Difference between revisions of "Unique Variant"

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[[Image:Unique_variant.png|thumb|right|A unique variant [[Jelly Helm]] with an increase to elemental defense is denoted by a star.]]
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[[Image:Unique_variant.png|thumb|right|A unique variant [[Jelly Helm]] with an increase to shadow defense is denoted by a star.]]
When [[crafting]] an item, there is a low probability that you may get a randomized '''unique variant''', a special version of that item with an added bonus.  Unique variants seems to occur approximately 10% of the time while crafting.  You can not choose the unique variant you obtain; however, variants can be transferred when that item is upgraded"Unique variant" is commonly annotated as '''UV'''.
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[[File:Unique variant icon.png|36px|thumb|right|The icon for a Unique Variant.]]
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A '''unique variant''' or '''UV''' on a weapon or armor piece is a special enhancement on the item, that is not present on all items of its type. For example, a [[Nova Driver]] with Attack Speed Increase: Medium fires slightly faster than Nova Drivers without such a UVA UV is a kind of ''ability''; the [[Abilities]] article describes the kinds of UVs, how much effect they have, and how they combine with other kinds of bonuses. An item may possess up to three UVs.
  
These bonuses appear apart from, and are not affected by, other bonuses that come with the original item.
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There are two ways to acquire unique variants. First, when [[crafting]] (or upgrading) an item, there is a low probability that the item will acquire one or more UVs. Second, the vendor [[Punch]] in the [[Bazaar]] lets you apply UVs to any weapon or armor piece. In both cases, you cannot choose the UVs that you obtain; they are randomized.
  
 
== Crafting ==
 
== Crafting ==
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[[Image:Unique variant-crafted.png|thumb|right|Receiving a unique variant while crafting a Haze Bomb.]]
 
[[Image:Unique variant-crafted.png|thumb|right|Receiving a unique variant while crafting a Haze Bomb.]]
There is a small chance of creating a unique variant each time that you craft a new item, and this is the only way to obtain unique variants: pre-made items purchased from vendors will never offer a unique bonus. You may increase the probability of getting a random unique variant simply by crafting many copies of the same item.
 
  
There is also an option to transfer the unique variant when you upgrade an item. If you de-select this option, then the new item crafted will reset to a normal item with a new chance at gaining some random unique variant.
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There is a low chance of creating a unique variant each time that you craft a new item. The chance to get a UV on bombs seems to be around 10% {{fn|http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/1315}}{{fn|http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/9126}} Better UVs are less likely to occur. Here is a breakdown of how often each degree of UV has been observed on bombs: {{fn|http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/9126#comment-49835}}
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* Low: 65.74% ± 8.95%
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* Medium: 21.30% ± 7.72%
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* High: 7.41% ± 4.94%
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* Very High: 5.56% ± 4.32%
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[[Lancer Knightz (Guild)/Unique Variants|Another study]] estimated the probabilities at 66.67%, 27.41%, 4.44%, and 1.48%.
  
Unless an existing bonus is being explicitly transferred to a new item (as described above), each step in the upgrade process provides a new chance at a variant. For example, a unique variant can appear when crafting a cutter, or it may only appear when the [[cutter]] is upgraded into a [[striker]]. For items with long crafting chains, this may provide as many as five chances at obtaining a variant bonus per item.
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When crafting or upgrading, unless an existing unique variant bonus is explicitly transferred to a new item (as described below), each step in the item creation process provides a new chance at a new unique variant. For example, a unique variant may appear when initially crafting a cutter, as well as when the [[cutter]] is upgraded into a [[striker]]. For items with long crafting chains, this may provide as many as four chances at obtaining a unique variant bonus per item.
  
{|
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[[Image:Unique variant-transfer_option.png|thumb|left|When upgrading a unique variant, the recipe screen will have an option to "Transfer Unique Variants."]]
|- valign="top"
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||[[Image:Unique variant-transfer_option.png|thumb|none|When upgrading a unique variant, the recipe screen will have an option to "Transfer Unique Variants."]]
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||[[Image:Unique variant-transferred.png|thumb|none|A transferred unique variant crafting message looks the same as the initial creation of a unique variant.]]
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|}
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=== Crafting Strategy with Alchemy Paths ===
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When upgrading, it is possible to transfer an existing unique variant bonus on the base item to your upgraded item. In the upgrade menu, the option to transfer the unique variant bonus to your upgraded item is pre-selected. If you de-select this option when upgrading, the resultant item will not retain the existing unique variant bonus. It will, however, have a chance at becoming a new unique variant, with a new unique variant bonus or nothing.
  
Due to the ability to transfer a variant through multiple steps, a relatively economical way to obtain unique variants is to mass produce the first item in a crafting chain. For example, a unique [[Ash of Agni]] (crafting cost: 300 energy) can be produced by crafting a large number of haze bombs (10 energy each) and upgrading only the haze bomb that has a unique variant.
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[[Image:Unique variant-transferred.png|thumb|right|A transferred unique variant crafting message looks the same as the initial creation of a unique variant.]]
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Due to the ability to transfer a variant through multiple steps, a relatively economical way to obtain unique variants is to mass produce the first item in a crafting chain. For example, a unique [[Ash of Agni]] can be produced by crafting a large number of [[Fiery Vaporizer]]s and upgrading only the bomb that has the desired unique variant.
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{{clear}}
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== Unique Variant Tickets ==
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In the Haven bazaar, you can meet [[Punch]], the variant smith. For a price, he will remove all UVs from the selected item (if any), and re-apply the desired amount of randomly chosen unique variants to it. The price of his services rises sharply when you decide to apply more than one simultaneous unique variant to an item:
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* 1 unique variant = 20,000 crowns
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* 2 simultaneous unique variants = 75,000 crowns
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* 3 simultaneous unique variants = 225,000 crowns
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An item will never obtain multiple identical unique variants; for example, a sword will not gain more than one charge time reduction bonus from unique variants. Unique Variants already on an item can be locked when using [[Punch]]'s services, allowing you to customize and perfect your item.
  
 
== Types of Unique Variants ==
 
== Types of Unique Variants ==
[[Image:Unique variant-comparison.png|thumb|350px|right|A normal Haze Bomb (left) compared to a Haze Bomb with a unique variant of "Damage Bonus vs Slime: Low."]]
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{{main|Abilities}}
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[[Image:Unique variant-comparison.png|thumb|350px|right|A normal Haze Bomb (left) compared to a Haze Bomb with a unique variant of "Charge Time Reduction: Medium."]][[Image:Arsenal equipment.png|thumb|150px|When viewing equipment in your [[arsenal]], you will see the equipment's icon, whether or not the item has a unique variant (yellow symbol), and its star level.]]
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=== Weapons ===
 
=== Weapons ===
In general, weapon bonuses focus on making the weapon faster or more effective. These bonuses are separate from bonuses that the weapon would naturally gain: thus a gun can have a unique reduction in charge time, even before the standard charge time reduction bonus appears at level 5.
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In general, weapon bonuses will make your weapon more effective. Bonuses are not equally useful for every weapon. For example, charge time reduction on bombs such as the [[Haze Bomb]] and bombs in the Vaporizer Series is a lot more useful than a damage bonus since such bombs are used for inflicting status rather than dealing damage.
  
These bonuses are also separate from other properties of the weapon- for example, a bomb can gain increased attack speed, despite the fact that bombs only have a charged attack.
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Weapons can gain any of the bonuses listed below. These bonuses seem to be percentage based depending on the base stats of the weapons, check the [[Abilities]] for such info.
  
Any weapon can have one of the following three basic possibilities; each possible bonus varies in size from low to ultra. It is presently unknown whether these bonuses are a fixed value, or a percentage of the weapon's default power.
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* Attack speed increase (ASI) (can't be obtained on bombs)
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* Charge time reduction (CTR)
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* Damage bonus vs (construct, gremlin, fiend, beast, undead or slime)
  
* Attack speed increased
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Weapon UVs come in Low, Medium, High and Very High. Weapon UVs are never Ultra or Maximum.
* Charge time reduction
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* Damage bonus vs (construct, gremlin, fiend, beast, slime)- pick one monster family
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For example, a [[Striker]] can have "attack speed increased: high" or "bonus damage vs beasts: moderate," but not both.  
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A total bonus of Ultra or Maximum can be obtained by combining the UV with the inherent bonus on a weapon or armor as explained in the [[Abilities]] article. For example, a [[Combuster]] UV ASI Very High will become Maximum when a [[Vog Cub Coat]] is equipped since the Vog Cub Coat has Sword ASI Medium. The [[Character|Character Tab]] displays the combined abilities of weapon bonuses.
  
=== Armor ===
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=== Helmets, Armor Suits, and Shields ===
Armor unique variants focus on adding protection against damage or status effects. Unique variants can add defense against attacks that the armor would not normally protect against.
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The size of these bonuses does not depend on the stats of the item, and instead are set to fixed numerical protection bonuses ranging from low (5 points) to ultra (25 points). For high-level items, base armor values can be very high- as a result, bonuses to status resistances are more noticeable than bonuses to damage protection. Possible types of unique variants are:
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Armor unique variants focus on adding protection against damage or status effects. Unique variants can either add defense against attacks that the armor would not normally protect against or stack with existing defenses on the armor.
  
* Bonus damage protection from (normal, piercing, elemental, shadow): pick one damage type
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Possible types of unique variants are:
* Bonus status resistance against (stun, freeze, sleep, poison, fire, cold, shock, curse)- pick one status effect
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For example, a [[Wolver Cap]] can have "bonus protection vs shadow: moderate" or "bonus freeze resistance: low," but not both.  
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* Bonus protection from normal, piercing, elemental, or shadow damage
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* Bonus resistance against stun, freeze, poison, fire, shock, or curse status. (Shields cannot gain one of these from Punch)
  
=== Ability Ratings ===
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After the 3rd August 2011 patch, it is no longer possible to acquire sleep resistance as a UV.
{{main|Abilities}}
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Unique variant bonus amounts are described by [[Abilities|ability ratings]], whether or not the stat is displayed by a bar. On armors, the boosts can go up to a Maximum! (6) rating, although Ultra (5) cannot be obtained. For weapons, boosts can go up to a Very High (4) rating.
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Bonus damage protection, much like base damage protection, increases with the star rating. For example, a low elemental UV on a 4* helm could appear longer than a medium elemental UV on a 2* helm. This assumption is made based on watching the tooltip and remains untested.
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The possible UV values an armor can have are Low, Medium, High, Maximum. There are no Armor UVs with the values of Very High or Ultra.
  
 
[[Category:Terminology]]
 
[[Category:Terminology]]

Latest revision as of 23:02, 12 April 2021

A unique variant Jelly Helm with an increase to shadow defense is denoted by a star.
The icon for a Unique Variant.

A unique variant or UV on a weapon or armor piece is a special enhancement on the item, that is not present on all items of its type. For example, a Nova Driver with Attack Speed Increase: Medium fires slightly faster than Nova Drivers without such a UV. A UV is a kind of ability; the Abilities article describes the kinds of UVs, how much effect they have, and how they combine with other kinds of bonuses. An item may possess up to three UVs.

There are two ways to acquire unique variants. First, when crafting (or upgrading) an item, there is a low probability that the item will acquire one or more UVs. Second, the vendor Punch in the Bazaar lets you apply UVs to any weapon or armor piece. In both cases, you cannot choose the UVs that you obtain; they are randomized.

Crafting

Receiving a unique variant while crafting a Haze Bomb.

There is a low chance of creating a unique variant each time that you craft a new item. The chance to get a UV on bombs seems to be around 10% [1][2] Better UVs are less likely to occur. Here is a breakdown of how often each degree of UV has been observed on bombs: [3]

  • Low: 65.74% ± 8.95%
  • Medium: 21.30% ± 7.72%
  • High: 7.41% ± 4.94%
  • Very High: 5.56% ± 4.32%

Another study estimated the probabilities at 66.67%, 27.41%, 4.44%, and 1.48%.

When crafting or upgrading, unless an existing unique variant bonus is explicitly transferred to a new item (as described below), each step in the item creation process provides a new chance at a new unique variant. For example, a unique variant may appear when initially crafting a cutter, as well as when the cutter is upgraded into a striker. For items with long crafting chains, this may provide as many as four chances at obtaining a unique variant bonus per item.

When upgrading a unique variant, the recipe screen will have an option to "Transfer Unique Variants."

When upgrading, it is possible to transfer an existing unique variant bonus on the base item to your upgraded item. In the upgrade menu, the option to transfer the unique variant bonus to your upgraded item is pre-selected. If you de-select this option when upgrading, the resultant item will not retain the existing unique variant bonus. It will, however, have a chance at becoming a new unique variant, with a new unique variant bonus or nothing.

A transferred unique variant crafting message looks the same as the initial creation of a unique variant.

Due to the ability to transfer a variant through multiple steps, a relatively economical way to obtain unique variants is to mass produce the first item in a crafting chain. For example, a unique Ash of Agni can be produced by crafting a large number of Fiery Vaporizers and upgrading only the bomb that has the desired unique variant.

Unique Variant Tickets

In the Haven bazaar, you can meet Punch, the variant smith. For a price, he will remove all UVs from the selected item (if any), and re-apply the desired amount of randomly chosen unique variants to it. The price of his services rises sharply when you decide to apply more than one simultaneous unique variant to an item:

  • 1 unique variant = 20,000 crowns
  • 2 simultaneous unique variants = 75,000 crowns
  • 3 simultaneous unique variants = 225,000 crowns

An item will never obtain multiple identical unique variants; for example, a sword will not gain more than one charge time reduction bonus from unique variants. Unique Variants already on an item can be locked when using Punch's services, allowing you to customize and perfect your item.

Types of Unique Variants

A normal Haze Bomb (left) compared to a Haze Bomb with a unique variant of "Charge Time Reduction: Medium."
When viewing equipment in your arsenal, you will see the equipment's icon, whether or not the item has a unique variant (yellow symbol), and its star level.

Weapons

In general, weapon bonuses will make your weapon more effective. Bonuses are not equally useful for every weapon. For example, charge time reduction on bombs such as the Haze Bomb and bombs in the Vaporizer Series is a lot more useful than a damage bonus since such bombs are used for inflicting status rather than dealing damage.

Weapons can gain any of the bonuses listed below. These bonuses seem to be percentage based depending on the base stats of the weapons, check the Abilities for such info.

  • Attack speed increase (ASI) (can't be obtained on bombs)
  • Charge time reduction (CTR)
  • Damage bonus vs (construct, gremlin, fiend, beast, undead or slime)

Weapon UVs come in Low, Medium, High and Very High. Weapon UVs are never Ultra or Maximum.

A total bonus of Ultra or Maximum can be obtained by combining the UV with the inherent bonus on a weapon or armor as explained in the Abilities article. For example, a Combuster UV ASI Very High will become Maximum when a Vog Cub Coat is equipped since the Vog Cub Coat has Sword ASI Medium. The Character Tab displays the combined abilities of weapon bonuses.

Helmets, Armor Suits, and Shields

Armor unique variants focus on adding protection against damage or status effects. Unique variants can either add defense against attacks that the armor would not normally protect against or stack with existing defenses on the armor.

Possible types of unique variants are:

  • Bonus protection from normal, piercing, elemental, or shadow damage
  • Bonus resistance against stun, freeze, poison, fire, shock, or curse status. (Shields cannot gain one of these from Punch)

After the 3rd August 2011 patch, it is no longer possible to acquire sleep resistance as a UV.

Bonus damage protection, much like base damage protection, increases with the star rating. For example, a low elemental UV on a 4* helm could appear longer than a medium elemental UV on a 2* helm. This assumption is made based on watching the tooltip and remains untested.

The possible UV values an armor can have are Low, Medium, High, Maximum. There are no Armor UVs with the values of Very High or Ultra.

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