Mystic suggestion

The way enchanting works right now (which, bear in mind, may change as we continue internal testing and receive feedback) is that you'd get to choose which affix you re-roll. So the process would be something like: visit Mystic --> select affix to re-roll --> pay material cost --> get randomly-generated list of new affixes --> chose single affix from list --> old affix replaced with new affix --> profit. The plan, at the moment at least, is to make an item account-bound if it's enchanted.

We're still tinkering with the actual costs and mechanics, as well as some remaining niggly details (like can you re-roll the same affix over and over? should the costs scale with each affix you re-roll? if yes, how much? etc) which is why we haven't done a grand reveal of the Mystic just yet.

*edited enchanting process for clarity

Hey that's cool, instead of just a direct reroll of some crap affix then stuck with a worse item like 'why did I ever do this..' you'll be selecting your own fate? Sweet, now the devs are using their thinking caps when it comes to items!

We'll see how everything pans out, but that's just the current thinking. As with all features in game development, it's very likely enchanting will undergo some changes before it ships (for various reasons: feedback, technical issues, balance issues, etc). I just wanted to share an idea of how this particular service of the Mystic might feel and maybe even generate some discussion on the topic. :)

09/04/2013 04:37 PMPosted by Dispirit

i'd like to learn more about the "randomly generated list of new affixes". What will they include?

No details to share right now! I'm totally going to be "that guy" and encourage you to stay tuned. (I know, I know. At least I didn't drop a "soon," right? :P)

There still needs to be an element of "random" involved as well as limitations for this system to work. Otherwise literally every single person would be running around with godly gear in no time.

Random element: the list of replacement stats.
Limitation: The cost and/or amount of re-rolls we can perform.

The Mystic should and will be a supplementary factor of itemization, not something that replaces the actual hunt for loot aka the whole name of the game.

This is spot on.

We are still iterating heavily on the system, so the exact details may vary from what we talk about today, so let's talk about our values. By focusing on our design values, even if the exact implementation changes, you''ll be able to see our intent and what's important to us. Here are some of our design values for enchanting:

Value: It's important for the actual hunt for the loot to still matter
How enchanting supports this: As currently designed, you are only allowed to reroll ONE property on an item. In this way, each item can only be changed so much from it's original state. This allows enchanting to feel meaningful, while still allowing lots of room for players to resume hunting for an even better "base item" to enchant into an even better item.

Value: We want this to be a meaningful end-game sink
How enchanting supports this:
1. As previously mentioned, all items that are enchanted will be bound to account
2. Even though you are allowed to reroll only ONE property, you can reroll that property over and over. For example, suppose an item has 200 str, 200 vit, 80 res all, +1200 Life on Kill and +400 Life on Hit. You might choose to reroll the +1200 Life on Kill and get +87 Hitpoints per second. You can then reroll the +87 Hitpoints per second and get +4 gold pickup radius. You can reroll the "mutable" stat as many times as you want, but the other 4 stats (200 str, 200 vit, 80 res all and +400 Life on Hit) are now "locked in" and cannot be rerolled.
3. We want to ensure enchanting is meaningful on Legendary items. We are working hard to make sure Legendary items are awesome. If we want enchanting to be a meaningful end-game sink, it needs to work on the best items in the game. It has not yet been determined whether this means you can enchant the "guaranteed" properties of a Legendary, or if you can only reroll the "random" properties of a Legendary. This aspect of the design is still under iteration but at the end of the day we want enchanting Legendary items to be worthwhile.

Value: We want to avoid "Buyer's Remorse"
How enchanting supports this: Have you ever played an RPG with an enchanting system that sometimes randomly made the item worse? Since we're allowing the result to be random, it's possible that your choices for enchanting are worse than the property you're replacing. Oftentimes this can lead to a feeling of dread when you begin the enchanting process. Or maybe you re-enchant the item over and over hoping to at least get something better than what you started but you get unlucky and run out of money or reagents before you get a good roll! To mitigate this, when we present you the list of options one of the options is ALWAYS the original property. So if you don't like the new options you can always choose to keep the old one. Now you can enchant with peace-of-mind.

Standard disclaimer. Enchanting is a work-in-progress. Expect it to change before it's done, but this is a glimpse at the current state.

Exactly how re-rolling properties on Legendaries work is likely to change before we're done, so we shouldn't get into too much detail yet there. That said, consider the point taken that being able to go from a "special" property to a "normal" one as a one-way operation without ever being able to return would be less than desirable.

One small correction to what Lylirra said earlier. You pay the costs before you see the randomly generated enchanting options.

One small correction to what Lylirra said earlier. You pay the costs before you see the randomly generated enchanting options.

Thanks sir! (OP has been updated.)

09/04/2013 11:00 PMPosted by KirusAlufras

I think the answer is yes, if I did not hear it wrong, Josh said on the Gamescom presentation.

Correct. Sockets are a possible affix that can be re-rolled onto an item (at least currently).