Artisan Archive

I read a few guides on Experimentation and they all seemed to have walked around the relationship of resources to the experimentation process.

If a CDEF pistol schematic, as an example, shows that Overall Quality and Conductivity are the desired stats for Damage, what will be the impact / result if I use a resource that has say 900+ in each? Will it increase my chances for an Amazing success? Will it produce a higher starting base for experimentation? What exactly does having the BEST resources do for you during the process of Experimentation?

Thank you!

---

Ionscout wrote:
I read a few guides on Experimentation and they all seemed to have walked around the relationship of resources to the experimentation process.

If a CDEF pistol schematic, as an example, shows that Overall Quality and Conductivity are the desired stats for Damage, what will be the impact / result if I use a resource that has say 900+ in each? Will it increase my chances for an Amazing success? Will it produce a higher starting base for experimentation? What exactly does having the BEST resources do for you during the process of Experimentation?

Thank you!

---

It won't increase your chances of an amazing success. That chance is determined, roughly, by this formula Experimentation Success = (Random Die Roll) + Experimentation Skill + Crafting tool bonus + Crafting station Bonus + Food bonus + clothing/SEA bonus + city bonus.

The quality of the resources determines how close to the maximum 'quality' a item can get.

That is, if Conductivity is the key resource attribute, if you have 1000 cond resources, you will get (if you get good successes) the best possible item. If you have 100 cond, you will get a very poor item regardless of your successes.

The final item quality (statistic in multi-stat items) is roughly determined by:

Quality = (Resource Key Stat value[s]) + (Success modifier) + (Experimentation points used), more or less. Those may be multiplicative relationships rather than additive, but you get the idea. An amazing success adds X to the quality, a great success adds Y where Y < X. A good success Z, where Z < Y < X, you get the idea.

So the quality of resource determines the quality of the finished product, not the chances of success when crafting or experimentation.

With one proviso...

Maleability is reported to influence how effective experimentation is. That is, a higher Mal results in higher returns on experimentation effectiveness. I think this is true, but I can't prove it easily.

Guru

So where does assembly fiqure into it? And does experimentation affect only the initial combine or all of the following experimentations afterwards?

---

Fodder650 wrote:
So where does assembly fiqure into it? And does experimentation affect only the initial combine or all of the following experimentations afterwards?

---

Sorry for the newbie question there. I have been crafting almost since launch and that one was still stuck in my head. Im mostly trying to decide on whether to use pyrollian cake and bespin port for initial assembly or which to use for each experimentation

They determine how many points you will get to put into each category. If you have an Conductivity 10 copper on say a crafting tool you may only be able to put up to 2 points into experimenting it better. PLus the starting point is really low. Where if you use a conductivity 900 copper you will get to experiment more into its effectiviness and just start at a higher point.

---

Guruweaver wrote:
(snip)
Maleability is reported to influence how effective experimentation is. That is, a higher Mal results in higher returns on experimentation effectiveness. I think this is true, but I can't prove it easily.

Guru

---

I seem to remember that malleability directly influences the "risk" (as shown by the risk percentage bar on the experimentation screen). When I was a mid-level Droid Engineer I noticed that the percentage risk scaled inversely with the malleability of my materials. As a Master the risk is reported as zero, so you can no longer tell.

EnigmaBSc

---

Fodder650 wrote:
Sorry for the newbie question there. I have been crafting almost since launch and that one was still stuck in my head. Im mostly trying to decide on whether to use pyrollian cake and bespin port for initial assembly or which to use for each experimentation

---

Oh yes, most certainly use both.

I usually experiment more than 1 point at a time to capture the effects of 'amazing' successes. A 'great' experimentation will yield about 7% experimental percentage, whereas an 'amazing' success will yield about an 8.1% experimental percentage.

So, I usually craft by eating a cake and chugging some port. After the assembly, I'll drop maybe 3 points into the same experimentation tree. Since I am still under the effects of the port, it helps reduce critical failures from experimenting with that many points. If I am lucky and get an 'amazing' on that experimentation, I'll get around a 24% experimental percentage boost as opposed toa 21% boost with just a 'great' success. That helps me get to my resource cap a little faster, and if I am really lucky I have another point that I can drop into another experimentation tree. Then I take another sip of port and do it again.

I see by your sig that you have a weaponsmith. I do as well, and it seems that no matter what I do I fail on experimentation with weapons more than I have any other crafting profession that I have done. As a result, I usually just experiment 2 points at a time with him to minimize failures.

For factory made components, I almost always demand 2 or more 'amazing' successes during experimentation. This means making schematics over and over until I get the right one, but at the component level it is cheap to do resource-wise.

Hope this helps.

Message Edited by Chucksta68 on 12-07-2004 12:46 PM

---

Fodder650 wrote:
Sorry for the newbie question there. I have been crafting almost since launch and that one was still stuck in my head. Im mostly trying to decide on whether to use pyrollian cake and bespin port for initial assembly or which to use for each experimentation

---

Assembly Success = Random Die Roll + Assembly skill + Food bonus + clothing bonus + city bonus, just like experimentation. Note that you have two skills, Assembly and Experimentation.

Now, to your question. Pyrollian Cake boosts assembly rolls, Bespin port Experimentation rolls.

When to use Pyrollian Cake (IMHO): When critical failing the assembly would be bad, like building an AV-21.

When to use Bespin Port (IMHO): When getting Great and Amazing successes in experimentation adds value (like armor and weapon crafting).

Does this help?

Guru

Yeah and thats how i was already doing it. So basically you just reinforced what i believed but wasnt sure of. Because i learned a while ago to dose up on brandy after each experimentation not just the once after creation. When i did it right i would get enough greats and amazings to almost make for the fact that, then, i was still a 10 pointer.

BTW since this is sort of ontopic. The devs more then implied that the difference in the level of tool and private crafting station wasnt that important. But one thing i have noticed since publish 11.2 that if i use my trusty old R3 (he's probaly 4-5 months old maybe more) to craft schematics with i end up with at least 1 moderate failure every couple of items i craft. But if i go up to a true private crafting station this doesnt happen nearly as often. I have been getting around it by using at least one bespin port on the first experimentation. Oddly this has happened more since i became an 11 point WS then before when was a 10 pointer. My WS has 110 to WS experimentation and 127 (hes a moncal they get racial bonuses to this) to Weapon assembly.

OT - I am far from being a newbie crafter. But its interesting that in a game like this you can still learn something new that will change how you do your work ingame.

Message Edited by Fodder650 on 12-07-2004 02:57 PM

---

Fodder650 wrote:
Yeah and thats how i was already doing it. So basically you just reinforced what i believed but wasnt sure of. Because i learned a while ago to dose up on brandy after each experimentation not just the once after creation. When i did it right i would get enough greats and amazings to almost make for the fact that, then, i was still a 10 pointer.

BTW since this is sort of ontopic. The devs more then implied that the difference in the level of tool and private crafting station wasnt that important. But one thing i have noticed since publish 11.2 that if i use my trusty old R3 (he's probaly 4-5 months old maybe more) to craft schematics with i end up with at least 1 moderate failure every couple of items i craft. But if i go up to a true private crafting station this doesnt happen nearly as often. I have been getting around it by using at least one bespin port on the first experimentation. Oddly this has happened more since i became an 11 point WS then before when was a 10 pointer. My WS has 110 to WS experimentation and 127 (hes a moncal they get racial bonuses to this) to Weapon assembly.

OT - I am far from being a newbie crafter. But its interesting that in a game like this you can still learn something new that will change how you do your work ingame.

Message Edited by Fodder650 on 12-07-2004 02:57 PM

---

Ya. Droid crafting stations have a rating of '0', which means that they don't bias the roll up or down. Private crafting stations can vary, but most folks buy them in the mid to high 40's. This biases the roll up, but not by much.

Crafting tool and station quality does improve the chances of success, but not by a lot. I'll take ever edge I can get, though.

Guru