Huh?! No, this isn't a bug!

The Automaton Gem is a named boss item from the construct army in DS2. It was named "Automaton Gem" long before the Automaton set existed. And it's Arcane.

When One Tamriel launched, existing named boss items were converted to set items. This ring was converted to Netch's Touch because it's Arcane and has always been Arcane. That it happened to share the same name as the new Automaton set is just an unfortunate coincidence. It was never "meant" to be a part of the Automaton set.

The generic non-named ring in the Automaton set, which drops from the final bosses of DS1 and DS2, is called "Automaton's Ring" and that is what you're looking for (and I've gotten a number of them).

So, no, this is working as intended and not a bug. The ring is and has always been Arcane. The ring should belong to the Netch's Touch set. And changing any of that retroactively would affect every existing copy of this item and would be a horrible idea.

What could (and probably should) be changed is the name of the item, so that it no longer confusingly shares a name with the Automaton set. Maybe "Construct's Spark" (or "Automaton's Touch" )

@ZOS_GinaBruno

code65536 wrote: »

Why does it need to be changed to the Automaton set?

Changing will change every existing copy of the item. So "f*** you" to anyone who is already using the item for their Netch build? Yea, that's a brilliant idea! Imagine someone waking up one day after a patch, going into a dungeon and wondering why their DPS is lower, their magicka is lower, and they suddenly have a bunch of extra stam. "Why did you alter my gear, ZOS?" This is probably also why instead of converting the ring to Robust and assigning it the Automaton set when OT came out, ZOS elected to instead maintain the current trait of Arcane and assign it the Netch set, because it would be a rude surprise if anyone who happened to use it as an Arcane ring woke up after One Tamriel to find it Robust.

Changing this item to the Automaton set is a horrible idea with absolutely zero merit, and I highly doubt that ZOS will do it precisely because of scenarios like what's described above.

Seriously, I don't get it--why are you so dead set on converting this named item to a different trait and set, with absolutely zero regard to what implications it'll have to everyone else? There are no named Automaton rings. So what? There are lots of sets that don't have any named jewelry. Standard unnamed Automaton jewelry drop from the final bosses of DS1 and DS2. Get it from there like everyone else.

(But I do think it's a good idea to rename it to something less confusing, like "Construct's Spark" or "Construct's Gem".)

I completely sympathize with the reluctance to have people's gear changed out from under them. I agree that that would be a bad idea. But @Vaoh has a point: there's a weird gear disparity in Darkshade Caverns. Here are the unique jewelry items that drop in that dungeon:

- Lost Imperial Band (Netch's Touch ring)
- Automaton Gem (Netch's Touch ring)
- Alit Tongue Charm (Netch's Touch neck)
- Foreman's Ring (Armor of Truth ring, Robust)
- Kwama Shepherd's Charm (Armor of Truth ring, Healthy)
- Lambent Netch Tentacles (Strength of the Automaton neck)

Now I always thought it was somewhat charming that the Netch Tentacles are part of the Automaton set and the Automaton Gem is part of the Netch set. But what Vaoh is pointing out is that in this dungeon, one set has three unique pieces, another set has two, and the last set has only one. Regardless of the history of those items before they were integrated into the current sets, I don't think there's any good reason that this disparity should continue to exist.

@code65536 @ZOS_GinaBruno how about this solution? Discontinue the Automaton Gem. Everyone who already has it can still equip it and it still is part of the Netch's Touch set, but the item no longer drops. Then, introduce a new item, a unique Strength of the Automaton ring (call it Centurion Dynamo Mechanism for fun lore flavor). This way, each set has two unique jewelry items, instead of the current imbalance. Netch and Auto would both have a unique ring and necklace, and Truth would only have unique rings, which is fair since Truth is one of the few heavy sets that has both a Healthy and Robust drop.

Ekhm... This issue is here from the very beginning... i.e. since One Tamriel !!

It was brought to our attention long time ago: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/305797/is-this-a-bug-automaton-gem

And on all websites Automaton Gem is a part of the Netch's Touch set, e.g.: http://elderscrollsonline.wiki.fextralife.com/Netch's+Touch+Set

So, if it is truly a bug, it has been here since the introduction of the Netch's Touch set. That said, it should remain like this and if there is a need to have a unique ring for Automaton set, a new unique one should be introduced.

While we're mentioning things, the Lambent N

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Thanks for the additional feedback, all. Our current plan is to make a new item which will be the Automaton-set Automaton's Gem, and the old item will still be Netch's Touch. When you run through this dungeon, you'll now have a chance at obtaining the new item. Any Automaton's Gem that you may already have will remain in the Netch's Touch item set.

While you're at it, might want to change the Lambent Netch Tentacles necklace to Netch's Touch, as it's currently part of the Automaton set.

I still don't understand why people are so interested in these named jewelry pieces. I suspect that if their names were more appropriate, people wouldn't even notice.

The fact remains that named items are flavor drops that made sense in the era before One Tamriel. Your primary source of Automaton and Netch's Touch jewelry ought to be the same as your primary source of every other dungeon set: from the final boss of the dungeon or from chests. These named items are just little extras in the loot table.

And most importantly, if having two named Netch rings and no named Automaton rings in the DS1/2 loot tables is a problem, then, LOL, virtually every dungeon in the game has this "problem". Even distribution of named items is the exception, not the rule. CoH1/2, for example, has no named necklaces of 2 of its 3 sets (Lich has a quest reward neck, but it's always blue and a one-time reward.) CoA1/2 has a set that has a named neck and a named ornate ring, and two sets that have a named ring but no neck. Selene's has a set with a named neck (no ring), a set with a named ring whose resource does not match the set's armor weight (also, no named neck), and another set with a named ring and no neck. The list goes on and on. Pick any dungeon, and I'll point out how its share of named items isn't some perfect ideal.

@ZOS_GinaBruno If it is truly your intent to have the named flavor items follow some sort of even distribution, then why stop with Darkshade? Why not open up Pandora's Box and look at the entire system of named flavor items?

Rename Automaton Gem to something less confusing. Done. Named items are just bits of flavored sprinkles in the loot table. The base loot table is already evenly distributed. If even distribution is what you want, then just eliminate the named items and let the base loot table do its work. But that's kinda dry and dull. So just leave it be. Why the fixation on this one set in this one dungeon when this is the norm virtually everywhere?