malisons, and Bloodhammer gears.

In conclusion, if Elite Seas is puggable, then

1) a more consistent income of gold for all players
2) All players will be able to farm Elite Seas since it does not require plat revive to be played perfectly, so it's puggable
3) the number of elite pirates chests in circulation increases
4) difficulty of obtaining lv 26 end game gear will decrease
5) rare item hunters can hunt other elite KI maps for rarer Bloodhammer sets, Malison and Kettle eggs

So...yea?

[GoodSyntax]

If I wasn't out of rep, I would be giving out Thanks like a dealer at a Black Jack table right now!

I think that the point of the conversation here isn't so much about distribution of "elite" pinks, but rather the fact that in order to farm elite pinks you need to have elite pinks to be successful. Sure, you can scrap and pinch and save your way to buying a set, but for a relatively casual game, that is a drag, and not something that most would aspire to. This leads to a dearth of PUGs in elite maps, which, in turn, makes it harder to get a run organized, which then means a shortage of elites, which means high prices....and so on.

The biggest issues I see are the length of time to run the majority of elite maps, and the drop rate of decent (non-elite) pinks. I agree that the majority of us can safely pretend that Mythic and Arcane items don't exist, because we will never get them, and we should never get them - leave those to the hardcore farming crowd, and let them get their 5m for the effort of looting it.

Elite Brackenridge, Grounds and Tower are most popular because they only take 2-10 minutes - a very reasonable time frame for casual gamers. I don't mind leaving the harder maps (like Aqueducts and Skull Cove) to the dedicated farmers, but the shortage of casual elite maps causes many people to lose interest. I used to farm the other elite Dead City maps, but they took a long time to run, was hard to find a group, and after a long run consuming tons of pots, I would end up with a junk drop. And by junk I mean a green....not even a purple or a copper chest. A drop like that does not even compensate for the pot usage of the run, so, therefore, everyone stops running the map, myself included.

There should be some type of system where these really hard, really long elite maps have a much higher drop rate. Kudos to STS for introducing map-specific drops. I say that if 10 back-to-back runs of these challenging elite maps do not yield worthwhile loot (like golden chests or solid pinks - even non-elite) then something is wrong. That means there is absolutely NO incentive to farm there, which then puts everyone back into the same three or four maps.

Honestly, I think that an odds-system (similar to those used by Vegas bookies, or Horse Race bookies) where the drop probability changes based on volume of games would help distribute the load of PUGs across all maps. If no-one runs Elite Skull Cove (and hasn't in a while) then the elite drop rate becomes 80%, but as more and more flood into the map, the drop rate decreases. This would mean that the Elite Jarl drop rate would be something like 1%, Elite Bael probably about 10-12% and Elite Aquaduct more like 50%. This redistribution of odds based on gameplay would ensure widespread activity in all maps, promote activity on infrequently used maps, and give farmers something to chase (knowing the change in probability). In the end, this probably wouldn't change the overall inventory of elites in game (because of shifting drop rates), but would just make things more fun and less of a drag. If you are looking at an hour-long run in Elite Skull Cove, but you know you probably have a 50/50 chance of a really good drop, you will be more inclined to make that run. If you just want a quick, fun and somewhat challenging run at Jarl, you can do so, but your chance of a great drop would be more like 2% because that's where everyone goes...well, that's acceptable too.

Just my thought...

[Rare]

Seriously, I really think that Elite Seas should be made PuGable and everything will be fine. And maintain the difficulty of the maps.

Most people do not play because they can't find a fast and consistent way of making gold.

Just make some changes to the timer in Elite Seas and it will be like Elite Mardrom in season 2, harder and longer than Jarl but a more consistent income.

The other elite KI maps don't have to be changed so the more hardcore players can still farm their rare Malisons, and Bloodhammer gears.

In conclusion, if Elite Seas is puggable, then

1) a more consistent income of gold for all players
2) All players will be able to farm Elite Seas since it does not require plat revive to be played perfectly, so it's puggable
3) the number of elite pirates chests in circulation increases
4) difficulty of obtaining lv 26 end game gear will decrease
5) rare item hunters can hunt other elite KI maps for rarer Bloodhammer sets, Malison and Kettle eggs

So...yea?

I like all those suggestions. The introduction of the map specific loot will help a lot to alleviate the constant brack/tower/seas type runs. Because honestly, its get a little boring running those right? Even more so for people that dedicate a lot of time.

[yoho]

I think that the point of the conversation here isn't so much about distribution of "elite" pinks, but rather the fact that in order to farm elite pinks you need to have elite pinks to be successful.

100k is enough to have a set elite enough to run any map (for rogue)
It's one elite golden pirate chest to sell. And you can be competitive with other rogues/mages in pvp with this set (warriors are from higher caste)

[Rare]

100k is enough to have a set elite enough to run any map (for rogue)
It's one elite golden pirate chest to sell. And you can be competitive with other rogues/mages in pvp with this set (warriors are from higher caste)

100k? What set is that?

[GoodSyntax]

I'm curious as well

[yoho]

clever lifethiefs 25 or alp21
warfare jewelry lvl26
red beard's cap of security/tactics/sealord mesh of stability
red beard's vest of force/sealord of force str version

you can run any elite.. armor up to 920 without pet, decent dps

[GoodSyntax]

I assume you are referring to lv 26 Red Beard items, because the lv 25's are much more expensive and would put you way over the 100K limit.

Sure, you could run an elite with that set, but it's really about 70% of what a top end set can offer. I wouldn't run an elite Kraken map with that set unless I had a good pet like Malison and a good team. Even then I wouldn't attempt the more difficult maps like Skull Cove.

This is definitely enough for comfortable elite tower runs though - maybe even Windmoore Harbor.

I see what you mean about a good enough set though. The stats are pretty good given the price.

[Lady_Pebbles]

Depends on the set you're trying to get for your own specific build. Lets face it, some classes have elite gear thats way cheaper than others. It sucks. :/

I agree with a lot of ppl on this thread. Gonna be giving out hella thanks lol.

[Chaokaban]

Depends on the set you're trying to get for your own specific build. Lets face it, some classes have elite gear thats way cheaper than others. It sucks. :/

I agree with a lot of ppl on this thread. Gonna be giving out hella thanks lol.

The classes with cheaper gears are usually more useless than the other gears.

[TheStoic]

The classes with cheaper gears are usually more useless than the other gears.

I wonder if my alt rogue's gear are effective at elite maps:

Lvl 25 Agile Heartseekers of Brut
Lvl 25 Agile Ranger Cloak of Will
Lvl 25 Agile Leather of Security

P.S. My rogue is currently lvl 23, but I purchased items already.

[Lady_Pebbles]

The classes with cheaper gears are usually more useless than the other gears.

Only if theres players behind them who don't know what they're doing.