I posted this over in PTR forum but didn’t realize that responses would become impossible there. Figure I better post it in General so there can be a greater in-depth discussion.
General Crafting Thoughts:
First, let’s talk about crafted items in general terms. It seems to me that the original intent was to provide another way for characters playing through the game to get rare equivalents that often are the best options for leveling players prior to the end game when you start farming for end game gear. Most crafted items do not fulfill this role very well at all. Primarily because you pass through levels too quickly to get a lot of use out of them before they are surpassed by higher affixes, and so players generally prefer to wait until high enough level to craft items with the best affixes, and then maybe use some of the lower level results for leveling other characters. Generally, this means only recipes for good end game items are even attempted. Exceptions are recipes that provide very useful leveling affixes in the preset mods. Examples include Blood Gloves with Crushing Blow, or Caster Belts with Faster Cast. Effects that can make a difference to some specific builds during leveling.
Another aspect that limits use of crafted items during play through is the inability to upgrade the items to their exceptional or elite forms after crafting. Adding a cube recipe that upgrades crafted items, or just allowing the rare upgrade recipe to apply to crafted items might go a long way towards opening up the use of crafted items at lower levels.
Instead, the most commonly used crafted items recipes are to create either end game gear (e.g. Caster Amulets) or “good enough gear” to support your character during end game while farming for the more perfect gear. These use cases favor recipes that either have preset mods you can’t normally get on a rare of that item type (Blood Gloves, Blood Belts, Hitpower Gloves), or recipes where you can stack a valuable preset mod with a naturally occurring affix (e.g. Caster Amulets).
There is also the possibility of “chase” items. Items that theoretically could be the best in slot but would require massive repeats of crafting to get. These would tend to be class specific items; for example, a Caster Scepter could be best in slot for a Fist of Heavens Paladin, if the right staff mods generated on the Scepter in addition to the correct affixes. While not particularly useful in a practical sense, since a GG result is so extremely rare, there is a lot of fun in those kinds of items simply existing as a possibility. Therefore, I think that ought to be a goal of crafting recipes that such items are potentially possible, but almost never occur. Adding other class specific items to the recipes (such as Barb and Druid helms) would help in that.
Lastly, the weapon, Body armor, and Shield slots ought to have preset mods that recognize these “major” equipment slots are more important than the other equipment slots. Not all current crafting recipes do this.
Crafting Recipe Themes:
Currently there are four crafting themes: Blood, Hitpower, Caster, and Safety. Since there are seven types of gems that leaves room for three more themes. I can think of two obvious themes missing from the current list. Speed: Things like IAS, Faster Run/Walk, etc. Treasure: Things like Magic Find, Gold Find, etc.
Looking at the current list, Blood and Caster are both clear and useful themes, though a few specific items don’t fit the themes well. Safety is a clear theme, but poorly designed what with different items having specific resistance types, and the damage reduction effects just aren’t valuable enough (you’d be better off with another random affix), how to implement this theme needs more thought. Hitpower as currently designed is about “power from getting hit”, and as such is a bad idea on the face of it, as well as severely underpowered. Frost Nova when struck sounds like a useful idea for low level players, but by the time most people start crafting it’s simply not very useful anymore. I strongly recommend changing the Hitpower theme to “power when hitting things” and will treat it thus for the in-depth suggestions.
Details about what each theme should include:
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Blood: Life, Life Steal, Deadly Strike, Open Wounds, Piercing, Damage, Life Per Kill, Life Regeneration, Life Tap, Sacrifice, Vitality. Crushing Blow seems out of place for Blood and belongs better in the new “Hitpower” theme.
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Hitpower: Damage, Attack Rating, Crushing Blow, Strength, Cast on Striking, Amp Damage, minus Target Defense. Knockback could fit here but seems better suited for the Safety theme.
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Caster: Mana, Mana Regeneration, Mana Per Kill, Energy, Faster Cast. Definitely not Mana Steal, since casters are not hitting things with their weapons. Since Casters are heavily dependent on skills, there are not as many affixes suitable to supporting them. This makes it more important that class specific helms, and orbs be usable. Assuming that + Skills is out of the question, it seems to me that limited Faster Cast ought to be more widely available on Caster crafts. IE Put Faster Cast on more crafted items but carefully keep the levels of Faster Cast well below best in slot. For example, 5%-10% Faster Cast on Gloves would still leave Magefist, and Trangs as better, but would allow making Caster Gloves as a very useful “good enough for now” glove.
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Safety: Resistances, Increased Defense, Block Chance, Block Rate, Damage Reduction, Knockback, Hit Recovery, Frozen Duration, Poison/Curse Duration, maybe Dexterity. Bonuses need to be rather good to justify using Safety gear instead of gear that lets you kill faster. The distribution of different Resistance types to different equipment is overly complicated, and underpowered at current levels. Probably better to simply grant All Resistances. Alternatively, you could increase the specific resistances to higher levels. Spears seems poorly suited to a Safety theme I’d think Bows would make more sense. Instead give Spears to the new theme of Speed.
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Speed: Increased Attack Speed, Run/Walk Speed, Faster Block Rate, Faster Hit Recovery, Dexterity, Mobility Skills, (I wouldn’t suggest O-Skills, but perhaps charges might be viable). Spears and Daggers maybe for the weapons? Probably leaning towards lower weight for the armor. Topaz for the gem.
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Treasure: Magic Find, Gold Find, maybe Mobility or Find Item Charges. Perhaps allow all weapons/armor? Since if you are going to prioritize Magic Find on your weapon/armor might as well allow it. Perfect Skulls for the recipe? Maybe if the seventh theme was something like “Elemental” Diamond might fit well there, so make Skull for Treasure?
Detailed recipe ideas:
Blood Recipes:
Blood Axe/Claws
3%-8% Life Steal
10%-15% Open Wounds
+35%-60% Enhanced Damage
Allow Claws as an acceptable base for Blood weapons. Increased the Life Steal a touch in recognition this is a weapon slot. Replace +Life with an offensive effect of Open Wounds more suitable for a weapon. Theoretically possible to get up to 510% Enhanced Damage. Serves as a chase item for potentially best in slot for a Throw Barb, and maybe a Blade Fury Assassin.
Blood Helm/Wolf Helm/Fanged Helm
1%-4% Life Steal
+10-20 Life
5%-10% Deadly Strike
Added a Druid Pelt and a Barbarian Primal Helm, (obviously the exceptional and elite versions work too). This could be a useful item for melee focused Barbarians or Druids, since you can get up to +60 Life on the helm and both of them have skills that increase max life, if you can get the right staff mods on the helmets.
Blood Plate Mail
Level 8-12 Life Tap Charges (12/12)
+15-30 Life
+5-10 Life After Each Kill
Replaced the Life Steal with Life Tap Charges. This is rather powerful but being stuck on the body armor slot makes this much less desirable than Marrowwalk boots. It fits the category of “good enough for now” equipment that is later going to be replaced and so people will actually consider crafting this item. Increased the +Life consistent with body armor being a major slot. Replaced Demon Heal with Life After Kill.
Blood Heavy Gloves
1%-3% Life Steal
+10-20 Life
5%-10% Piercing Attack
Replaced the Crushing Blow (which will move to Hitpower) with Pierce, which is more flavorful for Blood, and is a possible choice for an Amazon, or a Throw Barb.
Blood Belt
1%-3% Life Steal
+10-20 Life
5%-10% Open Wounds
Blood Light Plated Boots
1%-3% Life Steal
+10-20 Life
+5-10 Replenish Life
Left Blood belt and boots unchanged.
Blood Spiked Shield/Aerin Shield/Unraveller Head
35%-60% Enhanced Damage
+15-30 Life
5%-15% Open Wounds
Increased +Life consistent with Shield being a major slot. Added Auric Shield type and Voodoo Head so those class specific items can be rolled. Replaced Life Steal and Attacker Takes Damage with Enhanced Damage and Open Wounds.
Blood Amulet
Level 18-21 Sacrifice Charges (16/16)
1%-4% Life Steal
+10-20 Life
Replaced the Faster Run/Walk with Sacrifice Charges (as Run/Walk will fit better on the new Speed theme). Sacrifice Charges at a high level provide an option to take down a particularly difficult boss, it’s a rather niche use case, but I could see it being used. In combination with high Life Steal (which is already on the amulet) it’s more viable than otherwise.
Blood Ring
1%-4% Life Steal
+10-20 Life
+3-5 Strength
Slightly increased the Life steal and reduced the variance in the +Strength.
Hitpower Recipes:
Hitpower Polearm/Blunt Weapon
+120-240 Attack Rating
5% Chance to Cast Level 1 Decrepify on Striking
+35%-60% Enhanced Damage
Gave Attack Rating and low Chance to Cast Decrepify to fit new theme of “hitting things with power.” Chance to Cast Decrepify is low enough that it’s a nice to have, but not something to be dependent on, and making it Decrepify instead of Amplify Damage means it cannot stack with the CtoC Amp Damage suffix.
Hitpower Full Helm/Hawk Helm/Assault Helmet
+80-160 Attack Rating
+4-6 Strength
+15%-30% Enhanced Damage
Giving Hitpower helms Attack Rating suits helms well and fills in a gap of “good enough” AR sources on helms.
Hitpower Field Plate
Level 1 Amplify Damage Charges (6/6)
+120-240 Attack Rating
+35%-60% Enhanced Damage
Amp Damage charges are very powerful, but with only 6 charges, this is only going to be used to deal with Physical Immunes or on a boss monster. It also uses the body armor slot, so again this is a very useful body armor, but not likely to be final end game gear. I’m trying to hit the crafted sweet spot of “good enough for now” gear.
Hitpower Chain Gloves
+60-120 Attack Rating
+3-5 Dexterity
5%-10% Crushing Blow
Moved the Crushing Blow from Blood gloves here. Will put Knockback on the Safety gloves. Attack Rating and Crushing Blow synergize well together. Potentially very attractive Martial Arts Assassin gloves are possible here.
Hitpower Heavy Belt
+60-120 Attack Rating
+4-6 Strength
+15%-30% Enhanced Damage
Attack Rating on a belt can be useful for those builds that need AR more than other mods on belts.
Hitpower Chain Boots
Level 10 Leap Attack Charges (16/16)
+60-120 Attack Rating
+15%-30% Enhanced Damage
Leap Attack Charges could be used to deal with mobility, or for putting out high damage on a single target.
Hitpower Gothic Shield/Crown Shield/Zombie Head
+35%-60% Enhanced Damage
+5-8 Dexterity
5%-15% Crushing Blow
A shield that seems particularly fit for a Smiter, but less powerful than Shield of Zakarum or Exile. Might also be useful for other combat characters.
Hitpower Amulet
+60-120 Attack Rating
+4-6 Strength
+15%-30% Enhanced Damage
Provides an amulet that has high Attack Rating that isn’t Metagrid (though far less powerful than Metalgrid). Might be useful for a build that needs a lot of Attack Rating.
Hitpower Ring
-100 Monster Defense Per Hit
+2-9 Minimum Damage
+10%-20% Enhanced Damage
All unusual effects on a ring. Possible to get up to +18 Minimum Damage with perfect rolls. Seems to me like these are potentially useful rings if you manage to get the right rolls which will probably be quite difficult. Thinking they would thus fit the “chase” item category.
Caster Recipes:
Caster Clubs/Rods (expand to include Orbs)
6%-20% Faster Cast
6%-15% Mana Regeneration
2-5 Mana After Each Kill
Orbs ought to be included in Caster Rods, as for the weakness this gives Staves compared to Orbs that needs to be addressed elsewhere. Clubs should be added so Druids can get a +skill Caster weapon (and clubs fit the Rod theme). Faster Cast is the obvious skill desired on the weapon for a caster, and Mana Steal makes no sense, make it Mana per kill. Does this make it possible to get the best in slot weapon for a Sorceress/Paladin with these changes? Yes, certainly, however, since the staff mods reroll when crafting it will take a lot of luck to get the actual staff mods you want to role with the 20% Faster Cast from the preset mod, and the 10%-20% Faster Cast suffix you can roll, and the + Class Skills? It’s a chase item, not something that is going to change the meta. (In fact, currently a Caster Scepter already has the potential to be better than Heart of Oak in damage output for both Hammerdin and FofH, yet how many people are using Caster Scepters?)
Caster Mask/Totemic Mask/Jawbone Cap
5%-10% Faster Cast
4%-10% Mana Regeneration
+10-20 Mana
Added Druid Pelt and Primal Helm so Druids and Warcry Barbarians can chase the perfect combo of staff mods to go with the Caster effects. Max of 10% Faster Cast means rare Diadems will still have much better (double) faster cast.
Caster Light Plate
Level 3-10 Lower Resist (16/16)
10%-20% Faster Cast
+15-30 Mana
Lower Resist charges are already available on wands with much higher number of charges. Because of the low number of charges this isn’t really the best for farming areas with resistances, but rather for dealing with the occasional unique that spawns with an immunity. For an elemental caster that doesn’t have Infinity this is a “good enough for now” option. You could combine with it with Infinity to break more immunities but that’s not the most efficient option. (How many people use Wands of Lower Resist with Infinity to do that?)
Caster Leather Gloves
5%-10% Faster Cast
+10-20 Mana
2-5 Mana After Each Kill
Gloves are a natural place for Faster Cast options. Let us use something other than Magefist and Trangs, which will still have superior (double) Faster Cast levels.
Caster Light Belt
5%-10% Faster Cast
+10-20 Mana
4%-10% Mana Regeneration
Left Caster Belts as is currently.
Caster Leather Boots
4%-9% Faster Cast
+10-20 Mana
+2%-5% Max Mana
You can’t get Faster Cast on other boots, so this opens up a lot of options for caster equipment choices. However, by making the Faster Cast range cap at 9% this is more useful to a Druid or Necromancer than a Sorceress. Did that since the Max Mana is most powerful on a Sorceress. Felt that this way would make it useful for other characters without overpowering it for the Sorceress.
Caster Small Shield/Rondache/Preserved Head
10%-20% Faster Cast
+10-20 Mana
5%-10% Increased Chance of Blocking
This puts the Caster shield as weaker than Lidless Eye, but potentially better than Wall of the Eyeless (depends on what mods roll) which I think is about right for this. Adding Auric Shield and Voodoo Head options so Necromancer and Paladin can chase the potentially perfect roll that could beat out Spirit (but almost never will).
Caster Amulet
4%-10% Mana Regeneration
+10-20 Mana
5%-10% Faster Cast
Left as is.
Caster Ring
Level 7 Energy Shield Charges (6/6)
+10-20 Mana
+3-5 Energy
Level 7 Energy Shield Absorbs 50% of the damage to your mana, which seems rather powerful, but without the Telekinesis synergy your mana gets reduced very quickly. I think it’d be a rather niche use case, but I’d like to hear other people’s thoughts.
Safety Recipes:
Safety Staves/Missile Weapons
5% Chance to Cast Level 18 Weaken on Striking
10% Chance to Cast Level 14 Psychic Hammer on Striking
All Resistances +10%-25%
Seems like Missile Weapons are the natural “safety” weapon, not spears. With Staves being the traditional melee choice for “safety” weapons. None of the modifiers here help kill monsters faster, they are very much focused on safety, but are good enough to at least be considered as a weapon choice.
Safety Crown/Antlers/Avenger Guard
Level 6-11 Mind Blast Charges (12/12)
4%-10% Faster Hit Recovery
All Resistances +5%-10%
Added Primal Helm and Druidic Pelt, although unlikely to be many Barbs interested in this helm. Mind Blast is a powerful crowd control, but as a charge will likely only be used in an emergency to prevent getting swarmed and killed.
Safety Breast Plate/Ancient Armor
Level 3-6 Fade Charges (12/12)
20%-60% Enhanced Defense
Damage Reduced by 3-9
Magic Damage reduced by 2-5
Main attraction here is Fade, though with only 12 charges this is only going to be used in particularly dangerous areas. Might even be used primarily for dealing with curses. Added Ancient Armor as an option, because of course Safety focused armor ought to be available on the highest defense armor but leaving Breast Plate for those with less strength.
Safety Gauntlets
Slow Enemy By 5%-10%
Knockback
All Resistances +5%-10%
Moved the Knockback from Hitpower Gloves here since it fits better with Safety theme. Knockback and Slow Enemy combo makes for a good Safety glove. Potential chase item for a Bowazon.
Safety Plated Belt
Level 5-11 Slow Missile Charges (16/16)
Half Freeze Duration
All Resistances +5%-10%
Changed base to Plated Belt as that fits “safety” more than a Sash does. Slow Missile could actually be rather helpful. Half Freeze Duration is based on the assumption that Half Freeze will be changed to stack.
Safety Greaves
Level 8-12 Leap Charges (16/16)
4%-10% Faster Hit Recovery
All Resistances +5%-10%
Leap has Knockback, and so fits the Safety theme rather well. Will also provide some useful mobility.
Safety Kite Shield/Heraldic Shield/Gargoyle Head
5% Chance to Cast Level 24 Frozen Armor When Struck
5%-15% Increased Chance of Blocking
5%-15% Magic Resistance
Safety Shield should obviously have Increased Chance of Blocking. High level of Frozen Armor picked mainly for duration purposes, but I would like to hear other people’s thoughts. Added Auric Shield and Voodoo Head to expand classes that might try this shield out.
Safety Amulet
5%-10% Increased Chance of Blocking
5%-10% Faster Block Rate
All Resistances +5%-10%
Reduced variance of Increased Blocking. One to ten is too much variance. With All Resistances this could be a very good resistance Amulet, if the crafter rolls the right prefixes to go with it. A potential chase item for non-casters the way Caster Amulets are for casters.
Safety Ring
4%-10% Faster Hit Recovery
Poison Length Reduced by 50%
All Resistances +5%-10%
Much more attractive Safety Ring. Could be chased after for the best resistance rolls.
Speed Recipes:
Speed Spear/Daggers
+5%-15% Increased Attack Speed
+10%-20% Faster Run/Walk Speed
Slow Enemy by 5%-15%
Trying to make this a real chase item for Javazons and Throw Barbs. Something that potentially could be very powerful, even best in slot, but has a low chance of rolling. Hopefully that’s the case with the above numbers.
Speed Skull Cap/Falcon Mask/Horned Helm
+3%-8% Increased Attack Speed
+4-6 Dexterity
+5%-10% Faster Run/Walk Speed
There are other helm options with more IAS, but hopefully this will be in the “good enough for now” category, with the Barb and Druid version being chase items to see if they can get the right staff mods to roll.
Speed Leather Armor
Level 1-6 Burst of Speed Charges (6/6)
Cannot Be Frozen
+8%-16% Hit Recovery
Bust of Speed charges ought to be very attractive, but the low number of charges means they will be used only when the benefit is great.
Speed Light Gauntlets
+3%-8% Increased Attack Speed
+3-5 Dexterity
5%-10% Faster Block Rate
Potentially 28% IAS Gloves if you get the right rolls. Still slightly less than some gloves in sets (which can get up to 30%), but still some nice chase gloves for an Javazon or a Martial Arts Assassin.
Speed Sash
5%-10% Faster Block Rate
4%-10% Faster Hit Recovery
5%-10% Faster Run/Walk Speed
Tried to make a Sash that could be attractive to niche builds. Particularly those trying to maximize their block rate.
Speed Heavy Boots
Level 1 Dragon Flight Charges (16/16)
+3-5 Dexterity
5%-10% Faster Run/Walk Speed
Dragon Flight charges ought to make this attractive to people still trying to get Enigma. Particularly useful for characters dependent on Tele-stop. Possible to get 40% Faster Run/Walk Speed.
Speed Buckler/Targe/Demon Head
+8%-16% Faster Block Rate
+6-10 Dexterity
+8%-16% Faster Hit Recovery
A defensive shield focused on speed. Buckler is the obvious flavor for it. With the perfect roll could potentially get 46% Faster Block Rate. Still less than the best unique which has 50% Faster Block Rate.
Speed Amulet
+3%-8% Increased Attack Speed
+4-6 Dexterity
+5%-10% Faster Run/Walk Speed
An amulet with IAS on it, but far below that of Highlord’s. Another “good enough for now” piece of equipment.
Speed Ring
+1-4% Increased Attack Speed
+5%-10% Faster Block Rate
+4%-10% Faster Hit Recovery
Relatively weak Increased Attack Speed, but since you normally can’t get it on Rings, it might be useful if you need just that little bit more to reach an attack speed break point. Similarly, Faster Block Rate and Faster Hit Recovery are normally not on rings, and this could be used to meet a break point.
Specifically, if you got perfect rolls on every item in this theme that has Faster Block Rate you can reach the mythical 86% Faster Block Rate. Not sure that would be worth the effort, but I suppose some players would like it.
Treasure Recipes:
Treasure (Any Weapon)
2% Chance to Cast Level 6 Find Item When You Kill An Enemy
+15%-40% Magic Find
+25%-70% Gold Find
If you manage to roll 2 sockets that you put 2 Ists in, this can match the Magic Find of a Gull Dagger. Main attraction here is that you can potentially get decent magic find on a weapon of your favored type with good modifiers. Find Item is basically a crap shoot since you can’t pick what to target, but hey, you might get lucky.
Treasure (Any Helm/Pelt)
+50 Attack Rating
+5 Light Radius
+5%-20% Magic Find
+20%-50% Gold Find
Still less Magic Find than possible in Griswald’s or Immortal Kings Helm. Added the AR/Light Radius bonus for flavor (you have better light allowing you to find more treasure).
Treasure (Any Armor)
Level 1 Teleport (10/10)
+15%-40% Magic Find
+50%-150% Gold Find
Even if you manage to roll 2 sockets and perfect Magic Find, you still will have less than Wealth. Teleport is of course very useful, but with so few charges you won’t be spamming it, it will be used to get around obstacles. Certainly no Enigma, and very much in the “good enough for now” category for magic find characters.
Treasure (Any Gloves)
Level 6 Find Item Charges (8/8)
+1%-5% Magic Find
+20%-40% Gold Find
Well behind Chance Guards, even if you get a perfect Magic Find roll you can get at most 30% MF. Main attraction here is the Find Item Charges. You’d only use the charges on unique monster bodies of course. Basically, turning gold into more chance to pop items. Probably only slightly better than gambling, but I’d love for people to number crunch the idea.
Treasure (Any Belt)
Level 1 Telekinesis charges (152/152)
+1%-5% Magic Find
+20%-40% Gold Find
If you roll the Wealth suffix, this could actually be best in slot for Gold Find - well, if you are willing to give up the 10% IAS on Goldwrap. Completely inferior when it comes to Magic Find though. Telekinesis is mainly flavor, but a fun little thing to have.
Treasure (Any Boots)
+45 Attack Rating
+3 Light Radius
+1%-5% Magic Find
+20%-40% Gold Find
If you roll the Wealth suffix, this could actually be best in slot for Gold Find. Completely inferior to War Travellers when it comes to Magic Find, though it could potentially come with Resistances.
Treasure (Any Shield/Voodoo Head)
+45 Attack Rating
+3 Light Radius
+5%-10% Magic Find
+20%-40% Gold Find
While you can get more Magic Find with a 4 socket shield, due to being able to roll 2 sockets, and other beneficial affixes, this would probably be best in slot for MF on a shield. But that speaks more to the dearth of decent Magic Find Shields than anything else. Rhyme still comes with better stats than can roll on a crafted shield, as does Splendor making it a trade-off between more effective gear and more Magic Find.
Treasure Amulet
+50 Attack Rating
+5 Light Radius
+1%-5% Magic Find
+20%-40% Gold Find
A Magic Amulet could still have better Magic Find. Best in slot for Gold Find though.
Treasure Ring
+50 Attack Rating
+5 Light Radius
+1%-5% Magic Find
+20%-40% Gold Find
At best it might roll 20% Magic Find, so a good Nagelring will still have more. Dwarf Star will have more Gold Find. You could potentially get some good affixes on it though.
I’d like feedback on this from other players, particularly as to whether I got the power balance right. Remember that the goal for power level are three different categories: “good enough for now” end game gear that will eventually be replaced by current best in slot end game gear; “chase” items that are potentially best in slot but require a lot of rolls to go right to actually appear and so are rare enough that they don’t effect most players; and niche use cases. I’ve tried to hit that by comparing to other best in slot items, but I certainly could have missed something. In particular I’m not much into PvP, so I’d like thoughts and opinions on that, and I’m certainly willing to rework suggestions if people can explain why something is under/overpowered.