Game Mechanics Fixing Drop Rates

leechheart

leechheart

Skeletron Prime
Okay, I've been really frustrated with this game's drop rates. It took me 14 attempts to get the Pygmy Staff from Plantera. I've defeated around 60 paladins yielding only one hammer which was lost after connection issues. I've spent hours in the Jungle, Ice, and Hallow Biomes trying to get key molds but get none, whereas in the corruption which I rarely visit I get 2 keys. So I've proposed an idea:

After a certain amount of times not getting an item, you will automatically get it from that enemy. This would be 3x the original drop rate (e.g. for the Paladin's Shield, which normally has a 1/10 chance of dropping, you would get it after 30 paladins)

Considering how I am an Xbox player, even if Re-Logic implemented this it would take years before it comes to console, if at all.
 
For any given drop, this will affect around 5% of players: the chance of not getting a drop after killing three times the reciprocal is around 4 to 5%. Given how many different drops Terraria has, it's very likely to occur at least a few items for each player per playthrough, but it's not an issue unique to rare items (it's just more apparent).

That, however, is not my main objection against changing the drop system, it's that bouts of bad luck like not getting a Paladin's Hammer within 60 kills are generally offset by bouts of good luck, such as, as you mention yourself, getting two Corrupted Key Molds within relatively few kills. If you're going to 'fix' bad luck by putting a threshold on every drop, the whole system loses its excitement: people often say they don't enjoy grinds, but they do enjoy being rewarded for their efforts and persistence. On the other hand, they also like getting lucky once in a while. A grind where you have to kill a maximum of X amount of NPCs is much less interesting than a grind where you simply don't know.

Furthermore, what happens when you've passed that threshold, and want more drops? Do you get one every X kills, like banners? Or is the guaranteed drop a one-off thing? Either way, it will feel very unnatural (banners work because it's the game itself rewarding the player, not the NPCs).

All in all, I'm not in favour of this. If you want to make items more common, then the best thing to do is just to flat out increase the drop chance.
 
I don't want to instantly get an item one would normally grind for, but I do support the concept of adaptive drop-rates slowly increasing with the amount of an enemy you kill. I also support fixing the drop rates which are currently broken; for instance, Rod of Discord does not become more common in expert mode.
 
I would support increasing odds for obtaining items. This would of course have to be minimal, like you have 0.5% chance and with 10 kills it increases by 0.1% or something like that. I don't want to have a 100% chance very easily given to me, especially with mobs that you can kill in hundreds, where there are those that i rarely see.
To sum it up, have the drop chance increase slightly with each 1/2/5/10 kills, but reach a a certain level when it does not increase.

Alternatively, having banners would not only increase damage to enemies but also slightly increase drop chances.
 
Maybe a potion that would increase all drop rates a certain amount. And have 2 or 3 tiers of the potion. Ex; lesser luck potion, luck potion, greater luck potion.
 
Agreed - a potion (craftable consumable) seems like the best approach; it doesn't take too much effort but still more than zero, and it's separate from the loot grind itself. Terraria is the only game I bother crafting consumables because they're not too much of a hassle to make, and they provide effects that aren't simply obsoleted by something else nor are they by themselves too strong. For a drop rate buff I think potions would be perfect.
 
PaulJ said:
Agreed - a potion (craftable consumable) seems like the best approach; it doesn't take too much effort but still more than zero, and it's separate from the loot grind itself. Terraria is the only game I bother crafting consumables because they're not too much of a hassle to make, and they provide effects that aren't simply obsoleted by something else nor are they by themselves too strong. For a drop rate buff I think potions would be perfect.
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Agreed. Potions in Terraria actually make a difference. Where in other games the only really useful one is a healing potions.
 
And another potion or even a special late game banner that REDUCES chances of dropping anything (maybe to zero) (maybe except rare loot) to reduce the noise around your base.
PaulJ said:
Terraria is the only game I bother crafting consumables because they're not ... too strong.
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So if they'd be stronger you'd actually NOT make em? Wow!
 
@Mislic the problem is that in most games when you get a special potion, it generally gives you such a boost that a single one changes the tide of battles. Here, you have to chug down a series of potion, because each gives a substantial, but single effect. Also, in most games these wonderful drinks are pretty rare, whereas in Terraria you can have a whole backpack full of potions.
 
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