Artisan Archive
Thread: Agock's Guide to Making and Selling Weapon Powerups (Reposted for all you new Artisans)
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Agock_Onie
Wed Sep 08, 2004 6:46 pm
#1
I've noticed quite a few questions about powerups so I figured I would repost my guide for all of you fresh Artisans out there
First of all, credit where credit is due. The ranged and melee list I have included is taken from Blood632's post in the following thread: http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=artisan&message.id=34625
The additional information (grenades and mines) is from the Allakhazam.com's Advanced Powerup Guide of Making, Expermenting and Using by Koaree Eawa at the following link:
http://swg.allakhazam.com/db/guides.html?guide=119
All the information is correct to my knowledge
And now, on with the show:
When selecting materials to use for powerups you need six (6) minerals and four (4) chemicals. Any minerals and chemicals will do as they are not specified any further than that. I have been using a polymer and a colat iron. Overall Quality (OQ) is the only stat that is taken into account for all weapon powerups. Keep in mind that for a Master Artisan it is NOT NECESSARY TO USE 1000 OQ MATERIALS. I believe that anything 990 or higher OQ will yield perfect results. (mine have been a 998 metal and a 994 chemical). When experimenting with these materials, all experimentation boxes are filledand one "amazing" result will prevent you from using all experimentation points as you CANNOT experiment beyond 99%.
Powerup stats(all types) are randomly generated. The basic powerup, when first assembled, contains a PRIMARY stat (if you look at the list below, it is the first set of names such as Ported, Smoothed, Taper-Bored, etc). By experimenting, additional SECONDARY stats can be added (these are the second set of names such as of Alignment, of Concentration, of Dampening etc.)
Let's look a ranged barrel powerup for example (although the crafting process of all the powerup types is the same)
I select a barrel powerup from my weapon, droid, generic crafting tool while standing next to my weapon, droid, generic crafting station. Thebarrel is assembled and randomly assigned a name and corresponding stat modifier (if you get less than a "great" assembly at this point, toss it). In this case I have a made a PORTED BARREL (which gives me small modifier to the HEALTH cost of using a special with that weapon). As a Master Artisan, I now have 10 experimentation points with which to modify the powerup. The key here is to experiment ONE POINT AT A TIME. After the first or second experimentation point, I have now added a second stat modifier to the barrel. The primary HEALTH stat has increased to around 12% and the secondary comes in around 6-7%. In this case, MAXIMUM DAMAGE is the secondary stat. So the name of barrel changes to PORTED BARREL OF CONCENTRATION. As I continue to experiment with the powerup, the primary and secondary stats will increase to a MAXIMUM stat modifier of 33.16% PRIMARY/16.33% SECONDARY. So the best you can get from a two stat powerup is 33.16%/16.33%. This changed during the one day experment change the devs pulled so 33.5%/16.5% powerups DO EXIST.
Now here is gets tricky...
By experimenting each point one at a time, you have a change of adding a third, fourth, or even fifth stat modifier to the powerup. Be advised, ONLY SECONDARY STATS will ever be added, NEVER PRIMARY STATS. So in the case of the barrel, you COULD have a powerup that modifies the Health (primary)/Ideal Range (secondary)/Max Damage (secondary)/Mind (secondary). But it is impossible, with a barrel powerup, to modify the Health (primary)/Point Blank Penalty (primary)/Max Damage (secondary).
Also keep in mind, when adding additional stat modifiers, the experimentation gets a little strange. For example, using the barrel again, I have experimented up until I have a Health Primary of approx. 15-17% and a Max Damage Secondary of about 7%. I experiment another point and I get a third stat modifier of Ideal Range. From this point, any additional experimentation will INCREASE THE THIRD STAT to a maximum of 16.33% and the original secondary stat will stay a the 7.xx% it was at when the third stat came on board. Now my observation has be this. If additional stats come on, with the original secondary stat BELOW 10%, the third stat will increase to the maximum. If the third stat came of board with the secondary stat HIGHER than 10% the TERTIARY AND SECONDARY stat increase but NEITHER one will reach the 16.33% limit. So you end up with something like a 33.16%/12.5%/10.33% powerup. This may be preferred due the higher increase of the third stat, but it is rare and extremely hard to plan.
With fourth and fifth stat modifiers, I have not been able to determine the patterns there, so if you get one just keep experimenting away and hope for the best. One last thing to remember here, the name for a powerup is always designated by the Primary and Secondary stats even in a three stat powerup, so you not see a Ported Barrel of Concentration of Condensing. It would only be a Ported Barrel of Concentration. (this doesn't matter if you follow my tips later)
Now to answer some of the more common questions I get:
POWERUP MINI-FAQ
1. Why would I want to increase my Point Blank Penalty/Special Move Health Cost/etc?
a. You are NEVER INCREASING the penalty by using a powerup. The "+" percentage of a powerup is how much REDUCTION you get towards the HAM cost or range penalty of using that weapon. So a +"Point Blank Penalty" is actually that amount that the powerup reduces the penalty, but a +"Ideal Attack Bonus" is that amount in the increase of the bonus. THERE IS NO PENALTY WHAT SO EVER IN USING A POWERUP.
2. Won't it make my weapon decay faster?
a. There is no increase in the decay rate of using a powerup on a weapon. I'll say it again THERE IS NO PENALTY WHAT SO EVER IN USING A POWERUP. NowI know someone is going to agrue this point saying that "if I use a speed powerup, my weapon will fire faster and hence, decay faster". No duh!
3. Can you make me a Max Damage/Min Damage Melee Powerup?
a. Nope. As you can see from the list, both Min and Max Damage a secondary stats. Now it may be possible to get, say, a Health/Max/Min but then you are looking at about a 16.33% Max and 8.XX% Min modifier.
4. Why can't you make crates of 25 like my chef/medic/WS/etc.?
a. You got me. In the Devs infinite wisdom, they decided to make powerups in crates of 10. Go figure.
Tips for selling powerups:
1. KNOW YOUR MARKET
a. The best way to make a business out of powerups is know what your customers want. So what would a PVP'ing Novice Rifleman want? Well, considering that he has not made the speed cap (so his rifle is so slow) and the nature of PVP mitigation (check other threads for info on this one) they might want a Hair-Triggered Grip of Lightening (33.16% Speed/16.33% Min Damage). Or perhaps the high Mind costs of the rifle is hurting them, try a Powered Scope of Targeting (33.16% Mind/16.33% Speed). Get to know the different combatant classes, talk to rifleman and the pikeman, or better yet, try them yourself. I've made quite a pretty penny, selling 33.16% Speed/16.33% Health Grips to Carbineers for use with the EE3 Carbine exclusively (unlike most carbines which have high Action costs, the EE3 has a high Health). A tip for those of you just starting out - Max Damage/Min Damage Muzzles are ALWAYS popular.
2. KEEP YOUR VENDOR WELL STOCKED
a. Nothing turns off a potential buyer more than a vendor with two or three items on it. When I do a new schematic, I usually run off 100 powerups (10 crates) and watch how they sell over the next week. They sold out in 2 days? I make 20 crates on the next run. They sat there for a month? I run 2 or 3 crates next time.
3. MAKE YOUR ITEMS IDENTIFIABLE
a. You can leave the generic name when making the schematic, but who is going to remember what a Hot-Wired Coupler of Compensation does? And with 600 crates on the vendor, do you really think they are going to check the details of every item? For simplicity, I use the following format for my powerups (Type) (%) (Stat)/(%) (Stat) (Name) Example: "RANGED - 33.16% Speed/16.33% Min Dmg Grip" or "MELEE - 33.16% Health/16.33% Max Dmg" Not as colorful as the real name, but the customer knows what it does and what it's used for right off the bat. The first time you get a client trying to sell back unidentified melee powerups because he thought they would work on his Tusken Rifle, you'll see why I do this.
4. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
a. As with all selling, get your vendor in a high traffic area. You could place your vendor in a remote corner of Dantooine, but who is gonna find it?
5. ADVERTISING
a. Get your vendor stocked then get the word out there. Try posting on the trade forum or spam-shouting in the starport of Coronet or Theed. (have of few cases of your more popular items on you when you do that, you can sell quite a bit to people passing through)
That's pretty much all I can tell you about powerups so get out there and start making the Galaxy a better place, and make some credits along the way.
I have color coded the stats on the below list. Section types are in RED Primary stats are in GREEN and Secondary stats are in Blue
RANGED
BARREL
Ported (Special Move Health Cost)
Smoothed (Point Blank Penalty)
Taper-Bored (Wound Chance)
of Alignment (Ideal Attack Bonus)
of Concentration (Maximum Damage)
of Condensing (Ideal Range)
of Dampening (Special Move Mind Cost)
COUPLER
Hot-Wired (Maximum Damage)
Quick-Charge (Attack Speed)
Short-Circuited (Minimum Damage)
Tweaked (Special Move Action Cost)
of Compensation (Special Move Mind Cost)
of Overpowering (Ideal Range)
of Searing (Point Blank Penalty)
GRIP
Ergonomic (Ideal Range)
Fitted (Ideal Attack Bonus)
Hair-Triggered (Attack Speed)
Lightening (Special Move Mind Cost)
of Recoil-Deadening (Special Move Health Cost)
of Aiming (Minimum Damage)
of Reckoning (Wound Chance)
of Steadying (Max Range Penalty)
MUZZLE
Muffled (Special Move Mind Cost)
Polished (Wound Chance)
Scattering (Max Range Penalty)
Tuned (Maximum Damage)
of Flaring (Point Blank Penalty)
of Focusing (Max Range Penalty)
of Braking (Special Move Health Cost)
of Sighting (Minimum Damage)
SCOPE
Calibrated (Max Range Penalty)
Powered (Special Move Mind Cost)
Precision (Minimum Damage)
Ranged (Ideal Attack Bonus)
of Targetting (Attack Speed)
of Pin-Pointing (Wound Chance)
of Tracking (Special Move Action Cost)
STOCK
Anti-Jitter (Max Range Penalty)
Balanced (Ideal Range)
Reactive (Special Move Health Cost)
of Dissipation (Max Damage)
of Accuracy (Ideal Attack Bonus)
of Cushioning (Special Move Action Cost)
of Loading (Attack Speed)
MELEE
GENERIC MELEE
Balancing (Special Move Health Cost)
Barbing (Point Blank Penalty)
Compensating (Special Move Mind Cost)
Extending (Ideal Range)
of Control-Enhancement (Attack Speed)
of Accuracy (Ideal Attack Bonus)
of Precision (Minimum Damage)
of Wounding (Wound Chance)
of ??????? (Max Damage)
MINES
Mine Explosives Kit (complexity 14)
Concussion (Damage Radius)
Clustered (Maximum Damage)
Directional (Minimum Damage)
of Bomblet-Generating (Wound Chance)
THROWN WEAPON POWERUP
Grenade Explosives Kit (complexity 14)
Compress (Damage Radius)
Ionizing (Minimum Damage)
of Shearing (Wound Chance)
Grenade Wiring Kit (complexity 9)
Short-Fuse (Attack Speed)
Core-Alignment (Maximum Damage)
of Shrapnel (Wound Chance
DaBarius
Thu Sep 09, 2004 9:21 pm
#4
Agock_Onie wrote:
.
Now here is gets tricky...
By experimenting each point one at a time, you have a change of adding a third, fourth, or even fifth stat modifier to the powerup. Be advised, ONLY SECONDARY STATS will ever be added, NEVER PRIMARY STATS. So in the case of the barrel, you COULD have a powerup that modifies the Health (primary)/Ideal Range (secondary)/Max Damage (secondary)/Mind (secondary). But it is impossible, with a barrel powerup, to modify the Health (primary)/Point Blank Penalty (primary)/Max Damage (secondary).
Also keep in mind, when adding additional stat modifiers, the experimentation gets a little strange. For example, using the barrel again, I have experimented up until I have a Health Primary of approx. 15-17% and a Max Damage Secondary of about 7%. I experiment another point and I get a third stat modifier of Ideal Range. From this point, any additional experimentation will INCREASE THE THIRD STAT to a maximum of 16.33% and the original secondary stat will stay a the 7.xx% it was at when the third stat came on board. Now my observation has be this. If additional stats come on, with the original secondary stat BELOW 10%, the third stat will increase to the maximum. If the third stat came of board with the secondary stat HIGHER than 10% the TERTIARY AND SECONDARY stat increase but NEITHER one will reach the 16.33% limit. So you end up with something like a 33.16%/12.5%/10.33% powerup. This may be preferred due the higher increase of the third stat, but it is rare and extremely hard to plan.
With fourth and fifth stat modifiers, I have not been able to determine the patterns there, so if you get one just keep experimenting away and hope for the best. One last thing to remember here, the name for a powerup is always designated by the Primary and Secondary stats even in a three stat powerup, so you not see a Ported Barrel of Concentration of Condensing. It would only be a Ported Barrel of Concentration. (this doesn't matter if you follow my tips later)
I still dont understand the more than 2 stats powerups way..
I seem to get them pretty often.. with 990 oq and 975 oq resources.
Heres one I made with 5 stats
Point Blank attack mod:32+
Attack Speed:16+
Max Damage:8+
Max Range attack mod:6+
Ideal Range attack mod:3+
Ne1 else can help me understand this?
Guruweaver
Fri Sep 10, 2004 4:22 am
#5
Good writeup!
May I include this in the Useful Postings Sticky?
Guru
May I include this in the Useful Postings Sticky?
Guru
Animi
Fri Sep 10, 2004 8:26 am
#6
It's random, but there are identifiable patterns. For example, when the secondary stat shows up and then gets "stuck" (at around 5-8%), you have a chance to get a new secondary modifier toshow up and go up to 16% while the first secondary modifier that showed up will stay stuck at 5-8%.
DaBarius wrote:
I still dont understand the more than 2 stats powerups way..
I seem to get them pretty often.. with 990 oq and 975 oq resources.
Heres one I made with 5 stats
Point Blank attack mod:32+
Attack Speed:16+
Max Damage:8+
Max Range attack mod:6+
Ideal Range attack mod:3+
Ne1 else can help me understand this?
Also, if you're14 point master artisan, you can actually use critical fails to your advantage. If you get a critical fail, your 14 experimenation points are probably enough to allow you to recover, and you may end up with a four or 5 stat powerup which looks something like what you set out above. You can get those without a critical failure during experimenation, but it is very rare and totally unpredictable.
Wakkoin
Fri Sep 10, 2004 1:40 pm
#7
Wait a second, 14 point master artisan? Do you know something I don't know? I thought the cap was 125 on artisan expermintation thus giving you 12 points where do you get the other 2?
Animi wrote:
Also, if you're14 point master artisan, you can actually use critical fails to your advantage. If you get a critical fail, your 14 experimenation points are probably enough to allow you to recover, and you may end up with a four or 5 stat powerup which looks something like what you set out above. You can get those without a critical failure during experimenation, but it is very rare and totally unpredictable.
Animi
Fri Sep 10, 2004 1:51 pm
#8
Wakkoin wrote:
Wait a second, 14 point master artisan? Do you know something I don't know? I thought the cap was 125 on artisan expermintation thus giving you 12 points where do you get the other 2?
If your character is a human, you get a species bonus of +15 to artisan experimentation. 125 + 15 = 140 artisan experimenation, which equals 14 points. 
It's very nice to have.
Guruweaver
Mon Sep 13, 2004 6:53 pm
#10
Agock_Onie wrote:By all means GuruGlad I could contribute
Done! Thanks
Guru
zonk1
Tue Nov 23, 2004 9:53 am
#11
3. Can you make me a Max Damage/Min Damage Melee Powerup?
a. Nope. As you can see from the list, both Min and Max Damage a secondary stats. Now it may be possible to get, say, a Health/Max/Min but then you are looking at about a 16.33% Max and 8.XX% Min modifier.
Good thread.
The REAL key to making Superior Power-Ups is getting Critical Failures after the first Experimentation. If you cna pull this off you can throw some of the basic crafting concepts right out the door. For an example.
Advanced MELEE Power-Up
Min 14%
Max 18%
Mind 26%
I sale these on Flurry as PvP Special Power-Ups and they sell like hotcakes @ 10k per Crate (10)!! Yes, that's is 1k per Pup!!! Make the best or don't bother. Make something nobody else makes and you can actually see some decent profits.
BTW, waiting for the right Crit Failure can take hours.. and hours.. and hours..
Korlan
Thu Dec 02, 2004 7:26 am
#12
zonk1 wrote:
3. Can you make me a Max Damage/Min Damage Melee Powerup?
a. Nope. As you can see from the list, both Min and Max Damage a secondary stats. Now it may be possible to get, say, a Health/Max/Min but then you are looking at about a 16.33% Max and 8.XX% Min modifier.
Good thread.
The REAL key to making Superior Power-Ups is getting Critical Failures after the first Experimentation. If you cna pull this off you can throw some of the basic crafting concepts right out the door. For an example.
Advanced MELEE Power-Up
Min 14%
Max 18%
Mind 26%
I sale these on Flurry as PvP Special Power-Ups and they sell like hotcakes @ 10k per Crate (10)!! Yes, that's is 1k per Pup!!! Make the best or don't bother. Make something nobody else makes and you can actually see some decent profits.
BTW, waiting for the right Crit Failure can take hours.. and hours.. and hours..
why some one 1 star you i don't know...
LuCha
Sat Dec 04, 2004 11:15 am
#13
OK, I have a problem....
Yesterday I was making powerups for my vendor. When it came time to make a melee powerup, I was trying to get Mind/Max. I know this combo doesn't come up much, but I like to make it anyway. It was taking forever to get it and then I realized something was wrong. I was getting some weird combinations.I started keeping track and Ifound that I could NOT get Max damage! I was getting MaxRange Attack Modifier! aaack!!!!
Was there a 'stealth nerf' to melee powerups?
MELEE
GENERIC MELEE
Balancing (Special Move Health Cost)
Barbing (Point Blank Penalty)
Compensating (Special Move Mind Cost)
Extending (Ideal Range)
of Control-Enhancement (Attack Speed)
of Accuracy (Ideal Attack Bonus)
of Precision (Minimum Damage)
of Wounding (Wound Chance)
of ??????? (Max Damage) This is now Max Range Attack Mod !?
GENERIC MELEE
Balancing (Special Move Health Cost)
Barbing (Point Blank Penalty)
Compensating (Special Move Mind Cost)
Extending (Ideal Range)
of Control-Enhancement (Attack Speed)
of Accuracy (Ideal Attack Bonus)
of Precision (Minimum Damage)
of Wounding (Wound Chance)
of ??????? (Max Damage) This is now Max Range Attack Mod !?
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