Difference between revisions of "Sacred 2:Item quality levels vs Enhanced Perception - Magic Find - Bargaining"

From SacredWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
m (→‎Item quality levels vs Enhanced Perception/Magic Find/Bargaining: corrected minor buglet introduced by reformatting)
 
(5 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
{|
 
{|
|valign=top|
+
 
<websiteFrame>
 
website=http://www.darkmatters.org/SacredWiki/extensions/Adsense/adsense5.php
 
width=180
 
height=600
 
border=0
 
scroll=no
 
</websiteFrame>
 
 
|valign="top"|
 
|valign="top"|
  
 
{| width="70%" class="metadata" style="margin:1pt auto;padding:1ex 1ex;border:2px black solid;"
 
{| width="70%" class="metadata" style="margin:1pt auto;padding:1ex 1ex;border:2px black solid;"
 
|-
 
|-
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j222/TimOfMetal/Sacredwiki/pen_paper.png
+
[[Image:pen_paper.png]]
 
| '''This page is about a particular player [[guide]].'''
 
| '''This page is about a particular player [[guide]].'''
  
Line 23: Line 16:
  
  
Re-posting my SIF topic here, maybe it'll be of some use still 1smile.gif All info was tested before Ice & Blood, so there could be differences in the expansion.
+
Re-posting my SIF topic here, maybe it'll be of some use still :)
 +
 
 +
'''All info was tested before Ice & Blood, so there could be differences in the expansion or CM patch.'''
 +
 
  
 
I've posted many times what I suspected about the general concepts of this issue. Thanks to the research made by Cthulu and the recently published details of MF and EP, many things fell into place, so I can explain it in less vague terms. Any improvements or corrections are welcome.
 
I've posted many times what I suspected about the general concepts of this issue. Thanks to the research made by Cthulu and the recently published details of MF and EP, many things fell into place, so I can explain it in less vague terms. Any improvements or corrections are welcome.
Line 29: Line 25:
 
There are 16 different item quality levels or tiers. They start with "tier 00" (junk items), and gradually improve to "tier 15". You can see just how better or worse the tiers are, compared to tier 01 (normal white items).
 
There are 16 different item quality levels or tiers. They start with "tier 00" (junk items), and gradually improve to "tier 15". You can see just how better or worse the tiers are, compared to tier 01 (normal white items).
  
00 (75% quality) - junk items - no bonuses (example pic)
+
{|class="skills" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center;"
 
+
|style="width:130px; text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|'''00''' (75% quality)||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|junk items||style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|no bonuses ([http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/Antitrusty/Sacred/Q00.png example])
01 (100% quality), 02 (102% quality), 03 (104% quality) - white items - 1 bonus (example pic)
+
|-
 
+
|style="width:130px; text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|'''01''' (100% quality)<br />'''02''' (102% quality)<br />'''03''' (104% quality)||white items||style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|1 bonus ([http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/Antitrusty/Sacred/Q01.png example])
04 (106% quality)- white items - 2 bonuses
+
|-
 
+
|style="width:130px; text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|'''04''' (106% quality)||white items||style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|2 bonuses
05 (108% quality) - blue items - 2 bonuses (example pic)
+
|-
 
+
|style="width:130px; text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|'''05''' (108% quality)||blue items||style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|2 bonuses ([http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/Antitrusty/Sacred/Q05.png example])
06 (110% quality), 07 (112.5% quality), 08 (115% quality) - blue items - 3 bonuses (example pic)
+
|-
 
+
|style="width:130px; text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|'''06''' (110% quality)<br />'''07''' (112.5% quality)<br />'''08''' (115% quality)||blue items||style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|3 bonuses ([http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/Antitrusty/Sacred/Q06.png example])
09 (117.5% quality), 10 (120% quality), 11 (123% quality), 12 (126% quality) - yellow items - 4 bonuses from now on, special item models become available (example pic)
+
|-
 
+
|style="width:130px; text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|'''09''' (117.5% quality)<br />'''10''' (120% quality)<br />'''11''' (123% quality)<br />'''12''' (126% quality)||yellow items||style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|4 bonuses from now on ([http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/Antitrusty/Sacred/Q09.png example])<br /><br />''special item models become available''
13 (129% quality), 14 (132% quality), 15 (135% quality) - yellow, set and unique items (mostly sets and uniques are dropped when these three qualities are chosen).
+
|-
 +
|style="width:130px; text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|'''13''' (129% quality)<br />'''14''' (132% quality)<br />'''15''' (135% quality)||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|yellow, set and unique items||style="width:230px; text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|mostly sets and uniques are dropped when these three qualities are chosen
 +
|}
  
 
Non-quest legendary items should be in the last three tiers, probably in 15 (unless they have special rules, which is unlikely). They are so rare probably due to their low number, compared to the hundreds of sets and uniques. They might also have some sort of a rarity value assigned, making them even harder to drop even if the high tiers are selected. Or they might be only dropped by bosses or monsters of specific rank.
 
Non-quest legendary items should be in the last three tiers, probably in 15 (unless they have special rules, which is unlikely). They are so rare probably due to their low number, compared to the hundreds of sets and uniques. They might also have some sort of a rarity value assigned, making them even harder to drop even if the high tiers are selected. Or they might be only dropped by bosses or monsters of specific rank.
Line 47: Line 45:
 
Obviously the tier 15 has an extremely low chance to be picked, while 01 and such are picked very often.
 
Obviously the tier 15 has an extremely low chance to be picked, while 01 and such are picked very often.
  
'''Bonuses'''
+
 
 +
<span style="font-size:120%;">'''Bonuses'''</span><br />
 
Each quality level allows a specific number of bonus slots (number of bonuses the item can have). Each bronze/silver/gold socket will occupy a bonus slot if the item becomes socketed. E.g. a white item of quality 03 will either have a bonus or a socket. A yellow item will always have 4 bonuses, or 3 bonuses and a socket etc. There can be up to two sockets on a random item.
 
Each quality level allows a specific number of bonus slots (number of bonuses the item can have). Each bronze/silver/gold socket will occupy a bonus slot if the item becomes socketed. E.g. a white item of quality 03 will either have a bonus or a socket. A yellow item will always have 4 bonuses, or 3 bonuses and a socket etc. There can be up to two sockets on a random item.
  
 
There seem to be some very rare exceptions to this, like rare items with 3 bonuses. There should be a logical explanation though (maybe the item got some extra elemental damage that counts as a bonus and is not displayed, or maybe a bonus occupies two slots?).
 
There seem to be some very rare exceptions to this, like rare items with 3 bonuses. There should be a logical explanation though (maybe the item got some extra elemental damage that counts as a bonus and is not displayed, or maybe a bonus occupies two slots?).
  
'''Differences between qualities'''
+
 
 +
<span style="font-size:120%;">'''Differences between qualities'''</span><br />
 
So what is the difference between a 09 yellow item and a 15 one? It seems that some bonuses can't spawn (or at least very unlikely to) on the lower-tier items, and some bonuses seem to be considered "better" than others. There doesn't seem to be a difference in actual bonus percentages/values, so a 09 yellow item will have the same e.g. "chance to evade %" as a 15 one (assuming the same item level).
 
So what is the difference between a 09 yellow item and a 15 one? It seems that some bonuses can't spawn (or at least very unlikely to) on the lower-tier items, and some bonuses seem to be considered "better" than others. There doesn't seem to be a difference in actual bonus percentages/values, so a 09 yellow item will have the same e.g. "chance to evade %" as a 15 one (assuming the same item level).
  
 
This means that high-quality rares are more likely to be good items (from player's point of view).
 
This means that high-quality rares are more likely to be good items (from player's point of view).
  
Lightsabers are in tier 12 btw, which is why high level chars have difficulties shopping them (see below).
+
Lightsabers are in tier 12, which is why high level chars have difficulties shopping them (see below).
 
 
  
'''Skills/MF'''
 
  
Enhanced Perception and "chance to find valuables" (and the side effects of Survival Bonus, map revealed etc) affect the tier from which the item is dropped. They increase the chance that the item is dropped from a higher tier. This specifically lowers the chance to get a low-tier item, improving the quality of the drops. (for original explanation by Llama8 see here)
+
<span style="font-size:120%;">'''Skills/MF (magic find)'''</span><br />
 +
'''[[Sacred 2:Enhanced Perception|Enhanced Perception]]''' and "chance to find valuables" (and the side effects of [[Sacred 2:Survival Bonus|Survival Bonus]], map revealed etc) affect the tier from which the item is dropped. They increase the chance that the item is dropped from a higher tier. This specifically lowers the chance to get a low-tier item, improving the quality of the drops. (for original explanation by Llama8 see [http://forum.sacred2.com/showpost.php?p=530358&postcount=111 here])
  
 
It is especially effective on uncommon monsters (champions/bosses etc). Some monsters have limits on what item tiers they can drop, e.g. some of them can drop from tier 09 and up, so even a small quality improvement is actually rather significant. Cthulu's research at Dark Matters addresses specifically this issue in details.
 
It is especially effective on uncommon monsters (champions/bosses etc). Some monsters have limits on what item tiers they can drop, e.g. some of them can drop from tier 09 and up, so even a small quality improvement is actually rather significant. Cthulu's research at Dark Matters addresses specifically this issue in details.
Line 69: Line 68:
  
  
Bargaining works just like EP, but it has diminishing returns that depend on character level.
+
'''[[Sacred 2:Bargaining|Bargaining]]''' works just like EP, but it has diminishing returns that depend on character level.
  
 
Characters without Bargaining skill will be offered items from tier 06 and lower. Bargaining increases this limit, so merchants can offer higher level items, up to tier 12. This limit is the reason why set and unique items cannot be bargained (they start at tier 13).
 
Characters without Bargaining skill will be offered items from tier 06 and lower. Bargaining increases this limit, so merchants can offer higher level items, up to tier 12. This limit is the reason why set and unique items cannot be bargained (they start at tier 13).
Line 75: Line 74:
 
Increasing Bargaining will gradually increase the quality level, reducing the amount of low quality offers. When tier 12 is reached, any additional skill points invested seem to only increase the amount of offered yellow items. If Bargaining is high enough, white/blue items will not be offered.
 
Increasing Bargaining will gradually increase the quality level, reducing the amount of low quality offers. When tier 12 is reached, any additional skill points invested seem to only increase the amount of offered yellow items. If Bargaining is high enough, white/blue items will not be offered.
  
Bargaining Mastery should push the minimum/maximum allowed quality of a quest reward higher (most likely by 1-2 tiers, though it might depend on the skill level).
+
[[Sacred 2:Bargaining|Bargaining]] Mastery should push the minimum/maximum allowed quality of a quest reward higher (most likely by 1-2 tiers, though it might depend on the skill level).
  
  
Line 81: Line 80:
  
  
Below an example of character levels 15 and 200.
+
Below is an example of Bargaining for character levels 15 and 200:
  
Level 15:
+
'''''Level 15:'''''
Reduced: 93% of original size [ 548 x 75 ] - Click to view full image
+
{|class="skills" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center;"
 +
|-class="skillsth"
 +
|style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|Quality||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|06||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|07||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|08||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|09||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|10||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|11||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|12
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|Required Skill Level||0||1||3||7||10||13||17
 +
|}
  
  
 
+
'''''Level 200:'''''
Level 200:
+
{|class="skills" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center;"
Reduced: 93% of original size [ 548 x 75 ] - Click to view full image
+
|-class="skillsth"
 
+
|style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|Quality||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|06||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|07||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|08||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|09||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|10||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|11||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|12
* You can't get enough skill bonuses to unlock these
+
|-  
 +
|class="skillslc" style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|Required Skill Level||0||19||83||159||394||*||*
 +
|}
 +
<nowiki>*</nowiki> ''You can't get enough skill bonuses to unlock these''
  
  
 
Patch 2.40 reintroduced the requirement of 75-hard-point mastery, which has a direct impact on achievable quality levels. The breakpoints are actually different for skill level 75 and above, you need much more skill points without hard-mastery. Without 75 hard points in the skill, the quality levels you can unlock are very limited at high levels, so yellow item ratio will be lower (you only see an increase after you hit a quality level breakpoint). Console users might be using an older patch, so this might not apply to them.
 
Patch 2.40 reintroduced the requirement of 75-hard-point mastery, which has a direct impact on achievable quality levels. The breakpoints are actually different for skill level 75 and above, you need much more skill points without hard-mastery. Without 75 hard points in the skill, the quality levels you can unlock are very limited at high levels, so yellow item ratio will be lower (you only see an increase after you hit a quality level breakpoint). Console users might be using an older patch, so this might not apply to them.
  
At high levels (until about char level 150), soft Bargaining can unlock up to quality 10 (you need more than 600 skill points for that). After that, only 09 can be unlocked without hard-mastery. By the time you're level 200, you won't even see yellow items at merchants (unless you can get a suit with about 600 skill points, which is possible but a bit difficult). No more 1-hard-point shopping sprees...
+
At high levels (until about char level 150), soft [[Sacred 2:Bargaining|Bargaining]] can unlock up to quality 10 (you need more than 600 skill points for that). After that, only 09 can be unlocked without hard-mastery. By the time you're level 200, you won't even see yellow items at merchants (unless you can get a suit with about 600 skill points, which is possible but a bit difficult). No more 1-hard-point shopping sprees...
  
 
Skill points between the breakpoints are totally useless, so don't bother making a full shopping suit unless you're sure you can hit the next breakpoint.
 
Skill points between the breakpoints are totally useless, so don't bother making a full shopping suit unless you're sure you can hit the next breakpoint.
Line 102: Line 109:
  
 
Here are the early-game breakpoints:
 
Here are the early-game breakpoints:
[CODE]
 
Char level    Breakpoint    Next breakpoint        Final breakpoint
 
_____________________________________________________________________
 
  
20       14 (10)        18 (11)            24 (12)
+
{|class="skills" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center;"
 
+
|-class="skillsth"
30       22 (10)        30 (11)            40 (12)
+
|style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|Char level||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 10||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 11||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 12
 
+
|-
40       31 (10)        44 (11)            61 (12)
+
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|20||14||18||24
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|30||22||30||40
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;" |40||31||44||61
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|50||42||62||89
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|60||55||85||129
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|70||70||115||190
 +
|}
  
50        42 (10)        62 (11)            89 (12)
 
 
60        55 (10)        85 (11)            129 (12)
 
 
70        70 (10)      115 (11)            190 (12)
 
 
[/code]
 
  
 
Here are the breakpoints for a level 80-90 character (both with or without mastery):
 
Here are the breakpoints for a level 80-90 character (both with or without mastery):
[CODE]
+
{|class="skills" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center;"
clvl 80
+
|-class="skillsth"
 
+
|style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|Char level||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 10||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 11||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 12
soft
+
|-
        89 (10)        156 (11)        297 (12)
+
|class="skillslc" style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|80 (soft)||89||156||297
 
+
|-  
hard
+
|class="skillslc" style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|80 (hard)||79||101||132
        79 (10)        101 (11)        132 (12)
+
|}
_____________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
clvl 90
 
 
 
soft
 
60 (9)        113 (10)    218 (11)        529 (12)
 
 
 
hard
 
              88 (10)    117 (11)        167 (12)
 
 
 
 
 
[/code]
 
Assuming you master the skill, here are more breakpoints for those that are interested.
 
[CODE]
 
Char level   Breakpoint    Next breakpoint        Final breakpoint
 
_____________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
100        98 (10)    136 (11)        196 (12)
 
 
 
110        109 (10)    158 (11)        247 (12)
 
 
 
120        122 (10)    187 (11)        322 (12)
 
 
 
130        137 (10)    224 (11)        444 (12)
 
 
 
140        154 (10)    274 (11)        670-680 (12)
 
 
 
150        175 (10)    345 (11)        1300-1400 (12)
 
 
 
 
 
160        201 (10)    453 (11)        5000-10000 (12)
 
 
 
161        204 (10)    467 (11)
 
 
 
162        206 (10)    482 (11)
 
 
 
163        209 (10)    497 (11)
 
 
 
 
 
170        232 (10)    638 (11)
 
 
 
180        272 (10)    1029 (11)        30000+ (12)
 
 
 
190        323 (10)    2397 (11)
 
 
 
200        159 (09)    394 (10)
 
 
 
[/code]
 
 
 
  
  
 +
{|class="skills" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center;"
 +
|-class="skillsth"
 +
|style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|Char level||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 9||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 10||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 11||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 12
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|90 (soft)||60||113||218||529
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|90 (hard)|| - ||88||117||167
 +
|}
  
  
 +
Assuming you master the skill, here are more breakpoints for those that are interested:
 +
{|class="skills" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center;"
 +
|-class="skillsth"
 +
|style="text-align:left; padding: 5px 10px;"|Char level||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 10||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 11||style="padding: 5px 10px;"|Tier 12
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|100||98||136||196
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|110||109||158||247
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|120||122||187||322
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|130||137||224||444
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|140||154||274||670-680
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|150||175||345||1300-1400
 +
|-
 +
|colspan="4"|
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|160||201||453||5000-10000
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|161||204||467||*
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|162||206||482||*
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|163||209||497||*
 +
|-
 +
|colspan="4"|
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|170||232||638||*
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|180||272||1029||30000+*
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|190||323||2397||*
 +
|-
 +
|class="skillslc" style="padding: 5px 10px;"|200||394||*||*
 +
|}
 +
<nowiki>*</nowiki> ''Extremely high numbers. Skills become bugged around level 32000.''
  
  

Latest revision as of 02:40, 16 February 2020

Item quality levels vs Enhanced Perception/Magic Find/Bargaining

By Antitrust


Re-posting my SIF topic here, maybe it'll be of some use still :)

All info was tested before Ice & Blood, so there could be differences in the expansion or CM patch.


I've posted many times what I suspected about the general concepts of this issue. Thanks to the research made by Cthulu and the recently published details of MF and EP, many things fell into place, so I can explain it in less vague terms. Any improvements or corrections are welcome.

There are 16 different item quality levels or tiers. They start with "tier 00" (junk items), and gradually improve to "tier 15". You can see just how better or worse the tiers are, compared to tier 01 (normal white items).

00 (75% quality) junk items no bonuses (example)
01 (100% quality)
02 (102% quality)
03 (104% quality)
white items 1 bonus (example)
04 (106% quality) white items 2 bonuses
05 (108% quality) blue items 2 bonuses (example)
06 (110% quality)
07 (112.5% quality)
08 (115% quality)
blue items 3 bonuses (example)
09 (117.5% quality)
10 (120% quality)
11 (123% quality)
12 (126% quality)
yellow items 4 bonuses from now on (example)

special item models become available
13 (129% quality)
14 (132% quality)
15 (135% quality)
yellow, set and unique items mostly sets and uniques are dropped when these three qualities are chosen

Non-quest legendary items should be in the last three tiers, probably in 15 (unless they have special rules, which is unlikely). They are so rare probably due to their low number, compared to the hundreds of sets and uniques. They might also have some sort of a rarity value assigned, making them even harder to drop even if the high tiers are selected. Or they might be only dropped by bosses or monsters of specific rank.

Obviously the tier 15 has an extremely low chance to be picked, while 01 and such are picked very often.


Bonuses
Each quality level allows a specific number of bonus slots (number of bonuses the item can have). Each bronze/silver/gold socket will occupy a bonus slot if the item becomes socketed. E.g. a white item of quality 03 will either have a bonus or a socket. A yellow item will always have 4 bonuses, or 3 bonuses and a socket etc. There can be up to two sockets on a random item.

There seem to be some very rare exceptions to this, like rare items with 3 bonuses. There should be a logical explanation though (maybe the item got some extra elemental damage that counts as a bonus and is not displayed, or maybe a bonus occupies two slots?).


Differences between qualities
So what is the difference between a 09 yellow item and a 15 one? It seems that some bonuses can't spawn (or at least very unlikely to) on the lower-tier items, and some bonuses seem to be considered "better" than others. There doesn't seem to be a difference in actual bonus percentages/values, so a 09 yellow item will have the same e.g. "chance to evade %" as a 15 one (assuming the same item level).

This means that high-quality rares are more likely to be good items (from player's point of view).

Lightsabers are in tier 12, which is why high level chars have difficulties shopping them (see below).


Skills/MF (magic find)
Enhanced Perception and "chance to find valuables" (and the side effects of Survival Bonus, map revealed etc) affect the tier from which the item is dropped. They increase the chance that the item is dropped from a higher tier. This specifically lowers the chance to get a low-tier item, improving the quality of the drops. (for original explanation by Llama8 see here)

It is especially effective on uncommon monsters (champions/bosses etc). Some monsters have limits on what item tiers they can drop, e.g. some of them can drop from tier 09 and up, so even a small quality improvement is actually rather significant. Cthulu's research at Dark Matters addresses specifically this issue in details.

All monsters are supposed to have a chance to drop items of any tier above minimum, though some monsters can't drop certain items (according to their drop lists or whatever).


Bargaining works just like EP, but it has diminishing returns that depend on character level.

Characters without Bargaining skill will be offered items from tier 06 and lower. Bargaining increases this limit, so merchants can offer higher level items, up to tier 12. This limit is the reason why set and unique items cannot be bargained (they start at tier 13).

Increasing Bargaining will gradually increase the quality level, reducing the amount of low quality offers. When tier 12 is reached, any additional skill points invested seem to only increase the amount of offered yellow items. If Bargaining is high enough, white/blue items will not be offered.

Bargaining Mastery should push the minimum/maximum allowed quality of a quest reward higher (most likely by 1-2 tiers, though it might depend on the skill level).


The skill level that is required to unlock the higher quality levels depends on character level (the exact formulas are unknown). Low-level characters can reach tier 12 with just a few skill points, and can even get to the point where mostly yellow items are offered. High-level characters require more investment.


Below is an example of Bargaining for character levels 15 and 200:

Level 15:

Quality 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
Required Skill Level 0 1 3 7 10 13 17


Level 200:

Quality 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
Required Skill Level 0 19 83 159 394 * *

* You can't get enough skill bonuses to unlock these


Patch 2.40 reintroduced the requirement of 75-hard-point mastery, which has a direct impact on achievable quality levels. The breakpoints are actually different for skill level 75 and above, you need much more skill points without hard-mastery. Without 75 hard points in the skill, the quality levels you can unlock are very limited at high levels, so yellow item ratio will be lower (you only see an increase after you hit a quality level breakpoint). Console users might be using an older patch, so this might not apply to them.

At high levels (until about char level 150), soft Bargaining can unlock up to quality 10 (you need more than 600 skill points for that). After that, only 09 can be unlocked without hard-mastery. By the time you're level 200, you won't even see yellow items at merchants (unless you can get a suit with about 600 skill points, which is possible but a bit difficult). No more 1-hard-point shopping sprees...

Skill points between the breakpoints are totally useless, so don't bother making a full shopping suit unless you're sure you can hit the next breakpoint.


Here are the early-game breakpoints:

Char level Tier 10 Tier 11 Tier 12
20 14 18 24
30 22 30 40
40 31 44 61
50 42 62 89
60 55 85 129
70 70 115 190


Here are the breakpoints for a level 80-90 character (both with or without mastery):

Char level Tier 10 Tier 11 Tier 12
80 (soft) 89 156 297
80 (hard) 79 101 132


Char level Tier 9 Tier 10 Tier 11 Tier 12
90 (soft) 60 113 218 529
90 (hard) - 88 117 167


Assuming you master the skill, here are more breakpoints for those that are interested:

Char level Tier 10 Tier 11 Tier 12
100 98 136 196
110 109 158 247
120 122 187 322
130 137 224 444
140 154 274 670-680
150 175 345 1300-1400
160 201 453 5000-10000
161 204 467 *
162 206 482 *
163 209 497 *
170 232 638 *
180 272 1029 30000+*
190 323 2397 *
200 394 * *

* Extremely high numbers. Skills become bugged around level 32000.


Originally published at DarkMattersfor review and discussion.

See Also