Difference between revisions of "Using Spice Context 2 (Source)"

Latest revision as of 06:24, 18 February 2008

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=smuggler&message.id=64832

Quote: Fellow Smugglers,

This is an attempt at an updated form of Snaproll's Spice Guide. Many props to him and his original work, yet I feel that updating the guide with some commonly asked issues regarding spice has made an update necessary. I will try to keep to his original work as I can, using what he has written as often as possible in the spirit that this is his work, after all. I'm just helping update it for him.

This guide will hopefully help you all understand what the role of spices is, help you decide which spice is best for your needs and help the upcoming spice-crafting smuggler with his progression.

When to Use Spice, and What to Expect:

Spice Basics: Spices are portable buffs that can be used on demand. Using a different spice will enhance certain stats (anywhere from 1 to 6) for a specific time, followed by a downer period. You may only take one spice at a time. Spices are created by smugglers.

Effects of Spice: Each spice has a list of attributes that are enhanced and a duration. For example, say you have a spice that increases Health by +100 for 400 seconds. When you take the spice, your current and maximum Health both increase by 100 points, and will remain that way for 400 seconds.

The Downer: After the spice has run its course, the downer kicks in. The effect of this is to REDUCE the stat that was buffed by the same amount that it was increased. So, in the last example, your maximum and current Health will decrease by 100. Downers last for one-third of the active time. The most important thing to remember is this. Strong spice = bad downer.

So why use spice?: Now that we have the technical details out of the way, the question remains, what good are they really? First of all, they are portable, on demand buffs. No doctor or dancer is needed to buff you and they can be taken before important battles or used in emergencies. Also, they stack with the other types of buffs.

Secondly, spices are the most direct way to effect the all-important Mind pool during combat. A few of the spices have a +Mind effect, and can act as the elusive Mind stimpack in emergencies. Several spices have bonuses to Focus and Willpower, and can drastically increase the effectiveness of Mind using classes like riflemen, medics, and even squad leaders.

The problem, however, is the downer. Because of this, spices must be used with much more care than other buffs. You need to think about the downer and how it will effect you - indeed lack of downer preparation is the primary reason many people have been turned off from spices. Basically, extended group hunts with lots of constant fighting are not ideal situations for a powerful spice like Neutron Pixie, because you will likely be incapacitated by the downer at a bad time. Spices become much more useful in situation when you can control the time of the battle and be somewhere safe for the downer. For example: right before you are about to solo a group of Dark Troopers surrounded by several other stormtroopers. (Sound familiar?) By the time you finish the mission, run back to Coronet to pick up another, and get out to your next mission, the downer should have worn off and you can be ready to pop another. Other examples of when to use a spice: before attacking the deranged AT-ST at the end of the Warren. Before PvP battles. The final room of the nightsister cave. The list is endless.

You can, however, still use spice in long hunts. The problem is that most people only know about and use Neutron Pixie and Muon Gold, both which have large primary HAM effects and are the WORST for causing yourself to be incapped. Some of the other spices can be used repeatedly without major side effects. More on this later.

Spice Duration: One of the things to keep in Mind with spice is the duration. Spice durations range from 400 seconds to 800 seconds, although most last 600 seconds (10 minutes). Keep this in Mind - if you are running those darktrooper missions and your pixie downer kicks in right when you are ready to start a mission, maybe use a shorter duration spice so the downer hits while you are in coronet. In general, though, the longer the duration the better.

Secondary Stat Spice Usage: I hope to really open some eyes on how some of the spices other than Muon Gold or Neutron Pixie can be used. Remeber that the downer only effects the stats that are initially effected by the spice itself. Therefore, if your spice only effects secondary stats, you will NEVER be incapped by the spice directly. It also doesn't lower your HAM pools at all, so you will never take a whole bunch of "damage" when the downer kicks in. This is key - if the spice you are using only effects Focus, for instance, just don't use any Mind specials during the downer, and spam them like crazy during the upper. Effective, isn't it?? Most people have had bad experiences with spice because the 1000 Health or 500 Mind damage they take when the downer kicks in flattens them. Muon and Neutron aren't the only spices around.

Doctor and Chef Buffs as Related to Spice: Doctor Buffs are better than spices on the stats they affect. Get them if you can. If you aren't a Doctor yourself, though, spices are much easier to find and use. Please remember that spice does stack with any and all Doctor or Chef food buffs as well. Making them completely complimentary.

Monitoring the Spice timers: There is now a buff window as of Publish 6. In here you can monitor the Active Time remaining on your spice, as well as the time remaining for your downer to go away, when it comes to that. A very useful addition, so please keep an eye on it.

Which Spices Do What?

Ok, now that that is all out of the way, I am going to list all the differant spices and their effects, along with some comments on how they are best used. There are 15 types of spice - 3 are granted to the smuggler at each level of spicing plus 3 at novice smuggler. The level of spice doesn't have much to do with how good it is - some of the best are level 0 while some of the worst are level 2 or 3.

Level 0 Spices - Novice Smuggler

• Grey Gabaki - +500 Focus

Active Time: 500 seconds. Down Time: 166 seconds

Ingredients: 15 Vegetable, 5 Organic

This is a great spice. This is the one that will let you spam Mind specials at will, as long as you avoid them during the downer. You can use these all throughout an extended hunt do vastly increase your effectiveness and you never take a reduction in any HAM pool. If you are a riflemen, and can't get any Muon Gold, buy some.

• Scramjet - +300 Strength

Active Time: 700 seconds. Down Time: 233 seconds

Ingredients: 10 Meat, 10 Reactive Gas

Another decent spice. If you spam Health specials a lot this is a good spice to use for extended hunt situations for the same reasons as outlined in Grey Gabaki, above. Long duration. Highly recommended.

• Shadowpaw - -100 Strength, +250 Action, +250 Quickness

Active Time: 600 seconds. Down Time: 200 seconds

Ingredients: 25 Organic, 5 Metal

An Action spice - almost identical to Giggledust (below) but with a Strength hit. An ok spice if you use Action specials (pistoleers). Special importance to the smuggler as it is the best grinding spice.

Level 1 Spices - Naturals

• Giggledust - +300 Action, +300 Quickness, -100 Focus

Active Time: 600 seconds. Down Time: 200 seconds

Ingredients: 10 Organic, 5 Bone, 5 Flowers

Another decent Action spice - can be used instead of Shadowpaw if you would rather take a Focus hit than a Strength hit.

• Sweetblossum - +100 Health, +600 Constitution, -100 Action, -100 Quickness, -200 Focus

Active Time: 600 seconds. Down Time: 200 seconds

Ingredients: 10 Flowers, 5 Water, 5 Metal

A powerful Constitution spice with several side effects. If you need to regenerate your Health a lot, then use this one. It may be useful for reducing downtime on longer hunts if you try not to get hit much during the downer.

• Yarrock - +200 Mind, +100 Focus, +100 Willpower

Active Time: 600 seconds. Down Time: 200 seconds

Ingredients: 10 Wood, 5 Cereal, 5 Chemical

Mini-Muon. Provides a helpful boost to the Mind stats. Because it's a Mind spice it's automatically important, and may be good for Mind using classes that don't want to take the much bigger Muon Gold.

Level 2 Spices - Meds

• Pyrepenol - +300 Strength, -100 Quickness, -50 Focus

Active Time: 600 seconds. Down Time: 200 seconds

Ingredients: 10 Water, 10 Metal, 5 Chemical

Another good one for spamming Health specials and avoiding "damage" when the downer hits. I have no idea why someone would use this while scramjet exists.

• Sedative h4B - +400 Health, +300 Constitution, -100 Mind, -100 Focus

Active Time: 600 seconds. Down Time: 200 seconds

Ingredients: 10 Organics, 10 Meat, 5 Metal

Another Health one, Focusing on regeneration. Might be good for reducing downtime if you've got no medics. Be ready for the 400 Health downer.

• Zyopolene Droid Lubricant - +250 Health, +250 Strength, +250 Constitution

Active Time: 600 seconds. Down Time: 200 seconds

Ingredients: 10 Chemical, 10 Gas, 5 Metal

Another Health based spice, affecting all three Health stats.

Level 3 Spices - Stims

• Crash and Burn - -200 Action, -200 Quickness, +400 Mind, +200 Focus

Active Time: 600 seconds. Down Time: 200 seconds

Ingredients: 15 Fruit, 15 Vegetables, 5 Metal

Another Mind one with side effects. I don't think this one is all that good - there are better Mind spices out there.

• Gunjack - +500 Strength, -200 Quickness, -100 Focus

Active Time: 600 seconds. Down Time: 200 seconds

Ingredients: 15 Cereal, 15 Meat, 1 Carbosyrup (from Domestic Arts I in Artisan)

The strongest Strength spice out there, very useful for those who use lots of Health specials, and no "damage" on the downer. Good spice. Also rare because it requires an artisan component - this is the only spice a smuggler can't make by their own tree alone.

• Thrusterhead - +600 Mind, +200 Focus

Active Time: 400 seconds. Down Time: 133 seconds

Ingredients: 15 Chemical, 5 Meat, 15 Gas

This spice gives the biggest Mind boost of them all, 600 points. This makes it the best "emergency Mind stim" in the game. The shortest duration spice. This spice is also used often when grinding the Spice tree, and is considered a 'step up' in XP over Shadowpaw if you have the resources.

Level 4 Spices - Chems

• Booster Blue- +400 Action, +400 Quickness

Active Time: 600 seconds. Down Time: 200 seconds

Ingredients: 15 Copper, 15 Chemical, 15 Metal

The pistoleer's spice, great for using Action specials. I like using this when I'm using my smuggler specials with my high HAM cost launcher pistol - it works wonders. I can use last ditch, lowblow, and panic shot easily.

• Muon Gold - +500 Mind, +500 Focus, +500 Willpower

Active Time: 600 seconds. Down Time: 200 seconds

Ingredients: 15 Water, 15 Radioactive, 15 Metal

By far the best selling, most used spice out there. Very effective for Mind using classes allowing you to use Mind specials at will and regenerate Mind quickly. It's power is also it's downfall, as the downer is quite nasty. Be prepared!

• Neutron Pixie - +1000 Health, +200 Strength, +200 Constitution, +500 Action, +50 Quickness, +50 Stamina

Active Time: 800 seconds. Down Time: 266 seconds

Ingredients: 15 Gemstones, 15 Mineral, 15 Fruit

The big one. Massive bonuses to Health and Action and the longest duration spice until the incredible downer. Neutron Pixie is not for the faint hearted. Remember, the secondary stats are only buffed a little, so this spice mostly just adds (a lot) to your HAM. This is great for solo battles, especially if you can't heal, but in general you will risk incapacitation when the downer hits. You may have over 1000 Health, but any damage at all an you are dirtnapping. Ensure you are someplace safe for the downer.

Grinding the Spice Tree as a Smuggler:

What Materials are needed to grind through Spice?

A great deal of the information here was obtained from Reavus' How to Grind Smuggler Webpage, in order to speed this along.

The main spice we will work with, is Shadowpaw in Novice Smuggler.

XP Payout:

• 126 XP / Shadowpaw (In Practice Mode) which requires 25 Organic, 5 metal per spice.

Breakdown of Ingredients needed per Skill Box:

Spices I - 8000 XP

• 64 shadowpaw
• 1600 organics
• 320 metal

Spices II - 12000 XP

• 96 shadowpaw
• 2400 organics
• 480 metal

Spices III - 16000 XP

• 127 shadowpaw
• 3175 organics
• 635 metal

Spices IV - 20000 XP

• 159 shadowpaw
• 3975 organics
• 795 metal

Grand Total:

• 446 shadowpaw
• 11150 organics
• 2230 metal

• note: amounts do not take into account critical failures.

Spice Crafting Macro:

Line up 3 generic crafting tools in F1-F3 on an empty toolbar.

Write the following macro and stick it in F4.

/ui action toolbarSlot00; /selectdraftSchematic 9; (May need to adjust this number until you find the correct schem for Shadowpaw. It was 9 for me.) /pause 7; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no item; /pause 2;

/ui action toolbarSlot01; /selectdraftSchematic 9; /pause 7; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no item; /pause 2;

/ui action toolbarSlot02; /selectdraftSchematic 9; /pause 7; /nextCraftingStage; /nextCraftingStage; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no item; /pause 2;

/ui action toolbarSlot03;

This will get you all the way through Spices 4 in a few hours if you have someone close by to train you as you level.

Double click your resources during the 7 second pause. Unless you use a Third Party macro program, it is not possible to have the game click in the resources for you. Third Party Programs are prohibited by the EULA which you agree to whenever you play this game.

Known Bugs and Issues with Spice:

While this is mostly fixed, some players still find the rare occasion when spices can cause incapacitation during the downer period if the player's stats are lower then the stat drop from the spice. Since most high-level spices have very strong downers it is causing many players to not use spices at all.

Spice Experimentation: This is a very touchy subject on the Smuggler forums and is continuously argued over. Currently experimentation on Spice does nothing. Many players want experimentation to make the market more competitive while others like the fact that resource quality doesn't mean anything, thus making it easier to make and sell without having to spend a lot of time looking for high quality resources.

With the Chef revamp, many of our spices are considered even more obsolete, possibly to the point of no longer being needed. This is not a call to change chef foods, but to adjust spices. Those Chefs deserve a lot of good things.

Summary:

Spices are your friend. If used right they can be very useful. The important thing to remember is that there are more spices than Muon and Neutron and that really all of them have a use. Be creative and try some of them. Know how they work and you will be better prepared.

An advertisement from the original author: Snaproll is now selling almost all (soon to be all) of these spices on the LOWCA server. I have a vendor in the trading post near Coronet and one at Snaproll's Slicing and Spicing near Moenia if you are on Naboo (5570 -3679). I am also glad to do special orders - send an email to Snaproll.

Message Edited by Smuggler_Caylin on 03-01-2004 04:20 PM