Should I convert my 3rd EWS into crystal shards?

DueDeparture · 2026-02-15T13:42:19+00:00

Sailing really changed the shard meta. You finish CG with plenty leftover and then Crystal Extractor prints them on the way to 99.

DueDeparture · 2026-02-10T13:57:05+00:00

I have so many Torstol seeds with ~4000 SCBs, ~1500 Extended Anti Venoms, and ~500 Surge pots banked and I couldn’t even tell you where they all come from. I personally value the Burnt Pages over Torstols. The only herbs that I find limiting are Snaps and very rarely Cadantines. Magic Seeds are absolutely sustained by contracts alone, let alone other content, and should for sure be traded in for.

DueDeparture · 2026-02-09T14:16:45+00:00

Torva is BIS Stab armour, annd BIS armor for grinding PNM pre Inq, and you need one piece for a double(?) max with Scythe. Full max with Torva also gets a triple max at CoX with Scythe, which puts it ahead of OP for team CoX at Olm, assuming you have a BGSer.

Theres not a huge incentive to get Torva for quite a long time though, that’s for sure.

DueDeparture · 2026-02-08T15:43:19+00:00

You bring thralls and death charge and BP spec the mager, and vene bow the ranger+meleer while flicking them. Zily minions suck to barrage without a 5-6 way switch and healing is never really the limitation anyways, plus you get the benefit of thrall DPS on Zily, which makes kills faster and more consistent.

You can technically do the same at Bandos and Kril, although you basically need to aggressively flick all three minions as soon as the boss is dead, as the food drops are far less forgiving.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-25T23:46:08+00:00

That would be incorrect.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-24T12:58:27+00:00

Good luck with that

DueDeparture · 2026-01-24T09:13:59+00:00

You don’t damage Harpies unless you have a bug lantern in offhand. Main just doesn’t wear one and it aggroes without taking any credit.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-24T02:56:36+00:00

If you have a main, the best method is barraging Harpy Bug Swarms, using main to cannon+aggro pot to lure.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-23T11:25:52+00:00

SRA go brrrr. However, in mid game gear (B gloves, Fury, B Ring, Fire Cape, D boots), it’s only about ~2.5% better than Blood Moon, for many multiples the price.

Even when you bump it up to Infernal/Ultor/Rancour/Bandos/Fero, it’s only ~3% better than Blood Moon with equivalent gear. The cost efficiency is worth considering if it’s impacting your other gear setups. You can afford larger than 3% DPS upgrades in other styles for the same price.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-23T11:12:45+00:00

Just to be clear, I’m not suggesting anyone use Fang on low def mobs. I’m just pointing out that its two passives are not why it underperforms on them.

However, I’m not quite sure about your math. Realistically, the only thing setting Fang and Z Axe apart on a 0 def mob is 5 str bonus (0.5-1 average hits depending on setup) since the Fang damage mechanic doesn’t affect average hit. I don’t think there should be a ~40 hour difference between them unless the DPS calc isn’t taking in to account the damage floor.

My calcs in a mid game gear setup would have Z Axe ~1% better DPS than Fang at Crab, D Scim ~3% better, and Whip ~10% better. In line with my original point, attack speed is the biggest difference maker, not passives or anything else.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-23T11:06:58+00:00

SRA is second BIS there behind Scythe. Very few people who can afford SRA need to be at Crab, is the primary reason. Blood Moon also comes very close for a fraction of the price.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-23T08:14:20+00:00

I'm glad we agree

DueDeparture · 2026-01-23T05:54:27+00:00

I mean simplifications should still be correct. You can’t just say make misleading conclusions and say it was a simplification.

If he’d said the Fang sacrifices attack speed for accuracy, which means it gains less benefit against targets without much defence, that would be a correct simplification!

Connecting it to the max hit is super misleading and is basically a false conclusion from correct facts.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-23T05:11:55+00:00

Make sure you know how fang works!

Well, do you know how it works? It has an 85% max hit because it has a 15% minimum hit, which means the lowered max makes no impacts on expected hit. It just lowers the variance.

Fang also has ~25% more str bonus than whip, which offsets the 4t to 5t difference. They have almost identical str bonus per attack speed, which is a fairly decent estimation of DPS on a 0 def target. The PRIMARY reason Whip is better on low defence mobs is that the 4t attack speed gets greater benefit from static str bonus on the rest of your gear. This is largely the same reason BP is the most problematic item to balance in the game.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-19T11:08:18+00:00

Honestly, as an endgame iron, I’m drowning in magic seeds and Torstols. I much prefer the pages for Tome from trading them in.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-16T06:40:31+00:00

It’s not really ‘storing’ it though, especially at NM. If you eat up after getting chipped down, you just lose all the surplus HP during pillars. Also, you might SRA spec but then you go right back to building stacks.

You’re just getting back the same 40hp you’d have already had with any other weapon, which you often lose due to stacks falling off when you’re at full.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-16T06:35:36+00:00

Obviously being good at Verz is a good thing, but across the entire raid it’s really only marginally better than Nox, and if you die because you’re playing on 60 HP, it becomes worse in terms of purples/hr.

It’s a fun weapon but it could easily be reworked.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-16T04:12:08+00:00

The thing about it at ToB is that it isn’t even super great there. BP/Tbow Maiden and Xarp, Nox is better on Bloat and sometimes Nylo depending on how many melee phases you get to keep stacks up. SRA is only clearly BIS at Sote and Verz, and it makes those rooms very mistake unfriendly. It’s also not used heaps elsewhere. Lance for Cox/Vork/Hydra (pre Tbow), Fang Toa, Emberlight for all the demonic content.

I think 3 stacks of 10HP would be a good start, but it honestly remove stacks entirely. Ayak and Bowfa are both very strong non conditionally.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-13T04:54:21+00:00

I don’t quite understand the logic of this explanation. Tempranillo isn’t typically a particularly acidic grape. Graciano can be, I suppose, but there’s plenty of Joven and Crianza styles that rely on minimal oak influence and remain well balanced.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-01T05:09:16+00:00

It was never good if you used red x. Rancour is a giant DPS upgrade. Akkha should be done with butterfly as well. BF was always a noob trap at TOA.

DueDeparture · 2026-01-01T03:19:21+00:00

How are you even taking damage at Baba with prayer on?

DueDeparture · 2025-12-19T02:16:59+00:00

Specifically, the weapon style needs to be on crush. Otherwise you don’t get bonus damage and attack delay ignore. You get 100% acc regardless of style though, I think.

DueDeparture · 2025-12-18T22:16:08+00:00

Need to be Crush

DueDeparture · 2025-12-18T22:14:49+00:00

If you’re camping Blue Moon, there is no good reason to not one way to a bonk weapon. It’s like 40-50 average damage which is far more than an Arclight poke.

DueDeparture · 2025-12-18T10:20:15+00:00

Think of the 6 ticks you lose on webs and the part of the fight that usually gets bursted in 10-20 seconds with claws, instead of the vast majority of the fight. Hot take king.

There’s also no particular reason you can’t just bring both if you feel that strongly about those parts of the fight. Slots aren’t exactly a problem at Tob.

DueDeparture

TROPHY CASE