Gnarled Staff - Drop Rate

[Daldaen]

I'm posting this in beta, because I believe this is a change made during the epic patch time (either March when VSR was split off or April when VS is changed from 7 -> 3 day respawn), when they made a lot of the epics more accessible.

Essentially, around this time, the Gnarled Staff becomes a lot more common:

EQClerics 2001 (http://www.eqclerics.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5607&highlight=rotation+staff&page=2)

Unless I missed something, Venril Sathir does NOT drop the Staff every time. It's common (in the neighborhood of 3 Staves per 4 kills) but you are NOT guaranteed to get it.

VS is one of the FEW mobs that is on a strict Rotation on my Server. Every 2 or 3 months, your turn comes up and you kill him.

Allakhazam (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=2687)

May 2001

No this is not the hardest part, the hardest part is phinny who drops his staff about once every 15 kills, as oposed to VS who drops it fairly regularly. Least thats been my expierence. My 2cp

My logs from EQMac (2002/2003 era):

[Mon Dec 03 20:12:31 2012] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Mon Dec 03 20:12:43 2012] --You have looted a Diamond Encrusted Staff.--
[Mon Dec 03 20:12:44 2012] --You have looted a Elder Spiritist's Greaves.--

[Thu Dec 13 19:51:32 2012] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Thu Dec 13 19:51:37 2012] --You have looted a Wild Lord's Trousers.--
[Thu Dec 13 19:51:39 2012] --You have looted a Diamond Encrusted Staff.--
[Thu Dec 13 19:51:41 2012] --You have looted a Gnarled Staff.--

[Sun Dec 16 03:30:30 2012] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Sun Dec 16 03:30:38 2012] --You have looted a Wild Lord's Trousers.--
[Sun Dec 16 03:30:39 2012] --You have looted a Nightshade Scented Staff.--
[Sun Dec 16 03:30:48 2012] --Landan has looted a Gnarled Staff.--

[Tue Jan 01 12:41:25 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Tue Jan 01 12:41:29 2013] --You have looted a Singing Steel Greaves.--
[Tue Jan 01 12:41:30 2013] --You have looted a Lycanthropic Staff.--
[Tue Jan 01 12:41:31 2013] --You have looted a Spell: Bedlam.--

[Wed Jan 09 12:50:21 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Wed Jan 09 12:50:26 2013] --You have looted a Mrylokar's Greaves.--
[Wed Jan 09 12:50:27 2013] --You have looted a Shissar Nullifier Staff.--
[Wed Jan 09 12:50:27 2013] You cannot loot this Lore Item. You already have one.

[Sat Jan 12 12:45:45 2013] Venril Sathir has been slain by Dimitre!
[Sat Jan 12 12:47:18 2013] --Dimitre has looted a Gnarled Staff.--
[Sat Jan 12 12:47:25 2013] --Busta has looted a Donal's Leggings of Mourning.--
[Sat Jan 12 12:47:32 2013] --You have looted a Diamond Encrusted Staff.--
[Sat Jan 12 12:47:33 2013] --You have looted a Spell: Exile Undead.--

[Thu Feb 14 21:16:45 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
*[Thu Feb 14 21:17:07 2013] Darchon tells the group, 'Elder Spiritist's Greaves - Ancient Shissar Gauntlet - Gnarled Staff'
[Thu Feb 14 21:19:50 2013] --Gloiin has looted a Elder Spiritist's Greaves.--
[Thu Feb 14 21:24:31 2013] --You have looted a Ancient Shissar Gauntlet.--

[Sun Feb 24 02:29:59 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Sun Feb 24 02:30:06 2013] --You have looted a Lycanthropic Staff.--
[Sun Feb 24 02:30:07 2013] --You have looted a Deepwater Greaves.--
[Sun Feb 24 02:30:08 2013] --You have looted a Spell: Forlorn Deeds.--
[Sun Feb 24 02:43:55 2013] --Beimeith has looted a Gnarled Staff.--

[Thu Mar 07 18:41:08 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Thu Mar 07 18:41:14 2013] --You have looted a Diamond Encrusted Staff.--
[Thu Mar 07 18:41:15 2013] --You have looted a Blood Ember Greaves.--
***[Thu Mar 07 18:42:10 2013] Darchon tells the guild, 'no gnarled staff, which is surprising'

[Sun Mar 10 18:49:52 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Sun Mar 10 18:49:57 2013] --You have looted a Deepwater Greaves.--
[Sun Mar 10 18:49:57 2013] --You have looted a Diamond Encrusted Staff.--
[Sun Mar 10 18:50:00 2013] --You have looted a Gnarled Staff.--

[Mon Apr 22 14:04:06 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Mon Apr 22 14:04:11 2013] --You have looted a Deepwater Greaves.--
[Mon Apr 22 14:04:12 2013] --You have looted a Nightshade Scented Staff.--
*[Mon Apr 22 14:04:19 2013] You say out of character, 'rots Gnarled Staff'

[Wed Apr 24 17:54:22 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Wed Apr 24 17:54:32 2013] --You have looted a Elder Spiritist's Greaves.--
[Wed Apr 24 17:54:39 2013] --You have looted a Spell: Bandoleer of Luclin.--
*[Wed Apr 24 17:54:44 2013] You say out of character, 'Gnarled Staff - Waters of Impenetrable Aura - Elder Spiritist's Greaves'
*[Wed Apr 24 17:54:48 2013] You say out of character, 'staves are rotting'

[Fri Apr 26 10:33:03 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Fri Apr 26 10:33:07 2013] --You have looted a Elder Spiritist's Greaves.--
[Fri Apr 26 10:33:08 2013] --You have looted a Shissar Guardian Staff.--

[Mon Apr 29 01:03:16 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Mon Apr 29 01:03:44 2013] --You have looted a Wild Lord's Trousers.--
[Mon Apr 29 01:03:44 2013] --You have looted a Shissar Nullifier Staff.--
[Mon Apr 29 01:03:48 2013] You cannot loot this Lore Item. You already have one.
*[Mon Apr 29 01:04:04 2013] Landan tells alliance:1, 'Gnarled Staff rot 29min, FCFS'

[Sun May 19 10:38:05 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Sun May 19 10:38:10 2013] --You have looted a Jaundiced Bone Greaves.--
[Sun May 19 10:38:10 2013] --You have looted a Waters of Impenetrable Aura.--

[Sun May 26 20:10:04 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Sun May 26 20:10:09 2013] --You have looted a Donal's Leggings of Mourning.--
[Sun May 26 20:10:10 2013] --You have looted a Shissar Nullifier Staff.--
*[Sun May 26 20:10:27 2013] You say to your guild, 'rots Gnarled Staff'

[Mon Jul 08 19:12:36 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Mon Jul 08 19:12:59 2013] --Landan has looted a Singing Steel Greaves.--

[Sat Jul 20 12:06:00 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Sat Jul 20 12:06:05 2013] --You have looted a Elder Spiritist's Greaves.--
[Sat Jul 20 12:06:06 2013] --You have looted a Spell: Frost.--
[Sat Jul 20 12:06:08 2013] --You have looted a Shissar Guardian Staff.--

[Fri Aug 30 16:29:02 2013] You have slain Venril Sathir!
[Fri Aug 30 16:29:12 2013] --You have looted a Wild Lord's Trousers.--
[Fri Aug 30 16:29:12 2013] --You have looted a Spell: Vocarate: Water.--
*[Fri Aug 30 16:29:25 2013] You say to your guild, 'Ancient Shissar Gauntlet - Gnarled Staff rotting FCFS im logging otu for awhile later'

11/18 and I think I may have neglected to mention 2 or 3 rotted. I even comment there that it was unusual for VS to not drop the staff (I had thought it was 100% drop rate up til then).

+ All the 2001 quotes from Allakhazam complain about the Blue Crystal Staff being rare, not the Gnarled Staff.

Discuss.

[Ele]

Here people had BCS stocked piled for years before epics came out too.

[Vallanor]

Is this change not implemented? I believe 2/3 of VS's killed since the March patch was turned on have had a staff. Pretty small sample size, obviously, but about what you'd expect. I assumed it had gone live.

[Nirgon]

More like 1/3 and uncommon iirc

[Vallanor]

More like 1/3 and uncommon iirc

Before the epic revamps? Or do you remember the drop rate being that bad after epic revamps?

[vouss]

Was more like 4/5 irc

[Vallanor]

Did today's VS drop a staff? If he did, I'd say that points to a much improved drop rate! (Though again, small sample size...)

[Daldaen]

0 Staff today

[Vallanor]

Hmm, not what I was hoping to hear.

[AzzarTheGod]

Yeah it is not classic right now and needs a fix.

The post-revamp drop rate skyrocketed.

BCS has always been rarer post-revamp. VS had a much higher staff chance when his spawn timer was reduced as part of the Wizard epic revamps.

Need a dev to look into this, Allakhazam also has comments indicating as much.

[Vallanor]

VS has dropped a gnarled staff just 2/5 times since the March patch. WTB increased drop rate!!

[Man0warr]

Small sample size still. Should be around 80% drop rate though.

[AzzarTheGod]

Small sample size still. Should be around 80% drop rate though.

Need to continue tracking this and probably file a bug report eventually, the Gnarled was known to be extremely common, probably near 80% as speculated, post-revamp as it was intended as part of the Wizard Epic revamp to make VS and Gnarled much easier.

Multiple uberguild anecdotal evidence, DB evidence from allakhazam, etc.

Just need confirmation that Gnarled isn't dropping above at least 40% rate to file a bug report imo.

I personally recall it as being a 100% drop rate from personal experience, 80% is also likely. Anything over 50%+ rate would be supported from the post-revamp data pulled from Allakhazams.

[Vallanor]

VS is up to 3/6 staff drops now. We'll just keep an eye on this going foward.

The poopsock was strong in KC today. Fun race!

[Vallanor]

4/7 after today. Looking better.

[AzzarTheGod]

4/7 after today. Looking better.

Long as it does not drop below 50% again should be no cause for concern.

[Nirgon]

Where were you all getting this 80% drop rate again?

[Man0warr]

Probably posts on Alla and Gaffe's, same place all evidence is gathered for this server.

[Vallanor]

Did our friendly neighborhood VS drop another staff this weekend?

[Sallan]

I believe so, from what I understand

[Relbaic]

He did.

[Erati]

when Taken kills no staff
when other kill staff

thats how it works here

[Nirgon]

Probably posts on Alla and Gaffe's, same place all evidence is gathered for this server.

Probably is great but i never heard of this changing

[Vallanor]

Well that's 5/8 then. Unless something changes I'd say this is working as intended. Thanks for the update!

[vouss]

Where were you all getting this 80% drop rate again?

That's exactly how I remember it being on live, I played on Zek back in 01' and my guild killed VS frequently. If it's any relevance, and I do believe it is, I also remember my address, phone number, and high school teachers name from then.

Make it happen GM's

[Lasher]

Zek wasnt out in 2001

[Vallanor]

when Taken kills no staff
when other kill staff

thats how it works here

Sounds like Sev and green scales for CSG.

[Nirgon]

Zek wasnt out in 2001

:D

[Smedy]

Zek wasnt out in 2001

what about druid epic tho, should be a unresistable snare without any range check, lasher told me so ;)

[Lasher]

Was good times

[Smedy]

Was good times

#neverforget

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oRj7oZZ34OA/hqdefault.jpg

[vouss]

Lasher do you even remember your teachers name? your phone number? your address?

[Nirgon]

Do you remember 140 people losing to 90 of us in kc

Or calling yourself a PvP guild then telling people they have to be 60 to "fight empire" (lol)

[derpcake]

Always cool when guilds have recruitment demands higher then the level of progress they can offer.

"u better have full ntov gear before you apply" (cuz no chance of getting it here)

[Samsung]

Do you remember 140 people losing to 90 of us in kc

Or calling yourself a PvP guild then telling people they have to be 60 to "fight empire" (lol)

Didn't you leave Empire because you didn't win a pixel? Stop living in the past.

[ElemtalRZ]

Do you remember 140 people losing to 90 of us in kc

Or calling yourself a PvP guild then telling people they have to be 60 to "fight empire" (lol)

Pretty sure I have video of that fight and the end result, after 2 hours of pvp Empire loaded in a cleric on the superblock inside KC, Healing a player who pulled the whole zone in KC and suiciding with every mob on him right ontop of our rez station. Yup was there, seen many screen shots even have frapse of it. Pretty dirty if you ask me but you got to do what you got to do to get a win right?

[quido]

Pretty sure?

[Vallanor]

I can confirm 3/4 VS's since the Dec. 20th kill have had a Gnarled Staff. That 8/12 since the March patch.

Praise Solusek!

[vouss]

Sit down old man

[vouss]

Pipe it old man

[AzzarTheGod]

I can confirm 3/4 VS's since the Dec. 20th kill have had a Gnarled Staff. That 8/12 since the March patch.

Praise Solusek!

Alright unless the gods have really smiled on you, this is resolved I'd reckon.

Give us another update in a few weeks just to be sure its maintaining at least 50%.

[Vallanor]

Last four VS kills have been staff-less. Down to 8/15 overall.

Hard to tell if RNG was being kind earlier or being cruel now.

Sad face.

[Erati]

this sounds like the VS that Taken got to know really well

[Vallanor]

10/18 is the current tally since the March patch. Not quite the 70+% we were hoping for at this point in the timeline, but it does seem improved from the ~30% drop rate before the patch.

[Lojik]

Bump...TBH I think the drop rate is probably the same as before and should be upped, we were probably just looking at a small sample set. It's at least worth taking a look at if VS does get patched to be 3day

[Vallanor]

Bump...TBH I think the drop rate is probably the same as before and should be upped, we were probably just looking at a small sample set. It's at least worth taking a look at if VS does get patched to be 3day

Very possible. I think we're 10/20 at the moment.

[AzzarTheGod]

Very possible. I think we're 10/20 at the moment.

Yeah I agree. No chance of an increase afaik, would be hard to convince how much of an increase.

General consensus varies, but its certainly higher than it is now.

[Lojik]

Yeah I agree. No chance of an increase afaik, would be hard to convince how much of an increase.

General consensus varies, but its certainly higher than it is now.

It's down to roughly 11/26 or 27 or something. nilbog i Believe had drop rate at 37% which magelo listed as, but being bumped to 75%next patch. Look at his recent posts to find it.

[AzzarTheGod]

It's down to roughly 11/26 or 27 or something. nilbog i Believe had drop rate at 37% which magelo listed as, but being bumped to 75%next patch. Look at his recent posts to find it.

Oh very cool. I started drinking the Kool-Aid that staff was on permanent vacation since February.

We have a lot of classic anecdotal data (raid logs, comment sections of kazam etc.) supporting a 60-70% drop rate at the least.

The point of the VS change in Velious was to eliminate the bottleneck, and this also included a boost to droprate, since Kunark rate was incredibly low.

Same for the CT portion of the quest, the design goal being to eliminate the bottleneck.

[AzzarTheGod]

Resolved?

[Erati]

id say

[SowIsLifeSowIsLove]

Earthquake brought a bugged VS, two true VS were up at the same time, both dropped staffs.

[Colgate]

sim repop script still has old versions of mobs and their loot tables i.e. CT 1.0, draco 1.0, VS 1.0, innoruuk 1.0

[Samsung]

This isn't a troll but who cares about how often a gnarled staff drops?

[daasgoot]

This isn't a troll but who cares about how often a gnarled staff drops?

I'm no rocket scientist... but if I had to guess, my guess would be wizards.

[Rararboker]

I'm no rocket scientist... but if I had to guess, my guess would be wizards.

You win!

PS: us wizards appreciate this.