Sylavanum is really bad

[Mouse]

I posted this in #Game-Suggestions and then just let the suggestion get flooded out after a pretty rousing amount of agreement, but I wanted to just post it here so that we could, perhaps, have an actual discussion as to how it works and how to potentially make it better. Because right now, it's almost just a detriment to use and probably the worst choice in most scenarios ever since attunement potions got added. Before them, maybe it was a useful option because of the high power bonus, and I even admit that it was too much when there were 30 people making and giving it to people in game, but as of right now? It's bad. Let me just go over the math real quick.

Right now, Sylavanum gives you +15 Pow for 5 days (what is intended to be one year, but due to the change, isn't. that's fine though.). If you stop taking it, from what my testing shows, it puts you into a 5 day 'withdrawal' period that gives you -30 Pow. Sylavanum is also a hidden recipe and, without spoiling its creation method (which is relatively easy), it's on average a LITTLE harder to make than attunements. Not much, though.

Attunement potions let you choose an element and then that element gives you +5 ElePow/Def for a year. Attunement Potions are roughly calculated as AP because they increase your total damage from that element by 5%, which is calculated (correct me if I'm wrong) AFTER your total pow is calculated. Meaning if you have 200 base and then an extra 100 on top of that from a weapon/aura/stance, the 5 ElePow is increasing your damage based off of 300 instead of 200. Meaning, while Sylv is a flat 15 power boost, Attunement potions at this level increase your damage by.. 15. And getting to 300 Power isn't even really that difficult, especially with Stances being as good as they are. In most scenarios, I think a boost of around 10-15 is more than reasonable, and for your specific element, it's what attunement potions offer. (they also offer ele def but who cares about that)

Now, of course, Attunes also only work for their specific element (which also includes physical), which is a clear downside, but I also don't think it's that severe given how a lot of builds work in Eternia and the way elepow works now. Air works for all of their subtrees, fire for theirs, etc etc. It's not very uncommon for people to have builds mostly situated within one of these trees, and at worst, it still means more than half of their bar will have the bonus that Sylavanum gives for no downside at all, whatsoever.

My point is simple; Sylavanum, entirely because of attunement potions, has been completely overshadowed. It's a hidden recipe that in the majority of cases appears to be a downside and isn't really tempting enough for most people to be stupid enough to pursue going onto it while attunement potions exist and are as good as they are. The people who ARE on it are the 'generic bad guy' types who are only on it as a character gimmick, or people who have taken it as a character flaw or perhaps didn't know the math involved, didn't know the alternatives, or didn't know its actual usefulness. I'm sure people still take and use it, but from everything I know and have observed?

It's just weak, overall, compared to the alternatives.

So, I wanted to put this thread up to hopefully collect some suggestions. I am, again, aware that the reason it has been consistently nerfed is because people used it as a free 'give me power boost so i win verbs' button, and I don't want to go back to that. Instead of just outright buffing it with no tradeoff whatsoever, I believe the proper way is to give and take from it, making the power bonus more potent (+20? +25?) while also taking away another stat, probably mcap- And maybe even making withdrawals worse, while also keeping in the same flavor. Maybe -30 Pow, -30 Mcap (i will admit i dont know how much -30 mcap actually matters if at all. maybe -50. idk. i'm just spitballing). I also think you'll need to reduce the timer on the Sylavanum withdrawal effect (For it to trigger, not expire) because otherwise people can hoard it and not have to worry about the withdrawal, when it should be a main stay of what makes the drug.. Itself.

Effectively, make it a 'short burst' type of drug with a long and painful downside if you stop taking it.

Or, really, just anything at all so it's not a detriment with very little upside considering what else is available. Sorry for any problems with my math/reasoning.

I am extremely open to discussion and other conversation/suggestions.

[BabyFatJesus]

As someone who is currently using Sylavanum, I reached the power threshold where it would be more (mechanically) advantageous for me to use an attunement potion for my respective element instead of using sylavanum by RPL 180. I started using it at 170ish. This desperately needs a rework.

I can also say that the time between required renewals of the drug's effect is a bit too long. I already gathered 3 more uses of sylavanum before my first one (a period of 120 IRL hours) passed by. Decreasing it's active time is definitely something that should be considered as right now, you can never conceivably run out of it unless everyone who is able to make it just stops doing so entirely.

[Mouse]

It's been a little bit since I posted this to great approval from the count of green numbers on it, but to not avail when it comes to actually buffing the potion.

I have done math; At three hundred mcap, you are better off using an attune so long as your damage is primarily based on a single element. If not, sylavanum is still roughly better. But as you climb higher past 300, the gap starts to get lower and lower between Sylavanum being worth it and sylavanum being a detriment because you are required and forced to take it for less and less value.

Some suggestions I have seen that are legitimately good ideas, and I would like to open discussion for;

1. Make Sylavanum work with other potions. Having an extra 15 pow on top of your other potion effects (attunements?) might be too much and could be lowered to 10, but ultimately would probably be fine at 15 since most people use attunes anyway.

2. Make Sylavanum give a base of 5% AP, flat, instead of 15 pow. This lets Sylavanum compete with Attunes as a "catch all" for all of your spells, and not just the ones that attunements work on.

3. just make it 20 pow, since you'd need 400 pow in that case to match it.

Regardless, should it be buffed, I am again insisting that the time it takes for the withdrawal to set in be NERFED, because 5 days is a very very long time for what is meant to be a potent effect. It should require constant upkeep, and not just a one time 'puff' and you're good for the year. After that, people not rping it correctly can just be manually set to withdrawals. ha ha.

please god please i am begging on my knees