User:Tennessee Ernie Ford/Shortcuts/Treasure runs

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I compared four strategies for minimizing effort/maximizing gains from hunting treasure. The amount of cash is decent, but the time required is substantial: assuming it takes you 10 minutes/treasure (including transit times etc), you have to invest 2 hours each month for about 10k if you visit all the treasures.

Since all Treasure decays in value each time you visit, the most efficient method is to farm only the high-value treasures of The Desolation and The Realm of Torment: you earn nearly half the overall value, but take 5-6x less total time and (perhaps more importantly), you reduce the impact that decay has on your loot. After you have opened a lot of treasures, you can assume that the treasures are nearing their minimum values and can return to farming all of them (if you are so inclined).

The advantage of other types of farming using 7H or 8 players:

  • Progressing other titles (Lucky, Treasure, etc).
  • Better chances of other types of items.

The biggest advantage of monthly treasure running is: it's sort of fun.

Summary Data[edit]

Strategy Visits
(per year)
Expected cash
per month
Expected cash
per treasure
Expected cash
per hour
Monthly time investment
All treasure 144 10Platinum 860Gold 905Gold 5Platinum 430Gold 2 hours
Max treasure 24 4Platinum 336Gold 2Platinum 168Gold 13Platinum 7Gold 0.33 hour
Value treasure 48 6Platinum 135Gold 1Platinum 534Gold 9Platinum 202Gold 0.66 hour
Easy treasure 72 5Platinum 200Gold 867Gold 10Platinum 401Gold 0.5½ hour
FoW NM run 12 10Platinum Unknown 5Platinum 2 hours

Methodology[edit]

Assumptions
  1. The first treasure opens yields 100% max value and the 24th yields 50% value
    • This was modeled by using exponential decay (100→97→...50%)
    • This isn't exactly what Joe Kimmes said, but relatively close and easier to explain.
  2. It always makes sense to start in Torment and work way south (lesser treasures).
  3. It takes about 10 minutes to visit each treasure (setting up team + mapping + navigating + fighting), → 6 visits = 1 hour elapsed time.
  4. FoW NM runs should yield an average of 3 shards (worth at least 3Platinum each) plus another 2-3Platinum in cash plus merchantable items.
Strategies compared

The strategies compared are:

  1. All: Open all treasures every month.
  2. Max: Open only Tormented.
  3. Value: Open only Tormented and Desolation.
  4. Easy: Open only Kourna & Vabbi (representing the idea of sticking to the treasures that can be easily run or are on the way to something else)...5 minutes per treasure instead of 10.