Jboots (MQ) or SoW Potions, which is more cost effective?

[tristantio]

Just a rough estimate, I see SoW potions going for 10pp a piece (half hour duration?) and Jboots MQ going for 5k.

Buying 500 SoW potions would give 250 hours of SoW (just over 10 days /played).

From people who have tried out both, what are the pros/cons? I understand Jboots offer a clicky insta cast buff (useful when dispels occur, or when dying).

Are SoW potions faster than Jboots on p99?

Also does anyone have a classic EQ alchemy guide handy? How much do SoW potions cost the shaman in reagents (and what skill level to create).

My Google-fu is weak in this aspect and I am only able to find the revamped alchemy recipes.

[Azzbad]

Sow Pots

much cheaper initial investment +
SoW lasts nearly double the time as jboots +
Faster than Jboots +
Not Instant Cast -
Not used for raid junk buffs -
Take up more inventory room -

[hateshadow]

Jboots = infinite clicky; no need to clog your bank with dozens of sow potions or worse, lose time in EC trying to buy those potions.

If you buy jboots, you buy tranquility in the fact that you will never have to bother with sow potions ever again

[tristantio]

Another question - can you still use all but one charge on the 10 dose and then vendor / buy back for full charges?

I think this trick works with charged rings but requires 3 rings to do it (are the potions the same?)

[guineapig]

Sow potions are a fair amount faster than j-boots. It's not the same buff.

EDIT: I think azzbadd summed it up nicely.

I would only add that there is currently no raid encounter in the game that makes having an instaclick buff vital to winning the fight, regardless of what others might try to say.

[Extunarian]

If you make them yourself or otherwise get them at cost, it's closer to 6pp/charge (closer to 56pp for 10). If you only use them for travel like I do (no point in leaving it on to meditate) they last a long time. My level 40 chanter is down to about 7 charges from the original 40 I gave him when I started.

Also, if your twinking out a level 1, keep in mind that duration scales with level. It's quite a waste to pop sow potions on characters under level 9 (like 5-15 minute duration).

[Rasah]

Originally Posted by tristantio [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Another question - can you still use all but one charge on the 10 dose and then vendor / buy back for full charges?

I think this trick works with charged rings but requires 3 rings to do it (are the potions the same?)

10 Dose SoW potions cost 104pp at vendors. It is actually cheaper to buy them from a shaman.

Otherwise, I don't know if that works.

[DevGrousis]

SoW pots cost 100p each, i think you just mis-used your words there. each pop of SOW of the potion can be devided down to 10p per hit = 50SoW pots for the same price as the jboots (5k) and that in turn would give you 15,000 minutes = 250 hours = 10days

I wasnt aware that the jboots were slower than SoW, i thought it actually casted SoW on you.

[Dantes]

I made a thread about this some time back, some people agreed and others were like "WTF n00b, you need jboots zOMG!" I like my sow potions. There's arguments that jboots insta-click is good for raid environments, but I'm a tank... I don't spend much time running away. SOW potions for me, I have other things to spend 6K on.

Originally Posted by Dantes [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Why not just buy SOW potions?

The other day I was debating on whether or not jboots are actually worth it. All of this time spent camping or waiting for the camp to open, or 6k for MQ. They're slower than SOW, yes? A 10 dose SOW potion costs 100pp. So you're paying 10pp per dose. So, buying an MQ costs 6k... which would also buy you 600 SOW potion doses. So if SOW lasts 30 minutes, that's 300 hours of SOW for 6000pp.

And you only need SOW when you are moving, not when you are sitting on your butt at a camp. I might only travel about 20% of my /played time. So, 6k worth of SOW potions should actually last me 1500 hours played. This is more than 62 days played. For the average person's scheduled weekly play that's 2 years of this game, assuming 20 hours a week. If you are talking about 10 hours a week, double that to 4 years. It takes 4 years for those jboots to be worth the cost if you play just 10 hours a week.

Do you really need jboots? Support your local Shaman.

Your mileage may vary. If you are a very active player with lots of time and lots of plat - get the jboots. Why not?

[Extunarian]

Originally Posted by DevGrousis [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

SoW pots cost 100p each, i think you just mis-used your words there. each pop of SOW of the potion can be devided down to 10p per hit = 50SoW pots for the same price as the jboots (5k) and that in turn would give you 15,000 minutes = 250 hours = 10days

I wasnt aware that the jboots were slower than SoW, i thought it actually casted SoW on you.

The OP didn't mispeak at all. You are incorrect in assuming 10 charge potions are the only SoW potions.

10-shot sow potions are generally the only ones sold but you make each charge individually and combine them into 5 or 10 shot potions if desired. Most sell them for 10pp/charge. But like I said upthread the actual cost is close to 56pp for 10 without failures, so factoring in the 5% failure rate on trivial combines it's more like 60pp.

For OP's other questions: At level 9 popping a sow potion will give you a 34% movement increase for 27 minutes. It scales up to 50% for 37 minutes at level 50. Effect: Journeyman's Boots is a flat 35% movement increase.

The ingredients are Birthwort (~2.2p), Fenugreek (~2.2p), and Wolf Blood (~1.1p). The combine is trivial once your alchemy skill hits 37.

Overall, for most folks leveling on a budget I would say that sow potions are a great substitute for jboots.