Deconstruct Issue (bug?)

Sarcoth

One of my members found a possible bug/issue when deconstructing items. I wanted to know if anyone else has noticed this and can confirm or disprove it.

I noted that my crafting alts do not get any usable items in return when deconstructing items that are >5 levels above my character level. As far as I can tell, this occurs regardless of crafting skill level or skill points invested into the craft.

I discovered this when I attempted to deconstruct several high level items.

Hence, I have decided to invest some leveling time into my crafting alts as the bank coffers begin to swell! (I don't want to miss out on rare tempers and trait stones.)

Our discussion about it can be found HERE.

Jirki88

I somehow doubt this is a "bug". It's probably a feature.
For reference:

clocksstoppe

have you tried to use your brain? it is not a bug. imagine if at level 1 you could deconstruct voidstone gear for massive exp

AbraCadabra

So you want to be a low level character with minimum points invested in the craft, able to deconstruct high level gear for materials and massive xp? It makes sense that your ability to deconstruct would increase with the level of your character and the amount of skill points invested in the craft.

All of these people with crafting alts and a bunch of hirelings feeding their main crafter are going to be disappointed eventually when they find the hirelings aren't bringing back the higher level materials that they want.

You have to play the game and invest points in the craft.

Sarcoth

@Jirki88 - Nice.

@AbraCadabra - Why does the character level matter when discussing crafting? I'm sure there are lots of people that enjoy the crafting aspect of the game and I feel ESO has one of the best. So, yes, I think you should be able to get the high level materials back when deconstructing high level gear. Besides, we are only talking about 1-4 mats per item deconstructed. It takes 2x-5x that to construct an item of similar level.

You also mentioned XP for deconstructing. Crafters already get XP back when deconstructing items and the XP received goes up the higher the level of the item. No complaints here on that. This post wasn't about XP, but about the standard materials received when deconstructing items.

Next, on to the hirelings. No disappointment here either. I get blue, purple, and orange upgrade materials here from those. I could care less about the other materials received.

So, again, this is only about the standard crafting materials that appear to be non-existent when deconstructing gear five or more levels higher. Crafting materials like iron, steel, ash, oak, rawhide, leather, etc.

Wavemoore

I tend to get "no useable items" or something along those lines quite frequently even on my main when deconstructing items my level. I wondered if it was a bug or a "feature" as I would hope to get at least something for my efforts. I'd say I'm seeing a 15-25% failure rate, rather high.

As for alts, I have level 3 crafting alts for the hirelings, and I've sent them over level 30 items and gotten green and blue upgrade items from deconstructing. Did this just last night actually and got a good haul of upgrade mats from the greens and blues.

I don't know how they are determining when to give mats or not. Based on my experience I'd have to say it's just RNG.

rioinsigniab16_ESO

It's complete nonsense to link the ability to extract materials during deconstruction to the characters' "adventuring level", and not to the characters' crafting level.

Elder Scrolls is supposed to be all about playing how "we" want (obviously within reason). But the current situation doesn't facilitate that. Other games allowed people to dedicate a character to excel in crafting without the need for excessive amounts of adventuring, there's no reason why this game can't.

Personally, I believe the devs just linked it to be wrong level bar. I also believe that crafting progression shouldn't be attached to the same skill points as adventuring either. But that's a matter for a different discussion.

Salsadoom

Unfortunately it's part of the MMO system for balance. Explain to me why I can use an iron sword at first level but for some reason the exact same one of steel is impossible for me to wield?

I would love for adventuring xp and crafting xp to be separate, of course, this means you could only spend adventuring skill points on adventuring lines and crafting on crafting lines.

Sadly, I think this would confuse alot of gamers.

Abeille

You can't be a dedicated crafter in this game. You have to go out and explore the world, too. It is how it was designed, simply.
I do not agree with the design and I would rather be able to make a character that is ONLY a crafter/merchant and not an adventurer, but I'm dealing with it. This is the kind of design that I don't believe that they will ever change, so I don't bother complaining about it.

Sarcoth

I was messing around with enchanting this weekend and noticed that my low level crafting character could get materials (runes) back from deconstructing high level glyphs.

If the enchanters can do it, when not the blacksmiths, clothiers, and woodworkers?

Darzil

You can get some stuff back, but not base materials. I agree it's frustrating that it isn't based on what the crafter can make, but the MMO market kicked out crafting as a playstyle years ago, much to it's detriment.

Crafting feels a bit unfortunate here. If you want to just craft for yourself, you learn the armour/weapon traits you want, doesn't take long. You also don't need to spend on speeding research. You don't have to keep materials lower than your level, so inventory isn't an issue. You can respec at high level once you've made your kit. If you want to craft for others, though, you are spending a large % of your skill points on it, gimping yourself somewhat in combat, researching widely, and struggling with inventory space.

The whole spending skill points on crafting thing feels like the decision of a single player game, where it makes you more powerful rather than an MMO where it makes others more powerful.

Celless

About a week ago, I tried to level up a smithing alt in hopes of reallocating points on my main. I noticed while I rarely received items on the level 4 alt, I did receive a large amount of IP for deconstruction.

Though for balancing purposes, I think deconstruction IP should be limited until you have invested a skill point in the tier of the material.

Sarcoth

Celless wrote: »

Though for balancing purposes, I think deconstruction IP should be limited until you have invested a skill point in the tier of the material.

I like that. Good idea for balance.

huntgod_ESO

I have 80 pts invested in crafting skills at V1 and it has not limited my viability in any way shape or form. I still have 12 pts just sitting there begging to be used, but all of my crafting skills are maxxed and in the mid 40's. So I'm not sure how I limited my self by crafting, aside from insuring I am always short on cash and bank space, since everything is broken down rather than sold.

edwar368

I to would class this as a bug or if not, it is bad design. I can agree with those who say low level crafting should not be allowed to get as much xp or mats, but if you have invested the points into the skill and can craft a particular item, then you should be able to recover the mats from them. My main is also a full crafting char, my choice and thus far has not hampered me progressing at all. I am level 33 as a character, and my Woodworking is 30, and so I can craft Birch bows. Having crafted 44 bows and exchanged like for like with another crafter, I discovered I cannot regain ANY Birch from deconstructing, this just seem wrong, I can make them, so why can I not recover the materials?