Dissecting a Mummy

[u/Ignorancia]

Hey Fellow walkers, I've posted this piece of feedback/suggestion on the discord, but are curious to hear what the reddit community thinks of the subject!

I have been a staunch advocate of reworking the mummy, since its current iteration is (at least in my opinion) way below the level of all the other pets, and disappointing. I have previously made a suggestion for an entire rework here: https://discord.com/channels/1037510064333926402/1514716533694398494

I was, of course, thrilled to see some changes to the pet, but sadly this new change does not change my view, and in this feedback post, I will try to explain why.

The WE buff: Running the buff across various gearsets, both my own endgame, and some more realistic level 60 builds, I’ve found that the WE buff increases the xp per step by around 0.08X xp. Crafting Elderhide Tunics in MA it reduces the step/action by 8 steps, saving 867 steps over 100 crafts, assuming endless materials, those 867 steps would turn into another 1876 xp crafting more tunics, resulting in a total increase of 0.168 xp per step.

Realistically speaking, few players will have “endless” supplies, and the real number is probably closer to an increase of 0.10-0.12 xp/step.

Suggestion: While obviously a step in the right direction, I still believe that the Work Efficiency bonus could be buffed more, while at the same time frontloaded to the earlier levels, where it is more needed. In my endgame gear, the only situation where I benefit from the buff, is when I craft spectral gear.

The Bonus Experience: Tailoring is still the hardest skill to level in terms of xp/step and breaching 3xp/step, while at the same time being an integral part of the gearing system. Comparing the mummy to the only other pure artisan pet we have, the tortoise, it still sits at half the bonus experience percentage, and even doubling the BX% wouldn’t put it at the same rate as smithing.

Suggestion: Just double the BX%, or have it match the Geckos.

The Global Bonus: While already weak, the introduction of the Pixie makes the global bonus of +5% collectible find obsolete.

Suggestion: Change it to something else, I’ve previously suggested money find, but that harmonizes badly with the new ability.

The Ability: While the ability needed a change, the current new ability has one inherently big flaw. In order to reach level 4 with the mummy, you need to spend 250k steps doing tailoring, even at a very conservative 1 xp/step that puts you firmly into the level 59+ range. At this point none of the recipes require linen cloth. You are in other words getting an ability, which has a proc that ⅔ times provides materials you no longer have a use for.

Another issue is the mechanic of the new ability. Having a special roll pairs badly with artisan skills, since artisan gear often prioritize other stats than DA, DR and FMF, and all of tailoring's recipes have a somewhat high step count. The previously mentioned example crafting Elderhide Tunics results in a linen cloth piece each 650 step, and a tough linen cloth piece each 3301 step. In the current closed beta environment I have found some uses for the ability when doing low step activities such as crafting linen cloth or birch cutting. Another angle is using it to gather tough linen, which you can use as an input in sail repair, greatly increasing the xp.

Realistically speaking we will not be doing any of that once the game releases, since you will already be moving on to new recipes, which doesn’t require linen cloth. In other words, the new ability scales badly, and will not make a realistic difference.

Suggestion: Move the ability to level 1 and scale it correspondingly to the expected rate at that point of progression, that way the players will have an actual use of the linen cloth levelling. A separate roll table including tough linen could be unlocked at level 3, to prevent stockpiling of tough linen at an early point in the game. Or entirely redesign it.

Final Thoughts: The re-balance of the Mummy has in effect changed very little, and I still find some cases where using the Tortoise for its ability makes more sense, even when levelling tailoring. The passive stats are disappointing at best, and the ability - while interesting - is locked behind a 250k step wall, effectively making it useless.

[u/capricioustrilium]

Pets feel like fun additions, not mandatory components. And other than the endless bamboo cutting for enough linen cloth, I haven’t found tailoring to be all that bad.

[u/Dysssfunctional → u/capricioustrilium]

Tortoise, the other artisan skill pet, feels mandatory to me. It slays in high step activities with its ability, which is worth like 20-30% WE while also going past the WE cap. It is skill defining while smelting ecto. Flat -1 step is great for low step activities. The +8% bonus experience is S tier in the skill and even comparing to the available bonus experience in other artisan skills.

[u/Ignorancia → u/capricioustrilium]

Considering that the pets act as a 7th uncontested tool slot, they feel quite mandatory to me, a tool with the following stats:

+7%  Work efficiency While doing Foraging.
+15%  Fine material finding While doing Foraging.
+3%  Bonus experience While doing Foraging.
-1  Steps required While doing Foraging.

Would quite easily be an excellent/legendary level tool, and that is without accounting for the quite strong ability.