Utility dilemma (bargaining especially)

[claudius 104]

I am definitely in the camp that thinks there is huge benefit to bargained jewelry. The rate of production from shopping is astronomically higher than the production from farming the ghosts for jewelry. Indeed even if you only fought ghosts and banshee through your whole level up career you would still have crappy jewelry compared to someone who bargains.

 

So the bargaining dilema?

 

Blacksmith is less of a problem because you just need 1 high level blacksmith for all your pleasure... But a high level bargainer cant shop for a low level character....

 

 

I have seen two strategies for this problem: 1 a bargaining network and 2 leveling a main character along with a shopper....

 

 

My question is which one of these is better? A bargaining network can provide for infinite number of characters. So if I were to play more than 5 level 150+ chars it would pay off. But the reality is that sacred does have a shelf life until the community leaves for sacred 3 or other games. Say a bargaining network requires a level: 2 40-50 80 120 150 200..... Thats 6 chars.... But thats a big investment. What if I only then level 2 chars to 200? I could have just leveled 4 chars to 200 instead 2 bargainers and 2 non-utility......

 

My second question is on the bargaining network itself. Do my levels seem good? 2 45 80 120 150 200? Or do I need a different spread?

 

My observation is the network has more pay off you can service then unlimited chars. But the drawback is its so much preparation and then you might just give up and never achieve the network and get a chance to play 'real' chars..

[Rusto 0]

Thats a question only you can answer Will the time investment be worth the satisfaction the character will give?

 

Personally I really cant focus on more than one character at a time, that includes leveling a shopper in parallel, or making a network of shoppers. If I'm making a challenging build I work with what general skills they have. Another factor which is involved for me is that I cant be satisfied with a character if they have been spoonfed up to high levels, I like to feel they are 100% self sufficient =) It can add to the challenge, and is more rewarding. This is all my personal opinion of course, and I'm saying this because I cant really tell you which is the best option its down to you, and what you want to get out of a character.

[claudius 104]

Thats interesting Rusto. When I played Titan quest I would play untwinked only what I would find. But in sacred I find it fun to try to make the characters as dominant and powerful as possible. The same thing I achieved in Titan quest which was a linear map by running the same stretch over and over until I had nice items. Alas good jewelry simply doesn't drop I would rather the drops of jewelry be improved so I didn't have to have a bargainer.

 

I think it depends on how you look at it. Is the challenge to limit yourself and strive to succeed? Or to use every trick in the book? My favorite builds are BFG and shadow veil so if that gives you any idea of the route I take hehe.... I am probably just traumatized by taking a whole year to complete my illusionist in titan quest which was very fun but didn't have enough damage as it was 2 support masteries combined. So I reacted by taking strongest builds I thought.

 

Honestly for example playing a shadow warrior I feel the bargainer friend makes the experience more enjoyable. Jewelry that drops, rarely can compete with smith arts. So without a bargainer friend the complexity and choices of socketing are greatly reduced, I mean I would probably just use all smith arts and the handful of good jewels I did find.

 

If I played your way I would probably be playing elf inquisitor and dragon mage!

Edited May 21, 2010 by claudius

[Rusto 0]

haha, well a compromise... You probably allready have a few high level shoppers yea? Well, just build the network up over time, each time you have a new character that needs a bargainer friend, level up the bargainer but stop it at your desired levels. Dont try to set it up all at once, let it happen gradually over time so that your soul remains intact

[claudius 104]

Rusto you have helped me great idea in gradually building it up... I actually already have a 2 and 45 so I can have a good run before I have to park it... by that time I usually long for a variation in character...

 

Perfect

[Rusto 0]

Good good, have fun =)

[pugking 1]

I am quite new here but one thing you could ideally do (depending on how many alts you have) is to have one shopper who stops at various levels and stockpiles tons of items for that level. Sure this would limit your total amount of items per bracket but might be better sanitywise

[essjayehm 58]

I am quite new here but one thing you could ideally do (depending on how many alts you have) is to have one shopper who stops at various levels and stockpiles tons of items for that level. Sure this would limit your total amount of items per bracket but might be better sanitywise

 

Wonderful idea! Unfortunately, unless you have exactly the builds planned out beforehand, the shopper will have a very hard time choosing equipment because the mods that are awesome for one toon aren't really so hot for another build, even within the same class.

 

The main exception is if you're set on playing 3 or 4 builds of the same character, then you can shop out pieces for the caster build, the melee build, the ranged build, etc as the first (shopper) goes up the levels. This I have used to some degree, and it wasn't too bad.

[dreeft 9]

Logically you will need 2, 45 & 80 much more often than 120, 150 and 200.

 

So I figure it makes sense to setup a 2 and then start on the 45 (I'd probably add a 15 in there too). This will give you a good base for future characters. From there you can build a few toons and see how you go, eventually setting one up as a shopper at 80, 120, etc..

[Dragon Brother 619]

Logically you will need 2, 45 & 80 much more often than 120, 150 and 200.

 

So I figure it makes sense to setup a 2 and then start on the 45 (I'd probably add a 15 in there too). This will give you a good base for future characters. From there you can build a few toons and see how you go, eventually setting one up as a shopper at 80, 120, etc..

 

You would want something in between 45 and 80 if you were gonna set up a chain of shoppers. Mainly because you will almost certainly move from silver to gold at level 60 and new gear will help alot against the harder enemies.

[dreeft 9]

Logically you will need 2, 45 & 80 much more often than 120, 150 and 200.

 

So I figure it makes sense to setup a 2 and then start on the 45 (I'd probably add a 15 in there too). This will give you a good base for future characters. From there you can build a few toons and see how you go, eventually setting one up as a shopper at 80, 120, etc..

 

You would want something in between 45 and 80 if you were gonna set up a chain of shoppers. Mainly because you will almost certainly move from silver to gold at level 60 and new gear will help alot against the harder enemies.

Indeed. I was just using the levels claudius had in his original post.

 

I would think 5, 15, 45, 60, 80, 100, 120, 150, 200 would be the best spread, but that's a lot of slots just for shoppers.

[gogoblender 3,071]

Hey Claudius

 

Regarding best bet for bargaining network levels, you can take a look at this thread here where some really long time HC players sounded off with where they were placing their bargainers:

 

Shopping network - putting permanent bargainers in place

 

 

gogo