Alchemy ... Is this crippled on purpose??

[SteveTheMad]

Enjoying the game, but alchemy seems to be Nerfed ( though this is my first play through so no idea if this was better at some point) or crippled on purpose?

You need Pristine Essence to make things, which you need Plague-Ridden samples to make ( think had a couple plus 3 brains and 2 rat skins, from the 4 rat nests I have completed ), I noticed I can make RAT BAIT to respawn the nests, but need Mosquito Probocis`s and infected Blood`s!! to make ... I had a few, but not many, so your in a viscous circle of not having enough of anything to make the item you need, to make the items you want ,,,

So?? .. on purpose? ( only completed Tiltren and Vertruse so far )

Steve.

[Stardustfire]

2 rat nests per region, ca 13 samples per nest when you farm all knotes. 1 sample for one pristine, one pristine for one oil/oilenhancer. what kind of army you want to supply taking into account oils stay forever on the weapon they applied too.?????

[Dark]

Samples only drop from destroying the nest (bonus objectives in the rat dens). There is a path skill that doubles the drop, and taking the banner bonus that increases drop from battle may affect it as well.

Have AoE guys control the rats while your single target/mobile units rush the nest.

Weapon oils are permanent on that weapon (and stay on upgrade-able gear when you upgrade them). Each of them have a 50% chance to apply whatever buff they give. Not exactly mandatory for builds but can be a good bonus.

Usually one or two full clear rat nest can give a good amount.

Also I think that a rat nest bounty can come up in a region you already cleared the nest for, which may activate nest again for free.

[goober shmoober]

Hey Steve,
My take is under the assumption you are trying to craft oils since you mentioned pristine essence, but if it's not the case, correct me. Anyway, what oils are you going for on what classes?

Among the basic oils I recommend sharpening oil (10% crit rate) since it is super cheap to make and worthwhile on almost every merc.

It's really odd though, I never ran out of essences or the relevant resources and I only bothered full clearing 2 rat nests. Could it be that you are trying to equip many mercs at once or are switching weapons often? If that's the case, I recommend sticking with crafted weapons for a while. They usually last 2-4 levels depending on your level and if the enemy drops something usable.

There are also weapons you can upgrade levelwise (check the bottom left corner of the item description if it says upgradable) so they are a good investment for the future. Once you unlock the Mysteries and Wisdom path level 7, you can apply two oils and should be swimming in materials by then.

[wendigo211]

Once you get to Ludern, you'll encounter swarms of mosquitoes and have no trouble getting the materials you need for Rat Bait. That said, while smithing is vital to progression, alchemy isn't (except you need it for Rimesteel and Akhedian Steel). I haven't found any oils that are game changing. I like the Perforating Oil (Guard does get significant at higher levels) but, while some of the others are nice, I can't say they make a huge difference.

[SteveTheMad]

Thanks,

Maybe I am doing the nest`s wrong then ( as I get very little materials from them ).. as i go in and just kill the Mother Rat with archers ( always had 3 archers )... fast , Am i supposed to destroy the Pillars and kill loads of Rats? Other than the first Rat nest, I have not needed to kill any Rats and never destroyed the pillars, in any of them.

Steve.

[wendigo211]

My strategy is kill the adds first, two-handed mercs are good for that, and have archers and rangers kill the pillars. Once the pillars are dead, I kill the broodmother. You get 1 Plague-Ridden Sample (2 with the path upgrade) for each pillar you kill, so you should kill them all.

You could also farm the rats as much as possible, they're a good source of bait for the advanced fish hooks.

[Gregorovitch]

Originally posted by SteveTheMad:

You need Pristine Essence to make things, which you need Plague-Ridden samples

With two rats nests available per region I have never found myself short of plague samples to make enough pristine essence. If you have it makes me think you might not be aware that:

1. The plague samples come from the 5, 6 or 7 infected pillars found in the rats nests which you have to destroy before you kill the mother rat in order to get the plague samples - I think you get two samples from each one you destroy.

2. Unlike virtually all other RPGs the oils here are permanent once applied to a weapon.

So you get between about 11 and 15 plague samples per nest = 22-30 per region. If you have a party of 12 mercs this normally gives you a full round of oil applications for each region (which handily corresponds roughly to progression from iron to ghost to rimesteel etc equipment) with some to spare for switching to any legendary weapons etc you come across and decide to use.

If you are running a bigger party than that there is a recipe for a potion that re-spawns rats nests.

[ResumeMan]

Originally posted by SteveTheMad:

Thanks,

Maybe I am doing the nest`s wrong then ( as I get very little materials from them ).. as i go in and just kill the Mother Rat with archers ( always had 3 archers )... fast ,

Ah. Yes, you are doing them wrong. The whole point of the rat's nest is to destroy those nodes. You want to bring the mother down to a low level of HPs (no DOTs), and leave her alone as you go kill the nodes and whatever regular rats you need to to not get overwhelmed). Only kill her when either you have all the nodes down or maybe if someone's about to die.

[SteveTheMad]

Thanks all.. No fast clearance strategy it is then :D

[Ommamar]

Originally posted by SteveTheMad:

Thanks all.. No fast clearance strategy it is then :D

One thing I noticed is that DOTs work on the pillars so you can get close enough to apply the effect then surround the brood mother as much as you can. This forces the rats see summons to spawn further away so they are less of annoyance. If you do this you can watch to make sure no one gets to hurt while the pillars are worn down if things become dicey you can blitz the brood mother to end the fight.

[Gregorovitch]

Originally posted by SteveTheMad:

Thanks all.. No fast clearance strategy it is then :D

It gets to be pretty fast once you get your strategy sorted out. How you do it depends on the shape of your team but in general the important factors are:

1. Keep a 2H weapon on hand for all your mercs who normal use 1H + shield and make sure they are of the type that hit multiple targets per hit (AoE). An alternative is to swap their shields for torches but I don't do that 'cos cost, I keep my torches for tombs. I like to have plenty of torches on hand for tombs. Plenty of them.

2. Divide your party into two teams, one to kill all the rats that spawn next to the brood mother each turn (and kill her once you've downed all the pillars), the second to tour the cavern killing the pillars/nodes.

3. 2H equipped melee and a Barrage archer are excellent for the brood mother team

4. Recoil Shot archers supported by some 2H melee and rangers/spearmen you have left over to clear the way for them makes an excellent pillar killing team.

It's all about killing all the little rats as quickly as possible each turn and getting your archers in place to kill the pillars. Killing the brood mother herself at the end is a piece of cake.

[Solstius]

Originally posted by Gregorovitch:

Originally posted by SteveTheMad:

Thanks all.. No fast clearance strategy it is then :D

It gets to be pretty fast once you get your strategy sorted out. How you do it depends on the shape of your team but in general the important factors are:

1. Keep a 2H weapon on hand for all your mercs who normal use 1H + shield and make sure they are of the type that hit multiple targets per hit (AoE). An alternative is to swap their shields for torches but I don't do that 'cos cost, I keep my torches for tombs. I like to have plenty of torches on hand for tombs. Plenty of them.

2. Divide your party into two teams, one to kill all the rats that spawn next to the brood mother each turn (and kill her once you've downed all the pillars), the second to tour the cavern killing the pillars/nodes.

3. 2H equipped melee and a Barrage archer are excellent for the brood mother team

4. Recoil Shot archers supported by some 2H melee and rangers/spearmen you have left over to clear the way for them makes an excellent pillar killing team.

It's all about killing all the little rats as quickly as possible each turn and getting your archers in place to kill the pillars. Killing the brood mother herself at the end is a piece of cake.

Above post is a great general guideline for how you can manage Rat Nests.

But once your team is level 8 and up, you can make some modifications to this approach. For instance, you can provide your Swordsman line members with Hardcore Training and upgrade it as well if you want some bonus damage. They'll act as the Growth killers cos they are poison proof. This gives your Archers more breathing room and they can focus on either aiding the Swordsman clear the outgrowths or aid the sweepers manage the rats.

[Blue Horus]

Also, the rat nests in Harag respawn after some days

[Solstius]

Originally posted by Blue Horus:

Also, the rat nests in Harag respawn after some days

Yup. The respawn is confirmed via the Quest Board. So if you wanna camp a Region for Rat Nests, Ludern is your best bet.