On Average: 2 Years to Get The Shoulder You Want

ThatHappyCat · December 2014

8 sets x 3 armour types x 6 possible traits x 5 (20% chance to get a shoulder from a gold chest) = 720 gold chests. The 20% chance of getting a shoulder is gleaned from this thread:

reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/2ozjzh/discussion_100_vet_undaunted_pledge_results/

So on average, you need to open 720 gold chests to get a shoulder of the correct set, armour type and trait. If you only have one veteran character, this will take almost two years.

Just throwing that out there.

ers101284b14_ESO · December 2014

Still better than FFXIV. Ran that dang Ifrit boss fight over 400 times. The sword popped once. Lost the roll to the other paladin.

ThatHappyCat · December 2014

A 1/720 chance isn't so bad if you could farm it. But you're restricted to one roll per day per character.

ers101284b14_ESO · December 2014

Well people did say that they wanted a reason to log on everyday lol.

Seriously though they should have it check to see what kind of armor your character is wearing or make it tradeable. I don't know how many times I open a chest and think oh goody a lightning staff and medium armor that's exactly what my full heavy sword and bored tank needs!

ers101284b14_ESO · December 2014

Or here's another idea. I don't like token system cause then your guaranteed to get it and it kind of devalues hard work and diligence.

But what about trading keys? 2 bronze=a silver
2 silver = a gold.

So you can get a gold key everyday and an extra gold key every other day. Also people who aren't good can still get gold items but have to play more (which will make them better I hope)

Or not ya know whatever just an idea.

Drasn · December 2014

Good thing that when you actually break down the numbers those sets are mostly novelty pieces.

ThatHappyCat · December 2014

thomas.k.grayb14_ESO wrote: »

Good thing that when you actually break down the numbers those sets are mostly novelty pieces.

Some of them are very powerful. The Engine Guardian set for instance.

Drasn · December 2014

ThatHappyCat wrote: »

thomas.k.grayb14_ESO wrote: »

Good thing that when you actually break down the numbers those sets are mostly novelty pieces.

Some of them are very powerful. The Engine Guardian set for instance.

Yeah? Like when you get 5 green beams in a row and you're a caster? Or red beams at full health? Novelty.

ThatHappyCat · December 2014

thomas.k.grayb14_ESO wrote: »

ThatHappyCat wrote: »

thomas.k.grayb14_ESO wrote: »

Good thing that when you actually break down the numbers those sets are mostly novelty pieces.

Some of them are very powerful. The Engine Guardian set for instance.

Yeah? Like when you get 5 green beams in a row and you're a caster? Or red beams at full health? Novelty.

A single magicka restore beam is stronger than Warlock, which means you only need it to proc once per minute to be better than Warlock. Assuming you can get it to proc every 10 seconds, you'd get an average of two magicka beams per minute (not to mention two health and stamina beams).

Yes, EG is very powerful, even taking into account the RNG. Only thing that prevents it from being OP in PvP is the fact that the Sphere can be interrupted or killed.

Tonnopesce · December 2014

I got the shoulders i wanted the first day in the first chest taking the head was a total different thing since it was supposed to drop inside city of ash at the last boss..........
I' ve got it 2 days ago btw so now evrithing is welcome.
Till now i've got 6 shoulders and 3 heads the gods love me...........

kelly.medleyb14_ESO · December 2014

ThatHappyCat wrote: »

8 sets x 3 armour types x 6 possible traits x 5 (20% chance to get a shoulder from a gold chest) = 720 gold chests. The 20% chance of getting a shoulder is gleaned from this thread:

reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/2ozjzh/discussion_100_vet_undaunted_pledge_results/

So on average, you need to open 720 gold chests to get a shoulder of the correct set, armour type and trait. If you only have one veteran character, this will take almost two years.

Just throwing that out there.

Bind on Pickup is the most horrid mechanic ever introduced to MMO's.

Rodario · December 2014

If only master craftsmen could change the traits on gear...

A 1/120 chance would be reasonable, I guess. Especially considering there will probably be better set options by the time the statistically average player got the exact shoulders they want.

ThatHappyCat · December 2014

Rodario wrote: »

If only master craftsmen could change the traits on gear...

A 1/120 chance would be reasonable, I guess. Especially considering there will probably be better set options by the time the statistically average player got the exact shoulders they want.

Yeah, I've made that suggestion myself. Would certainly help, and not just with Boss Shoulders.

Derra · December 2014

Zenimax does not want players to actually have influence on the speed at which they are able to clear content.
They want players to play the way THEY intend them to. As a subscription based game it is obvious that a longer task is a better task.
The only thing they could do to further improve their rng system (from their perspective) is by eliminating the player favored traits on the first or second drop.

e.g.: no devines or impen trait on shoulders before you had 3 useless traits like sturdy or exploration.

briandivisionb16_ESO · December 2014

ThatHappyCat wrote: »

The 20% chance of getting a shoulder is gleaned from this thread

This misleading average is based only on 100 results.

"I bought 100 lottery tickets and won £1000. So on average each lottery ticket pays £10."

OK bad analogy but you get my point.

You'd need A LOT more results than that to assume a reliable average!

Baconfat79 · December 2014

I'm ok with this. Top-tier gear shouldn't be easy to get. It feels more rewarding if/when you finally do get it, and it isn't something that everyone should have. It's rare...it's an accomplishment. I don't want to log in and have the most special items just handed to me on a silver platter.

ToRelax · December 2014

Baconfat79 wrote: »

I'm ok with this. Top-tier gear shouldn't be easy to get. It feels more rewarding if/when you finally do get it, and it isn't something that everyone should have. It's rare...it's an accomplishment. I don't want to log in and have the most special items just handed to me on a silver platter.

Yes, it must certainly feel rewarding to get a nice PvP set after 2 years of PvE-ing every day

.

cote-bmsb16_ESO · December 2014

It doesnt take that long.. I get cool drops all the time from pledges, dsa, and trial runs. Although the pvp set of shadow walker rings have been eluding me since the last patch.

DeLindsay · December 2014

Baconfat79 wrote: »

I'm ok with this. Top-tier gear shouldn't be easy to get. It feels more rewarding if/when you finally do get it, and it isn't something that everyone should have. It's rare...it's an accomplishment. I don't want to log in and have the most special items just handed to me on a silver platter.

There is no accomplishment when it comes to RNG drops. You could get the exact item you want the very first time you do it, or NEVER EVER get it. You don't have to be great or even good at your character or mesh well with your group in order to get the Helm/Shoulder to drop, you just have to be slightly better than meh, that's certainly no accomplishment. Indeed a few of the dungeons are a "don't stand in stupid" check, but not all are, and 1 is soooo easy to farm while another is quite difficult to farm, for the Helm. The mechanic ZoS has in place for obtaining these sets is terrible, hence why there are so many threads about it.

eliisra · December 2014

ThatHappyCat wrote: »

8 sets x 3 armour types x 6 possible traits x 5 (20% chance to get a shoulder from a gold chest) = 720 gold chests. The 20% chance of getting a shoulder is gleaned from this thread:

reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/2ozjzh/discussion_100_vet_undaunted_pledge_results/

No way in hell the chance is 20-25%. Maybe that guy was just lucky?

I've completed almost 60 pledges by now (using multiple VR14 characters). I have 6 shoulders in my bank. Neither of those is from a set I want and only 1 is the right armor type.

But of course, 60 pledges isn't enough to get a solid statistical info/drop curve either. Until we get an official response, the rate from chests can be 5% for all we know.

These sets better have a long life time. Not become obsolete after a few patched, something that usually happens with itemization in mmorpgs. Considering how many months it will take to get something remotely useful, they better last a year.

bosmern_ESO · December 2014

So that means only 1 year for me because I have 2 V14 characters, and even less for people with more than 2.

ThatHappyCat · December 2014

bosmern_ESO wrote: »

So that means only 1 year for me because I have 2 V14 characters, and even less for people with more than 2.

Yes but that assumes you only care about outfitting one of your VR characters. If you want to outfit all of them the average time is the same.

xaraan · December 2014

Well, I'm not too worried about the trait. One item with the wrong trait won't really destroy my (or anyone's) build. Even the armor type isn't a huge deal to me initially.

Sneak_Thief · December 2014

Yeah it does seem to be a bit time consuming to hope yo get what you need.. I think changing them from BoP to BoE would help.

I would be in favor of dungeon points, similar to pvp but able to spend them at undaunted shops. So you still get rewarded for the time spent and don't end up with a bunch of random set pieces you can't trade.

DeLindsay · December 2014

Sneak_Thief wrote: »

Yeah it does seem to be a bit time consuming to hope yo get what you need.. I think changing them from BoP to BoE would help.

I would be in favor of dungeon points, similar to pvp but able to spend them at undaunted shops. So you still get rewarded for the time spent and don't end up with a bunch of random set pieces you can't trade.

I can't say I love the idea of them being BoE but ZoS needs to do something to change the system as it is now.

Allow the Helm to be trade-able with all party members present for the kill within a 2 hour timer.
Add 1% drop rate per character per kill/looted chest until a Helm or Shoulder drops then reset the drop rate.
Allow Crafters to modify the Trait of dropped items. I don't care if it requires a new "Master Crafter" skill point talented and the character be level 50 in that profession.

The above would still leave a long grind for those with horrible RNG (what MMO devs want, so you keep subbing) but it would improve the system as it is now for the Dungeon Monsters 2pc sets.

OrphanHelgen · December 2014

still a better love story than twilight

Hortator Mopa · December 2014

ThatHappyCat wrote: »

8 sets x 3 armour types x 6 possible traits x 5 (20% chance to get a shoulder from a gold chest) = 720 gold chests. The 20% chance of getting a shoulder is gleaned from this thread:

reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/2ozjzh/discussion_100_vet_undaunted_pledge_results/

So on average, you need to open 720 gold chests to get a shoulder of the correct set, armour type and trait. If you only have one veteran character, this will take almost two years.

Just throwing that out there.

yep. I have got the sets I need in the armor type i need and mostly the traits I need. however I can see why people who havnt can be pissed. Leaving it to RNG alone is dumb. Token system pls... like every good mmo.

Wolfshead · December 2014

@ThatHappyCat‌

Well it took me 2 year 10 month 12 days to get full Teir 1 set in Age of Conan so i would say that is really fast to get shoulder you want if jsut take you 2 year and this is a mmorpg which mean it should take time to get what you wont and not like in WoW where you just can go in buy thing as vendor so everyone look same that is so fun.

ThatHappyCat · December 2014

Wolfshead wrote: »

@ThatHappyCat‌

Well it took me 2 year 10 month 12 days to get full Teir 1 set in Age of Conan so i would say that is really fast to get shoulder you want if jsut take you 2 year and this is a mmorpg which mean it should take time to get what you wont and not like in WoW where you just can go in buy thing as vendor so everyone look same that is so fun.

Using an unsuccessful MMO as your example against the most popular MMO in the world doesn't really help your case.

Wolfenbelle · December 2014

In addition to the really good points the OP makes, there's another aspect to the time problem. For someone like me who has a 8:30am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday job, at best I have about 2 to 2 1/2 hours in the evenings to play ESO. At best. That just isn't enough time to do the high difficulty veteran/group content.

I have more time on weekends, but even then I might get one dungeon completed IF I can join a group fast enough; we're not fiddling around getting organized on Teamspeak for several minutes; we don't wipe too many times; somebody doesn't get discouraged and leave the group; etc.

The Undaunted pledges, DSA, trials, etc., are all fine additions to ESO, but realistically are for people who can put more than a couple of hours a day in the game. If, like me, a person can't do that, then all cool top-end gear that drops from the vet content is out of reach.

Because of this, I really feel like I've hit a wall with ESO. I have two vr14 characters and one currently lvl 12 DK I'm leveling. My main has completed all of Cadwell's s/g, has done all delves in Cyrodiil, most delves in Craglorn, and did her share of PvP. But the high difficulty vet/group content just seems like a mountain I can't climb.

hutchinsonhatch · December 2014

Are those armor pieces necessary to progress ingame?