Master Writs: After 3 Weeks & 1K+ Writs

UrQuan

Yesterday was a full 3 weeks worth of max-level writs since Homestead dropped, and it was also the day when I hit a milestone of having completed 1,000 max-level writs (just over 1,000 actually) since it became possible to get master writs as a reward for them. So I thought it would be a good time to share the drop rates I've experienced so far for master writs.

This comes from doing all 6 writs at max-level every day on each of 8 characters (I've got 4 more characters I could be doing max-level writs on, but then I'd have to farm or buy mats to keep my supplies from dwindling, and I can't be bothered at the moment). I haven't yet done today's writs, and I wasn't smart enough to grab writs the day before Homestead dropped and wait until after the update to complete them, so this is exactly 21 days worth of writs.

All 8 characters have every achievement for both Alchemy and Enchanting, so their chances of having master writs drop for those crafts are as high as possible. One character knows almost every provisioning recipe (everything except for mythic ambrosia and a couple of low-level recipes), and a couple of others know a smattering of purple and gold recipes, while the rest have only green and blue recipes. Everyone has the recipe book etc achievements.

One character is a 9-trait crafter in all 3 equipment skills, and knows every motif except for the ones introduced with Homestead, and 2 of the ones introduced with the prior update. Two characters are each a 9-trait crafter in 1 of the equipment skills, and know all of the motifs that don't come as individual pages (barbaric, primal, etc) plus a couple of the ones that do come as pages (I used to have my equipment crafting divided between 3 crafters). The other characters only know a motif here and there, and a couple of traits per item.

So with that background on things that affect my master writ drop rates out of the way, here are the numbers on the master writ drops I've had so far.


The raw numbers for the totals, broken down by craft skill, number of max-level writs completed, number of master writs dropped, and total number of master writ vouchers the master writs were worth.


Some charts showing the breakdown of master writs and writ vouchers by craft skill.


Whoops, how did that get in there? Um, that's from the swimsuit edition of Orcish Lifestyle Magazine... It's for research purposes. Somehow.

Cpt_Teemo

Dang, and I thought I had bad luck I did 8 chars since the launch and managed to get atleast 320 total lol

UrQuan

Kyle1983b14_ESO wrote: »

Dang, and I thought I had bad luck I did 8 chars since the launch and managed to get atleast 320 total lol

Yeah, the overall master writ drop rate for me has been basically 5%. It definitely seems low to me.

Preyfar

I've got 8X crafters, one is 9/9 in everything, all motifs except latest... and I feel like I've barely gotten over 150 writ vouchers total since housing launched. And yes, I do them every single day on every character. Meanwhile, I know people who've gotten what feels like 1,000s and they're selling multiple Ebony Motifs, making tons of money off of it. I hate the fact you can sell the rewards. People who've been blessed by the RNG to make serious ban while the rest of us Master Crafters sit on the sidelines just kind of... hoping.

Nothing is more discouraging then getting only ONE Master Writ over a 4 day run, and it's like... what, worth 2 vouchers? Sadkhajiitface.

Note to self: Don't post before coffee. *edits, edits, edits*

Cpt_Teemo

Yeah just doesn't seem like achievements are affecting the outcome, time to make motifs / traits server wide now

geophonic_ESO

"Nice" data, thanks alot.
I´ll add the data I have gathered in the last 21 days too.
Only one crafter, all 9 traits (except one for tailoring), all crafting achievements, all pre-Homestead style motifs except Akaviri, +1 post-Homestead motif (Ro Wada).
These are the numbers:



So, I totally expect that some dev will jump in and say something along the line of "working as intended". That of course does not mean we like what we see :-) (@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom ?)

idk

I see more alchemy master writs as you do as well.

Would be nice to see a comparison of master writs for each type over time for characters well versed in their craft and especially when compared to characters that merely have the craft leveled up.

psychotic13

I've only done like 10 writs since homestead and had a 2 voucher master writ, and a 70 voucher one. It's RNG guys.

sold the 70 voucher one for 310k though

STEVIL

I also have seen more alchemy masters drop than anything else.

I think it has to do with achievements completion.

Once you unlock alchemy 50 you should already know all the traits and maybe then a few potions and poisons away from full pre-homestead achievements.

Every other craft has a variety of "other to do" on their achievements. provisions have purple recipes compelted, equips have motifs and traits, even enchant has crafting a hajeiko and truly legendary...

So alchemy is likely for most the highest of the percentage achieves of most ot all of their crafts day-one.

So it gives a higher percent drop rate.

for relatively few vouchers but...

the provisioning bug played into its low results but frankly i have not seen any significant change since their fix.

lardvader

Thanks for the data!

Your results are very similar to mine. I don't have the exact number of each MW but I've done a total of aprox. 45 and received around 390 vouchers.

I receive many alchemy writs but also enchanting. I'm pretty sure they are about the same in my case.

Still best paying writ was 62 vouchers - got it an alt with zero trait research and only the "rare styles" chivo + merc motif.

Kodrac

Kyle1983b14_ESO wrote: »

Yeah just doesn't seem like achievements are affecting the outcome, time to make motifs / traits server wide now

No, time to fix the RNG of master writs.

NightHawkRaven

Very informative, thanks for the data. I've had two writs in woodworking and have 5 vouchers, woohoo :-| Only 4 full crafters though.

UrQuan

STEVIL wrote: »

I also have seen more alchemy masters drop than anything else.

I think it has to do with achievements completion.

Once you unlock alchemy 50 you should already know all the traits and maybe then a few potions and poisons away from full pre-homestead achievements.

Every other craft has a variety of "other to do" on their achievements. provisions have purple recipes compelted, equips have motifs and traits, even enchant has crafting a hajeiko and truly legendary...

Agreed on why alchemy is dropping the most often (albeit with master writs that are only worth 2 or 5 vouchers). I would have expected to be getting about the same drop rate with enchanting, but I forgot about the truly legendary achievement. All of my characters have every enchanting achievement except that one. My main has it, but the others don't. And none of the others currently have skill points in the passive I'd need in order to craft with kuta.

STEVIL wrote: »

the provisioning bug played into its low results but frankly i have not seen any significant change since their fix.

I received 1 provisioning master writ (asking for Psijic Ambrosia) before the fix to the lower than intended drop rate, and 1 after the fix (asking for Orzorga's Smoked Bear Haunch).

UrQuan

lardvader wrote: »

Still best paying writ was 62 vouchers - got it an alt with zero trait research and only the "rare styles" chivo + merc motif.

I don't remember for sure (I could check my spreadsheet when I get home), but I think I've had a total of 4 writs drop that were worth more than 50 vouchers, and none of them dropped for my master crafter. He has been getting a higher number of master writs than my other characters, but they've all been for 10 vouchers or less.

ninti

Thanks for the data. I did some calcs on your data b/c that is what I am interested in:


I have been keeping data too, but not for as long or as complete as you. I have a main that has almost all motifs, almost all traits, and 60% of the purple and gold recipes. I have 4 more that have almost no motifs or recipes and 60-80% of the traits. I have 3 more that have almost nothing and don't do any equipment writs. All 8 characters are maxed on alchemy and enchanting. I have a little more than half the amount of writs completed as you do:



So despite only doing 600 writs to your 1000, I have received more master writs and more vouchers. My MasterWrit/Writ ratio is more than twice yours. The vouchers per master writ ratio is all over the place; sometimes they are close and sometimes they are fairly different.

ZOS really needs to look at their random number generator for awarding writs. Some people seem to be very lucky, and some very unlucky...more than RNG alone would seem to dictate. I have heard it from multiple people in guild chat, and this seems to give it some credence. Obviously more data is needed to be sure, but a good case is starting to be built.

UrQuan

ninti wrote: »

So despite only doing 600 writs to your 1000, I have received more master writs and more vouchers. My MasterWrit/Writ ratio is more than twice yours.

Anecdotally I seem to be having much worse RNG luck with master writs than my friends who I've discussed it with. I set up my tracker to continue until May so I'm going to keep track until then or until I lose interest, whichever happens first. I should probably add in calculations for the drop rates & average vouchers per writ like you did.

Taleof2Cities

Three (3) master crafter characters here ... so far 600+ vouchers in three weeks of dailies on those three characters.

I think the trait research is weighted heavier than most players think ... these three are 8 or 9-trait crafters.

Cpt_Teemo

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Three (3) master crafter characters here ... so far 600+ vouchers in three weeks of dailies on those three characters.

I think the trait research is weighted heavier than most players think ... these three are 8 or 9-trait crafters.

I have nearly almost all 8 traits and quite a few 9 traits and took me 15 days to get a master writ on my main crafter, that knows every motif including all the new ones but minus 9 Akaviri pages.

stupiddog

My god, you, Sir, are a crafting monster. I salute you.

UrQuan

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Three (3) master crafter characters here ... so far 600+ vouchers in three weeks of dailies on those three characters.

I think the trait research is weighted heavier than most players think ... these three are 8 or 9-trait crafters.

Well, 1 of my characters is 9 traits in everything for every craft, and 2 others are 9 traits in 1 craft each... So theoretically my drops from those 3 characters shouldn't be too far off from yours, plus any extra drops from my other characters doing writs.

UrQuan

stupiddog wrote: »

My god, you, Sir, are a crafting monster. I salute you.

Well, I'm a monster anyway.

MissBizz

Wondering if you kept the character data seperate as well. I think it would be interesting to see your super master crafter MW drop rate compared to a more average crafter (all traits, only some motifs kinda thing)

UrQuan

MissBizz wrote: »

Wondering if you kept the character data seperate as well. I think it would be interesting to see your super master crafter MW drop rate compared to a more average crafter (all traits, only some motifs kinda thing)

No, I would have kept it separate except I didn't actually start recording it until a week and a half into Homestead. I was only able to know for sure the totals up to that date because I knew that I'd done all 6 writs on each of 8 characters every day up until then, and I hadn't yet opened a single one of the master writs I had obtained, so they were all still sitting in my inventory.

NewBlacksmurf

Good info here.

Have you or anyone else earned a 0 voucher master writ to craft a eyes of Mara Ancient Orc helm?

If so are these things worth doin for 0 vouchers or is that a bug?

jakeedmundson

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Good info here.

Have you or anyone else earned a 0 voucher master writ to craft a eyes of Mara Ancient Orc helm?

If so are these things worth doin for 0 vouchers or is that a bug?

Can't imagine that would be intended.... no one will make a gold armor piece only to hand it in for no reason...

RABIDxWOLVERINE

Awesome data! this explains why I've only gotten one so far on console.

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Good info here.

Have you or anyone else earned a 0 voucher master writ to craft a eyes of Mara Ancient Orc helm?

If so are these things worth doin for 0 vouchers or is that a bug?

They all appear as 0 until you look at them then it will ask you to accept the quest or not. Once you have gotten to that point it will tell you the amount that it gives and then you can determine if you want to accept the contract or sell the master writ.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

I am doing master writs on 9 toons and have a very similar spread to what you described in terms of skill level. I wish I would have kept data, but I could probably collect it from sales data as I have sold all but 300 for ebony motif. I definitely have the most from blacksmithing and least from provisioning, but my instinct is that my Enchanting and Alchemy are much higher than what you listed. I also have done pretty solid with wood and cloth. I got several of each in the 50-70 range. I learned every reagent and rune on 8 of the 9 toons. I seem to get a fairly high number of 5 of 6 writ vouchers from alchemy and enchanting, and it looks like you are mostly getting 2 writ vouchers. RNG i guess.

Also, the rumor I have heard is that a maxed out crafter (research and motifs) has a higher chance of getting a master writ, but once the writ drops, they are no more or less likely to get a big one. I have seen 70+ vouchers drop from a toon that has no research or purple motif knowledge, but I guess I cant really confirm that either way.

Ourorboros

Thanks, Ur Quan, for making me feel very lucky. I've only done all 6 writs daily on one alt, and less frequently 5 on another and provisioning only on a third. I have 287 vouchers for a lot less work than you did. My main crafter had 100% Crafting achievements pre-Homestead. After your post, I feel like I'm on the right track.

NewBlacksmurf

So this is good info. Has anyone

RABIDxWOLVERINE wrote: »

Awesome data! this explains why I've only gotten one so far on console.

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

Good info here.

Have you or anyone else earned a 0 voucher master writ to craft a eyes of Mara Ancient Orc helm?

If so are these things worth doin for 0 vouchers or is that a bug?

They all appear as 0 until you look at them then it will ask you to accept the quest or not. Once you have gotten to that point it will tell you the amount that it gives and then you can determine if you want to accept the contract or sell the master writ.

I'll look again when things come back up. Maybe I didn't look in the correct spot but I'm on the quest

amasuriel

It's pretty disheartening honestly. The amount of time, gold (for motifs, training and mats) to be able to do 1000 max level writes to get a measly ~500 vouchers? We should go join a Korean MMO at this point, because the grinds are just getting insane.

EDIT: To put this in perspective, this is only 2 attuned crafting stations, which are probably the most functional things you can buy with your vouchers. The rest are purely cosmetic items. Even the crafting stations just save you a few minutes of travel time so are hardly amazing, since everyone has to park their crafters in Belkarth to do writs anyway. It's not like you can keep your crafter in your house.

ninti

MissBizz wrote: »

Wondering if you kept the character data seperate as well. I think it would be interesting to see your super master crafter MW drop rate compared to a more average crafter (all traits, only some motifs kinda thing)

I do. My master craftsman, with all pre-homestead motifs and most traits at 9/9 has gotten from 16 writs each:
2 blacksmithing
4 clothing
2 woodworking

So that is 8 master writs from 48 writs, or about 16.7% of the time

My four 2nd-tier characters, with few motifs and most traits at 6/9 or 7/9 have gotten from 15 writs each:
5 blacksmithing
6 clothing
5 woodworking

So that is 16 master writs from 180 writs. or about 8.9% of the time