Question for the Dev Team Concerning Traceries

[Elaelin]

This is a question for the dev team concerning traceries and expiration dates/levels. I have been told that I am misreading and misunderstanding the maximum levels on traceries. There are many people out here complaining that traceries go inactive and stop functioning when your character exceeds the maximum level on the tracery. It seemed obvious to me reading everything that has been published. I had someone tell me yesterday that traceries like our old weapons will never expire and stop functioning. Instead the maximum level just means you can no long upgrade those traceries once your character exceeds the level. What is the correct answer?

Not looking for opinions on the system. Not looking for best guesses. I am just looking for someone in the know to answer. Do traceries stop functioning when a character exceeds the maximum level stated on the tracery?

If for whatever reason I am not able to replace a tracery when my character levels past the maximum level of the tracery, what, if any benefit will the tracery provide?

Thank you for helping.

NOTE: I do not want to start a complaint session. I sincerely want an answer to this question since I was told I am not understanding the level ranges and what happens. Thank you to everyone who steps back and avoids voicing their opinion so the actual question can be answered.

I will also be happy if whoever answers this questions closes the thread. I do not want to start a discussion or complaint session. The actual answer gets lost at that point.

[Cordovan]

The maximum level of a Tracery is the max level that a player can benefit from that Tracery, and is based on the level range of the Tracery plus the next cap range. So a 121-130 Tracery will offer its bonus until the character hits (in the future) level 141. However, in terms of leveling up a Tracery, that can be done within the level range, and the Tracery will not be able to be leveled higher than its level range, with one exception: Level 121-130 Traceries can be leveled up to 140.

[Fegefeuer]

The maximum level of a Tracery is the max level that a player can benefit from that Tracery, and is based on the level range of the Tracery plus the next cap range. So a 121-130 Tracery will offer its bonus until the character hits (in the future) level 141. However, in terms of leveling up a Tracery, that can be done within the level range, and the Tracery will not be able to be leveled higher than its level range, with one exception: Level 121-130 Traceries can be leveled up to 140.

You still didn't clarify if it gets disabled or not, you say that "tracery offer its bonus until the character...", then what happens when the character hits lvl141, in this case? "tracery won't offer its bonus", aka, "tracery will be deactivated"?

To OP, I think the confusion you have is with the enhancement runes and ilvl.

Example:

Morgul traceries have minimum level 121 and maximum level 140. When character is 141, traceries "don't offer its bonus" (aka be disabled, right Cordovan?)
Morgul traceries have ilvl 400-449 and you need to use enhancement runes to raise this level. For transition purposes, Morgul traceries will also have ilvl 450-499, the same as the Gundabad traceries

[Cordovan]

You still didn't clarify if it gets disabled or not, you say that "tracery offer its bonus until the character...", then what happens when the character hits lvl141, in this case? "tracery won't offer its bonus", aka, "tracery will be deactivated"?

To OP, I think the confusion you have is with the enhancement runes and ilvl.

Example:

Morgul traceries have minimum level 121 and maximum level 140. When character is 141, traceries "don't offer its bonus" (aka be disabled, right Cordovan?)
Morgul traceries have ilvl 400-449 and you need to use enhancement runes to raise this level. For transition purposes, Morgul traceries will also have ilvl 450-499, the same as the Gundabad traceries

The Tracery will no longer offer its bonus, whether you want to call it "deactivated" or not is up to you I guess. The end result is the same. The iLevel of the Tracery would still have a maximum usage level regardless of how it interacts with enhancement runes.

[WeirdJedi]

The question posed can get quite complicated. If you are level 96, does the level 45 to 95 tracery "stop" giving its stats? Does it just idly sit in your legendary item displaying +0? Does it give off a red boundary around the icon when it goes over? Does it "pop off" the item so you can disenchant it? I can see people asking these questions because these kind of explicit details aren't fully explained. A person could easily discover what happens on their own once they get to that point, but most are worried about something bad happening before then.

[Oelle]

They should simply change that behaviour, not have maximum levels and not have different tiers of legacies at all. min/max levels for ranks of legacies depending on characterlevel is fine, anything else is unnecessary or leads to too much grind which increases the gap between casuals and raiders and should be avoided.

[Elaelin]

Thank you for responding. It is OK to close my thread now. I really only wanted the answer to my question which you provided. Thank you for the quick response.

[Fegefeuer]

The question posed can get quite complicated. If you are level 96, does the level 45 to 95 tracery "stop" giving its stats? Does it just idly sit in your legendary item displaying +0? Does it give off a red boundary around the icon when it goes over? Does it "pop off" the item so you can disenchant it? I can see people asking these questions because these kind of explicit details aren't fully explained. A person could easily discover what happens on their own once they get to that point, but most are worried about something bad happening before then.

I'd love to watch Cordovan testing this in Cord of the Rings. Can you do it, Cordovan? You could valar a character to lvl95, get a LI with traceries and then level to 96 and see what happens. On livestream, so it will remain saved too.

[Dezzorr]

Sorry but still confused. My tracery says max 449. I used MC on one for a test and it only increased to 441. I guess I wasted the remaining MC?
I still don't get it.

[Hephburz-2]

Ok. So.


Our current teal traceries which are "tier 13" (as marked by the number 13 on the tracery itself), are useable between character levels 121 and 140. This means at level 141 and above, you will no longer gain the benefit from them, this is quite some time away, so not something you need to worry about for the time being.

On the point of enhancements...

You upgrade the item level of the SLOT the tracery is put into, and NOT the tracery itself - if you replace the tracery at any point, the tracery will take on the level of the slot (except in cases where the tracery itself has a higher item level). Our current tier 13 traceries have a starting item level of 400. This means our slots get automatically put to item level 400, using enhancement runes raises this item level and in turn increases the effectiveness* of the tracery. Currently, when appraising, we are given purple and teal enhancement runes, enough so that you can take the tracery slot to item level 440, CURRENTLY, the max level we can raise these to is 449, the only way CURRENTLY, to raise our traceries to 449 is either with gold enhancement runes (dropping from certain t3 and above content and some book/unique quests), or with 2 mithril coins per item level - 18 mithril coins for item level 440 > 449 PER tracery slot.

When we get to Gundabad, and over a period of time, eventually our tier 13 traceries will be increased to have a maximum level of 499, which will match the Gundabad tier 14 traceries. The only difference here is, tier 14 traceries from Gundabad will be able to be used between character levels 131 and 150, whereas our tier 13 traceries will stop working at character level 141.



*Note; increasing the item level only enhances stat related bonuses provided by traceries and NOT percentage based bonuses. Percentage based bonuses are only altered by the rarity of the tracery itself (green, purple, teal, gold).

[CloudCastle]

When you say that a tracery "will no longer offer its bonus" that means that all the stats on it will be set to zero, correct? Or do you mean that there is some set amount that stays and some additional amount that is a "bonus" that goes?

For example:

-x seconds to skill cooldown
+ 10,000 tactical mastery
+ 1000 will


Since enhancement runes only effect the last two stats, are they the "bonus" or is the whole tracery the "bonus?"

I think you are saying that the whole tracery will effectively get reset to zero stats (all three numbers) but this isn't totally clear. Will a tracery "losing its bonus" be obvious when you look at it? Will it turn red or something like that?

[Dezzorr]

My slot or tracery was increase from 400 to 440 using enhancements purple and teal. I was curious on what the MC button would do so I clicked on it and I believe the slider said 18 MC max. So I selected the 18 and all I got was the slot or tracery to 441 but, lost 16 MC. I don't know what if anything I did wrong.

[Hephburz-2]

When you say that a tracery "will no longer offer its bonus" that means that all the stats on it will be set to zero, correct? Or do you mean that there is some set amount that stays and some additional amount that is a "bonus" that goes?

For example:

-x seconds to skill cooldown
+ 10,000 tactical mastery
+ 1000 will


Since enhancement runes only effect the last two stats, are they the "bonus" or is the whole tracery the "bonus?"

I think you are saying that the whole tracery will effectively get reset to zero stats (all three numbers) but this isn't totally clear. Will a tracery "losing its bonus" be obvious when you look at it? Will it turn red or something like that?

Can't say for certain, but it will look you will just lose the bonuses completely, but it won't be visible on the weapon that it has been disabled perhaps.

My slot or tracery was increase from 400 to 440 using enhancements purple and teal. I was curious on what the MC button would do so I clicked on it and I believe the slider said 18 MC max. So I selected the 18 and all I got was the slot or tracery to 441 but, lost 16 MC. I don't know what if anything I did wrong.

This sounds like a bug, are you sure you paid 18 MC? And it didn't reset by chance and you only paid for 1? If you did in fact pay 18, this sounds like a bug, and you should contact a GM or support.

[Fegefeuer]

When you say that a tracery "will no longer offer its bonus" that means that all the stats on it will be set to zero, correct? Or do you mean that there is some set amount that stays and some additional amount that is a "bonus" that goes?

For example:

-x seconds to skill cooldown
+ 10,000 tactical mastery
+ 1000 will


Since enhancement runes only effect the last two stats, are they the "bonus" or is the whole tracery the "bonus?"

I think you are saying that the whole tracery will effectively get reset to zero stats (all three numbers) but this isn't totally clear. Will a tracery "losing its bonus" be obvious when you look at it? Will it turn red or something like that?

Really interesting question, I want to know the answer of this too. Also proof that the "bonus" wording is confusing.

[monk_tbd]

Since enhancement runes only effect the last two stats, are they the "bonus" or is the whole tracery the "bonus?"

The whole tracery adds a bonus. That bonus will not apply anymore.

It will just not add its bonus to anything that counts.

Call it disabled, non functional, reset to zero, some like to call it USELESS, etc...
(Btw you can remove it from the LI with a removal scroll or MC and give it to another toon that is still the level range of that tracery and it will work, so it did not get reset to 0, ETA: i did not consider whether they might be bound after that or not but that would be pretty pointless if they were bound)

[Waylock]

So when you level up during a fight, you suddenly end up with a powerless LI, as all traceries are switched off?
Must be even more fun than suddenly dropping my Hytbold gear in the thick of a fight some years ago...

[Starsmith]

(Btw you can remove it from the LI with a removal scroll or MC and give it to another toon that is still the level range of that tracery and it will work, so it did not get reset to 0, ETA: i did not consider whether they might be bound after that or not but that would be pretty pointless if they were bound)

I won't swear to it, but I am pretty sure the one time I removed traceries they came out account bound still, and there's no reason why one character leveling beyond them would cause them to be ineffective for another character in the correct level range. So it seems that at least some traceries would make good hand-me-downs the way some essences do.

[wispsong]

Ok. So.


Our current teal traceries which are "tier 13" (as marked by the number 13 on the tracery itself), are useable between character levels 121 and 140. This means at level 141 and above, you will no longer gain the benefit from them, this is quite some time away, so not something you need to worry about for the time being.

On the point of enhancements...

You upgrade the item level of the SLOT the tracery is put into, and NOT the tracery itself - if you replace the tracery at any point, the tracery will take on the level of the slot (except in cases where the tracery itself has a higher item level). Our current tier 13 traceries have a starting item level of 400. This means our slots get automatically put to item level 400, using enhancement runes raises this item level and in turn increases the effectiveness* of the tracery. Currently, when appraising, we are given purple and teal enhancement runes, enough so that you can take the tracery slot to item level 440, CURRENTLY, the max level we can raise these to is 449, the only way CURRENTLY, to raise our traceries to 449 is either with gold enhancement runes (dropping from certain t3 and above content and some book/unique quests), or with 2 mithril coins per item level - 18 mithril coins for item level 440 > 449 PER tracery slot.

When we get to Gundabad, and over a period of time, eventually our tier 13 traceries will be increased to have a maximum level of 499, which will match the Gundabad tier 14 traceries. The only difference here is, tier 14 traceries from Gundabad will be able to be used between character levels 131 and 150, whereas our tier 13 traceries will stop working at character level 141.



*Note; increasing the item level only enhances stat related bonuses provided by traceries and NOT percentage based bonuses. Percentage based bonuses are only altered by the rarity of the tracery itself (green, purple, teal, gold).

What about characters who just got their LI, playing the game to cap, maybe reaching 140 end of next year. How do they get 121-140 traceries? Remember, before they start MM they will get lower traceries. We look at this from our appraised LI goodies, but new characters to this and higher ranges will not have that advantage.

[LagunaD2]

So when you level up during a fight, you suddenly end up with a powerless LI, as all traceries are switched off?
Must be even more fun than suddenly dropping my Hytbold gear in the thick of a fight some years ago...

I guess not upgrading your LI's at all in 20+ levels is a bad idea then, huh?

[DanteIL]

I believe this thread shows quite clearly just how much this new LI revamp did NOT simplify the LI process. I'm more confused than ever.

[monk_tbd]

So when you level up during a fight, you suddenly end up with a powerless LI, as all traceries are switched off?
Must be even more fun than suddenly dropping my Hytbold gear in the thick of a fight some years ago...

Sure.... you only had like 10 levels to update your traceries and you also got additional dps by reforging in between which wont be switched off.
"powerless" - holy batman overreaction - it is not like it gets replaced with a frying pan or a laddle.

The armor switching off will still affect you more if the whole set gets disabled than your out-levelled traceries would. These wont add much stats anymore at that point compared to other gear sources.

[LagunaD2]

What about characters who just got their LI, playing the game to cap, maybe reaching 140 end of next year. How do they get 121-140 traceries?

Easily.

It takes 2750 Ancient Script to completely replace the traceries of two LI's with a new tier. If you can obtain two Tracery Reclamation Scrolls by "end of next year" you can ash the ones you have, gaining (minimum) 460 Script. So now you need (at most) 2290. Over a year, that's less than 45 Script per week, and there are *daily* solo quests that give 80+.

If MM is any indication, the solo instances you do as part of the leveling story will drop multiple traceries. Each tracery drop you can use cuts the number by a further 100-200 Script.

It's really silly to think you can play a whole year and not get tracery rewards you can use, and sufficient Script to fill in any gaps.

[Starsmith]

So when you level up during a fight, you suddenly end up with a powerless LI, as all traceries are switched off?
Must be even more fun than suddenly dropping my Hytbold gear in the thick of a fight some years ago...

If you leave it untouched that long, no, it won't be powerless. It will lose the traceries, but not the main stat of the item itself. For example, my hunter's bow will lose quite a bit of physical mastery, vitality, crit rating, and individual skill bonuses, assuming I leave it untouched until the next level cap, but it will never lose the 4666 DPS. Unlikely to be great fun to lose that in the middle of a fight, but not *powerless*.

[wispsong]

I believe this thread shows quite clearly just how much this new LI revamp did NOT simplify the LI process. I'm more confused than ever.

It simplified it in the sense that dps grows with us through reforge, so we can just forget about it otherwise, no more grind here. This might even be enough to play landscape from Moria-cap without having to worry about traceries. Alll the different additional aspects besides dps/hps and legacies, now traceries are gone as well like relics and titles. So it is easier to understand from the start.
But as far as we know right now there is no progression path concerning traceries for landscape players. Besides RNG drops everything seems to be locked behind end game. So while we are supposedly able to play without traceries, we have empty slots or they are filled with non-desirable traceries which is very discouraging.

[wispsong]

Easily.

It takes 2750 Ancient Script to completely replace the traceries of two LI's with a new tier. If you can obtain two Tracery Reclamation Scrolls by "end of next year" you can ash the ones you have, gaining (minimum) 460 Script. So now you need (at most) 2290. Over a year, that's less than 45 Script per week, and there are *daily* solo quests that give 80+.

If MM is any indication, the solo instances you do as part of the leveling story will drop multiple traceries. Each tracery drop you can use cuts the number by a further 100-200 Script.

It's really silly to think you can play a whole year and not get tracery rewards you can use, and sufficient Script to fill in any gaps.

And this is the problem. I do NOT have the time nor the will to play end game on every character I ever make. You again point to dailies/weeklies. I want to know where I can get AS and traceries in a high enough amount through landscape story questing.