"Shard Conversion" / "Shard Forging"

Feedback and Suggestions
1

This has probably been suggested somewhere before but I’ve not been able to find anything through searching, maybe I’m just bad at looking. And I know shards “feeling useless” was addressed in the upcoming crafting rework post but in what way they’ll be addressed I’m still not sure.

Either way, I would love to see either a “Shard Converter” or “Shard Forge” added to the game with a simple functionality yet one that gives all loot more worth, even if you might find yourself cursed by the RNG gods:

Option 1: Shard Converter
The ability to convert 3-10 shards into 1 specific shard of your choice that fits whatever build you’re trying to flesh out.

Option 2: Shard Forge
The ability to shatter shards into X amount of “Ettereal dust” (haha get it? Eterra + ethereal mmm lore) with the quantity of dust you gain being affected by the rarity of the shard, e.g:

  • Common Shard: 25 Ettereal dust
  • Uncommon Shard: 50 Ettereal dust
  • Rare Shard: 75 Ettereal dust
  • Very Rare Shard: 100 Eterreal dust

With the cost of crafting 1 specific shard being something like:

  • Common Shard: 100 Ettereal dust
  • Uncommon Shard: 125 Ettereal dust
  • Rare Shard: 150 Ettereal dust
  • Very Rare Shard: 200 Eterreal dust

Rationale
I’m personally sitting upon a hill of over 20,000 shards—which might not be a lot compared to some—many of which I will never use (or at least not any time soon) simply because there are some builds that don’t interest me and thus I see no reason to use a lot of them.

And if I have, for example, 9,000 shards I might never use… Then they unfortunately become useless to me personally.

As such, having the option to convert them into anywhere between 3,000 to 900 shards I would actually use, then hells yeah I would be stoked, and they instantly gain a purpose rather than to sit there waiting on the day I maybe want to try out a build with them, at which point, I can just convert other shards to fulfill my needs.

I would of course happily take a 1:1 conversion rate too for the “Shard Converter” but that might be too generous considering collecting stuff is a pretty big part of the ARPG genre.

Sure, you could use the above statement as an argument against this very suggestion but please, there’s collecting and then there’s just mindless, unfun grinding.

With either of the above I would know that all shards I get are useful because I can convert them into what I want or need—even if at a slower rate than collecting the specific shards themselves—for that reason alone I’d even gladly accept a 10:1 conversion rate honestly.

Alas, that is just my opinion and I can only hope those poor shards see a use one day that isn’t through me forcing myself to play builds I’m not interested in playing.

Thanks for reading, regardless if you agree or disagree. :heart:

2

I have well over 90k shards in my 1500h playtime so I can agree that it would be nice to convert some of them to something more useful and hard to find… My only caveat to this is that its really not that hard to get shards either from shard drops or shattering gear with affixes you want… So other than having something to do with excess shards I am neither for nor against this idea…

Obviously anything like this will need to factor into drop rates, rarity etc as it could very well have an impact on crafting / gearing…

So, sure… but for me its not a high priority…

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3

I like the idea of being able to break down shards into a new form of material used for crafting other shards. I think it provides a suitable outlet for more directed player agency.

Alongside what was mentioned in the Dev post about higher shard costs in the crafting update, this would be a suitable method to acquire the affix shards that you want.

Furthermore, this “Ettereal dust” could potentially be used in the crafting process to enhance or amplify crafting outcomes.

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4

@vapourfire Fair point. And yeah, it was never any high priority idea in my mind, I’ve made it this far after all. I just wish to help improve QoL in a way that doesn’t make things obsolete, that way I (and hopefully as many others as possible) can enjoy the game even more should something like this ever be implemented.

@TehGrief I like your thinking, I’m now leaning a lot more towards the “Shard Forge” idea myself, whether it branches out into other aspects of the game or not. It’s also a bit more immersive with the systems we already have in place as well I think. So all in all, it’s probably the better option to go with.

5

On the whole your idea is nice but don’t you think that having 20k+ shards you can make any very rare shard you want in big numbers? That would turn ‘vary rare’ into ‘common’ shard and that doesn’t have any sense.

With the new crafting system we already have a ‘shard sink’ with the Glyph of Chaos where you need the shard for the affix you want to change. That is not big but still something.

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6

I think this is a fantastic idea! Of course it does favour people who’ve been playing for a long time and have many, many shards to burn, but perhaps when/if leagues/seasons are ever implemented this could be a thing then?

Or there could be some other mechanic involved that isn’t trading some shards for others, like being able to choose a shard you desire and ensure it dropping at the end of a mono, etc.

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7

@Gilavar Well that is where proper balancing of how much currency it takes to craft certain shards come in. My examples in the original post were just that, examples, and when it comes to “very rare” shards said example is a bit too generous, I agree. I think a more realistic example of shard forging costs would be within the following ranges (though I am no expert):

  • Common Shard: 100-150
  • Uncommon Shard: 150-300
  • Rare Shard: 300-500
  • Very Rare Shard: 500-1000

@ashorak
Since you and Garfunkel mention similar concerns about how this system would favour veterans I’ll address you both—while there would indeed be “favouritism” its impact wouldn’t be particularly major.

Sure, veteran players would be able to get shards they want right after implementation in good quantities, but then again, do they not deserve it? They’ve spent hundreds to thousands of hours gathering all their materials so why should it be considered a bad form of favouritism if that effort has already been put into the game. New players would reach that point eventually, and if they join after the implementation of a system like this, they would be able to benefit from it at the start, with every single shard they loot, rather than the hundreds to thousands of shards veterans have used or lost to terrible crafts etc.

So in my personal opinion, “favouritism” is not a very strong argument in this situation even though it’s not a factually incorrect one, it’s just that I think the veterans who have put so much time and effort into this game deserve what they would get as long as the system itself is well-balanced in regards to costs as mentioned above.

8

@g_o_o_f veteran players would be able to get shards they want right after implementation in good quantities, but then again, do they not deserve it?

I don’t even think it’s about them deserving it or not - it would be a good thing for veteran players to have access to these crafting systems during the Beta in order to provide accurate feedback on the way the system works.

It’s already been confirmed that current characters will not be carried over to the multiplayer servers once launch happens, meaning that these current hordes and stashes of affix shards will be safely restricted to the Solo game-mode; none of these shards (or consequently, the characters capable of utilizing them) will ever impact the multiplayer version of this game and do not have to be balanced around that.

Once the game fully releases, it would be better if there were a system for when a player sinks time and effort in to grind out thousands of new affix shards and wants to have more control over their crafting abilities. There are several affixes that will be irrelevant to characters, specifically class-specific shards.

In conclusion, favouritism is not and cannot be an argument against this system.

1 Like
9

I completely forgot about this entire point lmao, thank you for the reminder.

But yeah, you’re right.

10

At those rates it’s a lot more balanced for rich players, but then it becomes out of reach for newer players. This is literally why leagues exist in ARPGs, to close the power gap disparity. However, I think having a very high exchange rate for shards doesn’t make the game worse for players with few shards, though it might feel bad to have a feature you can’t access.

I think that another consideration is trade. Once trade is enabled if we’ve implemented your change and the rate is too low (i.e. rare shards are too cheap), we’ll potentially see a monopoly on super high tier crafts from rich players in the market.

There’s a few kinks to iron out but I think it’s a great suggestion.

EDIT: I just saw that multiplayer servers will be independent from the current ones, so that addresses some of these points!

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11

Is this “I haven’t read the dev post giving a complete description of the changes to the crafting system coming on the 10th” the thread?

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No, that doesn’t affect what the OP is talking about.

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13

Kinda does. They made it a point to implement a rune that we will use the less used shards with. The point of this discussion is…a use for our less used shards.

14

No, unfortunately you have been mistaken. The fundamental purpose of this thread is to promote an idea for methods to create shards - a way to give players better agency when it comes to crafting.

OP has already acknowledged that they understand the upcoming crafting update provides a more appropriate sink for surplus affix shards, but it provides no solution for generating the specific ones that an individual build desires.

The suggestions posted in this thread are regarding methods to craft affix shards. One of the better, more realistic solutions that was presented was breaking down affix shards into a new material that would be used to forge the specific affix shards that a player wants.

It’s awfully belligerent to storm into the thread without properly taking the time to recognize what the OP has suggested.

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15

Yeah, who would do that kind of thing??? cough

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16

Ok. We are also getting a new type of crafting item that lets us get more shards from items as well. So the concern being talked about is also being addressed on the 10th. You still have to pay attention to your drops but you will be able to reliably get more of the shards you are seeking from the drop. I don’t suggest proposing systems that bypass drop chasing in a game type that is traditionally about chasing drops. Especially when the specific game has been leaning into creating drop chase for the past…hard to count but pretty much every patch has been increasing drop chase for as long as I remember.

17

This thread hasn’t been regarding any concerns. This thread is proposing an alternative idea for players to have more complex crafting options.

Despite what you claim, what has been discussed in this thread will not be addressed on the 10th with the crafting update; you have wrongly assumed and I recommend you spend some time to familiarize yourself with the thread before commenting further.

The main idea of this thread is to create a more intricate crafting system that uses a new material gathered by breaking down affix shards. This material (named “Ettereal Dust” by the OP, @g_o_o_f) could be used for several different options in game - including but not limited to the creation of specific affix shards. As proposed in the thread, Ettereal Dust could be used to modify, amplify, or enhance crafting rolls.

This thread consists of interesting ideas for possible updates. This is not and never has been a thread about concerns regarding the current or future state of the game.

This wouldn’t be bypassing those systems. According to Dev post regarding the crafting update, players will need better base items to craft with - since lower rarity or tiered items will have fewer forging potential points.

Players will still be encouraged to find the best crafting bases to start from. The system proposed in this thread does not negatively interact with or inhibit the developers current goals.

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18

Which one was that? I must have missed it when I skimmed the crafting thread.

19

The one that removes an affix and gives you a shard for every tier of the affix.

20

The rune of shattering? That’s been in for years!