Howdy folks,
I've got a new system that just went live for you all to enjoy that adds a new purpose to the appraisal skill. First, this is a process aimed at advanced users, so you will need at least 200 ranks in appraisal unless you happen to have a very special item that will be discussed later.
The process starts by APPRAISE FOCUS <something>. <Something> can be a lot of different things, and not exclusively an actual item. For now I'm leaving it to folks to discover various options, but after a short time I'll be updating the help section to let people know exactly what sorts of things work for what they want to accomplish.
Once you focus on your <something> a short RT will accompany the beginning of a research phase, and messaging will indicate what target skill is being appraised. The main research phase is done without RT, but you will not be able to perform certain complex actions without ending the research early. This actually uses the same mechanics that magical research does, so you can't do both of these at once either. If you end the research early, you can start back up again with only a minor penalty to time accrued. The research phase duration is based on the difference in your appraisal skill and the target skill. If your appraisal skill is higher than the skill being affected, then the research is shorter.
Once the research phase finishes, you will be messaged again regarding your eureka moment. Three things happen at this point. First, you get a big chunk of appraisal exp. Once again, if the target skill is less than your appraisal skill, the chunk will be bigger. Next you will start gaining smaller chunks of appraisal every once in awhile if you are actively working on the target skill. These smaller chunk will continue for about 20 minutes. Finally, you will gain an exp drain bonus to the target skill. This drain bonus will last for 20 to 60 minutes, and the potency of this bonus is tied directly to your appraisal skill. The drain bonus will allow exp to convert from field exp to actual ranks faster.
Once the bonus period ends, there is a cooldown tied to the skill that was targetted. You will not be able to immediately start another appraisal research that targets the same skill back to back, you will either want to wait it out, or start a different project. The drain bonus also does not stack with the drain bonus that RPAs have, the higher of the two will apply if you happen to have both going. Generally, RPAs will be the better bonus. You also can only have one research active at once. There is a special item type that can be used to research multiple skills in one research setting.
Special items haven't arrived yet, but when they do arrive, they can be researched to bonus 1 or more skills at a time. They also have the added perk of a quicker research time and no minimum appraisal skill to use.
You can also APPRAISE FOCUS CHECK during any part of the process to check on what is going on.
That's about it, let me know if you have questions or problems. But mostly, I hope you enjoy this new appraisal use.
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