Unstable Elements, especially Lightning, needs to be revised

[DoubleEcho]

I feel that Unstable elements need a revision, especially on how long it takes to wait them out. This is especially true for Unstable Lightning, which is by far the worst to get (as it gives greatly reduced progress, meaning you spend more durability for less progress percentage).

Let me give you an example of how many waits it took when I got an unstable Lightning element. In this case it did not return to normal.

The harnessed Lightning element becomes unstable!
Durability decreases by 1.
Durability decreases by 2.
Durability decreases by 3.
You use Tender Touch.
Durability decreases by 1.
Durability decreases by 2.
Durability decreases by 3.
Your Tender Touch effect fades.
Durability decreases by 4.
You use Maker's Muse.
Durability decreases by 1.
Durability decreases by 2.
Durability decreases by 3.
Your Maker's Muse effect fades.
You use Ingenuity.
Durability decreases by 1.
Durability decreases by 2.
Durability decreases by 3.
Your Ingenuity effect fades.
Durability decreases by 4.
Durability decreases by 5.
Durability decreases by 6.
Durability decreases by 7.
Durability decreases by 8.
You botch the synthesis!

That's 18 Waits used and 3 abilities to lower the dura cost of waiting (I would have used Preserve on the last set of Waits but it never popped). 18 waits for an unstable element? Come on, that is way too much. I have personally seen 24 waits at the maximum without it going away as well. I have crafting gear for Control too, gloves + belt, so it's not a matter of my gear not being good enough. I've noticed this seems to happen more often on Lightning, but I've had similar situations with other elements.

It should not take close to 20 waits to get rid of an unstable element - this is beyond ridiculous.

[tymora]

An uninformative and biased post that doesn't let anyone on this forum help you.
Please state which recipe it is, what rank you are, and the crafting stats you have.

[DoubleEcho]

An uninformative and biased post that doesn't let anyone on this forum help you.
Please state which recipe it is, what rank you are, and the crafting stats you have.

It was an Electrum Ring synth at R35 GLD. However, I've gotten this on Buffalo Leather synths with my R50 TAN where unstable Lightning will just not wait out. It's not a matter of rank or stats, it seems to be some sort of RNG.

[tymora]

So...Electrum Ring is a rank 44 magic craftsmanship recipe and you're trying at 35. 9 rank difference, runaway instability, not surprising. I do not know what is your magic craftsmanship at, so can't comment on that.

As for Buffalo Leather, well, you should be well over the "recommended craftsmanship" values. If assuming you are using the proper facility and have the treatise, then I admit something is wrong here.
-> Have you tried increasing both your Lightning and Earth affinity? Never tried it myself nor have I ever encountered this problem at 30-ish Tanner, but I heard this helps.

My own experience is that I get ice more often than lightning and my affinities for those are 80/92 respectively.

[DoubleEcho]

So...Electrum Ring is a rank 44 magic craftsmanship recipe and you're trying at 35. 9 rank difference, runaway instability, not surprising. I do not know what is your magic craftsmanship at, so can't comment on that.

As for Buffalo Leather, well, you should be well over the "recommended craftsmanship" values. If assuming you are using the proper facility and have the treatise, then I admit something is wrong here.
-> Have you tried increasing both your Lightning and Earth affinity? Never tried it myself nor have I ever encountered this problem at 30-ish Tanner, but I heard this helps.

My own experience is that I get ice more often than lightning and my affinities for those are 80/92 respectively.

Lightning is 83, Craftsmanship is 78 and Magical Craftsmanship is 66. The synth was higher than my rank but it was still able to be completed most of the time (meaning unless I got unstable lightning).

I saw this often too with Hippogryph and Raptor Sinew synths when I had the proper training and was either at or above optimal rank. It's a synth that takes lit shards, so that seems to increase the chance you'll get it. But still, waiting it out at times is made impossible.

With unstable Lightning, if you're equipping 5 actions and using them all, and waiting 3 times before using each action (we'll assume they all proc for you when you need to use them) you'll have 15 waits at the minimum and 30 dura lost. If they don't proc and/or you don't have the points for 5, you could be losing 40-50 dura just for waiting it out, and it may not even go away after that. I think it's just a little too extreme.

[Estellios]

Lightning instability is just infuriating. I have also gone an entire synth without it going away, whereas most others go away in a few actions. My lightning affinity is my highest element and it still seems to last a long time.

[derenkirby]

Brand of lightning?

[tymora]

That or sometimes you don't have to wait it out.
Sometimes if I make it blow up (20-30 durability lost), I can still recover from it.
In my case, I do 2 waits instead of 3. If it doesn't go away, then do a Standard instead of using an ability. That way, if you do recover from it, you will still have the abilities left to try to make the attempt a success.

For those recipes way below your rank, are you going for HQ? Rapid/Bold introduces more "Risk" per action and hence increases the likelihood of instabilities.

Magical Craftsmanship is 66

I think you need about 20 more craftsmanship to make it less infuriating.

[Amineri]

I would also suggest learning abilities such as Assemble, Grand Design, etc. If successful, these abilities grant a 30% progress increase (always, no reduction) that is not affected by lightning instability. Further, if Assemble fails, it is not possible for the synthesis to go chaotic as a result. Even better, a failed Assemble can only result in 5 or 10 dura loss, which is ALSO not affected by any instabilities (such as wind).

These abilities have saved many many syntheses of mine that would have been otherwise botched.

[Viridiana]

The thing is, there's no reason lightning should be an outlier like it is. If I get any other unstable element, I wait it out. Lighting should work the same way. I shouldn't have to resort to intentionally blowing it up just to save myself durability. . .