Hello everybody,
This purpose of this post is to bring attention to the severe balance issues introduced by this item.
Kupo Shield
Thank you to bg-wiki for providing the following image.
Everybody who is familiar with crafting knows that this a very powerful item. There are a large number of older cursed item recipes that fall within the 92~94 crafting skill range. When combined with all other obtainable crafting items and advanced synthesis support, the Kupo Shield allows a player's crafting skill to exceed these recipes by 31 or more. This moves the rate of high quality synthesis for these recipes from tier 1 (6.25% base high quality rate) to tier 2 (25% base high quality rate.)
High quality versions of old cursed items may seem irrelevant, but they are not. Newer cursed items introduced with Escha - Ru'Aun have two different recipes. A high main crafting skill recipe (110~115) with a level 70 sub crafting skill with a very low rate of high quality synthesis (tier 0 - 1.5625%) and a low main crafting skill recipe (91~95) with fewer ingredients, no sub crafting skill, and a low to moderate (tier 1 - 6.25% or tier 2 - 25%) rates of high quality synthesis. The high quality versions of older cursed items serve as the base for the lower main crafting skill recipes. It is very desirable to use those recipes due to both the lowered number of ingredients and increase in the rate of high quality synthesis. Furthermore, most of lower main skill recipes also fall in 92~94 crafting skill range. Even if the older cursed item is not affected by the Kupo Shield, the recipe will most likely benefit from a tier 1 to tier 2 high quality synthesis rate change. In some cases, the Kupo Shield affects both the base cursed item and the new cursed item.
The combined effects of this can be staggering. Voodoo Cuisses, for example, can be obtained at a fraction of the effort and cost (20~ vs 272~ synthesis attempts) for a player with Kupo Shield versus a player without. The effects of this can easily be observed on Fenrir server. Voodoo Cuisses were only formerly obtained by determined Alchemist's and sold for a price for 40~50m but now they sell like hotcakes for a cheap 10m.
Affected Recipes
The following recipes are affected by Kupo Shield.
Cursed Cuisses -1I did my best when compiling this list, but I may have missed some recipes. Additionally, a few of these recipes that are not denoted with (*) probably should be. The reason for this is that the base recipe has an sub crafting skill with an undocumented level. These usually fall in the 40~44 crafting skill range, and if that's the case, will be affected by the Kupo Shield. However, as they are not documented, I did not mark them with an asterisk as I cannot be completely certain.
Cursed Finger Gauntlets -1
Cursed Greaves -1
Jinxed Coif
Jinxed Slops
Jinxed Gages
Voodoo Greaves*
Voodoo Finger Gauntlets*
Voodoo Cuisses*
Voodoo Mask
Cursed Haidate -1
Voodoo Haidate*
Cursed Sune-Ate -1
Voodoo Kabuto
Voodoo Kote
Voodoo Sune-Ate**
Jinxed Kote
Jinxed Hakama
Jinxed Hose
Voodoo Mitts
Jinxed Cuffs
Voodoo Slacks
Jinxed Tights
Jinxed Kecks
Jinxed Mitra
Jinxed Bonnet
Voodoo Mufflers*
Cursed Mufflers -1
Cursed Sollerets -1
Jinxed Somen
Voodoo Celata
Voodoo Breeches
Voodoo Sollerets*
Cursed Gloves -1
Voodoo Gloves -1*
Jinxed Wristbands
Voodoo Subligar -1
Cursed Leggings -1
Voodoo Cap
Voodoo Leggings**
Voodoo Handschuhs
Jinxed Gauntlets
Cursed Diechlings -1
Voodoo Diechlings*
Cursed Schuhs -1
Voodoo Crown
Voodoo Schaller
Jinxed Coronet
(*) denotes a cursed item where the base recipe and main recipe are both affected by Kupo Shield.
(**) denotes a cursed item where base recipe only is affected by Kupo Shield.
The Problem
Please don't misunderstand me. I think it's great that high quality versions of cursed items are more obtainable than before. The issue lies in that the only method to obtain a Kupo Shield was the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel Mog Bonanza as a rank 1 or rank 2 prize. The players who were lucky enough to win (only 130 players were) and selected the Kupo Shield as their prize have essentially been given an item that grants them nearly an unlimited gil using only a modicum of effort and the ability to completely corner most of the current crafting market.
I believe this goes beyond the original scope of the Mog Bonanza in that it serves as a huge detriment to any crafter who doesn't have a Kupo Shield. Crafters without the Kupo shield will have to work harder less gil, and in many cases it simply is not possible to make gil anymore at all. Voodoo Cuisses, for example, cost about 14~16m gil and several hours of crafting on average to synthesize for someone without a Kupo Shield. Someone with a Kupo Shield can synthesize almost 20 of them using the same time and ingredients. With the current price of 10m, it is no longer possible for anybody but owners of a Kupo Shield to make gil from this synthesis.
Please address this issue and please do it in a way that allows any player to obtain a Kupo Shield if they are determined.