Shirien

Items found and items appraised shall be posted here!

Appraisal & Discovery Format

Shirien stretched out and snagged another item from his inventory with curiosity as he started to polish it. Today he was focusing on a simple dagger to see if he could snag any extra profit while leveling his profession the only way he knew how. Grinding, lots and lots of grinding. A recent event had given him a surplus of materials so he was eager to put them to use.

[ID# 59412][CD: 10+1][LD: 2]
-1 Material, +9 EXP, +Keen to Basic Dagger (pending approval)

Shirien was surprised when he immediately got a result, a grin crossing his lips as he observed the dagger had upgraded itself into the uncommons. He could almost weep in pride for his child having reached its full potential just for him!

[ID# 59413][CD: 5+1]
-1 Material, +5 EXP, Retry

[ID# 59414][CD: 6+1]
-1 Material, +5 EXP, Retry

[ID# 59415][CD: 3+1]
-1 Material, +2 EXP, Locked

After several failed attempts the weapon did get locked however, meaning that it had reached the pique of its power. The result firmly to the side he was proud of his work since he had finally gotten an item of worth from his appraisals as opposed to simple failures and poor luck.

Summary: -4 Materials, +21 EXP, Basic Dagger -> Locked Keen Dagger

@Rain That's fair but so far as I can tell most people are falling into certain metas or archetypes most of the time anyways. It is a good point though that some people will want light armor and a greataxe for barbarian purposes.

@Takao On paper I like the idea but maybe a straight damage increase may not be the way to go? It'd get people spending SP but it wouldn't feel very optional. I think these should be like perks in Skyrim. Useful but not perfect for all scenarios. Like maybe the ability to block at greatly reduced efficiency with a greatsword, or maybe a boost to CRITICAL damage for lighter weapons like dagger or rapier.

As a Merchant I'mma just slide on in here and say that Alchemy is nice in that you can use your goods for cosmetic effects or RP items that effect you in ways outside of stats! Change the color of your hair, hallucinations, take on the form of an orc for an hour, stupid stuff like that!

The limit on alchemy good items more or less falls on the creativity of the crafter~! Think of it like magic potions like the kind that'll turn the prince into a frog!! :D I never thought about it before but I wonder why I can't appraise a lot of stuff, just weapons and armor, like artisan items for example. A merchant checking out a diamond ring makes sense to meeeee!

Staying on topic though, I will say the idea doesn't seem insane to me. You could call it 'experimentation' or "transmutation' so that you are actually mixing the contents and adding ingredients (ICly) to try and make it into something better, but with the chance to fail and make it just blow up in your face with smoke!

The idea is interesting but it seems a little OP. This is to artisans like the healing/overhealth banners only obtainable from difficult quests to alchemists I'd imagine. Alchemists can't make multi-use consumables like the banners, so it seems a bit odd that Artistans would get a debatable more powerful item that has charges.

This is basically time-travel, the item. The chance to start over from Zero if thing go badly for you the first time.

Laying it all out on the floor, I'm biased against this as the whole point of SAO is 'no second chances'. If you die, you die. That's that. The only exception I know about is that one christmas event.

On the over all, it looks pretty interesting to me. I'll confess up front I have not run any actual mental simulations of what these changes would actually mean, but the concept of light and heavy armor becoming more diverse from one another is something I whole-heartily approve of!

However I do find it a touch unusual that the grandmaster skill mods revolve around an item that is not actually light or heavy armor. Shields, to me, are an independent element. Actually, i would take Shieldwall and  Shield Proficiency and put those under Block or whatever the skill was, and have them only trigger when wearing one armor type or the other. If there were light shields (bucklers) and heavy shields (tower shields) I could conceive them being related, but as it stands this would make no more sense than, say, heavy armor making two-handed weapons more efficient and light armor making no-shield one-handed more efficient. I'm not averse to the idea, but it's breaking form and I can't see why. So basically I'd think that the mod for reaching full mastery of an armor might have more to do with the armor itself than an optional attachment.

If certain mods made certain pieces equipment 'synchronize together' better then that would be awesome though! But since these examples are the first sign of such a thing happening I know about it's the 'odd one out' at the moment~

Shirien blinked and froze slightly when she jumped up but calmed quickly from the discount. A smile crossed his lips as he took the item from the crimson haired lady in front of him and equipped it. He wore the pendent with pride as he said "Thank you very much, I won't say no to a discount!" The hooded player returns the coins in his hand to his inventory and gives his head a slight bow at her generosity. She could have taken the col and he'd have been none the wiser "Uhm... sorry about the nervousness earlier. This is my first time seeing someone with orange." He smiles a little, hoping there were no hard feelings. He had to admit he felt a slight bit impressed from seeing her flip through her menus with such practiced ease. "I'm Shirien by the way, thanks again, this'll really help me out" Or at least he assumed so. Being able to hit things with a better chance of success seemed like an amazing boon.

With the hooded player tilting his head slightly and keeping his quiet breathing he focused for any sound around him before letting out a disappointed sigh. Raising his left hand to scratch his head through his hood he decides he'll have to keep looking to find the wasp matriarch he wanted to defeat. With his next action decided he steps forward while keeping his senses focused primarily on his surroundings. Getting jumped by a surprise monster wouldn't be fun. He was confident that at this point in time he could handle these floors with his armor alone, but he wasn't particularly eager to stress-test that kind of thing and end up a corpse in the real world and vanish from this one altogether. Not getting hit at all was preferred, but he wasn't about to rely on that. He made sure that a backup plan was in place so he wouldn't need to worry if he didn't dodge in time.

"Man... Business is DEAD on this floor..." He says with a goofy smile glued to his face. The player with his cart hadn't gotten a single customer in the short time he was a merchant. He was almost certain it was because of his floor of choice! Sure it was full of undead things and dark and overall a crappy place to be... but it still felt like someone might have gotten interested in something at some point. He merely shrugs his shoulders though and decides to burn another material to the sacrificial fires of failure. This time he took out one of the heavy armor sets he had stashed away for appraisals.

[ID# 59207][CD: 3] <Locked>

Shirien let out a sigh of distaste as his attempt to appraise the item failed utterly, leaving him with a locked item he would feel bad selling to someone in its current state. With a defeatist sigh he threw the item to the winds and let it vanish from the world or whatever. maybe one day he could appraise something right, but it was not today.

-1 Heavy Armor
-1 Material
+2 EXP

He took a deep breath of relief when Lyrica fell, the boss was down and now it was just clean up duty. Any fear or worry he had was washing away, they had the wolves at the disadvantage and so he was eager to take at least on kill from the pack for himself. He noted his fellow group member taking a defensive stance to which Shirien simply shrugged and charged ahead into the shrinking pack. Holding his dagger ready he prepared a sword art and grinned when a wolf took note of him. As it charged towards the hooded player he triggered the attack and sliced twice through the wolf's sides! A sense of contentment filled him when the wolf shattered apart into nothing and left him unscathed. He wasn't expecting a leaderboard entry, but he did his part and was proud of it! "Your turn..." He glances at his party listings "@Dracul" He says as quickly as he could.

[ID# 59190][BD: 10]
Action: Severely Critical Side Bite! (2x1x(7+2)=18]

Shirien was resting around in his shop's seat while looking over his stat screen with a smile glued to his face at what he was seeing. He was happy to see the number ten next to his level since to him it was a matter of great joy that he had surpassed the single digits in power! With a certain level of pride filling him he decided it was time for him to try and kill one of the field bosses he had heard about in the past to test his new power. Pushing himself out of the seat he had been sitting in he set his personal goal for the day and started to prepare for a trip out and into the second floor to begin his hunt for the Wasp Queen that lived and died many many times on that floor. It took him a few hours of travel but he did eventually find himself in the middle of the second floor's wilderness where no safe zone was present to keep himself or anyone else from dying. Due to this being true he drew his dagger and took a deep breath while listening for the sound of buzzing if it was present.

I'll be taking this alone as I have no reason to think this wasp has any chance of being able to kill me!

My overall reaction to most of 2 is that there is a very fine line in MMO between "Hey, what strategy do you recommend for this dungeon?" New Player and "Uh, which button opens my inventory?" New Player.

I get that these events are to help new players, buuuut that doesn't mean that a level 3 player in basic gear shouldn't die due to 'fairness' in my eyes. There certainly should be a level of leniency I suppose, but not to the point -anybody- can take part without the very real threat of being useless or killed. I say this as a low level player who, without the armor I am wearing, would probably die in one or two hits.

If you aren't ready for a raid boss, that's your fault man, buy a potion xD It's stated outright in the opening post that death is a possibility. They've been warned. The only thing I'd suggest is a recommended minimum level for these things. Not enforced, but suggested.

As a side note though, speaking as a guy with a +3 damage weapon AND using a +2 damage boost potion at a low level, I am not sure mitigation needs to be raised. At that point people less prepared than me would really have trouble scratching the boss... I didn't let it be a handicap though, I aoe'd the mitigationless wolves so I was useful to my maximum, even if I am a touch weak with my rank 1 SAs. If I had Rank 2 I might have gone after Lyrica, but odds are I would have AOEd anyways since I'd do more damage overall that way. That's just me and my opinion though~! Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is that I feel the mitigation needs to be within reasonable damaging range of a player with only rank 2 sword arts, due to the usage limitation (if not damage limitation) for in case a high level player doesn't join for some reason, basically.

He had been feeling an emptiness in his third equipment slot for quite a while. He always had a weapon and some armor, but today he thought it was finally time he got himself an accessory when he happened across a shop while exploring the higher floors for something to do. His first thought was why there would be a shop outside of the actual town, his second thought was 'Oh ****, an orange player.' followed by him doing his absolute best not to turn on his heel like an idiot after having entered the shop or the stupidest thing in the world he could and reach for his dagger. He kept his arms to the side and kept his breath calm, sure that any number of things could have happened, Enough thievery or assaults could make a person orange if he remembered the rules, this person was probably just making a living as best they could. That is what he reasoned to himself as he gave a nervous wave and started to browse the shop while keeping his attention to his peripherals.

While searching through the shop he noted a particular pendant which grabbed his attention. It was the highest quality item in the shop after all. While pointing to the Azure's Pendant he asked "Hello, I'm interested in this pendant!" He was careful to be polite, smiling a bit while he waited for his curiosity to be answered. With his eyes making a glance to the shop's prices he started going through menus until a handful of col coins was held tight in his fist. He had no idea what the design represented or anything like that. He was just seeing it as a nice looking pendant that would make it easier for him to hit things, and branch out his skills later on if he wanted. "This is enough col, right?" He holds out the coins in the hopes the hand holding them stayed where it was instead of ending up on the floor.

-800 Col for Azure's Pendant

>Let There Be Light is recommended to level 5s
>Features two enemies of equal strength to the boss of Long Live The Queen
>Also features suffering dice debuffs from the darkness
>Long Live The Queen is recommended to level 8s
 

If I didn't know better, I'd say this game is trying to kill us!

I'd be happy to do The Traveler. I need the skill anyhow, more people just means less damage between us!

Appraisals

The first concern I have is about Appraisals. They are a great unique system in my eyes, but they are easy to abuse due to them being treated the same way as a crafter despite their unique nature. A blacksmith only uses materials, materials have zero unique qualities. A merchant uses a material AND an item. The issue with this is that there is no way to pinpoint the item used.

As it stands there is no rule to state the item being used in your post, meaning you could easily scapegoat in a Good quality item just because that reroll you tried ended up locking the weapon. It's just honor-system based in my eyes when it really shouldn't be.

The way I'd resolve my concerns with appraisals is this: You can only appraise one item per post. You can appraise that one item as many times as you want, but you can't take a lucky roll meant for another item and apply it to that rare you had in your back pocket. Atop of that you need to state what item is being appraised before you actually perform the roll. Otherwise the same issue applies where you are just switching them out on a whim. I don't know if the staff has the ability to view edits made to a post, but it would assist in catching cheaters in either regard. There is no negative unless you are trying to abuse the system.

Item Stats

The second concern I have is that many of the stats on potions, food, and the like in the merchant shop appear out of date. Firstly, unlike enhancements like the alchemist's potions, they do not mention tier in any way. such as Tier*X for a health potion. Furthermore the numbers are not in line with the enhancements stated for an alchemist. The Health and Thorn potions are the most obviously mismatched, one being stronger and the other weaker than an alchemist's.

I believe that this is because Merchant is the only profession to have their items listed in the profession guide instead of Enhancements and so they do not get updated with every change. I would suggest that either the staff keep a closer eye on the merchants items and update them appropriately or move them to the enhancements section for future updates and prevent this issue entirely. With a link, of course.

Tiers

The third concern I have is related to the previous one. None of our items have tiers stated anywhere on them. I feel it should be made clear: Can merchants sell tier 2 potions and items, or are all our items ALWAYS tier 1 no matter our rank?

This bleeds into appraisals as well. Suppose we purchase a good quality sword from a merchant. Good quality items are functionally identical no matter what 'tier' you choose to assign to them. I'm wagering many people won't even bother to put a tier when they craft a good quality item. If I appraise a good quality item, could I decide its tier? Could I make it into a tier 3 item (once available, I know only tier 2 is unlocked right now) and that's that?

If so, that does provide one way for merchant appraisals to be somewhat more useful as well. That being if one could appraise an item and if it succeeds instead of adding an enhancement (like with a perfect weapon) you instead raise the tier by one. Just a random suggestion, naturally they can be locked as well.

In Closing

I feel that there are some likely unintentional loopholes and missing/false information that really should be listed, and I think it would be a reasonably simple task to resolve these issues with brief statements or edits. Thank you for reading this, and I would appreciate it if you commented and discussed this so it gets attention!

Shirien figured he should keep appraising items just in case he got lucky sometime. He didn't have a flowing line of customers just waiting to buy his things so this seemed like a good alternative in his mind to simply waiting around. It would give him a little more EXP for his profession at worst!

[ID# 58972][CD: 1+1=2] Basic Heavy Armor <Locked> +2 EXP

"Dangit" Shirien said with a soft sigh before discarding the failed piece of armor with a shrug. If it was basic -and- locked he had no real purpose for it except oblivion. "Maybe next time~" He says softly to nobody but himself.

-1 Material
-1 Basic Heavy Armor
+2 EXP

Shirien hummed softly in consideration before nodding "That would be well and good for the first few days I suppose. After that you start getting hungry and bored I'd wager." He chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders "Either way, I'd like to avoid pits of all kinds, bottomless and no... Well, unless there is treasure..." Memories of a game he had played filled his mind before he fond himself smiling and saying "I'd be very worried if boars could fly. It would probably be a joke mob that does a few zillion health in one hit despite being cute and/or cuddly!" He shuddered at the thought, always hating those types of enemies. His eyes scanned the horizon and Shirien asked "... Do the other floors have views like this?" He looked to Macradon curiously after his question.

Shirien grinned as the boss was finally described and Shirien started typing out the details for later reading into a PM to himself. The first thing he noticed was the height of the numbers that far exceeded what he could put out. Thankfully though the high numbers just gave him something to work toward, a solid goal instead of a fantasy or guess. He couldn't claim any kind usefulness here or insightful information that hadn't been brought up already by the more powerful players. He did note down a few things such as the 'survival' skill for example. He figured they'd turn out handy in the short term as well.

He listened in as he heard a speech made by the lady with silver hair. He gave a slight whistle as she proudly made her position known. He didn't quite understand the circumstances of the death that left her a green player, but he couldn't help but find some respect for her confidence and pride in being strong enough that she thought she was an asset no matter what she did. That said he was a touch worried about being around her seeing as she claimed to fall into a group of player-killers and he was a low level player. He hid his level with his clothes and nobody could check his stats, so he mostly just hoped that was enough.

He hummed in thought a moment when his notes were all jotted down and said "Well, best of luck to everybody here with the next meeting and the boss itself... I'm no expert by any sense, but I think the fact he is chained up should be of note. Why is he chained? Is that free hits for us, or will the assumed minions attack to free him? He'll probably just break himself free, but you guys are gonna have to choose if you are going to deal with the adds first, or try to focus him down before he can break free... Time limit or damage, who knows? If it were up to me I'd test it out, leave, and try again." He chuckled softly, aware not everybody was as patient as him, but there was no obligation to fight a boss once or all the way through. He raises a hand and waves as he heads on his way after giving his two cents. He doubted it'd save any lives, but it was there for consideration anywho. He had a lot of grinding to do before he could claim any part in the future raids however.

-Shirien Leaves the Meeting-

As my first boss ever I'd say this is pretty sweet! I can't really give my full feedback as the boss is still alive, so surprise mechanics and rewards are outside my reality :P

That said the boss's responses are interesting and colorful, things have been going along fast, and it didn't die before it became my turn! That was really my biggest worry, that I wouldn't get a hit in on the monsters since I was (reasonably) put near the back row. As this is a PUG I can't expect complex strategy ideas like maybe the waves of wolves are focused on a target in the 'main' party and would tear them a new one if the 'sub' party doesn't focus them down like in a proper MMO, but that doesn't stop me from being a greedy guts and wanting it anyhow!

The only thing I'd fix is that Lyrica-Senpai isn't telling me how delicious I look/am.

As he passed the final door's threshold he noticed that the shadowy creature that had been here before had vanished, leaving Shirien alone. The second thing surprised him a lot more, the room was now fully furnished like it was a small apartment. He raised a brow and decided to check outside. Stepping onto the porch he noticed it had become night time in the area he was in. On top of that there were lights all around! The buildings had lit up windows, the sky was bright and beautiful, and he could almost make out people moving around on the ground. Shirien hummed in thought as he entered the room once more and blinked in surprise. The four doors had vanished into thin air, and left in their place was a normal wooden door. He tilted his head and opened it, and it looked like it simply lead outside into a normal apartment building. As he moved to cross the threshold though his vision turned a blinding white!

His eyes shoot open and he looks around, panting softly in surprise as his mind tried to catch up to the change of scenery. The air was moist, the weather was hot, and the sound of a waterfall flowed nearby. He was back where he had been before his nap! Shirien spent a moment in wonder, thinking that it might have been a dream for a few moments before a reward screen appeared in front of him! It told him that he had completed a quest and listed off several rewards for Shirien including a new skill. Shirien chuckled weakly as he finally had confirmation it was indeed all part of the game and not him having a mental episode. The time had changed to night however and so he turned over for another nap. Somehow he felt like there was a lot less stress on his mind, though he didn't particularly understand why. He didn't want to question it though, just enjoy another nice rest before morning to let his mind and body rest after the quest.

Before the shades around him could consider their next move Shirien suddenly changed direction to a lone spirit in the back that had been cut off from the others. With no remorse the hooded player drives his knife into the strange shadow-like creature. Moments later the hitpoint bar over the room emptied and the room shattered along with its inhabitants. Shirien was left alone in a sheer white room for the final time he hoped as he moved to exit the room and see what changes had occurred outside and what his rewards were. He hoped they were something special consider the mess he had gone through up to this point.

[ID# 58772]

Shirien: 19/20 HP | 0/5 Energy [+1 -1] | 21 Mitigation | 5 Damage | 1 Evasion
Action: [BD: 10] Severely Critical Hit! ((Well then. I guess I should count myself karma neutral.))

Interaction: 0/15 HP [-7+3=-4] | 3 Mitigation | 7 Damage
Action: Death

The shadows proved very evasive indeed if not threatening. They dodged and weaved out of human shape seemingly at will while whispering their words over and over. At this point Shirien was just getting frustrated they wouldn't fight him and insisted on simply evading over and over and not letting him beat them. He wondered if they thought they could wear him down or something of the sort. Shirien really did not like the idea a slight bit, and quickly removed it from his mind while replacing it with being certain he would be the victor as long as he didn't give up.

[ID# 58771]

Shirien: 19/20 HP | 0/5 Energy [+1 -2] | 21 Mitigation | 5 Damage | 1 Evasion
Action: [BD: 4] Miss!

Interaction: 4/15 HP | 3 Mitigation | 7 Damage
Action: [MD: (3-1=2)] Miss!

With his mind finally centered he lunges at the monsters with much more accuracy than his tired mind had given him a moment ago. His dagger sliced into one spirit, and then he tore it out and into a second! Shirien watched as a collective healthbar shrank from the strike, relief washing over him at the fact that the shadows all shared a single bar, like they were a single entity instead of a group of them. His worries were greatly downgraded thanks to this lovely knowledge he had been given. "You're not so tough." He says softly while readying his next assault while the shadows tried to move away.

[ID# 58770]

Shirien: 19/20 HP | 0/5 Energy [+1 -2] | 21 Mitigation | 5 Damage | 1 Evasion
Action: [BD: 10] Severely Critical Side Bite! [2x1x(5+2)=14] ((Whoop whoop!))

Interaction: 4/15 HP [-14+3=-11]| 3 Mitigation | 7 Damage
Action: [MD: 1] Critical Miss!