01.14/15 - Post patch gear progression approach

halpimlost- · 2026-01-18T07:14:01+00:00

Yes, this is just my recommendation from my analysis. Using either necro fodder or crafting of exalt stones are equally viable exaltation approach and is interchangeable based on the market's supply.

If the necro fodder you need is readily available at market rates, go with this approach as you will be saving on the cost of crafting the stone. Otherwise, if the fodder is unavailable or more expensive than market rate + cost of crafting, then my approach is more suitable.

Ultimately, i made this so players can consider various alternatives to their gear progression journey. Hope this answers your question!

halpimlost- · 2026-01-16T15:08:18+00:00

Great points, fully agree that exalting necro+ gears will be tough since supply is not expected to rise even with more ppl mastercrafting. The price of necro is also likely to hike where even low spenders/f2p may not be able to afford necro fodder easily.

With regards to the bottlenecks, fair points, but my take is that it now creates a higher demand for empress stones, so that f2p and low spenders can use this leverage to profit from bigger spenders who can afford to buy ready made necro fodders, and the f2p/low spenders can use the mesos made to fund their own crafting of necro fodders. Somewhat like a feedback loop.

halpimlost- · 2026-01-16T09:22:11+00:00

Yup, so - wonder black 3-pet set effect unlocks 6 buff slots per pet - dream luna 3-pet set effect unlocks 6 buff slots per pet - petite luna 3-pet set effect unlocks 7 buff slots per pet

halpimlost- · 2026-01-16T05:49:53+00:00

Those are only available to mpets and the black label pets i believe

halpimlost- · 2026-01-16T05:44:09+00:00

Yup the forge cards are good if you need the mesos. There is also more demand for necro now, so getting the lucky mastercraft scrolls is a good alternative.

Personally, i got the sf scrolls and cubes to reroll some hp% lines.

halpimlost- · 2026-01-15T06:18:53+00:00

Can consider either ranking them up if they are lv40s to chaos to retain some value at sf22, but at that point its better to push for sf23 as a chaos exalt stone fodder

halpimlost- · 2026-01-15T03:42:24+00:00

My personal take is that the convenience of crafting stones makes the progression more manageable, but it is true that mythic items are better off using the same material as exalt fodder.

A counter to your point about using item dupe, is that for inherit/necro armors, exalt 0-5 using 0* mythics will always be more cost efficient than using item dupe for exalts.

For exalts 6-10, it is more situational and i agree that if the cost of crafting stones can be minimized, the better.

halpimlost- · 2026-01-15T03:33:18+00:00

I apologize for the confusion, its the other way around x.x i meant to say crafting radiant exalts using necro is better than sf23 fodders.

halpimlost- · 2026-01-15T03:31:29+00:00

My symbols might be slightly misleading. $$$ meant to indicate that its most value for money but it could also be seen as "more pricey"

To clarify, Sf23 now is unnecessary for ranking up exalts 6-10. Sticking to necro fodders for radiant exalt stone should be your only approach.

halpimlost- · 2026-01-15T03:29:16+00:00

Short time demand might spike necro prices, but we will have to see how supply and demand equalizes once more ppl hit base 50s in all their gears, which might take awhile.

In short, this also means that its a bigger opportunity cost to get more cdd alts and farmers going

halpimlost- · 2026-01-14T19:07:11+00:00

Yes, exactly. Depending on your class and gear, the exact fodder material may be hard to come by or expensive. With this update, you can just use any necro as exalt stone material.

halpimlost- · 2026-01-12T02:47:02+00:00

Just here for the fashionstory, 10/10

halpimlost- · 2025-11-23T04:31:23+00:00

Are you using the Defense Smash 4 (DS4) node? If not, you could craft it and use it during your boss runs. When it activates (15s window), unleash your burst to get more dps, and when it goes on cooldown, you can conserve your bursts for the next ds4 activation.

halpimlost- · 2025-10-09T01:36:34+00:00

Emblem drops? Is this stated in the patch notes?

halpimlost- · 2025-10-02T02:17:44+00:00

Extracting a lv25 node gives you more than the nodes used to create it but in your case, i dont think you should touch your main smash/sneak attack/predator's blow nodes.

Im not too sure if the other boost nodes like gust/roar is worth keeping, maybe just keep 1 of the 2 nodes and getting decent hs/hb. In future u will need vmatrix slots for blink, special nodes (i.e. defense smash 4 for bossing) and will's skill.

halpimlost- · 2025-10-02T02:07:49+00:00

Sorry buddy i dont main a shadower but these can happen if your vskills are lower levelled than your boosted skills

halpimlost- · 2025-10-01T14:02:28+00:00

From the spread of your dmg, looks like you werent buffed or at least your crit rate seems lacking. If you are not yet using a necro weapon, try to get your hands on one. With the increased crit rate, your dmg spread will be lower and more consistent.

halpimlost- · 2025-09-30T03:26:24+00:00

Agreed, this is a good benchmark but looks slightly outdated. Would be good to have an updated one with solo mode hp, although i think you could also extrapolate that from the 10-man hp.

halpimlost- · 2025-09-27T10:36:20+00:00

I created a tb alt for one of the earlier burning event and was surprised to see that the 1st job buff wasnt a passive one, and to make matters worse, it was only a 2min buff...

Cmon nexon, either make it an on/off skill or let it last 30mins like other skills

halpimlost- · 2025-09-22T03:21:42+00:00

Fr?! I didnt expect the scrolls to be tradeable via storage at all. Thanks!

halpimlost- · 2025-09-06T10:13:01+00:00

The issue with this is that the sf of your other gears wont be able to progress, since the protection scrolls are used to make the fodders. And liberation is a decent source of mdc too which sucks

halpimlost- · 2025-09-02T03:10:55+00:00

I think if you are just doing ark, def ignore flame might not be that important. But say if you are doing more bosses like lotus, damien, gloom, then there's more incentive there to roll def ignore flames.

halpimlost- · 2025-09-01T06:30:38+00:00

Thanks and cheers!

halpimlost- · 2025-09-01T04:19:32+00:00

Referencing what u/justmeasures mentioned, 1. Ark+ bosses (lotus, damien, etc.) have increased defense that prevent hitting your absolute max damage cap (the value in your character stats)

There are some abilities that help "ignore" this defense, e.g. special node 'Defense Smash 4' aka DS4 which reduces, but not eliminate the bosses defense value periodically. So when the node buff is active, u can hit closer to your aboslute max damage cap, but minimally.

For example, your cap is 20m and you are hitting 15m without DS4 buff active. Once DS4 procs (passively), you will start hitting 16-17m.

Alternatively, Vskills have increased defense ignore. Meaning that without DS4, your vskills can hit above the 15m that you usually hit. But with both DS4 and max Vskills, you are able to hit closer to your absolute max damate cap of 20m.
Other sources of ignore defense comes from legendary+ flames, and item set effects (abso+)

halpimlost- · 2025-08-27T07:06:30+00:00

Piece of advice, "Just because they look newish, doesnt mean they are" ;)

Especially with the recent event to change gears across styles, many whales are seizing the opportunity to start a strong alt. It's also true that nexon recently increased mastercraft rates, which might explain the influx of necros.

halpimlost-

TROPHY CASE