Deconstructing Mercenary Gear - A Laurel Discussion

Tallowby · November 2015

Question:

If you decon a crafted Mercenary piece is the Laurel return definite or only a chance? --> NOT Definite but a chance
Does the quality of a crafted piece change the chance of a Laurel during decon? --> Yes
Could this be a valid way to pass Laurels to crafters for commissioned pieces? --> YES but not 100% chance. (RNG)

I appears that RNG is a large factor on obtaining Laurels through decon. As stated below an average of about a 50% chance to get a laurel out of white crafted gear. So sending double the crafted pieces for decon is a good starting point. Crafter will decon enough to obtain enough Laurels for commission or request more pieces if not enough Laurels are obtained.

Chances improve if the crafted piece's quality is upgraded to green by 15-30%
.

eliisra · November 2015

It's like any style trait. When you deconstruct it's rng if you get the stone back.

Can 100% confirm that you get Laurels back, since I made a few just to check the look and destroyed because ugly.

So you could definitely use this as a risky way to obtain Laurels. No clue about percentages or if affected by extracting passives though. I got Laurels back half the time or so, with max passive deconning white gear.

poodlemasterb16_ESO · November 2015

I have 2 Malechists from armor I bought. Took a flyer, got lucky.

Tallowby · November 2015

Tried this out last night.... No Upgrade mats, No Trait Gem, and No Laurel :'(

Only 3 Shadowhide from decon on max crafter

Septimus_Magna · November 2015

Tallowby wrote: »

Tried this out last night.... No Upgrade mats, No Trait Gem, and No Laurel :'(

Only 3 Shadowhide from decon on max crafter

Ahh, thats bad luck (or working as intended if its impossible to get Laurel from deconnin gear).

You have a greater chance to get Laurel from the last dungeon boss if you have collected more Mercenary chapters.
Most guild stores sell Merc chapters for 3-8k so its cheap to get a couple and improve the chance to get Laurel.

And you can run a dungeon multiple times to farm Laurel (and the monster mask).

Tallowby · November 2015

Septimus_Magna wrote: »

Tallowby wrote: »

Tried this out last night.... No Upgrade mats, No Trait Gem, and No Laurel :'(

Only 3 Shadowhide from decon on max crafter

Ahh, thats bad luck (or working as intended if its impossible to get Laurel from deconnin gear).

You have a greater chance to get Laurel from the last dungeon boss if you have collected more Mercenary chapters.
Most guild stores sell Merc chapters for 3-8k so its cheap to get a couple and improve the chance to get Laurel.

And you can run a dungeon multiple times to farm Laurel (and the monster mask).

For me yes I know.... Know all pages already. But for others that don't have the skill to craft their own gear, they are excluded from this style or have to pay to have it crafted for them.

This means the crafter toons have to run Dungeons for the Laurels to make gear for those that cant....

poodlemasterb16_ESO · November 2015

Tallowby wrote: »

Septimus_Magna wrote: »

Tallowby wrote: »

Tried this out last night.... No Upgrade mats, No Trait Gem, and No Laurel :'(

Only 3 Shadowhide from decon on max crafter

Ahh, thats bad luck (or working as intended if its impossible to get Laurel from deconnin gear).

You have a greater chance to get Laurel from the last dungeon boss if you have collected more Mercenary chapters.
Most guild stores sell Merc chapters for 3-8k so its cheap to get a couple and improve the chance to get Laurel.

And you can run a dungeon multiple times to farm Laurel (and the monster mask).

For me yes I know.... Know all pages already. But for others that don't have the skill to craft their own gear, they are excluded from this style or have to pay to have it crafted for them.

This means the crafter toons have to run Dungeons for the Laurels to make gear for those that cant....

Exactly. It's part of the steady nerf to crafters in general. We are being slowly made less important to serve their purpose of making a fun game for console kiddies, their largest component now.

Crafting, especially the hard crafts, are long term commitments and require a steady presence in the game and quite a lot of time making it all work. This is not what a lot of the newer population wants, they just want to run dungeons for crap.

I'm quite disappointed. I play several games in ESO and crafting is one of my favorites. I don't group much and like to run group dungeons solo. I have done that since the game came out and before. Your silly dungeons don't scare me. They are too easy with a group.

I'm not going to become a dungeon runner to suite ZOS, so I'll just play less. Good thing Fallout 4 is almost playable.

On topic: I have busted Malachists out of glass armor, but no Laurels.

code65536 · November 2015

I've deconned 7 pieces of Mercenary on my main character. Got 3 laurels back.

Gave away 5 pieces of Mercenary daggers as a giveaway prize in my guild, the purpose of giving away laurels. The winner reported getting 4 out of 5.

As with all things RNG, YMMV.

poodlemasterb16_ESO · November 2015

Good, I'll start buying Merc Armor.

Lithium Flower · November 2015

Deconstructed 3 white v9 voidstone axes made by a friend for the laurels. Recovered one.

Lord_Draevan · January 2016

It might also depend on your skill in the crafting you're deconning from. I deconned 10 V9 Merc daggers with 50 Blacksmithing+all passives, got 9 Laurel. Then made a Greatsword to see what it looked like, deconned it, and got the Laurel back.

Robbmrp · January 2016

Once you decon the item and get a Laurel, is it bound to you or can it be sold at that point?

Tallowby · January 2016

Robbmrp wrote: »

Once you decon the item and get a Laurel, is it bound to you or can it be sold at that point?

Bound at that point

Robbmrp · January 2016

Tallowby wrote: »

Robbmrp wrote: »

Once you decon the item and get a Laurel, is it bound to you or can it be sold at that point?

Bound at that point

Ok, cool, Thanks!

Nestor · January 2016

It seems to me I have a better chance of getting the Trait and Style material back if I decon something I made rather than someone else made it. It could still be RNG, but it seems better when I decon a set after I have finished using it. Maybe it's just weaker after all those repairs....

Tallowby · January 2016

Nestor wrote: »

It seems to me I have a better chance of getting the Trait and Style material back if I decon something I made rather than someone else made it. It could still be RNG, but it seems better when I decon a set after I have finished using it. Maybe it's just weaker after all those repairs....

I can confirm this as well... Gear created and decon'd by creator has a better return rate

BenevolentBowd · January 2016

Tallowby wrote: »

Tried this out last night.... No Upgrade mats, No Trait Gem, and No Laurel :'( ...

This means the crafter toons have to run Dungeons for the Laurels to make gear for those that cant....

Just to clarify, the crafter toons do not have to run Dungeons. The Laurels are bound to the account. You can run dungeons on alts and use the bank to transfer them to your crafter. However, this approach requires the need for additional set(s) of Mercenary gear to be learned on more than one character.

Also, I have seen on the NA server a crafter selling merc gear for decon. If I recall, he/she was offerring a 20% refund if decon was unsuccessful. I do not know how successful this individual was. I am not judging the practice just passing it along as part of this discussion.

bryanhaas · January 2016

Tallowby wrote: »

Question:
If you decon a crafted Mercenary piece is the Laurel return definite or only a chance?

Does the quality of a crafted piece change the chance of a Laurel during decon?

Could this be a valid way to pass Laurels to crafters for commissioned pieces?

Test Results so far
V9 Blue Merc Med Hands - Decon - 0 Laurels

5x Merc Daggers - Decon - 4 Laurels

3x V9 White Merc Axes - Decon - 1 Laurel

Looks like RNG then...

It is still bound after decon, the crafter though could decon for the chance to receive the laurel though.

Tallowby · January 2016

Yes once a laurel is recovered from decon it is indeed bound

helediron · January 2016

I tested with a friend. He made 10 mercenary items and i deconstructed them. Got 6 Laurels with maxed crafter. This is still a small sample but hints to 50% chance.

So one way to pass them is that they make Laurel style items twice the amount of gear they want me to make. If people have Laurels, they have at least one motif page learned. Then they can make something, any level, white stuff, to pass the Laurels.

Robbmrp · January 2016

helediron wrote: »

I tested with a friend. He made 10 mercenary items and i deconstructed them. Got 6 Laurels with maxed crafter. This is still a small sample but hints to 50% chance.

So one way to pass them is that they make Laurel style items twice the amount of gear they want me to make. If people have Laurels, they have at least one motif page learned. Then they can make something, any level, white stuff, to pass the Laurels.

I did some of these deconstructions over the weekend with below 50% results. At least it's a way to get them without having to run the dungeons.

1- 4 items deconned received 2 Laurels
2- 5 Items deconned received 3 Laurels
3- 9 items deconned received 5 laurels, out of the first 5 items only received 2 laurels though.

Pomaikai · January 2016

Firstly, it appears that the rate of acquiring Laurels from decon is between 50-80%. Secondly, as with every other item that you're deconstructing, upgrading it from white to green GREATLY increases your chance of getting back style mats. Upgrading to blue may increase your chances even more, but I'm not sure.

To wit, upgrading a white piece of gear in the Daedric style may occasionally yield a Daedric Heart. Stolen white gear in Daedric will NEVER yield a Daedric Heart on decon. However... Upgrading that gear to green, even STOLEN items, will almost always yield a Daedric Heart on decon.

Therefore, if you're trying to acquire Laurels via this method, then you should ALWAYS upgrade the item to at least green before you attempt to decon it.