For an example (and to confirm to myself I’m not insane), I just shattered a four affix rare with a Tier 4 +Summon Skeletons and three affixes. I received one +Summon Skeletons shard and no others.
If I had used Runes of Removal, it would have guaranteed four +Summon Skeletons shards if that was the affix it chose. While it’s true that the removed affix is chosen randomly and it may take multiple tries, I’ve been fiddling with this for a while and so far I’ve found that never actually matters. The worst case I’ve encountered is that I run out of FP on the item with the one affix I wanted left, and I can still shatter the item and get at least one shard. The more likely scenario is that I hit the affix on first or second try. Using Runes of Removal, I have never once not got the affix shards I wanted. Using Runes of Shattering, it happens very often.
Even though this is technically more items consumed, I am swimming in Runes of Removal, and I’d much rather blow through extras of those than lose out on shards from a rare affix by shattering. I’m not sure why I would shatter any item ever, knowing this.
I think it’s goofy because I don’t see a reason to use Shatter at all when you can guarantee shards with Removal.
The game is vomiting shards for non-rare affixes at me, so there’s no point in disassembling items to get them. In theory, that leaves rare affixes to Shatter, but there’s no guarantee you’re going to get the shards for the rare affix, so if I’m trying to stock up, why risk not getting shards when I can guarantee it with Removal? Removal is not so much more rare than Shattering to balance the equation out.
For all intents and purposes, getting the shards is guaranteed. I’ve been doing it all week and I have never not gotten the shards I wanted from an item. Like I said in the OP, on a few occasions that meant having to Shatter it at the end, but that was still when there was a single affix left and a very rare occurrence.
And again, as far as rarity, in my experience they’re not so much more rare than Shatter to matter. I’ve been absolutely blasting items with Removal and Shattering almost nothing and I still have only 20 more Shatters than Removals in my stockpile.
Well, you can’t use a rune of removal when you’re out of potential, so they cant be used to recover runes from a bricked crafting attempt. Each has their place, and optimal usage scenario.
I don’t know, to me, if I need the affix with some urgency, I use removal, if is one of those I have little shards but I only need if they appear on a chaos mod so I didn’t get the thing locked, I use the shatter, sometimes I get it, sometimes don’t not a big deal.
There’s a point you will have plenty of both, until then, is just some extra management an thought in what you’re doing.
This. Everyone brings up recovering lost crafting.
But making shattering restore 1 of each affix at a minimum does not infringe on that value or make it “broken” imo.
Shattering feels extremely weak and out of place.
I have a few characters in empowered since mp dropped and have a few hundred removals, they need to buff shattering, or introduce a higher tier better shatter.
Removal being used as a tool to get crafting mats instead of strictly a crafting tool 98% of the time feels out of place.
This is also a good point. Going purely on function, Removal feels like it should be primarily a tool for crafting. But for me, it’s the opposite - I use it as an affix gathering tool and almost never as a crafting tool. And Shattering feels like it should be an affix gathering tool exclusively, but I almost never use it for that at all.
I completely agree here. I think the problem is the potential cost of all the non-affix crafting options makes them unattractive at crafting tools, unless your item is floating in potential, or you have no other real option (changing dmg type or resist). Removals can use what, up to 18 potential…and can’t be used in conjunction with a Hope?
