Restructure craftable temporary powers

Short form:

I want craftable powers to be far less dysfunctional than they are now. There are many ways to do this, but I suggest a restructuring such as:

• all craftable powers given 50% efficacy boost, plus extra boosts on a per-power basis
• power recipe drops are gated similar to enhancements: common powers drop in early levels (like training origin enhancement drops), uncommon in mid levels (like DOs), rare in high levels; chance for drops is left unchanged
• all craftable power recipes are memorizable (making the powers essentially rechargeable)
• power recipe memorization is laid out into a structure of progression, such that achieving memorization of more effective powers requires memorization of one or more less effective powers
• all memorization of all recipes by all players are cleared periodically (suggest every 3 months); upon clearing, some of the power recipes are rotated out of the game and new ones are rotated in, and the progression structure is reworked as needed.

Longer form:

Ever since the drop rates on the craftable power recipes has been fixed to the point where they're dropping very frequently compared to other recipes, I've been frustrated with them. They cost so much in resources, time, and effort to get them into a situation where I can realize any in-game benefit from them, and when I do the benefit is very minor. They do not compare well to regular powers, and yet they fight for equal space in both my limited recipe inventory and in my overstuffed power trays.

They're simply not good. They should be better.

Surely there are lots of ways to make them better. And I have a few ideas:

1. Do a pass on all the craftable temp powers and make them far better. Then do another pass and improve again specific powers as needed.

Craftable powers should be as good as the Nemesis Staff or the Sands of Mu, if not even better. They should have effects that edge out the performance of tier 1 and 2 powers over all power sets. These are the kinds of powers that earn spots in a crowded power tray. And to keep those powers in their tray slot, they should be given a big buff to their charges (25 instead of 5) or expiry time (2.5 hours instead of 30 minutes).

Gabriel's Hammer should have every benefit the Ghost-Slaying Axe has, and more.

2. Add a gating structure to all craftable power recipe drops similar to how enhancement drop tiers are gated.

Enhancements used to drop every tier (and class) at every level, which the devs eventually were made to recognize was too much a burden for the player to deal with. The enhancement inventory got clogged far too easily and players were losing far too many useful drops because they couldn't keep inventory management up during chaotic encounters. The devs then changed the enhancement drop scheme so that only appropriate types of enhancements would drop for the level and class of the character, and this was *very* helpful.

Power recipe drops are now burdening the player in much the same way. And in much the same way they should be restricted to only drop certain types of recipes appropriate to the current state of the player. I would suggest restricting common-type power recipes to drop only for levels 1-25 (same as training origin enhancements), uncommon-type power recipes to drop only for levels 25-35 (same as dual-origins), rares to drop from 35-50 (same as single-origins), and possibly ultra-rares to drop from epic encounter successes (same as hamios et al).

I would keep the drop rate chances the same for each tier, as at low levels there's a need for extra powers to round out limited set powers, while at high levels any decently-built configuration of regular powers can handle almost everything, and only luxurious extra powers would be considered to add into that. Of course a player could sidekick up or down to get into any particular recipe tier if he really wanted.

3. Make all craftable power recipes memorizable in much the same way generic invention enhancement recipes are memorizable.

The worst detriment to using a temporary power is that it's so likely to expire before a player gets a feel for how best to use it. It's essentially way too easy to waste the power's benefits. And once it's wasted, it can't be recovered easily. This leads many players into worse never using a power they've crafted, because they never get a groove for incorporating it into their play, so it just sits in inventory forever.

Craftable powers need to be rechargeable, and easily so, if there is to be any hope of players getting into playing regularly with them. I suggest they be made memorizable.

If they were made memorizable, say after crafting the same power recipe 3-5 times, then a player could recover from expiring a power with just an investment of salvage. This would make it far more feasible for a player to consider putting the power into his power tray for good. Especially if the power icon doesn't disappear from the tray when it expires but simply remains unselectable with a warning that a recharge is needed.

4. Add a progression scheme to power recipe memorization.

If the craftable powers are going to be given efficacy boosts plus convenient rechargeability through memorization, I would suggest a progression system to help balance access to these powers. In addition to a prerequisite of crafting a particular recipe 3-5 times before memorization, I would suggest that each uncommon power recipe also prerequire 1-3 specific common power recipes to be memorized before it allows memorization. In the same vein, rare recipes would additionally prerequire 1-3 specific uncommon recipes, and ultra rares 1-3 (possibly all) specific rares to be first memorized.

Each recipe can still be crafted and used without the progression prerequisites. But cannot be memorized and thus are not easily rechargeable without satisfying the progression prerequisites.

Hypothetically this kind of system could prove to have some appeal to players, and might encourage more to play over a broad range of levels seeking specific drops at specific tiers to satisfy progression prereqs (*if* the craftable powers are made sexy enough...). And if players are indeed encouraged to play over a broader level range, I have to believe that would encourage players to consider how their build plays at every level, leading towards extra potential for artistry in build planning.

5. To retain the concept that these are temporary powers, I suggest all such recipe memorizations be cleared periodically, and the power recipe pool and associated progression charts be subject to rotations.

Making craftable powers become sexy and appealing and worthy of space in power trays means that regular powers start losing their shine and are at bigger risk of being forced out of use. Players may soon find that the basic power sets have a lot of dead powers in them since craftable powers are better.

A method to balance against this would be to periodically clear all memorizations from all players across the whole game. If a player knew that he could rely on a craftable power for the foreseeable future, he can be confident to incorporate it. And if a player knew well in advance that a craftable power was going to be reset, he'd be able to comfortably analyze and adjust how to compensate that loss with his other enduring powers.

I find it appealing then to suggest that recipe memorizations across the whole game be reset every season. This mimics both vet badge awards and business quarterly reports. Everyone is reset to their base powersets on a regular schedule, which naturally encourages meritous play and resists excessive damage from exploits over the long term.

Furthermore, if in addition to a seasonal reset of recipe memorizations, the recipe pool itself were shuffled so that some powers are removed and others are brought in, and the progression system changed as well to match, players could find the game enfreshened a bit every time. If the craftable powers are good enough, new strategies for pvp and/or epic encounters could interestingly ebb and flow and evolve over time. I would think there is significant potential for additional longevity for the game provided by this kind of system.

(Side note: I'd encourage *all* recipe memorizations to be cleared periodically. While it's debatable whether or not retaining memory of a damage IO recipe is important, clearing that memory would help unclog the recipe interface window, without making it too difficult to still generate a damage IO when needed.)

Hopefully that all makes sense and is worthwhile. If not, it's an easy idea to ignore.

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/unsigned

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I don't think anything is broken here, and temp powers aren't SUPPOSED to be as good as the regular ones.

Also /unsigned.

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Dec out.

I'd say using the Ghost Slaying Axe is a bad example - as,f or the temp (vet) powers, it's probably the least used of them. It does lethal damage except against a very few enemies. Gabriel's Hammer, St. Louis Slammer? The KB is very useful on my squishies that otherwise don't have a "keep away" power.

The only alteration I'd make to the droppable temp powers is to move them from "recipies" to a category of their own. With as frequently as they drop now, especially early on (to, say, mid-20s) they're taking up a LOT of room I'd rather use for enhancement recipes.

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Yeah, but they don't have to take up space. They can be emailed to a mule, they can be stored in an unused market slot (by the mule or the original character), they can be sold or if it's not worth selling they can be deleted.

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