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iouman2013 on Apr 3, 2021 wrote:

so as many know about the way spellements are going to be put in game is by key bosses now i just have to say this is not going to be a good idea because for 1 keys are already hard as is and on top of that key bosses drop rates for gear and such is equally bad (aphrodite is the best example ive prolly spent 4-5 pages worth just to get the ring it shouldnt take that many for just a simple ring) now because theres some people ive argued with a long time about about the dungeon in old town that used to give wooden keys every time you finished it it was deemed "too op" the best you can get with wooden keys is literally a storm spell named "catch of the day" yes its strong but only people who'd use it is storm now im not going to ask or demand that there be dungeons to get said keys because im 100% certain theres going to be stubborn people saying thats lazy idc i honestly think that if this path of getting newer spellements if gonna be from key bosses there has to be a better way to get them and imo i think it should be through crafting ive probably made at least 5-6 comments about it in different places and my idea for getting each tier of key for said bosses is this

wooden keys: 25 mist wood + 1 shocked key = 1 wooden key

stone keys: 25 stone brick + 1 shocked key = 1 stone key

gold keys: 25 golden pearls + 1 shocked key = 1 gold key

So I have several thoughts about this idea. Let me start by saying I definitely want to craft keys, too. I have some concerns based on how this is about balance. This heavily favors the crafter, and devalues farming. Here, I will attempt to address this issue in a few ways.

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The first thing I saw in this post was the proposed recipes, as that's how the formatting was done, so I'll start there. While shocked keys may SEEM difficult to obtain, it's actually ridiculously easy to get them just by growing Key Limes, which drop from a LOT of bosses in the 2nd and 3rd arc. As a result, the other reagents involved need to be more difficult to obtain or require more of them. For example, 25 stone blocks is barely 10 minutes in stone town or shadow palace. Here's my proposed adjustments to these recipes. I do have a few ideas for how this could work, so I will post them in order of difficulty

50 Mist Wood + 1 shocked key = 1 wooden key
50 Stone Blocks + 2 shocked keys = 1 stone key
25 golden pearls + 3 shocked keys = 1 gold key

25 golden pearls seems the closest to fair. While it's easily farmed from mirror lake, it's not as easy to get en masse as stone block and mist wood are. Here is another way you could do key progression:

50 Mist Wood + 1 shocked key = 1 wooden key
1 wooden key + 75 stone blocks + 1 shocked key = 1 stone key
1 stone key + 25 golden pearls + 1 shocked key = 1 gold key

Requiring each previous key incentivizes farming stone or wood keys rather than just crafting the tier you need. The reason I increase the number of keys required at each tier is because shocked keys only have 1 set of tines, like wood keys, but stone keys have 2 sets of tines and gold keys 3. I know it's a silly reason loosely related to the lore, but having difficult to obtain things feel worthwhile is important. I personally feel both ways I proposed these recipes above feel a bit cheap, so here's the last idea I have to propose for recipes.

100 Mist Wood + 1 Mote of Wisdom + 5 Shocked Keys = 1 Wood Key
75 Stone Blocks + 1 Mote of Beauty + 10 Shocked Keys + 1 Wood Key = 1 Stone Key
50 Golden Pearls + 1 Mote of Eternity + 15 Shocked Keys + 1 Stone Key = 1 Gold Key

This gives an additional use to the Motes beyond the Darkmoor deck (which is hardly used) and tapestries (which aren't crafted repeatedly). Yes, it's a drastic step up, but I feel it's the most realistic of these ideas. Keys are something which should be farmed. If you can't get them from their intended location, or want to farm somewhere else, this offers a backup.

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The next thing I want to address is where these recipes can be found and what level of crafting would be needed to use them, since you didn't mention that. Keys wouldn't be at a transmute vendor, as they aren't reagents, so here's my take at what makes sense. To be clear, all key recipes should require a housing crafting station.

While you can get wood keys as early as Wizard City, you can't use them until Krok, and even then, it's balanced for a higher level player. I think Initiate (Marleybone) level crafting would be good for wood keys. Adding a recipe vendor with a valuable recipe to Kensington Park would encourage actually going there, so I would propose that be where the wood key recipe is kept. I think it should be taught by a side boss after he is beaten, maybe by adding a wood key room with a ghost or a ghoul of some form inside.

Stone Keys don't become commonly droppable until Avalon, so I would propose Zafaria crafting be required, as there is no Avalon crafting quest. The recipe should be out of the way, but still in a dungeon. Taking inspiration from Grady, I think the recipe vendor should spawn in the armory of Ghost Avalon after finishing it for the first time. Something along the lines of crafting stone keys being an art lost to the past.

For gold keys, let's require Khrysalis crafting be completed, as we can't access them earlier anyways. Gold Keys drop almost exclusively in Darkmoor, so it's time to add a recipe vendor into the graveyard waiting area. Again, this vendor should be a ghost to support the idea that this is lost knowledge.

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I think that having easier ways to get rare drops is very good. I think it should still be difficult, and that we need to use Aquilla gear as an example. Encouraging people to do difficult things should be rewarded, and Grady is an example.

I think as proposed, the recipes need adjusting, and I would look forward to seeing other replies to this.