Writ Reward Improvements
Material Shipments received from Writ Rewards have been revamped!
Instead of only receiving material from a lower tier than your crafting passive rank, you will now receive a distribution of materials with the majority of the materials being for your current material tier based on passive rank.
You will also receive a small amount of material for your next tier to allow you to stockpile a bit in advance so when you rank up, you will have the materials you need to keep going.
You will still receive a small amount of materials randomly chosen from a previous tier in order to support making equipment for lower level characters.
Added Clam Gall and Powdered Mother of Pearl as rare rewards from Alchemy Writs.
Good to see some more information - I had been wondering how that was all going to shake out.
It sounds like mats for crafting writs will become less sustainable at lower levels, but a little bit more sustainable at the highest level. That is helpful for me now, but it would have sucked when I was starting out 18 months ago. It's going to take a bigger time investment in farming for people leveling their first character to get to the point where they can fulfill all of the writs every day. That's kind of a big deal for those players because it's currently one of the best ways to get some gold when you're just getting started.
As for the higher levels, this will likely allow me to put points back into my clothier crafting level. I dropped back down to level 1 a couple weeks ago when I ran out of silk and started doing writs with jute instead. I sold all of the master writs I had been holding that required silk. I'm getting a bit of a stockpile again, and these changes will keep it from running down so fast, and with enough farm-as-you-go and deconstruction, it might even be self-sustaining for one character.
Jewelry crafting is still pointless for anything other than improving dropped pieces, so I'll just keep doing those with pewter.
Good to see some more information - I had been wondering how that was all going to shake out.
It sounds like mats for crafting writs will become less sustainable at lower levels, but a little bit more sustainable at the highest level. That is helpful for me now, but it would have sucked when I was starting out 18 months ago. It's going to take a bigger time investment in farming for people leveling their first character to get to the point where they can fulfill all of the writs every day. That's kind of a big deal for those players because it's currently one of the best ways to get some gold when you're just getting started.
As for the higher levels, this will likely allow me to put points back into my clothier crafting level. I dropped back down to level 1 a couple weeks ago when I ran out of silk and started doing writs with jute instead. I sold all of the master writs I had been holding that required silk. I'm getting a bit of a stockpile again, and these changes will keep it from running down so fast, and with enough farm-as-you-go and deconstruction, it might even be self-sustaining for one character.
Jewelry crafting is still pointless for anything other than improving dropped pieces, so I'll just keep doing those with pewter.
I agree that the 1st tier writs are now going to be far less sustainable. Any of my characters that aren't doing top tier writs are doing tier 1 writs, as it's wholly sustainable. With the update, it won't be, so I'll have to move some to higher tiers once I start running out of tier 1 mats. I'll still get some doing top tier writs, but it's not a reliable way to get tier 1 mats.
I like what seems to be another change, that you get cloth mats when doing cloth writs and leather mats when doing leather writs. That will help to build up silk, certainly, as top tier writs are now somewhat sustainable and knowing I'll definitely get 15 silk when doing a cloth writ, will make doing them much easier.
I don't particularly like the change to the jewelry mats, as getting 5 meant tier 1 was pretty much sustainable. It still will be, if you get pewter as random rewards from other tiers, but if you have more than 1 alt doing those tier 1 writs (as I do), I'll run out sooner. Well, maybe not, if enough pewter drops from the top tier writs. Also, not sure why 1 UNREFINED copper DUST is provided and not 1 refined ounce, at tier 2, unlike the other tiers which provide 1 ounce of refined mats.
I was also hoping that at top tier, we'd get an additional batch of mats at that level, since there is no higher level, but of course, they decided to give us 10 of a lower level instead.
Also, another change to writs has to do with the Alchemy master writs, where the requirement will be 16 potions/poisons instead of 20. Thank Azura! No more stacks of 12 poisons leftover.
Good to see some more information - I had been wondering how that was all going to shake out.
It sounds like mats for crafting writs will become less sustainable at lower levels, but a little bit more sustainable at the highest level. That is helpful for me now, but it would have sucked when I was starting out 18 months ago. It's going to take a bigger time investment in farming for people leveling their first character to get to the point where they can fulfill all of the writs every day. That's kind of a big deal for those players because it's currently one of the best ways to get some gold when you're just getting started.
As for the higher levels, this will likely allow me to put points back into my clothier crafting level. I dropped back down to level 1 a couple weeks ago when I ran out of silk and started doing writs with jute instead. I sold all of the master writs I had been holding that required silk. I'm getting a bit of a stockpile again, and these changes will keep it from running down so fast, and with enough farm-as-you-go and deconstruction, it might even be self-sustaining for one character.
Jewelry crafting is still pointless for anything other than improving dropped pieces, so I'll just keep doing those with pewter.
I agree that the 1st tier writs are now going to be far less sustainable. Any of my characters that aren't doing top tier writs are doing tier 1 writs, as it's wholly sustainable. With the update, it won't be, so I'll have to move some to higher tiers once I start running out of tier 1 mats. I'll still get some doing top tier writs, but it's not a reliable way to get tier 1 mats.
I like what seems to be another change, that you get cloth mats when doing cloth writs and leather mats when doing leather writs. That will help to build up silk, certainly, as top tier writs are now somewhat sustainable and knowing I'll definitely get 15 silk when doing a cloth writ, will make doing them much easier.
I don't particularly like the change to the jewelry mats, as getting 5 meant tier 1 was pretty much sustainable. It still will be, if you get pewter as random rewards from other tiers, but if you have more than 1 alt doing those tier 1 writs (as I do), I'll run out sooner. Well, maybe not, if enough pewter drops from the top tier writs. Also, not sure why 1 UNREFINED copper DUST is provided and not 1 refined ounce, at tier 2, unlike the other tiers which provide 1 ounce of refined mats.
I was also hoping that at top tier, we'd get an additional batch of mats at that level, since there is no higher level, but of course, they decided to give us 10 of a lower level instead.
Also, another change to writs has to do with the Alchemy master writs, where the requirement will be 16 potions/poisons instead of 20. Thank Azura! No more stacks of 12 poisons leftover.
currently, you get 25 at a lower tier from max level... now at least you get 15 from your tier, and 10 from a lower. I'd say it's an improvement.
GrumpyDuckling wrote: »Is this going to impact in any way the acquisition of Chromium Grains or Chromium Plating (for gold jewelry)?
It's about 400k gold per piece of jewelry to upgrade from purple to gold -- that's absurd so I'm wondering if writs are the way to go?
Taleof2Cities wrote: »GrumpyDuckling wrote: »Is this going to impact in any way the acquisition of Chromium Grains or Chromium Plating (for gold jewelry)?
It's about 400k gold per piece of jewelry to upgrade from purple to gold -- that's absurd so I'm wondering if writs are the way to go?
Though I haven't personally tested the drops for improvement grains/platings on PTS ... the patch notes only allude to the refined materials.
Not sure if @tmbrinks kept track of improvement grains drops. I don't think these drops changed, however.
I think you've probably read this in other threads, @GrumpyDuckling, but the reason Chromium Grains are rare is so players aren't skipping difficult content to get their gold jewelry.
Updated Clam Gall and Powdered Mother of Pearl drops... 56 alchemy writs, 0 drops so far. Yikes.
redspecter23 wrote: »Updated Clam Gall and Powdered Mother of Pearl drops... 56 alchemy writs, 0 drops so far. Yikes.
At this point we have to question if the system was actually implemented at all. Are there reports of anyone actually receiving these rewards from writs? I'm fine with them being extremely rare, but it's very hard for players to know the difference between "extremely rare" and "non existant" in a test environment when we aren't told the drop rates to test with.
Had ZOS said the drop rate was "approximately 25%" there would be a very good chance it's broken. Without knowing actual intended drop rates, we have no clue. To be safe, I'd report it to ZOS as a bug and have them recheck on their end if the drop rates are appropriate.
IntelligentAmsomniac wrote: »Thanks for all the testing! However, with the drop rate of clam gall and powdered mother of pearl suggested in this thread, they may have not added them at all from my point of few. At least you should get the usual 3 when you get them or the drop rate will be meaninglessly low.
Also, is there a difference in the golden improvement materials' drop chance depending on what level writs you do? Specifically, are my chances of getting an alloy/wax/rosin/kuta lower for level 1 writs compared to doing them at max level? Just wondering what's the optimal level of writs to complete to maximize my chances of getting those improvement materials to drop.
Any more updates on this @tmbrinks?
I'm currently preparing some crafting alts on the live server to help generate some additional resources once U21 hits, and part of that was getting them all to master alchemist for the clam gall/mother of pearl drops. If the chance is less than 5%, I'm not sure I'll bother doing alchemy on those characters -- seems like they would eat more resources than they generate, or at best break even.
I'm not sure how to feel about that. As a clam hunter, I'm happy to see a solid source of income remain viable. On the other hand, if the value of those materials doesn't tank from the market being flooded with them, I would also be happy to have a few extra in my pocket to sell or use personally.
Taleof2Cities wrote: »GrumpyDuckling wrote: »Is this going to impact in any way the acquisition of Chromium Grains or Chromium Plating (for gold jewelry)?
It's about 400k gold per piece of jewelry to upgrade from purple to gold -- that's absurd so I'm wondering if writs are the way to go?
Though I haven't personally tested the drops for improvement grains/platings on PTS ... the patch notes only allude to the refined materials.
Not sure if @tmbrinks kept track of improvement grains drops. I don't think these drops changed, however.
I think you've probably read this in other threads, @GrumpyDuckling, but the reason Chromium Grains are rare is so players aren't skipping difficult content to get their gold jewelry.
I have not kept track of the drop rates for refining or writs on PTS. There was no mention of the drop rates changing on the patch notes (doesn't mean they haven't... they've stealth changed things before)
I have, however, kept track of drop rates from refining on Live... it's a 0.5% drop from refining for all gold improvement materials. I haven't specifically kept track from doing JC writs, but anecdotal evidence would suggest me to believe the drop rate from a writ is between 15-20%, I'll usually get between 2-5 a day doing JC writs on 15 characters (8 at max level, 7 at level 1) Each week, from the surveys I get from them as well, I generally harvest about 2k platinum dust, which is good for another 10 or so grains a week.
At least on PC/NA, it's only about 300k now (Platings are selling for about 75k), so that puts it in line with Necklaces from the golden. I know it may be more on other platforms.
GrumpyDuckling wrote: »Thanks for the responsesTaleof2Cities wrote: »GrumpyDuckling wrote: »Is this going to impact in any way the acquisition of Chromium Grains or Chromium Plating (for gold jewelry)?
It's about 400k gold per piece of jewelry to upgrade from purple to gold -- that's absurd so I'm wondering if writs are the way to go?
Though I haven't personally tested the drops for improvement grains/platings on PTS ... the patch notes only allude to the refined materials.
Not sure if @tmbrinks kept track of improvement grains drops. I don't think these drops changed, however.
I think you've probably read this in other threads, @GrumpyDuckling, but the reason Chromium Grains are rare is so players aren't skipping difficult content to get their gold jewelry.
I have not kept track of the drop rates for refining or writs on PTS. There was no mention of the drop rates changing on the patch notes (doesn't mean they haven't... they've stealth changed things before)
I have, however, kept track of drop rates from refining on Live... it's a 0.5% drop from refining for all gold improvement materials. I haven't specifically kept track from doing JC writs, but anecdotal evidence would suggest me to believe the drop rate from a writ is between 15-20%, I'll usually get between 2-5 a day doing JC writs on 15 characters (8 at max level, 7 at level 1) Each week, from the surveys I get from them as well, I generally harvest about 2k platinum dust, which is good for another 10 or so grains a week.
At least on PC/NA, it's only about 300k now (Platings are selling for about 75k), so that puts it in line with Necklaces from the golden. I know it may be more on other platforms.
Hey @tmbrinks ,
Just curious if you ever get gold improvement materials from your 7 characters that are at level 1 when you do JC writs with them, or if the gold improvement materials only drop on your 8 max level characters. Thanks.
GrumpyDuckling wrote: »Thanks for the responsesTaleof2Cities wrote: »GrumpyDuckling wrote: »Is this going to impact in any way the acquisition of Chromium Grains or Chromium Plating (for gold jewelry)?
It's about 400k gold per piece of jewelry to upgrade from purple to gold -- that's absurd so I'm wondering if writs are the way to go?
Though I haven't personally tested the drops for improvement grains/platings on PTS ... the patch notes only allude to the refined materials.
Not sure if @tmbrinks kept track of improvement grains drops. I don't think these drops changed, however.
I think you've probably read this in other threads, @GrumpyDuckling, but the reason Chromium Grains are rare is so players aren't skipping difficult content to get their gold jewelry.
I have not kept track of the drop rates for refining or writs on PTS. There was no mention of the drop rates changing on the patch notes (doesn't mean they haven't... they've stealth changed things before)
I have, however, kept track of drop rates from refining on Live... it's a 0.5% drop from refining for all gold improvement materials. I haven't specifically kept track from doing JC writs, but anecdotal evidence would suggest me to believe the drop rate from a writ is between 15-20%, I'll usually get between 2-5 a day doing JC writs on 15 characters (8 at max level, 7 at level 1) Each week, from the surveys I get from them as well, I generally harvest about 2k platinum dust, which is good for another 10 or so grains a week.
At least on PC/NA, it's only about 300k now (Platings are selling for about 75k), so that puts it in line with Necklaces from the golden. I know it may be more on other platforms.
Hey @tmbrinks ,
Just curious if you ever get gold improvement materials from your 7 characters that are at level 1 when you do JC writs with them, or if the gold improvement materials only drop on your 8 max level characters. Thanks.
Yes, chromium grains do drop on the level 1 JC writs
GrumpyDuckling wrote: »Thanks for the responsesTaleof2Cities wrote: »GrumpyDuckling wrote: »Is this going to impact in any way the acquisition of Chromium Grains or Chromium Plating (for gold jewelry)?
It's about 400k gold per piece of jewelry to upgrade from purple to gold -- that's absurd so I'm wondering if writs are the way to go?
Though I haven't personally tested the drops for improvement grains/platings on PTS ... the patch notes only allude to the refined materials.
Not sure if @tmbrinks kept track of improvement grains drops. I don't think these drops changed, however.
I think you've probably read this in other threads, @GrumpyDuckling, but the reason Chromium Grains are rare is so players aren't skipping difficult content to get their gold jewelry.
I have not kept track of the drop rates for refining or writs on PTS. There was no mention of the drop rates changing on the patch notes (doesn't mean they haven't... they've stealth changed things before)
I have, however, kept track of drop rates from refining on Live... it's a 0.5% drop from refining for all gold improvement materials. I haven't specifically kept track from doing JC writs, but anecdotal evidence would suggest me to believe the drop rate from a writ is between 15-20%, I'll usually get between 2-5 a day doing JC writs on 15 characters (8 at max level, 7 at level 1) Each week, from the surveys I get from them as well, I generally harvest about 2k platinum dust, which is good for another 10 or so grains a week.
At least on PC/NA, it's only about 300k now (Platings are selling for about 75k), so that puts it in line with Necklaces from the golden. I know it may be more on other platforms.
Hey @tmbrinks ,
Just curious if you ever get gold improvement materials from your 7 characters that are at level 1 when you do JC writs with them, or if the gold improvement materials only drop on your 8 max level characters. Thanks.
Yes, chromium grains do drop on the level 1 JC writs
Is this the same rate as max tier jc writs.
@tmbrinks
Hello, I know you have the other writ data thread going on so not sure to use this one or that.
Have you noticed any change/reversion on live for this data?
The reason I ask is I've been doing CP160+ Tier One for my own data and I am seeing 20 Iron and 5 Steel - 20 Jute 5 Flax and 20 Maple 5 Oak on all.
And I am getting all of that even when I get both a BS and a Cloth Survey.
I guess it could just be because at Tier 1 the system doesn't have anything to compute, but I won't be upping my material passives on these writs for a long while.