Chang's Suboptimal Bow Journal

Hello, my name is changhyun (chang), a long-time player who goes through super obsessive ML gaming and then years of not logging in a single time AKA the weakest member of Nani guild and a giga 4funplayer.

I've been playing on my BM account HYVN that I'm going through HP challenges with (next tier update please) and it's some of the most fun I've had in MapleLegends thus far. My goal for this journey is thus to craft a perfect dragon shiner bow and document the journey. I don't have lofty end-game goals for several reasons but mainly:
a) lack of time
b) just graduated with my DPT and will be entering the workforce
c) i'm a casual player through and through

I honestly have no idea what the expectation for how long it will take to finish the bow but I'm expecting it to take quite a while. On a side note, shoutout to my favorite ML journals from kiwiz, raysinz5, and sharkboy farmer/echoger/the person i ask all my annoying questions to Jaewonnie for inspiring me. Just don't expect nearly the level of detail/optimization/consistency/grind you see from them, I exist as the antithesis to their journals hehe

Entry #1: Highlights

I actually started the process of making bows prior to starting tracking more data, and even the data I'm tracking is going to be quite lackluster/not too detail oriented. However, I can say I'm on a personal best dry streak on yellow line gaching so that's been disappointing. My main money making methods are:
1) Using my bishop to sell leech @ Skeles -- which also serves the secondary purpose of organically farming dragon spirits/scales
1a) Gacha -- also mainly skeles
2) Bossing content: praying for pouches from solo rav/pap + occasional zak
3) Scrolling: not very successful, but especially as I start scrolling some bows I'll probably sell the less successful ones.

As many of you know, DSB crafting is an absolute scam but I love the look of the weapon + I liked that I could at least farm for most/every component required to make it. Here are the items required to make a single DSB (90% chance) + the prices of each component.
- 1 White Nisrock (roughly 700k-999K on avg)
- 20 Dragon Spirit (~150k)
- 25 Dragon Scale (~2.1m)
- 3 Power Crystal (~1.05m)
- 5 Dex Crystal (~750k)
- 120,000 Meso
- 1 Bow Production Stimulator* (~40k)
Rough Total for 1 craft: ~5m

After you craft, you randomly have the chance to get a bow from 95WA (lowest) to 105WA (highest), with a bow stimmy required to have the chance for the 105. All in all, the odds are trash, this sucks, and I don't know why I'm doing it to myself. I'm aiming for a +3 or +4 on a perfect bow before we start the WS10 grind, but that's counting the eggs before they hatch--especially when you get situations like:

Spoiler

i've gotten 3x fails in a row before which had me questioning my sanity

Like I said earlier, I did start the journey a bit earlier than my actual data, so I can safely say out of a bit over 30 crafts, I've only made a single perfect 105WA DSB that subsequently went +1, then boomed on 2nd. 30 crafts=150m give or take.

Due to the high variance in crafting, I also started buying DSBs for 55m (or 60m which i refuse to pay anymore, 55m is my limit!!!!), having bought several this week with the chance to buy more thanks to some crafters possibly enticed by my #freemarket post. Current count: 3 (soon to be 7)



I also got a good deal on 100 Bow 30s for 155c (4.65m/ea). Even despite the recent decrease in price of bow 30s, I'm quite happy with the purchase so I don't have to worry about procuring the scrolls and can just focus on the main task of accumulating the bows. I also know there's no real point in waiting, as there's a chance a single perfect bow could be the one that gets a +3/+4 and saves me a lot of time/money but once again: eggs, basket, not all in one place, etc.

Spoiler

Completely UNSHAMELESS, ACTUAL FOOTAGE of the trade that went down and not a doctored image with a guildie because I forgot to take a SS originally!!!!!!11!

I'm realizing that this journal formatting is a mess and it's also 2:18AM as I finally write this so I'll try and spruce it up for future entries. On a personal note, I just graduated as a physical therapist (physios in europe/canada/australia? everywhere else) and have my licensure exam coming up in July. Because of that, I'll have time to play as I recently moved back home from NY-->Chicago but not nearly as much time I was putting in the past week as I have to study study study. The good thing is, I can do practice question podcasts that are super helpful + watch content review lectures while leeching. Now that I'm back home and living like a human being, seeing the gf/friends + coming back to my hobbies is gonna suck away a lot of time as well. I'll do my best to update somewhat regularly though...!

Goal for Next Week:
-10 bows
-start scrolling? maybe i'll stream it on my twitch
-start rock climbing/bouldering again
-job advance my CB-->shad
-push HYVN closer to level 155

Maybe a tl;dr at the end of each entry.
Perfect DSB count: 3
Mesos: none
Hope: still there for now

P.S. S/O GM ABRASION AND THE NUMBER 12 FOR CARRYING ME TO 2ND PLACE IN RUSSIAN ROULETTE

Spoiler

Thanks for reading

 

Entry #2: Two Sides of One Coin

Here we go. At the end of entry #1, I had bought 3 perfect DSBs and was still in the process of gathering more. Thanks to the #freemarket post, I was able to find a seller that crafted 4(!!!) perfect DSBs which I bought promptly for a cool 220m mesos.

Perfect DSB Count: 7



Jeez. For those of you who are curious, here's the meso making/leeching excel sheet I've been using to keep track; have not been huge on tracking scrolls/equips that have been making me more mesos on the side but overall still no yellow lines.



On Memorial Day Monday, I finally crafted 1 perfect 105 WA DSB which ended my dry streak on crafts, taking 27 crafts to get 1 perfect. Honestly, not bad. The dopamine of finally crafting a perfect made the skele sessions and spending a couple mil on scales/power crystals worth it.

Perfect DSB Count: 8

Now, 2 days later after not playing much on Tuesday due to touching grass and celebrating my 1 year anniversary (went to a michelin star pasta restaurant to celebrate--pappardelle was bomb but the stracci was so acidic eugh) I was in a pickle. I wanted to wait for 10 perfect bows before I started scrolling just because it's a nice round # and I wanted to protect myself from the despair of facing the inevitable: taxes, death, and 30s booming your items. However, I'm also aware that any given bow could be "the one" plus I was getting impatient!! I am 100% the kid who couldn't delay the gratification and ate his marshmallow instead of getting the 2nd one + chocolate syrup iykyk.

So. Here we go. Surely with 8 perfect bows and 101 bow 30s I'll be alright?

Attempt 1: Boom. Oh well.
Attempt 2: Boom. That sucks.
Attempt 3: +1. Here we go. I'll even dummy scroll a 10% on some shitter bow. Another bow 30...? And boom.
Attempt 4: Failed, no boom. Rage 30=boom. Fuck.
Attempt 5: +1. 2nd, boom.
Attempt 6: Boom.
Attempt 7: Boom.
Attempt 8: +1. Then boom. Fuck me.
.
.
.


I promptly logged off after this and logged into my newly 4th job advanced shad and started killing snails in Lith Harbor to farm cards for 1 hour to reset mental. I thought about some previous terrible scrolling attempts and dummy scrolling and that stupid maple tip and whether I was cursed (I probably am).

My thoughts on dummy scrolling:


But...this very unfortunate experience also helped me rethink the timeframe of this project. If anything, I came out of that card farming session (5 gacha btw, shadower is blessed and Bstep is the most fun ability in the game) with a resolved (and slightly damaged) spirit, knowing that this is just a hiccup on the road. Can't let the RNG beat me, plus it's only the beginning of the project! I'll come back from this stronger even though this hurt my heart.

Perfect DSB Count: 0

I woke up today on 5/30/24 after literally DREAMING about making a dragon shiner bow which is how I know I am in wayyyyy too deep. I sold a bit of casual leech and also leveled HYVN to 154! Getting closer to HT even though my HP is abysmal without challenges a@ 6.5k (please I am begging on my hands and knees for the next tiers). Here's a quick (and first?) HYVN update:


With it, is my organically scrolled DSB which I believe was a 104 WA. Will probably be using this for quite some time.


Had a bit of a Nietzsche staring at the abyss moment in my sadness at the end of the leech session. The grind did not feel great as I listened to lectures and did practice questions. I wearily headed to Mos (this fucker) to craft some more bows at the end of my leech session and I crafted 3 bows in quick succession using up all my scales which tend to be the biggest limiting resource. I hovered over the made bows only to see...



What the hell? Not only did I make a single perfect bow, but I made TWO IN A ROW out of three crafts! I went from making 1/27 to 3/41 bringing my average to about 7.3%. The expected value is technically 8.1% to make a perfect bow if I did the basic math right, but finally...I get a break!!! A day after booming 8 bows and another failed gacha session with no yellow lines, I needed this.

Perfect DSB Count: 2

Since I had nothing to lose, I decided to pray to RNGesus and scroll again.

Attempt 1: Boom. Here we go again.

Perfect DSB Count: 1

Attempt 2: +1. Oh?
Dummy scroll? (fail)
+1. Oh shit? Should I stop here...? Nah it's just probabilities and numbers.
Dummy scroll (fail)
+1.

HOLY SHIT WE DID IT?????? WE DID IT! SUDDENLY I AM A CHURCH OF DUMMY SCROLLING TRUTHER. DUMMY SCROLLING IS THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE NO ONE COMES TO A PERFECT 140 WA DSB EXCEPT THRU DUMMYSCROLL (but I immediately thought about the future meso costs and the humble 6 pcoins to my name and am wondering if I slam another 30 fuck it?)




This is the beauty of the game I suppose. One day you cash in your probably 200th+ gacha without a yellow line, boom all 8 of your bows, and log off to sleep in a daze and miserable that the pixels and RNG defeated you. The next day, you get some improbable luck and fortune shines your way. I wouldn't have it any other way. These are the moments that always draw me back in the game even after all these years

Spoiler

I wasn't lying when I said I would disappear LOL

Now where do we go from here? I'll still be skele leeching and doing bosses, maybe using up my 78 remaining bow 30s to scroll some bows for profit (103/104 wa bows probably). I won't be as aggressively crafting bows nor buying every perfect DSB on the market since I'm going to begin the WS grind. If I do somehow end up getting another +3, I'll definitely slam another 30 to try and get a +4 but I think that's where my limit will be, especially as I get closer to working and will have absolutely no time to play anymore.

On a personal note:
I've been watching shows while leeching and I recommend
1) Mr and Mrs. Smith (chemistry is crazy, writing and directing is so good)
2) Slow Horses (based on book series, actually very fun)
3) LOVELY RUNNER (SO CUTE ALSO THE SOUNDTRACK IS SO GOOD)

End of Journal tl;dr

Perfect DSB Count: 1 (+3)
White Scroll Count: 0
Hope: From the depths of depravity and misery and staring into the abyss to floating on Cloud Nine. I love maplestory.

Goals for next update:
-Possibly upgrade from 12WA glove to 14WA (will delay WS purchase but that's fine)
-HYVN should be 155 but needs to finish prequests for HT and never finished Krex
-Need to get married (ingame) since I never run APQ
-Get at least 1 WS? Hopefully will get a yellow line

Once again, thanks for reading!

 

Haha a lot happened in the span of a couple days! Writing the journal is also a nice escape from the monotony of the grind

 

love your journal + commiserate with you as a fellow unwashed BM player tier 3/4 please...

 

TY MOM

 

Entry #3: Decisions

We ended the last entry on a high feeling like luck was finally on our side. It seemed as if the universe had let me suffer enough and the scales of balance were evening out. However, I quickly came to realize that the scales were still tipped--to the side of being very, very lucky.

Hope Levels: Pure Hopium

The excitement I felt status post making the +3 bow had me going to bed that night giddy. Unfortunately for me, the excitement I felt was more like a head rush--pure excitement and joy that dissipated nearly as quickly as it came on. When I woke up the next day, I immediately began thinking, “What if it was a +4 bow instead…?” Best-selling author Laura Numeroff and famed illustrator Felicia Bond encompassed this evolution of thought process beautifully in the esteemed fictional work:

Spoiler: IYKYK

I needed some direction on where to go from here and so I turned to the ML discord for some advice, which unfortunately did not help me out much. Some users suggested to WS30/WS10, others said just to sell it and move on, or work on a different bow. My biggest concern (that I didn't articulate well) was that although I'm in this project for the long haul with the goal of making a +7 perfect DSB, I would still prefer to have the least painless pathway possible. If I can take shortcuts (TOS allowed shortcuts), I would. My overall conundrum with slot #4 was:

Do I WS10 or WS30?

Anyways, back to updates:

• The generational dry streak for gacha continues. Decent amount of mesos made from leech, gacha despite no yellow lines, item equips, and some scrolling.

• Crafted 4 more perfect bows, and bought a whopping 10(!!!) perfect bows for ~500m+. 9 boomed. Crafting rate: 7/104 for a cool 6.7% hit rate on perfects with my success rate dipping lower once again (expected=~8%)

• Did my first Krexel! Extremely boring boss that made me legitimately nod off while clearing 2nd body.

• Nani CWK for the first time in 4 months (and on back to back days #NanjIsSoBack)
  
  
• Got HYVN HT ready @ 155 + finished Concentrate/Hero's Will (special thanks to Archae + GM Glaceon for moral and mental support)

Spoiler

Now, if you noticed prior I said I bought 10 perfect bows and 9 boomed, you may be wondering what happened with that last bow. This was coincidentally a day where I crafted 3 bows and ended up with 1 fail and 2 DSBs with one being a 105, as well as one 105 bow I bought from the FM. The first 105 immediately boomed. The second went +1 then failed the next slot without a boom. So after I rage scrolled some 30s (with some 10% dummying in between) I was rewarded with a magical little maple moment:



Holy shit...I truly cannot complain about luck anymore, huh?

This washed away the pain of destroying 8 perfect bows the day prior (although I have since destroyed 8 perfect bows trying to get a backup +3 with not a single bow passing +1 on the first try). With this new 130 WA bow, I sold my previously scrolled 125 wa bow for 500m and plan to use this one until eventually replacing it with my perfect bow. With the mesos from the sale, the goal is to either straight up buy a 14atk glove OR buy another white scroll.

Another, you may ask?

3 days ago, I made an impulse decision before bed--quite possibly the worst time to be making quick decisions. I had messages like these in the back of my mind:





So I made my way to Henesys, talked to the NPC and then was met with an unfortunate outcome. I had failed to scroll 5 bows in a row beforehand and so decided to take the chance. With my heart racing I checked the WS option on the legendary spirit box, dropped the scroll onto the window, waited for that loading noise to end…



And the results…

.

.

.

Spoiler

We stay alive at least.
The turmoil in my brain continues to rage. My heart says to play it safe and WS10, especially with 21 boomed perfect bows out of 23. Like Eric said:

I'm already ahead of schedule, so with the money I'm saving on attempts/crafts (which I'm planning to decrease from here on out to focus on other gear equips + white scroll purchases) it may just be time to start WS10ing. However, next journal is unlucky #4 (死) so don't count out the demons in my head deciding to WS30...

BONUS: Things that made me happy this week

1. Spoiler: cute message

   
2. Spoiler: TY TRlnlTyy FOR DONATING 600SCALES/SPIRITS TO THE CAUSE

   
3. Spoiler: TY MIRRORS FOR SAVING ML AND MY FIRST EVENT WIN

   

tl;dr
Bows 30s used: 100 out of my 101
Perfect DSB Count: 2 (3/4 and a 5/0)
Hope Levels: Tempered
WS Count: 0/1 (WS30)
Horntail: First time running this weekend, wish me luck

 

HAHA yeah I instantly got 3 people asking if I was selling! Hopefully I can sell it sooner rather than later which means I've made some good progress on the project bow and didn't blow it up...we'll see about another WS30 since I am brokege

 

As a fellow yappper I will gladly welcome some yapseat gaming, thank you I need all the help I can get hehe