PTS News: Raid Marks Conversion

Tier 1 Raid Marks (Frozen Eclipse Stones, “FES”) converting down into Empyreal Slayer’s Marks (“ESM”) in 2.4 has been known for a while now. However until recently we’ve had little information about the exact conversion rates.

If you have the marks now, should you buy gear right now before 2.4 hits on September 18th, or should you hold off until after the conversion?

TL;DR: Buy Tier 1 Raid Gear now if you have the currency.
(however everything may be subject to change prior to hitting Live on Sept 18th so do anything at your own risk. Prudent action would be to wait until just before the update, where possible, just in case things change significantly between now and 2.4.)

More information for those interested:

Recently on PTS they’ve converted the old Tier 1 gear purchasable from the Raid Gear Merchant into ESMs as follows:

• Gloves/Belt/Boot from 4,585 FES to 15,000 ESM (1:3.27 conversion)
• Shoulders/Helm from 7,000 FES to 18,500 ESM (1:2.64 conversion)
• Legs/Chest from 8,750 FES to 21,500 ESM (1:2.46 conversion)
• 1h/oh/Ranged Weapon from 15,000 FES to 45,000 ESM (1:3 conversion)
• 2h Weapon from 30,000 FES to 90,000 ESM (1:3 conversion)

So between a x2.46 to x3.27 conversion from FES to ESM for the cost of these items.

Trion have not updated PTS with the actual conversion of your currency yet so we don’t have an indication of the conversion rate. And that’s where the concerns begin to arise:

Taken from Daglar himself just three days ago, he stated that the actual mark conversion for those with FES will not be at an inflated rate. He even mentioned that the cost of the Tier 1 raid merchant gear will be a greatly increased number. Therefore, there is definitely a gap between the conversion of FES and the cost of Tier 1 gear after the conversion.

“If you are able to buy gear now, buy it now.” – Daglar

However, when prompted to explain how someone who has, say, 14,000 FES (just 1k shy of a 1h Weapon) wouldn’t be at a huge disadvantage once the conversion comes through and he ends up with about 14,000 ESM but with a new 1h weapon cost of 45,000 ESM; Daglar seemed to be at odds with the data on the PTS.

“The general availability of raid gear was just increased – not decreased.” – Daglar

Clearly the logical indication would be that Trion would want to make it easier to get Tier 1 raid marks to help gear people up for Tier 2 raids. This is shown by converting Tier 1 raid marks into Expert marks because Boosts are applied to Expert Marks, and because the Expert Random Dungeons give Expert Marks that can be used on top of the Expert Marks that will now drop in place of FES in the Tier 1 raids to make gearing up faster.

However, the fact that the supposed conversion rate for the currency from FES to ESM “will not be at an inflated rate” and the 1:2.46 to 1:3.27 conversion rate for the new ESM cost of Tier 1 raid gear seems to be at direct odds with this idea.

What’s most frustrating about all this?

Minimal warning by Trion.

Not to the small, miniscule subset of the population that frequent the forums. They have been given warning in the form of Dev posts.

However:

• No Stickied thread. Not everyone follows every single Dev post.
• No information on social media. Facebook/Twitter warnings, none.
• No information about it on the Website. Trion posted a Community Blog post about Patch 2.4 but there was no indication of raid mark conversions.
• No information in-game.

Unless the conversion rates are drastically changed, there’s going to be a lot of negative feedback from this change once 2.4 hits on Live. And rightly so. Hardly any warning beforehand to the bulk of the player base and only some dev posts and fleeting mention in livestreams to the handful of people who follow such sources.

Again, how is anyone going to maintain a smile on their face when their 1,000 FES away from a 1h Weapon turns into an approximately 31,000 ESM away from that same item overnight.

That said, Daglar has stated he will look over all the values on the PTS on Monday morning with Josh York, so here’s hoping to some meaningful changes that move away from Daglar’s initial statements on this matter:

So, right now the best course of action would be to prepare yourself to purchase Tier 1 Raid gear if you have the FES. However, it may be prudent to hold off doing so until as far as just before the patch update on September 18th ‘just in case’ anything changes prior.

Indications seem to steer towards any changes still proving a disadvantage for those who wait until after the conversion though.

Note: There are still unknowns at this point. We don’t know the mark conversion from FES to ESM (although statements from dev forum posts as well as livestreams seems to indicate a near 1:1 conversion). We also don’t know how many ESM will now drop from Tier 1 raids. Will it be 1:3?

However, if the conversion of currency is near 1:1, then someone who has 30k FES right now (for a 2h weapon) would be down 60k ESM after the conversion for that same item. Unless the currency conversion is at an approximate 1:3 ratio or above, you will be at a disadvantage if you wait until after the conversion. (see the cost conversions at the start of this post for variations for individual items)

UPDATE 15/9: PTS Update has currency conversion at exactly 1:1 ratio. This is however prior to the Monday review Daglar was going to have so it may be subject to change.