Life is Feudal Official Forum

[J2ackson]

My main gripe is that flux is simply a do all god ingredient that is very hard to get in large amounts when it doesnt need to be. This can be solved 2 ways

Making it easier to make
If you get an alchemy table perhaps what would make 1 flux in your mortar and pestle will produce 2 flux with the table

or even better make it used in less things, mainly steel

Steel should be made by mixing iron ore and charcoal to make steel ore/mix or something similar to real life "Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel)

taking out the constant strain of steel on the flux reserves will make it a little more bearable and wont have alchemists having their game time solely made up of collecting herbs to make flux or else nothing can be built or crafted


Rest of this is my experience of the annoyance of flux. Not required reading

With materials like wood, iron, stone or crops you can at focus and make a steady steam of it. With flux you have to rely on finding the right 8 specific herbs out of 45 or more. Collecting those herbs is almost complete random based with no way to simply collect the herbs you need to make flux meaning you have a 8 in 45 chance of getting 1 of the ingredients you need.

Over the past 3 days my group of 10 have been working to make a gate which requires 48 flux. During those days we have constantly had enough wood, iron, food and now flax with people focusing on it on and off the specific resource when it was required. With two people doing nothing but herbalism and alchemy for 3 day we only have 36 flux which will only be used on the gate house when we have enough.

Any time we want to make 1 piece of steel we will need to make 1 flux
Any time we want to make mortar we will need 1 flux for 1 mortar

I know there are also some other materials that require it which just ends up making it a resource that needs to be made 24/7 or everyone in town to level up their herbalism to half

[Grey]

While I think that flux is a good idea implemented, it is really hard to get anywhere...
I mean playing and working alchemy for 6 hours straight to get 2 bars of steel is in my opinion a bit too hard. even when it's meant to be slow. This rate is tedious

[Beerbatov]

Flux is a pain but i dont think its that bad.

[Nexus6]

I think flux should be able to be made from multiple sources outside of herbalism. Since flux can be coal as stated above.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flux_(metallurgy))

Also, flux in mortar confused me, as mortar, if you ask me, should be a set of simple materials (Such as combination of Sand+Clay+ water)

"The first mortars were made of mud and clay. Because of a lack of stone and an abundance of clay, Babylonian constructions were of baked brick, using lime or pitch for mortar."

Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortar_(masonry))

I am hoping they refine this process and use flux appropriately in the future as doing it through herbalism does not really make sense in the above contexts.

[Atanar]

Flux is the bane of my existence as alchemist. It is so hard to collect that it takes up my whole game time.

A.) There is no iron sickle. If you want a steel sickle, the overall flux production hardly get's any faster

B.) The luck 5 bonus is not working. You only ever get one.

C.) The animation for collection is painfully slow

D.) Because the herbs don't auto-stack, sorting them takes forever

You can synergize with multiple herbalists to get flux faster, but it's still too grindy. All of our buildings are waiting for flux (that is, if they are not waiting for leather).

And to correct OP, mortar takes one flux per 5, but it's still way too much.

[Stianos]

We've had the same problems with flux as well, it needs to be looked at.

[MrSandman70]

flux isnt even used when making actual steel. if anything you throw sand and glass in there to attract the impurities. so honestly, all you should need need to make steel is iron, charcoal, sand, glass. you know, they way high quality steel was made 2000 years ago. chemical flux is used to remove oxidation and contaminants from a metal surface when soldering or brazing, and i guess there for shouldnt even be in the game. I think these changes need to be made immediately regarding steel. have the ingredients be true to life instead of some nonsensical attempted to add another layer of co-dependency in the game

on a side note, i have 35 preperations made, 5 naptha, and a flavouring. and 1 flux. 1:41 chance of getting the ingredient? and seeing as you need 2 herb, thats 82 herbs harvested, to get 1 flux. IF you happened to be lucky enough to match up the right 2 unidentified herbs to make flux

[GrimmLiberty]

hhhm, I have the opposite issue... ALL I GET is flux! (exaggerating, but only slightly) lol....

...that's the only issue with making things random is that it might become too random....

BUT I expect that is why they tell you to trade with people....


I collect up 200+ herbs and ended up with about 70-ish flux.

[Happycamel]

hhhm, I have the opposite issue... ALL I GET is flux! (exaggerating, but only slightly) lol....

...that's the only issue with making things random is that it might become too random....

BUT I expect that is why they tell you to trade with people....


I collect up 200+ herbs and ended up with about 70-ish flux.

Teach me master !... please ? xD
Like where on the island do you gather herbs ? might have some say, for instance i noticed ther are more apple trees south and more Pine trees North, maybe it's the same with Herbs?

[GrimmLiberty]

hhhm, I have the opposite issue... ALL I GET is flux! (exaggerating, but only slightly) lol....

...that's the only issue with making things random is that it might become too random....

BUT I expect that is why they tell you to trade with people....


I collect up 200+ herbs and ended up with about 70-ish flux.

Teach me master !... please ? xD
Like where on the island do you gather herbs ? might have some say, for instance i noticed ther are more apple trees south and more Pine trees North, maybe it's the same with Herbs?

look for swamps. I have had great luck in and near them. But since each person's alchemy is random, flux can be a real Boris of a problem for some players, I understand that....

I happen to be one of the ones that got a lot of plants that produce flux... and here I was wanting to be a healer... but very few of my plants do that sort of thing... LOL

[Happycamel]

hhhm, I have the opposite issue... ALL I GET is flux! (exaggerating, but only slightly) lol....

...that's the only issue with making things random is that it might become too random....

BUT I expect that is why they tell you to trade with people....


I collect up 200+ herbs and ended up with about 70-ish flux.

Teach me master !... please ? xD
Like where on the island do you gather herbs ? might have some say, for instance i noticed ther are more apple trees south and more Pine trees North, maybe it's the same with Herbs?

look for swamps. I have had great luck in and near them. But since each person's alchemy is random, flux can be a real Boris of a problem for some players, I understand that....

I happen to be one of the ones that got a lot of plants that produce flux... and here I was wanting to be a healer... but very few of my plants do that sort of thing... LOL

Thanks, i will give it a go

[MrSandman70]

where are the swamps located? ive only explored a small section of the island from north of the mountain, around the eastern and southern face, then decided to settle on the eastern bank of the lake. thats the extent of it

[Thylbanus]

Flux seems good to me. It's getting people to specialize to make it that's hard. For some reason being an alchemist isn't appealing to people.

[Kaltivel]

where are the swamps located? ive only explored a small section of the island from north of the mountain, around the eastern and southern face, then decided to settle on the eastern bank of the lake. thats the extent of it

On the map swamps show up as dark green spots.

[MrSandman70]

where are the swamps located? ive only explored a small section of the island from north of the mountain, around the eastern and southern face, then decided to settle on the eastern bank of the lake. thats the extent of it

On the map swamps show up as dark green spots.

thanks, after i made that post i went in game and noticed the dark green spots and found them, thanks

[Nethrdrake]

Hi guys! We all know what flux can be created on 60 lvl of herbalism (same as naptha). I spent 5~ hours to find 7-8 herbs with flux status. ANd may be my tips can help someone (dont know realy). My english a little bit bad so be patient

First of all collect as much herbs as u can.Then sort them by how many traits you know ("2 of 3", "1 of 3" and "0 of 3"). "3 of 3" just take away, you don't need them.

First you need mix "2 of 3" to explore them fully and exclude. Mix them with other "2 of 3". If its run out use "1 of 3" and only after that use "0 of 3". These steps can help you to exclude many herbs what doesn't needed.

[IzznO]

Its not really hard to get flux if you two or three people working together.

The first thing you need the steel for, is locks for gates and doors.

This is where i feel it really needs to be balanced. The small plaster house for instance, the first time you really get to keep you items safe withouth hiding it out in the open. Needs 3 door modules,wich is fine, but each door needs 3 locks on them. Really? That makes no sence at all to me. And the building only have one door on it anyway.

It shouldent bee that hard to build something to keep your stuff safe imo.

[KaoskniteFMC]

I agree that Flux is not used to make steel, it's used as a welding and brazing agent. I've done some blacksmithing and borax is widely used as flux and can be found in the ground. If flux is still going to be used in the game then here are 3 possible suggestions to make it a more friendly process. As it is now, it's complicated, tedious, boring and unrealistic.

1) Change flux from being gathered from plants to being found by prospecting, like prospecting for flint you could do prospecting for borax or sodium borate as it is also known, and then mined.

OR

2) if you want to stay with the herbs then have a limited type of herbs in designated areas. For example: Suryodaya Bhagya can be found in swamps, Fohatta Torn can be found near water etc. That would at least limit what herbs you will locate depending on where you are and make it more realistic since some plants only grow in certain areas / climates / elevations / soil types / shady / sunny and so on.

OR

3) Have actual different plant textures for each herb so just like in real life if you decide to walk through the woods looking for a specific plant you can recognize it and pick it. Instead of walking through the woods and saying "Gee I hope I find the correct plant since I have no idea what I'm picking." Roll the dice and hope for the best is not very effective guys.

[Uno]

Flux is good to make herbalism (which isn't alchemy) and herbalists useful.
The talks about the process of making steel in the real world are pointless. The point here is GAMEplay and making all professions useful and interdependant while keeping a decent amount of realism.

What is out of control is IMHO the amount of materials needed to make single bar or ingot of steel. I see no reason why out of 2 iron ingots and an additional material to work them (flux) you get onyl 1 steel ingot of the same weight and dimensions. If the output steel would be consistent with the input iron the process would have a lot more sense.

Wether or not reduce a bit the amount of flux required is a balance issue which needs more time IMHO to be evaluated properly.

[KaoskniteFMC]

Perhaps another way to improve on gathering herbs for flux would be to create an inspection, like inspecting the trees, to identify the herb. If inspection performed then lower the gathering time. Once you have a recipe for flux you could then identify only the herbs you require to make the flux and leave any unwanted herbs unharvested.

[Jaxomadar]

As others have mentioned Charcoal should be the ingredient with iron for basic steel. If they want flux to be a way of making something like damascus or harmonic steel that can be its own recipe.

Please devs change the recipe for steel.

[Jalpha]

With each player requiring a different combination of herbs to make flux, they are collecting a lot of herbs which they wont use as a byproduct right?

A lot of players will end up with herbs they cant use to make flux, but another character would be able to use those herbs to make flux.

Trade?

[Thylbanus]

I posted earlier that it seemed just right, but I have to add that the use of flux in mortar is a bit stetched. Mortar and cement existed for over 1000 years before the advent of plate armor. Some other chemical should be used instead of flux. It's a bit on the crazy side.

[IzznO]

I posted earlier that it seemed just right, but I have to add that the use of flux in mortar is a bit stetched. Mortar and cement existed for over 1000 years before the advent of plate armor. Some other chemical should be used instead of flux. It's a bit on the crazy side.

Well the flux to mortar ration isent really that bad imo. You only use it for locks and two types of tools as far as i know.

[Thylbanus]

I posted earlier that it seemed just right, but I have to add that the use of flux in mortar is a bit stetched. Mortar and cement existed for over 1000 years before the advent of plate armor. Some other chemical should be used instead of flux. It's a bit on the crazy side.

Well the flux to mortar ration isent really that bad imo. You only use it for locks and two types of tools as far as i know.

And many masonry buildings/crafting centers.

[Scuur]

Hello

I too have had the "pleassure" of trying to get enough Flux. IMHO the ammount of Flux to make steel is not in right balance with the time it takes to get it. After working for a day to gather Flux i've been able to cast aside 38 different species of herbs (might be even more) of which I can positivly say they do not give me Flux. - Someone with a bit of calculus could say how many combinations it would've at least taking me to get to that number I don't i'm sorry- This means that everytime I go to harvest the herbs I can be sure that most of it will be useless.
Like someone else said above: the lack of auto-stacking the same herb makes it even more tedious to get rid of the ones I do NOT want.
Now on our server we've made a droppoint for the herbs you can't use which others maybe able to, for now this is a working system since others do have "Flux herbs" where I don't have any use for them. With that said, being able to toss out more than 50% of all my harvest is not what I call fun or rewarding. Aso a droppoint isn't a real extra social aspect to the game since it just sits there.

tl;dr: the Flux should stay, the balance between gathering time and the need for it in steel should change.

-Scuur

[Thylbanus]

Hello

I too have had the "pleassure" of trying to get enough Flux. IMHO the ammount of Flux to make steel is not in right balance with the time it takes to get it. After working for a day to gather Flux i've been able to cast aside 38 different species of herbs (might be even more) of which I can positivly say they do not give me Flux. - Someone with a bit of calculus could say how many combinations it would've at least taking me to get to that number I don't i'm sorry- This means that everytime I go to harvest the herbs I can be sure that most of it will be useless.
Like someone else said above: the lack of auto-stacking the same herb makes it even more tedious to get rid of the ones I do NOT want.
Now on our server we've made a droppoint for the herbs you can't use which others maybe able to, for now this is a working system since others do have "Flux herbs" where I don't have any use for them. With that said, being able to toss out more than 50% of all my harvest is not what I call fun or rewarding. Aso a droppoint isn't a real extra social aspect to the game since it just sits there.

tl;dr: the Flux should stay, the balance between gathering time and the need for it in steel should change.

-Scuur

There are a few things wrong with this. It's not useless, it's useless for Flux. Naptha and Flavour are needed, too. Recipies are only pertinent to you. Another alchemist may be able to make Flux fromt the ones you cannot. "Tossing away" half of you harvest is silly. Combine your harvest with other alchemists to help each other. This game rewards cooperation, so cooperate.

Secondly, it DOES auto stack. It will only stack like items of the same quality. Quality is a differentiation that makes a HUGE difference. It can mean the difference between food that feeds you 20-30 or 100 and a bonus to your learning. It means weapons and tools that break after a day of use or one that lasts weeks.

[Scuur]

There are a few things wrong with this. It's not useless, it's useless for Flux. Naptha and Flavour are needed, too. Recipies are only pertinent to you. Another alchemist may be able to make Flux fromt the ones you cannot. "Tossing away" half of you harvest is silly. Combine your harvest with other alchemists to help each other. This game rewards cooperation, so cooperate.

Secondly, it DOES auto stack. It will only stack like items of the same quality. Quality is a differentiation that makes a HUGE difference. It can mean the difference between food that feeds you 20-30 or 100 and a bonus to your learning. It means weapons and tools that break after a day of use or one that lasts weeks.

I should clarify, if I want flux at that point the rest is useless to me. I agree that working together is something which is heavily, let´s say, encouraged by this mechanic but I feel there should be some way to make it more rewarding. For instance mining stone to build a stone wall/gate is a grind as well however I do kind of enjoy it because the grind is quite doable. You have some dirt in the mix. Also the ammount needed is in balance with the time it takes to mine.
I don't know how but I just feel there should be some balancing done to make it more rewarding.

-Scuur

[Zehive]

There are 3 alchemists in my group, we all pooled together last night to make enough flux to make a stone gatehouse.

within 3 hours we had 102 flux

[Forvess]

There are 3 alchemists in my group, we all pooled together last night to make enough flux to make a stone gatehouse.

within 3 hours we had 102 flux

As a group with three alchemists, we spent 5 hours and got a total of 10 Flux. So no, the system is not okay. It's too random.