Add Nullity Sphere Nanos to specific mob/boss loot table?

[Vinkera]

Seeing as how the population is much lower now than in the past, NS 1/2 nanos don't turn up everyday (or probably month, even...) Now, Nullity Sphere is kind of reserved for the super rich or super lucky. I've seen sell orders for it over 3 billion in the past, and at the moment 1.9 billion. Debating on whether its essential or not aside, it's a huge piece of an NT's defensive toolset that every 220 should have.

Once upon a time, Polymorphed Lunatic had a ~20% chance to drop NS 2... Could we possibly make that the case again... Maybe even make it a 20℅ chance to drop NS1 or 2? (effectively making NS 2 a 10℅ drop chance and providing a specific source for NS 1)

In the short time I've been playing AO so far, I'd say I've killed over 15,000 mobs specifically looking for NS 1 or 2, and only happened upon NS 1 by dumb luck in Foreman's, and got my NS 2 from an overly generous peraon who didn't need it.

[doctorgore]

It should be a quest reward nano.. Case closed. The game design is stupid and needs fixed.

The idiot brigade will be along soon to denounce you and defend its 4b price tag along with GA and the weird nanos using "the game needs rare items argument".
I wish you luck dealing with them.

[SaloSalo]

NS has always seemed a bit weird to me, why something like that would be locket away as rare drop. Would it make sense if NS1 was questable and NS2 was still rare?

The price argument makes some sense. I believe NTs get away with much cheaper armor and symbiants than certain other professions, but it is still strange to have a single item that is suppose to make up for it.

I've seen sell orders for it over 3 billion in the past, and at the moment 1.9 billion.

Sell orders are not necessarily an indication of price, buy orders or actual sales are. I have seen sell orders in the billions for ridiculous items. Last buy order for NS2 I saw was 1.2B.

[Psikie]

The price argument makes some sense. I believe NTs get away with much cheaper armor and symbiants than certain other professions, but it is still strange to have a single item that is suppose to make up for it.

That's because there is no demand for them. Most NT's now a days are just ost kite puppets, and a portion of the ones that pvp are double/triple cannons that locks out NS anyway. An NT can get by with ofab, miy's, ql250 imps, and ado brain at 220 for pvm no problem.

[nanoforcer]

Replace kin of tarasque drop from dynas with ns2, problem solved

[DigitalBath]

My point of view may be somewhat blurred by the fact I play a NT main and have both NS nanos (both before the hecklernoob invasion).
That said, I feel a low droprate (5 to 10%) on different fixed mobs would be a fair way to help lower NTs along, rare as they may be outside of the kitenoob crowd.

Of course, adding them to existing level-appropriate encounters could work but I can see twinks and/or higher levels monopolizing this for a while..
To me, it's a good idea that needs some tweaking about to ensure viability.. but fixing NT's to make them a more viable profession across all level ranges (other than spamming AoE nukes with an OST) should be on a higher prio.

[Roscoe]

The game is far too complex as it is (which is a good thing but...).

As an ex-player who made quite a bit of cash from weird nano's I'd bump for making the tool set of all professions easier to obtain for everyone. There is no reason to remove the chance for them to drop the way they do at present of course, just make them obtainable in a quest or from some instance boss mob.

[Vinkera]

Well, the quest idea isn't terrible, but keep in mind that we already have to quest for several of our higher end defensive nanos. I, personally, don't want to quest for another one. It's also not fair considering solders can roll for TMS. (for example) I'd settle for making NS1 shop buyable, and NS2 a quest reward, though. I think that would be fair enough.

The fact that NS is rare, in general, is a legacy thing that needs to changed. At release, it made sense that it was really rare. Now, its just another massive problem this profession has in general. I've got 3 TL 5 NT's in my org who are all facing this problem right now. They really do need it, but can't find/afford it. The rarity of the nano is hindering their gameplay. They aren't under geared either, it's simply a given that a low HP profession with no healing capability should have a survivability trump card available.

My point of view may be somewhat blurred by the fact I play a NT main and have both NS nanos (both before the hecklernoob invasion).
That said, I feel a low droprate (5 to 10%) on different fixed mobs would be a fair way to help lower NTs along, rare as they may be outside of the kitenoob crowd.

Of course, adding them to existing level-appropriate encounters could work but I can see twinks and/or higher levels monopolizing this for a while..
To me, it's a good idea that needs some tweaking about to ensure viability.. but fixing NT's to make them a more viable profession across all level ranges (other than spamming AoE nukes with an OST) should be on a higher prio.

Your point of view is definitely not wrong. If anything, someone who main's an NT understands better than others. I think what is historically not understood when this topic comes up is, NS is a core part of our defensive tools, and its not easy to get.

I agree that we do need to make the profession in general more viable, but this is one tiny change request that is geared in that direction...

[DigitalBath]

Well, the quest idea isn't terrible, but keep in mind that we already have to quest for several of our higher end defensive nanos. I, personally, don't want to quest for another one. It's also not fair considering solders can roll for TMS. (for example) I'd settle for making NS1 shop buyable, and NS2 a quest reward, though. I think that would be fair enough.

The fact that NS is rare, in general, is a legacy thing that needs to changed. At release, it made sense that it was really rare. Now, its just another massive problem this profession has in general. I've got 3 TL 5 NT's in my org who are all facing this problem right now. They really do need it, but can't find/afford it. The rarity of the nano is hindering their gameplay. They aren't under geared either, it's simply a given that a low HP profession with no healing capability should have a survivability trump card available.



Your point of view is definitely not wrong. If anything, someone who main's an NT understands better than others. I think what is historically not understood when this topic comes up is, NS is a core part of our defensive tools, and its not easy to get.

I agree that we do need to make the profession in general more viable, but this is one tiny change request that is geared in that direction...

I generally agree with you on this. I'll add that the impact NS1/2 had at 200, when caterwaul and resonance blast added to NS2 were a little on the overpowered side.. the rarity made sense. The higher population back then also added to the sense it had, since there would always be a few around in the markets.

Things changed.. this should probably change along too

[Krause]

Rare things in a game in my opinion are good, you don't want to take every desirable rare item and make it some quest reward.
You do have an excellent point about how much harder it is to get now though, no one is killing those mobs for XP like they use to do in the past so it's way rarer then they originally intended. Stuff like NS and GA might be good candidates to drop from SL mission mobs at around the same chance as their current mobs drop rate to get these back down their older value which was usually around 200-400m.

[Roscoe]

Rare things in a game in my opinion are good, you don't want to take every desirable rare item and make it some quest reward.
You do have an excellent point about how much harder it is to get now though, no one is killing those mobs for XP like they use to do in the past so it's way rarer then they originally intended. Stuff like NS and GA might be good candidates to drop from SL mission mobs at around the same chance as their current mobs drop rate to get these back down their older value which was usually around 200-400m.

Agreed, the 'Crown of the Elder God Tarkut' should be rare but not essential parts of a players toolset.

[DigitalBath]

@Krause: I'm all for rare items. But the rarity needs to be adjusted to the item's power. The suggested 10% (or even 5% which might be better) makes sense when from a fixed encounter. Adding them to SL missions is another way to go about it and might work out nicely, but might be maladjusted to the item's power if it's too rare.

It's a nice tool and usually part of my PvM toolset (I weave it along with optic plague when doing inf dynas or take agg in a raid.. it works out okay. It's no longer the OMG AWESOME thing it used to be pre-SL, though.

[Krause]

Adding them back to things like polymorphed lunatic would be awesome as it was once a drop for them, maybe a bit rarer then 10% since they are just the minion mobs. 10-15% from Ljotur would rock though. All old random mob/dyna nanos that just aren't found anywhere close to the frequency they once were would be awesome to add to old raid encounter bosses at around 10-15% and like 1-5% chance from their minions. It would get people back out there again.

[Vinkera]

Adding them back to things like polymorphed lunatic would be awesome as it was once a drop for them, maybe a bit rarer then 10% since they are just the minion mobs. 10-15% from Ljotur would rock though. All old random mob/dyna nanos that just aren't found anywhere close to the frequency they once were would be awesome to add to old raid encounter bosses at around 10-15% and like 1-5% chance from their minions. It would get people back out there again.

Polymorphed Lunatic is Ljotur's place holder boss. He supposedly used to drop NS2 in crystal form about 20-25% of the time. Now, he only drops Team Beacon Warp and some kind of red armor...forget the name.

However, that's what I'm thinking.

[Teeko]

While were at it, why aren't all weird looking nanos part of collector boxes? Seriously hes supposed to be a collector of rare items, cmon. Igocs that only drop off one mob and it only spawns every 9h30m, but not weird looking nanos? doesn't make much sense.

[meeep]

I Agree it's probably to rare. But saying peeps don't kill the mobs that is wrong. Actually NTs kill certains mobs that drop em in thousands a week, they just don't bother to check their corpses. Cyborgs drop em , I looted one from corpses in pw, so have others.
Another thing that dried the market is that cru now is easy to come by, before people did loads of rk team mission to get cru. Rk missions is still probably the best source for ns an ga.

[Tryptophy]

Aren't weird looking nanos about to be heavily nerfed and/or made vendor buyable in the rebalance patch? I'd support adding a high percentage drop to an oldschool raid like Ljotur or Notum Soldier, as well as a premium priced vendor option as a cred sink. If the credsinks in that patch deflate the economy over time, perhaps the effort to complete the raid will start to be a better time vs. reward option, which I think everyone will benefit from.

[doctorgore]

Aren't weird looking nanos about to be heavily nerfed and/or made vendor buyable in the rebalance patch? I'd support adding a high percentage drop to an oldschool raid like Ljotur or Notum Soldier, as well as a premium priced vendor option as a cred sink. If the credsinks in that patch deflate the economy over time, perhaps the effort to complete the raid will start to be a better time vs. reward option, which I think everyone will benefit from.

A npc will sell them for 900m or so.

[Teeko]

That's from 18.7 which is delayed/not coming out in the same form itbecause already it's not was on test so that npc may not even be in the cards anymore. I almost think that collector would be a better option anyways because at least it's not another stupid credit sink to punish everyone that didn't sploit creds.

[DigitalBath]

Adding some of that loot to bosses that currently have nothing meaningful as a reward wouldn't be bad, but might not apply to NS / NS2 since they are supposed to be used/attained by froobs as well. Something to consider if/when adding them to some other loot source.

That said, within The Collector there's definitely room on Sister Botanicus for some loot.. or even on the Collected Essence mini boss. Also on the lootless floors of DB3.. plenty of opportunities to introduce some rare drops that would give some extra incentive for people to run those instances. I'm sure there's plenty more I didn't think of just now, too.