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Pro/Cons of Upgrading Bows w/Blue instead of Red ?

HabimaruHabimaru
Mabinogi Rep: 3,630
Posts: 761
Member
in Help
So I've accumulated a whole bunch of those Upgrade-Stones but most of them seem to be Blue for some reason.
I know people say to use Red Stones for Bows but I really really want to use up these Blue-Coloured Stones.
What are all of the Pros & Cons of going Blue instead of Red for a Bow ?

Comments

  • KensamaofmariKensamaofmari
    Mabinogi Rep: 34,745
    Posts: 7,909
    Member
    Here are the charts from wiki for comparison if needed
    https://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/view/Special_Upgrade#Upgrade_Bonus
  • LutetiumLutetium
    Mabinogi Rep: 3,605
    Posts: 239
    Member
    The simple answer is the benefits depend on the content in which you use the weapon. Blue upgrades will help ensure 1 shots in lower and mid tier content like normal dungeons and shadow missions generally up to hardmode. Red upgrades will actually scale with your damage and are much more useful in later content where you won't 1 shot without a critical and their bonus damage regardless or will be hitting the target many times in which case the average damage for Red will overtake Blue due to is being a percentage bonus rather than flat.

    This is the case for all melee and ranged type weapons, and even Cylinders, however it is not the case with Wands or Staves; They make things a little more complicated but that isn't directly related to your specific question about bows.
    Generally speaking Blue special upgrades are always going to be better on a staff because the current "soft caps" for possible magic attack are only barely enough to break even with Red for intermediate and advance magics and that isn't even considering magic being the slowest skill set even with reforges (upcoming) ego and erg boosts. Blaze is a case where Red is impossible to break even with Blue currently due to how high its scaling off of matk is.
    There is an outlier though, Firebolt breaks even around 300~ magic attack, so a Red upgraded chain casting Tribolt wand is actually viable compared to Blue, this applies to fusion bolt with Firebolt as well for the upcoming fusion chain casting for wand egos.

    That being said, a Blue special upgraded Bow or Gun have been made effectively pointless due to gachapon Black Dragon Knight Bow, Black Star, and Golden Dowra SE as they will all surpass the min/max damage of Blue special upgraded counterparts. You can get a Taunes MK3 close to Black Star max but you end up with half~ish the max dura and are paying 10x repair so it isn't really viable.