Gesh, what a skill

[Elton]

argh!

I felt the pain again last night. It took me 154 combines to go from 210 to 211.

When I do MTPs I log a mule on a second account that has the space to hold all my subcombines. I spend the hour or two or whatever preparing for the MTP baking session. I buff up, sing my INT song and start baking. I can stand at the oven and do all 160 combines without having to go anywhere for anything. It gets sooo frustrating to put in all the effort and the few hundred plat I spend for each 160 attempt session and get one or two skill-ups.

I have been using the baking tool for the last two sessions. I ended the last session with four or so stacks of MTPs. I ended last night's session with ~7 stacks of MTPs. The skill up sessions aren't a total loss based on that yield, but I'm not in it for the MTPs. They are nice to have and eat, but I am trying to work on some of the quests requiring high levels in the tradeskills to complete. This sort of success just makes me want to throw in the towel. I spend most of my play time concentrating on getting my baking skill up to 250. It will take me a couple months at this rate.

I don't know if this is the case for everyone, but I have a terrible success rate on some of the subcombines. I have a success rate on picnic baskets of ~40%. The woven mandrake root and steel boning aren't much better. I have better success making the Jum Jum Spiced Beer and it isn't even trivial yet. Everything else is trivial, but I rarely have better than 80% success.

Baking MTPs I currently get a skill up every 70 or so combines. That's not good. I went from 191 to 197 in 80 HMP combines. I went from 197 to 208 in 4 MTP sessions, 208 to 210 in 20 attempts using a boar meat recipe and 210 to 211 in another MTP session last night. If I remove the 234 combines without a point and last night's 154 combines before gaining a point I am getting a skill up every 45 or so attempts. If I forgot about an MTP session the numbers get much worse. I am basing the above on memory and can't remember if I have done 5 or 6 MTP sessions. In any case the number generator hates me. It always has.

This is more of a vent than anything. It's getting very frustrating. I couldn't imagine going over 1000 attempts without a point or sitting there for 6 hours with next to nothing to show for it. I feel for you two.

[Elton]

ugh!

960 MTP combines
12 total points
80 attempts per point

I did another 160 MTP combines last night and got no points. zero. zip. zilch. nada.

My current run is 166 attempts without a skill increase.

I have been doing this with my INT buffed up to 199 (with 5% tool) or 207 (without 5% tool). Should I go raise my JC and make some INT items? Would it really help that much? I have read a number of posts where people claim to get a skill gain every 20 to 30 or so attempts using MTPs. Why am I off that mark by 50 or more?

I have always been a bad roller. I think I was cursed at character creation with low rolls. I have always had terrible luck camping rare mobs. If it's a rare mob with a rare drop I write it off. I had to MQ a good portion of my epic because stuff just doesn't drop for me. Gore and Vox never dropped a single scale in 10+ kills. Phini didn't give me his spine in 18+ kills. Killing dozens and dozens of Amygdalens in Fear yielded no whip. The items I did get for my epic dropped when we were there for another reason.

One day I'll find my wallet, and my keys, my dog will come home, so will my girlfriend, my granny will recover from the terminal illness, and I'll win the lottery. I just know it

[Calabar]

As you can tell from the replies already posted, just about everyone has bad runs when working trade skills. It’s just the nature of the beast. We have little choice but to accept it or quit doing trade skills. However, we can help reduce the number of long runs without skill ups. The main way to do this is to increase your wisdom or intelligence, or strength or dexterity for a couple of skills, as high as possible. I don’t keep records of my skill ups, aside from the occasional record breaking bad run, so I can’t show you “proof” of this, but I honestly feel that higher stats can make a significant difference in how quickly you gain skill points.

First of all, Sony says its true. I see little reason to believe Sony would lie to us on this subject. Second is my own perception. My first trade skill character did most of his combines with about 203 wisdom. My current character can get his wisdom to 255 and I’ve noticed that his skill points seem to come much quicker. He still has bad runs. In fact, at 280 something he holds the record of the two characters for the longest run without a skill up. But overall he seems to get a greater number of skill ups per combine. And third are the numerous posts I’ve read from players who have leveled up and spent the AA points to hit the new cap of 355 wisdom/intelligence, or whatever obscene number it is. These people claim to see a remarkable increase in skill gain when working on trade skills. So I’m inclined to believe that if players are serious about doing trade skills they should do all they can to increase one of their stats and save themselves some frustration and possibly some money in the long run.

To answer your question more directly, yes I think an additional 50 points of intelligence could make a significant difference. And if your high enough level to have your epic and to be fighting dragons then your high enough level to farm some cash and buy yourself some trade skill equipment. I keep a bag of equipment in my bank that I only wear when I do trade skills. I change out my rings because the ones in the bank have 1 more point of wisdom each and every little bit helps. With everything I have I can just hit 255 wisdom with KEI and in bear form. I would suggest you do the same. Buy and/or quest for enough equipment to get your intelligence to 255 and see if it makes a difference. It’s a bit of a pain to keep changing equipment every time you want to work on trade skills, but if you can save yourself some frustration over clicking that combine button then I think you’ll find its well worth it.

[Elton]

which skill?

Does it have to be INT or can it be something else? I can max STR, DEX, or AGI at 280 easily. I can buy gear to raise my INT, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it. I have the plat, but I don't have tons of bank space.

[Serenya]

For smithing, it is the highest if int/wis/str; for fletching, the highest of int/wis/dex. For everything else, only int or wis unfortunately. Pick items carefully to push it up as high as possible, then buy a kei for skilling.