Porous loam Exq Fluid/Marrow

[Andarriel]

Ok i used to get these to drop but its like they took them off the snake drop list? I have killed hundreds and have yet to get one to drop. The drops i get are tanata ore, titanium ore, Exq silk/pelts. They nerfed this to hell or something? I kill snakes in katta and used to get good stuff to drop from the higher level one but after some patch i dont get jack anything anymore.

Andarriel

[Deviator]

tier 3 and 4 drops only now i think... crystalos, mansion, etc

[Andarriel]

.

OK bummer and that sucks. thx for the info though.

Andarriel

[Vexo]

...

From a post by Ngreth here or on SOE boards,

The sublime components may drop outside the zones I listed, but thy only have about a 0.03% chance to drop per kill of appropriate level NPC's I.E. ultra-rare. Within the four zones listed above the chance is way better.

So, not only, but very unlikely.

[Angahran]

1 loam for sale on Bertox....

1 million pp.

Making these only available from zones needing high geared groups will basically prevent anyone except the insanely lucky or the plat buyers from getting cultural.

Guess that's one way for SOE to control how much is made, there won't be any.

Ang.

[Catweazel]

Personally I think it is a good idea, especially so if it results in the whole cultural mess being resolved without any further change.

Considering this another way, it was never intended for the Sublime / Elegant drops (primarily) to drop like candy and they are intended to make gear be equivalent to the gear dropping in Tier 3 zones (with older augs) and enhanced by faycite drops in Tier 3/4 raid zones.

Over time the drops can now be adjusted / tweaked to the level at which the numbers of folks wearing cultural can match some theoretical number that the SOE guys have in mind.

[Tobynn]

Yesterday, I picked up an Exquisite Marrow from a dark blue brownie in DSH. So yes, they do indeed drop (rarely) outside of Tier 4. The same brownie also gave me a gem covered box and a Booster Pack, too. A most excellent kill, indeed!

[Twistagain]

Considering this another way, it was never intended for the Sublime / Elegant drops (primarily) to drop like candy and they are intended to make gear be equivalent to the gear dropping in Tier 3 zones (with older augs) and enhanced by faycite drops in Tier 3/4 raid zones.

That "candy" was already priced at 300-500k per. It wasn't nearly as common as some people claim. Our guild fought for many hours in Fortress killing gnomes to spawn reavers. We got 1 loam and 1 marrow.

Generally, there were fewer than 10 total loams/marrows/fluids for sale at a time.

[Totemic]

That "candy" was already priced at 300-500k per. It wasn't nearly as common as some people claim. Our guild fought for many hours in Fortress killing gnomes to spawn reavers. We got 1 loam and 1 marrow.

Generally, there were fewer than 10 total loams/marrows/fluids for sale at a time.

It was still too common, especially given the content they were coming from.
Keep in mind, you're talking about an armor + symbol that rivials Tier 3 armor (Tier 2 + Steam Core).

You cannot even get Steam Core unless you explicitly clear to a named mob in a Tier 3 zone and kill him (and trust me, Tier 3 named aren't exactly a push over) and even then, you aren't guaranteed to get the core you want.

The idea behind the Elegant + Sublime was that they should be at least as hard to get as Warped Steel + Steam Core but the added benefit with the Elegant + Sublime was that they were droppable/tradeable. And the rarity of Tier 3 armor is such that we still haven't seen a full suit of Tier 3 armor for all the 16 classes in game (at least I have yet to see a Martial Steel arm piece).

If you go in to a Tier 3 zone like Steam Factory and you specifically target mob types that can load these rare components (gnomes, brownies and I think minos too--just no clockwork or ooze), you can get them to drop. I managed to get one loam this way in about 2 hours killing brownies. Of course, I also spent 6+ hours slaughtering gnomes and minos and got nothing. Sometimes RNG sucks.

[Catweazel]

That "candy" was already priced at 300-500k per. It wasn't nearly as common as some people claim. Our guild fought for many hours in Fortress killing gnomes to spawn reavers. We got 1 loam and 1 marrow.

Generally, there were fewer than 10 total loams/marrows/fluids for sale at a time.

Considering the early drop rate, 300k was a rip off typical of new expansion hype (e.g. I sold Dungore's loot for 100k in the first few days). It was so common it was dropping all over the world and Tradeskillers were making Sublime symbols for inventory. A few traders had 20 or 30 at a time for sale. You might have missed the early bug that was eventually patched around Dec 12th.

We have done the same thing in our guild (farmed SF). The drop rate is consistent with armor drops from named in the same zone. In 3 to 6 months people will be farming these zones with 2 boxes and probably soloing. By the next expansion, Tier 3 will be just a regular experience zone.

Considering the rarity, the skill required to make it and the chance of failing the combine, the stats should actually be increased on resulting armor.

[Wyvernwill]

You cannot even get Steam Core unless you explicitly clear to a named mob in a Tier 3 zone and kill him (and trust me, Tier 3 named aren't exactly a push over) and even then, you aren't guaranteed to get the core you want.

That's not entirely true. You do not need to "clear to" a named in Steam Factory for instance, you can invis right to their door step. And yes, while they "can" be difficult, a good dps group with a solid tank can take them down easily. If you can survive having two unslowed mobs hitting you on a pull, you'll survive the named.

Not a push over, but definitely not a major (near impossible) challenge either.

[Kaliaila]

Don't you realize by now they don't actually have any numbers in mind. They just wait to see how many people complain about stuff and over nerf it all.

And really that was never the case on my server. Most likely the few traders you saw on your server had bought up every marrow/fluid/loam they came acrossed and made it had friends do Sol4 over and over again or stay at one spot in it for hours, as well as farming around the clock themselves, and having their friends give them all of the ones they got as well.

It's rather funny that you think they are going to be 2 boxing those zones in 3-6 months lol. The only people who might be doing that are the people who are already in that level of gear or better. Yeah you might have a kiter or 2 who might be able to squeak by solo but they goof they die. Most people will be just starting to be comfortable enough and geared well enough to regularly xp in the tier 3/4 zones. Maybe this time next year people might be able to regularly 2 box them, but I don't really see it. After all I don't see many people running around and 2 boxing FC going on regularly, and that's been out more than a year now.

[Catamander]

This stuff should be rare. 1 in 3,333 drop rate from T1/T2 is perfectly reasonable, imo (00.03% chance). That still is pretty common in a global server sense, though rare for each individual group.

[Clix]

This stuff should be rare. 1 in 3,333 drop rate from T1/T2 is perfectly reasonable, imo (00.03% chance). That still is pretty common in a global server sense, though rare for each individual group.

So in an average week how many mobs do you kill?

I know when I group after work for about an hour and a half my group can kill about 72 mobs. After raiding on the weekend and doing various things for flagging, factioning etc. I may get 3 more hours of killing mobs that may or may not have a chance to drop TS components. If I do the math that means I will have to kill for 7 weeks to get 1 loam/spinerette/marrow? That is assuming the RNG is not working against me and that every mob I kill is indeed able to drop the loam/spinerette/marrow.

That time frame for a component to make part of a piece of gear seems ridiculous to me. Because you have to have the armor to make the the symbol usable and you need the symbol to make the armor usable.

Clix

[Zacatac]

I have 3 pieces of elegant now, and I had to buy the fluids to do it. I use exalted augs because (A) I haven't finished the sublime quest and (B) I don't have the parts to make the combine anyway without spending a million plat.

Prices are 400k+ on the parts to attempt a combine. I'm pretty discouraged about actually making this stuff now, when I was so excited about it before.