New 9 Trait Craftable Weapon Compromise

NordSwordnBoard

There's constant back and forth about veteran Maelstrom Arena weapons and their availability. The difficulty of the arena for some and the demoralization of RNG for others are the main issues. The gap between normal Maelstrom and veteran is very wide. Considering Maelstrom weapon drops in normal https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/329875/would-you-accept-nmsa-dropping-maelstrom-weapons-read-before-rage-posting/p1 in the name of accommodating players unfortunately creates more RNG when we need less of it in this game.

Let's solve this without RNG: Let crafters make a weapon with half or less of the 1 piece stats of a Maelstrom or Master weapon. I'll defer to the math people and ZOS to figure out the best way to make them far from equal to those BiS vMA and vDSA weapons already existing. I do not want to devalue any Master or Maelstrom weapons, I luckily own a sharpened one, and it's precious to me. Instead of a trash or mismatched staff in sharpened outperforming charged Maelstrom weapons, you would at least be able to fill the gap with something that makes more sense. Examples:
5 armor, 2 monster, 3 jewelry, 1 Maelstrom set combo is BiS. I have no problem with that.
5/5/1m is actually not as good as 5/3/2m/X most of the time. You would think an extra set bonus would be better.
It's the X that causes dismay, the call by many to let them get their hands on the weapon that fills that void without completing the trial (arena+rng) to get it.

- This could provide a solution to all those people looking for 2 handed weapons to count towards the set bonus the same as 2 single handed weapons.
- Everyone looking to make vet Maelstrom less difficult can just craft this instead, if you really need vMA to be easier, the potential min/max dps from the weapon you might get is probably out of your reach anyway.
- Crafters will get demand for this, as well as motivating people to work toward 9 traits for something besides TBS and master writs.
- A compromise on the issue of crafted sets supposedly being BiS versus RNG derived sets.
- Cure to RNG? No, it's more of a salve than an antidote. The hope is that it will benefit the community as a whole without devaluing the grind already put in by vets.

Additional Options:
The crafter would need to use both potent and fortified nirncrux to make this weapon (independent of the trait)
A cooldown or limit to how many weapons are crafted per day.
It could be a difficult to reach crafting station, via the new Morrowind or similar to Armor Master in Imperial city.

The purpose of this suggestion is to provide a compromise to a few different, often opposed sections of the community with something that could benefit all of us.

EDIT: Changed "Additional restrictions/considerations:" to "Additional options"

Lynx7386

I would love to be able to craft 1pc weapon sets, especially for 2h weapons and bows/staves. A lot of builds need more out of that 2h bar that doesn't offer any set bonuses.

Now, on the other hand, if they made 2h/staff/bow count as 2 items towards set bonuses, this would be partially solved, because it would mean you'd get the 2pc bonus from any crafted set from that one weapon.

For the crafted sets, you could make a 2h with any of these bonuses:
Physical resistance
Spell resistance
Max stamina
Max health
Max magicka
Spell damage
Magicka recovery
Health recovery
Weapon critical
Spell critical


I also think that crafters should have a monster set equivalent - the ability to craft 2pc helm+shoulder sets with proc effects.

NordSwordnBoard

Lynx7386 wrote: »

I would love to be able to craft 1pc weapon sets, especially for 2h weapons and bows/staves. A lot of builds need more out of that 2h bar that doesn't offer any set bonuses.

Now, on the other hand, if they made 2h/staff/bow count as 2 items towards set bonuses, this would be partially solved, because it would mean you'd get the 2pc bonus from any crafted set from that one weapon.

For the crafted sets, you could make a 2h with any of these bonuses:
Physical resistance
Spell resistance
Max stamina
Max health
Max magicka
Spell damage
Magicka recovery
Health recovery
Weapon critical
Spell critical


I also think that crafters should have a monster set equivalent - the ability to craft 2pc helm+shoulder sets with proc effects.

I disagree that crafters should be able to make monster sets, I like that they are exclusive to dungeons.

What I'm suggesting eliminates the need to make 2handers count as two items because you can craft one that fills the gap better. 5 armor + 2 monster + 3 Jewelry is a common set up that leaves room for one weapon. I'm trying to fill that void with something other than a sharpened random gold or maelstrom weapon as the only options. BiS 5/2/3/1 is usually better overall than running two 5-pieces and a monster. I'm ok with the trade-off of 2handers only counting as one thing because that also includes all of the ranged weapons.

To avoid overly complicating this, you simply copy the current maelstrom and master weapons, but in a weaker, craftable version. You do not choose the single item bonus, it is predetermined.

This is also for people who have run multiple vMA farms only to keep getting gear that is sub-par for the current sharpened meta. They might want to make a crafted, sharpened pair of daggers or a staff that is not equal to Maelstrom or Master weapons, but fulfills the same function in that slot - just to a lesser degree, so you will still go for the BiS ones to min/max.

Taleof2Cities

Your proposal carries a lot of restrictions ... including having 9 traits researched. Would players want to craft your new "lesser" vMA weapon? Or, would they just stand pat with their farmed or crafted weapon that they already have??

davey1107

I like the idea, but my prediction? Right now the issue is that if you don't have a maelstrom weapon to fill that slot people scream and cry because they can't max out that slot. If you create the crafting solution you've outlined with a weaker version of a maelstrom...people will scream and cry because they can't max out that slot. Lol.

NordSwordnBoard

davey1107 wrote: »

I like the idea, but my prediction? Right now the issue is that if you don't have a maelstrom weapon to fill that slot people scream and cry because they can't max out that slot. If you create the crafting solution you've outlined with a weaker version of a maelstrom...people will scream and cry because they can't max out that slot. Lol.

QQ is inevitable. Getting or not getting what you want is up to you; you can beat vMA once and get what you want. Or it could take a very very long grind. Or you could not do it at all. Those who feel entitled to things will always cry about something, but this is not intended for those types. They aren't willing to compromise on their demands, so this is not for them.

NordSwordnBoard

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Your proposal carries a lot of restrictions ... including having 9 traits researched. Would players want to craft your new "lesser" vMA weapon? Or, would they just stand pat with their farmed or crafted weapon that they already have??

I should have said "suggested" restrictions instead of "additional", I meant for them to be more optional. The restrictions are mainly to maintain some sense of rarity and to assign some more value to learning 9 traits. Like making Nirncrux a bigger part of the economy than it is now. Which ones do you suggest removing or altering? I'm open to suggestions, and evolving this for the benefit of everyone.

Would they stand pat if they could make something better than what they have? I don't know, I would assume if you can't beat Maelstrom or are sick of it, and want to increase your stats, you would choose the next best thing available. If that requires some effort that isn't as grind intensive as Maelstrom or (to a lesser degree) vDSA, you might choose that option to improve your stats.