Feature: Transmutation

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One of the most confusing aspects of player-based choices is item reinforcement and the options that come with it. Sometimes, you have too little resources and too many characters to work on; You just don't want to end up wasting those resources on uninformed or poor choices. Here, I will give you some insight in making informed choices and knowing what to expect from my experience.

In this 5-part article, I cover-
So here's part 4 of 5.

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Transmutation - What is it?

Transmutation at its simplest, is the process of recycling two socketed Reinforcement Stones for the chance of obtaining an Epic grade stone. This of course comes with consequences, as the process will destroy the equipment they were attached to and may not produce an Epic grade stone at all.

... Then why do it?

Transmutation was the main process of producing such (Epic) stones back then, and is now an alternative option instead. Epic stones do require more resources than normal to produce from the Forge and so are the Transmutation scrolls themselves.

As a refresher pertaining to Epic Stone creation via the Forge, the ingredients are -
  • 10x Gate Ores, 30 Crystals and 300 Gems (Under the "?" and Epic tabs)

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The Processes:

Transmutation Interface: With 2 weapons and a Premium Transmutation Scroll in place.

Before beginning the Transmutation, make sure your subject items are not equipped on your character or they will not appear on the inventory list. A Transmutation scroll is a necessary ingredient during this process, so make sure they are available too.

Transmutation only has one rule - same item type.

In the above example, the weapon Category is selected and thus two weapons are set in the panels. This adheres to the above-mentioned rule, because you cannot select different equipment types (Doing so will clear out the panels). However, you can use items from another character to perform a Transmutation.

So e.g.
  • 2 Weapons, each coming from Sieghart and Lire (Or just 1 source) will work.
  • Using a Helmet and Shoe, coming from Lire alone will not be allowed.

And from this example alone, the following will happen - 
  • Both weapons will be destroyed and no longer retrievable for use.
  • 1 stone is lost during this Transmutation process.
  • 1 Transmutation scroll is consumed.
  • A +8 or +9 stone may be produced.
  • A Common or Epic stone with said Grades may be produced.

In most practical and ideal cases, the stones being transmuted would be Grade 9's. The chances of then retrieving a Grade 10 stone (w and w/o Epic) is higher and does not require additional reinforcement risk.

This is also because Grade 10 stones are beyond the boundary of safe reinforcement (without destruction risk) and are considered valuable returns from Transmutation.

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Transmutation Scrolls:

Unlike Reinforcement, Transmutation only requires one type of compulsory support item.

Transmutation Scroll Standard scroll with a slight chance of producing an Epic stone. (It's primary function is still to faciliate the Transmutation process)

The returned stone will likely have a grade lower than the combined average.
Premium
Transmutation
Scroll
Improved scroll with a slightly higher chance of producing an Epic stone. These are usually acquired from events as rewards.

The returned stone will likely retain the grade average between both items.

Quite unfortunately, only the standard Transmutation Scroll can be made from the Forge. There are 2 options to create this scroll using 2 different sets of materials.

Set 1
(Xenium)
Set 2 
(Alcubrium)

With the presence of Dimension Door, players can now easily hunt for these materials rather than resort to the slow process of mass dismantling of equipment. You can also get crystals and EXP while running Dimension Door, making it a triple gain.


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Recommendations:

Farming for materials to create an Epic Stone is not too difficult, although they can take a little long for the effort (Especially Crystals, 30 of them). The only thing is they start from Grade 0 and face the same reinforcing woes as their Common cousin.

Still, Transmutation is rarely performed unless the player is willing to sacrifice old equipment along the way in an effort to retrieve the reproduced stone. At least now, with the Forge providing methods to create Stones and T.Scrolls, there is a sustainable choice.

With each Transmutation, a Stone is at least guaranteed for retrieval whether it returns as an Epic or not. This is different from Extraction where there is a chance of loss if a special scroll is not used and may require more than one of those scrolls to be successful.


But one thing that probably still rings in the head of players would be - Why still do it?

I emphasized a lot on "Player Resources" in my reinforcement post as well. The decisions made by players can differ greatly because of what they own on hand; Inventory wealth between new and older players especially since the S4 inventory overhaul.

There are a lot of suggested reasons for doing so, but I would rather keep this part short.

And with that, is the gist of Transmutation.

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