Discussion The Cauldron - Discussion Thread

[MaidenFair]

Well now, this has been entirely too pleasant and fair a discussion. (Hmmm "MaidenFair" I should have seen that one coming) This is the internet after all and a certain standard is expected.

In the parlance of the olden days, “And a pleasant time was had by all.”

Let's see...how can I regain the right balance....?
Hey @crackie , I think they should reduce Bud range to 2!
and
@muffy. could you... uh... pass me the cookie jar? It's just up there on the top shelf... you can reach up and grab it, right?

Rofl!!

@crackie , you have opened a terrible can of worms and I can’t stop laughing. This is definitely my favorite suggestion for the Cauldron so far!!

Like Frank Sinatra, or Dean Martin? Got the Rat Pack gathered round ye olde Cauldron singing Volare, and conjuring terrible portents? At least it would swing!

…I can’t get this out of my head now, so I’ll just leave it here… xD

 

[Althasaria]

I definitely agree with some of the others that I should be able to drink my potions any time during the week. It also alleviates what I believe to be is a design flaw that might have been looked over.

I brewed my potions today, and did my best to hedge my bets on getting some military boosts before I did the spire. 3/5 potions were effects that had already been created, so I only received two potions. I was essentially punished for what I perceive to be doing the brewing as intended. These potions should either be drinkable later in the week, stack, or automatically defer to the next likely unused effect. If I did not brew these potions as the design intended, there should be more clarification as to how I should be mixing ingredients.

 

[Deleted User - 1759441]

I am sorry but this just sucks for me. as a paying customer, this is the kind of stuff that makes other games look better. if Elvenar does not want my MONEY, these are the kind of things to make me quit.

 

[StarLoad]

I am sorry but this just sucks for me. as a paying customer ...

I am interested in hearing what exactly is the issue you do not like? Note full disclosure I have not unlocked the cauldron and most likely wont.

Ed

 

[Deleted User - 1759441]

I am interested in hearing what exactly is the issue you do not like? Note full disclosure I have not unlocked the cauldron and most likely wont.

Ed

i do it and get useless pots that do very little for an hour or two, i have read that you have no control over when to use either. i then go to next step and it makes no sense at all. i would not care and just skip this hot mess but i have also read that they will integrate this "Cauldron of Hot Dung" into quests of events i like and i do.

 

[Moho]

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[crackie]

i do it and get useless pots that do very little for an hour or two, i have read that you have no control over when to use either. i then go to next step and it makes no sense at all. i would not care and just skip this hot mess but i have also read that they will integrate this "Cauldron of Hot Dung" into quests of events i like and i do.

I got 2 of the coveted military boosts I wanted this week, which only had a 7% chance of success, but...they expired 3 hrs before tourney even started because of when I brewed. Oops. You learn.

So yes, you do have control of when they are used...when you click brew. But also dumb that of my 5 goblets, I got 2 of the same boost and it isn't additive so only one can ever be applied.

 

[SoggyShorts]

i do it and get useless pots that do very little for an hour or two, i have read that you have no control over when to use either. i then go to next step and it makes no sense at all. i would not care and just skip this hot mess but i have also read that they will integrate this "Cauldron of Hot Dung" into quests of events i like and i do.

I got a +20.7% boost to all of my Merc camp troops and +14% to my barracks troops, it lasted longer than it took me to do all of my tournament and the spire from start to finish, and it cost me basically nothing.

If you ever find yourself more interested than senselessly angry let us know, and we'll show you how

 

[gernsey]

I got a +20.7% boost to all of my Merc camp troops and +14% to my barracks troops, it lasted longer than it took me to do all of my tournament and the spire from start to finish, and it cost me basically nothing.

If you ever find yourself more interested than senselessly angry let us know, and we'll show you how

i got a nice little boost on my divine seed collection for a couple hours, and i needed it as the construct chapter start was running me dry of divine seeds. it wasn't huge but it was welcome, and free, outside of the inconsequential amount of goods i used to upgrade my witch.

 

[Dominionofgod]

I got a +20.7% boost to all of my Merc camp troops and +14% to my barracks troops, it lasted longer than it took me to do all of my tournament and the spire from start to finish, and it cost me basically nothing.

If you ever find yourself more interested than senselessly angry let us know, and we'll show you how

Being able to do that was my very first thought once i saw the barracks troop boost. Granted, i dont have the timewarp yet, but im always planning ahead. - Only down side to this plan is these damn never ending event quest lines. Lotta 'solve tourney encounter' and 'gain x relics'. Again, granted, i like those quests better then some of the others. But with events never ending, thus quests never ending.. it makes the plan of doing all tourney and spire at once, less effective. - Which is a shame not only for the obvious reason i mentioned, but to get to the point of being able to do all of that takes a lot of planning and work to achieve it. And then the system design works against it...

 

[Deleted User - 849777001]

My my my...Way more than my poor little brain can assimilate...
I would need a "see one-do one" demonstration in real time...
Wiki sometimes leaves me scratching my head

 

[SoggyShorts]

... events never ending, thus quests never ending.. it makes the plan of doing all tourney and spire at once, less effective....

It works out ok if you expand that "burst" style of play to the event as well
e.g.
24h before I plan to start the event I teleport out a handful of armories and place the needed shanty town to rocket through the quests.
Then I do the event, tournament, and spire all in one shot up to quest number ~54 (usually a few short of locked quests due to goods)

If more encounters are needed during the course of the event then you can make a switch to cater a couple more, or use the alternatives (craft runes in MA etc)

Even waiting 9 days from one Tuesday to the following Thursday for a second burst isn't a big deal since in most events the best dailies are repeated, and we have the re-roll feature.

 

[Myne]

A POX on the cauldron. There, I said it.
I was earnestly attempting to ignore the damn thing. Now, the cauldron is included in quests, you can't. I, too, got little satisfaction out of it. Got a pretty sweet one once....for about an hour and a half. The only trouble was, I was in the middle of a production cycle, and if I wanted to waste time boosts on it I could have benefitted, but they are worth more than the potion really.
I am not a math head as all of you know.
I think the frustration for all the regular players who don't have time in their lives to study this like a PhD is through the roof.

I have been really hesitant to be so negative about it, but now that participation is mandatory (if you want to progress in quests), I think that there needs to be a recipe guide, there needs to be some sort of guide to at what point you should brew along with hints about what ingredients are beneficial for what potions. I understand the comments talking about the "long game", but in its current state, it's a long game of blind man's bluff. You also shouldn't have to brew all at once, perhaps once a day is better for the average player. I spend money on the game...but NEVER on this unless I understand it. So if this is their idea of a moneymaker I believe they could do better.

I think the devs are laughing at us. Their idea of a practical joke maybe. This is/has been a game about patience and strategy really. It's turning into something different with this thing. At this rate, I will be a Buddhist monk mummified at a temple while meditating on it before I understand it.

Yes I have read the posts on this thread with an eye to understanding..a failed endeavor.

 

[Dominionofgod]

It works out ok if you expand that "burst" style of play to the event as well

i try to do that. Since i havnt started the woodelves chap specific buildings, and the extra space i got from diamonds (exp buildings+spire) i have a good bit of room. I set up as much as i can so i can try to get this stuff done and get some down time. - Its usually the produce goods and vision vapor that slows me down. Buy kp/wholesaler is not friend either.

 

[SoggyShorts]

Got a pretty sweet one once....for about an hour and a half. The only trouble was, I was in the middle of a production cycle

....Why did you activate your cauldron buffs at that time? That's like putting an MM spell on your factory after you collect from it.

but now that participation is mandatory (if you want to progress in quests)

I'm concerned about this as well, but have there actually been any mandatory cauldron quests yet(other than the walk-through introduction ones)
Or are we just speculating?
Worst case it's even more annoying than "Do the spire" when the spire is closed, best case we are given a decent "OR" quest to go with it.
I suspect we'll hear significant complaints from beta players if it's the former

 

[SoggyShorts]

i try to do that....- Its usually the produce goods and vision vapor that slows me down. Buy kp/wholesaler is not friend either.

As you mentioned it'll change with the timewarp- it's much easier to do 50 encounters in the first 10 provinces than 1 encounter in each of the first 50 provinces.
The vision vapor quests are so dependent on previous luck that I find them unbalanced. Some players have a half-dozen Moonstone sets and never even think about CC & SF costs while others run their MA 24/7 and can't keep up.
Finally capitulating and adding a BTG level 30 has reduced my hate of the wholesaler too, now I get a few "free" trades per day that I can do quests with

 

[Myne]

....Why did you activate your cauldron buffs at that time? That's like putting an MM spell on your factory after you collect from it.

I'm concerned about this as well, but have there actually been any mandatory cauldron quests yet(other than the walk-through introduction ones)
Or are we just speculating?
Worst case it's even more annoying than "Do the spire" when the spire is closed, best case we are given a decent "OR" quest to go with it.
I suspect we'll hear significant complaints from beta players if it's the former

ok...activate? They seem to activate as soon as you brew them.

Nope, not speculating, had one show up in the season event....which is why I had to brew. Edit: I think that's where it was...

 

[SoggyShorts]

ok...activate? They seem to activate as soon as you brew them.

Nope, not speculating, had one show up in the season event....which is why I had to brew. Edit: I think that's where it was...

As a daily task? Those offer a single 10-minute timer as a reward and can be ignored without any real drawback.
As a weekly task? Aside from having a whole week to do them, if you don't do them they stack up and you can do them later. Also, there's a re-roll option to change quests.

I'm not worried at all about the cauldron quests appearing in the seasons questline, I'm only concerned with how (if?) they'll ask for it in events (where it could actually halt or delay progress that matters)

 

[Fayeanne]

If you are going to otherwise ignore the Cauldron, I don't see it being used in quests as much of a problem. Just let it sit until a quest asks for it; brewing is entirely free (assuming you don't use Diamonds) so it's not like you're out anything even if your potion doesn't work. If a quest wants you to research, just brew a potion with one ingredient to get to the research page and then use the leftover Witch Points. If you are otherwise ignoring the Cauldron, it's not like brewing a potion with free ingredients and getting zero effects is any different of an outcome than if you'd done nothing at all.

It's more an issue if you want to actually use the Cauldron and the quests then ask you to do something after you've already done it for the week...

 

[SoggyShorts]

f you are going to otherwise ignore the Cauldron, I don't see it being used in quests as much of a problem. Just let it sit until a quest asks for it

Oh yeah... I wasn't even thinking about it from that angle.
If you hate the cauldron, just ignore it, and then any quest which asks for it is a free quest.

It's more an issue if you want to actually use the Cauldron and the quests then ask you to do something after you've already done it for the week...

This. I think I'm actually going to have to sneak peeks at those Tomatoehu spreadsheets when (if?) these happen