Impackt: New Year

Out with the old, in with the new year

Blueprints

Maces have traditionally been a very neglected line and totally needed the joy that is the First Morning Star, with its magnificent 0 secondary stats and affinities.

This is likely a bug and will be fixed in a future update 😛

From a crafting perspective

Rising Star breaks two traditions that the bow line has.

The first is that it requires Iron/Steel instead of Wood/Ironwood. Given how many Wood blueprints have been released recently (3 of the previous 4 Mega packs have had a Wood-based T11) this is a welcome relief from the lumber spam.

The second is that bows normally tend to be cheap in rare resource costs and have been a good staple item for crafting rotations. The Rising Star can work in there but the jewel cost does run on the high side for the line post-ascension coming in at 22.

It’s also the third T11 print in a row to use Precious Shell as its component cost – there are other components out there Jeremie.

From a meta perspective

Bows have an unfortunate disadvantage when being considered for meta purposes as they generally have to compete against either Crossbows or Guns, both of which pack a significantly higher damage stat.

Rising Star does fall short of the competition (Dogbone Blaster/Titan Crossbow) however with it packing defence as a secondary instead of health it can be attractive for Wardens – the increase can be more valuable in some scenarios (for example, making a Warden to solo the Harpy Matriarch gets significantly better odds with Rising Star than their other options.)

The other bow-wielding classes would be better served using another option. As with the Santa Guard Boots from the previous pack an affinity bonus would have really helped out here.

Scenarios you should consider using Rising Star

• You’re a Warden
• Your specific skill setup shows a bigger number in the community simulator.

Scenarios you should consider not using Rising Star

• You’re not a Warden
• You don’t want to mess around with a spreadsheet.

Decorations

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Avatar Items

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Superior Pack

Blueprint

From a crafting perspective

Hey look it’s Precious Shell as a component, that’s novel.

More expensive in resource costs than the Rising Star from the mega pack (though arguably more valuable to be in a rotation due to its meta potential,) I’d pick the Ring of New Beginnings if you were going to looking for something cool for the iron crafting spot.

From a meta perspective

With its 21 Health secondary the Ring of New Beginnings takes its place as lord of the rings. Most ring-bearing classes tend to be on the more fragile side of things and benefit greatly from this health boost, though in the case of dancers make sure you don’t need the affinity bonus from Gyatso’s Amulet (rings and amulets occupy the same spot on them.)

Scenarios you should consider using Ring of New Beginnings

• You’re a Ranger/Thief/Ninja/Mage (which sounds like a cool party)
• You’re upgrading from Bunbun Band
• You’re a Dancer/Monk that doesn’t need the affinity from their ring slot

Scenarios you should consider not using Ring of New Beginnings

• You’re a Dancer/Monk that does need the affinity from their ring slot
• You already have a lot of health due to your skills/other gearing options (in which case you may be better using Crunchy Bracelet.)

Flooring/Wallpaper

Summary

• The First Morning Star does look cool but is currently bugged (presumably.)
• Rising Star rises above other bows, though it faces tough competition.
• The Ring of New Beginnings is the new king of the ring.

Final Score

Mega Pack: 6/10
Superior Pack: 8/10