Loot
Loot Tier 0 | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 | Tier 5 | Tier 6 | Tier 7 | Tier 8 |
Archives: Loot/Weapons Pre2012, Loot/Tier 7 Pre2013
Related topics: Game Mechanics, Items
Loot is the term formally used to refer to any item generated by AC's random treasure system or "loot-o-matic". However, it is also used as a general term to describe any item dropped by a creature or found inside a chest.
The Loot System
Profiles
Loot items generated by creatures and chests are controlled by treasure profiles.[1]
There are three general profiles types that are distributed among the creatures and chests in the game.[2] Each profile has general parameters that control treasure generation including: number of items, item type, occurance and the Loot Tier. [3]
- Generic Items - Basic items that do not mutate at all such as scarab peas and mana stones.
- Mundane Items - Items that do not have magical spells but can still mutate with different properties such as armor level, color or wield requirement and damage for example.
- Magic Items - Items that can mutate with varying spells and cantrips in addition to the mundane item properties.
Loot profiles can be assigned to and shared by multiple creatures.[4] [5]
Loot Tiers
The loot tier of a profile is used in two distinct ways during treasure generation. First, it is used in selection to select the exact item that is going to be generated; and secondly it is used in mutation to determine how that item is going to be changed by the treasure system.[1]
For example, a generic item such as a Peerless Healing Kit cannot be mutated as one type of healing kit is always the same. However, an item such as a sword can be selected from the treasure tables and then mutated with other properties such as:
- Material Type
- Burden
- Value
- Description
- Wield Requirement, Damage, Modifier and Speed
- Armor Level (plus wield req. if high AL/unenchantable)
- Color
If the Magic Item profile is doing the mutating then the item can have even further properties including:
- Spells (see also: Spell Distribution)
- Cantrips
- Attribute Set
- Spellcraft
- Mana
- Mana Cost
Mutations get higher and more powerful with each tier but some items are not available at all until higher tier levels. For example, a chainmail girth is available from tier 1 right up to tier 8 (with much better mutations) but a piece of Lorica Armor will not appear in loot until tier 5.
Loot Tiers by Creature Level
Loot tiers are generally linked with a target level range of creature and sometimes location as is the case with the highest tier 8 creatures, which are found in high level hunting grounds.
Tier | Creature Level Found On* |
---|---|
Tier 1 | 8, 15 |
Tier 2 | 20, 30 |
Tier 3 | 40, 50 |
Tier 4 | 60, 80 |
Tier 5 | 100, 115 |
Tier 6 | 135, 160 |
Tier 7 | 185, 190, 200, 205, 210, 215, 220, 225, 235, 240, 250, 265 |
Tier 8 | Hoshino Fortress Graveyard Mhoire Castle Tou-Tou Inner Neftet |
* Creature levels and corresponding loot tiers are part of an ongoing creature rebalance. Some creatures may not currently be dropping the correct loot for their level.
Additional Properties
There are also other special properties that can affect the quality and/or amount of items that are generated.
"Luck"
Creatures and chests that have luck applied to them have an increased chance of generating items with better mutations.
Specifically, items dropped by chests and creatures with luck will have:
- Slightly increased chance of cantrips.
- Increased chance of better Ratings applied to armor, clothing and jewelry.
- Much better chance of reaching maximum stats for damage, variance, modifiers and armor levels.
"Group"
A creature or item with the group property will always drop a larger quantity of loot than normal. Many boss creatures as well as Gold creatures on Vissidal have this property in addition to the luck property.[7]
Non-Loot Generated Items
Trophies
Trophies are separate from the loot system which generates largely random items using profiles and loot tiers.[1]
Trophies are determined as soon as a creature spawns, with loot being generated on the creature's death.[8] This is why trophies always appear in the first slots of a creature's corpse.
Random trophies can also appear inside chests in addition to creature corpses. An early example of this is with Steel Chests that spawn wall and ring spells using the trophy system, while the bolts and arc spells are handled by the treasure system. This is because for a scroll to be generated as loot it needs to exist for all spell levels which wall and ring spells do not.[1] A "new trophy drop method" was also tested with the introduction of Black Marrow Reliquaries which can drop a number of different items in addition to tier 6 loot.[9]
Every creature of the same type shares the same treasure profile and trophy drop information.[10] Exceptions to this exist when a creature needs to drop a fixed quest trophy which are dropped by unique creatures or by a common creature in a specific location.
Trophy lists can be found on every creature and creature class page.
Rares
Main article: Rares
Rares are powerful items that can appear with loot on a defeated creature greater in level than the player character who killed it - or on any creature over level 100.
There are six tiers of rares ranging from the most common tier 1 rares, which consist of volatile skill buff gems, to the least common tier 6 rares consisting of weapons for each class. Rare armor and weapons can also be levelled up to cast more powerful spells on the wielder.
Trivia
- Loot tiers have been referred to as "Loot Levels" and "Wealth Ratings" by past developers.[1]
- Prior to the Ancient Powers event, Asheron’s Call had only six wealth ratings. When the game first shipped, only the first five were commonly available to players. The lowest wealth ratings were assigned to the low level creatures; wealth rating 4 was assigned to the high level creatures; and wealth rating 5 was assigned only to very special creatures like Olthoi Nobles.[1]
- There are currently 8 loot tiers and although not really seen, there is technically an 9th tier as many creatues do not generate any loot at all (tier 0). They may, however, still drop trophies.
- In the first 3 years of AC, when a creature was killed and loot was left inside the corpse, the body decayed immediately leaving the leftover loot on the floor. This feature was removed in The Iron Coast event to increase server performance. See Item Decay for a list of other similar changes made.
Update History
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 03/23/2004 Turbine - Treasure in Asheron's Call
- ↑ 11/25/2009 Turbine Forums - Re: Okay, thinks it's time to "fix" the Mana Forge Chests again...
- ↑ 12/19/2008 Turbine Forums - Re: Please do something to make chest pulls just a little better
- ↑ 01/14/2010 Turbine Forums - Re: Please pass the peas
- ↑ 08/02/2009 Turbine Forums - Re: The loot on dark isle is garbage again
- ↑ 03/18/13 Turbine Forums - Re: How many of the updated quests have you completed?
- ↑ 09/08/2007 Turbine Forums - Re: Interesting fact Dark Isle vs Vissy
- ↑ 06/15/2000 Turbine - Transcript of Asheron's Call Developer Chat, June 15
- ↑ 02/13/2005 Turbine Forums - New keys and chest.
- ↑ 05/16/2004 Turbine Forums - Question about mechanics re: treasure generator