How to Augment the right way.

[soapbox]

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere. Lets say I have a 55 level character. If one of the gems I want to use (aug 11) is a recommended level 60 and I use 2 other regular run of the mill aug 10's, should I go with velium trio ring or palladium trio ring. The velium is recommended level 50 so my character is beyond the level of the ring but will the final stats suffer or improve if I use palladium, recommended 60? Better metal but do I suffer additional penalties because I used a metal over my level? Or does the item improve in raw quality then the whole thing is dumbed down?


Thanks,

Soap............

[Bobaten]

First of all, none of the gems have recommended levels anymore, you only have to worry about the metal.

The break-even point is 5 levels below the recommended level of the metal. So, for your example, a level 55 (5 levels below the recommended level of Palladium) will get nearly the same stats from either Velium or Palladium. When you level to 56 though, the Palladium will be a definite upgrade.

With some numbers to show:
If you were to wear the following three gems:
Marquise cut Crimson Nihilite (10 ac 350 hp)
Round cut Opal (150 hp)
Round cut Peridot (10 ac)

In Velium the total would be 12 ac, 300 hp
In Palladium at 54 the total would be 11 ac, 270 hp
In Palladium at 55 the total would be 12 ac, 312 hp
In Palladium at 56 the total would be 13 ac, 336 hp

For some cases (like this one) the 5 level below stats are slightly better than the previous metal, for other cases the 5 level below stats are slightly worse. In all cases the 6 level below stats are worse, and the 4 level below stats are better. My general recommendation is just pretend the metals all have a required level 5 levels lower than their recommended level.