ALCHEMY -- Worst profession in the game

Alchemy really needs things like:

• Breaking down crystals and clusters into shards
• Transmuting shards or metals into a different kind
• Shorter and more consistent cooldowns on potions
• X-Potion versions of the stat potions
• Larger damage reductions on the resist potions (that are also possible of providing the full bonus)

Have to agree on Comfort Zone. It looks cool, but then you realize it's basically a single Tricks of the Trade (+2 -6 CP) and that you have to be pretty heavy on the Hasty Touch spam (and have a fair amount of Tricks of the Trade procs) to get two CZs off in one craft. It's nice to have and worth using, just not as amazing as it first sounds.

HQ Potions being a more significant boost from NQ would be nice. 10% faster cooldown stands out as being pretty negligible.

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Originally Posted by Vortok

Have to agree on Comfort Zone. It looks cool, but then you realize it's basically a single Tricks of the Trade (+2 CP) and that you have to be pretty heavy on the Hasty Touch spam (and have a fair amount of Tricks of the Trade procs) to get two CZs off in one craft. It's nice to have and worth using, just not as amazing as it first sounds.

HQ Potions being a more significant boost from NQ would be nice. 10% faster cooldown stands out as being pretty negligible.

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That's like saying CP food is worthless, when any crafter will tell you CP is the way to trump luck.

Comfort zone increases your max CP pool, as simple as that, and any 100% craft thread will tell you...cp cp cp and more cp.

Since the advent of bygrot blessing and ingenuity, everything else is simply having enough cp pool to eliminate the rng. Comfortzone is godly towards that.

I think Pudding Flesh defines Alchemy.

You get it from one mob in one leve 25% of the time. If any other class had an ingredient throttled like that there would be forum rage for weeks.

Because it's a potion thing? Nobody cares. They never get used anyway.

I do feel that we Alchemists are kind of getting the shaft when it comes to potions, their duration times, as well as the recast times on things. There are numerous drawbacks to Alchemy as a whole.

Some of the things that make me scratch my head concerning the craft is:

1.) Status debuff potions - Why is there a 2 minute recast time on them? There are skills in the game that provide similar functions but only have a 30 to 40 second cooldown on them. Shouldn't potions have about the same cooldown time? Granted, there are HQ debuff potions that can provide a shorter recast time, by like 12 or so seconds, but still. I feel as though debuff potions aren't really worth the usage. Even when attempting to use them in emergency situations (Such as if a bard misses a Silence rotation during ADS and we try to have a melee toss a potion really quickly) the usage of debuff potions is very minimal. Most people I know don't even bother with them.

2.) Status Buff potions - I feel like the duration is far too short for these. Granted, it's nice to be able to make 3 in one synthesis; however, 15 seconds barely gives a player time to work with and allows for one or two good rounds of hits/spells before it disappears and then the potions are on a 5 minute (or if HQed 4min 30 sec) cooldown. The duration of the medicine and the cooldown on them is what is killing some of usage for people. I've been told by my own FC members that the buff on the potions is nice, but the 15 second duration isn't worth it. I feel like if the potion lasted at least a good minute, that'd be good enough and this is with the five minute cooldown time on it.

3.) Elemental Ward Potions - I've tried to be smart and use these appropriately, but they just don't work out. Not at a duration of 15 seconds. In the middle of a fight with something, it's hard to use these when one has a mixture of other potions they are trying to use. As an Alchemist, I outfit myself with numerous potions for special situations such as emergency MP restoration or health restoration or even the two or three spells I can fit in between the duration of a Mega-Potion of [Attribute], but in the event that I feel like using an Elemental Ward potion, with the cooldown on it and the duration. I just can't do it. I've tried creative ways to use these types of potions. Such as during Garuda's Aerial blast, I'll drink a Wind Ward Hi-Potion or during the chain lightning node in Binding Coil, I'll use an Lightning Ward Hi-Potion when I think chain lightning is coming while healing people and the duration kills the effect every time. I feel it is a bit of a juggling act to try to fit these into a battle scenario good. On top of healing and moving and numerous other things, it's a bit stressful to try to fit one of these in as much as I would like to use them, in the place of say... a Mega-Ether instead. I feel as though the Elemental Ward potions should at least last 5 minutes (the entire duration of its cooldown) in order to be more useful.

Most of my alchemy issues are with the durations of the potions as well as some of the cooldown times on other ones. It's also notable that it's a little odd for all of the potions to be on the same timer, to me. If I toss a Potent Paralyzing potion on an enemy, then I am stricken from potion usage for 2 minutes. With all of these factors in place, it's kind of hard to justify giving Free company mates a handful of them to use in different situations. Right now, people I know seem to just be playing without them. They might use one here and there, but for the most part Alchemist's life-blood goes on ignored.

They should introduce some really lucrative crafted items that are spiritbound or untradable that you can't obtain other than leveling the craft itself (and this applies to all professions really) i.e. potions and food that last through death, buff to your own darklight+ armor, or maybe some recipes that will let you use AK gear as an input and turn it into something at least the level of darklight etc.

Also, wtb recipe to craft Cordial. Just saying...

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Originally Posted by Yukio

Also, wtb recipe to craft Cordial. Just saying...

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I was thinking about leveling Alchemy just to make Cordial for whenever I start doing DoL... until I realized the recipe didn't exist. What a joke.

Edit: I'm bad at math. CZ is only 14 extra CP, not 22 like my brain decided it was after looking at a 66 cost + 8 per step. Just makes the ability even more underwhelming.

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Originally Posted by kukurumei

Comfort zone increases your max CP pool, as simple as that, and any 100% craft thread will tell you...cp cp cp and more cp.

Since the advent of bygrot blessing and ingenuity, everything else is simply having enough cp pool to eliminate the rng. Comfortzone is godly towards that.

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Sure, it's 22 14 extra CP you can rely on as long as the craft is long enough (and if it's short enough for CZ to not finish, you probably didn't need CZ). It's good to have and worth using. CP is life and all that.

In comparison though, Byregot's saves you 24 CP per craft if you replace an Advanced Touch with it (nevermind how good BB is at actually raising quality), so it already saves 2 10(!) more CP than Comfort Zone, an ability that does nothing other than CP and you don't really see that CP gain until the last two steps the buff is active (thus, unlikely to be used more than once on most crafts unless Hasty Touch + Tricks of the Trade spam).

Could make a similar CP savings comparison for Careful Synth (don't need SH up after you're done adding quality, etc.), but things get a bit muddier there especially if it takes a different number of steps (and thus durability) to finish the craft than SH + Standard Synth.

Was mainly stating though that for a 50 ability that does nothing but give CP, Comfort Zone felt underwhelming even in that area.

I agree that Comfort Zone seems lousy. Sure it's 14 free CP... which you don't start making back until the 9th step... but compared to what you get at level 15, it just feels dumb. Most other DoH classes get something that actually stands out at 50.

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Originally Posted by Vortok

Sure, it's 22 extra CP you can rely on as long as the craft is long enough (and if it's short enough for CZ to not finish, you probably didn't need CZ). It's good to have and worth using. CP is life and all that.

In comparison though, Byregot's saves you 24 CP per craft if you replace an Advanced Touch with it (nevermind how good BB is at actually raising quality), so it already saves 2 more CP than Comfort Zone, an ability that does nothing other than CP and you don't really see that CP gain until the last two steps the buff is active (thus, unlikely to be used more than once on most crafts unless Hasty Touch + Tricks of the Trade spam).

Could make a similar CP savings comparison for Careful Synth (don't need SH up after you're done adding quality, etc.), but things get a bit muddier there especially if it takes a different number of steps (and thus durability) to finish the craft than SH + Standard Synth.

Was mainly stating though that for a 50 ability that does nothing but give CP, Comfort Zone felt underwhelming even in that area.

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Heck no, are you crafters or are you just casual testers?

Crafters will know that auto crafting is a fact of life in ARR, however you choose to go about "auto" crafting. doing 100% recipe en-mass can not be made with condition aware, and comfort zone is godly towards that.

Beygrot is definitely a must, but crp is easier then easy to get to 50.

Comfort zone is also always useful, and very very high up there. Alchemy is also so easy to leve spam there's nothing wrong with it.

A lot of lvl50 skills are "sometimes" good, but comfort zone is always good.

go make 300 HQ items for your triple. come back and tell me comfort zone didn't just make your day with an "auto"-crafting rotation.

and your example of careful syn fails there. Why should i Put a careful syn if (and like many other people) have SH left over after a touch/begrot spam, and use basic/standard synth instead, because I have more CP to do that rotation.

Again, many skills are sometimes useful, but Comfort Zone is always useful.