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With so many herbs and animal byproducts in the game I am rather surprised by the lack of "alchemy" in wurm. This has been brought up in the past but I would like to start anew with combined suggestions from myself and other players on how to bring a feature like alchemy to wurm.

Here are a few of my thoughts:

  • Firstly, creating glass (vials, bottles, alembics, and severely off-topic: window panes). Another often suggested feature.
  • Potions could vary from curing player diseases (which could afford to be much more in-depth and dangerous), dousing healing covers/bandages to increase potency, enhanced vision in the dark, and other types of medicines (Or perhaps poisons!) *-*-* This is obviously a very sensitive subject as many potions could affect PvP so please discuss with civility.
  • I am a little hesitant on poisons because I'm not really into the PvP scene but if ~I~ had a say in it, Poisons would act more like a long-term (supposing one survived the fight) debuff in which stats/stam were affected and, depending on the QL/skill of the alchemist that made it, would have to have an antidote prepared by a similarly skilled alchemist; Or deal with it until it dissipates (duration would also depend on skill/QL). Of course if it's long term that means poisons would be pretty useless in PvE. -- My reasoning for the long term is that if poisons were instant/short term damaging then it would become cookie-cutter and that's just bleh. -- Poisons as well as Potions both would have some affect on PvP but it is worth discussing.
  • The ability to turn a single 1kg or less lump into another type of common metal (no glimmer/adama) and keeping it's current quality with either a high failure rate, some sort of cooldown, or tools taking increased damage than usual. Failure to transmute could lower lump QL or lose some of it's weight. While gold holds much less value in wurm than in, say, real life I'm a little lost on how to advance the transmuting in terms of skill. I find it silly to instantly start off transmuting tin to gold, or the classic lead to gold as an upstart alchemist but I also would like for it to be useful from time to time. Also a possibility on Transmuting into alloys BUT this is also a little iffy because of the work that otherwise goes into making alloys from scratch.
  • Tools & Methods would include your typical Pestle & Mortar to make powders and pastes (as Klaa suggested) alembics, retorts, beakers and vials. A simple way (to start with) would be to mix ground herbs/etc with water or boiling water; the result would be either an unknown potion (identified by drinking/eatinf or skill via lore) or a refined ingredient used in a later or final stage of creation. Quality of created items could reflect material and/or tool QL or mixed with skill. Quality would affect power and/or duration.

    Powder OR paste activated - water rightclicked -> alchemy -> mix. Final outcome dependant on specific herb or animal part mixed.

EDIT: Went a bit more in depth as I'm no longer typing from a phone. I'll be back with more, thanks!

What are your opinions on alchemy in Wurm? Alchemy doesn't have to be all potions and poisons. We have a world of lesser used materials at our disposal, let's put em to use.

Edited by Kristoff
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Poisons... there's several items ingame already, not to mention stuff that can be added: venom sacs, etc. I once had a suggestion to create crude poisons, mimicing how healing covers are made. Was rather wordy, have it saved on a network drive I dont have access to atm.


 


Basically you had potency as the poison strength and ql acted as a timer for effectiveness over time applied. Not to mention a chance of poisoning oneself applying. General descriptions of ql and potency using Lore.


 


 


On a more general note, mortar 'n pestle for producing powders and mashes, and mix with a solvent like water or alcohol: solutions, elixirs, potions, etc (name differs depending what is used as solvent). Things like retorts, alembics, and so on can be used to slightly increase liquid potency/ql.


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Severus Snape mixing methods..


I would just like to have storage for my high potency healing covers


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Updated with a bit more info and ideas. Honestly It doesnt have to start out so complex. Just a simple crude method such as Klaa's would make for an interesting start to introduce poisons.


 


Alchemy is one of those things i see fitting well with wurm it just needs to be taken step by step. --I mean it's one of the only MMOs out there in which you can cut your own grass, pick up the clippings, and make something out of it O.o;


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Some of this isn't bad, but an xmas gift was given out that turns metals into different metals....and other things so that part is a no go.


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Personally I would find it rather wasteful to permanently exclude such a neat feature due to a single item given out 5 years ago that will (or has already) become so rare that it is more like a trophy to keep rather than being used as intended. Eventually the Transmutation liquid will be a pointless trophy hoarded by collectors.

Just my two iron on the subject im sure others will disagree. we all have our own opinions :P

 

Edit: I had completely forgotten about the transmutation liquid when creating the thread... That's seriously how rarely I hear about it. After reading up on the specifics it loses weight upon use so it's even more at risk of being a 'trophy item'. 

Edited by Kristoff

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Gets a +1 from me.

Though for potions (imrpoving) why not have the complex equipment for that, failure damages the equipment ("The potion bubbles unstably and eats through the bottom of the retort") and causes the loss of some of the potion.  The upside is no more materials are required to improve the potion so a skilled alchemist can improve their potions without hunting for masses of reagents.  Or have a special set of ingredients named "catalysts" that are needed to improve potions.  Rarer ones needed at higher levels.

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Alchemy is kinda rudimentary chemistry. That path leads to things like: refining tar, gunpowder, alloys. The one thing I'd like to see is way to purify metal or increase it ql by sacrificing weight.


 


lol, yea lets limit potential new crafting branches because a Christmas gift happen to let us transmute metals. NOT! New crafting additions are going to be far more beneficial than an old Christmas gift. This is a good example why I think gifts should never be anything more than eye candy. Further, we should introduce crafting methods to make substitutes for all past gifts to set a precedent going forward.

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For the record, Rolf has stated that if he ever thinks about adding gunpowder or steam, we get to kick him.


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For the record, Rolf has stated that if he ever thinks about adding gunpowder or steam, we get to kick him.

 

 

Sometimes, i hope he thinks about it for exactly that reason :P

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Updated tools & methods section with a possible and simple way to make potions or alchemic substance. also: failures could result in dishwater.

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I'd be so holed up in my house filling flasks with liquids until my fingers start bleeding.


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Some of this isn't bad, but an xmas gift was given out that turns metals into different metals....and other things so that part is a no go.

 

I don't think that's a reason not to re-add it as a craftable item.

 

+1 to OP

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I'd be so holed up in my house filling flasks with liquids until my fingers start bleeding.

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For the record, Rolf has stated that if he ever thinks about adding gunpowder or steam, we get to kick him.

Does he mean it?

/equips spiked boots

Hope he has a good quality plate set! ;) hehe

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*Crafts some Tylenol*


 


+1 though; alchemy is weak right now and needs some love


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+1


Expanded alchemy have very nice potential. Potions that are made with dedicated work and used up in a single hearth beat. It would generated its own market with supply and demand.


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Great ideas. I'd love for the survival aspects of the game to be expanded particularly with stuff like sickness and meaningful disease.

This is a good example why I think gifts should never be anything more than eye candy.

Yeah the idea that certain game functionality additions should be blocked off entirely just to preserve the value of old gifts is just silly.

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