Good info as always San. I've yet to finish the last stage of Gallard as it indeed tests one's patience. Nusul are a serious ammo drain. All those HP's and bad loot. I only hunt them when I'm trying to skill up with a new weapon type. This way I don't feel so bad about the lost PED's. Keep it coming and Good Luck!
Thanks! I have better memories of Nusul, actually. It was on my previous stint on Ark about 2 years ago, when I hunted for unlocking serendipity and for getting my Viceroy (not in time for Skullcandy, though). That's when I killed most of my previous Nusul. I had the ambition to get all the stuff myself instead of buying it. Went well most of the way, except the last batch of orange paint turned out a pain. Bounced between the mobs that were reported to drop it, which were Tiarak, Nusul and Kadra, up and down through all maturities (Tiarak Stalkers hit me to within an inch of my life even in Mah'ketta & Pulsar 8, but big Kadras were surprisingly easy for their >L40 rating). Anyways, sometimes I got a few of orange several times in a row, sometimes I could kill a hundred creatures without a lousy can dropping. Until a Nusul Stalker popped a handsome global of 230 PED. Not orange paint, but all stackables, and I finally gave in and bought the last of the paint with the proceeds. I didn't have the recording tool then, but all the time I could hunt for quite a while on my budget, definitely longer than lately. So I was indeed quite a bit disappointed now, thinking I gave it a reasonable sample size, too.
I am really not cut out for a military career. No discipline. Especially not for more punies after all this. Bumming around here and there, killing random stuff left and right, a handful each of Riptor, Oweko, Scoria, Mutated Riptor+Nusul+Zadul, a blast through the first round of the Oratan wavespawn down at Limbo. All the while not keeping up strict recording, but quick balance checks in between confirm what it's been like ever since residing here yet again: Whatever I am making good with "regular" hunting -- Riptor now gave back even a little more than they consumed -- I lose several times over on private lands. Definitely more than the difference the tax should make. If this pattern doesn't break, I might start believing things... Then I remembered what I missed on the first round in the secret camp instance, that is the Jori down there. And since I had some Arkoins left with nothing else to spend them on, eye-rollingly decided to go for duty day 2 for the sole purpose of indulging in a little side hunt. And record results this time as basis for future decision-making. The Nusul mess stayed out of my way to the door this time, I think they remembered something. Down and done away with the first 99 Oratan before they knew what happened to them using my trusty S.I. Psy-Blade, just left the last one standing to keep the instance timer from jumping forward. He looked pretty stupefied when I turned away. But don't get your hopes up, pal. Then I put armour on and took a dive. Ouch... I wasn't made aware that it has only highest maturities of Jori there. And they do pinch a little even through Adjusted Pixie. Not that I mind them, but I didn't think of bringing appropriate gear along. Weapons I carried were either for punies or game with a lot more hp than these have. Ah, never mind. This is just for a look-see. So made do with what I had, lucky I hadn't stored the Koroma which worked a little better in this case. Used up the budgeted ammo in a bit less than half the available instance time. Then hit daily Oratan no. 100 a crit over his ugly skull and left, impatient to sort through my bounty. The constant drops from the fishies had been looking promising throughout. Pulled the next fat purple bum with the sweat tool to give me a shortcut to tp. Had taken an inventory snapshot after the 99 Oratans and intended to present clean, separate loot tables for both mobs, but somehow did manage to screw up and close a file too early. So here they are lumped together again. But the result is correct, and very pleasing it is. I also know that after the Oratans I was at 83% return (loot / powerfist decay, all other equipment was used for the Jori). The fishing tour has more than compensated for that. No globals, not even minis, just a near constant, good drop rate. Nice! Now I regret not having seized the wave and taken out more ammo to make use of all the available time, but had worries regarding waste with this badly fitting gear. Turned out this was unfounded, or the sample size just not big enough to really make a dent. Anyways, I shall definitely try this again. If the result was based just on globals, I would have doubts about it, but this made me get my hopes up. With optimized gear and speeding up, I can probably finish 3 times as many Jori each round. If they keep giving back at least what they cost within the instance, it is better than doing small ones outside just to get along with their mission faster, but paying a premium for it through the usual losses. Just need to keep feeding Arkoins, which then get converted to ammo by the IFN. Another good reason to move along with them Aakas dungeons, too. Have a key 4 sitting there, just been shying from the expense so far. But this way everything is synergies, and everybody should be happy including the IFN bureaucrats. Until they let me down with the returns again... Entropia Universe time: 2015-07-14 12:31:46 Location: Secret Camp I Target: Oratan Puny Prospector (1 to 100 of 100, day 2); Jori Old Alpha to Stalker (538 to 638 of 1200) Result: Adjusted Pixie Arm Guards (M)0-0.02 PEDArkoin-160-1.60 PEDBLP Pack-335714-33.58 PEDBukin's Blade0-0.14 PEDFi/Ra/Co Angst0-6.28 PEDHerman ASI-R0-0.02 PEDKoroma Arm Guards (M)0-0.11 PEDKoroma Foot Guards (M)0-0.04 PEDKoroma Gloves (M)0-0.05 PEDKoroma Harness (M)0-0.06 PEDKoroma Helmet (M)0-0.05 PEDKoroma Shin Guards (M)0-0.07 PEDKoroma Thigh Guards (M)0-0.06 PEDOzpyn BP S1X10-0.94 PEDOzpyn BP S1X30-8.27 PEDS.I. H.E.A.R.T.0-0.39 PEDS.I. Psy-Blade0-4.24 PEDTotal expenses.-55.92 PED...Animal Hide+61+0.61 PEDAnimal Muscle Oil+176+5.28 PEDAnimal Oil Residue+106+1.06 PEDArkace Timber+79+7.90 PEDBasic Gem Extractor+2+0.02 PEDBasic Wood Extractor+1+0.01 PEDBlazar Fragment+49-0.00 PEDDiluted Mineral Extractor+2+0.02 PEDElectronic Stabilizing Component+19+3.80 PEDEnhanced Cloth Extractor+4+0.04 PEDHydrogen Steam+11+0.22 PEDJori Hide+312+9.36 PEDJori Pectoral Fin+13+3.25 PEDKaz Stones+7+0.28 PEDMiluca Timber+4+0.20 PEDNova Fragment+136+0.00 PEDOspra Stones+22+0.44 PEDPaint Can (Orange)+14+0.14 PEDSecond-Rate Cloth Extractor+2+0.02 PEDShrapnel+188332+18.84 PEDSocket I Component+21+2.10 PEDTier I Component+5+0.50 PEDUniversal Ammo+15134+1.51 PEDWeapon Cells+17677+1.77 PEDWool+15+3.00 PEDZolphic Oil+4+0.16 PEDTotal returns.+60.53 PED...Result108.24%+4.61 PEDGlobals: None
Entropia Universe time: 2015-07-15 20:45:20 Location: Calypso 86907, 84792 Target: Longtooth Young to Old (38 to 80 of 250) Result: First time they haven't ripped me a hole Armor Plating Mark.5A0-1.11 PEDBLP Pack-1352926-135.30 PEDFi/Ra/Co Beast0-5.82 PEDIsis LBP 25 (L)0-13.83 PEDPiron PBR-27 (L)0-1.31 PEDRapper Snapper (L)0-25.58 PEDRegeneration Chip V (L)0-0.17 PEDS.I. H.E.A.R.T.0-0.47 PEDSynthetic Mind Essence-1946-0.20 PEDUniversal Ammo-56871-5.68 PEDZombie Arm Guards (M,L)0-0.36 PEDZombie Face Guard (M,L)0-0.45 PEDZombie Foot Guards (M,L)0-0.34 PEDZombie Gloves (M,L)0-0.15 PEDZombie Harness (M,L)0-0.63 PEDZombie Shin Guards (M,L)0-0.32 PEDZombie Thigh Guards (M,L)0-0.49 PEDTotal expenses.-192.21 PED...Animal Kidney Oil+38+76.00 PEDFine Hide+3+0.75 PEDFine Wool+9+3.60 PEDNova Fragment+52+0.00 PEDRationalizer Component+24+7.20 PEDShrapnel+1323581+132.36 PEDWeapon Cells+321468+32.15 PEDTotal returns.+252.06 PED...Result131.14%+59.85 PEDGlobals:
Didn't really fly to Caly for the migration at all, but to meet an old friend and pick up some needful things and odd stuff. Just taking a stab here and there, a couple dozen of everything at most. I'm suddenly getting globals again, which have been elusive for so long. From Foul, Atrox, Aetherex, and... see below. The EL client isn't really working for me though, it keeps crashing. I don't have too much motivation investigating this, but if it's the only way ever participating in one of the competitions... ugh. Meanwhile testing my limits. With no new gear, just the usual, see what I can do that I couldn't a while ago. With the Viceroy 3/4 repaired, a mix of all leftover Pulsar 8 and Mark.8A (L) plates on, PBR-27 and Beast amp, Regen Chip V, I... still haven't a snowball's chance in hell against Eomon. Didn't really expect it, but wanted to try since I stood against other things of similar level rating. Yesterday I killed my first ever Kingfisher, my first Araneatrox, my first Hogglo and my first Letomie all in the same gear. All without dying! Sure it was not efficient, almost more fapping than shooting. But definitely there is progress. The Hogglo even rewarded nicely What surprised me, every one of these should be a lot harder than a young Mutated Kamaldon which took me four return trips. Some things are different here. Will not be online this weekend and probably a few days more, need to make a long road trip. When done on Earth and on Caly, my mission on Ark will be continued. Good luck all, see you on the other side.
Entropia Universe time: 2015-07-22 15:40:57 Location: 15731, 25473 Target: Halix Young to Provider (2226 to 2917 of 12000) Equipment: Herman ARK-R, ASI-R, Goblin, S.I. H.E.A.R.T. Objective: Use up one full repair load of these complementing weapons, see how much ammo it takes and how many mobs it will cover; test armour Total expenses: -89.71 PED of which 1.00% armour, 0.23% healing Total returns: 74.24 PED Result: -15.47 PED / 82.76% Globals: none Item drops: none Other noteworthy loot: 4 x Halix Tail Debrief: 692 mobs killed, 82.23 PED ammo to fully use up both guns, Goblin good and eco choice as it only takes out 1/3 the damage (acid, no stab+cut), softens the blow but does not overprotect Tbc, want to compare different setups. Need to do something useful with the stretch of a 12k mission... ===== Entropia Universe time: 2015-07-23 00:18:04 Location: 21822, 25635 Target: Halix Young to Guardian (2982 to 3666 of 12000) Equipment: Castorian Combat EnBlade-A, Laconian sword, Labrys, Bukin's Blade, S.I. Psy-Blade, Goblin, S.I. H.E.A.R.T. Objective: Use up one full repair load of the weapons, see how many mobs it will cover; compare armour decay and healing with ranged Total expenses: -87.92 PED of which 0.98% armour, 0.31% healing Total returns: 64.92 PED Result: -23.00 PED / 73.84% Globals: none Item drops: none Other noteworthy loot: 3 x Halix Tail Debrief: 685 mobs killed; armour decay was expected higher but not so; more healing needed as expected; only one guardian in this lot caused no difficulties so comparison not compromised Skill unlock: Martial Arts ===== Entropia Universe time: 2015-07-23 14:31:44 Location: 22393, 25664 Target: Halix Young to Provider (3667 to 4346 of 12000) Equipment: Herman ARK-R, ASI-R, Valiant & Mark.4A Objective: Test decay on plate-only protection using dummy armour Total expenses: -89.96 PED of which 2.38% armour Total returns: 87.51 PED Result: -2.45 PED / 97.28% Globals: none Item drops: none Other noteworthy loot: 3 x Halix Tail Debrief: 680 mobs killed; overprotected, FAP not needed once; should try these plates in stage 6 on higher maturities maybe on a TT armour base; drop rate for Halix tails seems to have decreased from about 1 every 100 kills to 1 every 200 ===== Entropia Universe time: 2015-07-23 21:46:01 Location: 22581, 25744 Target: Halix Young to Provider (4347 to 5040 of 12000) Equipment: Herman ARK-R, ASI-R, S.I. H.E.A.R.T. Objective: Measure healing cost when no armour is used Total expenses: -90.60 PED of which 1.14% healing Total returns: 70.32 PED Result: -20.28 PED / 77.62% Globals: none Item drops: none Other noteworthy loot: 4 x Halix Tail Debrief: 694 mobs killed; hunting these naked was tried before and found just a wee bit too much for comfort, but went better than expected; cost almost the same as with eco armour ===== Entropia Universe time: 2015-07-24 17:03:50 Location: 22149, 25531 Target: Halix Young to Provider (5041 to 5727 of 12000) Equipment: Herman ARK-R, ASI-R, Valiant & Mark.2C Objective: Try out another set of plates better adapted to mob maturity Total expenses: -89.84 PED of which 1.36% armour Total returns: 77.85 PED Result: -11.99 PED / 86.65% Globals: none Item drops: none Other noteworthy loot: 9 x Halix Tail Debrief: 687 mobs killed; this appears to be the most efficient defensive gear of all, neither overprotects nor makes healing necessary; notably more Halix tails dropped again, previous worries probably unfounded and due to sample size
Recording got difficult again with the mix of different activities. It would not have added any new information anyway, in hindsight even looks a little like bragging with verbosity. The optimum modus operandi for the rest of the long stage 5 has been worked out as follows: Armour not absolutely necessary but welcome for a little convenience and speed. Most cost effective is protection purely by plates on a dummy carrier incurring zero decay (Valiant & 2C - younger avatars on the same mission might appreciate a little extra protection from the TT armour or similar basic set instead). Healing was only needed on rare occasions when getting swarmed. Use of TT shortblade as main weapon, its damage and high speed is ideal (Bukin's already a bit overkill on small Halix, Psy-Blade too little for higher maturities, constant changing found too tedious) and can be bought in arbitrary quantities to avoid being forced to return in too short repair cycles. Only pure usage of pistols (ASI-R or Scorpion) would be faster, but would not yield much of wanted skills. Usually 9 blades were bought and the converted shrapnel then used up with the ASI-R, the quantity almost precisely consumed one repair load. This worked out to ideal work cycle times in line with human activity/fatigue rhythm. This way the mission was accomplished in highly efficient manner quite a bit sooner than expected. However, it was found unusual and statistically improbable that over the entire stretch of 12000 kills not a single global occurred, even stranger, not a single item drop of a lowly Piron or Headshot like before. Overall returns remained within expectations, not quite 90% but sustainable for such an inexpensive mob. Only valuables gained were 105 Halix tails in total. EL tracker got working again without further ado and did not crash anymore, even seemed to pick up everything that happened in the meantime from stored chats and produced this accurate log: The earlier entries for Halix from previous mission stages may explain my bewilderment. However, there is not really a reason to complain. For mission reward, the 5.25 PED TT of Combat Reflexes were chosen. Its skill points increased from 3009 by 177 to 3186, Evader level from 17.4635 to 17.6575. Was faintly hoping to be pushed to 18, but received level 35 BLP sniper instead. Not too shabby also. On top of the hunting mission, finally got around and signed up for repair skilling on the Kronan with the goal of achieving at least BP Comprehension. The ease of progress there exceeded my wildest expectations, got from VSE level 1.2 to 7 and a slurry of other professions pulled along within just 4 flight sessions. Getting to 10 looks like a breeze now. Thanks to Granny and Anny for being patient when I get lost time and again trying to find back to the hangar . There might be a break in gameplay coming up shortly, due to necessary financial commitments elsewhere. Quite happy with the achieved so far, but cracking that Avoidance will require another push.
Entropia Universe time: 2015-07-31 21:20:02 Location: Secret Camp I Target: Oratan Prospector Puny (1 to 100 of 100, Day 3); Jori Alpha to Stalker (639 to 878 of 1200) Equipment: for Oratan S.I. Psy-Blade; for Jori Herman ARK-5 Desert (L), Adjusted Pixie & Mark.4A, S.I. H.E.A.R.T. Objective: Test equipment for effiency, push kill count to maximum within instance time Total expenses: 130.13 PED of which 2.24% armour, 0.48% healing Total returns: 152.67 PED Result: +22.54 PED / 117.32% Globals: 3x J.Stalker 19/18/22 PED (link) Item drops: 1x Melee Trauma Amplifier I (L), 3x Piron PLP-7 (L) Debrief: 100+240 mobs killed; first 99 Oratan felled within 12 minutes, can't be accelerated further without severely compromising eco (only by one-strike method); but room for improvement with Jori: rifle too slow as sole weapon, should be combined with something dealing faster damage, thereby also bringing armour decay down; time needed searching for spawns was too long; budget of 100 PED for ammo was cutting it very close, would be insufficient upon further increase; noteworthy bit: upon finishing 100th Oratan, timer jumps back up to 5 minutes even if already less before, this way giving extra time for a few more Jori (3rd global occurred in overtime). Good loot returns confirmed also by other players' reports. Snapshot of relevant skills/professions at month's end: Evader 17.6, BLP Sniper 35.0, Pistoleer 33.6, Dmg 33.9, Brawler Dmg 23.6, Hit 20.8, Knifefighter Dmg 22.1, Hit 19.4, Swordsman Dmg 21.1, Hit 17.7, Vehicle Structural Engineer 9.0, Health points 127, total skill points 93760. Unlock of Martial Arts was a nice surprise, had forgotten all about it.
Blueprint Comprehension was unlocked during last night's repair tour with the Kronan. Not nearly a big deal in hindsight, should have done it like a couple years ago... Just to test the waters, decided to try making some Arkadian Key 1. Acquired materials for 20 clicks. Result: Ingredients spent: -62.40 PED Items crafted: 8 for total tt value 29.40 PED Residue returned: 11.37 PED Ingredients left over: 4.86 PED Total return: 73.125% of PED value, 40% for no. of items crafted Blueprint QR before craft: (damn, forgot to look, it wasn't totally new), after: 3.9 Blueprint success rate shown before craft: 74.9%, after: 76.5% Hmm... it does look better than earlier meetings with the manufacturing terminal. Not sure yet...
For a blueprint that is "Not anymore" in SIB period (for this one, at level 5 Tool Engineer) the displayed "success" rates are: 81.4% for QR 1.0 90.0% for QR ~45.0 95.0% for QR 100.0 Further increasing profession level does not affect these % anymore, only QR gains help. "Oldschool" non-SIB blueprints are different, they only go to 90% but can be maxed either by skill or QR, SIB blueprints need both skill and QR. It is often believed (and quite plausible) that the % displayed is actually mathematical expectation of tt/tt return. I logged about 6k* clicks on a maxed GLT blueprint (that had 95.0%) and arrived at a 95.2% tt/tt return. * "about 6k" - and the the disk containing the spreadsheet died
Thank you very much. Forgot to mention my Tool Engineer level, it's 2.9 and something, about to flip over on the next repair tour. I admit I never really understood what the success rate means, I always thought it should reflect the expectation of successful crafts, at least that would be the intuitive answer. And turned away every time it didn't do that.
Another month passed, this time as predicted activity had to be greatly reduced around half way. Still managed to go for a few repair tours and with a little push could finish stage 4 of the Hadraada iron challenge. Apart from the gains by using mostly melee on them, the reward (Athletics) lifted my Evader level from 18.16 to 18.85 at once. Neat! There were no more coherent runs long enough to make recordings as before, but the best snapshots are posted here. Relevant skills/professions at month's end: Evader 18.8, BLP Sniper 35.5, Pistoleer 34.1, Dmg 34.4, Knifefighter Dmg 24.2, Hit 21.8, Swordsman Dmg 22.6, Hit 19.5, Vehicle Structural Engineer 17.3, Health points 129, total skill points 103629.
Most of last month was spent on Calypso, only just now returned. Apart from private stuff, it was a necessity for the continued impossibility to get the bread-and-butter part of my loot sold for profit on a regular base here on Arkadia. I wish this would change. Used the time to proceed with some missions, a.o. completed Kerberos and Argonaut stage 3, basic Maffoid and Gokibusagi, some dailies for tokens. Will have enough of those for a nice CDF weapon the next time. Most runs were in profit after sales, could even build up the bankroll by a bit. And geared up for the long Hadraada run (Castorian Enblade-6 E.L.M. chosen as main, have over two dozen of them on me now; advantage is it uses up shrapnel). Relevant professional standings at month's end: Evader 19.3, BLP sniper 35.9, Pistoleer 34.6, Dmg 35.0, Knifefighter Dmg 26.2, Hit 24.3, Swordsman Dmg 24.2, Hit 21.4, Health points 130, total skill points 107695. Highlights:
yeah mine too and I also have to go back for the odd trade unfortunately,though I limit it as much as possible as its normally a complete pain in the butt(doesn't help living on the other side of the world to most people) Like you I wish it to change eventually as Arkadia grows.I hope and believe that it will.
Entropia Universe time: 2015-10-02 23:15:20 Location: Underground 15700, 19600 Target: Wombana Dominant to Stalker (538 to 847 of 10000 killpoints) Objective: Test setup with one repair charge of the sword, since mob got prioritized in future missions. Result: Nice returns, but ofc not representative due to sample size. Defense cost at 2.18% higher than expected. Taking hits up to 40 hp through this armour, but with slow hit rate they present no danger. Might try stronger plates to offset healing cost, stronger armour instead is expected to worsen economy significantly. Armor Plating Mark.2C0-0.29 PEDMusca Arm Guards Adjusted (M)0-0.10 PEDMusca Foot Guards Adjusted (M)0-0.06 PEDMusca Gloves Adjusted (M)0-0.12 PEDMusca Harness Adjusted (M)0-0.10 PEDMusca Helmet Adjusted (M)0-0.12 PEDMusca Shin Guards Adjusted (M)0-0.12 PEDMusca Thigh Guards Adjusted (M)0-0.08 PEDPhilosopher's Sword0-63.69 PEDRegeneration Chip VI (L)0-0.02 PEDS.I. H.E.A.R.T.0-0.38 PEDSynthetic Mind Essence-316-0.03 PEDTotal expenses.-65.11 PED...Animal Eye Oil+151+7.55 PEDAnimal Hide+167+1.67 PEDAnimal Oil Residue+33+0.33 PEDBLP Pack+14198+1.42 PEDBlazar Fragment+12-0.00 PEDElectronic Stabilizing Component+26+5.20 PEDFocus Lense Component+18+3.60 PEDInferior Cloth Extractor+93+0.93 PEDNova Fragment+74+0.00 PEDS & B Ardenner 10 (L)+1+34.87 PEDShrapnel+280045+28.01 PEDSocket I Component+12+1.20 PEDSocket II Component+7+0.70 PEDThin Wool+3+0.75 PEDTier I Component+7+0.70 PEDTreasure Map 4+1+0.01 PEDWeapon Cells+33233+3.32 PEDWombana Hide+6+0.90 PEDWool+1+0.20 PEDTotal returns.+91.36 PED...Result140.32%+26.25 PEDGlobals:
