Matthew Hayward wrote: These recipes broadly have way too much Enchanter’s Munition.
An 8k order contains around the following quantities of trade goods:
43× Alchemist's Ink
53× Alchemist's Parchment
12× Aragonite
115× Darkwood Plank
72× Dwarven Steel
12× Elven Bismuth
20× Enchanter's Munition
40× Minotaur Hide
134× Mystic Silk
10× Oil of Enchantment
93× Philosopher's Stone
45,000 GP
Note that among the trade 1 token types, EM is 1/2 to 1/5th as abundant as the others.
A Safehold II (Under Construction) token requires 40 AI, DS, EM, and MH.
To get 40 AI, DS, and MH from random token 10 packs one would need to buy around $8,000 of 10-packs.
To get 40 EM from random token 10-packs one would need to buy twice that, $16,000 of 10-packs.
To transmute the exalted +1 Archers Buckler requires 2 EM, one would need to buy $800 worth of random token 10-packs to get 2 EM.
I feel as though every year TD puts forward recipes with EM in similar quantities to other Trade 1 items, and eventually adjusts it down. Since it keeps happening, I’m going to stop commenting about it after this, as maybe TD wants EM scarcity to be the gating factor for several transmute recipes.
+1 I noticed this when I presented an alternate legendary recipe in a prior post. When I did the list, I made Trade 2 uniform and seriously thought about treating EM as if it were a trade 2.
I can 100% confirm that EM seems to be the blocker for most bigger transmutes now. I just set aside everything for 2 SH3's and the only pieces I didn't have enough of were elven bismuth and enchanter's munitions (and EB was my fault having burned through a bunch on a trade.) In general, I find out of treasure draws and 10 packs from runs (as well as from 8k orders), that I have about the same amount of Aragonite as Enchanter's Munitions (likely a little more Arag.)
Looking at the most recent 8k order super-condensed, it only provided 20 EM compared to 40 Minotaur Hides (the next fewest trade 1.) By comparison, the same 8k order had 12 Arag, 12 EB, and 10 OE. Trade 1 was 43 AI, 53 AP, 115 DP, 72 DS, 20 EM, 40 MH, 134 MS, and 93 PS. That makes EM twice as scarce as any other trade good, and three times as scarce as the average trade 1 (a 2024 8k order had an average of 71.25 each of all the trade 1 goods.) The ratio was .28 EM for every 1 trade 1 token.
I'd recommend the recipes be adjusted to have a ratio of approximately 1 EM for every 3 to 3.25 of the average trade 1 and max at 1/2 the DS/MH rates. I'd recommend adjusting the recipes as follows (using the ratio of .28 EM to the average single trade 1 per recipe):
Archer's buckler reduce from 2 to 1 EM
Bibwick reduce from 5 to 3 EM
Greater Bead reduce from 5 to 3 EM
Greater Eyepatch reduce from 5 to 3 EM
IS Sapphire relic reduce from 5 to 2 EM (10 fewer trade 1's than the eyepatch drops the ratio slightly)
IS Sapphire legendary has the correct ratio so stick with 5 EM (since there are 130 non EM trade 1 goods required) (seems high but that's a different topic.)
Odin's eyepatch legendary reduce from 5 to 3 EM (yes - the math works out to 3.6 but EM is still scarce so I rounded down this time
)
Safehold 2 (under construction) reduce from 20 EM to 12 EM
Safehold 1 (under construction) reduce from 40 EM to 22 EM
Sidekick reduce from 10 EM to 4 EM
Omni Cube reduce from 5 EM to 4 EM
Omni Orb has the correct ratio at 2 EM
Overall the recipes with the most significant hurdles on EM (by ratio) are the Archer's Buckler (2x the ratio of trade 1 v availability), IS Sapphire Relic (2 1/2 times the ratio of trade 1 v availability), and the Sidekicks at 2.5x the ratio of trade 1 v availability.
The Safeholds and Sidekicks alone would create pretty substantial market problems exacerbating unusually high EM prices and make it much harder for everyone to do transmutes. The secondary market and 8K auctions are selling EM for $8-$10 - just a hair less than Aragonite.
Ironically, my biggest concern on the Enchanter's Munitions increase in requirements is for the Archer's Buckler. Even at 1 EM, it will price out most new players as their first transmute. If an 8K order has 20 EM, then a single EM will require 48 ten packs (more than a $250 order.)
It becomes a pretty unrealistic transmute for a new player without hitting the secondary market. Any recipe with 2 EM needed is closer to a 1K order in trade goods to get there. Unless recipes are adjusted, the EM market will likely get even worse increasing the cost to well above Aragonite.