Keep in mind that Bernice is generally not all that popular, in both IToS and KToS, so there are many users that simply do not participate. This is only a list of those that actually decided to do the content.
Thatās right. It is time consuming for not much reward.
Many users that participate in the higher ranks also make use of many consumables and setups with buffs in order to boost their ranking, which is too much of a hassle, so they simply donāt bother doing the content.
Beyond that, there is a lot of randomness, as itās possible to get certain bosses that turn invulnerable for long periods of time (1 minute+), which ruins an entire run and wastes more time due to having to start over. Some class performance is also greatly affected by which bosses appear, such as Shadowmancer (Shadow Thorn only does 1 hit to flying bosses), which can greatly affect how far you get (as the bosses are completely random). Some monsters also temporarily make themselves invulnerable, and elite monsters use puddles that have random effects that can slow down the run.
There are also bugs, such as monsters getting stuck in sides of the map on some of the holes, or if the timer ends just as you kill a boss, you will not receive any credit for the run.
Having to do this weekly causes people (like me) to just not bother.
I used to be excited everytime when new items come out.
Now, I donāt even wanna look at them anymore.
Iām scared that i might have do Ichor all over again.
Because, Ichor system sucks.
Alchemist potions need to have some clear advantages though, as theyāre the primary source of alchemists actually being able toā¦wellā¦do alchemy and sell stuff. You have to actually buy them instead of just obtain them as rewards for doing uphill, so they should be desirable. Kiestas are still very very good for what they do and how easy they are to obtain.
The funny thing is this problem has existed for a long time, way before ToS. The crafted vs those not crafted. Crafters only really work in games where crafted items do something completely different from what non crafted items do, else 1 replaces the other.
If alche pots only provided stats (like the other non hp sp tincture potions) then we could have a ābalancableā potion system.
I get what youāre saying, but hereās my perspective on it. Crafted pots SHOULD be straight up bonuses over pots that you can buy from the in-game npcs or earn through rewards. The idea is that you either use the inferior versions for convenience or budget reasons, or you buy the superior crafted ones and support other players in exchange for having the best potions.
It still makes the generic potions valuable for those players who donāt need the strongest potions in regular play and who want to save money. I for example only ever buy alchemist pots when I go farming in baubas cave. This has generally also been the case in every other mmo Iāve played. Crafted pots are always upgrades over any others because it encourages players to actually put time into making them, and generic pots are supposed to be inferior. they are just that - generic options. Itās the difference between getting ramen noodles made for you by a chef or buying 2 minute noodles. Sometimes you just want salty noodles, quality be damned.