the ballingest sigil staff there ever was

[Merzbow]

Does bane actually work with a runestaff though, given that nobody actually swings a runestaff at a mob?

To answer my own question, it does look like they've made this work:

http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthrea...41#post1908741

Runestave flares can have +spell AS/CS from 2 different sources depending on how the bane is set up, you can only select one version for your bane effect (also depending on what the event/merchant offers as options):


1) Bane acuity flares which function just like acuity flares in the combat slot (against bane creature type).

You could also have acuity flares in the main combat slot. In that case, if you had #1 bane option then you'd have a chance for both the bane acuity flares and the main combat slot acuity flares to flare on each spell vs. creatures of that bane type

or

2) Bane +Spell AS which adds to spell AS/CS (CS at 3/5 strength of the spell AS bonus) attacks on every spell (against bane creature type), think of this like a zelnorn weapon for melee.

If you had #2 option, you'd get the bane +Spell AS/CS every attack vs a bane creature plus a chance for the main combat slot acuity flares to flare.

(At the moment somebody is actually selling a nervestaff in the marketplace with extraplanar bane, which inspired me to dig into this more.) So I suppose technically the undead certs from HESS could work on a runestaff in this way, although it would be a fantastically disgusting waste of a cert that could have been put to far better use on a weapon, since magic always hits undead anyways. (I assume for 450k you got greater undead bane, no?) I don't remember when other types of bane certs were offered or what the prices were, but non-undead certs for much cheaper (presumably like what was used on that nervestaff) would be a much better idea.

[Maerit]

Faster arena runs and invasions, I guess, but that's not really enough. I think the only thing which can truly justify these uber items will be the rumored super-hard post-cap areas.

This is actually less a factor for either of these cases. My sorcerer would have basically no use. Acuity+Ensorcell are the only advantage since 717 can 1-shot everything in the arena except the automatons that are immune (711 for those). In invasions, you're using mass spells most of the time, and the sigil staff flare doesn't work with mass spells.

Where a staff like this helps is a 40s or 50s pure who is using their 302, 702/705, 1106, or 3s bolt spells to kill targets. That's when you get the most bang for your buck. Double-casting a steam bolt when rapid fire is on cooldown and getting those flares - super great! At cap, you might cut your kill time down by 1s if you're a rapid fire wizard, or by 3s if you're a warding pure who didn't kill on the first hit.

[BLZrizz]

At any point, Simutronics could have ended the cash for items/silver market. It's not like it's hard to find who is doing and trading what.

Microtransactions are nothing new though, this is simply the route the gaming industry has taken. The problem stems from the introduction of new, pay only, currency and an abundance of the in-game currency. The silver market crashing is a result of the 'new' currencies being favored explicitly while silvers just stagnate and build in excess.

Stopping the cash market would have hastened the end of the game in my view. The P2P cash market actually helps by allocating content to those who value (and presumably will use) it most.

The current problem boils down to a perfect storm of: 1) declining population numbers, 2) failure to institute systems-based silver demand mechanisms like breakage/repair/maintenance, and 3) excessively liberal gear distribution after they discovered the golden Duskruin goose. Addressing #1 would ameliorate the others, but it may be too late for #2. A growing, thriving population would not only support a lively P2P cash market, but would also support more events and more expansive high-end gear distribution. Right now I think we all have a sense that it's the same 15-20 people at the HESS and the same 50 at DR every time, and even those people will eventually hit their limits. The population is now basically a stagnating inverted pyramid, where the number of capped, well-geared people outnumber the rest. I will always refuse to believe that with 1.5 billion english speakers in the world Simu can only find 1500 of those, or .000001%, who enjoy Gemstone.

If you think of GS4 content as composed of three pillars (player community, gear & events, and the in-game world & systems), keeping all three in balance and in a state of growth leads to longevity of the game. But now it's mostly #2 that drives development and resources, vs all three doing so equally. That is why the game will be facing headwinds going forward.

[subzero]

This thread is proof (as if we needed more) that you people need help.

[Fortybox]

After some discussion on Discord recently about the benefits of a T5 sigil staff I thought it would be fun to conduct a little thought experiment. How far can we whale up a sigil staff? Let's see:

T5 sigil staff, 6 spell capacity, 10x acuity, rotflares, 10x enchant, T5 ensorcell

So how do we get there, and how much does it cost? Let's start at just the Sigil Shop (assuming you're one of the lucky few with a fast enough script to buy a T5 cert in the first few seconds of Duskruin):

a sigil-carved orase walking stick: starts out at T1 and 4x enchant, 1k BS
a pale sigil certificate: T2, 10k BS
a bright sigil certificate: T3, 50k BS
a vibrant sigil certificate: T4, 100k BS
a glowing sigil certificate: T5, 250k BS
a sigil-covered ticket x 5: spell capacity of 6, 5x5=25k BS

Running total: 436k BS

Now let's go to the HESS. As we've learned from Estild, sigil staves do not take up the flare slot, not even T5 staves, so let's add a flare! But not just any flare, only 10x Acuity will do it for us:

a puce flat acuity ticket: 6x acuity, 30k BS
a brown open acuity ticket x 4: 10x acuity, 4x40=160k BS

Running total: 626k BS

Of course we have to add rotflares (which do not take up the flare slot as we all know by now):

a yellowed rotflare contract: rotflares, 400k BS

Running total: 1026k BS

We still need to enchant and ensorcell it up. Enchant is a little tricky. I'll assume a player wizard will take it to 7x but not beyond (either because it's impossible or too hard). For 8x, 9x, and 10x I'll assume the use of enchant certs from the HESS (or pee pee points for an equivalent cost):

uber wizard fees for 4x to 7x enchant: 50m, or 40k BS
a shiny enchant document x 3: 10x enchant, 3x100=300k BS

Running total: 1366k BS

As for ensorcelling, I'll assume a player sorcerer can bring it to 3x, but 4x and 5x might be too hard. Let's assume the use of the new ensorcell-assist pots at Spellbound:

uber sorc fees for T0 to T5 ensorcell: 30m, or 24k BS
dark swirling draught x 2: 60x2=120k BS

Final total: 1,510,000 BS, or $7,550

Actually that's not horrible compared to what non-pures have been known to spend on ebows, splitters, lances, and so on.

Sweet - take it to OTF and get disarmed.

Goodbye staff.

[mgoddess]

Sweet - take it to OTF and get disarmed.

Goodbye staff.

Exactly this. No way in hell would I put that much into any sort of thing that can be disarmed so easily.

[Methais]

After some discussion on Discord recently about the benefits of a T5 sigil staff I thought it would be fun to conduct a little thought experiment. How far can we whale up a sigil staff? Let's see:

T5 sigil staff, 6 spell capacity, 10x acuity, rotflares, 10x enchant, T5 ensorcell

So how do we get there, and how much does it cost? Let's start at just the Sigil Shop (assuming you're one of the lucky few with a fast enough script to buy a T5 cert in the first few seconds of Duskruin):

a sigil-carved orase walking stick: starts out at T1 and 4x enchant, 1k BS
a pale sigil certificate: T2, 10k BS
a bright sigil certificate: T3, 50k BS
a vibrant sigil certificate: T4, 100k BS
a glowing sigil certificate: T5, 250k BS
a sigil-covered ticket x 5: spell capacity of 6, 5x5=25k BS

Running total: 436k BS

Now let's go to the HESS. As we've learned from Estild, sigil staves do not take up the flare slot, not even T5 staves, so let's add a flare! But not just any flare, only 10x Acuity will do it for us:

a puce flat acuity ticket: 6x acuity, 30k BS
a brown open acuity ticket x 4: 10x acuity, 4x40=160k BS

Running total: 626k BS

Of course we have to add rotflares (which do not take up the flare slot as we all know by now):

a yellowed rotflare contract: rotflares, 400k BS

Running total: 1026k BS

We still need to enchant and ensorcell it up. Enchant is a little tricky. I'll assume a player wizard will take it to 7x but not beyond (either because it's impossible or too hard). For 8x, 9x, and 10x I'll assume the use of enchant certs from the HESS (or pee pee points for an equivalent cost):

uber wizard fees for 4x to 7x enchant: 50m, or 40k BS
a shiny enchant document x 3: 10x enchant, 3x100=300k BS

Running total: 1366k BS

As for ensorcelling, I'll assume a player sorcerer can bring it to 3x, but 4x and 5x might be too hard. Let's assume the use of the new ensorcell-assist pots at Spellbound:

uber sorc fees for T0 to T5 ensorcell: 30m, or 24k BS
dark swirling draught x 2: 60x2=120k BS

Final total: 1,510,000 BS, or $7,550

Actually that's not horrible compared to what non-pures have been known to spend on ebows, splitters, lances, and so on.

All that investment and Simu thinks it's still cool to have Disarm in the game.

[Methais]

Or perhaps a little Keeping up with the Jones syndrome.

This is what fuels most of the player base's extreme stupidity, imo.

[Methais]

This would make sense if this were 1997 and your $39.95 per month paid for DuskRuin and EG etc. But as of now you either pay hundreds of RL $ on top of your sub or you sell in-game stuff for RL cash which even you do Roblar (no disrespect just pointing out what’s needed to afford any of this stuff). Granted there are still wandering merchants and silvers-only festivals but they pale in comparison to progress that can be made at Dusk or other pay events including exclusive unique items.

The best way to see the lunacy of what’s happening is to try and explain Simu’s pay2play model to another veteran MMO player who never heard of or played Gemstone.

Ignoring it’s text base (which is subjective) they are shocked at the subscription price tag of 15 bucks for 1 character slot. Then I tell them about premium’s 39.95 which they can’t believe. I didn’t mention Plat and it’s 50 bucks a month to play in a world of 10 people because I seriously thought he would just think I’m making all this stuff up.

Then I told him about the microtransactions on top of all that. His vacant eyes basically said it, “impossible.” and his next words were “show me.” I did, including how many players were on through WHO. He still didn’t believe this was a real thing and had to speak to a random at TSC and get from her the exact same things I told him. I sealed with Simu’s CC and Sub page.

His response was something pertaining to addiction and mental health. He was a WoW and now BDO player.

Someone should go to Blizzcon or some similar event that has MMO players all over the place and do this, but record it and post the videos of their reactions.