Luck / Magic find

Loke666 · September 2017

So I got my luck up to 165% by salvaging stuff and just boosted it up to 201% with ecto.

That brings my total luck up to 401% with my neclace, a celebration booster, an item booster and a Omnonberry bar active.

My question is this: Is it worth to get it up to 300%? Just getting it those 36% was about 250-300 gold in ecto (selling the dust back to buy more) and getting to 300 will be at least thrice that price.

laxie · September 2017

From my understanding, investing in magic find is a long-term endeavor. It directly increases your loot table rolls, but as you say, the price of leveling it up is pretty steep. It will take a long time to recoup the investment. I recall researching loot table data on a large amount of chests and there was no significant difference between a magic find equipment and stat equipment. It would show over the period of many months of play.

I've always seen it as something you do at the very end. If you're looking to get full ascended equipment, then it's best to invest all the money into getting mats (or the equipment directly). The one exception might be looking for a drop for your legendary precursor - this is when you're trying to get the drop in the wild, without pursuing the new mastery track. In that case, magic find might be theoretically viable, since the legendary drop is such a rare occurrence - you'll be looking for it for months.

So if you have nothing important left to buy, go for it. If there are other things you have an eye on, might be best to get those first.

Tiller · September 2017

laxie said:

From my understanding, investing in magic find is a long-term endeavor. It directly increases your loot table rolls, but as you say, the price of leveling it up is pretty steep. It will take a long time to recoup the investment. I recall researching loot table data on a large amount of chests and there was no significant difference between a magic find equipment and stat equipment. It would show over the period of many months of play.

I've always seen it as something you do at the very end. If you're looking to get full ascended equipment, then it's best to invest all the money into getting mats (or the equipment directly). The one exception might be looking for a drop for your legendary precursor - this is when you're trying to get the drop in the wild, without pursuing the new mastery track. In that case, magic find might be theoretically viable, since the legendary drop is such a rare occurrence - you'll be looking for it for months.

So if you have nothing important left to buy, go for it. If there are other things you have an eye on, might be best to get those first.

My magic find by default is 210% when not using boosters. Honestly I haven't had a precursor drop in over 3 years. I think I had 3 within the first 2 years or so; two during The Claw event one during Southsun event. I think they changed something in the loot tables with them when they added the stupid mastery track. I have a feeling I will never get another precursor drop ever again. I've had to buy them for two of the legendary weapons I made and have just learned to accept it for what it is.

Loke666 · September 2017

Tiller said:
My magic find by default is 210% when not using boosters. Honestly I haven't had a precursor drop in over 3 years. I think I had 3 within the first 2 years or so; two during The Claw event one during Southsun event. I think they changed something in the loot tables with them when they added the stupid mastery track. I have a feeling I will never get another precursor drop ever again. I've had to buy them for two of the legendary weapons I made and have just learned to accept it for what it is.

At least you got 2, I got zilch and I have been playing since launch, being forced to buy both I have (have completed the dagger, still need some things for Predator).

I don't think they actually changed anything, you just got lucky twice. And before you ask, I flushed down a lot of crap into the mystic toilet.

laxie said:

From my understanding, investing in magic find is a long-term endeavor. It directly increases your loot table rolls, but as you say, the price of leveling it up is pretty steep. It will take a long time to recoup the investment. I recall researching loot table data on a large amount of chests and there was no significant difference between a magic find equipment and stat equipment. It would show over the period of many months of play.

I've always seen it as something you do at the very end. If you're looking to get full ascended equipment, then it's best to invest all the money into getting mats (or the equipment directly). The one exception might be looking for a drop for your legendary precursor - this is when you're trying to get the drop in the wild, without pursuing the new mastery track. In that case, magic find might be theoretically viable, since the legendary drop is such a rare occurrence - you'll be looking for it for months.

So if you have nothing important left to buy, go for it. If there are other things you have an eye on, might be best to get those first.

Already have full ascended including breathing mask on my main, got most of it shortly after they released it. But I do need to complete that second legendary...

Octagon7711 · September 2017

A long time ago people were gimping themselves to get better drops by adding magic find gear and dropping DPS. One guy wrote a good article about feeling guilty for being carried in groups because of all the magic find gear he use'd. Sometime later they revamp the whole system and took that gear out. I'm at 241% base and have noticed no great changes in drops over the years. But I stopped farming a long time ago and just play through content.

Loke666 · September 2017

Octagon7711 said:

A long time ago people were gimping themselves to get better drops by adding magic find gear and dropping DPS. One guy wrote a good article about feeling guilty for being carried in groups because of all the magic find gear he use'd. Sometime later they revamp the whole system and took that gear out. I'm at 241% base and have noticed no great changes in drops over the years. But I stopped farming a long time ago and just play through content.

I did notice an increase in rare drops when I got over 150% but it can of course be just a coincidence.

But it is not like I usually farm (which is why my luck was 165% until this week) but I thought getting to 200% might be worth it eventually, 300% though is not something I am sure is worth it.

People who have an alt account say they notice a difference when they play but the question is if another 100% makes much difference and you clearly think not.

So unless someone else here have a good reason Ill stay where I am now, thanks.

Dakeru · September 2017

Loke666 said:

At least you got 2, I got zilch and I have been playing since launch,

Just like me.
MF only adds a chance for a drop to be of a higher tier quality - getting a precursor will be completely random either way.

On the topic itself: With your food buffs the chance to get a higher tier quality is 5 times higher than that of a new account.
If you grind it out it will be 6 times.
5 times.. 6 times.. Do you think you will notice a significant difference?

laxie · September 2017

Dakeru said:
Just like me.
MF only adds a chance for a drop to be of a higher tier quality - getting a precursor will be completely random either way.

On the topic itself: With your food buffs the chance to get a higher tier quality is 5 times higher than that of a new account.
If you grind it out it will be 6 times.
5 times.. 6 times.. Do you think you will notice a significant difference?

I am still not sure how the loot table numbers work exactly.

If you have 300% magic find, does that mean you will drop 3x more orange items than a 0% player? That sounds a bit too good to be true - it would also make magic find a lot more viable than people have been reporting.

Dakeru · September 2017

laxie said:

Dakeru said:
Just like me.
MF only adds a chance for a drop to be of a higher tier quality - getting a precursor will be completely random either way.

On the topic itself: With your food buffs the chance to get a higher tier quality is 5 times higher than that of a new account.
If you grind it out it will be 6 times.
5 times.. 6 times.. Do you think you will notice a significant difference?

I am still not sure how the loot table numbers work exactly.

If you have 300% magic find, does that mean you will drop 3x more orange items than a 0% player? That sounds a bit too good to be true - it would also make magic find a lot more viable than people have been reporting.

No not more.. you will always get the same amount of loot.
What magic find does is increasing the chance for an item to become a better item.
Green turns to yellow > yellow turns to orange.
And 100% mf means a double chance for this so at 300% the chance will be 4 times.

In terms of profit it isn't even about gear but about crafting materials. A regular amount of T6 materials will get you a decent amount of money over time.

*edit cause my use of "more" is a little weird here

They will get more orange items yes but a 4 times higher chance isn't the same as getting 4 times as much.

laxie · September 2017

Dakeru said:
No not more.. you will always get the same amount of loot.
What magic find does is increasing the chance for an item to become a better item.
Green turns to yellow > yellow turns to orange.
And 100% mf means a double chance for this so at 300% the chance will be 4 times.

In terms of profit it isn't even about gear but about crafting materials. A regular amount of T6 materials will get you a decent amount of money over time.

*edit cause my use of "more" is a little weird here

They will get more orange items yes but a 4 times higher chance isn't the same as getting 4 times as much.

Thanks that makes sense.

I also found this:

"They only work on creature kills, chests however have a better table then normal kills. We wanted to avoid the game play of killing a boss and then having to equip your whole Magic Find set before opening the chest."

I never realised MF doesn't work on chests. The exception being PvP reward chests and HoT meta event loot rewards (meta events that drop chests don't use MF either). Considering chests represent maybe 80%-90% of my loot in the end-game, the use for MF is fairly limited, at least in my case.

Loke666 · September 2017

laxie said:
Thanks that makes sense.

I also found this:

"They only work on creature kills, chests however have a better table then normal kills. We wanted to avoid the game play of killing a boss and then having to equip your whole Magic Find set before opening the chest."

I never realised MF doesn't work on chests. The exception being PvP reward chests and HoT meta event loot rewards (meta events that drop chests don't use MF either). Considering chests represent maybe 80%-90% of my loot in the end-game, the use for MF is fairly limited, at least in my case.

It works on the chests in the Silver wastes chests as well and bosses drops items as well as chests so you are certainly having some use of the bonus but the ones getting the large bonus are the people farming silver wastes (that is why there always is so much people there).

laxie · September 2017

Loke666 said:
the ones getting the large bonus are the people farming silver wastes (that is why there always is so much people there).

Oh, I never realised that is the case. Interesting!

Tiller · September 2017

laxie said:

Dakeru said:
No not more.. you will always get the same amount of loot.
What magic find does is increasing the chance for an item to become a better item.
Green turns to yellow > yellow turns to orange.
And 100% mf means a double chance for this so at 300% the chance will be 4 times.

In terms of profit it isn't even about gear but about crafting materials. A regular amount of T6 materials will get you a decent amount of money over time.

*edit cause my use of "more" is a little weird here

They will get more orange items yes but a 4 times higher chance isn't the same as getting 4 times as much.

Thanks that makes sense.

I also found this:

"They only work on creature kills, chests however have a better table then normal kills. We wanted to avoid the game play of killing a boss and then having to equip your whole Magic Find set before opening the chest."

I never realised MF doesn't work on chests. The exception being PvP reward chests and HoT meta event loot rewards (meta events that drop chests don't use MF either). Considering chests represent maybe 80%-90% of my loot in the end-game, the use for MF is fairly limited, at least in my case.

I always knew that, chests have their own separate loot table that isn't reliant on anything other than a dice roll, which is why I've gotten my best drops from the chests. So chest types have better chances than others.

Loke666 · September 2017

Tiller said:
I always knew that, chests have their own separate loot table that isn't reliant on anything other than a dice roll, which is why I've gotten my best drops from the chests. So chest types have better chances than others.

Yeah, particularly event chests (I think the original Southsun event had the greatest precursor drop rate ever, and still I got zilch

).

Anyways, I think this is the lesson of the thred: The lower magic find you have the better it is to rise it but unless you farm a lot it isn't worth making it above 200%. Always use food that gives you more magic find and if you have boosters use them as well. The ascended neclace with a slot you can insert magic find bonus is a good idea.

If you raid you can skip the boosters and food while you do.

And if you plan to farm silver wastes you certainly should buff you as much as possible.

I think that sums it up, thanks for the help guys.

blastermaster · September 2017

Thanks!
That is good to know!

Just came back a few weeks ago from a very long break (played at launch up to a bit after fractals were introduced, while Magic Find gear was still a thing...), so my stat is not very high (just reached ~60%).

Not to turn the knife in the wound Loke666, but I had looted Zap one my first playthrough (can't really remember where though), and last weekend I've looted Dusk from a green type container in the Silverwastes... I was really surprised to say the least..

Though I'm not sure I can craft 1 legendary, let alone 2.. so I'm debating selling them right now.. Since I main a Thief, Twighlight is of no real use, and Bolt, not too sure either (just got HoT/PoF, so I'm just discovering staff for now and loving it..).

Loke666 · September 2017

Torval said:

This has been a really helpful thread. I have so much crazy stuff in all of my inventories that I don't even know what's gold and garbage or even where to begin sorting that out. I guess if I really wanted to play that bad I'd get off my butt and do it though.

If you don't think you need it just salvage or scrap it. Some people have loads of old collections items lying around.

And see what you can sell at the tradingpost (those items are easy to see whats gold or trash when you get the price).

Loke666 · September 2017

blastermaster said:

Thanks!
That is good to know!

Just came back a few weeks ago from a very long break (played at launch up to a bit after fractals were introduced, while Magic Find gear was still a thing...), so my stat is not very high (just reached ~60%).

Not to turn the knife in the wound Loke666, but I had looted Zap one my first playthrough (can't really remember where though), and last weekend I've looted Dusk from a green type container in the Silverwastes... I was really surprised to say the least..

Though I'm not sure I can craft 1 legendary, let alone 2.. so I'm debating selling them right now.. Since I main a Thief, Twighlight is of no real use, and Bolt, not too sure either (just got HoT/PoF, so I'm just discovering staff for now and loving it..).

That hurts.

My tip is if you sell one you will probably afford to craft the other. You still need to do a few dungeons and get the 100% map completion though as well as a little RvR (not very much).

If you had 3 of them you could probably sell all 3 and just buy a legendary for the gold you get and since you seems pretty lucky you might wish to wait a while and see if you get a third.

I play thief as a main myself, just started with the deadeye (and over halfways to get the predator even if I payed blood and tears to get the precursor for it). Now I just need to use that rifle as well as my 2 revolvers.

blastermaster · September 2017

Loke666 said:

blastermaster said:

Thanks!
That is good to know!

Just came back a few weeks ago from a very long break (played at launch up to a bit after fractals were introduced, while Magic Find gear was still a thing...), so my stat is not very high (just reached ~60%).

Not to turn the knife in the wound Loke666, but I had looted Zap one my first playthrough (can't really remember where though), and last weekend I've looted Dusk from a green type container in the Silverwastes... I was really surprised to say the least..

Though I'm not sure I can craft 1 legendary, let alone 2.. so I'm debating selling them right now.. Since I main a Thief, Twighlight is of no real use, and Bolt, not too sure either (just got HoT/PoF, so I'm just discovering staff for now and loving it..).

That hurts.

My tip is if you sell one you will probably afford to craft the other. You still need to do a few dungeons and get the 100% map completion though as well as a little RvR (not very much).

If you had 3 of them you could probably sell all 3 and just buy a legendary for the gold you get and since you seems pretty lucky you might wish to wait a while and see if you get a third.

I play thief as a main myself, just started with the deadeye (and over halfways to get the predator even if I payed blood and tears to get the precursor for it). Now I just need to use that rifle as well as my 2 revolvers.

Thanks, for the tips.
I'm not usually lucky, so it may take a while (or forever..) before I get a third one..

I actually decided to got back into the game by going for 100% completion (standing at 96% right now..) and it was a nice way to do so I think, so I have'nt wasted too much of my time at least!

Your suggestion is interesting! I may even end up selling both to buy a precursor of a type that is of more use... but I'll continue playing with my Daredevil a bit (still in the honeymoon phase now..lol) and also try the Deadeye to see what I really want to concentrate on in the first place.

Nice! Hope you get your hands on that Pred very soon!

Thanks again for this thread!

laxie · September 2017

@Torval Clear out your bags. Tyria needs you!

Loke666 · September 2017

blastermaster said:
Thanks, for the tips.
I'm not usually lucky, so it may take a while (or forever..) before I get a third one..

I actually decided to got back into the game by going for 100% completion (standing at 96% right now..) and it was a nice way to do so I think, so I have'nt wasted too much of my time at least!

Your suggestion is interesting! I may even end up selling both to buy a precursor of a type that is of more use... but I'll continue playing with my Daredevil a bit (still in the honeymoon phase now..lol) and also try the Deadeye to see what I really want to concentrate on in the first place.

Nice! Hope you get your hands on that Pred very soon!

Thanks again for this thread!

My recomendation as a fellow thief is incinerator. Having it in one hand and a ascended reskinned in the other looks awesome and a lot of the best thief DPS combos have one or 2 daggers. Nevermore and Bifrost looks too shiny to be used as a Daredevil staff.

A Legendary cost from 2100 gold to 3700 (besides Eternity at 5000). Zap is worth 790 gold and Dusk 949 gold so You still need to farm at least 500 gold (but the cheapest are water only). Sadly is incinerator 3400 and you might be forced to buy some gems and exchange for it. Quip at 2550 is more affordable but it looks rather silly.

Good luck

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Luck / Magic find

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"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey